Author Archives: Bobduh

Sunday Without God – Episode 1

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Let’s watch derpy anime: Sunday hangover edition. This PV and synopsis looked extremely Crime Edge to me, which I am comfortable with. I won’t be covering this one (if anything, this season’s comedy writeup will be Free!, though that show’s joke might be very killable if I overdo it), but basically everybody is getting a first episode writeup because fuck the police. Let’s DO IT.

Episode 1

0:17 – Oh no, our village is under attack by the Dark Flame Master

Very pretty, though

1:27 – One minute in and we already have a “lolis kicked” count. I like where this is going

2:07 – “Good luck getting over your mother’s death. By the way, from now on you’ll be burying people for a living”

4:12 – Does that shovel actually have a scoop side, or is it just a spear? How do shovel work

5:58 – Heaven too crowded, so the dead no longer die? That’s a kinda neat premise

6:42 – And the gravekeeper thing could actually lead to some ideas about mortality and the value of life. Not that I think this isn’t just a flavorful shell for a standard battle/fantasy thriller thing (that OP really seemed to lean in that direction), but it could go places

I generally dislike these “start with the ending then rewind and lead back up to that moment” intros, though. Not much suspense when we know exactly where this is going; now I just want them to get on with it

7:17 – “Please do not feed the gravekeepers.” This is pretty funny stuff. The self-serious tone before helped the “alright, be dignified”-“here, have some candy” 1-2 punch land. Having a decent sense of humor seems like one of the hardest things for an anime to pull off, so this is a good sign

13:48 – Wow, they actually acknowledge how ridiculous her father’s name is

14:48 – “We were fated to meet!” “You have no intention of holding a conversation with me, do you?” Of all the things I expected from this show, it having an actually well-articulated sense of humor was pretty low on the list. Pretty impressed

18:00 – Huh! I thought that whole sequence was pretty well done – particularly the ways they hid while actually highlighting the man’s injury, culminating in that grotesque attempt to cover it with his hood. Also nice to see them actually using the “people don’t die anymore” in an unsettling way.

23:07 – Oh god dat Engrish ED make it stawp

And Done

That wasn’t bad! I liked the humorous parts, I liked the background design, and the world could maybe have an actual point to it. The tall dark stranger’s outfit and shtick were about as cliché as they come, and it doesn’t have Crime Edge’s signature weirdness, but it could turn out to be actually good, if the snappy humor keeps up and the plot goes somewhere interesting. Sunday Without God survives the first pass!

Monagatari S2 – Episode 1

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Ah, Monogatari.

After two seasons, three additional episodes, and a film, I’m still kinda not sure how I feel about this series. I mean, it’s got a lot going for it, to be sure. The direction is always distinctive and occasionally pretty brilliant. The writing is uniquely Isin-ish and occasionally focused. It arguably has a lot to say, even if it sometimes feels like Shinbou’s weird brand of feminism is directly competing with Isin’s strange form of sexism (or vice versa). It’s basically the opposite of a show like Madoka, where everything works together towards a single focused goal – in Monogatari there is rarely narrative focus or anything resembling pacing, ideas bounce all over the place, and it will twist and turn in whatever directions it wishes, focusing one episode on a single joke extended way too far and another on the fundamental nature of family and human connection. It also indulges both these very driven creators in some of their worst instincts – Isin in his tendency towards losing character in favor of his own self-indulgent voice, and Shinbou in his tendency to make the direction itself the point (which, admittedly, sometimes works to actually counteract the Isin problems – I’d probably like Nise a whole lot less if Shinbou were playing it straight). It’s strange. It’s unique. It’s sometimes problematic, sometimes pretty subversively progressive. It’s Monogatari.

