Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Scorching Ping Pong Girls – Episode 6

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Alright folks, gather round, gather round. Lower your paddles and set your ping pong balls at rest. The hour is nearly upon us, and already the machine gun clatter of balls against boards can be heard humming in the distance. It is absolutely time for more Scorching Ping Pong Girls!

When we last left off with the ping pong girls, Agari and Koyori had just proven their mettle against the team’s intimidating captain, Kiruka. Of course, their “victory” came in the form of winning exactly one point each against her, after she’d already exhausted herself defeating every single other member of the team. The episode thus offered a natural mixture of “our heroes have leveled up” and “our heroes still have a long way to go,” along with persistently seeding the overhanging promise of Nationals as the true prize.

That repeated emphasis on Nationals may reflect Ping Pong Girls’ structural constraints more than anything – we’re almost halfway through the season, and we’ve still just finished introducing our own main team. Ping Pong Girls isn’t wasting our time at all – the reason its overarching narrative has moved slowly is because it was too busy dazzling us with fun matches, which is the story’s true purpose. But that pacing does mean we’ll only have time for maybe one tournament, and “earning a spot at Nationals” will likely be the point of that tournament.

Meanwhile, Ping Pong Girls continues to be very charming in terms of its fluffy slice of life material as well. The show’s jokes are hit or miss, but Kiruka and Munemune being extremely married was a very endearing turn, and helped flesh out each of them as sympathetic people. Let’s see what our champions get up to next in Scorching Ping Pong Girls!

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Simoun – Episode 18

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Folks, it is absolutely time to watch some more of the graceful, mysterious, and altogether captivating Simoun. It’s been a little while since we last checked in on this story, but we left on a thunderous series of worldbuilding reveals. Entering forbidden religious ruins with enemies in pursuit, the sybullae discovered that the spring which forms the cornerstone of their religion actually has multiple entry points across the world, seeming to exist in multiple places at the same time. Additionally, more simoun craft were discovered within this ruin, one of which contained a familiar face – Angulas, the young priestess who once sacrificed herself to tear the holy empire down.

Angulas’ presence here could well indicate that the various religions all of this world’s political bodies worship all stem from one communal root, one which doesn’t pick favorites in distributing its holy favor. Angulas died in a moment of selfless religious ecstasy, a description that could just as easily be applied to priestesses inscribing their Ri Majoons in the skies. Given that, what is the purpose of all their struggling, and what goal does Onashia actually seek? And at the same time, does Angulas’ presence here mean Dominura and Limone might be similarly cocooned, waiting for their friends to retrieve them?

Whatever the answers may be, I’m thrilled to explore this thematically rich property once more, and spend some time with its very sympathetic cast. Let’s see what lies in store!

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Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s – Episode 6

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Alright folks, let’s dive back into Nanoha A’s! This season has been establishing Hayate and her “family” as clear echoes of Nanoha’s crew all season, and never was that more apparent than last episode, where the show essentially assigned all of the beats normally reserved for the protagonist (opening monologue, closing statement, mid-battle reflections) to Hayate’s party. Though the episode ended on the reveal that all of Hayate’s companions are magical creatures summoned by the Book of Darkness, the rest of the episode was largely dedicated to emphasizing how little that mattered – they are as loving of a family as Nanoha’s, mutually supporting and utterly willing to sacrifice for each other.

That episode also featured a whole bunch of sweet fights, further solidifying Nanoha’s chops as an all-purpose action platform. While the show’s first season had some exciting clashes, cool animation flourishes, and a generally unique aesthetic, its fights were generally just emotional clashes of laser bursts – what sense of weight and consequence that existed was mostly contained in the dramatic casting and leadup to each major blow. With the Velka knights in the mix, Nanoha is now striving for more tactically diverse battles, with their own internal dramatic arcs. The show’s results on that front have been a little mixed – these fights still seem to be driven more by dramatic necessity than tactical back-and-forth, and devices like each team splitting into pairs for battle feel a little hackneyed. But weightiness of the physical exchanges aside, they’re still exciting as heck, and a great visual spectacle in their own right. Whether we’ve got further investigation of Hayate’s perspective or simply a bunch of sweet laser fights ahead of us, I’m ready to get back into it. Let’s see what’s what in the next episode of Nanoha A’s!

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Princess Tutu – Episode 24

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With only three episodes remaining, the time for cryptic allusions and shrouded metaphor is largely behind us. Princess Tutu’s latest opening monologue emphasizes that clearly, as we are greeted by the image of a grave scattered with pages, and a pendulum swinging in the background. The narrator tells us, “once upon a time, there was a man who died. The story the man wrote was about a happy prince who loved everyone and was loved by everyone. The people fought, each wanting him to love them and them alone, and an evil raven pecked at their loving hearts one after another. The more the prince loved them and tried to save them, the more the people’s love just fed the raven. In the end, the raven thought ‘I’d like to try eating the prince’s heart, the most delicious one of all.’”

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Scorching Ping Pong Girls – Episode 5

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Hell yes folks, we’re back to Scorching Ping Pong Girls! Among the many excellent shows you readers are currently steering me through, Scorching Ping Pong Girls is almost certainly the most dedicated Fun Things Are Fun production, and I truly love it for that. Ping Pong Girls is the kind of show Tsutomu Mizushima likes to make – a loving genre riff defined by consistent high energy and a keen understanding of dramatic fundamentals. Conceits like the various characters’ visual motifs play into the show’s overall sense of genre-savvy irreverence, but Ping Pong Girls isn’t self-aware in order to parodize; it understands the dramatic appeal of great sports drama done right, and it’s here to provide.

