Here we are again. Five episodes in, and we’ve finally got both Lulu and Ginko’s personalities solidly established. Lulu’s driven by guilt over her brother’s death to the point of self-sacrifice, making a martyr of herself and assuming Ginko’s goals as her own. Ginko is in lust with Kureha, driven by a combination of a desire to “return to the love she once gave her” and something that seems a good bit more carnal. In spite of the strength of her feelings, they don’t really seem driven by any kind of understanding of the current Kureha – she wants to possess her, yes, but this doesn’t seem much like the love Kureha has lost. Kureha herself is in all kinds of turmoil, with only her own conviction to trust in. With Ginko in a moment of possible vulnerability, we might finally be moving towards a moment of greater honesty for both of them. Let’s watch some bears!
Category Archives: Episode Writeup
Log Horizon II – Episode 18
As I mention in my piece, this episode of Log Horizon was noteworthy mainly in that it managed to make one of Log Horizon’s general weaknesses into a strength – for once, the emotional problems of the younger set were actually handled with some real sensitivity. The unusually frank and extended nature of this episode’s core conversations really helped in returning a sense of humanity and consequence to the feelings of these characters, which I’d say made this actually superior to just another episode that simply avoided the problem of making these characters compelling for their own sake. And also it’s just nice to see Isuzu and Rudy being really cute together.
My full ANN post is available here. Episode notes below!
Rolling Girls – Episode 5
I felt kinda mixed on this episode of Rolling Girls, and it’s a little hard to describe why, because my biggest problem here was that the beats of this story just didn’t land in an emotional sense for me. The scenes all came in the right order, but they just felt a little too rote – I’m not quite there with Himeko at the moment. The actual story being told is a nice one, though – the rival family narrative and the father-daughter relationship narrative work very well together, there were still plenty of nicely surreal details, and the overall piece is certainly reflective of Rolling Girls’ coming-of-age focus. This was an episode I wanted to like more than I actually liked it, which I guess is still a good sign?
My full ANN piece is available here. Notes below!
Parasyte – Episode 17
We finally got a pretty solid rallying episode this week, after many weeks of subpar episodes. We’re not exactly at first-few-episodes strength again, but after the Kana arc and subsequent meanderings, this felt like a revelation. A solid fight scene, a coherent pulling together of several character arcs, and even some echoing back of the show’s early themes. Everything you need for a balanced breakfast!
My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!
Yuri Kuma Arashi – Episode 5
THE BEARS HAVE RETURNED. I am writing this piece in the midst of yet another actual storm, so once again, you may have to bear with me if stormclouds force me to paws the episode or something. Last episode was fantastic, and finally gave the show the sense of humor and humanity it was desperately needing – whatever else happens, we now at least know that Lulu is amazing. Hopefully this week will continue on the humanizing-this-cast theme, but who knows. The bear-filled sky is the limit.
Rolling Girls – Episode 4
Rolling Girls performed a semi-smooth recovery this week. We didn’t return to the high-energy mania and glorious animation of the first two episodes, but at this point, I think that just isn’t what this show is. What Rolling Girls actually is is a story of freedom and growing up and punk rock, more “Naota sleeping on the back of the vespa” and less “Haruka in a bunny suit slamming the guitar.” The show’s art direction remains excellent, but the key points this week were the quiet moments – both Nozomi and Chiaya’s conversations with their mothers, and the easy conversation about favorite bands that played the episode off.
In light of this shift, I’m not really surprised that a lot of people are jumping shift – the show tricked people, it’s not what it initially appeared to be. But fortunately for me, the show’s new thing is obviously well within My Kind of Thing, and so as long as the show maintains the easy grace of this episode’s last few minutes in its upcoming character moments, I’ll still be enjoying the ride. And either way, it sure is pretty.
My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!
Log Horizon II – Episode 17
Great episode of Log Horizon this week – there were some silly gags and not much animation, but the important thing was that we’re back into compelling ideas again. That one scene at the Round Table basically made the episode – dealing with income disparities within Akihabara is such a smart elaboration on both Log Horizon’s worldbuilding and the issues of gamer psychology it gestured at during the William Massachusetts speech that I really just can’t think of something I’d rather have the show explore. And the other stuff it’s exploring is also interesting! The kids’ story is actually coming together, and introducing multiple interesting variables! Including Nureha, who’s easily one of the most intriguing characters in the overall cast. Nice work Log Horizon, we’re back on solid ground again.
My supersized episodic post is available over at ANN. All my notes are below!
Parasyte – Episode 16
We finally got some of Parasyte’s energy back this week, with a pretty solid fight sequence and some general character-rearranging back in the city. It’s kind of sad to admit that Parasyte seems to be at its best when it’s just being a visceral action thing, especially since its aesthetics honestly aren’t that great, but but that’s where we’re at. It’s still fun, it still keeps me engaged – it’s just not the show I was hoping it would be.
Anyway. That’s enough moping, this episode was fine. My full ANN review is available here, and my notes are below the cut!
Yuri Kuma Arashi – Episode 4
TIME FOR THE BEAR STORM! Also time for the actual storm, as New England is about to get hit by a crazy snow storm and I’m just sitting here like an idiot. Hopefully I can finish the bear storm before the other storm kills my power.
Anyway! Last episode cleared up a whole bunch of stuff regarding the invisible storm, along with giving us some necessary character elaboration for Kureha. We’ve still got a ways to go on the character front, but things are coming together. Incidentally, I ran into this great blog post on a recent Ikuhara interview, which contains lots of interesting details on Ikuhara’s conflicted feelings on creating a show about/for women, his thoughts in selecting Bear Storm’s character designer, and much else. The struggle of making a piece that’s true to an experience you don’t have personal insight into is always a tough one, but Ikuhara’s clearly approaching this with all the help he can find.
But enough about that, it’s time for bears!
Rolling Girls – Episode 3
As expected, Rolling Girls eased off the accelerator this week in order to transition into what will likely be its standard format – the girls visit a new country, trouble happens, the girls either solve it or are just sort of there, everyone moves on. I’m totally fine with that format given the fun of Rolling Girls’ aesthetics – but as I say in my post, the real trial here will be in making the leads themselves fun people to follow. The show isn’t there yet, which is a shame, but we’ve still got time.
My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!