Nine years ago, a typhoon raged through Japan just as Himari was coming down with a terrible fever. With no one to call for help, the Takakura siblings’ mother panicked over what they might do, before their father declared he’d take Himari to the hospital himself. Rushing out the door, he was pursued by both his sons, though only Kanba manages to follow him. And so Kanba raced out into the street, physically chasing his father at the onset of a pursuit that would last him all his life.
Category Archives: Episode Writeup
Orange – Episode 4
Dear lord this show is excruciating. Painful from start to finish, saturated with the lost-chances insecurity of youth, extremely good show would not watch again. It almost feels like a defense mechanism that my reviews are so resolutely focused on craft, and not focused on the experience of watching Naho do everything wrong all the time even though she couldn’t possibly do otherwise. It’s a good hurt. Orange is a good show.
You can check out my full review over at ANN!
Planetes – Episode 8
The Planetes crew was back to the grind this episode, having returned from the moon and immediately being put back to work. While Hachi and Tanabe’s lives largely returned to business as usual, Fee opened this episode by meeting with her old coworker Dolf, now a division manager within Technora. Though Fee wanted to reminisce about the good old days, Dolf had a forward-thinking proposal for Fee – accept a promotion out of the Debris unit and directly into Central. Her talents are too good for a group as pointless and disparaged as Debris. He needs her where he can use her.
Mawaru Penguindrum – Episode 4
It’s time for a date! Ringo’s ever-demanding diary has upped the ante once again, and so this episode, she’s planning to take Tabuki out for a birdwatching expedition. As the episode opens, we see fate is in the air, represented through Ringo’s happy shoujo stars. Shoma is surprised merely by Ringo’s presence in his house, as he is the typical teenage protagonist – but Kanba has much bigger plans, and so he tasks his brother with tailing Ringo on her journey.
Planetarian – Episode 3
Planetarian continued to be its hopeful, melancholy self in this third episode, as Yumemi’s long-awaited projection served as a painting of mankind’s hopes etched on a canvas of its dire failures. Planetarian is a very small-scale version of exactly the kind of stuff I like, and though its somewhat flat aesthetics and limited characterization don’t allow for any truly soaring heights, it’s still a very competent and engaging production. I am having a good time with this sad robot.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!
Orange – Episodes 1-3
Orange has held firm for three great episodes now, though I’m hearing the production is actually going through some behind-the-scenes disasters. Fortunately, Orange already isn’t really a show I watch for the grace of its character animation – the director has always been a bit of a weird fit, but the fundamentals of his idiosyncratic style actually mesh pretty well with Orange’s equally unusual style of dialogue and storytelling. Barring some kind of serious rally from Battery, Orange is the current reigning prestige drama, and it’s bearing that crown with relative grace. I demand a steady diet of at least one of these every single season.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode three notes below.
Wandering Son – Episode 3
Episode three starts off with that eternal cavern of gender-based insecurities, gym class. Well, morning exercises more specifically, but the drama is the same – singled out by the teacher, Takatsuki is informed that he will have to start wearing a bra tomorrow, and promptly collapses. Puberty is resulting in unwelcome changes for both Takatsuki and Nitori, and the question of how they will be able to define themselves becomes more pressing all the time.
Planetarian – Episodes 1-2
I’m really enjoying Planetarian so far. As I say in my review, I appreciate a show whose storytelling tightly matches the scope of its premise – there’s a whole world being implied here, but Planetarian has one very specific story to tell. Yumemi’s character manages to thread a difficult path between inert cliche and maudlin overselling, coming across like a sympathetic person without the show having to harp on the tragedy of her situation. I’d love to see more small dramas like this; the 12 or 13 episode season can often result in unfocused narratives, but five episodes is a very manageable amount of time.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode two notes below!
The Tatami Galaxy – Episode 1
Oof, you guys really chose a brutal one this time. The Tatami Galaxy is one of the most rich and dense anime out there, spectacular in terms of visuals and nearly as impressive in terms of storytelling. It’s likely Masaaki Yuasa’s best work to date, and Yuasa is easily one of the strongest candidates for “best currently working director.” Even just its first episode is absolute madness, a madcap, stream-of-consciousness narrator accompanied by wild, spiraling visuals. The Tatami Galaxy is one of the few shows that starts with a high “difficulty level,” meaning it’s not just hard to comprehend, but even just keeping up with its subtitles demands a high speed-reading fluency. Even just the pre-OP sequence could warrant a page or two of unpacking.
So let’s do exactly that.
Hunter x Hunter – Volume 33
It’s almost painful to read these chapters, knowing how close I am to the current stopping point, knowing how uncertain it is this arc will ever be concluded. So much of this reads like a fantasy dreamland idea of a Hunter x Hunter arc. Kurapika and Leorio are back, and they’re both relevant! Ging and Pariston are dueling on the sidelines! Biscuit and Cheadle are there too! It’s all too much happiness for one Hunter x Hunter fan to take in – the joy tempered by the cruel fact of Togashi’s terribly uneven health. I hope he finds some rest for his own sake. I can live with just these treasures.