To the likely surprise of no-one, I spent last week desperately assaulting a fortress of professional responsibilities both fresh and familiar, and have at this point come to terms with the fact that I’m probably not catching up on O Maidens before the end of the season. Fortunately, the shows I’m still sticking with offered more than enough to ramble about, and Given in particular is turning out to be one of the most unexpected gems of the year so far. Though the show’s visuals are a little restrained, its richness of character and acuity of dialogue run circles around most anime, with each episode leaving me even more impressed with its scripting, and even more invested in its stars. It’s definitely my breakout pick of the season, so let’s start with that one, as we run down one more Week in Anime!
Once again, Given pulled off one of the most emotionally acute, convincingly observed, and just-plain-devastating conversations of the year this week, with Mafuyu’s long-awaited reckoning with his old friends counting as one of the show’s most impressive sequences so far. The weight of Mafuyu’s guilt and the bitterness he felt towards his former friends ran like an electric current through his long-awaited explosion, as he finally lashed out at Hiiragi, finally expressed some portion of the sorrow he’s been experiencing. And yet as always, this was a quiet explosion, a totally believable expression of conflicting but equally sympathetic responses to a senseless and world-shaking tragedy. Like all the best character dramas, Mafuyu’s anger and his subsequent, hard-earned forgiveness simultaneously paid off and enriched our understanding of his personality; as with a real person, learning something new about these characters always implies there’s even more to learn.
Though this show’s character writing and dialogue are already well above the grade you can generally expect from anime dramas, this sequence also offered plentiful demonstrations of how important Given’s direction is to the impact of its drama. Mid-distance shots, closeups of characters’ shoes, and angles emphasizing the claustrophobia of their sanctuary really hammered in the immediacy and painful vulnerability of the moment, all leading up to that wonderful turn of Mafuyu taking a clear step forward, and inviting Hiiragi to the show. Given’s art design and animation are only so-so, but its writing and storyboarding are so strong that it’s hard to complain; unless the fall season has some unimaginable trick up its sleeve, I’m guessing Given will stand as the best drama of the year.
Granbelm’s latest episode finally brought Suishou’s meddling into the realm of the Granbelm itself, as she squared off against all three of her remaining competitors. In terms of outright spectacle, this was definitely a less impressive battle than the dedicated Anna and Nene episodes, with more of a focus on beams and shouting than combat choreography or summoning one-upmanship. That made sense for a few reasons, though; not only was this more of an emotionally-driven conflict, with its resolution essentially hinging on Kuon coming to terms with her sister’s choices, but it was also essentially a fake-out battle leading into Suishou’s revelation about Mangetsu’s nature.
That said, it still felt like Granbelm’s animators were straining a bit this time, and I was more than happy to reach the end of Suishou’s cackling mastermind act. My very different reactions to this show’s various characters kinda feel like a natural expression of the various things people enjoy in giant robot narratives; I love the painful self-reflections of Shingetsu and Mangetsu, but got tired of Anna and Suishou’s melodramatic villain acts pretty much immediately. When your show’s character writing is drawing on such different narrative legacies at the same time, I guess a somewhat lopsided experience like this is only to be expected.
And last but rarely least, Carole & Tuesday continued its streak of fantastic episodes this week, as Carole & Tuesday’s festival reprise was accompanied by a terrific Angela performance, which simultaneously served as a triumphant coda to her Black Knight arc. Obsessive fans are fuckin’ terrifying, and at this point in online media culture, it feels like it’d be almost negligent to write a story about being an artist without including the threat of an obsessive stalker. Even as a person with only a few thousand followers, the threat of violent reprisal to basically anything I do or say is a constant factor in my professional life, and directly impacts what I’m willing to share or say online.
That said, Carole & Tuesday isn’t really “about” the perils of fame – it’s about the transformative, universal power of music, accompanied by a consistent interrogation of the similarities between music and politics as a source of inspiration or propaganda. In light of that, I was happy to see the Black Knight arc resolve itself as a validation of one of my favorite show threads – the charmingly prideful, defensive courtship between Angela and Tao. Those two are adorable, and it was nice to see him step up and affirm his dedication to Angela in the most dramatic way possible, by utterly scrambling the brains of an internet creep.
