Paranoia Agent – Episode 6

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This was a bravura episode of Paranoia Agent. This show is all about creating a specific mood and revealing synchronicities in modern fears, and this episode did a better job of both of those than pretty much any episode before. Taeko’s story, the old woman’s testimony, and the gathering storm all played off each other to create a heavy, oppressive atmosphere that built to a triumphant peak drawing all of them together. At its best, this show feels like one long, ominous note, gathering in intensity, building and building up to that moment of release as Shonen Bat arrives. This is a damn good show.

You can check out my oversized writeup over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Gatchaman Crowds insight – Episode 7

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Welp, Tsubasa and Gelsadra seem to be “getting their wish,” and by that I mean holy shit this nightmare world could they possibly have conceived of a worse reality. Those shots of upbeat Gel-citizens politely inquiring as to why you weren’t feeling exactly the way they were feeling definitely took the creepy-cake. I also really loved seeing all the Gatchaman basically on the verge of murdering Tsubasa – Rui kinda effortlessly mocking her words, OD shaking his head, and Hajime actually getting up in the rookie’s face. Tsubasa is definitely a trial.

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

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Classroom Crisis – Episode 7

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Classroom Crisis had another strong episode this week, with the show at long last allowing Angelina to escape from those awful gags that have been dragging her character down. Nope, no stupid age jokes this time – instead, Angelina got to drink wine and kick ass, knocking out some hijackers and making friends with Iris in the process. This episode also featured a whole bunch of payoff on Nagisa’s side, as the relationships the show has developed between him and the rest of the class led to some satisfying moments of real friendship and camaraderie between them. We’ve reached that sweet spot where it’s inherently satisfying to see these characters spend time together, which is a very good place for any drama to be. Keep it up, Classroom Crisis!

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

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Saekano – Review

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Yep, there was actually a reason I was going back and watching Saekano. REVIEW TIME! If you’ve been checking my week in review posts, you’ll know I haven’t been so hot on the show, and that carries through to the review. Saekano takes elements from a bunch of things I like (Genshiken, Monogatari, TWGOK), but the overall package comes across as just way too lightly felt, scattershot, and indulgent to really drive at the humor and humanity any of those shows find in their weirdo characters. You could construct a good show out of Saekano’s pieces, but Saekano is not that show.

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

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Summer 2015 – First Half in Review

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The summer halfway point has arrived! As per long-hallowed tradition, the season halfway point is always celebrated with my first and only show ranking of the season, emphasizing the fundamental ridiculousness of lists through the double-stacked ridiculousness of listing shows that are only halfway over. This is perhaps (definitely) a meaningless exercise, but hey, it gives me a reasonably coherent topic to cover when shows are generally just sort of durdling around and gearing up for their final push. This season’s a bit unusual ranking-wise, in that as far as “actual real serious-business shows go,” it’s basically just Gatchaman Crowds insight versus an empty field. Classroom Crisis has its moments but is far too inconsistent to consider great, and everything else I’m watching falls somewhere into “enjoyable popcorn garbage.” Can you… rank… garbage?

Yeah, of course you can fucking rank garbage. I may be watching Prison School, but I’m certainly not watching Sky Wizards Academy, and there are damn good reasons for that. So let’s take a fine-tooth comb to this season’s pee jokes and snake-fucking and RUN THESE SHOWS DOWN.

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Paranoia Agent – Episode 5

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Paranoia Agent took a weird detour into fantasyland this week, offering an episode heavy on pratfalls and silly faces. This turned out… okay, I guess? It was definitely much weaker than Paranoia Agent’s usual material, and in no way leaned into the show’s usual strengths. As a one-off episode, I guess it was entertaining enough, but it still makes for an odd fit within a show that’s normally focused on such a specific and separate tone.

You can check out my episode writeup over at ANN, or my notes below.

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Gatchaman Crowds insight – Episode 6

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Welp, we’ve entered Local Girl and Alien Ruin Everything territory. Tsubasa’s a child, Gelsadra’s a terrifying force of faux-unity, and together they’re doing a pretty great job of making Japan the most fragile country imaginable. This episode basically hung around those two the entire time, as they attempted to put their plan of “making everyone happy” into action. Jou can’t be feeling good about this situation – CROWDS may be gone, but replacing the diet with constant popular votes is actually a far more dangerous system of forced horizontal engagement. I imagine things will begin falling apart more or less immediately.

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

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Classroom Crisis – Episode 6

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Classroom Crisis rallied back with an excellent episode this week, revealing Nagisa’s full past in an episode full of the small character moments that make even this show’s weakest episodes at least somewhat compelling. This is definitely a pretty lopsided show, but it’s the kind of lopsided I can get behind – its best elements are unique and very valuable, and it having a bunch of obvious failings along with them is just how it goes with a lot of anime. And second halves are generally more conflict-focused anyway, so there’s a fair chance Classroom Crisis will average out to a very solid show.

Here’s my full ANN writeup, and you can check out my notes below!

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Fragments of Horror – Review

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I reviewed some Junji Ito this week, his first horror stories in a fair number of years. And that kind of shows in the result – Ito’s work has always been strange, and often relied on horror ideas that other people wouldn’t necessarily find horrifying, but some of these stories are just flat bad. There are also some real hits though, and his visual style remains uniquely creepy throughout, so overall I had a good time with this collection. Manga short story collections are fun – I’d dearly love to get some Nickelodeon over here to review, but I’m sure the chances of that are basically next to nothing.

You can check out my full review over at ANN!

Fragments of Horror

Monogatari is a Disaster

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New article-essay thing! This one’s less of a thematic essay and more of a breakdown of why Monogatari is basically destined to be divisive, going into the various core elements that make it so weird and both repellent and appealing at the same time. It’s one of my favorite shows, but I completely understand why other people wouldn’t like it, or why other people who like it would have entirely different feelings on it even if we both “like Monogatari.” It’s quite a strange mess of a show, and that’s actually part of why I like it so much.

Anyway, I get to all that in the article. AND HERE IT IS:

Monogatari is a Disaster

Nisemonogatari