Why It Works: Here are the Shows to Cram Before the Fall Season!

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Well, I’d guess that title pretty much says it all, right? With the fall season basically upon us, it seemed about time to hype up all the great shows that will be gaining new sequels in the future. I’m not really sure either JoJo or Monogatari need the help, but I was happy to find another excuse to rep Thunderbolt Fantasy, and it’s not like promoting those titans could actually hurt. Anyway, if you know me well you probably already know what I’m selling, but if not, please enjoy these recommendations!

Here are the Shows to Cram Before the Fall Season

Princess Tutu – Episode 15

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We open Princess Tutu’s fifteenth episode with an entirely new tale, as our narrator tells us the story of a man who fell in love with a doll. “Perhaps the man’s love made itself felt, for one day, the doll came to life and began to dance.” This transformation thrilled the man, who believed a doll could never betray his love, and that he would now possess the world’s most pure and innocent love all for himself. “But the doll, who had been given life, rejected the man’s love and fell in love with a different man.”

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Hugtto! Precure – Episode 3

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Settle in folks, it’s time to watch more Precure! I’ve been greatly enjoying this storied magical girl franchise so far, and am very happy to continue. The show’s second episode was relatively conventional, all things considered – it essentially just served as Saaya’s introduction to the team, establishing her personality, feelings of personal inadequacy, and initial friendship with our girl Hana. As far as all that goes, while the show’s production values remain excellent, Saaya’s personality felt a little familiar to me, and I’m guessing we’ll need a bit more time for her to develop a truly convincing rapport with our main lead. Outside of seriously dedicated thematic vehicles like Madoka Magica, a great deal of the strength of magical girl shows I’ve seen has come down to their character writing, and Hugtto isn’t quite there yet with anyone outside of Hana.

Fortunately, Hana herself remains a fantastic lead, and the threats arrayed against these girls are still decked in intriguing fragments of thematic resonance. If the show keeps up its current pace, we might be formally meeting the yellow cure this week, but I’d also be happy to see the show either further explore the nature of its villains or simply put in some time developing Saaya and Hana’s relationship. Either way, I expect the show to remain joyful and beautiful throughout, so there’s really no losing here. Let’s see what episode three has in store for our young heroes!

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Neon Genesis Evangelion – Episode 2

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I’ve always loved Neon Genesis Evangelion’s inventive and gleefully melodramatic episode titles, and none more so than the iconic “Unfamiliar Ceiling/THE BEAST.” Like so many of Eva’s narrative devices, the concept of an unfamiliar ceiling has become an anime trope unto itself, but here in its original incarnation, that title card feels like the essence of Eva in miniature. The first half’s title embodies Evangelion’s careful capturing of specific and alienating lived moments; the second half is the roar of violence lurking just beneath those moments’ surface. Eva doesn’t do pre-OP cold opens – it introduces its new drama directly, and its punctuation for that drama comes in the form of thunderous title drops. So much of Evangelion’s dramatic strength is a result of its utter confidence in its own tone, and these striking white-on-black mini-poems contribute greatly to that sense of solemnity and impact.

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Summer 2018 – Week 11 in Review

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The anime was dominated by titanic clashes this week, as all my shows galloped towards their endgames while offering some dramatic fireworks along the way. While My Hero Academia demonstrated that it had indeed been hoarding all its animation eggs in the Deku-Bakugo basket, Revue Starlight showed off with a two-on-two duel featuring some of its most convincing secondary character work so far. And over in Planet With land, this season’s most visually conservative star showed off in its own way, vividly demonstrating the richness of characterization and thoughtfulness of narrative structure that have elevated it all along the way. I had little to complain about and much to revel in this week, and I’m happy to share all my gushing with you folks. Let’s start with the showdown between everyone’s favorite rowdy boys as we run down one more week in anime!

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Why It Works: Monogatari Will Never Die

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With a new season of Monogatari on the way, it felt like the right time to once again explore some unique facet of this singular series. This time, with Ougi Dark having essentially concluded Araragi’s personal arc, I focused on how Monogatari is a story and show that isn’t really beholden to traditional narrative structures and endings, and how it’s basically always been a show about the laborious, continuous work of persistently recommitting to becoming your best self. I personally wouldn’t mind if Monogatari continued forever because I just like to watch it, but it’s nice that the concept of endings runs thematically counter to the show altogether, as well!

