I had a whole lot to say about this one! Episode ten really dug into the general societal concerns that seem inherent in ONE’s work, from his diagnosis of a callous meritocracy to his framing of the proles forced to work in such a system. It’s not the most complex of setups, but there’s still plenty to dig into there regarding ONE’s own perspective. Also a bunch of psychic people beat each other up!
You can check out my full review over at ANN.
Romeo and Juliet is not a play about love. Its stars are in their early teens, and Romeo begins the play by pining over an unknown “Rosaline” in the same way he’d eventually worship Juliet. That doesn’t make its characters’ feelings meaningless, but it does change the context of the tragedy – instead of being about a loss of the greatest love that ever was, it’s about two teenagers who fell in lust and senselessly died for it. Romeo and Juliet’s social circumstances left them no way to get to know each other, maybe see how they felt about each other after a few months, and go from there – it forced them to act in the greatest of secrecy upon the highest of passions, resulting in tragedy for all.
Orange finally challenged the supremacy of “we have to save Kakeru at all costs” this week, which was an incredibly welcome change of pace. It was great to see Suwa’s friends articulate all the ways his mission of self-sacrifice wasn’t necessarily the right call, even if he ultimately couldn’t deny his fundamentally charitable nature. Kakeru doesn’t necessarily need a cute girlfriend – he needs a support group who are willing to accommodate his needs and assure him they’ll be there for him, but also give him space to sort out his difficult feelings. As easy as it is to assume romantic melodrama is the solution to everything, sometimes there are other options!
You can check out my full review over at ANN.
And so my retrospective of the dogs of JoJo concludes with a tribute to JoJo’s most noble hero: Iggy the Fool, who gave up his life so an asshole Frenchman may live. Us stalwart dog lovers salute you, Iggy. You did the best you could in a game you weren’t meant to win.
I’ve enjoyed writing these very silly articles, so I’ll probably think up more nonsense to cover soon enough. I hope you enjoyed them too!
Why It Works: A Eulogy for the Dogs of JoJo, Part Two
Nichijou is coming. Nichijou out of the floorboards, Nichijou out of the cracks in the walls. Nichijou is in your home, whispering in the corners, watching as you turn out the light. Nichijou is close now, its breath cold on your cheek. NICHIJOU IS HERE.
Alright let’s get right to it.
Time for a new ANN editorial! I’m diving into Love Live this time, talking about the specific and very noteworthy strengths that make this show so compelling. Love Live embodies a fair number of the qualities that make anime appealing as a medium in general, so I was happy to have a chance to discuss some of its major accomplishments. I could easily talk about camp or communal engagement for far longer than one editorial (and I have before), but for now, I’m happy to have a semi-reasonable excuse to write the phrase “Nico and Maki’s potato marriage” in a critical context. ANYWAY!
The Secret of Love Live’s Success
Garo’s second half finally came out, and so I got to finish this recent swashbuckling adventure ride. The second half was unfortunately not quite as impressive as the first – the show kinda felt like it had just run out of fundamental story after the collision of Leon and Alfonso, and introducing devices like a born-to-be-fridged girlfriend certainly didn’t help matters. But Garo is still just a fundamentally compelling production, and so I still had a fine time with its conclusion.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below!
Planetes’ eleventh episode was easily the series’ high point so far, a thoughtful meditation on the inequality of space colonization that ended in a firm restatement of the series’ ultimately hopeful worldview. In light of that, it’s not too surprising that the followup episode is a much lighter adventure, focusing on such frivolities as romantic misunderstandings and international terrorism.
Well heck dang it’s Wednesday again. Anime was pretty alright this week – a couple clear standouts, a couple weaker entries, an overall par performance. JoJo’s fundamentally great art design is unfortunately still trembling under the weight of several consecutive seasons, and Orange is beginning to lose me with its circular conflicts, but Love Live pulled off a spectacle that was just as funny as last week was successfully dramatic, and even if JoJo wasn’t prepared to be top JoJo, Thunderbolt Fantasy certainly was. It frankly makes me a little sad that I have to scroll all the way down the streaming titles page to reach Thunderbolt’s spot on Crunchyroll – I can kinda understand that its inherently camp nature makes it less appealing to many fans seeking action shows, but it’s seriously so, so much better than 9/10 of the shows in its genre. Surely one day the Thunderbolt Fantasies and Lost Villages of the world will get their due!
Anyway. LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME CARTOONS.
Mob Psycho 100 played it reasonably cool this week, letting the first few minutes of Mob’s rescue and Ritsu’s escape largely speak for themselves. That was fine, though – even in the absence of anything as visually thrilling as last week’s spectacle, we’ve still arrived at an exciting narrative with an engaging cast of characters. Mob’s complexity as a person means his one-sided battles still have at least a bit more intrigue than Saitama’s deadpan victories, and Ritsu’s relative vulnerability actually led to a tiny bit of Hunter x Hunter-style power-plotting this week. Overall, I’m still very much enjoying the Mob Psycho ride.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below!