Episode 1

0:35 – HANEKAWA’S THE NARRATOR THIS ARC? Wow. Fantastic. Couldn’t have asked for a better choice

1:20 – “This is a story of betrayal for you to all be disappointed in me.” Hanekawa has often come across as a superhuman cypher, which, while extremely true to Araragi’s perception of her, isn’t really helpful as characterization. I’m very happy to see an arc from her perspective. (Incidentally, this is also why Senjougahara isn’t normally that interesting to me – Araragi’s skewed, idealized perspective of her makes for awesome unreliable narration, but much less coherent humanization)

3:32 – I love how people unfamiliar with anime claim it all somehow looks similar. There is no goddamn way you could confuse a Monogatari series with any other series – its visual style is so freaking distinctive. That clean, shining, almost clinical look, the incredibly flat color contrasts, the overbearing brightness of day and overbearing gloom of night. It’s (intentionally) staged like an elaborate but un-lived-in theatrical stage, a decision that perfectly accompanies the hyper-stylized dialogue and extended, monologue-focused scenes that drive the story forward. I have a number of complaints with this series, but goddamn do we ever need more productions this committed to their unique aesthetic

4:01 – “I finished breakfast, changed clothes, and left the house immediately.” I like how instead of Araragi’s elaborate over-explanations of everything physically occurring, Hanekawa’s text frames are extremely matter-of-fact bullet points of her day

7:00 – Goddamn Shinbou you are so good. I can’t really stop and point out every great thing he does, but this tiger scene definitely draws attention to itself that way. The quick jump cuts between her nervous ticks and panicked thoughts underlined by her breathing really trap the viewer in the claustrophobia of the moment

9:00 – Senjougahara advices Hanekawa to overcome her hesitance and call Araragi, but her eyes jump constantly from Hanekawa’s lips, to legs, to skirt, etc. She is terrified of their relationship, but her words would never betray that

9:10 – Hah! Then Hanekawa tries to make eye contact, and sees it all. I thought Neko Kuro was kind of a step down for this series, but this episode is putting its best foot forward

10:27 – “I can die together with you, at least.” A private joke? How much did Araragi actually tell her about Golden Week?

11:24 – “I’m probably completely unable to ask for help from another person.” Oh really, Hanekawa? I wouldn’t have guessed

12:10 – “It was like I was trying to strike out all the contradictions. This was very like me.” Reordering perspective to make her life liveable seems like a pretty persistent theme of Hanekawa’s stories. Fits nicely with the opening shot of a vacuum automatically cleaning up the stray loose ends of her home life, until it bumps right into her and forces her awake

12:39 – “Did I just skip a chapter? Oh well.” Speaking of erasing unwanted loose ends… yeah, that’s probably not gonna come up again

14:36 – “You don’t have to call people like that Mother and Father, do you?” Senjougahara is pretty goddamn over paying lip service to traditional family definitions. Hanekawa could learn something from her

15:45 – I like how they contrast “I now see that what I did was crazy, I wasn’t thinking it through” against a pan across all the clothes and materials she had prepared precisely because she’d thought it through, and given the fact that asking anyone for help was utterly impossible, this course of action seemed perfectly reasonable

16:26 – Staying at Senjougahara’s house. Oh god, I’ve heard about this. Hopefully Shinbou’s steady hand will steer Isin’s overtly fetishistic nonsense into something purposeful

17:00 – “Almost feels like my home.” In that it’s barely one at all?

17:49 – Aaaand clothes off. You could say this scene is Senjougahara asserting that she’s not intimidated by Hanekawa’s sexuality, but I dunno if I’d buy it

19:20 – “Let’s take a shower together.” See, it’s so far beyond normal it feels like it has to mean something, but Isin is such a goddamn perv it could just be his boner talking. But he’s also such a gifted writer that it could also be Senjougahara trying to counteract both the vulnerability she felt in her first scene here and the necessary admission of their relationship (or at least Hanekawa’s importance to Araragi) that this whole letting-her-stay thing implies, by way of making a big aggressive front of not being intimidated by Hanekawa physically. Which would certainly fit in with Senjougahara’s big, defensive, often ill-thought-through gestures in the past. Which makes me think the camera here is Senjougahara’s intent being shown, as she metaphorically growls and gnashes her teeth at the threat Hanekawa represents

19:30 – “No, wait a minute! I sense a threatening atmosphere.” Oh good. I was right. I really prefer shows impressing me to shows disappointing me

20:30 – “I didn’t expect you to say yes.” “It won’t look good if I distance myself from the girl who slapped me while she was crying.” A BATTLE FOR THE AGES. It’s funny that this is essentially no different from characters fighting over a man in a normal harem, but, you know, not written by idiots

21:47 – “But that means we have to handle the tiger here by ourselves.” PLEASE YES. SENJOUGAHARA AND HANEKAWA, SPIRIT-FIGHTING DETECTIVES

One sign of a good show: it’s just as compelling when the main character isn’t even there

