Many giant robot properties are, most fundamentally, about the power and freedom of becoming your adult self. Often centered on young men on the cusp of adulthood, their robotic instruments become vehicles through which those boys can explore the responsibility of genuinely impacting society, and deciding what kind of mark they want to leave on the world. It’s a robust metaphor that gracefully implies the world-shifting nature of adolescence, but the dramatic range of giant robot narratives expands far beyond individual transformation, as the brilliant Patlabor demonstrates. Developed throughout the late ‘80s by the five-artist Headgear collective, and set only a brief decade after its own creation, Patlabor focuses on a very different kind of transformation – not on one boy becoming a man, but on Japan becoming a modern and technologically advanced global power.
Category Archives: Essay
Why It Works: Drama with All the Senses: The Rich Storytelling of the Anime given
Jeez, these titles don’t really work when my crunchyroll title also contains a colon, huh? Anyway, today on Why It Works, I dive into the excellent use of visual and sound design in this season’s terrific given, specifically breaking down the tonal tricks and visual metaphors of the fifth’s episode most important scene. Let’s get to it!
Drama with All the Senses: The Rich Storytelling of the Anime given
Why It Works: Celebrating the Quiet Beauty of Kyoto Animation
Today on Crunchyroll I’ve got something a little different, as I reflect back on my own relationship with the incredible works of Kyoto Animation. This studio’s shows have genuinely, deeply impacted the course of my life, and given me so much hope and joy over the years. I wish Kyoto Animation’s brilliant family all the best in overcoming this tragedy, and can only say again how grateful I am for all the treasures and feelings they’ve shared with me.
Celebrating the Quiet Beauty of Kyoto Animation
Why It Works: Conflicts of Color in the Granbelm Anime
Today on Why It Works, I dug into the smart use of color both in character theming and background design for this season’s excellent Granbelm. Granbelm was an entirely speculative pick for me coming into this season, but it’s turned into one of my top favorites, quickly surpassing the uneven strengths of this season’s more obvious action contenders. Here’s my piece!
Conflicts of Color in the Granbelm Anime
Why It Works: So You Just Finished Neon Genesis Evangelion. What’s Next?
This week on Why It Works, I run through a wide array of recommendations for all those brave souls who’ve just finished their first watch of Neon Genesis Evangelion. There are plenty of shows that directly echo the narrative tropes or iconography of Evangelion, but capturing its underlying appeal is a lot trickier, and I felt I did a fair enough job of offering selections for a variety of Evangelion’s strengths. March comes in like a lion feels like a weirdly appropriate spiritual successor to Evangelion, while other choices like Flip Flappers are more obvious, but still well-worth watching. Anyway, here’s the piece!
So You Just Finished Neon Genesis Evangelion. What’s Next?
Flowers – Le volume sur printemps (Part One)
There’s something about visual novels that always seems to return me to younger days, and my own high school and high school-adjacent experiences. Of course, I never actually had a high school experience like the one perpetually portrayed in anime and visual novels – I never sat in that back right window seat, and I never developed the passionate, tangled web of romantic longing that seems to define Anime Youth. But the thing is, I actually was in high school at the same time I was watching through many of these properties, and my own memories are thus tethered not just to my physical experiences, but to the aesthetics that informed my view of what high school life is “supposed to be like.”
Neon Genesis Evangelion – Review
Today I’ve got a review that perhaps a few of you might be interested in – my sprawling, exhaustive reflection on Neon Genesis Evangelion as a whole, as I tackle a formal review of the show’s twenty-six episode run for Anime News Network. This was a genuinely intimidating project to take on, and I worked as hard as I could to do the series justice, in all its rambling narrative poignancy and greater industry influence. Returning to Evangelion was a thrilling reminder of just how powerful anime can be, and I was happy to lend my own few thoughts to the dialogue on this wonderful show. I hope you enjoy my piece!
Why It Works: Five Highlights of the Fire Force Anime’s Thrilling Debut
That’s fucking right, I somehow also wrote a Why It Works column during this ridiculous hell weekend. It’s about Fire Force, features some detailed breakdowns of the show’s visual merits, and I have no more time to continue to describing it. I’m off to continue my rampage through the season premieres, so please enjoy!
Five Highlights of the Fire Force Anime’s Thrilling Debut!
Why It Works: Meet the Staff of the Upcoming Fire Force!
Today on Why It Works, I dug into the key staff behind the new season’s Fire Force, because holy crap does this show have a great staff. The director Yuki Yase in particular has been a force at SHAFT for years now, and though it’s sad to see SHAFT losing so much key talent, I’m excited to see what he does with a major production like this. The wild card, as always, will be the writing – there’s plenty of strong studio talent here, but if the obnoxious comedy that knocked me off Soul Eater is prominent enough, none of that will matter. Here’s to hoping Fire Force is a story worthy of its excellent team!
Meet the Staff of the Upcoming Fire Force!
Planetes and the Great Man’s Shadow
Planetes’ second volume describes the allure of conquering space in familiar terms, as it sets the stage for protagonist Hachimaki’s attempts to join the first manned voyage to Jupiter. Its synopsis opens with “in the history of space travel, many great men have forged the way into great frontiers, and many great men have died so that others may continue further into the great reaches of space.” It goes on to describe Hachimaki’s dream of traveling to Jupiter and joining this hallowed pantheon, but its frame of reference for history and society is already set by those first few words. Though Planetes is about many things, in its second volume, it could perhaps most clearly be described as a story about the mythology of the Great Man.