Aaand here’s my next piece, covering both the first eight episodes and then the newest one separately. I picked this show up out of necessity, but it’s actually been quite enjoyable, and much smarter than you’d expect from an idol show. I legitimately recommend it to anyone looking for a show about the cynical side of the entertainment business, or a more meditatively paced slice of life in general.
My first posts over at Anime News Network have gone up, covering that venerable institution of anime, Sword Art Online. I’m actually starting off with two posts – one covering overall impressions of the first eight episodes, one specifically covering episode nine. I hope you enjoy them!
You may have already heard, but Anime News Network recently announced they’re going to be doing episodic posts on airing shows, and holy crap what is that name right there on the list. So yeah, I’ll be doing some writing for ANN! I’ll be covering Sword Art Online, Barakamon, and Shounen Hollywood (yes) every week, and my first posts will be going up this weekend. I’ll be starting with “season to date” posts covering episodes 1-8 of each, and then doing episodics from here on out. Very excited!
Pretty much the only thing this means for Wrong Every Time is that, sadly, I’m gonna be ending the weekly timestamp SAO posts. I’ll be linking my regular ANN posts here (meaning you guys will actually be getting more content overall), but they’re going to be in a format much closer to the one I used for Ping Pong – coherent full-episode reflections, similar to what ANN currently does for its preview guide. The Week in Review posts won’t be affected (outside of me primarily just linking the bigger posts on shows I’ve already written about, like I currently do), and essays and whatnot will all still be hosted here. I’ll still be rambling about the same old stuff, I’ll just sometimes be rambling on behalf of our friendly neighborhood overlords.
Anyway! I’m very excited to start being yelled at by vast new groups of people, and I hope you all enjoy the work. There’s a great crop of writers being highlighted here, some of whom I’m already good friends with, so I’d recommend giving the other writers a shot too and seeing if you like their styles. A new adventure begins!
Hey guys! I was on Deadlight’s podcast a little while back, where we talked about the summer shows in the context of “individual details versus the big picture,” a theme that was kind of sidetracked by Zankyou no Terror deciding to become all about those individual details in its most recent episode. I guess I’d characterize the tone of the podcast as “everyone else thinks everything sucks, I kind of enjoy everything.” You can find more info and timestamps for the various shows discussed over at Deadlight’s blog.
A low week in anime, my friends. Barakamon, Aldnoah, and Zankyou all had lesser episodes, meaning it was pretty much up to JoJo and Hunter x Hunter to keep things together. Fortunately, JoJo rallied magnificently, and Hunter x Hunter is just always friggin’ good, so I guess I can’t really complain. But damn, I really, really hope Zankyou keeps it together. Anyway, let’s get to the shows!
And we’re back! Last episode was kind of a breather/intermission piece, apparently matching the beginning of this arc’s second book, but hopefully this one will put us back in the action. I feel like the more the show dwells on slow Kirito drama scenes, the less it’ll hold together – the show’s production is solid, but its writing is still bad, meaning the more propulsive scenes are generally going to be the highlights. Which is a frustrating thing to admit, because Iwant this show to work on an emotional level, but I feel like that would require both better writing (though it has been improving!) and a legitimate acknowledgement of ALO’s existence. I dunno. Tough place to be, SAO, but you’ve dug yourself this hole. Let’s see you lightsaber your way out of it.
Incidentally, SAO posts are going to undergo a shift next week, as… well, you’ll see. So for this current series, I’d like to say it’s been a weird, weird pleasure to write these for all you guys. Like Kirito, I hope all of you continue to strive for the horizon… even if, unlike Kirito, you actually have to work for it.
And we’re back! It’s time for TERROR CHESS. I’m really hoping TERROR CHESS won’t dominate this episode, because it seems like a pretty silly idea, but I’m still excited to see where our various heroes end up. Okay, I lied, I’m mainly just excited to see what happens with Lisa and Shibazaki. Let’s go!
A pretty consistent set of episodes this week, although Sword Art Online’s doubling down on its “We’re at war with PTSD, we were always at war with PTSD” new history is resulting in some serious growing pains. But Barakamon and JoJo both had stellar episodes, and Zankyou and Hunter x Hunter continue to be the great shows they are, so I can’t really complain about friggin’ Kirito having inconsistent motivations. Let’s run them down!
And we’re back for more terror. Last episode introduced Nine and Twelve’s old childhood friend, who’s apparently now a weapon of the system that abandoned them. I’ll be interested in seeing what she brings to the story – so far, the show’s thriller elements have kind of just been a vehicle for its atmosphere and societal grievances, but I could definitely see Five’s appearance pushing the show in a more plot-focused direction. But who knows! I’ll let the show speak for itself. Let’s get to it!
It’s time again for the most sword art show of the season! I’ve got kind of awkwardly mixed feelings about this season, as I talked about in my season-so-far post – it’s not actually good good, but it’s definitely a more complex animal than the first season. The issue is that everything this season is trying to do is kind of undercut by the presence of the previous season – Kirito’s current character development has come completely out of nowhere, and pretty much contradicts whole piles of his previous behavior. I just can’t see the Kirito who’s falling to pieces over the memories of people he’s killed as the same Kirito who cackled as he turned last arc’s villain into a blood pinata.
And yet, in spite of that, this stuff actually is kind of working for me. Not in an emotional sense, but at least in a thematic one – the idea they’re exploring here (the validity of digital worlds as lived experiences, and the consequences of that) is interesting, and they’re approaching it from an interesting angle. I highly doubt the show will ultimately earn forgiveness for its previous problems, but it seems I’m more or less already able to forget the first season even happened. Hurray for selective memory, I guess?
I dunno. It’s weird. Make your choice, SAO – be good or be funny. This current combination is tearing me apart, Lisa.