Princess Tutu’s twelfth opening fable doesn’t require much interpretation to connect it to the show’s narrative: presented as a sort of setting of the stage for the first half finale, it portrays Rue (or Kraehe)’s current actions as bluntly as possible. “Once upon a time, there was a handsome slave. What bound him were not heavy chains, but the princess’s love. Every day, every night, the princess whispers her love to the slave, and the slave responds in kind. Bound body. Bound emotions. The slave or the princess? Which of them is really the one who cannot move?”
Category Archives: Episode Writeup
Simoun – Episode 15
Let’s continue our journey through the captivating Simoun! The show’s last episode was one of its all-time best so far, an unexpectedly focused exploration of the relationship between Morinas and Wapourif that doubled as a very personal articulation of the show’s conflicted thoughts on faith and duty. Once again, the contradictory framing of sybilla as holy icons and sybilla as soldiers resulted in painful friction, this time for Wapourif, as he was forced to grapple with his feelings on both Morinas personally and the nature of the simoun more generally. A tender romance was thus naturally contrasted against a brutally pragmatic order from Dominura, resulting in an episode whose major dramatic beats played into the show’s character arcs, thematic conflicts, and overt narrative all at once. It was a phenomenal episode, and I only hope it’s not the last we see of Morinas and Wapourif growing closer.
That episode was great in its own right, but its implications for Simoun’s ongoing narrative are just as exciting. The episode concluded on Wapourif eventually consenting to dismantle a simoun, which he saw as empty except for its central helices, but which Dominura apparently saw as something truly horrifying. Based on the episode also casually hinting that a sybilla’s body disappears if she dies in combat, it seems reasonable to assume that the sybilla themselves somehow provide fuel for the simoun, in a manner that’s much more gruesomely literal than any of them expected. How this will tie into the fact that simoun work better when their partners are in love, I don’t really know, but I’m excited to continue discovering where all these mysteries lead. Let’s jump right into another episode of Simoun!
Chihayafuru S2 – Episode 21
Let’s get back to more Chihayafuru! I know it feels like I’ve been uncharacteristically giddy for a good dozen or so episodes now, but that’s only because I’ve definitely been uncharacteristically giddy holy crap this season has been so much fun. Chihayafuru has always been a warm and engaging show, and I’m clearly weak to many of the things it prioritizes, from its tactically grounded matches to its general love for its own cast, but the second half of this second season has just been one killer match after another, cashing in on dozens of episodes of competitive and personal growth for all our leads. And even after all these match episodes, the excitement still isn’t over – in fact, the show’s last episode was essentially all dedicated to hyping up this next tournament, where all of Chihayafuru’s stars get to demonstrate their own unique strengths.
How this whole individual tournament will shake out, I can’t possibly say – I had a hard enough time gauging where the team tournament was going, and now we’re apparently spectating around fifteen parallel matches at once. It seems easy to guess that the secondary characters’ matches will be reduced to one or two dramatic moments, and obviously Chihaya’s fights will be pretty significant, but beyond that we’ve got a wide array of potential spotlights. Shinobu’s vendetta against team karuta doesn’t seem like it could stir much conflict in an individual setting, but I’d very much enjoy watching her fight against non-Chihaya opponents, particularly if those opponents are people like Megumu or Sudo. It also feels like Nishida is overdue for a little personal drama, but given this is the first time we’ve seen Arata play in nearly forever, I’m guessing he and Taichi will probably stay in focus instead. However it shakes out, we’ve got around twenty competitors we already know well, and separate rank tracks to give a wide swathe of them a real chance at glory. Let’s get right to the Chihayafuru!
Ojamajo Doremi – Episode 31
Let’s settle in for another episode of Ojamajo Doremi! The show’s last episode was pretty much textbook Doremi, balancing goofy adventures within the main cast around a sturdy character study featuring Yamauchi, one more of Doremi’s consistently well-realized and multifaceted classmates. That in turn resolved into a simple but solidly articulated lesson regarding the nature of grief and guilt, offering comfort for anyone who’s said something cruel or regrettable to a loved one in a difficult moment.