And Done

Bam! Strong showing right out the gates by Monogatari. This episode was certainly very, well, very Monogatari, and featured a clear return to the focused direction I was so enamored of in Nise. Making Hanekawa the protagonist was also an awesome choice – Araragi’s dominant position in this world can be almost overbearing, and it’s nice to see how the character dynamics work in his absence. The pair of Senjou and Hanekawa in particular is fantastic – the way their rivalry expresses itself, through Senjougahara’s brittle and barely-hidden insecurity and Hanekawa’s offhand, absolute confidence, makes for funny and utterly true-to-character drama and conversation. The minutes kind of flew by with this one – it seemed to combine the sharper narrative focus of Neko with the ostentatiously intelligent direction of Nise. If it keeps up like this, it could easily be my favorite Monogatari yet.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou – Episode 1

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Full disclosure: I’m mainly just checking this out to be thorough.

Points in favor:

PV had plenty of visual style.

Anime-originals generally get to have more focused and purposeful production/stories.

Madoka also hid its goals in its advertising.

Points again:

PV still looks pretty standard magical-girl-ish.

Madoka was a collaboration between Gen Urobuchi and Akiyuki Shinbou. This is a collaboration between the series composer of Ro-Kyu-Bu and… well, the director of Ro-Kyu-Bu. And Dog Days. And Sekirei. Sure, Nanoha’s in there too, but… seriously. Ro-Kyu-Bu.

So yeah, not holding out for much here. But I’d love to be surprised – and it’s not like there isn’t precedent for it. I think C3-bu was even lower on my expectations list, and that’s the show that’s most impressed me so far this season. So let’s give this thing a shot.

Episode 1

0:59 – Alright, so that “I’m late-must help pregnant woman-I forgot I was late” is efficient if obvious characterization, and I like the character’s coherent visual theme.

2:42 – Pretty standard OP, but again the purposeful, stylized designs and really dynamic color palette are both good signs

3:33 – Tarot’s a pretty distinctive and well-established system to base magical rules on. If battles are actually going to have dramatic weight for reasons beyond thematic ones (unlike Madoka), an established system of rules will be necessary, and tarot seems like as good a system as any

4:36 – I like the contrast between these fortune teller’s distinctive and kinda wacky character designs and their laid-back conversation. I’m liking a lot here visually, actually

6:18 – “There’s no doubt. The Wheel of Fortune has started moving.” Bleh. Dumb anime and their dark mystery-conspiracies that all end up the same

9:11 – Avoiding mention of her hobby, declining to have her fortune read… that Fuyuna must be into some serious shit

10:40 – They laugh at your academic focus now, Fuyuna, but that tarot bubble will be popping any day now. Soon the last laugh will be yours

11:51 – “If I thought about all the positive and negative consequences before I started, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. And I’m not gifted, so this is the best I can do for people.” Surprisingly grounded perspective for a fortune teller

12:15 – Is this seriously going to be the third show in two seasons with scissors as a weapon? What is going on over there, Japan?

12:41 – “You’re always so bright like the sun.” Her visual motif is so obvious even in-universe characters notice it

13:14 – I GUESS YOU DIDN’T PREDICT THAT TRUCK, DID YOU?!?

13:40 – “The tower! Misfortune and trouble!” “But depending on how you look at it, you could rise above it and start something new!” Oh really, you can interpret any result in either a positive or negative direction, and it could basically mean anything at all? I guess fortune telling is kinda tricky like that

Man, mocking fortune telling… I am REALLY going for the low-hanging fruit today…

14:30 – Those screen distortion tricks are pretty neat

17:11 – Holy shit! A body count already?

18:05 – And then she’s just erased? That’s even worse. Goddamn, show!

18:44 – Ahaha and now they burn the building down. Obviously

21:04 – Well, they certainly didn’t waste any time introducing the whole magical girl team

And Done

Well… hm. I liked the visual design throughout, and I’m sort of interested in that whole erasing-her-cousin thing, but that’s about all that’s grabbed me so far. The plot itself looks pretty standard, and I’ve had enough of generic dark prophecies to last me a lifetime. I don’t really find magical girl shows interesting just because they’re “dark” (I mean, aren’t there plenty of shows like that? Madoka wasn’t good because it was dark, it was good because every element of its production was fantastic), and while this show didn’t confirm my worst suspicions, it also didn’t rise to the point where I feel that compelled to push onward. I think I’ll probably hold off and see what the buzz is like in a couple episodes.

