Author Archives: Bobduh

Hunter x Hunter 2011 – Episode 87

Posted on by

Management: Late by a week, and this isn’t a show I’m actually covering, but it’s a very good show and this kind of covers a good number of the reasons why.

This show is so damn good. Everything is just so well-written and well-paced and well-directed and blah. It’s close to the only thing that I can watch as pure entertainment, because while everything that’s happening is right there on the surface, it’s also creative and professional and expertly produced. The characters, who all feed off their great visual design to be understandable in a few broad strokes of characterization. The humor, which builds off without defining the characters. The many-strained plotting, at its best in Yorkshin and again now in Chimera Ant, which seems more reminiscent of a tightly written thriller/drama than a shounen. The very understandable yet still creative system of battle, the ever-shifting definition of battle, the… alright, I’ll stop. This show is awesome, and I haven’t talked about it before, so I just wanted to set something down.

 

This episode actually features the most significant step in Gon’s character development we’ve seen yet, which is nice. He’s been repeatedly warned about his pride and headstrong nature becoming a threat to both himself and the people around here – but now, with Kite’s loss fresh in his mind, he’s finally acting on that, and restraining himself. This episode was also damn funny, with street punk’s (yeah, I don’t remember character names pretty much ever) soft side getting me every time, and crazy hair’s knife-shaking kind of lampshading how silly her overall presence has been. I also like how Bisky has learned to rely on how goddamn charming Gon and Killua are in crafting her training schedules – it wouldn’t have worked on a less charitable Hunter, but it’s a nice beat of progression in their relationship.

The Ant side displayed some of the efficient plotting this series excels in, revealing the Hunter organization’s battle strategy and powers in a couple efficient, pretty intimidating beats. The cracks in the assumed unity of the Ants as they embrace their human-imbued independent streaks are doing more and more damage to their organization, with the original ringleaders now scared to even ask Neferpitou for help. Neferpitou is obviously just the best – her character is the clear breakout of this arc, with her whimsical love of violence and boundless curiosity now leading her to become some kind of mad scientist. We also got a breakdown of the ants’ overall organization, as well as both their response and the Hunter organization’s counter-strategy. I really love how a show with powers and setups as wild as this one can always ground its conflicts in reasonable stakes – managing exposition to keep everything grounded while avoiding losing tension is a difficult trick, and this show pulls it off with ease. And then it finishes off with by adding a new variable and next-episode cliffhanger that naturally ratchets the tension of Gon and Killua’s training. Again, if shounen writing and direction were always this good, I’d be in real deep trouble.

Monogatari S2 – Episode 2

Posted on by

Please keep it classy, Monogatari. I know you gotta do your thing, and I know that in the long run one classless, objectifying episode wouldn’t exactly ruin the purposeful direction you exhibit elsewhere. Sure, it would introduce the strong presence of camera as voyeur and audience proxy, clashing horrifically with the generally character-centered direction and overtly objectifying the characters, devaluing them as people meant to be empathized with. But we could get past that – it’s not like Neko’s panties served much continuous purpose beyond the initial “Hanekawa exposed” metaphor. But seriously. Just… just don’t, Monogatari. Okay?

…let’s get it over with.

Episode 2

1:23 – “Araragi is Araragi.” He is a weird one. It’s nice to get a bit more reflection on his personality from an outsider perspective, considering he himself is honestly a bit more of a cypher than I’d like. Of course, that’s a complaint I’d level against many of the characters in this show, who’re often stylized to a degree that makes them utterly unrelatable or used as mouthpieces for Isin’s own self-indulgent banter. But Araragi… hm. He’s got that strong savior streak, which the show always punishes him for (which is I think a necessary quality in any semi-harem that wants to make actual points). He’s a huge, unabashed lech. He’s a pretty unreliable narrator, since the way he and thus often the camera itself views other characters is dependent on his current mood and relationship with them (one great example of this comes from Neko Black, where early on, when Araragi has just decided his feelings for Hanekawa are sexual-frustration-based lust, the camera is all over Karen, but when he comes back later after realizing Hanekawa’s in trouble and the situation is actually serious, Karen is utterly ignored). But then he’ll also whip out Isin’s crazy plot-resolving monologues, which honestly always come across as unbelievably aware of the subtext and themes in a way he very rarely demonstrates. Honestly, I’d really like for this series to humanize him a bit more – he’s too good at what he does