Yamauchi’s story was a little more abridged than many of Doremi’s character stories, but there was a very good reason for that: a great deal of the episode was mostly just about reveling in the fun relationships between Doremi’s various classmates. One vignette at a time, Doremi has steadily built up a roster of well over a dozen unique and engaging classmates, and at this point, simply putting a group of them together in a new setting like “graveyard test of courage” offers inherent dramatic rewards all by itself. We know and like all these kids, and throwing one person we know and like next to another one just to see what happens has been a time-tested formula for character drama since characters experienced drama in the first place. Episode twenty-nine (the Doremi horse episode) offered a terrific example of what happens when Doremi just leans into its ensemble nature for madcap thrills – in contrast, episode thirty demonstrated that Doremi’s increasingly ensemble nature can be just as useful for more somber and personal stories. Ojamajo Doremi just becomes richer and richer the more it builds up its larger cast, so I’m happy to see it putting that investment to use, and ready for whatever’s next. It’s time for some mediocre magic with the ojamajos!
Precure Hugtto – Episode 1
Holy crap folks, we’re watching some Precure. If you’re not in the know, Precure is short for Pretty Cure, one of the most enduring magical girl franchises of recent years. Pretty Cure isn’t a Madoka or Nanoha-style property aimed at older audiences – like Ojamajo Doremi, it’s genuinely intended to be a show for children. Also like Ojamajo Doremi, it has a pretty sturdy reputation among anime fans as a genuinely great property, with its many seasons varying in quality, but always attracting a solid crowd of western fans.
As one of Toei’s signature series, Pretty Cure has turned out to be the proving ground for a wide variety of talented anime creators, from creative action animators to Rie Matsumoto, whose Heartcatch Pretty Cure film is considered a resounding highlight of her early career. Many key artists on works like One Piece and Dragon Ball have also contributed heavily to Pretty Cure – hell, the show’s first season was directed by the same guy who directed the first two hundred episodes of Dragon Ball Z.
Personally, my own experience with Precure is very limited. I basically know what I know via osmosis from more knowledgeable friends on twitter, and though I’ve long been interested in checking the series out, its substantial length and the implausibility of turning this into a work project made that a tough prospect. Fortunately, you generous readers are picking up the slack this time, and so we’re at least watching through the first episode of Precure’s highly regarded current season. Let’s check out Precure Hugtto!
Chihayafuru S2 – Episode 20
It is absolutely time for more Chihayafuru! We return to the show on the heels of one of its most thrilling episodes of all time, a team tournament finale that saw Chihaya, Taichi, and Nishida all pushing themselves to the absolute breaking point. Quite literally, in Chihaya’s case – her determination to succeed alongside her friends meant she kept playing with either a sprained or genuinely broken finger, compounding her injury and ultimately passing out the moment she won. Granted, Chihaya always passes out when she wins, but an injury is an injury. If this is anything more than a sprain, she likely won’t be able to compete in tomorrow’s singles tournament.
That said, it seems unlikely to me that the show will actually go in that direction. Not only would it be dramatically unsatisfying, as well as a repeat of Arata’s conflict from a few episodes ago, but it feels like the show has been building Shinobu’s situation up with the intent of paying off her character growth during the singles tournament. In order to follow through on the evolving perspective she demonstrated during the team finals, I’m guessing her eventual match against Chihaya will be something of a breakthrough, and possibly even the moment she realizes karuta doesn’t have to be a lonely activity.
Then again, Chihayafuru is nothing if not methodical, so that character turn might have to wait for a future tournament. But as I’ve said before, the nature of professional karuta tournaments means these characters only have so many opportunities to interact, and last episode left Shinobu dangling in a kind of personal arc limbo. I hope you’re okay Chihaya, and I promise that’s not entirely because I just want to see more Shinobu material. Let’s get to the karuta!
Princess Tutu – Episode 11
“Once upon a time, there was a maiden with wings of freedom. The man who loved this maiden thought, ‘if I could just bind those wings, we would never be apart, even for a moment.’ But when the man wrapped the maiden’s wings in a magical shawl, the wings fell off immediately, and the woman died.”
Kuuchuu Buranko – Episode 4
Alright, let’s check back in with Kuuchuu Buranko. Where we last left off, Kuuchuu Buranko/Trapeze was very slowly shaping itself into a relatively watchable show. Unfortunately, Trapeze just isn’t there yet – outside of its wild stylistic digressions, the narrative substance of these episodes is just totally unsatisfying. Its characters are simplistic, its stories aren’t engaging, and its solutions to all of its heroes’ problems don’t make any sense. There is just nothing to draw from this show in an emotional or intellectual sense, outside of how it uses mixed media to… well, use mixed media? Even there, its juxtaposition of various different realities within a single frame doesn’t often lead to any larger dramatic effect beyond “this looks weird” or “this is disorienting” or “this color scheme sure isn’t attractive.” The show reminds me of Mind Game or the first isolated episode of Kyousogiga – visual noise, experimentation seemingly designed only to prompt more focused creators to say “ah, I can see how that could be used in an actual narrative.”
