Monthly Archives: January 2016

Dagashi Kashi – Episode 3

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Dagashi Kashi’s third episode came and went with little fanfare or incident. This episode is very watchable, but that’s about it – the jokes aren’t generally that funny, and the structure’s a little samey. That said, I was very happy to see this episode’s second half actually start to make Hotaru feel like a real person. Shows about wacky comic instigators I could take or leave, but shows about awkward kids who inherently lead to funny situations through their weird passions? Yeah, that I can deal with. Hopefully this wasn’t just a one-off thing.

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

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Hyouka – Episode 12

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Well, it’s finally arrived. Hyouka’s first arc was in truth about Chitanda’s uncle, but its impetus was the creation of a club magazine for the cultural festival. The second movie arc took place over summer vacation, and concerned getting a different club’s project ready for the festival. And now, at the beginning of Hyouka’s second half, the stage is finally set for the show’s third and most ambitious arc, the festival itself.

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ERASED – Episode 3

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Man, this show sure does know what it’s about. Nearly every moment here works hard to facilitate drama, atmosphere, and beauty, creating just the strongest possible sense of a specific time and place. Anime is eternally hung up over nostalgic youth, but ERASED’s setting feels real, feels like the actual uncomfortable, seemingly endless procession of days that are childhood. Anime is also normally a compromise between adaptive vision and original work mediocrity, and that doesn’t seem to be a problem here either – this is a nearly flawless adaptation of a legitimately good story. I really hope ERASED stays this strong to the end.

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

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Active Raid – Episode 3

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Active Raid continues with an episode featuring annoying moe apps, nefarious hackers with willing harems, and dancing idol mechas. And yet, in spite of that, it’s apparently also trying to be some kind of political drama. I don’t really know how Active Raid’s many ridiculous and often contradictory variables will shake out, but so far I’m actually having a solid time with it. It has a sense of fun, which shouldn’t be underestimated – many of the jokes feel fresh or endearing, and the characters are building up well. It’s a mess of a show, but it’s an enjoyable mess.

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

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Parallel or Together in the Idolmaster

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It’d be easy for the Idolmaster movie to be a strict love letter to the fans, and barely a movie at all. The Love Live movie did that, which wasn’t really a surprise – Love Live’s always been a series in direct conversation with its fandom, and so the fact that its movie was basically just the cast doing their bits and then a bunch of cute performances seemed pretty appropriate. And The Idolmaster is a series with so many good moments that it’s essentially created its own robust vocabulary of character and narrative touchstones to reference. You could have a sequence of Iori and Yayoi being an awkward couple, an extended return to the Sunday game show, a bit where Hibiki and her dog conduct an interview with some grumpy antagonist, and there you go – ninety minutes achieved, checks are in the mail.

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Tamako Market – Review

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Having finished my K-On! run just a couple months ago, it was pretty convenient to have Yamada’s next series arrive just this January. Tamako Market is unfortunately not as strong as K-On!!, but that’s honestly a pretty high bar; as a general slice of life/drama, Tamako Market is a perfectly reasonable production. It’s annoying to have a show whose problems could be solved by taking out stuff, but that’s certainly the issue here – remove Dera and Dera’s whole “finding a bride” plot, and Tamako Market is actually a much better show. But I’ve heard that’s pretty much what the movie actually does, so hopefully that one gets a release over here soon as well.

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

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Winter 2016 – Week 2 in Review

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And with preview week firmly in the past, it’s time to return to our scheduled week in review. So far, this season is actually turning out better than I’d hoped – I didn’t really expect most of the shows in my own preview post to actually end up doing well, and having two legitimately excellent shows in a season is basically all I can hope for from any season. Between Erased and Genroku Rakugo, we’re already there – both of those shows impressed with strong premieres and followed through with consistent second episodes. And even beyond the highlights, there’s a reasonable crop of middle-tier shows as well, depending on your own genre tastes. The season is strong enough that I’m currently deciding to be truly ruthless, and cut off both Utawarerumono and Iron-Blooded Orphans until I feel compelled either personally or through general fan noise to pick them back up again. There are too many good shows in the world to waste time watching things I’m not enjoying.

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Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Volume 9-10 – Review

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And so Biscuit Hammer ends, with a final volume that pays back all my investment and then some. Biscuit Hammer’s conclusion is spectacular, a sequence of battles and moments of emotional catharsis more consistently rewarding than basically anything else in the series. I still had issues with these chapters, from the awkwardly welded-on nature of Anima and Animus to the ever-messy art, but the overall effect of this finale was so strong that I can’t really complain. Biscuit Hammer will always be a messy work, but it’s a passionate and worthy one all the same. If you haven’t checked it out yet, definitely give it a try.

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

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Dagashi Kashi – Episodes 1-2

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Dagashi Kashi is… watchable? It’s not really much more than that yet, but it’s a pleasant enough time for twenty minutes a week. I’m frankly a little unsure what I’ll have to say about it each episode; I feel like this first writeup sort of covers everything the show has to offer, but I guess we’ll have to see where it goes. I suppose I could always just go deep in describing exactly how the show evokes Hotaru’s candy lust each week, since that does seem to be where the show’s own staff are putting their focus. And actually, there’s always room for a formal breakdown of why manzai is bad. So yeah, probably won’t have a problem after all!

You can check out my first review over at ANN, or my episode two notes below.

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Hyouka – Episode 11.5

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The dog days of summer have arrived, and Hyouka wants you to know it. Establishing shots of the dry heat outdoors, the valiant struggle of a standing fan, and Oreki’s sun-crushed condition set the tone as those inescapable cicadas and Oreki’s classic “letter to his sister” song vividly create the sense of a vacation nearing its end. Days like this aren’t meant for solving mysteries – they’re meant for going to the pool or the beach, relaxing and spending time with friends. Classic OVA activities! Unfortunately, Oreki is in the mood for none of that – his usual laziness has been compounded by his recent identity crisis (this OVA actually was streamed between the airing of episodes 11 and 12, making it somewhat uniquely chronology-friendly), and now he just wants to sit around and be a lump.

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