1:45 – “I’ll talk about that story a little later.” I still very much like how Hanekawa is so much more careful and precise in her narration than Araragi. I haven’t read the books, but I get the feeling this trick works even better here, where the camera is also so actively contributing to the storytelling

5:06 – Alright, that was fine. They just made a derpy joke of it, contrasting Hanekawa’s deadpan monologue with the fanservice. Not much else to it

6:19 – “We’ll have to sleep together. Rest assured. I won’t do anything.” Senjougahara’s having a whole lot of fun with their power balance being upended like this

6:25 – Is that her Araragi impression?  Either way, I like that we’re getting all these weird, ungainly Senjougahara faces now that the camera’s eye isn’t so tied to Araragi, who always sees her as terrifying and beautiful

8:33 – “Ever since I learned that, they’ve been irresistibly tasty.” It’s also funny seeing Senjougahara play against a straight man who isn’t at all intimidated by her – she comes off as much less imposing and mysterious, and more just kind of a weirdo

9:44 – “In that case, why don’t we tell each other the parts of Araragi that we like?” She’s calling your bluff, Senjou…

12:10 – Man, we even get Neko’s perspective, complete with sweet theme music? This season’s spoiling me

15:00 – “An apparition that sides with humans. That’s not that uncommon.” And becoming even less so! I kind of like that overall progression of the series – in Bake, basically all the apparitions are antagonists, aside from Shinobu’s hero turn at the end. In Nise, a human is the antagonist for each of the arcs, and the most prominent apparition is Araragi’s own sister. In Neko, the apparition only acts out Hanekawa’s own desires, and is actually forced by Hanekawa to continue causing mayhem and playing scapegoat. The ambiguity of the apparitions plays nicely with the other ambiguities scattered through the series (truth, family)

15:10 – This sequence is beautiful, by the way. And Shinbou is once again using quick, purposeful jump cuts to relate moments of panic or high tension

15:58 – “That girl saw me. That alone is important.” Hm. Obviously he’s stating his argument, but they emphasized that line a bit more than most, and this whole conversation has fixated on her seeing him being the catalyst, with his own presence being a given. Might be thematically relevant

Oh, forgot you guys were here. This is the first time I’ve done as-airing writeups for a Monogatari instead of just compiling things into an essay afterwards, so as with all Isin crap, I won’t always be offering immediate guesses on everything – normally this stuff builds over time towards a point that isn’t necessarily obvious at first

17:21 – “You won’t drain it all in an instant, right?” Speaking of that truth/appearances thing, Senjougahara’s kind of a nice representative for the series overall that way – her constant need to put up the appearance of strength is a kind of actual strength, since the result is the same. Kind of like the opposite of Hanekawa, who’s filled with improprietous anger but keeps up a completely civil front

It’s also just great seeing these two meet. I wonder if they’d get along better than Senjou and normal Hanekawa?

19:20 – “Were you aware butter and jam are things that exist?” Man, all this just so she can build up to actually advising Hanekawa on where to stay? You are the tsun-est of tsuns, Senjou

21:25 – Is Hanekawa’s lack of flavor preference supposed to reflect her general tendency to just go through the motions of what human beings do, or is Senjou actually just being tsun as all hell?

21:56 – “You accept everything that comes your way.” Hm. Seems to link with the Tiger’s “she saw me, and that’s all that matters” bit. Not enough there yet, though…

And Done

Ah, that’s interesting – reflecting her lack of preference for most elements of life against her alleged love of Araragi. That would make Senjou’s over-aggressiveness here make sense.