I suppose this takeaway just reflects the fact that I don’t really come to anime, or media in general, for experimentation for its own sake. I love creative shows, but I see experimentation like this as a tool, not a goal – unique images are nice, but if they’re not being used to bolster some meaningful dramatic effect, they’re probably not going to impress me. Concrete Revolutio’s divergent character art echoed its nature as a hero history pastiche that emphasized what a living part of our world heroes are. The Tatami Galaxy brought us into the kaleidoscopic mind of its protagonist, letting us see the world he saw, brimming with possibility. Trapeze hasn’t really reached that point yet, but I suppose we’re still relatively early in the series. Let’s check out episode four!
Chihayafuru S2 – Episode 19
Today we’re continuing our journey through Chihayafuru, as the team tournament finals draw towards an end! With all the establishing work Chihayafuru has recently done, this battle has felt like a validation of nearly every major character’s personal journeys, be it in a small way or a completely worldview-shaking one. While Tsutomu and Tsukuba have already fallen, our remaining three competitors each have their own fire driving them forward, whether it’s Taichi coming to terms with Arata’s presence or Chihaya finally internalizing Kana’s emotive approach to card reading. And of course, this is the last team match of the year – the last chance to shine as a group, and demonstrate their dedication to team karuta.
That “value of team karuta” point reflects what seems to be this match’s most unexpected dramatic focus, its impact on Shinobu. We learned at the end of the first season how karuta had essentially been Shinobu’s only friend, and thus she’d established a close emotional bond with the cards over time. Last episode, that knowledge was given context through learning that the adults in her life had intentionally isolated her from any peers her own age in order to foster that talent, actively forcing her to see karuta as a lonely activity. Given that history, it made perfect sense that Shinobu would have come to resent and eventually disdain team karuta, validating her own unhappy experiences by embracing the idea that team karuta is a fundamentally frivolous activity. If team karuta is bad, Shinobu wasn’t missing out, and her loneliness is just a necessary consequence of her excellence.
Of course, as it turns out, team karuta kicks ass, even if it’s not quite as serious and competitive as solo karuta. Arata framed the value of team karuta as its ability to draw new people into the sport they love, underlining the fact that even Shinobu’s lonely road demands other players – but for Shinobu, the more convincing argument seems to be Chihaya and Rion’s desperate match, a match as high-level and furious as the most competitive singles battles. Chihaya is reaching out to Shinobu without even realizing it, communicating a desire for friendship in the only language Shinobu has ever known. However this battle turns out, I hope Shinobu learns something from this day, and starts to escape her unhappy shell.
Alright, that’s probably more than enough preamble. Let’s dive right into Chihayafuru!
Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha – Episode 2
Let’s get right back to Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha! Nanoha’s premiere was an interesting but deeply imbalanced episode, even down to things like having Kou Yoshinari delicately animate precisely one random dinner scene. In larger terms, I really liked how Akiyuki Shinbo’s many creative visual choices consistently sacrificed a sense of stable reality to further bolster each individual scene’s dramatic purpose. The actual visual tricks employed here (simplified color schemes, racking focus, ostentatious movement into depth, etc) don’t actually correlate to many of the visual embellishments SHAFT would later become known for, but the underlying philosophy of compromising on visual congruity for the sake of dramatic impact seems consistent through both. In visual terms, Shinbo asks more of our suspension of disbelief than the vast majority of shows, and the results aren’t always successful, but are pretty much always interesting. I don’t really care that this show is a little messy – I’m here to find the interesting stuff, and Nanoha certainly fits the bill.
Oh, also there’s a narrative. So far, Nanoha’s stuck pretty closely to a tried and true magical girl template, with its own notable features being its unusually thorough elaboration of Nanoha’s everyday life, as well as the heavy dash of science fiction worldbuilding. That worldbuilding seems to indicate Nanoha is something of a compromise between a standard magical girl’s show and a more general action platform, and with Nanoha having just conjured her big magical girl clobbering stick, I’m guessing it’s time for the show to follow through on that action promise. Let’s get to it!