Log Horizon II – Episode 22

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In addition to just being another one of those slow-ass episodes full of cake and gags that Log Horizon occasionally stumbles through, this episode also featured what felt like the show’s first potential narrative misstep, in the “woooo aliens did it” explanation for Elder Tale’s genesis. The show’s obviously built up enough trust that I’m hopeful it will turn out in an interesting way, but Roe 2’s initial explanation struck me as one of the least interesting ways this show could have resolved its underlying issues.

On the plus side, while I didn’t really like this episode, I’m quite happy with my explanation of why I didn’t like this episode. So here’s that full writeup! Notes below, as always…

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Parasyte – Episode 21

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Alright, back on steadier ground. This wasn’t a great episode, but there was good material here, and after last week’s episode I’m just happy to see the show isn’t falling apart altogether. The Hirakawa material reflected fairly well on the show’s progress so far, the big Gotou fight was actually pretty engaging outside of the stupid shounen dialogue, and I’m still enjoying seeing a far less mopey Shinichi. Looks like we’ll be getting out of this with dignity intact!

My full ANN post is available here. Took a bunch of notes this time, and they’re all below!

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Winter 2015 – Week 8 in Review

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Highs and lows this week, with stellar performances from Shirobako, Death Parade, and even Rolling Girls, but some real stinkers from Parasyte, Yatterman Night, and others. Honestly not a strong week overall – several of the more reliable shows really dropped the ball, and there’s only so much Shirobako can do to save the entire week by itself. Come on, anime. I know you’ve come to lean on Shirobako, but you gotta at least put out an effort. Shirobako’s not gonna be here to save you forever.

Alright, that’s enough talking about Shirobako, let’s talk about Shirobako. RUNNING ‘EM DOWN!

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The Eccentric Family – Review

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I got to take another crack at Eccentric Family! Which is good, because I never felt all that happy with my original essay on the show. This one doesn’t go as deep into the show’s central themes, since you can’t really focus entirely on that within a standard review structure, but it also doesn’t just retell the entire damn story. I hopefully was able to articulate the key reasons the show is so great this time, and man, is the show ever great. Plenty to talk about!

My full review is available over on ANN. I don’t have a full rewatch’s worth of notes this time, since this was actually my fourth watch of the show, and thus after the first couple episodes I didn’t really feel it was necessary. But I do have classic timestamp writeups for the entire show, along with new notes for the first couple episodes below. Enjoy!

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Log Horizon II – Episode 21

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Well, the kids’ arc ended, and with it Log Horizon’s recent insane hot streak. This was a cooldown episode, full of little end-tyings and new beginnings and small character moments. It was fine enough at that, though it is always a little sad when Log Horizon gears down out of one of its peaks. If only all the episodes were that good!

It’s also a shame to think we won’t get another arc like that for literally years, given that Log Horizon has more or less run out of source material, but there’s still plenty of story to tell, and we’ve still got a few episodes left regardless. Gotta stay positive.

My full ANN post is available here. Notes below!

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Rolling Girls – Episode 8

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Definitely one of the better episodes of Rolling Girls this week, sold almost entirely on the strength of that last, fantastic sequence. The rest of the episode actually kinda dragged and repeated itself at times, but the resolution to Chiyo’s conflict was graceful enough, and we’re still getting endearing offhand jokes from the Rolling Girls here and there. The show’s doing okay.

My full ANN post is here. Notes below!

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Parasyte – Episode 20

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Yeah, I’m running out of steam. Blame Shirobako for demonstrating that good two-cours can feel just as energetic at episode 20 as at episode one. Or blame Parasyte, because it actually is Parasyte’s fault – the show dragged, the show somewhat recovered, and now the show’s just indulging in an arc with absolutely no coherent plotting at all. The police plan was dumb, the way too on-the-nose theme declarations are dumb… man, this all makes me pretty sad. Parasyte was a good show.

Here’s my full ANN post. Head-shaking notes below.

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Winter 2015 – Week 7 in Review

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Shirobako ruled the roost this week, with a standout episode that pulled all of the show’s ideas about finding your purpose together into one lovely, melancholy time capsule. The other shows were pretty cool too, but man, that Shirobako. That Shirobako.

Yeah, let’s just start right there. Running them down!

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Yuri Kuma Arashi – Episode 8

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It’s bear o’clock once again! Kureha seems to have finally remembered her old friend, but most fairy-tale friends don’t sit there and watch as your lover is murdered, so I dunno how well this will turn out for anyone. I’m currently suffering through some hellish stomach virus, so this week’s post might be a little more brief than most, but I can’t let sickness keep me from what I do best!

-cough-

-cough-

-dies-

Alright, yeah, this sucks. My body is a festival of pain. FIGHTIN’ THROUGH IT.

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Log Horizon Collection Two – Review

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There’s always time for more Log Horizon! That said, I think I might be ready to take a slight break from Log Horizon. Pretty happy with this review, though – I think I covered the compelling stuff more gracefully than I did in the first one, and even got in a bit about Log Horizon’s politics. Having just rewatched all of season one, I think can solidly confirm that season two has just been a step up for the series – the original had highlights, but it also had plenty of slow stretches, and Log Horizon 2 has been stellar for a long time now. But who knows – we’re still in 2’s hot streak, so I might just be misremembering how interminable the Akatsuki arc in the first half was.

Anyway. My full review is available here. Notes below!

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