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!
Why It Works: Chihayafuru is Back! But Where Do Its Heroes Go From Here?
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
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.
Chihayafuru S3 – Episode 1
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!
Hugtto! Precure – Episode 10
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!
Fall 2019 – Week 2 in Review
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!
Why It Works: The Brilliance of Hunter x Hunter: Exam Arc and Lateral Thinking
I hope you’re ready for a sturdy craft column this week! With all the promotional hullabaloo of the season premieres finally behind us, today I dove into some meaty storytelling nuts and bolts stuff, centered on one of my favorite shows to write about. I could write about Hunter x Hunter’s intelligence of narrative construction for days, and might actually end up doing that, as long as this article does well enough. Either way, I hope you enjoy the piece!
The Brilliance of Hunter x Hunter: Exam Arc and Lateral Thinking
Girls’ Last Tour – Episode 9
Hey everybody, and welcome back to Girls’ Last Tour. This lovely show’s last episode concluded on one of its most beautiful and transcendent moments yet, as the discovery of a long-abandoned beer stash led to Yuu and Chi drunkenly dancing on the edge of the world. It was a terrific sequence that, like the girls’ earlier discovery of music during a rainstorm, seemed to embody Yuu’s philosophical defense against the harshness and unfairness of this world: “if you keep living, something good might happen.” The rational, day-to-day substance of Yuu and Chi’s lives is fundamentally hopeless; there is no better future waiting for them, and the threat of death is a constant companion. But any life, even lives like these, can occasionally erupt into moments of wonder and joy – and in between those moments, they still have each other.
Last episode was a very generous combination of basically all of this show’s strengths, from its beautiful shots of the city to its reflections on impermanence to that final dance. I’m not expecting another episode to match it so soon, but either way, I’m eager to see what’s in store for our girls. Let’s dive into another episode of Girls’ Last Tour!
Ojamajo Doremi Sharp – Episode 7
It’s a cold and cloudy day today, as the last dregs of summer’s humidity brush up against the chill of New England’s nine month winter. Somebody’s been hammering and yelling outside at about equal volume for maybe three hours now, which served as this morning’s alarm clock. I went to sleep with profound anxiety and have woken up with profound back pain, symptoms which may or may not be related. All in all, it’s been a pretty lukewarm morning.
Fortunately, all those trivial gripes don’t matter much now. It’s time for Ojamajo Doremi, and when it’s time for Ojamajo Doremi, I really can’t complain. Our last episode of Sharp offered the kind of story I’ve been eagerly awaiting all season – a return to vignettes about Doremi’s classmates, focusing on the charming friendship between Marina and Kimura.
Doremi’s strongest episodes often inhabit one of its genre extremes; either they’re full-on magical spectacle, either full of farcical spells or focused on the alluring witch world, or they’re full-on character drama, stories that barely make use of magic at all, and instead illustrate fundamental truths of emotional development. Last episode fell in the second category, and offered a tale of insecurity, misunderstanding, and regret that barely involved our actual stars. As is often the case, the resolution didn’t come about as a result of some massive emotional revelation or shocking twist; Kimura simply needed a friend he could talk to without any sense of insecurity or defensiveness, who could help him acknowledge the truth he already knew. With a full season of ensemble character development behind us, Doremi can now pull off episodes that are almost Doremi-free – we’re well acquainted with several dozen of Doremi’s classmates at this point, and watching them interact and resolve their own problems is an inherent validation of all the time we’ve shared. Whatever this episode brings, I’m excited to return to this lovely show. Let’s get to it!
Scorching Ping Pong Girls – Episode 11
Hello everybody, and welcome back for another episode of Scorching Ping Pong Girls! This week, we’ll finally be… wait, that was last episode. Koyori and Kururi played out their long-hyped match, Kururi’s unhealthy fixation on “proving herself worthy” was resolved through Koyori’s joyful play, and the two vowed to continue their rivalry at the actual tournament. Our heroes’ battle with Mozuyami ended with a glorious visual spectacle and satisfying emotional resolution, and Scorching Ping Pong Girls concluded the arc that has dominated its entire second half. So, uh, what do we do now?
Well, as it turns out, the process of adapting a continuing manga into a one-off anime season can be a little messy, and so it looks like we’ll be wrapping up the series with two episodes of post-arc downtime and training sessions. While this is certainly a little odd in a structural sense, it’s the kind of compromise you tend to get used to in this medium, and I’m frankly eager to see how the cast play out all the personal growth they’ve recently experienced in a less competitive venue. A great deal of Scorching Ping Pong Girls’ appeal is how much its cast obviously all love each other, and the Mozuyami arc featured reaffirmations of those relationships all across the main team. Let’s see how the dust settles in the next Scorching Ping Pong Girls!