As we enter the second half of winter, this season’s diverse anime titans only continue to impress me. I actually don’t really know if there’s anything I’m missing – I normally desire a pretty balanced mix of fantasy/action, thematically rich stuff to dig into, and psychologically compelling character drama, and this season is offering all of that in spades. To be honest, even if nothing were airing but Mob Psycho 100, this season would still be filling out all those categories with ease. Basically the only category I care for that it doesn’t shine in is “goofy, warm-hearted palate cleanser,” and as it just so happens, this season also features a Tsutomu Mizushima show. The anime is fun, the anime is great, I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing me stretch for preamble. Let’s dispense with the formalities then, and get right to breaking down another week in anime!
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure continued its string of altogether solid episodes, though this week’s entry was perhaps a bit more unbalanced than recent fare. Instead of offering a traditional JoJo battle, this episode was split between Bucciaratti’s backstory and meeting the boss, with these two halves conveniently demonstrating the various consequences of Golden Wind’s aesthetic focus.
On the one hand, Bucciaratti entering this mafia boss’s domain was the kind of environmentally-focused conflict that could really have benefited from Diamond’s holistic layouts and neater linework. Bucciaratti’s journey felt imposing enough as-is, but the combination of relatively mundane background art and sometimes awkwardly clashing character outlines made it less intense than it could have been. On the other hand, Bucciaratti’s backstory was the kind of intimate, viscerally ugly experience that works perfectly with Golden Wind’s expressive character art and intentionally grotesque style. Meanwhile, in narrative terms, both the increasingly flexible use of Sticky Fingers and the wonderfully specific powers of King Crimson demonstrate Araki’s creativity when it comes to stands is only broadening all the time. On the whole, this episode wasn’t a true standout, but it was a fine role player in an increasingly impressive arc.
Run with the Wind offered an entirely unnecessary reconfirmation of its fundamental excellence this week, as it continued cashing in on all the dramatic hooks it’s seeded so far, and making great use of its loving ensemble cast all the while. Though the first half of this episode was largely dedicated to settling narrative odds and ends before the big race, including a brief flashback to explain Haiji’s history, the real payoff came when Haiji started breaking down each of their roles in the race.
As with last week’s drive over the course to come, this monologue naturally combined the tactical intrigue of managing a race like this with our built-in understanding of and fondness for Wind’s ensemble cast, resulting in a sequence that was equally satisfying as both a validation of their journeys so far and as a tantalizing preview of how the race will go. Though it didn’t surprise me to see a sudden sickness throw a last-minute wrench in our team’s plans, at this point, I don’t even know if this show needs new drama. It has wound up our understanding of this race and these characters for eighteen episodes now, and I’m ready to see them fly.
The journey down to Ash Lake made this week’s Kemurikusa feel even more atmospheric than usual, though a good deal of that also came down to this episode’s excellent musical score. In spite of its blocky character models and generally simplified backgrounds, Kemurikusa is consistently able to create a remarkably convincing sense of place, with its sound and visuals making the absolute most of each new strange venue. It was inherently engaging simply to walk with Wakaba and Rin through the strange landscape of Island 7, with the combination of evocative background details and melancholy vocal hymns neatly expressing the sad beauty of this fallen world. That appeal, combined with Ritsu’s heartbreakingly vivid relief at finding “safety,” made for yet another episode that seemed far too charming to make me this sad. I know this whole genre space is one of my kryptonites, and that “clinging to personal bonds in the face of global catastrophe” is basically an emotional gimme in today’s world, but god is Tatsuki good at what he does.
It was Kate’s turn for a focus episode on The Magnificent Kotobuki, and she handled that responsibility about as well as possible. Actually, to be entirely honest, how well this episode built Kate into a relatively sympathetic person, complete with her own internal character arc and everything, definitely surprised me. Her initial character wasn’t a person, it was a default archetype – she was the “monotone calculating one,” a character type that naturally lends itself to shows which need immediately distinctive ensemble casts, but which is almost impossible to later retrofit into a convincing human being. By framing this episode around Kate initially distrusting the fantasy of fiction, only to later see its value through how it helped her teammate connect with her own brother, Kotobuki was able to find a convincing person beneath this archetype, all while offering yet another tightly composed dogfighting drama. Some shows make this shit look easy.
The vast majority of this week’s Mob Psycho 100 felt like a thoroughly earned validation of all the growth this show’s diverse cast have undergone over the past two seasons. Mob’s commitment to completing this 5k run offered a perfect opportunity for him to demonstrate his own growing self-confidence and commitment to personal goals, while also emphasizing the firmness of his friendships and general support structure. Reigen and Dimple were as supportive as they’ve ever been, and the hints at Tsubomi’s “true nature” were very intriguing. It seems like they’re setting up Tsubomi as one of the secretly cleverest members of the cast, and I’m excited to see how her vague, distant guardianship of Mob’s personal life ultimately resolves.
And then they killed Mob’s parents.
Frankly, it’s too early in whatever arc we’ve just entered for me to even comment on that one – all we know for sure is that “Mob saw something that looked like his family’s bodies and now he’s lost control.” But it was certainly a cruel ending to this week’s episode, undercutting that joyful validation and leaving us all to suffer through another week for context. It would seem we’re finally entering this season’s version of the Claw arc, and given everything so far has already eclipsed Mob’s first season, I can’t even imagine how this will play out. Mob Psycho currently has my heart in a vice grip, and there’s not much I can do about it.
