So yeah, last episode the Gatchamen abandoned their creator in favor of starting up a sweet Youtube channel. Don’t bother asking me what they’re gonna do this week.
C3-bu – Episode 11
Yura we still love you don’t go towards the light.
Man, growing up can really, really suck. Kinda funny to me that the season with Watamote secretly also contains an actually vivid, empathetic, and development-friendly articulation of crippling social anxiety. Hopefully C3 will get their heads out of their asses and sacrifice a little bit for her sake – they’re all very stable people, and Yura needs to know it’s okay to figure out who she is. Man, I feel for this poor kid. Didn’t think moesoft would ever amount to much, but it’s really built itself into something worthwhile. Let’s see where it goes.
please be nice to Yura C3-bu life is hard let’s just be nice to each other
C3-bu – Episode 10
Well this show just got like fifty thousand times better. Still catching up, and episode 11 actually just came out, so I ain’t got time for chit-chat. All I know is that Yura is through with the petty joys and insufficient power of the C3 club. She is stronger now, wiser, hungrier. The fire is in her, and it will not be sated with tea and cakes. Now there shall be a reckoning.
Oh my god so good. Every moe show should end this way. This is amazing. Roll the episode!
C3-bu – Episode 9
Alright, catching up on moesoft. Actually, that’s not fair – C3-bu is far more of a sports show than a blob show, and the work they’re doing with Yura is definitely pretty solid. But anyway, two episodes behind at this point, so no time for chitchat. Show us the dark side, Yura.
Summer 2013 – Week 10 in Review
Another fantastic week in anime, but when the current season has a bewildering buffet on the scale of three good shows, that tends to happen. All three of my favorites were in top form this week, so let’s run down the list.
Free! – Episode 10
Ooooh god. Food coma. Hurts. Too much kebab, too many greasy fries. And here I am, about to watch lithe young swimmers show off their somewhat terrifyingly toned bodies, while I sit here drinking a beer and just get fat.
No, fuck that. I have a great self-image! Just had my annual physical, exactly the same weight as last year, exercise regularly and don’t overeat and everything. In fact, I’d say that pretty much my only vice is my borderline alcoholism. I know. I’m impressed too.
So fuck you, swimbros. I don’t gotta prove nothin’ to you. I’m gonna sit here and drink (one for glasses-push or smarmy Makoto stare, two for HaruxWater moments, three for emo Rin) and feel perfectly good about myself. In fact, everybody feel good about yourselves! Only good times now! We are watching the fruit of an entire company’s worth of people working diligently for months, all in pursuit of animating some teenage boys prancing around half-naked for twenty minutes a week. Fuck feeling bad about my decisions. I don’t feel ashamed for shit.
Wait, I’m actually watching those teenage boys, just so I can make silly jokes about them for strangers on the internet.
Oh god.
Oh god what am I doing with my life.
Fuck it cue the episode.
Brief Aside on the Beauty of Uchouten Kazoku
Management: So yeah, I’m pretty much just evangelizing at this point. I was asked why I found the visuals of Uchouten so striking, and basically compiled a collection of many of my favorite moments. Of course, every other shot of this show is beautiful, so this isn’t even close to exhaustive. As usual, my responses were to real questions, but I’ve shortened the questions to their most basic form to keep it as general as possible.
Question:
Can you explain why you find the visuals of Uchouten Kazoku so beautiful? I agree that there are a number of standout moments, but it often feels like the backgrounds are just photographs someone put through a posterizing filter, which can clash with the hand-drawn characters. What do you get out of them?
The World God Only Knows S3 – Episode 10
Keima how are you going to make this okay. Last episode sucked. And by sucked I mean it was clearly the best thing this series has ever done, holy shit TWGOK when did you get this good. Keima is finally suffering real consequences from constantly manipulating people, and the show’s not pulling any punches. I’m glad they’re also revealing how tired of all this he’s become – he isn’t just an asshole, and the fact that his standard system of dealing with the world has deeply hurt someone clearly weighs on him. I hope they don’t give that weariness up – frankly, I like shows that put their characters through the emotional gauntlet, and I’d like to see more cracks appear in Keima’s heretofore close to unflappable confidence. This is honestly the last show I thought I’d be hoping would take its characters emotions seriously, but last episode was a complete game-changer.
