Genshiken Second Season Vol. 2 – Review

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Genshiken reviews continue! This volume felt a bit bumpier than the first, mainly because the Angela drama felt kind of artificial. Madarame’s harem is beginning to assemble, which… yeah, I don’t even know what to say about that. But the best elements here were the same stuff Genshiken’s always been good at (natural banter, brief, bracing moments of personal truth, graceful character work), and Genshiken remains good at that, so I can’t really complain. And who wouldn’t fall for Madarame, anyway?

My full ANN review is available here. Notes below the cut!

Genshiken

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Parasyte – Episode 17

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We finally got a pretty solid rallying episode this week, after many weeks of subpar episodes. We’re not exactly at first-few-episodes strength again, but after the Kana arc and subsequent meanderings, this felt like a revelation. A solid fight scene, a coherent pulling together of several character arcs, and even some echoing back of the show’s early themes. Everything you need for a balanced breakfast!

My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!

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Winter 2015 – Week 4 in Review

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An excellent week in anime this, uh, week, with pretty much everything I’m watching either holding strong, recovering from weaker episodes, or demonstrating new strengths altogether. Death Parade was easily the surprise star this time – Death Parade was almost a show I was watching out of obligation up until now (“yeah it’s well-constructed, but why should I care?”), but this episode felt sharper, more passionate, and more poignant than any of the previous trials. Plus it actually attacked the show’s premise, and even pointed to the idea that the arbitrary nature of these trials is intentionally reflective of how the arbitrary nature of life itself prevents us from being the selves we ought to be. Rolling Girls also made something of a comeback this week, and Yuri Kuma is starting to feel like it’s finally comfortable in its own world. Potential transitioned into results across the board this week, which means I guess I’ll be watching Too Many Shows for some time to come. Let’s run ’em down!

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Yuri Kuma Arashi – Episode 5

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THE BEARS HAVE RETURNED. I am writing this piece in the midst of yet another actual storm, so once again, you may have to bear with me if stormclouds force me to paws the episode or something. Last episode was fantastic, and finally gave the show the sense of humor and humanity it was desperately needing – whatever else happens, we now at least know that Lulu is amazing. Hopefully this week will continue on the humanizing-this-cast theme, but who knows. The bear-filled sky is the limit.

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Rolling Girls – Episode 4

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Rolling Girls performed a semi-smooth recovery this week. We didn’t return to the high-energy mania and glorious animation of the first two episodes, but at this point, I think that just isn’t what this show is. What Rolling Girls actually is is a story of freedom and growing up and punk rock, more “Naota sleeping on the back of the vespa” and less “Haruka in a bunny suit slamming the guitar.” The show’s art direction remains excellent, but the key points this week were the quiet moments – both Nozomi and Chiaya’s conversations with their mothers, and the easy conversation about favorite bands that played the episode off.

In light of this shift, I’m not really surprised that a lot of people are jumping shift – the show tricked people, it’s not what it initially appeared to be. But fortunately for me, the show’s new thing is obviously well within My Kind of Thing, and so as long as the show maintains the easy grace of this episode’s last few minutes in its upcoming character moments, I’ll still be enjoying the ride. And either way, it sure is pretty.

My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!

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Log Horizon II – Episode 17

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Great episode of Log Horizon this week – there were some silly gags and not much animation, but the important thing was that we’re back into compelling ideas again. That one scene at the Round Table basically made the episode – dealing with income disparities within Akihabara is such a smart elaboration on both Log Horizon’s worldbuilding and the issues of gamer psychology it gestured at during the William Massachusetts speech that I really just can’t think of something I’d rather have the show explore. And the other stuff it’s exploring is also interesting! The kids’ story is actually coming together, and introducing multiple interesting variables! Including Nureha, who’s easily one of the most intriguing characters in the overall cast. Nice work Log Horizon, we’re back on solid ground again.

My supersized episodic post is available over at ANN. All my notes are below!

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Love Live! – Review

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YOU CAN’T STOP THESE IDOLS. Yep, I reviewed Love Live! for ANN, and it turns out Love Live! is totally great. I’d watched this series back over the spring/summer as well, but I actually enjoyed it even more watching it this second time. I think even just that recently, I was kind of holding stuff that didn’t fall within my usual genre wheelhouse at arm’s length – “yeah, it’s pretty good, but it’s still a silly idol show.” Nah, that’s dumb. Love Live! has really sharp storytelling and production, and is just a relentlessly enjoyable show in general. It’s funny and endearing and crazy polished, and I’m looking forward to hopefully reviewing the second season too.

My full review is available over at ANN. My clearly indispensable episodic notes are all below!

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Parasyte – Episode 16

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We finally got some of Parasyte’s energy back this week, with a pretty solid fight sequence and some general character-rearranging back in the city. It’s kind of sad to admit that Parasyte seems to be at its best when it’s just being a visceral action thing, especially since its aesthetics honestly aren’t that great, but but that’s where we’re at. It’s still fun, it still keeps me engaged – it’s just not the show I was hoping it would be.

Anyway. That’s enough moping, this episode was fine. My full ANN review is available here, and my notes are below the cut!

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Winter 2015 – Week 3 in Review

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This week was kind of split between hits and misses. On the hit side, Yurikuma and JoJo both put out episodes that were significant improvements on their earlier material, and both Maria and Yatterman continue to excel. On the miss side, pretty much the most reliable of all shows finally hit a rough patch in this week’s Shirobako, and Rolling Girls failed to demonstrate its actual material will be as energetic and engaging as its introduction. But the season is still young, the schedule’s still strong, and there’s plenty of anime to go around. Let’s run ’em down!

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Yuri Kuma Arashi – Episode 4

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TIME FOR THE BEAR STORM! Also time for the actual storm, as New England is about to get hit by a crazy snow storm and I’m just sitting here like an idiot. Hopefully I can finish the bear storm before the other storm kills my power.

Anyway! Last episode cleared up a whole bunch of stuff regarding the invisible storm, along with giving us some necessary character elaboration for Kureha. We’ve still got a ways to go on the character front, but things are coming together. Incidentally, I ran into this great blog post on a recent Ikuhara interview, which contains lots of interesting details on Ikuhara’s conflicted feelings on creating a show about/for women, his thoughts in selecting Bear Storm’s character designer, and much else. The struggle of making a piece that’s true to an experience you don’t have personal insight into is always a tough one, but Ikuhara’s clearly approaching this with all the help he can find.

But enough about that, it’s time for bears!

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