Monogatari Will Never Die

Ojamajo Doremi – Episode 33

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We’re watching more Doremi, folks! I only get one of these a month, so I know I should probably try and save them for a rainy day or something, but Doremi is too good and I am too impatient and so damnit I’m watching it right now. I made a serious commitment these past few months to dive into all the Current Projects that have been waiting too long, and having nearly caught up with all of them, I have earned myself some friggin’ Doremi.

Anyway. Doremi’s last episode was a terrific example of one of the show’s most satisfying modes: immature, farcical adventure. The entire plot of that episode was basically “screw Tamaki, she sucks,” turning an ostensibly Masaharu-focused episode into a referendum on how much our main crew hate Tamaki’s guts. At this point, I’m not really sure Tamaki will ever get a true “focus episode” of her own – those episodes are generally designed to humanize Doremi’s various classmates, and Tamaki works so well as a villain that that almost seems like it’d be a waste. Then again, Nanami from Utena is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, and Tamaki is basically just Nanami in elementary school. Brats deserve depth too, but given Tamami stole the show last time, I’m guessing we’ve got an entirely new tale waiting for us today. Let’s dive right in to Ojamajo Doremi!

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Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha – Episode 3

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Alright, let’s get back to Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha! So far, my experience with the show has had its ups and downs, largely illustrated through the difference between the first and second episodes. In that first episode, Nanoha’s distinctive direction added lots of energy and visual appeal to a relatively familiar magical girl template. In the second, those directoral flourishes faded significantly, leaving me with a so-so genre piece notable mostly for its clear influence on future shows like Symphogear. That mix of positive and negative is a little troubling, frankly – “the production and visual energy plummet after a great first episode” is a problem shared by countless shows, whereas the show’s current narrative issues are the kind of problems that tend to persist throughout productions.

That said, there’s still a fair amount of novelty in the show’s “magical girl drama reimagined as heavy scifi shounen vehicle” premise, and some of my current complaints, like the show’s weirdly stilted pacing, are the kind of quirky issues that can often blossom into engaging elements of a show’s identity. Nanoha’s extended scenes with her family don’t carry that much emotional weight yet, but the show is clearly invested in building up her general home life, suggesting its emotional ambitions will soon move beyond “Nanoha zaps a monster and it’s awesome.” Either way, the show has established a narrative template and a wider world while also powering us through Nanoha’s first two assignments as a magical girl. Let’s see what episode three brings!

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Summer 2018 – Week 10 in Review

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With the summer season entering its twilight hour, everything I’m watching began clearing its throat this week, mostly by taking care of various dramatic minibosses in order to prep for the finale. That resulted in a collection of episodes that weren’t really all that thrilling for their own sake, but still necessary in various ways, and littered with occasional small pleasures. Having each pulled off a sequence of jaw-dropping episodes in their recent history, both Revue Starlight and Planet With unfortunately ended up faltering in their most common ways this week; Revue Starlight through its sometimes shaky characterization and storytelling, and Planet With through its so-so visual execution. Neither of this season’s highlights are perfect shows, but they’re both relentlessly interesting shows, and even their missteps leave me with plenty to talk about. Let’s break down those complaints and more as we run down one more week in anime!

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Why It Works: Todoroki’s Personal Mountain

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Today on Crunchyroll, I combined my appreciation for the subtle uniqueness of Todoroki’s most recent conflicts with My Hero Academia’s current reflections on how heroism demands more than just strength, and came up with an article that I’m pretty sure all fits together! My Hero Academia’s focus on heroes as sources of inspiration and hope has always been sorta assumed in the background, but with All Might retiring, the story’s adults are actually having to straight-up articulate their need for a societal symbol of peace. Todoroki could very well become that symbol, but you can’t inspire others when the only thing fueling you is your own anger. Todoroki failed at the license exams, but I’m pretty sure he still picked up that lesson, and is stronger for it. This kid is gonna be okay!

The Ideal Hero: Todoroki’s Personal Mountain