Spring 2017 – Week 9 in Review

I guess I should have stopped talking about the anime being good! The cosmos apparently did not appreciate my joy, and so this week in anime was pretty friggin’ bad. The Eccentric Family had easily its worst episode of the season, Sakura Quest kinda fell into its lazy sitcom mode, and Re:Creators took a couple of turns so disappointing that I felt tempted to drop the show altogether. Not really a good showing for what had looked like a pretty bulletproof season.

Still, My Hero Academia had a fucking amazing episode, and one bad week isn’t really enough to shake anything I’m watching. Plus I know you guys love to read through my suffering, so I guess at least one audience gets to benefit from this week’s disappointments. Let’s start with the good news and run this week down!

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Spring 2017 – Week 8 in Review

The anime… is good. Really, if anything, I can only complain that this season’s incredibly consistent quality has made it a whole lot harder to come up with reasonable topics for these intro paragraphs. I’ve been leaning on the meta well a bit too heavily, but given I’ve dropped everything that ever caused me any pain whatsoever, it’s just hard to stay even-handed here. Sakura Quest has shrugged off its early messiness, My Hero Academia is slam dunking its brilliant source material, and The Eccentric Family 2 likely had its best episode yet. I try to stay impartial, but folks, it might be time to recommend you try Anime. I’ve heard it’s pretty okay.

Alright, I think that’s around my required word count. Now let’s both of us escape this preamble and RUN THIS WEEK DOWN!

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The Eccentric Family 2 – Episode 8

This was a terrific episode of The Eccentric Family, but I’ve already written basically every word I could think of to describe it, so just head on over to that review there. Writing about this show may kill me eventually, but I think that’d be a pretty okay death.

You can check out my full megareview over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Spring 2017 – Week 7 in Review

Look, this season is just great, guys. I don’t know how many times I can say it. A season that’s simultaneously airing one of My Hero Academia’s best arcs, the sequel to one of my favorite shows ever, and the spiritual successor to Shirobako would frankly have a damn hard time being bad. Even with Tsuki ga Kirei taking the week off, there were no shortage of high points this week – Sakura Quest had one of its best episodes, My Hero Academia ran through an entire goddamn tournament bracket, and even Re:Creators pulled off some of its most rewarding conversations yet. This is a fine time to be an anime fan!

Alright, let’s get right to it.

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The Eccentric Family 2 – Episode 7

Holy crap they killed Soun. Really didn’t see that one coming. I’d figured after the first season, he’d either be gone forever or a threat forever – I didn’t expect him to come back, briefly threaten Yasaburo once more, and then die in ignominy. This episode managed to draw a poignancy out of his passing that I also didn’t expect, but then again, that’s Eccentric Family’s bread and butter. But anyway, let’s get to the piece!

You can check out my supersized review over at ANN, or my notes below.

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Why It Works: The Eccentric Family’s Nefarious Villain

This week’s Why It Works offers a spotlight for Soun Ebisugawa, a true villain’s villain if there ever was one. Soun hasn’t really gotten much material yet this season, but his first appearance was a terrific scene, so I figured it’d be worth a highlight. I hope you enjoy the piece!

Why It Works: The Eccentric Family’s Nefarious Villain

Spring 2017 – First Half in Review

Well folks, it looks like we’re somehow halfway through the spring season. Things have been insanely busy on my end, as I’ve been scrambling to deal with a bunch of work-related backend stuff that’s altogether far less exciting than watching cartoons. Fortunately, the cartoons themselves have been as strong as ever – this spring has an extremely sturdy lineup, so stuffed with watchable shows that I’ve essentially had to shave off an entire second tier of contenders. Keeping up with my Current Projects means I don’t really have the time to watch nine airing shows a season anymore, but I certainly can’t complain about having too much to watch!

As usual, this is the point where I vaguely rank the shows I’m watching in some kind of descending order. Also as usual, these rankings are essentially meaningless – I like making ranked lists, but I don’t think they have any meaningful value, and establishing this hierarchy while none of these shows are actually completed only underlines that. So sit back, relax, and let’s have an enjoyably pointless time!

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The Eccentric Family 2 – Episode 6

The Eccentric Family seemed to step back into the mode of the first season this week, offering the same sort of rambling afternoon adventures that defined the original’s first half. I was perfectly happy to see that – The Eccentric Family excels at its own whimsical interpretation of slice of life, and this episode was no exception. The Eccentric Family’s hell is a pretty great time.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.

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Spring 2017 – Week 5 in Review

Hey all, and welcome back to the Week in Review. We’re somehow approaching the halfway point of another season, and things are still looking pretty solid in anime land. I’ve got Tsuki ga Kirei and The Eccentric Family for my character stories, Sakura Quest and Re:Creators offering some interesting ideas, and My Hero Academia to just be a generally entertaining time. That’s pretty much everything I ask for in a season, and so as of this moment, I’d say anime is pretty okay. Let’s start off in the tumbleweeds of Manoyama and run this week down!

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The Eccentric Family 2 – Episode 5

The Eccentric Family reprised one of the first season’s highlights this week, offering the followup to the tanuki flying festival. In spite of repeating a couple plot beats, it managed to find its own identity, offering great moments for Gyokuran and pretty much all of our resident tengu. I’m also excited to see this season actually presenting Benten as clearly fallible, which will hopefully lead to some great development for her.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.

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