Let’s get back to Ojamajo Doremi! Last episode saw Doremi and the gang experiencing a bit of a paradigm shift, as Majo Rika’s gambling ways resulted in her losing ownership of her own shop to her nemesis. At this point, Majo Rika is been reduced to living out of a van that also double as the gang’s new store. It’s actually a pretty cozy place, so I wouldn’t mind the show sort of idling here (no pun intended) as the new normal before actually resolving this whole Majo Rika plot. It’s been a little while since we’ve had a classmate-focused episode, so I’d be happy to see one of those as well. Either way, change is afoot in Ojamajo Doremi. Let’s get right to it!
Author Archives: Bobduh
Classroom of the Elite – Episode 11
Classroom of the Elite’s final arc had its second major misstep this week, as it attempted to pull off a structural trick that really stretched the limits of its aesthetic capabilities. Visual storytelling isn’t just garnish – your show’s ability to convey information outside of dialogue inherently dictates your dramatic range, and “slowly building pressure cooker” is well outside Classroom’s tool set. Still, I guess I have to give the show props for trying something different.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
Tsuredure Children – Episode 12
We finally bid goodbye to Tsuredure Children this week, at least for the moment. This episode wasn’t much of a conclusion, but it was still a fine episode of Tsuredure Children, and that’s a very good thing to be. I’ll pick up the manga if I have to, but I do hope we get a second season eventually – there are few romantic comedies out there as funny, charming, or genuinely incisive as Tsuredure Children. See you next time, you incredible dorks.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
Summer 2017 – Week 11 in Review
It’s time again for the week in review! This week in anime was… acceptable, I guess? When you’re only really hanging any hopes on three shows, the caliber of your week is pretty easy to diagnose. And this particular week, all the things I’m caring about pulled off episodes that were reasonable, but not exceptional. On the plus side, Rick and Morty’s third season continued to impress, offering a replacement for interdimensional cable that easily eclipsed that tradition’s lukewarm reprise. And hey, we’re basically at the end of the season anyway. If this fart of a season wants to go quietly into the night, I won’t complain. Either way, let’s start with the anime frontrunners and run this week down!
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya – Review
After weathering a rewatch of the very inconsistent Haruhi Suzumiya TV series, it was wonderful to learn that Disappearance was actually even better than I remembered. Takemoto is a terrific director, and Disappearance is easily one of the most compelling stories in the franchise so far. I had a whole bunch to say about this film’s visual storytelling, and watching it just made me even more eager to get to High Speed. Haruhi Suzumiya may not be as great a franchise as I remembered, but Disappearance is a tremendous sendoff to one of the 00s’ stranger phenomenons.
You can check out my full review over at ANN.
Fall 2017 Season Preview
Holy crap everyone, it’s time for the season preview. Season previews are exciting to me even in the most mundane of times, and this is far from that. Personally, this summer season has been the least interesting batch of anime since I started watching seasonally (which was… three… five?… nevermind years ago). In contrast, the upcoming season is packed with returning favorites, unexpected revivals, intriguing adaptations, and promising anime originals. It would be very nearly impossible for this coming season to undercut my current 3.5 show roster, and it’s actually looking quite likely that I might have to sacrifice even some promising shows just for the sake of time. Summer may be ending, but a new anime dawn is approaching!
As usual, I won’t be running down every single upcoming show in this list. You can check a site like anichart if that’s what you’re looking for, and can also easily find all upcoming synopses there as well. What I will be focusing on are the shows I think are promising, along with laying out whatever reasons I might have for believing in them, be that solid source material or talented staff or just a great first season. Let’s start with my most anticipated prospects and run this season down!
Why It Works: My Hero Academia’s Final Exams: Preliminary Report
Today on Why It Works, I jumped back to My Hero Academia for a pretty silly concept piece. My Hero Academia’s sturdy tactical foundations both make its action very satisfying and also make it a rewarding show to break down in a narrative sense, and today I spun that quasi-criticism into an after-action report. “Who would win in a fight, Goku or Naruto” is generally not the most illuminating genre of criticism, but My Hero Academia is actually constructed in such a way that it rewards such in-universe tactical discussions. I had fun with this piece, and I hope you enjoy it too!
My Hero Academia’s Final Exams: Preliminary Report
Chihayafuru – Episode 10
Let’s get back to Chihayafuru! With her team fully established and a tournament goal already in sight, last episode saw Chihaya and the gang setting up a grueling training regimen. I had somewhat mixed feelings on how the episode handled Chihaya’s behavior there – it initially seemed like the show was going to acknowledge that Chihaya was acting in a pretty terrible way, but the finale saw her teammates forgiving her in a way that seemed like the show tonally supported her actions. Chihaya’s let’s-plow-ahead exuberance is her most powerful quality, but her actions aren’t always justified, and I’m hoping the show mines that for interesting drama eventually. Either way, we’re fast approaching the school team’s first tournament, so let’s get to it!
One Piece – Volume 14
The battle with Baroque Works continues in One Piece’s fourteenth volume, within the leafy confines of Little Garden. The initial conceit of Little Garden was “this is an island where the creatures are huge, but still dwarfed by the resident giants.” Those giants actually get more or less pushed aside in a narrative sense here, which I frankly didn’t mind at all. Their single-minded emphasis on “honorable battle” doesn’t really do anything for me, and though Usopp’s adoration of their focus is pretty adorable, I couldn’t really buy into their feelings purely for his sake. Instead, this volume quickly resolves the giants’ battle, and moves on to something much more exciting – the next showdown with the agents of Baroque Works.
Classroom of the Elite – Episode 10
Classroom of the Elite’s tenth episode continued this arc’s very solid run, easily establishing this as the most consistent arc of the show so far. It’s a little unfortunate that the show’s ending right around the same time it becomes consistently watchable, but I suppose that’s just another of the odd quirks of watching not-so-great anime. Regardless, I’m happy things are going well, and hope Classroom can hold it together through the end.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.