Hello everyone, and welcome to the Week in Review. This summer’s slate of premieres was altogether far too entertaining, and has left me with a completely unsustainable slate of weekly viewing contenders. I’m sure you know what that means: it’s time to get ruthless. I can’t physically keep up with seven to nine weekly anime while also performing all my other anime-related duties, so something’s going to get the chopping block. A few properties are safe from this righteous culling – Vinland Saga is hanging above the fray due its three part premiere (not that I’d be dropping Vinland Saga either way), while Symphogear is probably just going to be watched in some marathon chunk as soon as the fourth season is fulling streaming. But for everything else, my judgement will be swift and merciless, and only the strong will survive. Let’s crack our knuckles and get down to work then, as we enter the Summer 2019 Week in Review Thunderdome!

The relative aesthetic mundanity of Dr. Stone’s premiere ended up giving it a strange sort of advantage in the thunderdome, as there was no real dip in execution for this second episode – the premiere’s hook was its story, and that hook remained strong in its followup. It’s kinda funny that in an age where “trapped in a videogame” narratives are completely inescapable in anime, one of the shows that best embodies their appeal never actually mentions them directly. Mastery of your environment, puzzle solving, resource acquisition, even “leveling up” and acquiring new class-based party members – Dr. Stone never directly alludes to videogame conventions, but its narrative takes full and satisfying advantage of the dramatic loops and perpetual sense of mastery and advancement that makes games fun. And instead of directly calling out its own contrived setups, the show sincerely leans into its game-like simplifications to the point of charming absurdity, like how a “fighter type” in this world can be revived from rock and immediately start punching lions. Dr. Stone is riding largely on the novelty and energy of its premise, but each chapter is still leaving me hungry for more.

Verdict: Provisionally Safe

In contrast, Fire Force had the most to lose entering its second episode, as its premiere impressed pretty much solely through its phenomenal direction and absurdly plentiful, impressive cuts of animation. Those aren’t strengths that can be maintained at full blast for a full series, and this episode was thus an inevitable let-down in visual terms, while also more clearly demonstrating this series’ various narrative weaknesses.

In that first episode, most of the storytelling was handled through cinematography. Consistent flashbacks to Shinra’s childhood conveyed his motives almost without words, and the ebb and flow of combat was clear in the episode’s clever use of color and precise action choreography. In contrast, this episode provided an unvarnished introduction to the presumed tone of the original manga, which resulted in a far more uneven experience. The big black mark was the comedy – Atsushi Okubo’s sense of humor is excruciatingly bad, and this episode’s even mix of “loud noises are funny, right?” and “sexism is hilarious!” offered a clear demonstration of his profound anti-talents. Fortunately, the episode’s second half was far better, and smartly dug into the tragedy inherent in this story’s premise. I expect Okubo’s attempts at jokes will be too much for me eventually, but for now, Fire Force’s execution remains strong enough for me to accept its significant failings.

Verdict: On Notice

Meanwhile, Granbelm’s second episode seemed almost fully dedicated to addressing my biggest complaint with its premiere – the lack of distinctive texture for its main characters. That lack wasn’t necessarily a major “flaw” of the premiere; with its flashy robot battles and quickly dispensed worldbuilding, the first episode was instead presenting the hard sell for a very different and likely more impatient audience. But I was certainly happy to see this episode filling in everything that episode lacked, illustrating Kohinata’s charming and very sympathetic character both through its terrific character acting and its satisfyingly sharp dialogue.

The first half of this episode was an endearing buffet of character acting and expression work, with Kohinata’s relatable reactions and carefully illustrated physical tics giving me a clear emotional entry point to the work, while also softening the tedium of its exposition. And then in the second half, her confessions regarding her lack of self-worth were lent a sharp emotional weight through the specificity of her phrasing, as well as how clearly she was struggling to maintain her upbeat facade while discussing her unhappy motivations. This episode upgraded Granbelm from “a fine demonstration of its genre mix” to an emotionally grounded story with a heroine already worth caring about, all without sacrificing any of the soap opera spectacle of the larger Granbelm tournament. I’m now genuinely excited to see where this one leads.

