Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Owarimonogatari – Episode 9

Posted on by

Monogatari returned to top-tier form this week, with an episode whose visual theatrics were somewhat reminiscent of Shinobu Time’s gorgeous full-episode tapestry. And in fact, the visual tricks here were even more diverse than that, with shots mirroring that tapestry sharing space with some cut-paper images, creepy black and white interpretive shots, and great visual compositions done in Monogatari’s house style. Plus this episode featured a mix of Araragi and Shinobu bantering and Gaen just totally dominating everybody, so the narrative end was solid too. We’re not really in anything approaching the emotional turmoil of Sodachi’s material, but this was a fantastic episode on the visual end, and that’s more than enough to satisfy me for now. It even ended with a genuinely thrilling cliffhanger, implying a number of eerie possibilities regarding the nature of Shinobu’s old friend. We’ll have to see where it goes from here.

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

Continue reading →

The Perfect Insider – Episode 8

Posted on by

The Perfect Insider pulled out another great episode this week, cementing the rally it began in last week’s episode. Instead of working to push the overt narrative forward or give us lots of new information, this one instead honed in on the relationship between Moe and Souhei, offering up some of their most compelling exchanges since the very first episode. Between last week’s reveals and this week’s behavior, Souhei is actually somehow coming into his own as a character, coming across as pretentious for sure, but also legitimately dedicated to Moe in a familial way. Now that it seems clear there’s never going to be any romance there, and for a very good and understandable reason, their relationship is much more engaging. I hope the show can keep this up through the ending.

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

Continue reading →

Beautiful Bones – Episode 8

Posted on by

I am incapable of expending any more energy writing about this incredibly, tediously mediocre show. Instead here is a gif of Mugi, who is much better than this boring anime.

Mugi

Much better. If you’re still interested in Beautiful Bones for some reason, you can check out my writeup over on ANN or my notes below.

Continue reading →

Casshern Sins – Episode 1

Posted on by

Casshern Sins is a weird one. Coming out in 2008, it got in at the front end of our recent “heavier reinterpretation of classic cartoon” trend, which has more recently given us Gatchaman Crowds and Yatterman Night. Casshern Sins takes off a ‘70s anime about the android Casshern, who fights evil robots; this new version seems more focused on ambiguity and melancholy than justice. The writer, Yasuko Kobayashi, has a resume that mixes a bunch of tokusatsu shows and recent hits like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Attack on Titan (as well as 2014’s Garo, which splits the difference). The director Shigeyasu Yamauchi’s credits are more scattered – he’s handled a number of DBZ and Saint Seiya movies, but beyond that it’s mostly episodic directorial work, including the, er, Ami/Mami Detectives episode of Idolmaster. Perhaps his most notable credits I’m familiar with are two of the most visually compelling episodes of Shinsekai Yori – the controversial fifth episode, where people originally complained about the divergent visual style, and the transcendent tenth, where his evocative interpretation of Saki and Shun’s conversation represented one of the clear highlights of the series overall.

Continue reading →

Owarimonogatari – Episode 8

Posted on by

Owari picked up to some extent this week, with this episode at least having some nice reflections on Araragi’s journey so far. It’s not like we really need more reflections on Araragi’s journey so far, but if they’re illustrated in the way they were in this episode, where a couple offhand lines are just totally loaded with subtext, I can accept that. Araragi and Yotsugi interacted pretty much like Araragi and Yotsugi always do, and Gaen got to steal the show with a couple infinitely smug lines to Araragi. And we finally arrived at Shinobu near the end, which is definitely a good sign. If you’re going to have an Araragi arc, adding Shinobu to the mix is one of the best ways to make it interesting – their relationship is funny and endearing and legitimately tragic, and the two of them make each other more compelling by their presence. Here’s hoping the arc’s second half makes the most of that.

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

Continue reading →

The Perfect Insider – Episode 7

Posted on by

The Perfect Insider rallied back in style this week, speeding up and digging in and whatever other cliche term you want to use for something that wasn’t doing well no longer continuing to do that. We got great scenes with Moe, Magata, and (amazingly) Souhei, a bunch of compelling visual ideas, and more plot/character movement in one episode than we’ve seen in half the series so far. Moe’s journey in Magata’s dream-machine was probably the highlight – those CG legos seemed questionable when they were just sitting there in Magata’s room, but if that concession was necessary to allow for this visual trick, I am all for it. Watching young Moe crying in the hanger as the background disintegrated behind her is one of the most compelling anime images I’ve seen in a while. Nice work, Perfect Insider.

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

Continue reading →

Beautiful Bones – Episode 7

Posted on by

On the back of last week’s startlingly not-entirely-tedious episode, this week’s Beautiful Bones returned to This Show is Dull as Heck territory, opening a new multi-episode mystery with a first episode that accomplished basically nothing. Well, Sakurako and Shoutarou are maybe having a small fight now, if you’re invested in either of those characters either separately or together. And apparently a former teacher kept some bones in a box. Those are the things that happened in this week’s episode. If you were wondering what’s going on with Beautiful Bones, that is what is up.

You can check out my full review of these thrilling events over at ANN, or my exhaustive notes on the proceedings below.

Continue reading →

Owarimonogatari – Episode 7

Posted on by

Shinobu Mail started off pretty inauspiciously this week, with an episode that was half consumed by tired old Araragi-Kanbaru banter, half underserved by late-era Monogatari’s “minimalist” animation. The fight between Kanbaru and Shinobu’s old partner actually could have been pretty sweet, but the show just couldn’t back it up. And everything the two said in the episode’s first half was a retread of past conversations, which came off as particularly disappointing in the wake of the superb Suruga Devil. But it seems like this arc’s actual meat will be about Araragi and Shinobu’s relationship, and that’s one of the most interesting dynamics in the series, so I’m not too worried about one messy episode.

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

Continue reading →

The Perfect Insider – Episode 6

Posted on by

Screw you, Perfect Insider! I go to bat for you for half the damn season and this is how you repay me? A recap episode?! A RECAP EPISODE IN AN ELEVEN EPISODE SERIES?!?

Yeah, this week was some hot garbage in pretentious professorville. Not only was this episode dominated by a big ol’ recap segment, it also hung basically all its emotional weight on a scene between Moe and Souhei that I can’t even physically conceive of caring about. Who cares about Souhei? Is there a single person watching this show who actually likes Souhei? I cheer whenever Moe yells at him, and groan whenever any character takes him seriously. Souhei is bullshit.

Anyway. That’s that. If you want an actual non-rambling critique of this week’s episode, you can check out my review at ANN, or maybe my notes below. GOD DAMN.

Continue reading →

Beautiful Bones – Episode 6

Posted on by

Well I liked half of this episode! This one definitely had some strong things going for it, with chief among them oddly being the fact that Shoutarou and Sakurako were barely in it. Kougami really hasn’t had much time to develop a character so far, but the pacing of an episode with her, along with her back-and-forth with her teacher, made for a much stronger base dynamic than the usual stuff. There was even a conversation that made use of what we know about her as a person! Additionally, this episode was also just very pretty – better direction than usual, and some very nice backgrounds. The actual plot was bad, but hey, this is Beautiful Bones, of course the plot’s going to be bad.

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

Continue reading →