Anyway, great episode overall. The dreaded shower scene was basically just a throwaway gag, and most of this was dedicated to Senjougahara’s incredibly mixed feelings towards Hanekawa. Then, to mix up the thrilling back and forth of each of them making breakfast for the other, there was that beautiful and fast-paced exchange with the tiger. I like the way Hanekawa and Neko kind of contrast against Araragi and Shinobu, and I also like Neko actually becoming a full character in her own right (even if a lot of her instincts are reflective of Hanekawa’s true intentions). As always, the fact that very little is actually happening does nothing to prevent the plot from barrelling forward

Feminism and Free!

Posted on by

Management: I’m a bit more heated here than my usual tone, but it’s an actually important topic, so I figured I should still post it. This was a straight-up argument, so I haven’t changed a word on either side to make sure no-one is misrepresented. It came about in response to my first Free! post, which apparently ruffled some feathers.

Question (sort of):

You didn’t need to tell us what a good little feminist you are (and oh so concerned with shitting on anything that might be remotely aimed at men) 27 times in one post.

Bobduh:

Shit, you got me! I only pretend to be a decent person to look cool on the internet.

Question:

For one thing, forcing yourself against your will to hate something that’s nothing but love and kindness (K-On!) because of some political ideology does not make you a good person – quite the opposite.

But even if we grant that your brand of feminism is what’s good, you’re still obnoxious in how often and aggressively you signal your adherence to it, just as it’s obnoxious when a religious person (who is also a “good person” by their standards) talks constantly about how much they pray and go to church.

Bobduh:

Forcing yourself against your will to hate K-On because of some political ideology

There is no part of this statement that I do not take issue with! First, there is no “force” involved here – my will, personality, and conscience mind are all in agreement that there is something deeply problematic about the archetypes displayed in shows like K-On, Clannad, Sakurasou, and any other number of shows where a female character’s infantilizing helplessness is supposed to be perceived as attractive. I am not going against any natural tendency here – every fiber of my body finds this stuff pretty disturbing, and I actually have repeatedly gotten in arguments on this board, and often just avoided other conversations entirely, because of it. You seem to think I’m just pretending to believe the things I say – I assure you, I’m not trying nearly that hard.

But this doesn’t address K-On itself, which I don’t actually hate – I honestly do believe the creators of that show were intent on making a lighthearted healing-type show, which is apparently what you got out of it. I did not intend to belittle your experience with the show, or their intent – what I take issue with is the specific style of characterization used, which is very prominent in many other less-defensible shows with overt romantic characteristics. I find those helpless  character  archetypes  indicative of an incredibly sexist and dehumanizing style of pandering. My problem is not specifically with K-On – I merely used it as an example because it’s also a KyoAni show and it bears a large number of humorous parallels to Free!, which is why I was referring to Haru as Mio throughout, etc.

Obnoxious in how often and aggressively I signal my adherence to it

I’m sorry my brand of humanism is so offensive to you! My first suggestion would be to possibly not read my posts, since they are all an extension of my beliefs and thus all likely contain the capacity to offend you, but I’d also like to add a little context here. First, and I’ve covered this earlier, but it bears repeating: I’m not filtering my voice through some outside agenda here. I’m cataloging my honest reactions, adding a little humor, and trying to show people my context on media. My first goal in writing these things is to better process my own thoughts, and become a more intelligent consumer of media (thus the questions of sexism and objectification will necessarily crop up here, since they’re such a big question when it comes to this show, and are obviously on my mind) – but in a roundabout way, you’re also right. My second goal is to impart something. Normally that thing is either my way of analyzing stories or my thoughts on media evaluation or my belief that humility and curiosity are the only ways to have a meaningful relationship with art. But my general worldview is also inescapably a part of that.

