Holy shit Suwa thank you for being you. Suwa’s presence in this episode basically knocked Naho’s poor little romance drama into hyperdrive, as he confidently steered her and Kakeru through what would surely have been five episodes of material without him. Cheers to you, Suwa. If anyone can fix these mixed-up kids, you can.
Anyway. You can check out my full episode review over at ANN!
Today I discuss Orange’s somewhat unique framing device, and the interesting way it colors our relationship with Orange’s characters. Some mild philosophy of the viewer shenanigans for your Saturday afternoon.
Why It Works: Emotional Distance in Orange
Hey everybody! Today I’m embarking on a quick-thoughts journey through KyoAni’s most lauded comedy, Nichijou. Writeups for this one have been requested in the form of notes as opposed to full episodics, so this time you get all the nitty-gritty minithoughts and immediate reactions on everything as it’s going on. It might actually be best to read these alongside the episode itself, if you get the chance. Doing notes writeups would generally mean less content than the full articles (they’re much cheaper after all, meaning I can’t afford to spend many hours on them), but it turns out I had a million things to say about the first episode, so this one’s still a massive pile of writing all by itself. But enough preamble – let’s get right in to the first moments of Nichijou!
Ikuhara just can’t escape the stage. All of his shows are heightened and ornamented, full of elaborate framing and moments where you’re not sure if what you’re seeing is real, imagined, or somewhere in between. Characters are lit by spotlights and accompanied by gusts of roses, treading through shimmering worlds of elaborate costume and ghastly betrayals. His stars live between the stage and the stands, often directly acknowledging the tenuous nature of their performance. The spotlight is cruel in its ephemeral gaze.
It may be mid-August, but the summer anime season is convinced we still have half a summer to go. I appreciate that kind of optimism, and appreciate even more just how sunny this season has been in general. While this summer has lacked a character drama with the poignancy of Rakugo Shinju or a message show with the complexity and spirit of Concrete Revolutio, it’s made up for that by being stacked with shows that are just damn good entertainment. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Thunderbolt Fantasy are both excellent camp-action spectacles, Mob Psycho 100 is consistently elevated by solid writing and terrific execution, Love Live Sunshine is consolidating everything that is fun about Love Live, and Sweetness & Lightning is a consistent dose of heartwarming family moments. It seems silly to rank a set like that – they’re all so different, and all such positive experiences, that classifying them as “better or worse” than each other seems pointless and inherently jaded.
Of course, I’m gonna do it anyway. That’s what traditions are for! As usual, I’ll be ranking the summer’s shows for the first and only time here at the halfway point, where it should be inescapably obvious that any sort of ranking is an entirely meaningless gesture. Like a series that makes its point in the first season and then just sort of staggers on through mediocre renewals for a while, the halfway point season rankings will proudly continue. Let’s start at the top and RUN ‘EM DOWN!
My journey into Kyoto Animation’s history hit a rough patch this week, as my high hopes ran aground on the rocky shores of Lucky Star. Lucky Star is a long, tedious synthesis of everything I find unimpressive about anime comedy, so all I can say in the end is I’m glad I survived it, and at least now I can reference it confidently when discussing the studio. It was frankly somewhat strange to see such an unfunny comedy from a studio I generally point to as the one group who actually understand comedic timing; there were occasional successful gags, but the vast majority of Lucky Star is just a long, long, long expanse of absolutely nothing. But I survived. That is enough.
You can check out my megasized review over at ANN, or my increasingly desperate notes below!
Hoo boy did Mob Psycho ever hit it out of the park this week. The show’s visual execution was actually maybe a bit more conservative than usual, but that was more than made up for by this episode’s buffet of thematic meat and sharp character writing. The confrontation between Mob and Teruki turned into a bitter, mutually destructive meditation on each of their insecure positions in life, ending in tears all around. I really didn’t expect this show to be the emotional highlight of the summer, but a couple more episodes like this, and it’ll easily be one of my favorites of the year. What a ride.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!
Naho’s determination to “save” Kakeru led her to spend this episode’s climactic scene prodding a clearly vulnerable friend about his feelings on his mother’s death. That wasn’t really a high point as far as Naho’s emotional sensitivity goes, but it was certainly a compelling scene in a dramatic sense. There were some wobbly bits and pieces in this episode, but also a nice scattering of excellent character bits. Orange is far from a perfect show, but it’s still a compelling character drama.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!
There is something deeply romantic about the freedom of space. Unmoored from the limitations of home, kingdom, or even gravity itself, space promises an open horizon of exploration, a new world where anyone’s potential can be realized. Space is often framed as a realm of conquest to be claimed by bold pioneers; what holds you back is not the gritty specifics of your prior life, but the reach of your spirit. If you can dream it, you can build it. If you can seek it, you can seize it.
I took another stab at JoJo this week, breaking down some of the genre craft stuff that made one of the recent episodes so effective. JoJo’s just a really easy show to talk about, particularly this season – it’s got a wide variety of clear strengths, and yet tends to be strong in ways that make it quite different from most anime. I’m sure I’ll find my way back to covering it again!
Why It Works: Anatomy of a Rat Fight
