Well here we are again, fuckers. First episode really did it, huh? Great visual aesthetic, tons of fun tricks of direction, stupidly fast-paced, unabashedly in love with its ridiculous self. Everything promised was delivered – the aesthetic, the intensity, the extremely ridiculous-looking uniform. As I said last week, this show basically outraces my method of breakdown, so the format might have to bend a bit to accomodate. Stay tuned.
Fall 2013 – Week 1 in Review
Dear lord. Alright, let’s… let’s try to do this.
Kyoukai no Kanata – Episode 2
Oh man. Get hyped. Loved the first episode – it was as gorgeous as always, rife with KyoAni’s trademark animation (applied both to small character gestures and actual action sequences) and once again making use of a blooming, nostalgic purple-pink color scheme. But there was actually a lot else there, too. We’ve got self-aware banter lightly poking at storytelling in general (a clear weakness of mine). We’ve got those very distinct shots of Mitsuki trying to use her sexuality against Akihito, both echoing Monogatari in framing style and gracefully establishing some relationship dynamics. We’ve the well-integrated exposition, sandwiched in jokes and patter, establishing a world without dictating that world to the audience. We have that interesting world itself, leaning towards dark fantasy but focused on character drama. We’ve got all those great horror-movie shots, setting this show in a tonal place very distinct from KyoAni’s general aesthetic. And of course we’ve still got derpy moe, for better or for worse – though Mirai has seemed more just inept than truly blobbish so far, which is definitely a good sign.
And there’s the timer. Alright, I’m excited. Let’s do this.
Monogatari S2 – Episode 14
Alright, time for another pretty, piercing episode of Monogatari. This arc has certainly not been a light-hearted one – pretty much the entire running time has been split between Nadeko being told off for acting passive and playing the victim and Nadeko secretly agreeing with her snake-shaped other self’s assessment of everyone else being the problem. As always, the apparition is just an unwanted, unacknowledged, or unaddressable part of your true self, and I’m really interested in seeing how they resolve this. Outside of Nadeko’s passivity, what is there to her? Well, the resentment towards others and possible underlying guilt, represented through the snake. Her childlike obsession with Araragi, who’s probably only appealing as a caretaker anyway. Her adolescent need to belong, and equally adolescent faux-sophisticated love of retro media. When you make her address her false self, who’s she even going to be?
Let’s get to it.
Uchouten Kazoku and the Meaning of Life
Management: Reviews are inherently an act of attempting to paint the personal as the universal, but this piece in particular is overtly meant to share my personal experience of this show. I hope you enjoy it.
“Coming of age stories” generally have a very specific connotation, particularly when it comes to anime. They tend to focus on adolescence – on the discarding of our youthful conceptions of self, and the beginning stages of establishing a true mature identity. But the reality is life is not nearly that simple. You do not simply discover yourself at some arbitrary point in your teen years, and from then on no longer feel existential dread about self or purpose. You don’t wake up one morning and suddenly realize it’s time to Do Your Best for the rest of forever, and somehow find yourself continuously fulfilled by that one measly resolution.
Uchouten Kazoku understands this. It understands life and self-actualization are never so convenient as most stories’ linear narratives would like to pretend. It understands that living is not a coherent progression – living is what you’re already doing while you try and make sense of it all. And Uchouten Kazoku embraces this; the small lessons, warm friendships, and tiny moments that seem may inconsequential from an outside perspective, but that make up life itself, and when fully embraced, fully lived in, can swell to be heart-seizing moments on a monumental scale.
Uchouten Kazoku is likely the best anime of the year.
Nagi no Asukara – Episode 1
Doin’ a test writeup here. Not the biggest Okada fan, but Kill la Kill may prove to be too fun to watch for me to want to write up, and I’ve gotta waste my time overanalyzing something. So let’s see.
Gatchaman Crowds and the Death of Gods
Dramatic title, eh? But for this show it’s surprisingly appropriate. Gatchaman Crowds is the most ambitious show of the summer, and quite possibly the most ambitious show of the year. But does it succeed in its ambitions? Well, if I tell you that right now, why would you read the rest of this?
I’m just kidding it succeeds this show is sweet let’s talk about it anyway.
Kill la Kill – Episode 1
This season has apparently been designed specifically to torture me, considering the release times of this and Kyoukai no Kanata. But that’s cool. Wait’s over. The Gainax Second Wave’s long-awaited full-length creation is upon us. Let’s have some stupid, glorious fun.
Kyoukai no Kanata – Episode 1
I am seriously steaming in anticipation here, and I’ve had to wait six freaking hours to get off work and watch this, but let’s just take the briefest of moments to cover what we’ve got here.
Summer 2013 – Week 13 in Review
And so the summer ends. I really couldn’t be more burnt out on talking about anime, considering I just finished three 8+ page essays on TWGOK, Uchouten Kazoku, and Gatchaman Crowds, but I’ll at least wave my hand in the direction of final impressions.