We’re nearly at the finish line now, folks! With all of this season’s various contenders handing in their eleventh or twelfth episodes, it was climax time for this week in anime… or at least, it would have been, if two fifths of my viewing schedule weren’t continuing into the winter, and Tsurune basically adhering to its own personal two-weeks-late timetable. Nonetheless, we still had plenty to celebrate all through this week’s episodes, from the subtle pleasures of Run with the Wind and Tsurune to the bombastic insanity of Thunderbolt Fantasy and JoJo. I’ve actually got a whole bunch to talk about, so let’s skip the lengthy preamble and get right to it. It’s time to run down another Week in Review!
This week’s Run with the Wind was a quiet and delicately executed production, as befitting its focus on a quiet and delicately characterized character. Its first half felt almost like an out-and-out tone piece, using perpetual rain to create a somber and oddly cozy atmosphere. Run with the Wind is full of sequences that characterize its cast through light incidental conversations contrasted against the repetitive gauntlet of continuous training, and through its combination of strong color work, sound design, and naturalistic dialogue, this episode’s first half felt like one of the clearest demonstrations yet of its fundamental aesthetic power.
After that, we turned to focus on Shindo, one of the teammates who’s received the least characterization so far. Or perhaps “least” isn’t the word – Shindo may well have actually received more characterization than the twins, but he’s such a quiet guy that you almost don’t notice him. Shindo didn’t suffer any major catastrophe or lapse in faith this week; instead, his girlfriend’s decision to break up with him actually seemed to help him realize what he truly cared about. I loved his declaration that “I’m not caring about my time. Right now, I just want to run,” as it seemed like the perfect encapsulation of how for Shindo, this hasn’t just been a learning experience, it’s been the discovery of a genuine passion. And Shindo’s generally quiet attitude and lack of ego ended up reflecting very flatteringly on characters like Kakeru and Yuki, each of whom demonstrated how much they’ve bonded with this group through picking up on Shindo’s worries and doing their best to support him. When shows characterize their cast with this much grace, each new episode feels more poignant and rewarding than the last.
We received an unusually subdued episode of SSSS.Gridman this week, one that was largely dedicated to sorting out narrative odds and ends before we arrive at the true climax. In aesthetic terms, I enjoyed this episode’s unique emphasis on Gridman’s characteristically broad open compositions, which naturally echoed the sense of quiet isolation its characters were undergoing. It didn’t feel as visually inspired as the last couple episodes, but it made strong use of the show’s existing toolset, and the fights were also quite well-executed.
In narrative terms, I was a little more ambivalent, and that pretty much just came down to Yuta’s material. All three of our other leads were basically forced to grapple with a conflict fundamental to their character and development – Utsumi coming to terms with the human consequences of his passion, Akane slipping further into depression while solidifying the thematic meaning of a kaiju, Rikka attempting to save the day by embracing her bond with Akane. In contrast, the reveal that Yuta was actually Gridman basically just underlined the fact that Yuta has never really been a character in this show at all. I’m rarely impressed when shows keep major characters’ true natures hidden for some last-moment reveal, as I feel such twists tend to preempt any meaningful, organic character development. That felt very true of Yuta’s reveal, confirming again that he’s far and away the weakest element of this production.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure finished Narancia’s fight with style to spare this week, as we received our youngest gangstar’s backstory and watched him fight a giant friggin’ spider. Between that spider and Narancia’s wonderfully straightforward “I guess I’ll just burn down the whole city” gambit, this episode delighted in terms of its dramatic invention, and also offered plentiful stylish compositions in its final act. Golden Wind normally leans more on shadowy, detailed faceups than big environmental compositions, but Narancia’s inferno facilitated some ambitious and arresting shots here, and built into one of the better gunslinger faceoffs we’ve seen. It was also unsurprisingly a lot easier to invest in Narancia’s fortunes once we actually knew him a little, even if his tactics generally limited themselves to stuff like “I’ll blow all that up” and “I’ll set all those things on fire.” Sometimes the direct approach is best!
Tsurune offered us the hinted Seiya-focused episode this week, which turned out to be terrific in all manner of ways. This episode’s first half felt like one of the most gorgeous single stretches of Tsurune so far, embracing a vivid golden color palette and using a mixture of beautiful pillow shots, hazy closeups, and striking long shots to evoke an incredibly tangible sense of giddy youth and longing. Combined with Tsurune’s convincingly mundane incidental dialogue, it perfectly captured the sense of joy Seiya seemed to feel simply being in the orbit of his friends, regardless of his own personal feelings.
The episode’s second half was far heavier, and made Seiya’s feelings painfully clear through its cloudy skies and brief flashbacks. It’s become increasingly clear that Seiya himself doesn’t really find much joy in archery, but feels strongly motivated to cultivate Minato’s passion – and learning that Seiya considered himself responsible for both Minato’s injury and likely his mother’s death made that totally understandable. Over time, it seems like Seiya’s sense of guilt had slowly transformed into a sort of responsibility or even ownership. He feels like Minato’s happiness is his to ensure, and so the double blow of Shu telling him to give up and Masaki seemingly taking his own place bred an understandable sense of resentment. Of course, none of these stewing feelings were illustrated directly – but as always, the emotional substance of these characters’ lives was made tangible entirely through the harsh blues, isolating compositions, and smart use of rain as a dramatic tool. Tsurune continues to impress all through its second half.
Last up, Thunderbolt Fantasy roared towards its end this week with an episode heavy on climactic fights, particularly when it came to our good friend the Hunting Fox. While I loved the Enigmatic Gale’s “if I don’t see someone get their just and painful deserts I’m gonna lose it” line, I have to imagine he missed the Hunting Fox’s battle, because Damn. The switch from his zombie minions helping him defeat Lang to beating his ass in the hands of Shang was a masterful twist, and perfectly appropriate for Shang’s character. All while Xiao was cackling about the “burden of leadership,” I was thinking to myself how effortlessly Shang would handle this situation, and seeing Shang indeed defeat him exactly that easily was a wonderful payoff. I’m never sure what to expect from an episode of Thunderbolt Fantasy, but “breakdancing zombie puppets kick a pot right into the Hunting Fox’s stupid face” is a very fine answer.
