Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Sound! Euphonium – Episode 6

Posted on by

Sound! Euphonium had a goofy cooldown episode this week, which was reasonable enough for what it is. As I discuss at length in my review, Euphonium’s second season has consistently suffered for its adaptive nature, and so I’m not really expecting it to match the self-contained greatness of the first season. It’s messier, and the drama emerges far less naturally from the fundamentals of the narrative, and that’s just what we gotta deal with. Anime is a tricky business!

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

Continue reading →

Mawaru Penguindrum – Episode 11

Posted on by

The contradictory pull of fate guides all actions in Penguindrum’s fatalistic eleventh episode. The theme is established quickly here, as Kanba heads to the estate of the red-haired woman in pursuit of the diary. Caught in the middle of painting Kanba’s portrait, his tormentor talks of how “the canvas doesn’t lie,” and that the Kanba she paints is more honest and true than the untrustworthy Kanba of the real world. Kanba’s current nature is capricious and mercenary, but by capturing him in painting, this woman can maintain the love she once felt for him like a perversion of Dorian Grey. While Momoka’s perfection is assured because of her absence, Kanba’s current presence undercuts his meaning for this woman, and thus she creates her own version. An object of adoration’s “true form” is the form which is most meaningful to us.

Continue reading →

March comes in like a lion – Episode 5

Posted on by

We finally got a full expose on Rei’s childhood this week, which was about as horrifying and suffocating as imaginable. March’s execution is still a mixed bag, beyond stuff like its uneven animation – the show just doesn’t feel confident enough to discard the parts of either its source material or SHAFT quirks that don’t work in this format/narrative. It’s still a show I’m very much enjoying, but it’s frustratingly short of the show it could be.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

Continue reading →

Nichijou – Episode 14

Posted on by

Is it time for more Nichijou?!? FUCK YES IT’S TIME FOR MORE NICHIJOU. In fact, to be totally honest, it is basically always time for more Nichijou – but this exact moment is a subset of Always, and so we have certainly arrived at an appropriate time for Nichijou shenanigans. The show’s last episode actually dipped the furthest into legitimate pathos the show has ever gone, offering some very endearing scenes between Nano and the professor and ending on Nano finally getting the okay to attend school. Will this merging of the show’s two main threads change its fundamental nature? All I know is I should stop writing, since writing is not watching Nichijou. LET’S DO THAT INSTEAD.

Continue reading →

G Gundam – Episode 1

Posted on by

Hello and welcome! Today I’m starting on a new notes project – G Gundam, the most hot-blooded and over-the-top of all Gundam properties. G Gundam actually embraces the camp inherent in giant robots, and harkens back more to classic super robots than the variably serious scifi stylings that Gundam helped bring to the genre. I’m not really fond of super robots on the whole, but I can enjoy a robot show executed with great flair or personality (Giant Robo, Turn A Gundam), so I guess we’ll have to see where this one falls. Let’s get right into the action!

Continue reading →

Girlish Number – Episode 4

Posted on by

Girlish Number’s going down a pretty interesting route at the moment. The central anime production is already crashing and burning, but it seems like the show isn’t particularly worried about that – instead, it’s going to follow this cast as they emerge from the ashes, leading their media mix enterprise regardless. Kuzu-P still feels like a monstrous caricature, but I’m finding it interesting how well his ideas are actually working out here. I’m not exactly sure where Girlish Number is going with all this, but we’ll find out soon enough!

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.

Continue reading →

Sound! Euphonium 2 – Episode 5

Posted on by

Yeah, this episode was a triumph. After four relatively low-key episodes, Euphonium finally let loose with an episode whose energetic first half was still dwarfed by its titanic performance segment. I obviously love the subtle stuff, but it sure is impressive to see what only this studio can do when they really let loose. Glad to have you here, Euphonium.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

Continue reading →

Planetes – Episode 15

Posted on by

With Fee and Yuri both having earned a scattering of focus episodes, the only one-note characters remaining in the debris section were the buffoonish bosses and long-suffering temp worker Edel. Those bosses remained buffoons this week, but Edel finally got a chance to shine, pinning down a winding episode that broke from fourteen’s close focus to check in on basically all of the show’s minor characters. Things are stirring together now, even if anything approaching a focused narrative still seems very far away.

Continue reading →

March comes in like a lion – Episode 4

Posted on by

March comes in like a lion spent an entire episode in its goofier, comedy-happy mode this week, which inevitably resulted in a weaker episode overall. I like these characters well enough that such episodes are still far from unpleasant, but the show has just not found graceful ways to integrate the comedy of the manga. The slice of life elements are clearly key to the structure of the whole, so hopefully the show eventually gets a better grasp on its own material!

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.

Continue reading →

Nichijou – Episode 13

Posted on by

It’s time for more Nichijou! Today we actually will arrive at the series’ halfway point, which is certainly a tragedy. There basically aren’t any shows like Nichijou out there – even if there are other witty comedies, Nichijou’s execution seems impossible to match. It dedicates all the genius and resources any TV production could muster to jokes about friends walking into pies, or cats being adorable. It is a rare and precious thing, and so all I can do to celebrate it is BURN RIGHT THROUGH ANOTHER ONE LET’S GO YEAAAAH.

Continue reading →