The Perfect Insider – Episode 5

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Perfect Insider was back in top form this week, with an episode that mixed the compelling personal contrasts of the first couple episodes with the more plot-centric mystery focus of the last couple. The show is charting a very tricky course, and could probably topple into self-indulgence at any moment, but for now it’s nicely demonstrating how mysteries and character stories can work together if you make the mystery into the character story. The mysteries here are not just related to Magata’s death, but also Magata’s past and overall identity – and the show’s framing and dialogue is making sure to consistently tie Magata’s identity to Moe’s, meaning all the pieces fit together very gracefully so far. I don’t know if the show can pull it off for another six episodes, but it’s been walking this tightrope for half a season now, so it’s certainly got a chance.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Anthem of the Heart – Review

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So yep, I went to see the new Okada movie. It was good! There were a couple loose dramatic choices here and there, but overall it was a very satisfying adolescent drama with some strong emotional peaks and a great soundtrack. The cast was likable and each got some nicely understated character moments, the animation did a great job of characterizing a protagonist who couldn’t actually speak, and the story landed well without slipping into any too-easy solutions. It wasn’t groundbreaking or heartrending or anything, but it was a solid story told well. I don’t want to dip into spoilers, but it also made for a weirdly appropriate accompaniment to last week’s Owarimonogatari – some of the lines from either could easily have been transposed from the other. And I also absolutely love this character designer’s style, so that was nice too.

You can check out my full review over ANN-a-way!

Anthem of the Heart

Beautiful Bones – Episode 5

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Welp, the cursed man arc ended this week, and it was… fine. Not really much to say about it. The show’s doing better than it was in the first few episodes, but it’s still not really something that excites me – it’s boilerplate mystery procedural stuff, the same kind of show that airs for 25 out of every 24 hours here in the states. Making the protagonist a chuunibyou woman with a dead brother doesn’t really do much to up the excitement voltage.

But hey, at least this episode introduced an Evil Painter. That’s kinda funny!

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.

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Fall 2015 – Week 5 in Review

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One more week of anime has come and gone, meaning it’s time once more to sift through the embers and see what riches have been left behind. This was another reasonable week of anime in what is turning out to be a reliable but not particularly dramatic season. The only top tier show I’m watching is Owarimonogatari, and that’s been a known product for years – aside from that, it’s really just One Punch Man as the production powerhouse and Iron-Blooded Orphans as the stable narrative. If things continue at this pace, it’s looking like my top ten shows of the year will be 80% consumed by the year’s first two seasons – not exactly the most impressive finish to a year that started off coasting from Shirobako into Oregairu S2 and Euphonium.

That said, there’s still plenty to talk about in what shows we have left. And I’ve also heard Concrete Revolutio has been doing some noteworthy things – I wish I had a bit more love for pop art, but if you’re less put off by the aesthetic than I am, it’s probably worth a look. There’s always something worth talking about out there, so let’s take a break from the naysaying and run down some fresh new cartoons!

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Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Volume 7-8 – Review

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I’m back for more Biscuit Hammer, and this volume… unfortunately couldn’t live up to the standards set by the last couple. It’s not that surprising, really – Biscuit Hammer has always been a compelling but wildly inconsistent production, and its victories come down to personality triumphing over craft more often than not. Biscuit Hammer is one of those weird stories that succeeds largely by ignoring storytelling fundamentals – when it works, it’s because some vague semblance of craft manages to attach itself to the story’s clear and ever-present talents for character writing and quirky execution, not because it’s a fully realized story executed with a confident understanding of how to actually tell one. I really, really like Biscuit Hammer, but I get the feeling that whatever this artist is working on three stories from now is going to be the real masterpiece. But I’m fine with this wacky-ass, aesthetically ridiculous, utterly heartfelt shounen drama until then.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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August 2015 Patreon Roundup

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So! As I first mentioned a couple weeks ago, I dump a whole bunch of words into Patreon mini-essays every month, and I figured it’d be a waste to just let those words languish in the bowels of ask.fm’s non-existent search function. Instead, I’m going to be collecting my new answers at some point during the course of a month, and also going back through the archives so you guys can actually get to see all that writing. I’ll be starting to answer October’s questions soon, but for now, here’s the whole set of answers from August. If getting a response like this sounds cool to you, my Patreon door is always open, and either way I hope you enjoy the work!

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Owarimonogatari – Episode 5

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We got our first emotional peak in this week’s Owari, and it was certainly something. These last few episodes have largely painted Oikura’s story as something that reflected Araragi’s issues, but this episode was all about Oikura for her own sake, and let her fill in the pieces through an oppressive recounting of her life to date. That was all well done, but it was the last third or so that really got to me, when Hanekawa, Araragi, and Oikura basically all offered their own personal reflections on depression and happiness. These were some of the sharpest exchanges of any arc of the show, and were just one more example of well Monogatari really gets its characters and people in general. I’m sure I’m not the only one who could relate to a discussion on the relative safety of a known unhappiness.

You can check out my supersized review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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The Perfect Insider – Episode 4

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Welp, we’re in full murder-mystery territory now. And as far as that goes, The Perfect Insider isn’t really the best – its variables are kind of hokey, from the nature of Magata’s laboratory to hackneyed twists like the fact that she has multiple personalities. There are still a number of interesting little clues, though, and I still like everything around the mystery. In this case, that mainly comes down to Moe and Magata’s pasts – the show is drawing constant parallels between the two of them, and I’m interested in seeing both how they eventually come together and if Moe ever gets to have a second meeting with Magata, or whatever form Magata might now take. Perfect Insider isn’t making all the right moves, but it’s still an interesting show.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below!

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Beautiful Bones – Episode 4

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AW SHIT BEAUTIFUL BONES HAD A REASONABLE EPISODE. Yep, either my standards are falling fast or Beautiful Bones is actually improving, because I legitimately enjoyed this episode. And it wasn’t because of subtle changes in writing or whatnot – the two-parter structure just fits this show so, so, so much better. It is really damn hard bordering on impossible to tell a satisfying, atmospheric, character-focused mystery in twenty minutes, but in forty-ish? Yeah, you can get there. So we got more nice character moments, more actual mystery elements, and more atmosphere than ever before. Great work, Beautiful Bones. Now please don’t immediately go back to your old formula and continue to suck at it.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Fall 2015 – Week 4 in Review

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It’s that time again! We had a reasonable crop of episodes this week, with four out of my six active series offering solid episodes, and one of the last two never promising to offer a single solid episode in the first place. I think at this point it’s safe to say Iron-Blooded Orphans is the breakout star of the season – it’s not the flashiest show, but it’s just absolutely solid in everything it does, full of strong characters and well-chosen dramatic turns and plenty of threads I’m excited to see through. Other shows are more tentative, but still enjoyable so far – in particular, I feel like it’d be easy for either The Perfect Insider or Utawarerumono to fall apart, but I’m still having a fine time with them so far. And One Punch Man is starting to wear out its single joke, but I’ve heard the original series picks up from here out, so I’m hopeful this is just a temporary lull. Overall, this isn’t the flashiest season, and certainly can’t compare to the year’s stellar first half, but I’ve got enough that I’m enjoying that I can’t really complain. But that’s enough news in brief, let’s get to it and RUN ‘EM DOWN!

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