This episode was basically Sword Art Online in a nutshell. Fun action setpieces that are sometimes undercut by their own lack of tension, self-indulgence that makes it very hard to take seriously, and massive butterfingers when it comes to emotional drama. In light of that, my review gets a little bit meta in its thoughts on SAO as a thing I’m approaching as a critic. It’s hard! SAO is fundamentally “bad” according to a great deal of what makes stories effective in a general sense. SAO don’t give a fuck.
Category Archives: Episode Writeup
Log Horizon II – Episode 9
We jumped over to Shiroe’s camp this week, where things aren’t going terribly well. I was legitimately surprised by how solid Shiroe’s central death-reflection monologue was – after a long arc with Akatsuki that’s been about as kid-friendly as possible, I definitely wasn’t expecting a long sequence predicated on being old enough to feel embarrassed about the ways youthful insularity is actually a kind of selfishness. That by itself would have made this one of the best episodes this season, but that last repeat of the Ash Lake sequence was just too egregious of a cost-cutting measure for me to let slide. Still, I’m looking forward to where Shiroe’s arc takes us from here.
Incidentally, I’m including my actual during-episode notes below the cut for this one. They’re notes for me, not for any audience, so they’re far less “performative” than the time stamp posts, but I’ve had people ask me to post them a few times, so I’m including them anyway. Hope you enjoy!
Parasyte – Episodes 8-9
Double-header this week, which gave the show enough time to weave in about half a dozen small conflicts. I thought the show over-told a fair amount during these episodes, but the stuff it was conveying was actually really interesting, so I couldn’t muster too much annoyance at that. It’s kind of unusual for a Madhouse production, but this show is really leaning heavily into the strength of the source material – the execution isn’t elevating it, it’s just a perfectly reasonable articulation of a very good story. I guess that means it’s not as strong as it “could have been,” but the show’s still quite good, so eh.
Sword Art Online II – Episode 20
Sword Art Online chugs merrily along. I think the best way to describe this episode would be “inoffensive,” and, well, I guess I’m okay with that. This new conflict is pleasant enough, it’s nice to have some time away from Kirito, and the show isn’t doing anything to actively shoot itself in the foot. I’m approaching the point where I no longer have to actively concentrate to stumble across the finish line of my time with SAO – with only four episodes to go, from here on out, I can hopefully enter a controlled fall and just tumble my way to victory. I’m gonna make it. I’m almost home.
Oh fuck goddamnit Kirito what are you doi
Log Horizon II – Episode 8
Akatsuki’s Akihabara Adventure came to an end this week, with a final fight that I honestly found kinda underwhelming. It’s not like Log Horizon is usually that visually impressive, but they’ve been hyping this conflict all friggin’ season! It sucks to see even the most dramatic moments reduced to still frames and speed lines, particularly since the episode three weeks ago seemed to demonstrate that this new show staff actually can pull together an aesthetically compelling production when they want to. Ah well. Bring on the Shiroe raid, I suppose.
Parasyte – Episode 7
Shinichi found some new friends this week, and then set off to murder an old one. Parasyte’s pretty much just a smart thriller with very high-quality ingredients at the moment – its ideas are always simmering, but the base dynamics of its narrative and the way it keeps intelligently introducing new variables are what keep it engaging episode to episode. It’s a fine thing to see.
Sword Art Online II – Episode 19
So this episode was one part reasonable character drama in the real world, one part possibly the best fight scene SAO’s ever had. I figured last week’s exposition-fest meant the show was holding back, but damn. The show’s already inherently better when it’s not revolving around Kirito, but this episode really did bring its own strengths to the table – for once, I have basically nothing bad to say about it. I know the good times never really last, but I wouldn’t be watching friggin’ SAO if I weren’t eternally optimistic. Please hold together, Mother’s Rosario!
Log Horizon II – Episode 7
Training montage time! We’re still on the Akatsuki/Lenessia narrative, which is finally kicking into character-development overdrive. I felt Akatsuki’s stuff was a little overplayed this episode, but really liked the Lenessia bits… but this is me, so you really shouldn’t trust anything I say about Lenessia and Log Horizon. What with all the narrative-tidying the flavor text reveal managed this week, it’s looking like all the pieces are in place to wrap this story up next time. Bring on the fight scenes!
In other news, this guy’s shirt:
Parasyte – Episode 6
Parasyte’s obviously been a solid show all this season, but it somehow felt like this episode was the moment when it really kicked into high gear. The pacing has accelerated, Migi and Shinichi’s relationship is gaining complexity, and Shinichi himself is becoming a more ambiguous and compelling character. Even the music was good for once! Hopefully the show maintains this standard going forward.
Sword Art Online II – Episode 18
We returned to exposition hell this week, but at least the stuff the characters were talking about was less boring than Alfheim worldbuilding lore. I guess it’s time for an Asuna arc? I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing a chapter of SAO that Kirito sleeps through entirely.