Verdict: Safe

Carole & Tuesday’s second half premiere certainly wasn’t a highlight, but also seemed to indicate we’ve well and truly escaped the show’s Mars Brightest doldrums. Carole & Tuesday is generally at its best when it’s foregoing nitty-gritty industry commentary to instead offer whimsical character vignettes, but this episode’s focus on record contract negotiations actually felt a lot stronger than earlier episodes’ reflections on artistic cross-promotion or talent shows. Gus’s fundamental question of “money or freedom” might seem simplistic, but it’s genuinely a question any creator who’s hoping to work professionally has to ask themselves, and re-ask themselves, all throughout their career. And given our stars’ response of “both,” his choice to decline their first contract also made genuine sense, while simultaneously leading this story in a direction that can better take advantage of its biggest strengths.

I was also happy to see the show expanding the roles of its secondary characters, as Angela settled into a charmingly tsun-tsun rival stance, and Mars’ Brightest’s head judge once again proved she was the best thing about that whole arc. The show also seems like it might be going in a pretty fertile thematic direction with Tuesday’s mother, as her team’s algorithmic approach to audience engagement seemed to mirror the approach of the Mars music industry itself, perhaps indicating a synchronicity between how the tyranny of the majority can impact both our artistic and political freedoms. A bit of a catching-up episode on the whole, but full of interesting nuggets that I’m eager to see pursued further.

Verdict: Safe

O Maidens in Your Savage Season also more or less stayed the course in its second episode, though for this show, “staying the course” means “presenting an incredibly honest and satisfyingly propulsive journey through the horrors of adolescent sexuality.” O Maidens’ uniquely frank approach to how teens approach sex here allowed it to broach topics that are rarely addressed in anime, but inescapable in real life – like how Niina has been forced to come to terms with her sexuality before she’s personally prepared to, because so many of the men in her life have sexualized her ever since she was a child.

Niina’s adventures with Kazusa shifted her position from being a sort of world-weary instigator to a completely understandable person, with both her interest in sexuality and preoccupation with death coming across as understandable reflections of her formative life experiences. Niina’s material was so fresh and strong that it almost felt like a letdown to return to the rest of the group’s childish mindsets, but the dynamic across this show’s main five is still funny as hell, and the show continues to barrel through romantic hangups and misunderstandings that could easily consume full arcs of other shows. Full steam ahead, intrepid young maidens.

Verdict: Safe

And finally, Astra: Lost in Space carried through on all the narrative promise of its first episode, while simultaneously casting some doubts on Masaomi Ando’s particular directorial decisions. In that first double-length premiere, the preeminence of space travel meant Ando’s choice to convey all terrestrial scenes through a letterbox style seemed like a quirky but understandable choice. In contrast, this episode’s entirely planetary setting meant that letterboxing mostly just meant we couldn’t appreciate the full beauty of this episode’s creative and richly realized jungle. Ando’s gimmicks have always been a bit more “directorial signatures” than thoughtfully considered responses to specific source material, and it’s frustrating seeing them so obviously clash with this narrative.

On the other hand, the actual narrative of this episode was terrific. All of Astra’s characters are convincingly lopsided in their strengths and weaknesses, and watching them bounce off each other is a joy to see. This was essentially a “Quitterie episode,” and she really made the most of it – her positions felt sympathetic even when she was just yelling at everyone (I mean, they were goofing around on a dangerous, unknown planet), and the big finale setpiece made terrific use of both her and Kanata’s distinct strengths. I also appreciate how Astra recognizes that Kanata’s ability to put himself in danger is itself an incredible and unique asset – these aren’t heroes-in-waiting, these are kids stuck in a disaster, and Kanata’s ability to set aside his personal fear to act strong for the group is a rare and powerful thing. Visual nitpicks aside, Astra remains a gripping and character-rich drama.

Verdict: Safe-ish