Where do I even begin with Nichijou.
I could start with its technical merits, I suppose? Because the show certainly is technically meritorious. Where other Kyoto Animation highlights like Hyouka and Sound! Euphonium use their beautiful, well-observed character animation to present an illusion of heightened realism, Nichijou features a cast of simplified character designs and over-the-top motion. And that is the first element of its genius.
This week’s Why It Works offers a spotlight for Soun Ebisugawa, a true villain’s villain if there ever was one. Soun hasn’t really gotten much material yet this season, but his first appearance was a terrific scene, so I figured it’d be worth a highlight. I hope you enjoy the piece!
Why It Works: The Eccentric Family’s Nefarious Villain
I returned to My Hero Academia this week, digging into the satisfying action fundamentals underlying its recent cavalry battle. This season has been an absolute joy so far, and the nature of the sports festival makes it just as fun to talk about. Here’s the piece!
Why It Works: My Hero Academia’s Tactical Tapestry
For this week’s Why It Works, I dig into the established world of Sakura Quest, which is basically just the crumbling world we already live in. I’m not totally confident this show will ultimately go to interesting places with its narrative, but it’s certainly established a solid starting line. I hope you enjoy the piece!
Why It Works: Sakura Quest Doesn’t Have the Answers
The Eccentric Family posts start in earnest this week, opening with a piece bringing all those who missed the first season up to speed. Convincing an audience raised on titans and punch men to watch the second season of a slow-burning drama about the importance of family is a pretty tall order, but I gotta do what I can. The Eccentric Family deserves nothing less!
Why It Works: Introducing The Eccentric Family
Today on Why It Works, I once again parlay my forced familiarity with this entire new season into a series of speedy recommendations. My choices here shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone who’s read the retrospective, but hey, gotta make sure all potential audiences are hearing the good anime news. Here’s the piece!
Why It Works: Nick’s Picks for Spring ’17
Today on Why It Works, I plot out the groundwork for how season two will start to mess with the first season’s general thoughts on heroism. I’m kinda cheating, since I’ve actually read through the next couple arcs, but it was still nice to see how the first episode established so many of the conflicts that will play into this arc’s major themes. I hope you enjoy the piece!
Why It Works: Shadows Over My Hero Academia
As the season winds to a close, it’s time once again for me to scramble for Why It works topics. Last season gave me the infinitely unpackable Flip Flappers, which made this easy, but winter’s selections were a little more thin on the ground. Fortunately, I still had plenty of scattered feelings on Kemono Friends, so that’s what you get today. TIME FOR KEMONO FEELINGS.
Why It Works: Five Pitches for Kemono Friends
For this week’s Why It Works, I offered one more sendoff to what I feel has been an sadly underwatched anime. March’s adaptation has had some obvious issues of pacing and occasional points where the studio style hasn’t meshed with the material, but overall I’ve felt it’s been a very rewarding show. The awkward comedy that held down some of the early episodes largely disappeared after a while, and the more time its cast had to grow together, the stronger the drama became. Unless the rest of the year has far more highlights than I anticipate, it seems pretty likely March will slot into my top ten of the year.
Why It Works: March comes in like a lion’s Empty Seat
Today I conclude my article on Dragon Maid’s recent Yamada episode, spending a good thousand words to break down maybe a minute of animation. LIVIN’ THE DREAM.
This episode very easily supported this close of a reading, and I was happy to get the chance to write about it. This also offered me a chance to articulate how animation is inseparable from storytelling in a more general sense, and how thinking of animation as “wasted” is generally a pretty absurd idea. I doubt this will fix the general mess that is discussions of KyoAni dramas, but hey, gotta try.
Why It Works: Dragon Maid’s Yamada Touch, Part Two
