Oh shit you guys it’s happening. The battle’s been set and the stakes have been raised – time for Trigger to kill everybody.
Or not. Who knows!? The old rules don’t apply anymore – Honnouji Academy has in one character reveal switched from antagonist to uneasy rival (OR POSSIBLY ALLY?????), and Kill la Kill will never be the same. Personally, hey, I’m ready for some blood. As long as it’s not Mako’s.
Never Mako’s.
Alright, KyoAni. Let’s do this. There’ve been stumbles in the past, crippling, foundation-withering stumbles, but these last two episodes have been pretty goddamn kickass. Last episode’s finale in particular was a real standout sequence – if you build on that, you can at least make a respectable landing. This show ultimately failed to be the show I was looking for, but… but goddamnit, it’s still a show! Let’s finish strong.
What can I even say about this week? Everything got ridiculous. Everything got climactic. Everything got cathartic. I’ve dropped everything I was iffy on, and all the shows I’ve enjoyed are pulling off thrilling finales. Let’s get slobbery.
Enough dillydallying! Time to discover the secret of Nadeko’s closet!
Oh jeez, two episodes to go. Last episode made me a little worried about this series’ conclusion, but I’ve heard this one steers the focus back onto the family, so that’s a relief. It’s honestly kind of terrifying to me to watch a show as good as this one as it’s airing – as with my OreGairu writeups, I pretty much approach every episode praying “don’t screw up, don’t screw up” to myself. The easiest way for this show to screw up would be for it to forget its own strengths – its careful character focus and ability to build intimate family moments. And it wouldn’t be at all hard for the show to do this – finales naturally tend towards bombast, the original ONA for this series was bombastic as fuck, and the busyness of the conflict with Shrine and need to save the Mirror City could easily overwhelm the small character conflicts the show spent its first six episodes building. To stick the landing, this show will need to avoid indulgence and keep the focus on its fundamental emotional truth. Many shows feature a lot of busy stuff happening – few shows are able to make their events mean something.
Back on the airwaves, this time discussing the third Madoka film with IvIin, Kelloggs, and Aeroblip. Even if you haven’t seen the film, the first section of this podcast is spoiler-free, so you can get a glimpse of our overall impressions regardless. If you have seen it, this podcast is pretty damn thorough as far as our thoughts on narrative, themes, and production are concerned, and I think each of us brings a pretty distinct perspective to the table. Get on over there and give it a listen!
And we’re back. Last episode was quite an upset – plot-wise and direction-wise, I thought it was actually pretty fantastic. Atmospheric, creative, full of nice little details… on its own, I felt it was a very strong episode. That said, I’m pretty much never a fan of this “care about characters in retrospect” style of reveal – of all the things to keep as a secret, I think “the reason you should be invested in what’s happening” is about the worst possible choice. Felt it was a bad choice in Fate/Zero (I found that show’s entire first half pretty much emotionally sterile, and scattering the events of the longer flashback sequence from season 2 throughout would have probably fixed that entirely), felt it was a bad choice here. The only way I feel it can work is if you’re already invested in the characters involved – and that not being the case here was pretty much the fatal flaw for what was in the abstract an extremely compelling episode.
But negativity aside, great direction and smart storytelling are nothing to sneeze at, and last episode had plenty of those. I’ve also heard this episode has animation out to here, so that should be fun. Let’s get to it!
Were you expecting some funny announcer? Too bad! It’s me, Bobduh. Can’t keep that shit up all season!
You guys excited? I’m excited. Ryuuko looks excited. I guess we’re all excited. The Elite Four likely defeated, new characters introduced, the secret behind Senketsu possibly revealed – we’ve got all kinds of crazy shit on the table. It’s a battle between Satsuki’s ideals, Ryuuko’s hot-blooded spirit, NUUUUUUUUDIST BEEEEEEEACH, and a new challenger, and I have no fucking clue where they’re going with this. Let’s Kill la Kill!
Welp, the season’s winding down and, as always, with it comes both rising tension in our favorite shows and a bracing awareness of our inescapable mortality. Let’s run down the list!
Management: Just a mini-question today, since I found myself searching the archives for this and realized I’d never posted it in the first place. Organization!
Question:
Are shows starring adults meaningfully different from those starring teenagers? Are shows set in college meaningfully different from those set in middle or high school? I ask because I see this distinction made all the time, but generally it doesn’t seem meaningfully different outside of a setting/character-appearance sense.
