Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Owarimonogatari – Episode 11

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And Shinobu Mail pulls out its first perfect episode. Well, I guess “perfect” is never really the right word for Monogatari. But seriously, this episode was incredible. The conversation between Kanbaru and Shinobu that consumed the second half was one of the best exchanges in the series so far, simultaneously acting as a great showpiece for both of their personalities and a strong reflection of the themes both in this arc specifically and the show overall. Monogatari is looking as strong as ever moving into the final stretch of Owari.

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

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Hyouka – Episode 2

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The light mysteries and other assorted treasures continue in Hyouka’s second episode. A month has passed since Oreki joined the classics club, and we feel the passage of that time. This episode opens with a sequence of lazy establishing shots, all of which emphasize the lovely but very specific color palette of Hyouka. Like Chuunibyou’s purple sunset colors, Amagi Brilliant Park’s bright pastels, and Euphonium’s deeper browns and greens, Hyouka has a very specific visual personality – auburn and yellow gold, the browning light of the late afternoon.

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The Perfect Insider – Episode 10

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Good lord was this episode ever silly. Perfect Insider’s mystery has always been silly, but this episode just completely leaned into its “reveals” as if it was expecting them to come off as either compelling or profound, and noooope. Like Souhei and Magata’s philosophy, it’s just total nonsense. I guess I got taken in on the long con by this show, but I don’t really mind – there were plenty of strong elements throughout (even this episode was very pretty), and I’d rather be optimistic about shows than not. Sometimes a show knows its characters are ridiculous, and sometimes it’s just as ridiculous as they are.

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

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Hyouka – Episode 1

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It’s interesting returning to a show like Hyouka after all this time away from it. Particularly given the unique circumstances of this return, and how different I am as a consumer now than I was then. Back when I first watched Hyouka, it was the second anime I’d ever watched as it was airing, with the first being Toradora several years before. I was just getting back into anime then, over the spring and summer of 2012 – playing through Katawa Shoujo that winter had prompted a renewed interest in anime-style media, and so I’d been catching up on shows like Madoka and Mawaru Penguindrum. Hyouka was less aggressive than those shows – in fact, its incredibly low-key execution first led to me dropping it only halfway through the first episode, before being convinced to continue by a friend with much better taste. And I watched through it, and I enjoyed it, and it became one of my favorite shows; but even then, I likely didn’t get out of the show what I’m guessing I’ll get now. Hyouka embodies KyoAni’s mastery of tiny moments – it is the studio, and anime itself by extension, at their best.

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Beautiful Bones – Episode 10

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Welp, this was definitely another episode of Beautiful Bones. I’m guessing I’m talking to myself at this point, because I can’t imagine anyone else has stuck with this show through ten tedious episodes. Not really sure what I can talk about even in that case, though. I went to a Get Up Kids concert on Tuesday – that was pretty great. I’d expected more of a balanced setlist covering their whole career, but I can’t really complain about them heavily favoring Four Minute Mile and Something to Write Home About, considering those are their big second wave emo hits. A good time overall.

Welp, looks like I’ve written enough words that people will assume are about Beautiful Bones. You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Owarimonogatari – Episode 10

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This was a reasonable episode of Owarimonogatari, notable mostly in that it succeeded in a way I think Monogatari rarely does – it went heavy on the pervert banter, and was actually really successfully funny for it. I think a lot of this came down to the fact that Araragi and Kanbaru’s relationship is a really solid one in spite of their perversions; they’re very comfortable with each other, and so there’s less of the gropiness and more trading barbs back and forth. But that wouldn’t work if the gags weren’t just inherently funny, and many of the individual lines this week were excellent. Or maybe I’m just always up for more jokes at light novels’ expense, who knows.

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

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The Perfect Insider – Episode 9

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The Perfect Insider had a fine episode this week, though not a spectacular one. Some of that admittedly comes down to storytelling preference – while I was all about the evocative flashbacks and nice character moments of the last two weeks, an episode wholly focused on mystery plot is almost guaranteed not to thrill me. But even though this mystery is completely ridiculous, this episode had solid pacing and enough coherent reveals to keep things interesting. Plus reviewing it gave me a chance to talk about mystery storytelling in general, which is always fun

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

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Strike Witches – Episode 1

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You guys are assholes.

I hope you know that. I open up my viewing schedule for anything you all want to support, and what happens? You fund The Room and God Damn Strike Witches. I hope you’re proud of yourselves. You got me to watch Strike Witches. You got me to make despairing jokes on twitter about Strike Witches. The first episode of Strike Witches now exists in my past. When Saint Peter scans down my MAL at the pearly gates, he’ll take a momentary pause at the S section, glance at me with one raised eyebrow, and then continue without a word.

So, how was the first episode of Strike Witches?

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Casshern Sins – Episode 3

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The third Casshern Sins contained a slower, smaller story than the second, more reminiscent of the first episode’s long walk on the beach. Though it wasn’t as rich in character or narrative, it did fill in gaps in the story so far; Casshern met his first human, and that experience lent a necessary warmth to counterbalance the show’s usual solemnity. We’re still wandering through archetypal vignettes in a desolate wasteland, but Casshern’s cumulative experiences are slowly building him into a person worth following on this journey.

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Casshern Sins – Episode 2

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In my first writeup on Casshern Sins, I worried that the show’s distant and deliberately mythic tone might prevent it from succeeding on a personal, emotional level. That issue remains a possibility, but this episode certainly didn’t reflect it; it was sad and intimate and remarkably successful, maintaining the sense of inevitability the show consistently demonstrates while offering up enough personal moments to make the Ruin succeed as small-scale tragedy. Things are still progressing as an intentionally archetypal epic story, but intimacy of telling and strong execution could make that work as well here as it does in something like Madoka Magica.

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