Anime monsoon season has arrived again, beginning with the usual torrential downpour of mediocre cartoons. The season is starting a little slow so far, but that’s really just an issue of scheduling – most of the shows I’m looking forward to have yet to premiere, and those that already have either matched or exceeded my expectations. First episodes aren’t always trustworthy, of course, particularly when it comes to animation quality, but I certainly haven’t been suffering too much!
Why It Works: A Brief Plea for Thunderbolt Fantasy
I finally got around to featuring Thunderbolt Fantasy over at Crunchyroll, just in time for the end of the season. With most of the new shows not yet airing, I figured this was a perfect time to catch up on a show that definitely deserves some recognition. Thunderbolt Fantasy was an excellent ride, and I’m happy to hear we’ve got another season on the way!
Why It Works: A Brief Plea for Thunderbolt Fantasy
Ashes and Embers in Heaven’s Feel
Alright, I’ll confess: I wasn’t able to get a meaningful distance into Heaven’s Feel. I got through all of the pre-route scenes that involved Sakura, and I had a nice long chat with Kotomine at the church, and then I got nearly murdered by Ilya, and then Rin finished me off with an interminable conversation about magical energy. All of that took several hours of clicking through, but it didn’t really accomplish anything narrative-wise – I’m still basically in the introduction phase of the route, and there’s no indication that that’s going to end any time soon.
Planetes – Episode 13
Having long explored the winding corridors of Seven, spent at least a dozen missions cramped inside the Toy Box, and twice visited the moon, this week’s Planetes took us somewhere the show had never visited – the earth itself. With Fee’s heroic exploits leaving the crew without a ship, the debris team was given some needed time off to visit friends and family. And so we finally visited Hachi’s home, as Tanabe and Yuri tagged along to meet his mother and brother.
Summer 2016 – Week 13 in Review
The season well and truly ended this week, offering conclusions to Orange, Mob Psycho, Love Live, Thunderbolt Fantasy, and… well, JoJo is apparently eternal, so Not JoJo. Oh wait, Thunderbolt Fantasy also didn’t end, it’s still got an episode left. So I guess this week was actually just a clusterfuck of endings and non-endings, and we’re not going to get a break between seasons after all, and we’re just going to have to live with that. Either way, I can conclusively say that episodes of anime did in fact air this week, and I had at least a couple things to say about several of them. SO LET’S DO THAT!
Mob Psycho 100 – Episode 12
Mob Psycho had a pretty fiery conclusion this week, one that actually arrived at a more or less satisfying thematic endpoint. ONE’s thoughts on society are clearly still deeply conflicted, but his analysis of Claw seemed pretty sharp here, and concluding on Reigen’s call for kindness felt like basically the only way to positively react to his view on the world in general. And of course, the big action highlights were as excellent as ever, and it was nice to check in with everyone before finishing up. Mob Psycho turned out to likely be the strongest show of the season, something I really wouldn’t have guessed coming in. Nice work, everyone!
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
Orange – Episode 13
Welp, Orange finally finished up this week, offering sturdy conclusions to both the Naho/Kakeru romantic drama and the gang’s attempts to save Kakeru in general. Those two scenes basically justified this episode, even if the connective tissue was a little shaky – the first offered one of the sharpest descriptions of depression this show has managed, and the second was just a richly earned moment of friendship and catharsis for everyone involved. Orange didn’t really end up a good show, but it certainly had its moments.
You can check out my full review over at ANN!
Nichijou – Episode 9
We’re back to Nichijou, for one more round of exuberant and nigh-useless notes. But hey, you guys are only paying a slightly overpriced movie ticket’s price for them, so let’s just huddle in and enjoy the madness together. Anything can happen in this ridiculous friggin’ show, so let’s see what portion of anything today will provide!
Doamygar-D – Review
So today I’ve got a review of a short I’m pretty sure nobody actually watched, and for good reason – it’s basically just a loyal spoof of classic super robot shows, offering nothing of interest to anyone who isn’t a fan of super robots, Kyoto cooking, and extremely harmless comedy. It wasn’t a painful watch or anything, but also not a watch I’d really recommend for any reason. Although I did like the goofy accent of the American character!
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below.
Why It Works: The Chromatic Battle of Koichi and Kira
I guess I just can’t help myself. I returned to the JoJo well once again this week, since Koichi and Kira’s fight offered such a handy demonstration of one more of the show’s myriad strengths. You could probably do some further writing on how JoJo manages the hues of its palette shifts to echo their emotional intent, but I stuck to the basics this time – most great comic/animation artists give their characters distinctive visual signatures, and JoJo is able to use those signatures combined with its own style tricks to create some profoundly impactful battles. Let’s get to it!
Why It Works: The Chromatic Battle of Koichi and Kira