What Defines a Work as Mature?

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Question:

What makes a show “mature” or “for adults?” I see people throw these terms around in a condescending way, saying that shows like Steins;Gate or Madoka are inferior to shows like Monster because they’re aimed at teenagers. Are there any actual guidelines or metrics here?

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Danganronpa – Episode 1

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Dear god you guys it’s Dangan Ronpa. You don’t even know. We are in for some crazy, hilarious shit.

I’ve discussed adaptations before, but I think this game might just overcome the usual hurdles – mainly by virtue of basically already being an anime that you had to keep clicking on to continue. The game (well, at least what I read of it) had a very distinctive visual aesthetic, a fantastic soundtrack, a stellar and intensely wacky cast of characters, great wit, campy self-awareness, and a propulsive storyline. This director doesn’t have a particularly impressive resume (his main credits being some comedies, a couple poorly-received videogame adaptations, and Angel Beats), but honestly, this game kind of adapts itself. A little directorial flare would certainly help, but the material should carry us.

Let’s get to work.

Episode 1

1:10 – And there are those aesthetic strengths immediately showing themselves – the unique, demented soundtrack, the distinctive, stylized hyper-2d visual design. This should be a fun ride

1:50 – “I only got in by sheer dumb luck.” I never trust a statement like that! Not that I actually know whether or not he’s significant, but if a main character downplays their connection to the central narrative, it’s a pretty decent bet the show just wants to make a reveal of it

4:29 – Well, I guess maybe they don’t have time to actually gracefully articulate everyone’s title, but these freeze-frames really aren’t doing it for me. I guess you’re not really supposed to be totally invested in the characters, but highlighting the videogame roots just increases the disconnect for me. I don’t want to watch a videogame, I want to watch a show. It’s a style choice, but not one I agree with

5:10 – Also weird is the fact that all of them are standing in the same direction facing the MC while they discuss matters between themselves, like… well, like a videogame. I said this work wouldn’t require that much adaptation, but the director could at least try

6:26 – “Do you plan on flirting all day?” Togami immediately takes charge. #1 Glasses Pusher 2013

9:34 – “Only students who have killed someone can live.” I love how quickly and offhandedly the show sets up its demented conceit. Battle Royale did the same thing (in the film at least, which I thought was fairly superior to both book and manga) – don’t linger on this stuff, we’ve already suspended our disbelief that much, and it’s not what we’re here for

13:18 – Dat soundtrack. Dose classy stills. This director seems about as hackish as expected, but the game’s got so much style it’s covering the lack of flare pretty well. Still makes me annoyed we don’t get to see what a Shinbo or whoever could do with material this style-driven

19:22 – They’re burning through material very efficiently here. I’ve been railing on the director, but the series composition seems quite strong – this episode is essentially one long infodump, but they’re pacing it well and bouncing the characters off each other to both add a little conflict and establish their personalities in the most efficient strokes possible, which is pretty damn important with a cast this large

20:24 – “I have to say that for an entitled generation…” They’re really hammering in the Battle Royale parallels, aren’t they?

And Done

Well, that was… fine. Honestly, it’s kinda disappointing to see this being so carried by the energy of the original – choices that worked well in the videogame format come off as kinda hollow here, and the direction is at best serviceable and at worst distractingly inept. I know the game itself rides on style too, and doesn’t expect you to take its characters all that seriously, but making this adaptation so overtly arcade-y definitely hurts any potential investment. The soundtrack is still obviously great, and it’s definitely going to pick up speed in the episodes ahead… but I would really, really have preferred it if this adaptation took a couple more risks. Maybe tightening the focus and not being stuck up on giving every single character their requisite number of lines would have done it, or something… the fact that full conversations have been condensed to only the necessary text means the characters come across as even more tropey than in the game, so if this show wants me to care about it, it’s gonna have to do something to make up for that lack.

Anyway. Hopefully the episodes ahead get a little more room to breathe, and the direction opens up to allow for a little mood development instead of just beat->beat->beat. We’ll see.

Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C³-bu – Episode 1

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Welp, Danganronpa subs still aren’t out, so I guess I’m watching Gainax bet whatever portion of their reputation remains on cute girls doing airsoft things. If this ends up being Girls und Panzer-esque (in that it isn’t just random moe nonsense, it’s actually a well-paced and self-aware sports drama or something), I will be ecstatic. But I hope you’ll forgive me for keeping my initial expectations somewhat low.

C’mon Gainax, you can do this. You mustn’t run away.

Episode 1

1:20 – Well, we’ve gotten up the steps. Progress

2:30 – Damn she’s awkward. I feel that cringe.

5:14 – Well, this OP is Panzer as fuck, and clearly emphasizes the action element over the derping teatime element. The show has added another three minutes to its drop clock, and will almost certainly outlive Servant x Service (that one survived about 11 minutes)

6:42 – And the current club members all seem to have both strong personalities and a powerful streak of insanity. Add three more minutes to the clock!

7:58 – And now they’re daydreaming about assaulting the student body with mock firearms. I think we’re getting somewhere!

9:12 – Rambo reenactments: moe as fuck

9:46 – Noooo, don’t bring out the cake! We were doing so well

10:07 – “They just drink tea and do nothing actually club-related.” What subtle jabs, Gainax

11:26 – “It goes Bam and everyone goes Woooo!” It’s kinda weird seeing the classic Gainax loose, evocative character animation style after all these years, in a show like this. Nostalgic, I guess

12:17 – “She’s already found a friend.” I like the way they use the muffled voices to drive home the barrier between her and other people. A good trick of perspective

13:05 – These semi-fantasized flashbacks also make use of some good tricks of visual style. This show’s not there yet, but it’s definitely exceeding my expectations

14:48 – “Please try out our mock battles!” Is it just me, or does that VA just have a constant note of near-insanity in her voice?

Also, her isolation stuff continues to be handled well. Not only does the sound design work hard to show-not-tell you her experience, the disconnect between her actually pretty lively private personality (the rambo stuff, her self-directed outburst about enjoying high school) and the fear she feels in public makes her a much more interesting and alive-feeling character than an eternally timid one would be

16:02 – Oh man, and they’re actually gonna set up real battles with rules and distinctions and everything? I was basically kidding about this show aspiring to GuP levels of unexpected excellence, but now I’m not so sure!

21:46 – Couldn’t pause it during that setpiece. Fantastic music, the direction cut well from each character’s perspective to the next movement to maintain a coherent flow and understanding of the fight, the internal pacing was great and amped up confidently throughout. You had my curiosity, C3. Now you have my attention

And Done

Whew! That last act certainly made an impact. The direction and character work was well above the standard for this genre throughout, which admittedly isn’t a very high standard, but that setpiece was legitimately impressive. I enjoyed this episode, and I’m definitely on board to see where this goes.

Free! – Episode 1

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Alright! Back from work, food recklessly consumed, beer at the ready, gin waiting in the wings. LET’S GO SWIMMING.

…is all I want to say, but I should probably note at least a tiny bit of my perspective here.

I don’t really care about the manservice thing. I find the insecure and embarrassing complaints hilarious, and I’m all for equality in show demographics.

That said, the advertisements for this show have pretty obviously focused on showing a lot of half-naked men, and fanservice doesn’t really do anything for me regardless of what gender it’s aimed at. In my mind, it basically just objectifies characters and makes it harder to take them seriously – but it seems like this show is gonna have some fun with that, so we’ll see how it goes.

As far as KyoAni in general is concerned? Hyouka, Chuunibyou, and Disappearance are three of my all-time favorite anime. But… well…

I dropped K-On. I dropped Lucky Star. I dropped Tamako Market. I need my shows to do something, to saysomething, to mean something – and while I think that isn’t incompatible with the Slice of Life genre (Yotsuba and Genshiken are two of my favorite manga, after all), I do think KyoAni’s interpretation of slice of life generally equates to “utter escapism, no reflection on our world, no sharp edges or truths.”

So there are plenty of landmines lining the distance between current me and a me who actually cares about this show. And I honestly hope that our sculpted, majestic heroes glide effortlessly between them. And I’m just warning everyone right now that if things turn K-On-ish, the only way I’ll be getting through this is with a heaping plate of mocking derision.

But either way, it should be a ridiculous ride. And hey, I’ve got a beer!

LET’S GO SWIMMING.