I’m not a religious person, but I can understand why a religious person would try and tell you how valuable their religion is, if they care about you – according to a great many faiths, if you’re not an adherent, you are eternally damned. That sucks! Why wouldn’t a religious person want to spare people they care about from that? And personally, as a non-religious person who instead believes that data is a real thing and prejudice exists and our world is incredibly goddamn far from a place where genders or races or sexualities or whatever can honestly consider themselves equal in society, government, law, or media, I think that downplaying this stuff, particularly in a setting where people actually read what I have to say, would be pretty inexcusable. I’m not hammering on my “agenda” here, but if my thoughts make anyone think that maybe continuously treating female characters like objects is a shitty thing to do, then I’d also be pretty fucking proud of that. If you find that obnoxious, whatever, read something else – but you can’t tell me it’s not sincere.

But seriously, I’m not actually trying with that – if I were trying, I could be doing much more directly relevant stuff than criticizing anime. This show is pretty dumb on a straight textual level, and so I find that outside of just making jokes, the most interesting angle to analyze it from is its relation to the pervasive sexism in the anime industry. When relevant cultural stuff crops up in other shows, I’ll certainly mention it, but this happens to be a show where that angle is likely the best one for encouraging meaningful discussion. I did not once think while watching this, “now would be a good time to propagate my subversive feminist agenda” – things just came up in my mind and so I wrote them down because I thought someone else might find them interesting. If that doesn’t work for you – well, sorry, no refunds.

Question:

First part: Apologies for being unnecessarily rude earlier – I did find your initial post a bit condescending. Although I can see where you’re coming from about helpless women, I don’t think this is an entirely fair portrayal of K-On! The girls in that show may be goofy and a bit childish in their personal interactions, but they’re also proactive and successful at their goals. They aren’t genuinely helpless and they don’t sit around waiting for men (or anyone else) to save them.

Second part: I think there’s a danger in jumping in too whole-heartedly into any political belief given the high possibility of those beliefs being at least least partially in error. Taking abstract beliefs completely seriously is powerful but dangerous, and can drive things like terrorism just as much as it can drive positive change (not that I think you’re going to bomb anyone). I did think it was a bit weak when you were about to criticize Free! for possibly being sexist against men and then cringed back because you were apparently terrified of being labelled an MRA neckbeard – I think it’s better to own your thoughts instead of fearing “thoughtcrime”.

For what it’s worth I have no comment on Free! itself – I don’t intend to watch it but anyone who does enjoy it is welcome to. I did think it was a bit lame that some people claimed to be watching it in an attempt to stick it to /a/ somehow – just watch what you want to watch and don’t worry about what some anon said about it.

Anyway, thanks for being reasonable when I started out being a bit snarky.

Bobduh:

Abstract beliefs

The thing is, the only real “beliefs” I’m proposing here are that all people deserve equal treatment, that various societal and systemic forces trend towards sexism, and that this extends to media as well. And none of those “beliefs” are really debatable – there’s endless academic evidence for it, and even a cursory examination of anime at large reveals the general tendency to objectify and infantilize female characters. I agree that unsupported beliefs are dangerous, but I think what you’re proposing here is equally dangerous – the idea that all viewpoints are created equal. They aren’t – there’s only one reality, and when all the evidence supports the idea that women are not given fair representation in media, the viewpoint in support of changing that becomes kinda self-evident.

Terrified at being labeled an MRA neckbeard

I was actually just making a joke there, and am not particularly worried about being labeled an MRA or whatever. I don’t deny that men can also be objectified in media (I mean, look at this show), but I think the relative objectification/agency ratio is so skewed towards male fantasies that raising a show like this as a counterpoint to sexism at large is pretty laughable. That was pretty much what I was trying to say with my joke: that Free!’s existence as a show that objectifies men does not excuse an entire culture of sexism in the other direction, farcically playing off the general tendency to use single isolated examples in order to “prove feminism wrong.”

Thanks for the apology, by the way. I try to stay as reasonable as possible, since we can’t really learn anything from each other if we’re just throwing barbs.

 

Gatchaman Crowds – Episode 1

Posted on by

Well, the art looks stylish. That’s a good enough reason to check out a show, right?

