We returned to exposition hell this week, but at least the stuff the characters were talking about was less boring than Alfheim worldbuilding lore. I guess it’s time for an Asuna arc? I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing a chapter of SAO that Kirito sleeps through entirely.
This week wasn’t as strong as the last, but it actually paid off a bunch of the work the show’s been doing so far, and its big setpiece scene was wonderful. I feel like Log Horizon 2 isn’t always hitting the mark it aims at, but it’s at least trying to do things – it’s attempting to rise to a level of drama and character development that the first season never really engaged in. I can respect that, even if the show isn’t as good as it’s trying to be.
Aw shit, started on my full show reviews! First up is Stardust Crusaders Part One, which in my expert opinion is pretty good I guess. It took me a while to get set up for these posts, but I’ll probably be posting reviews on a near weekly basis from here on out. CHEER FOR ME, SENPAI.
Yep, it’s finally time for that scene. I really enjoyed this episode, and am loving how consistently and intelligently this show is hammering on Shinichi’s simplistic morals. The brutality of animal nature doesn’t need to be expressed through the actions of the parasites – the humans are doing all that work for them. And hey, always good to see Miyuki Sawashiro again.
Not much to report – this season is very easily the best of the year, pretty much every show I’m invested in is putting out stellar episodes, and I’ve dropped almost everything I’m not enjoying. At this point, the only real hanger-on is actually Psycho-Pass – I feel kind of committed to finishing it, but I’m not really enjoying the stuff it’s doing. On the other hand, KimiUso, Bahamut, Shirobako, Parasyte – any of them could comfortably be the best show of another season, and none of them show any sign of falling apart. It’s a good time to cartoon.
This week was easily, far and away the best episode of Log Horizon S2. I guess this is kind of what Log Horizon does? We slowly gather pieces, set up conflicts, establish character issues, and then all that work is paid into the conclusions. That seems like an oversimplification, though – frankly, this episode almost felt like it was created by an entirely different director. Maybe it was? The scenes bounced and built off each other, the shot framing actually elevated the mood, and there was even an impressive and well-directed fight scene at the end. More of this, please.
We finished off SAO’s filler arc this week, which was, eh, fine. We sort of got a sliders plate of SAO flavors across this thing – one episode of awful exposition, one episode of solid animation, and one episode of inoffensive action scenes and banter between the leads. Even thought Kirito is one of this show’s Big Problems, his inherent ridiculousness is simultaneously one of the most entertaining things here when the show’s not actively striving for emotional gravitas. I mean…
Oh jeez Parasyte had a great episode big woop snore. This episode had tons of great small sequences and was smart as fuck, so there’s only really the one awkward thing to talk about – the music. I didn’t have much of a problem with it in the first three episodes, but it felt particularly obnoxious this week – the first fight and the dramatic music used for Ryoko’s scene with Shinichi were particularly poorly scored. The show’s still great though, so eh, I’ll live.
With two more shows dropped this week, it’s looking like I’m finally approaching some kind of sustainable schedule. Thursdays are still goddamn ridiculous, and who knows if I’ll ever catch up on Mushishi, but the weekend is starting to look kind of manageable at this point. All the shows I’m most enjoying are still extremely impressive – Shirobako, KimiUso, FSN, and Bahamut all put out possibly their best episodes this week, and Parasyte held pretty steady. Let’s run them down!
I actually liked this one! It wasn’t, you know, mindblowing or anything, but it moved well, had some great fight animation, and the jokes actually landed for me. This one gets to join Sinon’s introduction and the last episode of GGO in the “maybe you’re not so bad after all, SAO” pile.
