To the likely surprise of no-one, I spent last week desperately assaulting a fortress of professional responsibilities both fresh and familiar, and have at this point come to terms with the fact that I’m probably not catching up on O Maidens before the end of the season. Fortunately, the shows I’m still sticking with offered more than enough to ramble about, and Given in particular is turning out to be one of the most unexpected gems of the year so far. Though the show’s visuals are a little restrained, its richness of character and acuity of dialogue run circles around most anime, with each episode leaving me even more impressed with its scripting, and even more invested in its stars. It’s definitely my breakout pick of the season, so let’s start with that one, as we run down one more Week in Anime!
Category Archives: Week in Review
Summer 2019 – Week 8 in Review
With a massive backlog behind me and a whole bunch of reader-funded projects and various other freelance works ahead of me, it’s been hard to find time to watch anime for my own enjoyment this week. I wasn’t actually able to get to O maidens in time for this Week in Review, but fortunately, I had more than enough thoughts on this week’s other productions to make up for it. I’m actually watching a lot less seasonal anime than I used to, but the thoughts I’m producing on those shows are both lengthier and better-informed, so that’s an okay tradeoff, right? WATCHING ANIME IS HARD, OKAY.
Alright, enough excuses. Let’s break down what I actually did watch in one more Week in Review!
Summer 2019 – Week 7 in Review
Well folks, it was time for the Week in Review about an hour ago, and I’m just now typing this introduction, so I’ll keep things brief. The shows I’m watching are very good, and this week offered a bunch of very good episodes – Granbelm pulled off another totally stunning action spectacle, Given retained its sharp emotional acuity and believable characterization, and Carole & Tuesday offered another top-tier vignette that managed a surprising balance of comedy and sympathetic drama. The summer season continues to be extremely strong, and I’m happy to enjoy a crop of shows that could all conceivably be top picks within a less impressive season. Let’s get to the breakdown!
Summer 2019 – Week 6 in Review
I’ve been dealing with some close personal tragedy this week, but hey, I’m still here. I thought about maybe taking this week off from the Week in Review, and really couldn’t have imagined watching and enjoying seasonal anime a few days ago, but returning to cartoon normalcy has actually been a big emotional help. And it’s nice that this season’s anime are themselves so emotionally generous, from the rich tonal sympathy of Given to the tangled dramatic knots of O Maidens. I’m still feeling pretty hollow and distant at the moment, but I appreciate the company of all of you, and the comfort of returning to the things I love. Let’s talk about some cartoons.
Summer 2019 – Week 5 in Review
I have at last reduced the summer season’s bounty down to a refined and largely sustainable top shelf, and goddamn is it glorious. After being kind of spoiled by Vinland Saga’s first three-episode premiere, I’ve decided that’s the preferable way to experience viking shenanigans, and held off on watching this week’s episode to build up more of a buffer. Fortunately, even without Vinland Saga, every other show I’m watching was strong enough to give me more than enough highlights to ramble about. Okada’s strong catalog meant I was pretty sure O Maidens would be a hit, but I think this is actually one of the very best stories she’s ever worked on. Meanwhile, Given is serving as an unexpected and highly compelling character drama, while Granbelm is turning out to be the secret action highlight of the season. Let’s break it all down in one more Week in Review!
Summer 2019 – Week 4 in Review
I’ve hit my limit, folks. With Vinland Saga actually returning this week, I have officially passed my sustainable viewing schedule capacity, and thus will be performing some harsh cuts between this and next week. Fortunately for all of you, I arrived at that realization only after watching way too many goddamn shows, and so you get to enjoy at least one mega-sized Week in Review, by way of apology for last week’s relatively brief article. The season continues to be goddamn fantastic, with O Maidens, Given, and Granbelm impressing me every week, and Vinland Saga maintaining its usual excellence after its time away. We’ve got a whole bunch of shows to get through, so let’s not waste any more time dawdling. It’s time to break down some cartoons in the Week in Review!
Summer 2019 – Week 3 in Review
The summer season continued its unrelenting barrage of excellence this week, offering far too many good shows for me to keep up with them all. Seriously, I’m not kidding – I’m totally behind on like half the things I’m watching, and should almost certainly have dropped something last week for my own sanity’s sake. Fortunately, it seems like Dr. Stone is already sort of losing its momentum, or at least proving it’s a series better appreciated in manga form – but aside from that, what summer contenders I’ve kept up with remain strong, and I’ve still gotta catch back up with Astra and O Maidens. Let’s break down what I have managed to get to in one more Week in Review!
Summer 2019 – Week 2 in Review
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Week in Review. This summer’s slate of premieres was altogether far too entertaining, and has left me with a completely unsustainable slate of weekly viewing contenders. I’m sure you know what that means: it’s time to get ruthless. I can’t physically keep up with seven to nine weekly anime while also performing all my other anime-related duties, so something’s going to get the chopping block. A few properties are safe from this righteous culling – Vinland Saga is hanging above the fray due its three part premiere (not that I’d be dropping Vinland Saga either way), while Symphogear is probably just going to be watched in some marathon chunk as soon as the fourth season is fulling streaming. But for everything else, my judgement will be swift and merciless, and only the strong will survive. Let’s crack our knuckles and get down to work then, as we enter the Summer 2019 Week in Review Thunderdome!
Summer 2019 – Virtually Every First Episode Retrospective
I’m pretty excited about this season, you guys. By the end of spring, my active anime roster had diminished to basically just JoJo, leaving me wondering whether it was a genuinely weak anime season, or that I had simply lost my capacity for joy. But based on this summer’s fantastic slate of premieres, the problem definitely wasn’t me. Screw you, spring! How dare you make me doubt my sunny disposition!
Anyway. The spring season’s crimes aside, this past week has offered a satisfying array of anime premieres in a wide variety of genres, leaving me with much to watch and much else to recommend. Big shonen titles like Fire Force and Dr. Stone had premieres ranging from solid to transcendent, while high-profile adaptations like Vinland Saga and O Maidens have deftly captured the strengths of their source material. From idol shows to space adventures to cop dramas and beyond, the summer season is brimming with worthy anime – and having marathoned my way through nearly all of them, I’m eager to pass my findings on to you. My work on Anime News Network’s preview guide means I’ve already written extended reviews of basically everything, and it’s time at last to condense those reams of text into a highly reductive and hopefully informative breakdown, starting with the season’s most brightly glimmering gems, and running down to its most odorous piles of garbage. Let’s get to it!
Summer 2019 – First Impressions, Part Two
We are well and truly in the thick of it now, folks. With five premieres on Friday, three more yesterday, and apparently four new ones coming today, I’m currently overwhelmed by cartoons to critique, and firing off reviews as fast as I can. Today I’ve got a fresh roundup of those ongoing reviews, along with some overall good news – so far, pretty much everything I was anticipating has actually turned out pretty great! You can check out the full list of shows and review links here, or scroll below for a list of my own rankings and individual page links. Let’s get to it!