Of course now that I’ve said that, we’re gonna have a wacky misunderstanding festival date episode or something, right?
Episode 10
0:12 – Uh oh.[1] Looks like he’ll have to use… that
Gawd that line’s so trashy. Can’t believe they used it in Gargantia
0:19 – Yeah I’m still good for another few of these[2]
0:32 – Predator mode activated[3]
2:38 – Will Keima’s talents ever stop emerging?[4]
3:04 – And we’re back into anime archetype land[5] . Sure, he callously mocked my best friend’s feelings – but he might like me!
3:31 – MAKE IT STOP NO GO BACK TO ANIME ARCHETYPE LAND[6]
3:42 – This director really loves Ayumi’s boobs[7]
3:49 – Seriously though these shots[8]
5:17 – Oh god Chihiro’s scenes are like pulling teeth make it stop[9]
6:10 – Maybe if you hadn’t shut her down in the dickest way possible this wouldn’t be a problem[10]
7:08 – This isn’t wacky at all[11]
7:34 – NOW he chooses honesty? Yeah, seriously[12]
7:53 – I really could get used to this.[13] Also love Keima’s incredibly terrible plan here
9:12 – Yeah jeez,[14] how dare she be honest with Chihiro
10:09 – Still not seeing the wackiness[15]
10:34 – Well crap.[16] This escalated quickly
11:17 – Aw, Haqua gets her big damn hero moment[17]
15:03 – It’s a self-aware harem comedy romance battle shounen[18]
16:26 – Maybe my favorite line of the show.[19] Look, we’re not making Shakespeare here, alright?
17:23 – Wow, this really brings[20] the harem masculine savior fantasy thing to a whole new level
18:09 – A third-act peace offering from the loose cannon who doesn’t play by the rules?[21] Hey, if the narrative shoe fits, wear it
19:27 – Ooh, good trick.[22] Totally forgot about that
20:16 – Aw, just let her join the damn team.[23] This show’s a big jerk
And Done
Welp, guess it’s endgame time. I’m glad they haven’t just dropped the significance of Chihiro’s situation – this episode certainly wasn’t very kind, but that’s vastly preferable to just dropping her character to focus on the derpy fantasy stuff (I agree with Ayumi, it could use a rewrite). As I’ve said before, her and Keima seem to possess actual chemistry, and not just senpai-noticed-me archetype-versus-MC level chemistry. I would be happy to see her be a more regular presence going forward.
Anyway, aside from that it was a pretty workmanly episode, mainly lifted by its best gags (Elsie once again works incredibly well in small doses). Looks like we’re well on our way to the thrilling finale.
Uchouten Kazoku – Episode 10
Oh hey. It’s the most wonderful time of the week again.
Last week was beautiful as always, but it was also as close to this show comes to a board-arranging episode. By having the episode’s chosen character (as I’ve said before, the second half of this show has built its narrative structures around further illustrating one relevant character at a time) be the constant observer, the episode was able to give us a fairly broad overview of the different plots up to this point. The election is in two days, and the New Year’s Bash will swiftly follow. So was rendered powerless by the mere appearance of Benten, which might explain his being captured more than the liquor would. The Ebisugawas have at least one more trick up their sleeve, and it’s clearly a nasty one. We have yet to see the last two members of the Friday Fellows, and it’s likely Benten chose to introduce Yasaburou on the night she did specifically because they would be absent.
Even if I didn’t have absolute faith these threads would be successfully tied together based on the show so far, this is by the writer of The Goddamn Tatami Galaxy. Let’s see where we’re headed.