Episode 1

0:24 – Aaand… whaddayaknow, the art looks stylish in motion too. Only actual expectation = confirmed

1:21 – “Target is on the move.” On the one hand, I love it when shows just drop you into their world with no explanation, expecting you to pick up the pieces. On the other hand, “it is as stated in the prophecy” is probably the single line most likely to make me drop a show

2:19 – The hair, eyes, and lush color palette all remind me of Katanagatari, which I just finished and is probably the best thing a show could hope to remind me of at the moment

3:55 – “Gatcha gatcha gatcha…” So our protagonist is Osaka? 

5:56 – “So I guess you just pulled a notebook out of my chest. Hey, can I keep this?” I very much appreciate how few fucks this protagonist gives. If we’ve gotta get through this rote genre setup stuff, it’s nice to not be slowed down by “That’s impossible!” and “How is this happening?!?”

7:07 – “Gatchamaaaaaan!” This song is awesome. As is that bad guy design

8:07 – “I think I somehow became a Gatchaman today. Nice to meet you!” Still loving this protagonist’s attitude. Kinda reminds me of Saki, except this show might actually be good 

8:22 – And now she’s actually singing the theme song that apparently she also heard. Actually kind of already in love

9:43 – Goddamn does that OP have style. Style seems to be the name of the game here; style, confidence, and a refreshing lack of self-seriousness

9:53 – I like that he just carries his sword around even at school

10:27 – She really is making a strong argument for best MC 

10:47 – Again, we know how this work, the show knows how this works, it’s not gonna bother taking itself all that seriously. “Time to visit our secret base.” “Seriously? Sweet!” Normally I use self-insert as a negative term, but this MC’s unflappability and glee over being dropped into a superhero genre piece clearly puts her on the audience’s side in a good way

11:12 – “That’s the last we’ll see of your antics.” I seriously, deeply doubt that. I also like that he’s chastising her for not being more of a cliche – the fun these creators are having with this derpy mythos is both apparent and infectious

11:58 – I like the guy just posing melodramatically  in the background

13:39 – “The note is our soul? SWEET! SUPER COOL!” Seriously, Sayaka, it’s not a big fuckin’ deal

15:24 – It’s nice that they’re getting all this silly exposition out of the way so efficiently (which, again, is helped by our MC being so perfect). It makes me wonder where they’re actually going with this series, since the pacing here is so snappy

18:03 – #1 at silly poses 

20:40 – These songs are all great

And Done

Oh man, that was so much fun! The MC had about as much respect for this genre nonsense as I do, and they just totally rolled with it, barreling forward on energy and style and utter lack of respect for the proclaimed seriousness of this made-up situation. Tons of energy, great visual flair, and I couldn’t ask for a more fun character to build such a series around. This show was entirely a wildcard, but it could very well be my third tentpole series of the season

C3-bu – Episode 2

Posted on by

Can you keep it together, Gainax? That first episode kinda came out nowhere – apparently the source material was pretty much a more overtly yuri K-On, so you’re clearly pulling all the weight in this relationship. The direction and animation were top-notch last week, but whether that actually results in a coherent story or just a series of things that happen remains to be seen.

Episode 2

0:45 – Welp, they’re keeping up that distinctive jazzy soundtrack, at least. I approve of that, even if I’m less sold on that old “nudity-kyaaaaaa-pan to building” chestnut

1:22 – It’s weird that they use this standard J-pop OP instead of something shows off their actually unique soundtrack

2:47 – SHE IS INESCAPABLE

3:35 – They’re doing very well making our protagonist actually realistically awkward. Instead of saying actively abnormal things, she just digs for the most mundane possible questions and doesn’t really understand the flow of followup questions

4:13 – Wait, we’re seriously getting a rice ball flashback now? They’re really going that deep on this silly joke? I’m… kind of impressed

4:37 – Trimming bonsai with an airsoft gun. This I can get behind

5:05 – “Hold it without molding it.” Yes. Obviously rice balls are the spiritual core of airsoftmanship

