Texhnolyze’s third episode is, well, another episode of Texhnolyze. Things are moving, but slowly, as ever. The boxer awakes and finds he is in the process of being reborn, while Kazuho rides the train into the city and makes a request of his companion. Angry factions swirl around the Organo, while the scientist seems bored of her everyday miracles. Things are slowly coming into focus.
Tag Archives: Anime
The Heroic Spirit of My Hero Academia
Time for a new essay! This one focuses specifically on My Hero Academia, but is more generally about a spirit of optimism in fiction that I find really compelling and valuable. It was frankly kinda tough cutting down all the various topics I wanted to cover into one editorial-sized piece (I could easily write another entire article about the ambiguous ways idols interact with this concept), but I’m pretty happy with the result. I hope you enjoy the piece, and wish you luck finding some spirit of heroism in your own life!
The Heroic Spirit of My Hero Academia
Spring 2016 – Week 7 in Review
Our strong spring season continued to chug merrily along this week, offering a few new highlights and a clunker or two, as you might expect. My weekly list has been paired down to the point where even the disappointing episodes are only mediocre entries in fundamentally strong shows, which feels like a real luxury (I dropped Macross Delta, incidentally, which I realized I hadn’t really been impressed with for a good 4-5 episodes). And both Kiznaiver and The Lost Village actually seem to be improving as they go along, which I wouldn’t expect from such shaky and unpredictable productions. Top that off with the reliably competent My Hero Academia and the consistently stunning Concrete Revolutio, and you’ve got a season that never fails to at least entertain. Let’s RUN ‘EM DOWN!
Planetes – Episode 2
I mentioned in my last episode writeup that so far, Planetes was succeeding largely on premise and polish. On top of that, I also briefly talked about how both the show’s genre structure and its ending song somewhat gave away the fact that this was likely Hachimaki’s story, as he reignites the passion that sent him into space in the first place. This second episode reaffirmed all those points, and further underlined how important good storytelling fundamentals can be. On top of that, it was just a fine vignette that stared directly into the abyss of an unfulfilling professional life. For a show about spacemen in a glorious scifi future, Planetes is far more grounded than the vast majority of anime out there.
Flying Witch – Episode 6
Flying Witch had a bit of a dud episode this week, mainly because the second half’s big punchline moved swiftly from cute to irritating as the show drew it out. Flying Witch has generally been very good about not letting any given joke outstay its welcome, but this episode used a fairly weak concept as a load-bearing punchline, and the result was kind of disappointing. But hey, I’ve come to expect most anime comedies to have at least a few weak notes here and there. We can’t all be The Lost Village.
You can check out my episode review over at ANN, or my notes below.
Kiznaiver – Episode 6
Kiznaiver had one of its best episodes yet this week, an episode that was equally satisfying in dramatic and visual terms. Okay, that’s kind of a lie – Kiznaiver’s design and direction are just god dang phenomenal, and continue to elevate what would likely be a pretty mediocre show in other hands. It’s always great to find a show that gives me a new director to keep an eye on, and Kiznaiver definitely qualifies. But that aside, this was still a dramatically effective episode on its own terms, full of nice exchanges between the whole cast. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the show is finding its footing or anything, but it’s still got plenty of nice stuff to offer.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!
Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Episode 12
“Can you hear the bells / Can you hear the alarm / Can you give away your life, like a good luck charm?”
– The Vigilantes of Love
Madoka Magica’s final episode does not end in a climactic battle. Madoka “defeats” Walpurgisnacht, but their confrontation takes all of fifteen seconds, and has little to do with what this episode is about. Madoka opens this episode by telling Homura that she has found her wish, and is going to become a magical girl. Homura despairs at this, saying “if that’s true, what have I been fighting for?” And Madoka’s response to this is the essence of her wish, of the certainty that she wishes to bring to this world. “Believe in me,” she says. “I promise that what you’ve done for me will not be in vain.”
Spring 2016 – First Half in Review
The halfway point is here! I’m not the only one who feels like this has been a really fast season, right? I mean, it’s obviously going to feel like I’m running through anime faster if I’m enjoying it more, but it feels like Flying Witch and The Lost Village and My Hero Academia just got started a couple weeks ago, and suddenly here we are. As has at this point shifted from “it’s cute to say some silly blog thing is ‘traditional'” to “wow, this really is a tradition, I’ve been doing this crap for a substantial portion of my adult life,” I’ll be running down my current schedule from best to worst as your seasonal reminder that rankings don’t matter, we’re all going to die, the only truth is the abyss. I’ve got a lot of very fun and very different shows to get through, so let’s not waste any more time in preamble. From top to bottom, here are this spring’s very best cartoon contenders!
Garo, Part One – Review
Today I dipped back into one of the few shows I slept on in 2014, a show whose CG suits and slightly hair metal aesthetic initially put me off. As it turns out, Garo’s first episode wasn’t really indicative of the production overall; Garo is a confident and polished adventure serial, full of solid drama and compelling fight scenes. It’s a little too purely archetypal for me to say I was all that emotionally invested, but it’s certainly a well-told story, perfect for anyone starved for fantasy that falls outside of the usual light novel wheelhouse. A fine time all around!
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below.
Texhnolyze – Episode 2
Texhnolyze certainly doesn’t make it easy on you. The show’s pacing is almost unbelievably slow, its storytelling cryptic and uninviting. There’s virtually nothing you could describe as exposition here, and many events go beyond the unexplained and into the realm of the wholly symbolic. You get the impression the show is almost sneering at the idea of being engaged with; like the audience needs to earn its approval. And the overall experience is so stifling that it feels most evocative of The Flowers of Evil; not that the two have anything in common story-wise, but because they are both utterly dedicated mood pieces, and that mood is Oppressive.