Today on Why It Works, I was hard at work hyping up some of the most exciting shows of the winter season. Though every season has its all star directors and staff, I felt this coming season was particularly stocked with S-tier directors, and so decided to highlight these terrific artists specifically. And hey, any excuse to use One Punch Man in order to trick people into reading about Kemono Friends and Rakugo is a good one. Here’s the piece!
Five Star Directors of the Coming Season
Today on Why It Works, I explored a topic that’s been intriguing me all season – Gridman’s pronounced divide between its two principle genre modes. Obviously giant robots shows care about their characters in general, but Gridman seems to be making a genuine point of splitting its drama into categories defined by unique styles of direction, animation, and storytelling. It’s a neat trick that seems to genuinely reflect the show’s themes, and something I was very happy to talk about. Here’s the piece!
Giant Robots and Absent Friends: The Split Identity of SSSS.Gridman
Today on Why It Works, I’ve got a big ol’ pitch for Mob Psycho 100, the terrific spectacle that I’d personally place as the best action show of the last five years. I loved Mob Psycho while it was airing, and I’m very excited to return to it this winter season. It’s nice to have at least one show you’re basically certain is going to kick ass, and Mob Psycho feels as sure a bet as basically anything. Here’s the piece!
It’s Time to Catch Up on the Thrilling Mob Psycho 100!
The opening scene of the Chihayafuru film embodies something utterly fundamental to karuta as a sport: the constant, thrilling sense of tense anticipation. Karuta is not a game of continuous action. Its energy and appeal build up over strained moments of anticipation, waiting for the next card to be called. Karuta embodies the thrill of the silence just before a decisive play in any sport; the ball aloft, players’ eyes trained, all voices hushed as victory and defeat hang in the balance. Karuta bottles that thrill, and unleashes it again and again, as its contenders rush for glory on the tatami mat.
Hell no I won’t stop talking about JoJo. This week’s Why It Works article is basically a piece I was destined to write at some point – a breakdown of the various style shifts apparent in the move from Diamond is Unbreakable to Golden Wind. I was initially hesitant to embrace Golden Wind’s style, particularly after I so adored the compositional glory of Diamond, but the show has absolutely sold its unique identity at this point. New JoJo is grosser and closer and more focused on movement than Diamond, and all those qualities are resulting in a very engaging production. Here’s the piece!
Golden Wind’s Manifesto: The Spectacular Boat Battle of Abbacchio
Yep, we’re back on the JoJo train. For this week’s Why It Works, I focused specifically on the show’s long history of home invasion narratives, and how well they work for its specific blend of action and horror. To be honest, you could probably write a supplementary article on how the show embraces “invasion” more generally, often through terrifying Stands like Rohan’s Heaven’s Door. But the language of home invasions specifically is baked deeply into JoJo’s DNA, so I was happy to focus on that for now!
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is Invading Your Home!
There are scattered moments within One Piece that seem to embody the romance of the high seas; the mysteries of the ocean, the scale of its vast movements, the ways we can come to understand it so well it feels like an old friend. Nami excels at facilitating these moments, as her navigator’s knowledge and generally contemplative personality tend to make her most attuned to the ocean’s sway. The scene early in chapter eighteen, where Nami muses on the nature of underwater vents, doesn’t impact our ongoing narrative in any way, and would be skipped in a point-to-point summary of this arc’s events. Nonetheless, it’s a beautiful moment that naturally embodies the wonder of the ocean, and highlights how One Piece is far more than a straightforward action tableau. I appreciate that Oda consistently offers these little tonal oases, these beautiful moments that are only their own reward.
Today on Crunchyroll, I ran through a brief formal breakdown of the vivid visual storytelling apparent all through Tsurune’s first several episodes. Part attempted sell and part close visual reading, I’m hoping this piece convinces at least a few wary souls to pick up Kyoto Animation’s latest production. The show’s been very satisfying so far, and given me plenty to chew on in both an aesthetic and character sense each week. I hope you enjoy the piece!
Today on Why It Works, I wrote a general exploration of SSSS.Gridman’s phenomenal ability to convey the suffocating atmosphere of its strange world. From its vast and alienating exterior scenes to its carefully detailed interiors, Gridman is thrilling me every week with its visual design, and I was happy to gush about it. I hope you enjoy the piece!
The Solemn Beauty of SSSS.Gridman
“You’re guilty of the crime of being you, and so, too, shall that be your punishment.”
– Jun Aikawa, the World’s Strongest Contractor
When I reviewed the first volume of the Zaregoto series, I was somewhat at a loss as to what to actually write about, as I’m not really a mystery fan. It’s clear that Nisio Isin himself started his writing career far more fascinated with mysteries for their own sake than he ended up – though shows like Monogatari are technically constructed around mysteries, they always ultimately reveal themselves to be about human psychology, instead. Who did what to who is never the actual point; it’s what drove a given story’s players to that point which is interesting, and “solutions” generally hinge not on figuring out who’s guilty, but on whether the guilty party can learn to embrace whatever truth they’re hiding from themselves.