Seiren’s second arc ended in fairly mundane fashion this week, as Toru and Shoichi headed off to Comiket and then confirmed their relationship through some awkward makeouts. Seiren often really does feel like watching two actual teenagers fall in lust, which ultimately just demonstrates how “realism” isn’t generally the most useful goal in fiction. Real romance is boring, and so is this show.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
It’s time to begin Suruga Monkey! This was a bit of a transition episode, but still offered plenty to dig into regarding Araragi’s character, along with adding new wrinkles to his relationships with Senjougahara and Hanekawa. I’m almost surprised by how directly all this material reflects on Araragi’s fatal flaws – I’d expected that stuff to come up, but it feels like the focus even as we’re being initially introduced to the rest of the show’s main cast. For a show that’s rambled through over fifty episodes, Monogatari still feels like a pretty focused thing.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!
Alright, two episodes left. I’ll be okay, probably – after all, from where I’m writing this, Nichijou is actually coming out on bluray in just about a week. I’ll consider it a sacred duty to watch the whole damn thing over again, hopefully while also hooking some of my housemates on it. Nichijou is a bizarre and precious gift, and now that I have seen the light, I will do my best to carry its torch into the dark corners of the world. Everyone must learn that the professor is good, and also to be careful about dogs. All must bear witness to the Nichijou flame.
Alright, that’s enough cultish adoration for now. Let’s burn this sucker down.
And we’re back to Casshern Sins! Last episode presented one more glimmer of hope, in the form of the singer Janice. More than just giving Casshern something new to care about, Janice offered him something he’d never had before – a reason to fight. Janice’s questions solidified one of Casshern’s core contradictions: he is designed to fight and destroy, but he has no interest in doing such things. Because of this, Casshern’s natural programming only tends to kick in when he’s in such personal danger his circuits won’t allow otherwise. But if Casshern could actually find something worth defending, something to fight for that could last like he does, he might arrive at some sort of peace.
That said, we’re only eight episodes in, so I’m expecting a whole lot more suffering before Casshern finds anything that might fit the bill. So let’s get right to it!
March returned to its usual level of execution this week, but was still a generally good time, and still had a couple nice visual highlights. Shimada continues to be a remarkably welcome addition to the cast, to the point where he already feels like one of the main characters. I’m still looking forward to whenever Rei actually visits the sisters again, though, and am guessing Akari will have some interesting words for him next week.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
I had virtually nothing to gawk at in this week’s Seiren, which was certainly a change of pace. Instead, this was just a remarkably grounded and overall successful slice of adolescent romance – understandable conflicts, multidimensional characters, and satisfying resolutions. I was pretty surprised! I certainly don’t mind, though – if Seiren permanently jumps from a weird oddity to a reasonable show, I’d be very happy.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
Natsume himself is the focus of this third episode. As we open, twilight colors and suburban sprawl return us to Natsume’s childhood, as he cries over his strangeness beneath a playground slide. As he laments his isolation, a girl comes up to console him, and asks the question he most wants to hear: “can you see them too?” Perhaps Natsume is not so alone after all.
Mawaru Penguindrum’s fourteenth episode has sex on the brain. After a cold open revealing the last of Yuri’s performances, we cut to Yuri and her costar in a private moment, where we learn that the hero of Yuri’s play is actually a heroine. Their sexuality is emphasized here to the point of performance, and their words feel like theater as well – Yuri’s partner seems to feel no embarrassment tossing off lines like “you can only share this feeling with another woman.” Happy to play the role of callous seductress, Yuri plainly states that “I’ve grown tired of you,” and abandons her lover. And after we hear a strange hint about Yuri’s “secret,” she drives off, leaving her paramour behind.
We’re back with the end of Mayoi Snail, and I’m back with another episode post that’s basically an essay in its own right. What can I say – Bakemonogatari steadily introduces pretty much all of the concepts that will become pillars of the franchise, and so there’s a whole lot to dig into. This time we get more on the strange nature of Mayoi arcs, a fair bit about Araragi’s personality, and plenty on Senjougahara as well. Let’s get right to it!
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below.
The minutes tick by, SDF agents steering humanity’s “future” towards the Sea of Tranquility City. Suspended in darkness between the earth and moon, the Von Braun has never looked so fragile. At a time like this, it’s easy to forget the human cost of such a grand, breathtaking achievement. A million lives lost is a crime too vast for us to conceive of, while monuments are easy to believe in. A symbol can mean more than any number of innocents.