Category Archives: Essay

Why It Works: Rating the Wishes of Juni Taisen

Posted on by

I managed to find one more Juni Taisen topic to send the show off this week, and was pretty happy with the result. Juni Taisen’s finale was pretty much exactly what I’d hoped for, an episode that managed to celebrate the show’s excellent cast without undermining the legitimacy and finality of their choices. The show hit a rough patch from Monkey’s death through the twins, but it came together well enough for me to forgive the stumble. I’m gonna miss these murders.

Rating the Wishes of Juni Taisen

Why It Works: The Reach of our Hands

Posted on by

Today on Crunchyroll, I returned to March comes in like a lion to plot out the biggest thematic thread of its most recent arc. Considering how long and well-observed Rei’s initial journey out of total dependence was, it makes sense that the show dedicates equal care to demonstrating how even when we want to help others, we’re often not really able to do that much. Rei’s Newcomer Tournament match managed to hinge on that concept while simultaneously offering a satisfying win for Rei, which was a very tricky balance. March is just a remarkably solid show altogether.

The Reach of Our Hands

Why It Works: The Ugliness of War in Juni Taisen

Posted on by

Today on Crunchyroll, I broke down the various ways Juni Taisen makes its visions of war tangibly horrific. War stories always have to manage a difficult balance of portraying violence without glorifying it, and Juni Taisen feels more dedicated than most such stories to emphasizing that war is brutish and inhumane, and that its violence is often less awe-inspiring than mercilessly sudden and utterly final. I hope you enjoy the piece!

The Ugliness of War in Juni Taisen

Why It Works: Managing Misunderstandings in Recovery of an MMO Junkie

Posted on by

This week’s Crunchyroll article focuses on something I briefly alluded to in a Week in Review a few weeks ago: the way romantic comedies are essentially built out of a series of inherent misunderstandings, or gaps in understanding, that are then consumed one by one in order to both create drama and keep the audience invested. I feel it’s an interesting way of framing narratives that really highlights the distinction between natural and artificial drama. I hope you enjoy the piece!

Managing Misunderstandings in Recovery of an MMO Junkie

What Does Your Favorite Juni Taisen Character Say About You?

Posted on by

For this week’s Crunchyroll article, I embraced the silliness of character listicles and made a very ridiculous Juni Taisen article. I’m actually pretty happy with my breakdowns of all the character psychologies here, but I can’t say I’d rely on my findings for any personality horoscoping. But hey, if you like Rabbit and also murdering, I guess follow your bliss.

What Your Favorite Juni Taisen Character Says About You

Why It Works: Suffering Alone in March comes in like a lion

Posted on by

Today on Crunchyroll, I’ve got a piece focused on how well March articulates the difficulty of actually reaching out for help when you find yourself in a bad place. The topic is just a small element of March’s much larger dramatic aspirations, but it’s a tough issue that I deeply relate to, and I was happy to celebrate how March handles it. The show has been low-key excellent for forever, and it’s always nice to find another reason to promote it for a wider audience.

Suffering Alone in March comes in like a lion

Why It Works: Character Economy in Juni Taisen (Part Two)

Posted on by

Today I conclude my journey through Juni Taisen’s early episodes, talking about how well the show executed on Chicken’s story and also how episode four set up a variety of dramatic tentpoles for the show to come. This is pretty much as far as you can go with an article series like this – as episode six has gleefully demonstrated, we are now in the part of the narrative where all bets are off, and characters will be dying quickly in order to make way for the final confrontations. At least I got half an article dedicated to Monkey before that bastard Nisio killed her off :(((

Why It Works: Character Economy in Juni Taisen (Part Two)

Character Economy in Juni Taisen (Part One)

Posted on by

Today on Crunchyroll, I dug into how well Juni Taisen has balanced the assumptions of its premise and the general demands of dramatic characterization. The show isn’t wasting time killing off its contenders, but those contenders are being used well – their deaths are all meaningful in their own way, and the fact that I actually felt very sad for Chicken and Boar is a testament to the show’s overall writing. You can check out my full piece over at Crunchyroll!

Character Economy in Juni Taisen (Part One)

Memories of Home in Princess Kaguya

Posted on by

Isao Takahata boasts a catalog so laudable that it seems strange to see him as any kind of “unsung” director, but given he spent so much of his career working alongside Hayao Miyazaki, it makes sense that he’d end up coming off as the quiet genius of Studio Ghibli. In contrast with Miyazaki’s universally appealing and often family-friendly films, Takahata directs stranger, more idiosyncratic productions, from the devastating Grave of the Fireflies to the nostalgic Only Yesterday, and even a passion project about a series of rural canals. So it remains with his final film, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, which was released close enough to Miyazaki’s own The Wind Rises to again be dwarfed in public consciousness. And yet, like so much of his work, Kaguya possesses an incredibly distinct beauty, and in its own way speaks to the rustic, nostalgic sensibilities that seem to unite Takahata and Miyazaki.

Continue reading →

Five Reasons Why I’m Excited for Recovery of an MMO Junkie

Posted on by

This weekend on Crunchyroll, I highlighted some of the major strengths of this season’s unexpectedly excellent Recovery of an MMO Junkie. It’s always nice when a show that wasn’t on my radar at all turns out to be great, and between MMO Junkie and Just Because!, this has been a good season for confirming that anime can definitely still surprise me. MMO Junkie might actually be the show I most anticipate each week, particularly after last episode’s agonizing cliffhanger. I must see these two get together damnit!

Five Reasons Why I’m Excited for Recovery of an MMO Junkie