Throughout its early episodes, Neon Genesis Evangelion has taken care to impress upon us the scale of this conflict, and the necessity of an organization like NERV. As I’ve previously discussed, apocalyptic scifi like this can have a tendency to feel pretty myopic in its scale – there are these heroes and these villains, but the concept of a greater world hanging in the balance can feel dramatically distant. Through conceits like the army’s initial failure in episode one, and the collaborative efforts of all Japan in six, Evangelion has consistently reminded us that humanity has truly been pushed to the edge, and that NERV really is our last line of defense. And here in episode seven, we receive the most stark indicator yet that NERV is truly humanity’s final barricade – as they scramble to defend that title, in light of a direct challenge by professional rivals.
Category Archives: Episode Writeup
Ojamajo Doremi – Episode 51
Well folks, the moment has arrived. After fifty diverse and rewarding episodes of Ojamajo Doremi, and one climactic stab at the final witch exams, we have at last arrived at the end of Doremi’s first season. The things I’ve enjoyed about this season feel too numerous to list, but we’re at the dang finale now, and I think some pomp and circumstance is probably appropriate.
First off, I’ve come to absolutely love this main cast, with all four of our heroines surprising and impressing me over time. As is appropriate, Doremi started as the most helplessly ojamajo of any of them, and yet has probably undergone the most growth as well. Doremi started this series kindhearted and motivated, but very often petty and rash, as well as lacking in a personal passion she could take pride in. She can still be petty and rash, but her developing progress as a witch has forced her to challenge her own feelings, step back from the spotlight when necessary, and ultimately gain both the confidence and skill to apply herself and positively change the world through her mastery of witchcraft. The World’s Unluckiest Pretty Girl has grown into a genuine hero, and it’s been wonderful to witness.
Of course, Ojamajo Doremi has always been an ensemble production, and its illustration of Doremi’s friends and family have offered some of its most poignant, thoughtful, and emotionally instructive tales. Aiko’s process of coming to terms with her parents’ divorce, as she grapples with the distance between her and her father’s feelings, clings to the memory of her old home life, and ultimately learns to assert her needs without retreating into the past. Hadzuki quietly demonstrating she’s actually the weirdest of the three of them, proving herself equally suited to absurd kidnapping capers and somber meditations on death and the limits of our strength. Onpu finding the intimacy her family withheld in the camaraderie of her peers, and the trust of her closest friends. And all their various families and classmates and mentors and friends, who through their stories have collectively rung out that whatever your passion, if you embrace it with a positive spirit, it is worth celebrating.
That, in the end, may be our heroines’ saving grace. All through this season, characters have hidden the passions they love, often using them as a stand-in for the feelings they’re repressing as well. Their ultimate celebration of those passions has often echoed their celebration of those feelings, be it Masaru’s memory of playing trumpet with his father, Mutsumi’s determination to become a pro wrestler, or whatever else they most secretly and earnestly feel. Here in the last episode, the greatest secret of all is on full display – but at this point, Doremi and her friends have become such talented, laudable witches that perhaps that’s not such a big deal. However this season resolves, I feel privileged and delighted to explore one more episode with you all. Let’s watch some Ojamajo Doremi!
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s – Episode 1
Hello all, and welcome back to another episode of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha! What, did you think we were finished? Of course not! Influential as its first season may already be, Nanoha wouldn’t be half the institution it now is if it weren’t such an, er, actual institution. The franchise has been receiving new sequels and spinoffs and manga adaptations ever since 2004, making it a fairly unique property within the late night anime sphere. Most long-running shows fall into either children’s anime or shounen adaptation territory, which are always intended to have lengthy and largely episodic running times. Nanoha bucks this trend, adding seasons and properties piecemeal across scattered seasons, kept alive by its own enduring popularity. So what is Nanoha’s second season about, then?
No clue. Pretty much everything I already knew about Nanoha happened in the first season – the combination of magical girl and scifi influences, the clash between Fate and Nanoha, and the ultimate friendship they develop. All I can really say at the moment is that even the context of the first season makes it no surprise this series got a continuation. Nanoha’s first season certainly possessed its own self-contained narrative, but so much of its running time was dedicated to establishing its evocative techno-fantasy world that it also felt like the prologue to something greater. “We must defeat Testarossa” didn’t feel like a meaningful capstone to the world they’d established; it was just Nanoha’s first assignment, and was treated as such. Having established this rich world, underlined Nanoha’s unique strength within it, and just recently yanked Fate over to the light side, the pieces are all set for a thrilling sequel that takes advantage of the original’s careful expository work. Let’s see what awaits us in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s!