With last episode essentially serving as a twenty minute hype session for this episode’s match, I’ve been sitting on my hands and grinding my teeth ever since I finished that one. Ping Pong Girls’ matches have consistently demonstrated a great talent for grounding their drama in clear tactical variables, and the show’s fluidity of action cuts has regularly impressed me as well. With Agari and Kiruka about to clash paddles, let’s dive right back into Scorching Ping Pong Girls!

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Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s – Episode 5

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MAKE WAY CLEAR A SEAT IT’S TIME FOR NANOHA WE’RE STARTING THE SHOW. After our last episode so rudely dangled a potential full-scale battle before our faces, only to spend its full running time detailing the leadup to that battle, I feel I am basically owed an awesome fight sequence this time. Yes, Nanoha has always done that weird thing where its cold opens act as spoiler-heavy previews for the episode to come, but you can’t end a cold open on a fight pose, name your episode something like “New Powers Activate!”, and then regale us with… a perfectly reasonable but decidely non-action packed episode of character setup and exposition.

Grievances about that bait and switch aside, Nanoha A’s has by now established a sturdy platform for faceoffs between our young heroes and these Velka knights, while maintaining a great degree of mystery regarding these knights’ motivation, as well as their relationship with Hayate. My assumption all along has been that unlike Precia, these knights will end up having a pretty reasonable motivation, to go along with their clearly loving counterpoint to Nanoha’s found family. Nanoha’s first season illustrated the diverse potential influences of families in pretty stark terms, so I’m interested in seeing if the show is attempting to illustrate a more subtle distinction this time, or use its general family theme to tackle some other subtopic entirely. With so many characters in the cast at this point, it’s taken a little longer to get through initial setup, but I think A’s is ready to spread its wings. Let’s see some sparks fly!

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The Dream and the Dark – Planetes, Volume 1

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The first image of Makoto Yukimura’s Planetes features protagonist Hachimaki in a bulky space suit, staring up at nothing, standing on nothing. The earth lies vast and silent beneath him, but his eyes are drawn upwards, towards something we cannot see. Without the earth in frame, the scene would feel almost peaceful; in light of its presence, Hachimaki seems terribly vulnerable, as if he’s suspended on a glass surface over an endless abyss. The shot is likely Planetes’ most defining image; a composition that simultaneously conveys the vastness of space, our fragility as we hang in its grasp, and the mundanity of turning this inspiring, terrifying expanse into your garbage removal workspace.

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Girls’ Last Tour – Episode 2

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Folks, I am very happy to be returning to Girls’ Last Tour! The show’s first episode was equal parts charming slice of life, and, er, I guess more contemplative slice of life? It was essentially a post-apocalyptic travelogue, a subgenre that actually boasts a whole bunch of top-tier anime. Kemono Friends and Kemurikusa both fall in a similar space, while both Haibane Renmei and Sound of the Sky, though they don’t have a specific focus on journeying, capture a similar combination of warm slice of life contrasted against a majestic yet fading larger world.

Slice of life and post-apocalyptic despair might not seem like a natural combination, but the pairing actually makes a lot of sense to me. There are no longer any battles to fight in these worlds – whatever some action hero might have been able to accomplish, their deeds are no longer relevant, as the world has already arrived at its end. Instead, those who survive must focus on what they still have – and in any world, the one thing a broken civilization can’t take from us is each other. In a world gone to ruin, the comfort we can provide each other becomes all that much more crucial, and a natural symbol of how human kindness is ultimately undefeatable. Even in a world in decay, two people can still care about each other, and find comfort in each other’s presence.

Resonant premise aside, Girls’ Last Tour is also just a lovely aesthetic object in its own right, full of evocative backgrounds and tied together with incredibly precise sound design. Let’s see what adventures these girls get up to in episode two!

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Toradora – Episode 4

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Toradora’s third episode is largely dedicated to Ryuuji having his preconceptions about his classmate Minori forcefully challenged, first through Taiga’s defense of her close friend, and then through confessions by Minori herself. Trapped in a tool shed with a distressed Minori, he learns that the strength and energy which he sees as an effortless component of Minori’s base nature is actually anything but. Minori isn’t naturally confident or naturally strong; she simply plays the part, putting on an appearance of strength in order to inspire real strength.

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Bloom Into You – Episode 13

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Folks, the moment has arrived. At last, we’re gearing up to explore the final episode of Bloom Into You, and see how this charmingly on-the-nose theater production plays out. Last episode saw Yuu experiencing a crucial and long-awaited turn, as she at last went against Touko’s overt wishes in order to try and make her friend embrace her own identity.

Through doing this, Yuu also neatly managed to embrace her own identity. Yuu started this series unsure of either who she currently was or who she wanted to become, with the twin pressures of her lack of romantic inclinations and lack of professional aspirations embodying each of those feelings. Touko, someone who has made a willful point of not embracing any personal selfhood at all, likely saw a lot of herself in Yuu, thus prompting her initial combined declaration of “I love you” and “please, never change your feelings for me.” But while Touko has spent this season doggedly defending her non-identity, Yuu’s insecurities were never based in any permanent or chosen truth about herself – they were just things a lot of people feel as a high schooler, and things she’s subsequently started to grow past.

While Touko was once able to use her confidence and ultimatums to make Yuu obey her (something Yuu accepted more or less willingly, given her own desire for direction), Yuu has at this point gained such confidence and determination that she’s willing to potentially sacrifice her relationship with Touko in order to help Touko grow. Though Yuu herself describes this instinct as “selfishness,” we in the audience can clearly see it as a combination of selflessness, strong determination, and love. If you really, truly believe you are working in someone’s best interests, trying to help them against their wishes is never “selfish.” If your desire to help someone is greater than your desire to stay by their side, congratulations, you’ve found love. Whether Yuu realizes that or not, I’m thrilled to see her embracing her own desires, and can’t wait to see how this performance plays out. Let’s explore the finale of Bloom Into You!

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