Yearly Archives: 2016

Shirobako, Part Two – Review

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And to the surprise of no one, I return once more to extol the many merits of Shirobako. The show’s second half is even better than the first, mixing its consistent humor, character writing, and fundamental Realness with a whole lot more dramatic gut punches. I normally kinda laugh at demands for more “mature” anime, but I sure wouldn’t mind a whole lot more grounded, devastating career dramas like this one. Subdued dramas like this and Eccentric Family are as my jam as anything can be.

You can check out my full review over at ANN!

Shirobako

Spring 2016 – Week 11 in Review

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The season is wrapping up at this point, but this season’s shows still have a few surprises left. In this case, the main surprise was My Hero Academia and JoJo switching places – My Hero Academia was on fire this week, easily vaulting over its usual failings, while JoJo turned down the temperature for an episode that unfortunately evoked some of Stardust Crusaders’ worst tendencies. But aside from that, everything was pretty much business as usual. Concrete Revolutio is speeding towards what’s likely to be an astoundingly good finale, Flying Witch is as consistent as ever, Luluco is still unsure of whether it wants to be a real show or not, etcetera. All this and more in today’s week in review, as we cast our eyes backward and RUN ‘EM DOWN.

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A Silent Voice, Volume 7 – Review

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And so A Silent Voice comes to an end. This volume was definitely weaker than much of what came before, and essentially gave too much time to what was all pretty much epilogue. There were loose narrative tangents and unnecessary additions, and it all made for a slightly rambling experience. But A Silent Voice’s fundamental character writing is so strong that it really didn’t harm anything, and at this point, seeing the untidy threads of the manga actually just makes me feel even more excited for the film. A Silent Voice is a fantastic manga, but it could be condensed into a basically perfect movie. For the first time in a while, I can’t help but let the hype be real.

You can check out my full review over at ANN!

A Silent Voice

Planetes – Episode 4

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Today’s Planetes episode was about how rich people are terrible and should probably be killed.

Well, there was a little more to it than that, but not much. This was one more classic office storyline, the episode where the head office’s son visits the branch and everyone has to kowtow and dance for him because nepotism is awesome. It’s a standard plot shell that was executed in a pretty routine manner – we learned that Hachi and the Control employee Claire were once an item, and Tanabe’s ultimate defense of the debris unit earned her some clearly plotted respect from Hachi, but in the end, this is the kind of episode you could see in basically any episodic drama or sitcom.

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Flying Witch – Episode 10

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Flying Witch stayed its easy breezy self this week, though I really liked how frontloading the humor in a constrained setting allowed the second half to feel that much more relaxed and rewarding. Nao also got to shine for once, which was nice. Her inability to perform complex cooking tasks like “cook an onion” and “hold on to a ball of meat” felt very relatable to my largely sandwich-based lifestyle. Hang in there, Nao. You don’t want to end up like me.

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

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Kiznaiver – Episode 10

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Kiznaiver got pretty exposition-happy this week, but fortunately the dull Kizna project material didn’t manage to overwhelm the strong personal stuff. Kiznaiver’s cast is established well enough that at this point, simply letting portions of the main group spend time together creates new texture through their evolving relationships. It’s a pretty crucial point for an interiority-happy character drama to achieve, so I’m glad Kiznaiver’s on schedule. The show remains messy, but a messy articulation of a great thing is still a lot of fun.

You can check out my full review over at ANN. I watched this one straight through, so NO NOTES FOR YOU.

Kiznaiver

The Lost Village – Episode 11

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We’re in the endgame now, and The Lost Village is doing its best to juggle the needs of an actual narrative with its own wilder inclinations. This episode managed that balance with relative grace; it wasn’t as consistently laugh-out-loud funny as some of the earlier episodes, but it actually did a lot of work to bring this story to a real conclusion. In fact, so much was resolved here that it seems likely the last couple episodes will be able to go big in a more satisfying way, bringing all the remaining story threads together. Let’s end this thing with a bang.

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

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One Piece – Volume 8

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The Baratie arc came to an end in this volume, concluding with as much dignity as it could muster. As before, a great deal of this volume’s weakness came down to the fact that Don Krieg is just not a particularly exciting opponent. Volume six deliberately undercut him by using him as a prop to build up a more threatening opponent, and volume seven dawdled through a series of fights with underwhelming underlings. Even Don Krieg’s theming isn’t particularly compelling – his main gimmicks are a focus on “military might” and his wide variety of weapons, neither of which serve to make him particularly threatening. Don Krieg is altogether pretty much a failure of an antagonist.

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Mawaru Penguindrum – Episode 1

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So. Penguindrum. One of the thorniest, richest anime of recent years, a show that draws on classic tales and modern traumas to craft a story full of weird textural inferences and strangely poignant moments. Penguindrum is many things, but before anything else, it is a clear reflection of the style of Kunihiko Ikuhara. Ikuhara’s only directed three original anime over the past twenty years, and in spite of that, he is one of the most lauded and influential creators in the medium. He’s also as close as a medium as collaborative as anime can get to an auteur – famously difficult to work with, his shows share a common identity that mark them as indelibly his (even when they’re lifted by contributions from his often brilliant collaborators). Penguindrum exhibits all of his core qualities, so before I get into this show specifically, let’s talk a bit about what makes Ikuhara tick.

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UQ Holder, Volume 6 – Review

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UQ Holder arrived at another peak in this volume, with the Santa arc’s second half offering both big visual thrills and some legitimate emotional sensitivity. The manga deliberately and somewhat unexpectedly sidelines basically all its established characters in order to give Santa’s story more room, a choice that really ends up paying off. Santa is one of the most compelling characters introduced in the manga so far, so I hope this is a sign that the central dynamics will continue to improve.

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

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