Why It Works: The Young Titans and Ailing Empires of Legend of the Galactic Heroes

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Today on Why It Works, I dove once more into Legend of the Galactic Heroes, to explore the fascinating contrast of Reinhard von Lohengram and Yang Wen-li. Each of them are rich characters who are simultaneously compelling both as individuals in their own right, and as representatives of their distinct philosophies on shaping human history. Legend of the Galactic Heroes consistently urges us to look beyond the assumptions of our immediate political moment, and I’m always happy to celebrate its far-seeing perspective. Here’s the piece!

The Young Titans and Ailing Empires of Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Girls’ Last Tour – Episode 10

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You all ready for some charming adventures on the brink of oblivion? Well I certainly am, and I’m the one who picks what order these posts get released in, so I hope you’re ready too. It’s been a few weeks on my end since we last watched an episode of Girls’ Last Tour, but my love of this show certainly hasn’t diminished – in fact, I think the show’s ninth episode was far and away one of its best so far.

Chi and Yuu’s robot companion turned out to be a charming and poignant addition to the cast, and his adventure served as a tidy illustration of the vaguely defined and ephemeral nature of life itself. Conversations about language and empathy led naturally towards a genuine action setpiece, and the episode resolved on the painfully frank “the fish and I will live for a little longer now. Though we will all die one day.”

From Yuu and Chi themselves to the architects of their dying city and beyond, nearly all of Girls’ Last Tour’s human characters fret about impermanence. Whether it’s through capturing their existence in a stone monument, leaving personal effects behind, or achieving a feat that cannot be matched or forgotten, they all wish to somehow survive this bleak moment, and at the very least remain in memory. But as Yuu and Chi have regularly demonstrated, monuments which last beyond their creators lose their original meaning, and gain new resonance in the lives of those who witness and inherit them. All things end; and in light of that, it’s important not to hang all your hopes on the future, and appreciate the moments of your life as you live them. Girls’ Last Tour is ultimately very sympathetic to Yuu’s worldview; she certainly needs Chi to survive, but as she trounces around this playful apocalypse, she is truly in her element. “If you keep living, something good will happen” might not seem like much, but it’s something. It’s enough.

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Chihayafuru S3 – Episode 2

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Alright folks, let’s get right back to season three of Chihayafuru! It’s currently Wednesday, and I just logged on to Crunchyroll hoping the new episode had been released, only to see that two new episodes have somehow already been released. That doesn’t make any sense to me chronology-wise, but I’m not going to look a gift Chihaya in the mouth, and am eager to get back to the karuta drama. Last episode served as a fast-paced but generally effective return to the series, using an early series of flashbacks to remind us of both the rules of karuta and the relationships between Chihayafuru’s leads, before diving right into Chihaya and Taichi’s training with the Fujisaki team. Their training under Sakurazawa went on to lay out a variety of threads for us to follow, from Chihaya’s quest for a more strategy-minded understanding of karuta, to Taichi’s Chihaya-bound relationship with karuta itself.

Though Taichi’s relationship with karuta has always been closely tied to his feelings for Chihaya, the consistent reiteration of that across season three’s premiere seems to imply that we’ll at last be directly addressing that fact, and moving him towards either a more honest relationship with Chihaya or a healthier one with karuta. At the same time, Chihaya’s new understanding of Taichi’s situation feels like a neat echo of her newfound interest in strategy. In both her personal and competitive life, Chihaya has always been propelled forward by her single-minded love of karuta, an instinct that at times has made her feel more like a narrative force than a fully realized person. Chihaya’s desire for a more thoughtful approach to karuta seems mirrored by her new awareness of Taichi’s feelings, as if in both karuta and her personal life, she’s finally taking a moment to step out of her enthusiasm and assess the world around her. I’m excited to see Chihaya taking steps towards greater self-awareness, and am expecting some gloriously thorny drama ahead for her and Taichi. Let’s see what’s in store in the next Chihayafuru!

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Pokemon Sun and Moon – Episode 1

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Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Can you feel the excitement? CAN YA FEEL IT? That’s right, it’s new series time, and today we’re beginning a series that I’ve been wanting to watch for years now. Just in time for the next generation of Pokemon, we’re diving back in to the last generation of Pokemon, and checking out the widely acclaimed Sun and Moon anime!

Though the Pokemon anime has been running consistently ever since its start back in the ‘90s, it’s traditionally been seen more as a series for young Pokemon enthusiasts than the “sakuga crowd” or whatnot. That’s not to diminish its importance, of course – on the contrary, Pokemon was one of the most important properties in introducing and normalizing anime in the west. I myself was a fan of pokemon specifically before I learned the appeal of anime more generally, and even saw the first Pokemon movie when it came out in theaters (it came with a free Pokemon card!).

But while Pokemon has always been a massively influential cultural force, its progression into a visually accomplished production has been significantly more gradual. Sun and Moon represents a serious break in this franchise in terms of its character designs, as designs that had remained relatively static for nearly two decades were reimagined with softer lines and rounded curves, making them far better suited to fluid character animation. I’ve already played the Sun and Moon game, and found its cast immensely charming there, meaning I’m very excited to see them in motion, and to return to an anime I haven’t watched since I was a child. Let’s check out the first episode of Sun and Moon!

