I couldn’t just stop with the series, right? Today I offer my second long-form review of Hideaki Anno’s stunning masterwork, this time tackling the apocalyptic film that served as the series’ heart-wrenching epilogue. All of the psychological richness and aesthetic beauty of Evangelion is paid off in full through this astonishing film, a film just as beautiful and relevant decades after its first release. I hope you enjoy my review.
Today I’ve got a review that perhaps a few of you might be interested in – my sprawling, exhaustive reflection on Neon Genesis Evangelion as a whole, as I tackle a formal review of the show’s twenty-six episode run for Anime News Network. This was a genuinely intimidating project to take on, and I worked as hard as I could to do the series justice, in all its rambling narrative poignancy and greater industry influence. Returning to Evangelion was a thrilling reminder of just how powerful anime can be, and I was happy to lend my own few thoughts to the dialogue on this wonderful show. I hope you enjoy my piece!
I’m pretty excited about this season, you guys. By the end of spring, my active anime roster had diminished to basically just JoJo, leaving me wondering whether it was a genuinely weak anime season, or that I had simply lost my capacity for joy. But based on this summer’s fantastic slate of premieres, the problem definitely wasn’t me. Screw you, spring! How dare you make me doubt my sunny disposition!
Anyway. The spring season’s crimes aside, this past week has offered a satisfying array of anime premieres in a wide variety of genres, leaving me with much to watch and much else to recommend. Big shonen titles like Fire Force and Dr. Stone had premieres ranging from solid to transcendent, while high-profile adaptations like Vinland Saga and O Maidens have deftly captured the strengths of their source material. From idol shows to space adventures to cop dramas and beyond, the summer season is brimming with worthy anime – and having marathoned my way through nearly all of them, I’m eager to pass my findings on to you. My work on Anime News Network’s preview guide means I’ve already written extended reviews of basically everything, and it’s time at last to condense those reams of text into a highly reductive and hopefully informative breakdown, starting with the season’s most brightly glimmering gems, and running down to its most odorous piles of garbage. Let’s get to it!
That’s fucking right, I somehow also wrote a Why It Works column during this ridiculous hell weekend. It’s about Fire Force, features some detailed breakdowns of the show’s visual merits, and I have no more time to continue to describing it. I’m off to continue my rampage through the season premieres, so please enjoy!
Five Highlights of the Fire Force Anime’s Thrilling Debut!
We are well and truly in the thick of it now, folks. With five premieres on Friday, three more yesterday, and apparently four new ones coming today, I’m currently overwhelmed by cartoons to critique, and firing off reviews as fast as I can. Today I’ve got a fresh roundup of those ongoing reviews, along with some overall good news – so far, pretty much everything I was anticipating has actually turned out pretty great! You can check out the full list of shows and review links here, or scroll below for a list of my own rankings and individual page links. Let’s get to it!
Well everybody, the summer season is well and truly here. We haven’t yet reached the full deluge of new arrivals (that delightful downpour will be arriving some time this weekend), but there have been a steady trickle of new premieres all through this week, and the time has come for my first review roundup. The opening to this season has actually been pretty gentle – not only has nothing been so bad that it tarnished my remaining faith in human nature, but we’ve actually already run through two shows I would genuinely recommend, and one I’m almost certainly going to be sticking with for the season. As usual, you can check out the full list of ANN previews right here, or scroll below for my quick ratings and links to individual reviews. Let’s get to it!
Today on Why It Works, I dug into the key staff behind the new season’s Fire Force, because holy crap does this show have a great staff. The director Yuki Yase in particular has been a force at SHAFT for years now, and though it’s sad to see SHAFT losing so much key talent, I’m excited to see what he does with a major production like this. The wild card, as always, will be the writing – there’s plenty of strong studio talent here, but if the obnoxious comedy that knocked me off Soul Eater is prominent enough, none of that will matter. Here’s to hoping Fire Force is a story worthy of its excellent team!
Meet the Staff of the Upcoming Fire Force!
Settle in everybody, we’re watching more Scorching Ping Pong Girls! After a long run of match-filled episodes introducing the main team, Ping Pong Girls slowed down for the first time last episode, and used Hokuto’s family store to emphasize the importance of the unconditional friendships uniting our heroes. It was a charming episode that demonstrated Ping Pong Girls’ slice of life elements can be just as satisfying as its sports elements, while also clearly setting this show’s thematic axis on the importance of friends who love you for who you are. The use of color to illustrate how Hanabi’s presence impacted Hokuto’s life was an effective trick, and the villain Futamaru’s introduction was as wonderfully stupid as I might have hoped. On the whole, as always with this show, it was a very nice time.
That episode also left me more than eager to see these girls actually engage in some doubles matches. I’ve never seen a slice of life property pair up its characters quite this aggressively – every member of Agari and Koyori’s team has a specific partner they trust completely, and having spent so much time building up these relationships, I can’t wait to see those bonds paid off through thrilling acts of teamwork on the ping pong court. With only half a season left, my guess is that we’re about to witness a disastrous practice match that will both set up the threat of our opponents and serve as motivation to succeed in the actual tournament. But either way, I’m happy to be watching more of this consistently charming and often thrilling production. Let’s get to it!
Planetes’ second volume describes the allure of conquering space in familiar terms, as it sets the stage for protagonist Hachimaki’s attempts to join the first manned voyage to Jupiter. Its synopsis opens with “in the history of space travel, many great men have forged the way into great frontiers, and many great men have died so that others may continue further into the great reaches of space.” It goes on to describe Hachimaki’s dream of traveling to Jupiter and joining this hallowed pantheon, but its frame of reference for history and society is already set by those first few words. Though Planetes is about many things, in its second volume, it could perhaps most clearly be described as a story about the mythology of the Great Man.
Anime was good again, folks! After a punishing drought, my seasonal contenders emerged with episodes that were, if not full returns to each of their strengths, at least indicative of their potential. Demon Slayer had one of its most visually astounding episodes yet, with the tight geometric confines and perspective-based conceit of its latest battle allowing ufotable’s team to pull off a truly astonishing spectacle. Carole & Tuesday finally felt like it was regaining some momentum, and gave us our first new song by its leads in three weeks. And JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure continued to center its drama on an extremely no-nonsense talking turtle, a choice which obviously justifies itself. There’s plenty more details to discuss, so let’s dive right into another Week in Review!