We had a bunch of very fun episodes this week. Rallying from a weaker start, the conclusion to Red Hot Chili Pepper was one more power episode of Diamond is Unbreakable, and My Hero Academia refused to give any ground in its big All Might battle. And we also had a pair of solid season endings, with Concrete Revolutio and The Lost Village both impressing in their own extremely, extremely, extremely incomparable ways. No Flying Witch did result in a bit of a comfy shortage, but I hear there’s a comfy surplus coming up next week, so things should even out in the end. Let’s get right to it and RUN ‘EM DOWN!
Planetes – Episode 5
This was a very silly episode of Planetes. How silly? Well, a running subplot involves an amateur film production of “Space Wolf Goes to the Moon,” a pickpocket at one point laments that his “nimble pianist’s fingers are only used to steal other people’s stuff,” and the climactic scene involves a pair of parents verbally underlining the lesson they’ve learned about parenting, each gasping, and then turning to stare at each other, their eyes filled with daytime soap opera wonder. Planetes can be a hammy and broad show at the best of times, but this episode pretty much reveled in a kind of archetypal TV storytelling that reminded me more of something like M.A.S.H. or the A-Team than anything anime genres approach. And for all that, it was a really good time.
Kiznaiver – Episode 11
Kiznaiver had another fairly strong episode this week, one that again demonstrated how this show is often much better at its small emotional and framing details than it is at the big narrative strokes. I frankly don’t care much about Sonozaki’s attempted coup here – it’s an okay place to take her sense of isolation, but it’s only going to get interesting once Katsuhira attempts to talk her down. It’s that communication that always becomes the key, and the way this fantastic director elevates such small moments into high drama. Chidori keeping a brace face on the phone, or Katsuhira admitting he’s not necessarily confident in his answers. Little gems all around.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
The Lost Village – Episode 12
All great things must come to an end. All relentlessly weird things too, for that matter, and so we must at last bid The Lost Village adieu. I was surprised by this show plenty of times, but it ultimately developed its own strange kind of consistent rhythm. It was funny and ridiculous and regularly charming, an unexpected slice of the kind of comedy you almost never see in anime. I think this show’s creators had a lot of fun making it. I certainly had plenty of fun watching.
You can check out my final review over at ANN, or my notes below!
Mawaru Penguindrum – Episode 2
Penguindrum’s second episode is a much easier twenty minutes than the first. Not only is it more of a fun, propulsive adventure than a tragic drama, it’s also just much less dense, more or less sticking to one straightforward narrative. The brothers must find the Penguindrum, and the Penguindrum is in the possession of Ringo Oginome… probably. And so they head off, tailing Ringo (a girl whose name is literally “apple”) as she goes about her fairly unusual day.
One Piece – Volume 9
One Piece’s ninth volume is titled simply “Tears.” It’s a thematically relevant choice, but it’s also about as clear an indication as you could hope for of the emotional trials to come. This volume is a harrowing journey, featuring One Piece’s greatest moments of character writing and most cathartic points of high drama so far. It’s an easy peak for the manga, a dramatic accomplishment any story would be proud of.
Shirobako, Part Two – Review
And to the surprise of no one, I return once more to extol the many merits of Shirobako. The show’s second half is even better than the first, mixing its consistent humor, character writing, and fundamental Realness with a whole lot more dramatic gut punches. I normally kinda laugh at demands for more “mature” anime, but I sure wouldn’t mind a whole lot more grounded, devastating career dramas like this one. Subdued dramas like this and Eccentric Family are as my jam as anything can be.
You can check out my full review over at ANN!
Spring 2016 – Week 11 in Review
The season is wrapping up at this point, but this season’s shows still have a few surprises left. In this case, the main surprise was My Hero Academia and JoJo switching places – My Hero Academia was on fire this week, easily vaulting over its usual failings, while JoJo turned down the temperature for an episode that unfortunately evoked some of Stardust Crusaders’ worst tendencies. But aside from that, everything was pretty much business as usual. Concrete Revolutio is speeding towards what’s likely to be an astoundingly good finale, Flying Witch is as consistent as ever, Luluco is still unsure of whether it wants to be a real show or not, etcetera. All this and more in today’s week in review, as we cast our eyes backward and RUN ‘EM DOWN.
A Silent Voice, Volume 7 – Review
And so A Silent Voice comes to an end. This volume was definitely weaker than much of what came before, and essentially gave too much time to what was all pretty much epilogue. There were loose narrative tangents and unnecessary additions, and it all made for a slightly rambling experience. But A Silent Voice’s fundamental character writing is so strong that it really didn’t harm anything, and at this point, seeing the untidy threads of the manga actually just makes me feel even more excited for the film. A Silent Voice is a fantastic manga, but it could be condensed into a basically perfect movie. For the first time in a while, I can’t help but let the hype be real.
You can check out my full review over at ANN!
Planetes – Episode 4
Today’s Planetes episode was about how rich people are terrible and should probably be killed.
Well, there was a little more to it than that, but not much. This was one more classic office storyline, the episode where the head office’s son visits the branch and everyone has to kowtow and dance for him because nepotism is awesome. It’s a standard plot shell that was executed in a pretty routine manner – we learned that Hachi and the Control employee Claire were once an item, and Tanabe’s ultimate defense of the debris unit earned her some clearly plotted respect from Hachi, but in the end, this is the kind of episode you could see in basically any episodic drama or sitcom.