Ojamajo Doremi Sharp – Episode 6

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You guys, I think it’s about time for more Ojamajo Doremi. This year has been frankly terrible on the whole, with the summer of 2019 being marked by tragedies both personal and professional, and my own life undergoing some terrifying shifts as I do my best to resemble a functioning adult. But through all of that external calamity, Ojamajo Doremi has remained a consistent source of comfort and joy, with both its aesthetic charm and emotional warmth keeping me steady through the storm.

Ojamajo Doremi is one of those lovely shows I can enjoy passively and actively at the same time; it never asks too much of its audience, but every scene is still full of glimmering details of art design and storytelling. Additionally, its evolving narrative and rotating cast of all-star directors means every episode feels genuinely new, while still maintaining its comforting structure, and still presenting the Maho-dou as a place you can feel safe at the end of the day. Comfort food gets a bad rap sometimes, but a show being comforting doesn’t have to mean it’s also simplistic or unchallenging; Doremi tackles tough subjects with unflinching maturity, while simultaneously presenting a universe defined by mutual love and calming, familial beauty.

Last episode’s drama only enhanced that feeling of comfort, as the wholly regrettable Oyajii at last made his exit from the narrative. With our girls likely returning to either classwork or baby problems, let’s see what’s in store in the next Ojamajo Doremi!

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Simoun – Episode 19

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Alright everybody, let’s get back into another episode of the rich and beautiful Simoun! Episode eighteen saw the Holy Empire suffer a tremendous breakdown in its traditional structure, as the decision by Onashia to hold a ceremonial funeral for the foreigner Angulas served as the last straw for a great deal of Simulacrum’s military. Having seen their own sacred traditions trampled on, as well as having learned that Onashia’s loyalty isn’t even necessarily tied to their own country, has essentially broken the power that custom and ceremony had over them. Where once they deferred to the religious branch and its priestesses, they have now lost their faith and respect in these institutions, and without faith or tradition, it turns out the people holding all the guns ultimately also hold most of the power.

Of course, the crisis of faith that is now splintering Simulcrum’s government has been playing out on a more personal level all through this series. Characters like Aaeru, Neviril, and even Floe have consistently grappled with what it means to be a symbol, a soldier, and an individual human being at the same time, with various members of our team all settling on their own relationship with faith, and reasons to fight. And outside of the specific priestess-versus-soldier conflict, characters like Para have struggled mightily with the fear of leaving a comfortable assigned role, and embracing their own messy personal desires. The way these larger societal assumptions and structures shape these characters’ lives and even identities has been illustrated thoughtfully from the start, and I’m eager to see how they all cope as those structures begin tumbling down. Let’s get to it!

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Summer 2019 – Week 11 in Review

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We’re arriving at the season’s endgame now, as all of our summer contenders marshal their forces for their assorted finales. As misunderstandings are cleared up and final stakes are clarified, shows often reveal their most fundamental natures here – the conflict, relationship, or central idea they hold most closely, and are willing to stake their last and most consequential episodes on resolving. Given has turned out to be most fundamentally a romance, surprising no one, while Carole & Tuesday continues to use its efficiently sketched human characters to reflect on modern society in general. And Granbelm, well…

I guess we should start with that one.

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Why It Works: It’s Time to Get Caught Up For Next Season’s Chihayafuru!

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With one of my favorite goddamn shows premiering in just a few short weeks, it seemed about time to sing the praises of the endlessly entertaining Chihayafuru. It’s hard to summarize Chihayafuru’s appeal in just a few hundred words, but I did my best to highlight how it’s one of those rare and wonderful shows where your investment in the tactical mechanics of sports drama is always rewarded, often in ways you’d never expect. Here’s the piece!

It’s Time to Get Caught Up For Next Season’s Chihayafuru!

Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 13

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Neon Genesis Evangelion’s thirteenth episode opens on a shot of the NERV offices in disarray, as we pan across a desk stacked with loose papers, scattered electronic apparatus, and a worryingly placed coffee cup. The pan concludes by settling on the source of this disorder: Ritsuko Akagi, NERV’s chief technology officer, currently in the midst of a maintenance check on NERV’s Magi supercomputers. Ritsuko praises her assistant Maya for her efficient system checks, but when she notices an error, she takes over and demonstrates a typing speed and mastery of engineering far exceeding her star-struck assistant. The two central axis of this episode are thus immediately set: NERV’s physical layout and electronic mechanisms, and the brilliant technical chief who rules over these machines.

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The Big O – Episode 2

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Heck yeah everybody, let’s get back to The Big O. This show’s first episode was a terrific mix of evocative art design and snappy thriller storytelling, combining gothic and art deco architecture with an angular, shadow-heavy visual aesthetic, along with some striking layouts and unique robot designs. Though he’s technically a “negotiator,” Roger Smith’s first adventure cast him as something more like a resigned gumshoe in a noir thriller, putting his violent past to work as a private detective, haunted by vague and distant demons. Roger’s life was disrupted by Dorothy, an android on the hunt for her “big sister,” a quest that culminated in Roger sending a hyper-powered robotic piledriver into that sister’s chest.