Episode 1

0:00 – Seriously, even if this sucks, I have had a huge smile on my face all day just because it exists and /a/ has to deal with it. You go KyoAni

0:03 – Ah, the single water droplet on the still pool. A deft choice; taking an iconic image indicative of classic psychological dramas, and subversively applying it to our story of brotherhood and chiseled abs.

Full disclosure: I have already switched to gin.

0:27 – Goddamn are KyoAni shows beautiful

0:49 – Omigod as soon as that synthy music jumped in. I can’t help it. Jesus christ KyoAni you give so few fucks

1:22 – “Stop calling me Haru-chan already.” So he’s gonna be the Mio, huh?

1:54 – “I only do freestyle.” That’s right, mysterious stranger. Haru-chan rides alone

Is it sexist of me to find these classic, rote genre tricks so amusing when applied to men whose physicality is being so emphasized? Is this what this entire genre is like? Maybe it’s actually sexist in the other direction, since I just find it tasteless and offensive when a genre shell exists to sell female bodies, but here I just find it… oh shit, that’s stepping into MRA territory ABORT ABORT. Uuugh, now I gotta go wash that sickly fedora taste out of my mouth

2:18 – “I JUST WANT TO FEEL THE WATER.” “Yeah, there was some funky stuff going through my head back then.” Dear lord, is this show going to be intentionally funny, too? I might actually love this

2:34 – “When you’re ten, you’re a prodigy. At fifteen, a genius. At twenty, just an ordinary person.” That’s both a great line and probably a better summation of the false prophet of talent than… ohoho, you almost got me, Sakurasou! Making me repeat my material, you cheeky bastard! Alright, let’s instead say that’s a nice, sharply felt counterpoint to OreGairu’s “People who don’t try have no right to complain about those with talent”

Also, this guy’s first actual line reminds me of all the KyoAni protagonists I actually like (Oreki, Kyon, Yuuta – yeah, they’ve kinda got a type, don’t they?), so that’s a good thing

4:22 – You know, the difference between male and female fanservice might really be enough. When a show like K-On has its characters act inhumanly clumsy and incompetent, I actively disengage and think “man, it is a truly, deeply problematic thing to find that helplessness attractive,” but here I just see the bare chests and laugh and laugh

4:34 – His hand is three times the size of that cat . Can someone explain Yaoi Hands to me?

5:07 – Hair sweep with cascading water  count: 2

On another note, I feel like one of the indications of how male-centric most anime are is that I immediately notice the presence of multiple equally confident and prominent male characters – normally there’s just the one central dude and a bunch of less-present side dudes or unthreatening comic relief characters (even KyoAni does this), the better to self-insert into the relationship drama with. Unless we’re talking action shows or whatever, which can often be homoerotic in their own way

5:20 – That’s right, let’s just leave the camera right… there .

5:37 – Who knew getting AotY was this easy? 

6:16 – “I hope it gets better soon so you can swim.” “HMM…” I guess that makes bighands Ritsu, then?

7:05 – “Want to eat on the roof?” “He needs to get a clue.” I love how in a normal show the tone would side with Haru-chan, but here there’s that upbeat synthy music playing and the show’s all YES. ROOF LUNCH FOR TWO DO IT

7:47 – “I don’t think I saw you after the club shut down.” “Yes, because I went to a different school.” Normally I’d complain about the hackneyed exposition, but… okay, yeah, sorry, that’s pretty damn hackneyed exposition

8:18 – “We’re not little kids anymore. Things aren’t the same.” Do all sports anime have literally the same plot? I mean, I understand that most artistry (lol) is in execution, and I actually like some sports stuff because of that (Cross Game, Girls und Panzer), but…

8:40 – “How about a hot springs club?” That’s nice. I like that genki just wants to be friends again, and isn’t immediately pulling the “but swimming WAS YOUR LIFE!” card

9:38 – “You live by yourself, Haru-chan?” Welp, that fills out MY anime cliché bingo card

10:53 – Years ago, on that day… they made a pledge beneath the sakura tree.  THE TREE REPRESENTS CHANGE

11:09 – “If you swim with me… I’ll show you a sight you’ve never seen before!” Not rising to that bait. I’ve made it this far, I can weather this storm

12:08 – Holy shit, we’re getting a haunted house in the first episode? How many bingo sheets am I gonna fill out?!?

