Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Flying Witch – Episode 7

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Flying Witch upped the ante a bit this week. The episode’s first half was pretty much exactly the sort of competent, easy-going rural adventures I’ve come to expect, but the second half leaned into the show’s magical premise in a way that conveyed a far more textured and ambiguous tone. There were elements of mystery, danger, and wonder in Makoto and her friends’ exploration of the very strange cafe, sub-threads that made it hard not to compare to Miyazaki’s stuff. I’d really like to see more of that going forward, but I’m happy enough with this episode as it is.

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

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Kiznaiver – Episode 7

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Kiznaiver had its strongest episode of the season this week… in fact, Kiznaiver aside, I think this was just the strongest episode of anything I’ve watched this season. The show has often been a little clumsy in its emotional beats, but you wouldn’t have guessed that from this episode – this one was understated and beautiful and full of smart visual metaphors and purely tone-focused segments. Maki’s story turned out to be a lot more relatable than I’d expected; her fears and resultant feelings of guilt were totally understandable, and the episode did a great job of visually conveying the world she occupied. I was legit tearing up a bit by the end of this one – this kind of beautifully realized melancholy and slight emotional catharsis is exactly the kind of thing I love. Even if the rest of the show stays a little sketchy, I’m happy we got this.

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

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The Lost Village – Episode 8

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This was sadly a fairly normal episode of The Lost Village – not in that it was an average episode of this particular show, but in that it was a believable episode of an ordinary horror story. Well, as long as you discount the weird, self-destructive genre-awareness expressed during the Masaki interrogation. Aside from that, basically everything that happened here could really have happened in an ordinary show, which is pretty disappointing relative to what I generally expect from The Lost Village. Well, you can’t win ’em all.

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

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Texhnolyze – Episode 3

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Texhnolyze’s third episode is, well, another episode of Texhnolyze. Things are moving, but slowly, as ever. The boxer awakes and finds he is in the process of being reborn, while Kazuho rides the train into the city and makes a request of his companion. Angry factions swirl around the Organo, while the scientist seems bored of her everyday miracles. Things are slowly coming into focus.

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Planetes – Episode 2

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I mentioned in my last episode writeup that so far, Planetes was succeeding largely on premise and polish. On top of that, I also briefly talked about how both the show’s genre structure and its ending song somewhat gave away the fact that this was likely Hachimaki’s story, as he reignites the passion that sent him into space in the first place. This second episode reaffirmed all those points, and further underlined how important good storytelling fundamentals can be. On top of that, it was just a fine vignette that stared directly into the abyss of an unfulfilling professional life. For a show about spacemen in a glorious scifi future, Planetes is far more grounded than the vast majority of anime out there.

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Flying Witch – Episode 6

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Flying Witch had a bit of a dud episode this week, mainly because the second half’s big punchline moved swiftly from cute to irritating as the show drew it out. Flying Witch has generally been very good about not letting any given joke outstay its welcome, but this episode used a fairly weak concept as a load-bearing punchline, and the result was kind of disappointing. But hey, I’ve come to expect most anime comedies to have at least a few weak notes here and there. We can’t all be The Lost Village.

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

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Kiznaiver – Episode 6

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Kiznaiver had one of its best episodes yet this week, an episode that was equally satisfying in dramatic and visual terms. Okay, that’s kind of a lie – Kiznaiver’s design and direction are just god dang phenomenal, and continue to elevate what would likely be a pretty mediocre show in other hands. It’s always great to find a show that gives me a new director to keep an eye on, and Kiznaiver definitely qualifies. But that aside, this was still a dramatically effective episode on its own terms, full of nice exchanges between the whole cast. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the show is finding its footing or anything, but it’s still got plenty of nice stuff to offer.

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

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Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Episode 12

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“Can you hear the bells / Can you hear the alarm / Can you give away your life, like a good luck charm?”
– The Vigilantes of Love

Madoka Magica’s final episode does not end in a climactic battle. Madoka “defeats” Walpurgisnacht, but their confrontation takes all of fifteen seconds, and has little to do with what this episode is about. Madoka opens this episode by telling Homura that she has found her wish, and is going to become a magical girl. Homura despairs at this, saying “if that’s true, what have I been fighting for?” And Madoka’s response to this is the essence of her wish, of the certainty that she wishes to bring to this world. “Believe in me,” she says. “I promise that what you’ve done for me will not be in vain.”

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Dead Dead Demon’s Dededededestruction – Volume 1

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Dead Dead Demon’s Dededededestruction opens with a kooky children’s comic, clearly reminiscent of Doraemon. A child protagonist has a problem, their mushroom-shaped friend has just the invention to solve it, and trouble ensues. The camera then pulls back to reveal this text as an in-universe comic, one of countless objects strewn across a teenage girl’s messy, cluttered bedroom. It’s a fair enough metaphor for Asano’s work, which consistently transposes the purity of tiny emotional fragments against the inescapable messiness of everyday living. And it’s perhaps even more appropriate for this story, given Asano has outright admitted that Demon’s more cutesy character designs are intended to trick young people into reading his work. Dead Dead Demon isn’t exactly Doraemon, but it could well be intended as his version of a story for children.

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Texhnolyze – Episode 2

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Texhnolyze certainly doesn’t make it easy on you. The show’s pacing is almost unbelievably slow, its storytelling cryptic and uninviting. There’s virtually nothing you could describe as exposition here, and many events go beyond the unexplained and into the realm of the wholly symbolic. You get the impression the show is almost sneering at the idea of being engaged with; like the audience needs to earn its approval. And the overall experience is so stifling that it feels most evocative of The Flowers of Evil; not that the two have anything in common story-wise, but because they are both utterly dedicated mood pieces, and that mood is Oppressive.

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