Ojamajo Doremi – Episode 50
Folks, we are well overdue for another installment of Ojamajo Doremi. Doremi has always been a pretty great show, but it feels like the production has been really swinging for the fences lately in terms of its personal drama and character development, as we’ve run through critical and brilliantly realized episodes focused on both Aiko and Onpu.
Onpu in particular has grown much closer to the main cast over her last several appearances, and last episode even used her magic to ensure she lost in her pursuit of an acting role, once she realized how much the part meant to her strongest competitor. That spirit of empathy seems a far cry from the girl who brainwashed an admirer to avoid actually dealing with him, and when that brainwashing nearly ruined his relationship, flew off with a carefree “not my problem.” Onpu has not just learned to take responsibility for her own actions (as when she resolved that group date catastrophe), but has also seemed to develop a genuine concern for others, and perhaps even a sense of moral obligation to use her powers well.
Given all this recent development, I’m guessing Onpu will be contributing heavily to the season finale. Speaking of which, HOLY SHIT WE’RE AT THE SEASON FINALE! After a rich and rewarding year of Doremi episodes, we’ve finally arrived at the two-parter that ends its first season. I’m told the show actually gets even better in its later seasons (I can’t friggin’ wait to see Mamoru Hosoda’s take on this show), so I’ve got no time for tears – I’m just excited to see what this consistently impressive show whips together for such a major occasion. Let’s dive into another episode of Ojamajo Doremi!
Bloom Into You – Episode 10
You know what folks, we’re watching more Bloom Into You. I have been absolutely loving this show’s thoughtful, incredibly sympathetic drama, and its characters have only gotten more rich and human as the show progresses. That goes doubly so for Touko, who just received an unexpected dash of sympathy from outside the show proper. Though I mentioned in the last two writeups that bad subtitles sabotaged Touko’s characterization, I originally watched through those episodes before I knew that – this writeup right here is the first time I’ve been actively aware that Touko’s confession was more “I’m afraid that if I accept my true self, no one will care for me,” and less “if you ever change, I’ll abandon you.” That puts Touko perfectly in line with both of our other leads, afraid that any expression of their true selves will get them cast aside. Though she still has more power in this relationship than Yuu, she’s nearly as vulnerable, and as Yuu begins to embrace her own feelings, I’m guessing that balance will continue to shift.
Speaking of which, holy crap, Yuu’s in love! Or lust, or infatuation, or something – regardless of their specific substance, Yuu is now clearly feeling physical, romantic feelings towards Touko. Though it would have been very interesting to have a genuinely asexual character as a romantic drama lead, it turns out Yuu’s issue was something also quite common to teenagers – it just took her a little longer to feel these feelings than others, and she assumed that meant there was something wrong with her. With Yuu now both intellectually and emotionally invested in moving beyond her current position, I’m guessing her current relationship will definitely run into some friction. Let’s see where this wonderful drama takes us next!
Scorching Ping Pong Girls – Episode 4
Hell yeah folks, we’re watching Scorching Ping Pong Girls! It has been a ridiculously long time since we last explored an episode of this one – so long, in fact, that I no longer have any idea what our ongoing conflicts are, or what narrative/emotional/thematic threads I should be paying close attention to. BE RIGHT BACK, GOTTA REFRESH.
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ALRIGHT, I’m back! So from what I’m gathering, the last episode was pretty much the end of Scorching Ping Pong Girls’ first act, ending on Agari at last embracing ping pong because she genuinely loved it, instead of simply using it as a vehicle for personal praise. That character turn all came about because of Koyori’s earnest love of the sport, and her desire to use it not as a way to prove her dominance, but as a way simply to communicate with others.
That’s a twist I really like, partially because it seems like a truthful reflection of the ways personal anxiety can express itself, and also partly because “competition as communication” is one of the things I find most compelling about sports drama and competition in general. It’s essentially another way of articulating the tactical appeal of really good competitive games; from fighting games to sports to board games, great contests involve a continuous exchange of proposals and counter-offers, an argument held in a language of tactics. That stuff is all pretty much fundamental to tactical drama, but setting it as Koyori’s signature skill seems to imply this show will be even more focused on tactical repartee than most, like a Mizushima production. But anyway, last episode concluded on the partial introduction of a Mysterious Stranger, and we’ve got work to do. Let’s dive into the next episode of Scorching Ping Pong Girls!