5:22 – “Did she master this all on her own? Was she trained?!?” I love these moments where they directly parody one of the genres they’re bouncing between, be it sports shows or cute-girls-doing-cute-things ones

14:04 – I hope we keep getting new battle setups every episode. The formula seems pretty solid here – two thirds of wacky school shenanigans that slowly move the plot forward, one-third of setup and battle. It’s rote, but this show is clearly just trying to be well-paced and entertaining, so it works

18:09 – I love their campy film parodies. I hope they lean harder on that stuff going forward

19:27 – And blondie flips off the ceiling. I guess they’re just superheroes now

20:18 – “Call me Sono.” They’re leaning on the tension between these two pretty hard. Which is totally cool, if it’s actually done well and not used for cheap jokes or But That’s Forbidden Love nonsense

And Done

Still pretty good. I think the first part of this one dragged a bit because they didn’t really have much actual plot to get through, but the battle and fantasy sequences were still solid. The ending basically implied our MC joined the club specifically because she’s got a crush on Kanbaru, so I hope they don’t just go nowhere with that. Otherwise, it’s not GuP-level, but it’s still pretty good popcorn all around.

Summer Season Initial Impressions

Posted on by

Management: My writeups will still obviously all be on the test, but here are my overall initial impressions of this season’s lineup.

This week sure was summer. I caught the first episode of a whole tidal wave of shows, dropped several, clung to a few more, and was actually impressed by exactly two. Let’s get those out of the way first.

Continue reading →

Free! – Episode 2

Posted on by

God damn. Last season was rough on me, guys. I started out covering six shows and ultimately dropped to four, but even that was an insane project. So I set some ground rules this season: no covering comedies, no covering any shows that don’t provide their own material, and NO FUCKING CRIME EDGE. And by Crime Edge, I mean any show where the material itself is basically non-existent, and I’m instead doing my own comedy routine.

But here I am. Covering Free! A show that has displayed essentially zero intellectual merit whatsoever, and seems designed to be as semi-intentionally funny of a rote genre exercise as possible. A show whose biggest claim to fame is fetishizing the gender KyoAni isn’t traditionally known for fetishizing.

And to make things even worse, this shit plays on Wednesday night. Last week was a holiday, so I was perfectly within my rights, or possibly even obligated, to get considerably drunk. I can’t do that every week. I have work tomorrow you fuckers.

But, I mean, KyoAni are super talented. Their animation is always top-notch, obviously, but even their storytelling is good when they feel like having good storytelling. And Chuunibyou proved they can even be intentionally funny (again, if they feel like it). So let’s do this.

Episode 2

0:00 – Okay. This is good. I got this. Sure, following Crime Edge Wednesdays up with Free Wednesdays might be more or less turning me into an alcoholic, but sometimes you just gotta take one for the team and sabotage your mental and physical health to entertain a few anonymous strangers on the internet. Roll with the punches.

0:12 – Dat dubstep. Dose mucles. Why was I worried?

0:21 – “And you’re as cold as ever. You really piss me off.” If gay tsunderes are the herald of that cliché archetype’s end, so be it

0:47 – “Rin has a stronger kick – but Haru’s stroke is stronger!” See, I was wondering about this. If this truly is going to be a sports anime, how are they gonna get around the fact that swimming is like the least interesting sport imaginable? There’s no interaction whatsoever, you’re just racing the clock and hoping your training and technique makes you move in a straight line a little bit faster than the other guy. Where’s the dramatic turns and shocking turnarounds in that?

Granted, if Chihayafuru made freaking karuta compelling, I guess swimming should be no problem…

2:30 – And they cut from the beginning of the battle to Rin pensively staring up at his bedroom ceiling. As if the countless thematic parallels to Evangelion weren’t already abundantly clear

2:40 – Oh wow, he lost? Jeez, so much for the Australian swimming gulag.

