Natsume’s second episode opens with a distant shot portraying Natsume’s school, along with more of the rural scenery that has already proven to be one of the show’s central characters. I love that scenery, beautiful even in this show’s simply drawn, low-resolution format. Rural Japan is one of my favorite anime settings, along with that “vaguely medieval Mediterranean countryside” employed by shows like Kino’s Journey and Haibane Renmei. Perhaps it’s simply a natural tendency towards exoticism, but something about Japan’s rolling hills and sprawling farmlands naturally puts me at ease. Continue reading
Yearly Archives: 2016
Top Ten Anime of 2016
And somehow, another year has come to a close. This has been a strange year for me – as my first full year of wholly anime-related employment, it’s been often terrifying, sometimes uplifting, and always exciting. I’m not sure it means anything that my move to freelance coincided with the world catching fire, but hey, things happen. At least I also write for Crunchyroll now!
As far as anime itself goes, this has been a very solid year in general. The industry is currently at a somewhat unsustainable level of production, and though foreign streaming and other forms of revenue are putting the industry in a more stable place financially, that still hasn’t adjusted the workflow mechanisms that keep animators so terribly underpaid. That will have to change eventually, but as far as the actual shows go, there were plenty of anime I had a great time with this year, and solid hits in a wide variety of genres. In fact, this year’s crop was so good that I even have some honorable mentions! That’s honestly kind of unusual for me – I generally struggle getting to ten shows without including stuff I’m not totally sold on. So let’s start right there, and run down the shows that just barely missed the list before we count off the final ten!
Sound! Euphonium 2 – Episode 13
At last, it ends. Euphonium’s second season was far messier than the first, and was partially hamstrung by adopting a middle book that always felt fairly superfluous, but it sure did come together well. Asuka and Kumiko’s material has always been some of the best in the series, and watching their relationship grow over the course of this season was a wonderful experience. This was a graceful and poignant epilogue to a consistently rewarding series. Those friggin’ euphoniums did it again.
You can check out my excessively huge review over at ANN, or my notes below.
Girlish Number – Episode 12
Girlish Number ended with as happy of an ending as you might have hoped for, and frankly a bit happier of an ending than I expected. Even Kuzu-P got to act like a big damn hero this time, though at least his smug posturing was quickly cut down by Chitose. Overall, this was mostly just a workmanly finale to a generally solid show. I’m sad this one sold like crap mostly because I’d like to see Wataru Watari continue to write anime-originals – but hopefully this doesn’t really impact his future plans. Anime could desperately use more prolific writers who construct people so well.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
Fall 2016 – Week 12 in Review
Welp, the year is coming to an end. 2016 has been a tough year for the world at large, and a stressful year for me personally, what with transitioning entirely to freelance work the year before. Fortunately, 2016 was also a pretty excellent year in anime – there wasn’t anything I loved on the level of a Shirobako or an Eccentric Family, but the breadth of the year’s top tier was pretty dang remarkable. This season in particular was a real standout, offering a substantial portion of the shows that’ll make up my final top ten. We’re arriving at final episodes now, which is sad, but I’m never unhappy to see good shows end strong. Let’s run these titles down, and get ready for whatever 2017 may bring!
Planetes – Episode 19
The Von Braun is preparing to set sail, and all likely crewmates must head to earth. In the wake of last episode’s mine defusal, the Debris Section has found itself with a new lease on life. Having leaked the footage from the event, the section is hailed as heroes, and become too politically popular to fire. That’s all that their footage accomplishes, of course – INTO is a multinational corporation, and so the revelation that they’re laying mines for their political enemies doesn’t really have any other effect. In an age where the United States already bombs civilians to take out kill-worthy targets, it’d be more fantastical for INTO to actually be harmed by this setback.
March comes in like a lion – Episode 11
March took things a little easier this week, finally giving Rei some time to rest and hang out with the Kawamotos after two straight episodes of tough matches and sisterly abuse. Of course, this is still March comes in like a lion, so that rest and relaxation was prefaced by Rei falling into a fever so deep he could barely take care of himself. But most of this episode was charming slice of life material, and again demonstrated how well the show has established its general platform. I’m happy to share some warm holiday memories with this show’s wonderful crew.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below.
Platinum End, Volume One – Review
Today I dug into the first volume of the newest collaboration between Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, which was… well, certainly a collaboration between Ohba and Obata. Obata’s art is perfectly suited to this story – while very technically refined, it also always comes off as sharp and somewhat inhuman, which is ideal for this sort of grand, faux-religious narrative. Platinum End also leans into Ohba’s strengths as a storyteller, which do exist, in spite of him being a generally misanthropic writer. Overall, it’s a pretty fun, trashy time.
You can check out my full review over at ANN.
Why It Works: Sound! Euphonium’s Tempestuous Muse, Part Two
Today I return to Euphonium for the second half of my column on Asuka Tanaka! This one offers a bunch of close reading of her scenes all throughout the second season, because why not, Asuka’s great. She’s definitely one of my favorite characters of the year, and I’m very happy Why It Works offered me a chance to explore her wonderful characterization. Asuka may be kind of a jerk, but she’s our jerk.
Why It Works: Sound! Euphonium’s Tempestuous Muse, Part Two
Nichijou – Episode 20
NICHIJOU HAS RETURNED. It feels like forever since I last watched Nichijou, but in truth, it’s only been a few days. I’m sure I’ve moaned about this before, but we’re getting to the point where just a little too much of my emotional well-being is dependent on a constant influx of new Nichijou. Without Yuuko, Nano, and the professor to keep me sane, this would have been a cold and treacherous season – after all, from the point where I’m writing this, I’m still waiting for the results of the worst election in US history. And that’s not even hyperbole! Not even close!
But politics suck and I hate them and I’ll reserve that talk for shows that warrant it. In the meantime, there are still good things in the world: seven of them, in fact. Seven episodes of Nichijou. LET’S GET RIGHT TO THE FIRST ONE.