Category Archives: Episode Writeup

Kyoukai no Kanata – Episode 4

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Jesus, fourth episode? That’s a third of the season. So where are we at?

Well, in the middle of a big fight, I guess. But that’s not really what I meant.

This show’s doing alright so far. I like the world, and the way they’re depicting it, a whole lot. I think the direction here is solid – less powerful than KyoAni’s top shelf stuff, but still evoking a strong mood. I actually really like the way they’re handling the action scenes – people have been complaining they’re not very grounded, and while that may be true, I think they’re succeeding at conveying suspense and a kind of wonderment at the powers of this world. Plus I’m not a person who tends to give a shit about action scenes, so either way I have no problems there.

Most of the characters, too. I like Akihito, I like his dynamic with the literature club members, and I like the way the show handles dialogue exposition.

Really, it’s just…

It’s just Mirai.

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Kyousogiga – Episode 2

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Let’s try this out.

I’m not really qualified for this one – and by that I mean I haven’t read Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass for like fifteen years. Maybe that’s better – I kinda want this story to stand on its own anyway, and not just be a winking set of references. So far, that does seem to be the case – or at least this season’s first new episode was pretty much perfect in that regard. A beautiful little fable, already full of evocative characters and neat little ideas. Great visual aesthetic. A lovely romance illustrated through the fewest possible strokes. And Myoe at the center – a character whose desire to escape his padded wonderland lends a grounded humanity and relatable theme to a very distinctive fantasy. As far as single episodes go, that first one really couldn’t have been better.

Feeling a little sleepy at the moment, which has actually led to some of my better writeups, but is probably not a trick I should expect to rely on. Unlike Kill la Kill, this show isn’t just manic – it seems to be both manic and smart. My bad knee is acting up too, which means this could very well be the best show of the season. Guess I’ll do the best I can.

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Nagi no Asukara – Episode 3

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Adolescent hormones bubbling, narrow paradigms broadening, sisters in rather immediate jeopardy. Let’s get to it!

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Kill la Kill – Episode 3

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WELL HERE WE ARE AGAIN. I hope you enjoyed your six days, twenty-three hours, and thirty-seven minutes back in reality, everyone. Well, it was technically six days, twenty-two hours, and thirty-fiveish minutes for me… fuck these writeups. But anyway! We’re here. I hope none of you fuckers Lost Your Way, because the powers that be have promised this episode will fuck shit up. Let’s Kill la Kill.

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Kyoukai no Kanata – Episode 3

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So I guess there are a lot of tragic backstories to go around. Akihito with his hands all bloodied up, Mirai with her murderings… life ain’t easy in this neighborhood. I’m hopeful the story continues to press forward at this pace – I think the first two episodes did a great job of setting up the central world and cast, and I’d hate to see a Free-like situation where one single thread of drama gets dragged out over twelve episodes. Granted, we already have much more going on than Free’s narrative ever did – we’ve got two separate lines of tragic backstory, we’ve got the romantic drama surrounding the central cast, we’ve got Mitsuki’s warnings about Mirai (which may just be related to Mirai’s past, granted), and we’ve got literal dark clouds on the horizon. So yeah, I think we’ve got a solid stew brewing. Let’s see what bubbles to the surface today.

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Monogatari S2 – Episode 15

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Man. I’ve always thought Monogatari was an extremely interesting and generally compelling show, but this season…this season you guys. Absurd jump in quality. Neko Shiro is probably my favorite arc of anything in the series, Zombies versus Vampires From the Future Past was one of the most entertaining, and this one’s keeping up the hits. Great direction, a powerful portrayal and subsequent breakdown of Nadeko’s personality, and HanaKana going all pissed-off delinquent on us. And now here we are at the showdown – Nadeko’s been caught red-handed with a personality and desires of her own, something she’s only been moderately successful at hiding so far. We kind of already know how this discussion ends, but I’m game to see how we get there.

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Nagi no Asukara – Episode 2

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First episode was solid, excited for more. Without further ado,

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Kill la Kill – Episode 2

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Well here we are again, fuckers. First episode really did it, huh? Great visual aesthetic, tons of fun tricks of direction, stupidly fast-paced, unabashedly in love with its ridiculous self. Everything promised was delivered – the aesthetic, the intensity, the extremely ridiculous-looking uniform. As I said last week, this show basically outraces my method of breakdown, so the format might have to bend a bit to accomodate. Stay tuned.

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Kyoukai no Kanata – Episode 2

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Oh man. Get hyped. Loved the first episode – it was as gorgeous as always, rife with KyoAni’s trademark animation (applied both to small character gestures and actual action sequences) and once again making use of a blooming, nostalgic purple-pink color scheme. But there was actually a lot else there, too. We’ve got self-aware banter lightly poking at storytelling in general (a clear weakness of mine). We’ve got those very distinct shots of Mitsuki trying to use her sexuality against Akihito, both echoing Monogatari in framing style and gracefully establishing some relationship dynamics. We’ve the well-integrated exposition, sandwiched in jokes and patter, establishing a world without dictating that world to the audience. We have that interesting world itself, leaning towards dark fantasy but focused on character drama. We’ve got all those great horror-movie shots, setting this show in a tonal place very distinct from KyoAni’s general aesthetic. And of course we’ve still got derpy moe, for better or for worse – though Mirai has seemed more just inept than truly blobbish so far, which is definitely a good sign.

And there’s the timer. Alright, I’m excited. Let’s do this.

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Monogatari S2 – Episode 14

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Alright, time for another pretty, piercing episode of Monogatari. This arc has certainly not been a light-hearted one – pretty much the entire running time has been split between Nadeko being told off for acting passive and playing the victim and Nadeko secretly agreeing with her snake-shaped other self’s assessment of everyone else being the problem. As always, the apparition is just an unwanted, unacknowledged, or unaddressable part of your true self, and I’m really interested in seeing how they resolve this. Outside of Nadeko’s passivity, what is there to her? Well, the resentment towards others and possible underlying guilt, represented through the snake. Her childlike obsession with Araragi, who’s probably only appealing as a caretaker anyway. Her adolescent need to belong, and equally adolescent faux-sophisticated love of retro media. When you make her address her false self, who’s she even going to be?

Let’s get to it.

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