2:46 – Yeah, that’s not exploitable at all 

3:53 – It is incredibly strange seeing that KyoAni archetype staple  being applied to a male character. Normally the non-threatening male accomplice is obsessed with girls while only existing as full comic relief (Sunohara, Isshiki, even Kyon’s old friends from Haruhi), but this guy is adopting a role normally filled by one of the female characters. It’s interesting to see the ways their clearly well-established and formulaic (in scenario structure, not plot development) system maps itself to something like this

4:42 – Gou led Rin to the pool? So she’s essentially playing matchmaker for her brother and his childhood friend. This plot is developing fast!

5:00 – “Let’s start a swim club!” KyoAni mantaining a perfect batting average on school-club-centric anime

I need another beer and another bingo card

5:05 – “Let’s ask Haru!” And of course he’s just waiting in his bath

5:16 – Wow.  That’s actually an awesome gag – him being basically naked as per the usual, then one beat with the character who’s maybe a little uncomfortable about Haru-chan’s unstoppable Free!

5:58 – WHAT. WHY IS HE WEARING A SHIRT UNDER THE APRON?

6:45 – “He came back every New Year, but never told us?” Haru grimaces, but says nothing. He keeps the pain tucked deep inside

7:36 – “And Haru-chan can be the vice president!” Wow, Haru-chan is such a natural vice president it’s scary

8:39 – “We heard you had a job that involved swimsuits.” Oh man, Genki’s got a sly side. I like it

9:11 – “Traps and pecs everywhere!” Goddamnit Gou, keep it in your pants. This is hard on all of us

9:58 – “There’s nobody named Matsuoka on the swim team.” Oh shit, the plot thickens! And becomes less wholly predictable, which I am so completely in favor of

10:44 – “You’re not allowed to run away.”  KyoAni’s sense of visual comedy and comedic timing is definitely one of their saving graces. It doesn’t make their SoL’s watchable for me, but it’s apparent in all their shows

11:10 – Oh my god are we seriously getting a Let’s Clean The Pool synth montage? Goddamnit Free

11:16 – Haru-chan you have a serious problem 

11:21 – This poster is actually amazing 

13:01 – Haru-chan you have a number  of serious problems 

15:00 – “Damn! I can’t shake him!” I’d guess that’s because you’re both going in straight lines in the same direction. Because, you know, this is competitive swimming

15:36 – “I’ve felt it before… this sensation.” Oshit Haru’s about to unleash his final form

17:15 – “Please let me join!” Yes! I am all in favor of more screentime for KyoAni’s new, less chipmunk-based female characters

18:01 – You know what else is great? Seeing these characters don’t live in a school club vacuum 

20:10 – “That’s why he quit swimming. He hurt Rin.” Seriously? Is this degree of emotional oversensitivity attractive? Because c’mon, Rin’s ego is clearly made of glass here – I don’t think Haru giving up the one thing he loves because Rin can’t lose gracefully is the sign of a nurturing male figure.

20:27 – Goddamnit KyoAni, you and your breathtaking background work 

20:47 – “I’m n-n-not doing this to swim with you guys or anything!” It’s okay Rin, we believe you

22:?? – There is no escape 

And Done

This show is very silly, you guys. Extremely silly. I just want you to know that.

See you next week.

Watamote – Episode 1

Posted on by

I don’t think I’ll be covering this. Christ, I don’t think I could be covering this – cringe humor makes my teeth hurt, and comedies generally have a hard time impressing me in the first place. But the buzz is going in the right direction and it’s kind of our version of Event Television, so I’ll at least be checking it out. Plus, it kind of amuses me to think that this is OreImo as a blunt satire instead of a wish fulfillment fantasy. Not that I’m expecting this to compete with Welcome to the NHK or OreGairu or anything, but… well, we could always use more of that genre. And I’ll also try to avoid unfairly comparing it to OreGairu, which I’ll admit is made slightly difficult by the fact that I still think OreGairu deserves more credit and apparently zero other critics actually got the intent of that show and seriously do I have to explain the very concept of an unreliable narrator and Okay maybe getting off topic here a little bit but

Anyway.