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Fall 2019 – Week 3 in Review

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Well shit folks, it’s time for the Week in Review. After one more week of racing to catch up on all the shows I’ve left hanging, I believe I’m at this point current on my actual schedule for the season. I finally caught up on Stars Align, which has continued to offer convincing and unexpectedly sharp-edged adolescent drama, and also powered through the remaining Vinland Saga. I’ve also put Blade of the Immortal on hold, which isn’t really a knock against the show itself – pulpy action dramas just aren’t really my thing, and my schedule this season is pretty darn full. I also won’t be covering Chihayafuru here, for basically the opposite reason – Chihayafuru is so much my thing that I’ve already written two separate articles covering its season premiere. With all that sorted out, let’s dive into the highlights of another week in anime!

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Why It Works: Chihayafuru is Back! But Where Do Its Heroes Go From Here?

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Did you really think I wouldn’t also be rambling about Chihayafuru over on Crunchyroll? Considering it’s easily the platform’s strongest pickup of the season, I expect to be gushing plenty more about Chihayafuru over the course of the fall, and that starts right now. Today I break down the foreshadowing and returning threads of Chihayafuru’s third season, sussing out the finer points of season three’s recent premiere. Let’s get to it!

Chihayafuru is Back! But Where Do Its Heroes Go From Here?

Land of the Lustrous – Episode 2

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Editor’s Note: My “episode one article” for Land of the Lustrous turned out to be more of an all-encompassing thematic overview of the show. The show’s themes obviously haven’t changed between episodes, so we’ll be diving into more of the nitty-gritty craft stuff this time. Let’s get to it!

Land of the Lustrous’ second episode opens with a history lesson courtesy of Master Kongo, who tells us that “six shooting stars once visited this world. All six of them fracturing, and giving birth to six moons.” He goes on to describe a mythology that seems equal parts biological and mystical, combining evolutionary changes with florid touches that naturally highlight the symbiotic relationship of history and myth, or our selfhood and our perception of the world. Illustrated through a background like a church window or illuminated manuscript, his words seem intended to assign purpose or destiny to the whims of evolution. Even his initial phrasing, that speaks of shooting stars “fracturing” as their route to rebirth, seems to imply a gemstone’s perspective. To a complex and seemingly meaningless series of biological shifts, Kongo’s certainty implies meaning, or at least a certain steadiness of direction.

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Chihayafuru S3 – Episode 1

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It’s time. It’s time! IT’S TIME! It’s been thirteen long months since I concluded my journey through Chihayafuru’s second season, and season three has finally arrived! SIT THE FUCK DOWN EVERYONE, IT’S TIME FOR CHIHAYA SATURDAY.

Alright, I know it’s probably a little inconsiderate of me to say “finally,” considering some of you have been waiting six friggin’ years for this season. But Chihayafuru is just such a fun, lovable property that even my much shorter wait has felt pretty interminable, and to those of you who’ve actually waited the full six years, I salute your fortitude. It has been far too long since we’ve spent time with Chihaya and the gang, and I couldn’t be happier to be back here with the karuta crew, and all of you as well.

When we last left off Chihayafuru, a great number of our key characters had just experienced a variety of major transitions. Arata at last returned to competitive karuta, and ended up beating Shinobu in his first major match, prompting immediate speculation about his path towards the master seat. However, Arata’s victory might have ultimately ended up impacting Shinobu’s journey more than his own, by pushing her another step closer towards embracing karuta as a communal activity. Meanwhile, Taichi at last earned his entry into Class A, and will be joining Chihaya for intensive training under the badass Sakurazawa. With all our leads on new paths and the rest of Chihaya’s team gearing up for fall tournaments, we’ve got plenty to look forward to from the season to come. Let’s return at last to the wonderful Chihayafuru!

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Hugtto! Precure – Episode 10

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Folks, it is well past time to explore another episode of Hugtto! Precure. I have been loving my first dive into the sprawling Precure universe, from its sensitive exploration of sympathetic characters like Hana and Homare, to its delightfully whimsical art design and often remarkably executed action sequences. Though not every fight is a highlight, the show’s storyboarders and animators seem to possess an understanding of weight and impact that make its marquee battles some of the more thrilling sequences in modern anime, where you can really feel the thundering consequences of each larger-than-life blow. And in between those aesthetic peaks, Hugtto offers a diverse array of charming episodic vignettes, all the while exploring the complexity of figuring out how your passions and personality will ultimately integrate into the adult world.

Huggto’s last episode introduced a girl who might already be my favorite character, the passionate and deeply insecure Emiru. Emiru is full of self-loathing and terrified of making mistakes, consistently and understandably wondering if her friends simply consider her a burden. Though she ended up being praised for her own talents at the end of that episode, her journey is far from over, and I’m very much hoping this episode continues our investigation of The Precure With Anxiety. Let’s see what awaits in the next episode of Huggto!

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Fall 2019 – Week 2 in Review

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Alright folks, we’ve got a ton of anime to discuss and not nearly enough time, so let’s get to work. In addition to catching up on all the second episodes I missed due to preview week’s never-ending nature, I also spent much of the last week tying up various loose ends from the summer season. I spammed through what remained of Vinland Saga, have nearly caught up on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, concluded Carole & Tuesday, and swore a blood oath to catch up on O Maidens at the first possible opportunity. With only a single season left in the anime year, it’s time to start thinking about 2019’s best shows, and that discussion kinda demands actually having watched the year’s best shows in the first place.

Meanwhile, the fall season itself is proving to be full of treasures, packed with strong continuing productions, excellent sequels, and some genuinely stunning new productions. Both Blade of the Immortal and Stars Align have immediately established themselves as top shelf 2019 productions, while steady favorites like Legends of the Galactic Heroes and Chihayafuru remain as compelling as ever. It’s a genuinely kickass anime season, and I’ve got a heck of a lot to talk about. Let’s break down the concluding stars of summer, and the new favorites of the fall season!

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