Monogatari S2 – Episode 10
So do we get to see adult Mayoi now? That’s clearly what they’ve been baiting, but knowing Isin, the answer is no because fuck you. Not that I’d be moved much either way – frankly, last episode was so good it’s already justified whatever other nonsense this arc pulls together, and we haven’t even gotten to the full thematic point yet. Good times ahead!
Incidentally, I missed last week’s episode because busy, but I’ve caught up and put together a writeup for that one as well. You can find that here.
Episode 10
1:27 – Have to admit, Mayoi as a zombie hunter is pretty badass. And Araragi knows it – nice series of ‘holy shit, that’s Mayoi?’ shots there
1:59 – Shinobu, if you haven’t realized by now that this universe runs according to the rules of narrative convenience…
3:15 – Nice. They are playing with shadows a lot in this arc. Clues, clues…
3:53 – Well, there’s a clarification. We are indeed in a many-timeline universe
4:26 – Isin has trouble keep a straight face in pretty much all his stories. Nice name, Shinobu
4:43 – I always love these interpretive sequences. And I guess this makes two stories in a row where the antagonist is an unwanted version of a character’s self
5:22 – Also great. Also, Oshino’s line about the impossible hope of his mission kind of resonates with Shinobu’s line from last week about maintaining optimism and pushing forward just to avoid stasis. Which in turn works with the red light/green light thing, and the futility of dwelling on (or attempting to change) the past
5:32 – When have Araragi’s powers EVER been relevant to his missions? Outside of Hanekawa’s issues, he mainly just gets beat up while talking the enemy to death
5:49 – As if Araragi could resist that
6:56 – I love her replacement badass survival backpack. Also, all this work to save her and she’s still alone
8:35 – New palette! And what a lovely color scheme it is
9:15 – Even this world is beautiful now that Araragi knows that somewhere, Hachikuji survived
10:29 – Not quite sure what all to make of this conversation. Nice view, though
12:31 – They make for quite the silly pair
13:11 – I kind of jokingly referred to this as an Araragi/Shinobu buddy cop arc early on, but… yeah, that’s pretty much exactly where they’ve gone with it. Fun bonding time in alternate universe zombie apocalypses
13:22 – Well this is a new one
14:11 – Isin finds outer demons significantly less interesting than inner ones
Okay, that was hammy, even for me
15:02 – They are getting so much visual mileage out of this shrine
17:27 – This Shinobu required the same thing our Araragi did – to know that there is still hope somewhere.
20:00 – One more shadow for good measure. Right, shadows have always been relevant
23:01 – Alright, moral of the story time
23:15 – And two…
23:35 – …and three
24:05 – Jeez Araragi, leaving a little explaining for the rest of us, would you?
And Done
Route down! That was pretty solid – I enjoyed the second half significantly more than the first, but that’s mainly because I find Shinbo’s gorgeous cinematography far more satisfying than Isin’s campy humor. I liked how it was primarily a Shinobu story, and that Hachikuji’s own theme was kind of just sewn in along the edges – Hachikuji’s general theme of “you must go forward, come what may, because going forward is its own reward and what makes you happy will often come as a surprise” basically bookended the series, whereas Shinobu’s far more classically Monogatari story (accepting all elements of yourself, a very close parallel to Hanekawa and Tsukihi’s stories) basically took over in the parallel world. I really like how Isin tied the two resolutions together – the parallel of Araragi’s satisfaction at seeing a world where Mayoi had a chance to be alive and happy with alternate-Shinobu’s (no, I will not type out her ridiculous name) combined happiness and grief at her own better self is pretty satisfying stuff. Not just elegant, but also emotionally effective – Araragi introducing that concept helps on the emotional sell of Shinobu’s climax.
Overall, I don’t think this arc was as strong as the first (which isn’t really a fair comparison, since I think that arc is the best thing Monogatari’s done yet), but it was still some solid Monogatari. Bring on the next one!