Tag Archives: Anime

Active Raid – Episode 10

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Active Raid had a uniquely disappointing episode this week, and that was pretty much the only unique thing about it. This was basically the platonic ideal of “phoning it in” – there was no personality or creativity in any element of this episode’s construction, it was just one hundred percent an episode designed to get the characters from one narrative point to a different one. I’m a character person, so I don’t generally watch the kinds of shows that traffic in nothing plot beats like this, so I guess that at least made it a somewhat novel experience for me? Crap episode, though. Real bad.

You can check my full thoughts on The Nothing over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Terror in Resonance – Review

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Time for another review! This time I got a chance to revisit one of my favorite shows from 2014, and actually found it even more enjoyable in retrospect. Knowing from the start that the thriller stuff would be kind of silly made it easier to focus on the show’s actual strengths; its plot is functional and sometimes over-the-top, but that doesn’t really take away from the show’s strong ideas or gorgeous execution. The show feels filmic in a way only KyoAni shows tend to match, and it’s kind of astonishing how gracefully the show’s ideas are illustrated, considering this is the same show that also features friggin’ airport chess. Its weaknesses ultimately feel almost inconsequential to me; it’d be nice if this show were actually perfect, but it’s still really damn good.

You can check out my review over at ANN, or my episode notes below!

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Winter 2016 – Week 9 in Review

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Anime stayed pretty respectable this week, offering up reasonable episodes all around. It seems like Rakugo’s going to the only show I can call truly great by the end of this season, though. ERASED just has too many moments where its thriller mechanics drag down its more compelling variables, and though Grimgar is quite interesting and unique, it’s also a very uneven production. The season’s second tier is also somewhat questionable; Konosuba and Dagashi Kashi both regularly gesture towards jokes that don’t work in the slightest, and Active Raid is pretty much just an average crime procedural. The season has managed to hold together to the point where I’m not actively disappointed, but I’m still very ready for the much richer spring season to begin.

That said, at least Rakugo continues to knock it out of the park every week. So let’s start right there as we run ’em down!

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Rokka, Episodes 5-8 – Review

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The second collection of Rokka has come in, and fortunately, this set of episodes turned out to be far superior to the first. Having the first four episodes of your show be a boring feint in a genre you’re not particularly good at seems like a weird choice, but now that I’ve actually passed the early episode doldrums, it turns out Rokka is actually a perfectly entertaining mystery/action thing. Its character writing may not be great, but that doesn’t matter when all the characters are doing is tossing theories about traitors back and forth. And the cast is diverse enough in their motives and personalities to make this an engaging whodunit adventure. I’ve heard awkward things about the show’s final act, but this middle segment was plenty of fun.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below!

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Spring 2016 Season Preview

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Spring is upon us! Well, technically spring is still almost a month away, at least if we’re talking in anime terms, and when are we ever not talking in anime terms. But still! We’ve only got a few short weeks before the spring season arrives to assail me specifically with way too many shows to watch, and so that means it’s time once more for me to run down the stuff I’m actually excited about. As usual, I’m only going to bring up the shows that actually look interesting to me, and the reasons I specifically find them interesting – there are plenty of resources to give you synopses of the whole list, and besides, the preview guide means that I’ll have exhaustive commentary on even the dregs of the season when they actually arrive. But even limiting the list to shows I’m actively anticipating, we’ve still got a broad and respectable selection of hopefuls this time. There are manga favorites and returning champions and new challengers, a diverse menagerie to suit all anime palettes. So let’s start at the shows I’m most anticipating and run ‘em down!

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Hyouka – Episode 22

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And here we are, at the very last episode of Hyouka. It’s a tremendous episode, but I almost don’t want to write about it – after several months of cataloging all of this show’s beautiful twists and turns, I really don’t want it to be over. Rewatching this show has reaffirmed my opinion of it as Kyoto Animation’s crown jewel, a masterpiece of a production that’s about as good as any show can be. It’s understated and graceful and grand, a full-bodied production that marries intimate character work to some of the most consistently great framing and animation in any television anime ever. It’s a show worth holding close, an achievement I can only hope they’ll one day match again.

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Dagashi Kashi – Episode 8

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This week’s Dagashi Kashi was another episode of Dagashi Kashi. The first half here was actually one of the show’s most endearing segments, as the gang got together to hang out and tell ghost stories while a typhoon raged overhead. It was nice to see how the overall group dynamic has settled at this point, as all four of the friends seem very comfortable with each other, and all contribute something different to the group. Based on the show’s advertising, I’d expected Hotaru to be more of a comic device/unreachable love interest than just another slightly weird main character, but the show is much stronger for the choices it’s made. The second half here was weaker, but Dagashi Kashi is still a fine time.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!

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Hyouka – Episode 21

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As the heated feelings of the festival have cooled, Hyouka’s last pair of episodes have focused on Oreki and Chitanda almost at the expense of that arc’s starring pair. That hasn’t really been a problem; in fact, it’s more appropriate for the fall and winter season to prioritize those two, given theirs are the feelings that are actually moving close to real, honest expression. But a great deal of time has now passed in this world, and as Valentine’s Day and the end of their first high school year approach, it’s clearly time to revisit Mayaka and Satoshi’s tempestuous relationship. Mayaka has been very patient, but she can’t sit around waiting for Satoshi to grow up forever.

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Kaiba – Episode 1

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Eternal life is a pretty tempting concept, but in truth, any actual path there would probably turn out something like Kaiba. Even just in this first episode, a strange and compelling world feels fully established, complete with firm social strata and quirks of social engagement. In this world, minds and bodies can be separated, letting people truly try on someone else’s shoes, or even continuously switch bodies to live indefinitely. This doesn’t result in a golden age – it results in the rich buying bodies off the poor to maintain themselves, and many poor families being reduced to a collection of minds inhabiting one rickety shell. When one character’s brother has his mind forcibly removed by some flying creature, the remaining family members jokingly bicker over whether they should return him to his body or sell the frame for cash. It’s a dark world Kaiba is establishing, but it’s pretty much exactly the world the show’s conceit would create.

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ERASED – Episode 9

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Another fine episode of ERASED this week. This one was more plot-focused than the last (I know, gross), but it had plenty of individually strong scenes, and even some nice character moments with Mr. Yashiro. I don’t really know how I’m supposed to take those scenes, really – the show just doesn’t have enough characters for him to not be a reasonably likely choice to be the killer, and so it’s hard to fully engage with bonding scenes between him and Satoru. But awkward narrative mechanics aside, the scenes were well-constructed enough, so I guess I can’t really complain.

You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my episode notes below!

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