Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Paranoia Agent – Episode 3

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Classic watch continues, with an episode that felt more impressive than emotionally resonant, as I go into in my piece. I suppose it’s just the kind of show this is, but I’m kind of worried about Paranoia Agent steering too far into cynical condemnation of its characters. This episode seemed to exist on the far side of that line from the first moments, where we got about as big of an “otaku are gross” moment as is humanly possible. I guess we’ll see where it goes!

Here’s my full piece over at ANN, and my notes are below!

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Gatchaman Crowds insight – Episode 4

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Gatchaman Crowds continues on its rich and engaging way, this time zooming in a bit to really focus on the naive idealism of Tsubasa and Gelsadra. They’re basically simple heroes in a world that’s far too complicated for them, and the clash between their beliefs and the more nuanced perspectives of everyone around them actually felt like an improvement over the first season’s “Hajime versus the world.” This second season is going really, really well.

You can check out my full writeup over at ANN, or see my more thorough and specific notes below!

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Classroom Crisis – Episode 4

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Classroom Crisis continues to be, well, whatever Classroom Crisis is. The show has rough edges, but a lot of great qualities, and an extremely strong thematic/emotional core. At this point I feel like the show itself is basically like its own protagonists – everyone’s counted it out, and nobody seems to be watching it, but damnit, there’s something worth rooting for there! Especially in this dire-ass season, it makes me sad Classroom Crisis seems to be somehow slipping through the cracks.

Anyway. This episode was fun. You can check out my full review over at ANN, or see more specific notes below!

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Paranoia Agent – Episode 2

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Paranoia Agent continues, with an episode focused on a very special little boy. I didn’t find this one quite as knockout impressive as the first, but it was still an excellent episode, far above any expectations I apply to seasonal fare. I particularly like Paranoia Agent’s sound design – its use of incidental “music” really helps create both the sense of a living world and a continuous creeping dread. The episode’s other fear-tricks weren’t as effective, but the story’s still building a very nicely contained narrative full of linking ideas. This is a very confident work.

You can check out my episode post over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Gatchaman Crowds insight – Episodes 1-3

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IT’S TIME. Aw shit yeah, I get to talk about Gatchaman again. This show was always one of the most fun and rewarding to cover weekly, and it’s certainly looking like season two will live up to that legacy – we’re already sharply interrogating all the conclusions and ideals of the first season, shifting Hajime’s role and prodding Rui’s ideals and generally making a mess of the idea that creating a Better World will be in any way convenient or simple. Shit’s tough! People are complicated, society’s a mess, you can’t just force people to be good. Rui’s getting the worst of it so far, but I don’t think this season will be easy for any of our heroes, and it’s already covered a tremendous amount of ground. BIRD, GO!

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

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The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Episodes 15-16

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Covered the last two Nagato Yuki-chans together, since Funimation’s “scheduling” is a bad joke. But it was just as well, since barely enough happened in these two episodes to cover one episode review, anyway. Nagato Yuki-chan was obviously a disappointment overall, but it at least gave us the very compelling disappearance arc, so I’m gonna consider that a partial win. Yeah, it was mostly a completely disposable will-they-or-won’t-they slice of life nothing, but hey, four episodes were good!

You can check out my mildly defeated review over at ANN, or read my extremely limited notes below!

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Classroom Crisis – Episodes 1-3

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More streaming reviews! This time we’re covering the summer season’s one reasonably-sized hopeful for me, Classroom Crisis. Honestly, even this show isn’t without its flaws (the third episode in particular was relentlessly unfunny, in spite of actually covering some pretty compelling narrative territory), but in a famine like this season, you take what sustenance you can get. There’s also plenty of good here, from the fun cast to the compelling core drama of dreams versus business realities, so I’m hoping the show leans on its strengths, and doesn’t just become a sort of genre-standard “underdog team wins the big game” sort of thing now that A-TEC are on the ropes. We’ll have to see where it goes!

You can check out my 1-3 post over at ANN, or see my episode three-specific notes below!

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Paranoia Agent – Episode One

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SO. This season I get to do some classic episodic reviews for ANN, diving into Satoshi Kon’s one full-length series. I was excited to start this one, and the first episode definitely didn’t disappoint – we’re already playing in some compelling psychological headspace and front-and-center themes, all elevated through Kon’s excellent direction. Anime rarely managed to do horror well, but Kon makes it look easy, consistently setting an atmosphere of distrust and hinted violence. This should be a fun ride!

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

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The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Episode 14

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Aaand we’re back to same old regular Nagato. This episode wasn’t the worst, but it sure did feel like an automatic letdown after the consistent highs of the disappearance arc. There were some nice scenes, though – the first one, where the two Nagatos “met,” was an endearing sisterly conversation, and the last bits with Haruhi made solid use of narrative mirroring both between characters and across Haruhi scenes. But still, the majority of this episode was more of the will-they-or-won’t-they stuff I’ve grown more than tired of. With only two episodes to go, I kinda doubt this show will end up offering much more, but I’m actually perfectly happy to leave with just the disappearance arc to remember this by.

Here’s my full writeup over at ANN. Notes below!

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Sound! Euphonium – Episode 13

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And the best new show of the season comes to a close. Sound! Euphonium was a polished accomplishment from the first episode to the last, and likely one of the most consistent shows I’ve ever seen. Nearly every episode was full of engaging aesthetic tricks, poignant character moments, and an underlying level of execution that just demolishes most anime out there. This was a finale worthy of the show, one more episode that worked hard to ensure it had a strict internal tone that matched the headspace of the characters. It’s a little sad to see it go, but I’m always happy to see good shows end well. You did good, Sound! Euphonium.

Here’s my full ANN piece. More notes below!

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