Let’s get to it.

Episode 1

2:46 – This VA is pretty perfectly chosen. Her voice sounds… scruffy

3:01 – Also, this OP is so perfectly EveryxTragicxHighxSchooler it’s kinda scary. Great choices so far

3:55 – I’m also just always in favor of meta-jokes that don’t have to explain themselves, like that OP. Though I guess this entire show is inside her head, so there never really is gonna be a straight man to tell her how ridiculous she is. Which is probably one of the core differences between this and OreGairu, in that Ore wanted you to empathize with their position by having it explained and then shaken, while this will probably be more concerned with either cringing or pointing and laughing

But again, the very existence of so many totally unironic shows proves that OP’s point is a very relevant one

6:22 – “Can’t this school be occupied by terrorists?” Man, she’s like the very worst of my most adolescent thoughts all rolled into one continuous wave of vile awkwardness (well, I didn’t wish terrorists upon my classmates, but still)

7:43 – “Well, I can talk normally with my mother…” This is actually pretty frank stuff. Was it really us that got this show produced? Good job, us. We need more of this

10:43 – Hey, anime? This Death Note thing is how you do a parody. You don’t just mention another show, you fit in an element of that show where it’s both relevant and highlights the absurdity of the source material. I just… I wasn’t sure you were aware of that

Granted, it also helps that Death Note was directed by Japanese Michael Bay…

11:22 – Is there a single person in the known universe who actually finds duckface attractive? WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT?

12:59 – “You wanted me for something, right?” “Converse with me.”

Comedic timing and direction are both nailing it – this show is really killing my expectations. Apparently they’ll be using her brother as the straight man, which is all kinds of amusing

13:07 – “So talk with me an hour each day for rehab!” Oh come on Watamote. No audience would put up with such a contrived device as that

16:57 – “While I’m on a roll…” Oh god, she’s doing so just-short-of-normal. What horrible thing is going to happen to her?

More props to this VA, by the way, she’s doing a lot of work here

17:36 – “A place like this where everyone’s worse off than me isn’t so bad.” Must… shake… her…

19:35 – OH GOD HERE IT IS CLASSMATES PANIC PANIC

And Done

That was remarkably better than I expected! I think stringing the various skits into a full narrative/day made it seem a little less mean-spirited, though obviously our protagonist is a sad little brat. But a lot of the jokes landed, the overall satire is very sharp and true, and the direction was surprisingly excellent. I’m on board.

Media Goals and Critical Evaluation

Posted on by

Management: This is a two-parter that I’ve split up because while the original question was based on my panning of Sakurasou, it also concerns a lot of media evaluation theory that is much more generally relevant. I’ve divided it as best I can into separate questions to reflect this – Part 1 here should be relevant to everyone.

Question:

It seems impossible to fairly evaluate shows unless you take those shows’ own goals into account, and try to respect their specific priorities. Do you think some of the shows you rate poorly are merely a result of approaching these shows with the wrong mindset, or wishing they were different shows entirely? How do you reconcile your personal taste, or the nature of taste in general, with your attempts to assess art in a general way?

Continue reading →

Uchouten Kazoku – Episode 1

Posted on by

I’m actually very excited for this one. The director’s pretty untested, but the source is the original writer of Tatami Galaxy, and the series composition is being handled by someone who wrote scripts for Serei no Moribito and GitS: SAC, along with handling series composition on a fun little show called OreGairu. That’s a goddamn dream team as far as I’m concerned, and easily qualifies this show as the only one likely to wrestle with Monogatari for the “most artistically compelling” award this season. I really hope it does – Free! seems like it’s going to be the silliest possible version of itself, and Danganronpa’s first episode disappointed me, so I’m hungry for another show to really sink my critical teeth into. The PV was also vibrant and stylish, though the synopsis tells me virtually nothing. That’s fine. I’m ready to be surprised.

Continue reading →