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!
Author Archives: Bobduh
Blue Flag – Volume 1
The first thing that struck me about Blue Flag was its attention to detail in terms of how clothing hangs on the bodies of its characters. For a great deal of manga, those classic school uniforms might as well be attached to the characters themselves, moving neatly in sequence with their own movements. But in Blue Flag, the unique stresses and hanging edges of clothes that don’t quite fit you are always apparent. You can see where the cast’s clothes stretch, see the lines of bone beneath the fabric, and see how different characters either successfully transform their uniforms into an expression of self, or resign themselves to the shapelessness of clothes that never quite fit them.
Hugtto! Precure – Episode 9
I’ve checked the stars, sifted through the tea leaves, and consulted with the Old Ones, and it is abundantly clear that it is time for more Hugtto! Precure. In the show’s last episode, the introduction of Henri prompted Homare to reconsider the trajectory of her life, and her decision to step back from the rigorous training demands of a classic professional skater trajectory. Henri frankly and convincingly argued that taking a break at this point could easily be detrimental to her career prospects – and in response, Homare argued with equal certainty that it was the close support of her friends that had given her the courage to return to the ice at all, and that their continued support gave her a kind of strength unreachable through personal effort alone.
Henri ultimately ceded to this argument, because Henri’s a pretty great character. The episode’s treatment of Henri was likely its greatest strength, from its positive framing of his androgynous, multiracial identity to the way it managed to cast him as an “episode antagonist” while still keeping his position consistently sympathetic. It was an episode that clearly demonstrated the strengths of Hugtto’s storytelling, and I’ve been eager to watch the next one for far too long. Let’s see what’s in store in the ninth Hugtto! Precure!
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion – Review
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.
Neon Genesis Evangelion – 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!
Summer 2019 – Virtually Every First Episode Retrospective
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!
Why It Works: Five Highlights of the Fire Force Anime’s Thrilling Debut
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!
Summer 2019 – First Impressions, Part Two
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!
Summer 2019 – First Impressions, Part One
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!
Why It Works: Meet the Staff of the Upcoming Fire Force!
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!