Simoun – Episode 17
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Simoun! It has been far too long since we explored this fascinating show, particularly since the last episode ended on the cruelest possible cliffhanger. Having at last successfully performed the Emerald Ri Maajon, it seemed very much like Simoun was going to spirit both of my favorite characters up into the sky. I’m not cool with that! Dominura is both the dramatic irritant and iron core that this team desperately needs, and Limoun is both adorable and one of the only genuine friends a good half of this cast still have. Their team is far weaker without them, even discounting the fact that they’re two of the most impressive pilots in Chor Tempest – and ultimately, that may well be the point. What will the team do if they both lose their center and discover the Ri Maajons are a form of self-destruction all at once?
Man, it feels nice just to type out this show’s wacky terminology again. It’s good to be back, Simoun. Let’s see what episode seventeen has in store!
Bloom Into You – Episode 9
Alright everyone, it’s time to dive right back in to Bloom Into You. With the series over halfway over at this point, we’ve gained a solid understanding of Yuu, Touko, and even Sayaka’s feelings, as each of them grapple with shifting desires and an inability to fully embrace their own identities. “I have to perform an artificial self in order to maintain my status in high school” is a very common sentiment, but it’s taken a different form for each of these girls. For Touko, denying her identity is something she does willingly, or even gladly – she’s happier acting as her sister’s replacement than being herself, and afraid of being rejected for performing anything less than perfection. For Yuu, what was initially a comforting relationship with Touko has begun to feel significantly less so, as her own desires grow beyond what Touko is willing to accept from her. And for Sayaka, the overarching social prejudice against same-sex relationships weighs down heavily, making her question if there’s something fundamentally wrong with her.
Though I initially felt more sympathetic to Yuu and Sayaka’s narratives than Touko’s, I’ve since learned that Sentai royally screwed up the translation of episode six’s big confession scene – Touko wasn’t threatening Yuu, she was expressing her own fear of being rejected if she embraced herself. Knowing that, I feel much better about the manipulation and backbiting and general angst all three of these girls are throwing at each other, as they all work to present a self they think the others could love. Teens just do shitty stuff to each other, it’s a fact – they’re not monsters for that, and growing out of the insecurity that causes you to be cruel is a big part of adolescence. Let’s see what our mixed-up kids do next in another episode of Bloom Into You!
Princess Tutu – Episode 21
Princess Tutu’s twenty-first opening monologue commences with a familiar line: “once upon a time, there was a man who died.” This is the same line it used to open its first monologue, before introducing the founding myth of the prince, raven, and Tutu herself. In that monologue, after describing the story, the narrator went on to speak of how the characters lived beyond their author’s death, and ultimately escaped their pages – only for the author to ultimately reappear and signal his approval. So how does this new version of the tale compare to that first story?
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha – Episode 13
Time for the endgame, folks! With the assault on Precia’s fortress in full swing and Precia herself having fallen into some ominous dimensional crevice, it’s time at last to conclude the first season of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. This show has been a ride that shifted from intriguing but uneven to consistently thrilling, and at this point, it’s no surprise whatsoever that Nanoha inspired an entire franchise. So before we dive into this last episode, let’s do a brief overview of Nanoha’s strengths so far.
First off, there’s Nanoha herself, and her firm bond with Fate Testarossa. Nanoha has proven herself to be an exceptionally competent protagonist, which might feel a little odd in the abstract, but which works perfectly to build her up as a foil for Fate. And the situations surrounding these characters has felt unusually well-observed on both sides; Nanoha’s relationship with her family is illustrated through copious convincing incidental scenes, while Fate’s time with her “mother” contains some of the most brutal and immediate illustrations of both familial abuse and its psychological aftermath that I’ve seen in anime. And both of these situations have benefited from Nanoha’s signature stylistic trick, its tendency to extend certain scenes far beyond their theoretical “narrative necessity” in order to create a more convincing illustration of a genuine lived experience.
In aesthetic terms, Nanoha isn’t the most beautiful show out there, but it certainly has its strengths. Shinbo’s love of striking full block colors aligns very well with Nanoha’s focus on energy attacks over action choreography, and the show’s often surreal backgrounds and consistent fisheye shots do an excellent job of creating a sense of unease throughout. And finally, Nanoha’s underlying worldbuilding feels ripe for exploration and expansion – its techno-magical world has the key quality of feeling like it exists outside of Nanoha’s own story, full of wild tales we haven’t yet experienced. With all that said, let’s see how the first season of Nanoha comes to an end!