I’ll just come out and say it – this week kinda sucked. Almost everything on the weaker half of my list either hit a season low point or continued a losing streak, and even Shirobako’s episode was only “great.” I felt kinda awkward just dropping sad remark after sad remark, but this was just not a respectable week for a lot of shows. Fortunately, the top tier remains strong, and that’s definitely the most important thing. Both Death Parade and Maria nailed absolutely critical episodes, Yuri Kuma didn’t make any real missteps, and Shirobako just settled back into “a very solid Shirobako episode.” The season isn’t ending gracefully for some, but things are still gonna be okay. Let’s run ’em down!
Author Archives: Bobduh
Yuri Kuma Arashi – Episode 9
The bears have returned! After a week off, we finally get to see the results of last episode’s asshole cliffhanger. What was said in the rain? Has Kureha murdered Ginko? Will love survive? ONLY THE BEARS KNOW.
Alright, enough of that, let’s get to the episode.
Fullmetal Alchemist and the Promise of Power
Management: This piece is about the 2003 series. Please refrain from or at least clearly mark spoilers regarding Brotherhood in the comments!
Alchemy is the promise of power.
That doesn’t sound particularly profound – it sounds obvious, actually. Clearly stories of alchemy are stories of men of science attempting to harness the unharnessable, to make the laws of the universe bend to their will, to achieve great things. But in the case of Fullmetal Alchemist, “power” doesn’t necessarily mean “strength” or “possibility.” Power can simply mean knowing your strength exists, and the world is a place you have the chance to affect.
Alchemy is the promise of control.
Rolling Girls – Episode 9
Rolling Girls took a turn towards character drama this week, which unfortunately meant we had to grapple with the fact that the show has spent this entire season ignoring its main cast in order to futz around with side characters. Futzing around with side characters is fine, but if the show was going to eventually turn to this, it really needed to do more meaningful work humanizing its main cast – as is, this came off as a turn I wish worked, but just wasn’t supported by the show. A shame.
My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!
Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works – Review
Awww yeah, let’s start some fires. Yep, reviewed the newest Fate series for ANN, which has already sparked several pages of Type Moon-flavored forum shenanigans. Honestly, I don’t think my actual piece is controversial in the slightest, but you can’t really talk about Fate without making fans mad. As for the show itself, it’s a fun ride! I like how the character work builds off what we know from Fate/Zero, and the action scenes are goddamn fantastic. Hope you enjoy the review!
Log Horizon II – Episode 22
In addition to just being another one of those slow-ass episodes full of cake and gags that Log Horizon occasionally stumbles through, this episode also featured what felt like the show’s first potential narrative misstep, in the “woooo aliens did it” explanation for Elder Tale’s genesis. The show’s obviously built up enough trust that I’m hopeful it will turn out in an interesting way, but Roe 2’s initial explanation struck me as one of the least interesting ways this show could have resolved its underlying issues.
On the plus side, while I didn’t really like this episode, I’m quite happy with my explanation of why I didn’t like this episode. So here’s that full writeup! Notes below, as always…
Parasyte – Episode 21
Alright, back on steadier ground. This wasn’t a great episode, but there was good material here, and after last week’s episode I’m just happy to see the show isn’t falling apart altogether. The Hirakawa material reflected fairly well on the show’s progress so far, the big Gotou fight was actually pretty engaging outside of the stupid shounen dialogue, and I’m still enjoying seeing a far less mopey Shinichi. Looks like we’ll be getting out of this with dignity intact!
My full ANN post is available here. Took a bunch of notes this time, and they’re all below!
Winter 2015 – Week 8 in Review
Highs and lows this week, with stellar performances from Shirobako, Death Parade, and even Rolling Girls, but some real stinkers from Parasyte, Yatterman Night, and others. Honestly not a strong week overall – several of the more reliable shows really dropped the ball, and there’s only so much Shirobako can do to save the entire week by itself. Come on, anime. I know you’ve come to lean on Shirobako, but you gotta at least put out an effort. Shirobako’s not gonna be here to save you forever.
Alright, that’s enough talking about Shirobako, let’s talk about Shirobako. RUNNING ‘EM DOWN!
The Eccentric Family – Review
I got to take another crack at Eccentric Family! Which is good, because I never felt all that happy with my original essay on the show. This one doesn’t go as deep into the show’s central themes, since you can’t really focus entirely on that within a standard review structure, but it also doesn’t just retell the entire damn story. I hopefully was able to articulate the key reasons the show is so great this time, and man, is the show ever great. Plenty to talk about!
My full review is available over on ANN. I don’t have a full rewatch’s worth of notes this time, since this was actually my fourth watch of the show, and thus after the first couple episodes I didn’t really feel it was necessary. But I do have classic timestamp writeups for the entire show, along with new notes for the first couple episodes below. Enjoy!
Log Horizon II – Episode 21
Well, the kids’ arc ended, and with it Log Horizon’s recent insane hot streak. This was a cooldown episode, full of little end-tyings and new beginnings and small character moments. It was fine enough at that, though it is always a little sad when Log Horizon gears down out of one of its peaks. If only all the episodes were that good!
It’s also a shame to think we won’t get another arc like that for literally years, given that Log Horizon has more or less run out of source material, but there’s still plenty of story to tell, and we’ve still got a few episodes left regardless. Gotta stay positive.
My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!