13:10 – “Romantic, right?” Yeah man, romantic as fuck. This episode’s structure is honestly pretty solid, though – it’s a classic skeleton (reconnecting with an element of the past through combining reminiscence on a younger narrative with a series of current touchstones… there’s more to it than that, but you know exactly the kind of episode I’m talking about), but they’re executing it professionally enough. Community‘s a big fan of it

14:30 – This show is a gem.  I promised myself I wouldn’t do anything as difficult and stressful as a comedy-style writeup again after the exhaustion of Crime Edge, but this show’s raising a compelling counterargument

15:19 – I was about to make the “Jeez, Rin-chan sure has changed!” cliché joke, but then genki just straight-up says Rin-chan has kinda changed

15:24 – Precious detail: a scene transition that makes the screen wobble like water

17:21 – Oh, she’s dark and stormy’s sister? Right, the hair. That’ll be cute

18:48 – Goddamnit is Mio dere about swimming. Also, I really like this song

19:30 – “Can’t you wait?!” Swimming might come later, but that’s no excuse for Mio not to take his clothes off

21:20 – #3, and it’s a beauty 

Also, skinnydipping. Why not? That scene actually worked for me, so fuck the haters

21:50 – WHAT is this ED

22:08 – What

22:13 – I don’t even

23:01 – Yeah okay 

Seriously, this episode has had me laughing more than anything I’ve seen in the last few seasons. Goddamnit KyoAni

And Done

Goddamnit KyoAni. You assholes. This could not be more ridiculous. I can’t even… what… WHAT…

Agh, fuck it. See you next week.

Blood Ties and Nekomonogatari

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Well, this one was definitely simpler than Nise. Simple enough that I figured this writeup would be redundant – but I looked around online and, surprisingly, I couldn’t find a piece that really dove into the central theme. I’d planned on working on my backlog, but…

Alright. Fine. Hey guys. It’s Bobduh. Let’s talk Nekomonogatari.

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Dog and Scissors – Episode 1

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I’m not actually covering this, but there’s nothing else going on and I might as well open a page just in case. Morbid curiosity demands I check out anything with a title as ridiculous as Dog and Scissors.

Dear god it’s Dog Scissors

2:07 – What in all that is holy is this OP

3:13 – I already get the feeling this is the kind of show you only watch after losing a bet

3:53 – ‘Oh, he’s got his own apartment. Does that mean he’s actually an adult?’ “The winter of my third year of middle school, my entire family moved away…” Right. Of course.

5:21 – “I can’t die without reading that.” And the female MC is the author, and he dies and gets reincarnated as a dog? Okay, looks like we know the whole plot now

9:07 – Alright, “can’t die without completing last wish,” I get. But how that exactly translates to being reincarnated as a dog…

10:30 – “Yeah, I’m a dog, but more importantly I haven’t read anything in weeks!” Taking his doghood in stride. I like it

11:18 – I also like a story where the MC’s passion is reading books instead of, you know, panties or anime or erogames or whatever

11:39 – I would not sell a live animal to a woman who keeps a pair of scissors in a thigh-holster

11:47 – “Sorry to keep you waiting. The protagonist has appeared.” Ooh, are we gonna get all storytelling-meta here? By all means

16:35 – This show is pretty stupid, but that dog has great expressions. Particularly like his Is this nigga serious? face

18:01 – Alright, reincarnated dogs I’ll believe, but a novelist living in the top tax bracket? Pffff…

18:59 – Hah. Fan hysteria lasts for three seconds, then “hurry up and write the book I want.” Great

And Done

Well, that was about as silly as I expected.

Suisei no Gargantia – Review

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Suisei no Gargantia is a strange little show. It covers all of Urobuchi’s pet themes at once, while also shifting wildly in tone and pacing throughout. It combines a number of seemingly incompatible genres, including Ghibli-esque adventure, slice of life, sci-fi drama, action, and even some moments approaching psychological horror. It clearly displays some of the most supportable accusations generally leveled at Urobuchi – that his characters lack nuance or depth, and that his stories work primarily in support of ideas and have little power as narratives in and of themselves. Gargantia by itself is a pretty cogent argument for why Urobuchi is such a polarizing writer.

But the thing about polarizing writers is that for all the people they turn off, there are also plenty of people who really like what they do. Like, for example, me.

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