Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Beautiful Bones – Episode 7

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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.

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Owarimonogatari – Episode 7

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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!

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The Perfect Insider – Episode 6

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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.

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Beautiful Bones – Episode 6

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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!

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Owarimonogatari – Episode 6

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And so Sodachi Lost comes to an end. This episode couldn’t match the cathartic peaks of last week’s stunner, but it was still a fine conclusion to a solid arc. Ougi’s villainy got some time to shine, and then was directly countered by Hanekawa whipping out her tiger hair powers. It seems like Isin’s haircuts aren’t just thematically important, they actually dictate the power levels of his characters – equipped with her self-actualization tiger stripes, it only takes Hanekawa roughly three seconds to figure out the truth behind Oikura’s mother. That answer didn’t really add or subtract anything from the story, but I certainly liked Araragi’s further thoughts on happiness near the end of this episode. Araragi’s certainly no Hanekawa or Kaiki, but he’s figuring stuff out one step at a time.

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

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The Perfect Insider – Episode 5

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Perfect Insider was back in top form this week, with an episode that mixed the compelling personal contrasts of the first couple episodes with the more plot-centric mystery focus of the last couple. The show is charting a very tricky course, and could probably topple into self-indulgence at any moment, but for now it’s nicely demonstrating how mysteries and character stories can work together if you make the mystery into the character story. The mysteries here are not just related to Magata’s death, but also Magata’s past and overall identity – and the show’s framing and dialogue is making sure to consistently tie Magata’s identity to Moe’s, meaning all the pieces fit together very gracefully so far. I don’t know if the show can pull it off for another six episodes, but it’s been walking this tightrope for half a season now, so it’s certainly got a chance.

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

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Beautiful Bones – Episode 5

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Welp, the cursed man arc ended this week, and it was… fine. Not really much to say about it. The show’s doing better than it was in the first few episodes, but it’s still not really something that excites me – it’s boilerplate mystery procedural stuff, the same kind of show that airs for 25 out of every 24 hours here in the states. Making the protagonist a chuunibyou woman with a dead brother doesn’t really do much to up the excitement voltage.

But hey, at least this episode introduced an Evil Painter. That’s kinda funny!

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

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Owarimonogatari – Episode 5

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We got our first emotional peak in this week’s Owari, and it was certainly something. These last few episodes have largely painted Oikura’s story as something that reflected Araragi’s issues, but this episode was all about Oikura for her own sake, and let her fill in the pieces through an oppressive recounting of her life to date. That was all well done, but it was the last third or so that really got to me, when Hanekawa, Araragi, and Oikura basically all offered their own personal reflections on depression and happiness. These were some of the sharpest exchanges of any arc of the show, and were just one more example of well Monogatari really gets its characters and people in general. I’m sure I’m not the only one who could relate to a discussion on the relative safety of a known unhappiness.

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

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Beautiful Bones – Episode 4

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AW SHIT BEAUTIFUL BONES HAD A REASONABLE EPISODE. Yep, either my standards are falling fast or Beautiful Bones is actually improving, because I legitimately enjoyed this episode. And it wasn’t because of subtle changes in writing or whatnot – the two-parter structure just fits this show so, so, so much better. It is really damn hard bordering on impossible to tell a satisfying, atmospheric, character-focused mystery in twenty minutes, but in forty-ish? Yeah, you can get there. So we got more nice character moments, more actual mystery elements, and more atmosphere than ever before. Great work, Beautiful Bones. Now please don’t immediately go back to your old formula and continue to suck at it.

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

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Owarimonogatari – Episode 4

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Owarimonogatari continues in an episode that was basically 50% Ougi being sinister and 50% Hanekawa kicking ass. So, essentially a perfect episode.

Alright, maybe not a perfect episode. In spite of this week’s adventure foregrounding my favorite character in anime period, it wasn’t nearly as visually interesting as the stuff at Oikura’s old home. And we’re clearly in a build-up stage at the moment, with all the various conflicts just sort of simmering as things move back towards Oikura. Hanekawa was great, and some of the ways the show articulated the spell Ougi casts over Araragi were great, but I’m definitely ready for the show to hurry up and get to the next Oikura confrontation. This was a great idea for an episode, but in execution not exactly a highlight.

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

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