Parasyte – Episode 23

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The strongest Parasyte in a while this week, with both the action and themey-wemey sides of the show putting up strong performances. The Gotou fight was the most well-depicted one in a while (a long while, actually… hell, maybe ever? Parasyte hasn’t exactly had the most impressive fights), and the final Shinichi-Migi conversation was great on both a character and idea level. I really thought the show was just falling apart altogether a few episodes ago, but this post-police stakeout arc has been pretty solid. Nice to see!

My full ANN post is available here, and notes as always are below.

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Winter 2015 – Week 10 in Review

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A strong week in anime this time, with few surprises but plenty of impressive episodes. Some shows have been jostling in position recently, with KimiUso in particular making a major stab at a recovery, but things have mostly settled – Shirobako, Maria, Death Parade, and Yuri Kuma are consistently strong, JoJo and KimiUso are rallying, and the rest are, well, the rest. This has been a very strong season, and I’m ready to see it close out in kind. Let’s run ’em down!

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Rough Notes Archive: Fullmetal Alchemist

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Management: So I heard you guys like notes or something! As with Utena and Katanagatari, I took a whole crapton of timestamped notes while watching FMA, with almost any line of any noteworthy thematic relevance being recorded and commented on in time. They’re not intended to be an actual formal piece – they’re me gathering ideas and poking at thoughts as I watch the show in real time. But if you want a big dense journey into FMA’s threads that goes beyond my essay on the subject, here we are.

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Yuri Kuma Arashi – Episode 10

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It’s bear time, and all of the tertiary bears are dead! Yuri Kuma has always been pretty narrow in its scope, but with Yuriika gone and Kureha apparently accepted by her classmates for the moment, there’s not much left to do but see Ginko and Kureha finally clash. Will Ginko’s lust-rage devour her friend? Will Kureha forgive her friend? Will we just get three straight episodes of Lulu derping around instead, which I totally wouldn’t mind and upon reflection actively encourage? ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

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Rolling Girls – Episode 10

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Fine recovery from Rolling Girls this week – to make up for last week’s slowness, this one kicked into narrative overdrive, pushing pretty much the whole cast along a variety of story tracks. There were some funny jokes, a great fight, and just a general sense of energy that kept momentum high even when the show attempted to dramatically overreach. Hopefully things stay this fun through the end!

My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!

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Log Horizon II – Episode 23

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Pretty low-key episode of Log Horizon this week, with Isaac and Iselus getting a moment in the sun while the whole cast kind of vaguely ruminated on the possibility of going home. It certainly doesn’t feel like this is a show that could possible end forever in two more episodes, but hey, Log Horizon’s doing its thing. I guess we’ll have to see where they decide to wrap things up.

My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!

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Genshiken Second Season, Volume 3 – Review

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Back on the Genshiken train! I had a whole ton to say about this volume, since these chapters really dig into a lot of the nerd culture and identity stuff that makes Genshiken so interesting. Stuff about social cues, stuff about gender performance, basically just all sorts of interesting stuff. It’s nice to have a work to talk about that rewards these discussions!

Anyway, here’s my full review over at ANN. Lots of notes below!

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Parasyte – Episode 22

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A strange and strangely enjoyable episode of Parasyte this week. We got the expected Gotou fight, and that was… pretty alright. But then the rest of this episode diverged into a side narrative with a little old lady in the woods, and that was actually quite a nice time! That material felt like it had more grace and energy than the show’s possessed for a while now, so even if it was a diversion, it was a welcome one.

My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!

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Spring 2015 Season Preview

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It’s that time once again! With three weeks of the winter season to go, it’s time for me to start feeling existential dread at the thought of one more preview guide, and time for you all to get some uselessly vague predictions about how this whole spring season’s gonna go down. As per the usual, I’ll just be covering stuff that actually looks interesting to me – if you want the full list, head on over to anichart to check it out. Normally, this is a time of celebration – it’s the end of winter doldrums, and spring is generally a pretty stacked lineup. But between Shirobako and a few intrepid newbies, this winter season has actually been perfectly respectable, so let’s try and approach the upcoming shows with a bit less desperate of a look in our eyes. It’s just another anime season, you guys. No need to get excited.

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Winter 2015 – Week 9 in Review

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I’ll just come out and say it – this week kinda sucked. Almost everything on the weaker half of my list either hit a season low point or continued a losing streak, and even Shirobako’s episode was only “great.” I felt kinda awkward just dropping sad remark after sad remark, but this was just not a respectable week for a lot of shows. Fortunately, the top tier remains strong, and that’s definitely the most important thing. Both Death Parade and Maria nailed absolutely critical episodes, Yuri Kuma didn’t make any real missteps, and Shirobako just settled back into “a very solid Shirobako episode.” The season isn’t ending gracefully for some, but things are still gonna be okay. Let’s run ’em down!

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