We were left on the most precipitous of cliffhangers, with Dorothy I and The Big O tumbling down on top of Dorothy II in the midst of a decaying, domed city. I ended up enjoying that first episode far more than I expected to, and am already taken with a variety of this show’s key features – its unique and often beautiful art design, its efficient storytelling, its overarching sense of melancholy, and especially the developing relationship between Roger and Dorothy. I’m a sucker for a good partnership, and particularly fond of their classic “smooth talker is perpetually deflated by their deadpan assistant, but there’s romantic tension there???” dynamic. Let’s see if Dorothy has been flattened into a pancake!

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Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s – Episode 13

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The moment is finally at hand, everyone. With the Tome of the Night Sky fully separated from the Book of Darkness’s defensive programs, and those defensive programs having literally been shot into space in order to be obliterated by a giant laser, Nanoha and the rest of her friends have clearly earned a full episode of blessed, tearful denouement. Unfortunately, before anyone can actually relax, it seems some lingering element of the Book’s curse must still be extracted from Hayate’s body. Though to be honest, I don’t think this is actually going to be a problem Nanoha and her friends can solve through magical exertion – I’m pretty sure this is just the lead-in to the show returning Hayate to partial paralysis.

“Paralyzed character is rewarded with magical healing” is a common style of resolution that rarely sits right with me; it feels cheap, and overly dismissive of the reality of disabilities, as if disabled people need to be “fixed.” Hayate didn’t need to be fixed – she’s already a strong person who serves as the emotional rock of her family, and though her disability is a part of her, it absolutely doesn’t define her. One of Nanoha’s most central themes is learning to coexist with your past trauma, and accepting that although the past is still a part of our identities, we can choose to embrace a happier sense of self. Fate’s recent goodbye to her sister embodied that idea of acknowledging the past while facing the future, and I’m guessing this episode will be Hayate’s turn. But either way, this has been a terrific season of Nanoha, and I’ve greatly enjoyed seeing the cast filled out by Hayate’s adorable family. Let’s see how it all turns out in Nanoha A’s final episode!

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Summer 2019 – Week 10 in Review

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We had two hits and a miss for this week in anime, and boy do I ever have a lot to talk about. While Granbelm continued to flounder in its attempts to make sense of its own wibbly-wobbly worldbuilding, both Given and Carole & Tuesday turned in truly astonishing performances, with Given in particular offering the episode we’ve been awaiting all season. I’m pretty sure both of those shows are going to end up in my top five anime of the year, and I’m loving the fireworks as each of them move towards their hopefully satisfying conclusions. Apparently Given is actually based on a still-ongoing manga, but I could easily see at least this arc resolving itself somewhat cleanly; meanwhile, Carole & Tuesday only seems to exude more and more confidence as it strides towards its end. Let’s get to it and break down some shows!

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Why It Works: Announcing the Contenders of This Season’s High-Stakes GRANBELM

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Today on Why It Works, I had a great deal of fun writing another in-universe flavor article, this time about GRANBELM’s many ferocious heroines. I always really enjoy writing these sorts of pieces, which is one reason I tend to write so many Crunchyroll articles about My Hero Academia and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures – they’re both universes that invite tactical speculation, and embody a specific authorial tone that’s really fun to emulate. GRANBELM occupies a similar combination of tactics and tone, and has been keeping me fully stocked on satisfying action even as the season’s ostensible shonen front-runners have faltered. Let’s get to it!

Announcing the Contenders of This Season’s High-Stakes GRANBELM

Scorching Ping Pong Girls – Episode 9

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Buckle up folks, we’re watching some goddamn Ping Pong Girls. Our last episode of taut table tennis tension managed to stuff two full matches into twenty minutes, as Hokuto’s close defeat at the hands of the sadist Yuragi led into a joyous doubles match featuring the team moms. That match served as a celebration of pretty much everything this show cares about – bombastic, JoJo-esque sports melodrama, genuinely well-constructed tactical action, and a cast who are all head-over-heels in love with each other.

The match’s drama was smartly constructed around Munemune remembering to trust Kiruka’s instincts, though it also demonstrated Ping Pong Girls’ so-graceful-it-seems-effortless approach to tactical drama. The degree to which Kiruka and Munemune compliment and elevate each other was clear not just in their overt expressions of love, but also in the synergy of their play; Kiruka’s consistent, efficient movements control the battlefield, setting Munemune up to rattle their opponents with a devastating power swing. Scorching Ping Pong Girls has always offered a mix of sports action and lovey-dovey slice of life, but last episode was the first time those two instincts merged on the same side of the table, making for an extremely endearing spectacle.

And yet, for all that, it’s only now that we’re getting to the real payoffs of this tournament. With our team against the ropes and fighting a 2-1 score deficit, Agari and Koyori will each have to defeat one of their enemy’s strongest players, as Zakuro and Kururi at last take the field. Let’s see what madness awaits in one more Scorching Ping Pong Girls!

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