Things are still settling to some extent here in the fourth week, largely due to the fact that a full third of my current watch group consists of comedies. Comedies are tricky, and comedies are inconsistent, and comedies have much less of a tendency to settle into a reliable groove than most genres. So while Rakugo and ERASED continue to be excellent week after week, this time Konosuba was pretty terrible, while Dagashi Kashi was actually consistently funny. Other than that, I’m beginning to lose patience with Dimension W – the show is reasonably watchable, but absolutely nothing beyond that, possessing virtually no personality and being more interesting as a demographic artifact than an actual piece of media. Grimgar, on the other hand, is all personality, personality to a fault, and that actually makes it my third-favorite show at the moment. All that and more in this week’s Week in Review! Let’s RUN ‘EM DOWN!
Tag Archives: Anime
Hyouka – Episode 14
Hyouka’s fourteenth episode opens with a set of slow, silent establishing shots, evoking all the hushed solemnity of a funeral. The first line tells us the reason for this framing, as Mayaka’s “I couldn’t find it” is contrasted against the disappointed faces of her underclassmen. Blinding morning light from outside casts the manga society in unnaturally gloomy shadows, and Mayaka’s face is deliberately hidden for two shots before she becomes visible only when she prostrates herself before her classmate. Close, shakey-cam, bokeh-heavy shots of the victorious party are followed by a transition to Kouchi’s feet, sticking us directly in Mayaka’s position. But surprisingly, Kouchi doesn’t rub her victory in Mayaka’s face. Instead, she simply drops the issue, telling Mayaka to get started on the posters with an “is that all?” tone. And then Mayaka realizes her supposed enemy remembered the manga title.
Dagashi Kashi – Episode 4
Dagashi Kashi really surprised me this week. I’d expected the show to be no more than reasonably pleasant from start to finish, with some occasionally effective jokes – but this episode was actually funny, featuring confidently constructed half-episode conceits with strong fundamental ideas and consistently inventive comic flourishes. The second half’s silly race in particular was one of the better-executed comic sequences I’ve seen a while now, offering both many incidental gags and a strong fundamental absurdity that the show wisely avoided actually pointing out. Having Kokonotsu actually be willing to play along with Hotaru’s schemes pretty much instantly improved this show, and I hope they maintain a real friendship going forward.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below!
Eureka Seven – Episode 1
When I initially opened the Current Projects, er, project, one of my biggest concerns was that everyone having their own favorite shows would mean I’d end up watching a whole bunch of solitary first episodes, which as a general rule don’t tend to give you a solid impression of a series. I’ve largely avoided this issue so far by skipping between the most consistently funded show and smaller self-contained projects, but with Hyouka support slowing down a little, I’ve decided it’s time to skip around a bit and charge at some of those first episodes head-on. So how does Eureka Seven pan out?
Active Raid – Episode 4
Very little to report for this episode of Active Raid, unfortunately. The show itself is in a holding pattern of sorts (aw yeah, dunking on the episode by making use of its title, classic critic trick), slowly elaborating obvious relationship beats and generally just idling until its main narrative can actually start. Active Raid’s episodic stories are just not interesting, and that becomes a real problem when any given episode fails to entertain in other ways. Hopefully the characters actually learn to work together soon, because their bickering is not particularly engaging, but they’d probably work pretty well as friends. Or failing that, just give Asami and Rin the spotlight again – they’re way more interesting than this episode’s leads.
You can check out my full review over at ANN, or my notes below.
ERASED – Episode 4
ERASED remained relatively consistent this week, offering way too many cute moments with Hinazuki just in time to drop the hammer. I knew it was coming, but man, that birthday party was just a step too far. He gave her fuzzy mittens, ERASED. HE GAVE HER FUZZY MITTENS.
The rest of this episode was more dedicated to articulating the weaknesses of Satoru’s position, which I certainly appreciated. Though the show can get over-the-top in its overt dramatic peaks, the ways it’s reflecting on Satoru’s issues are actually quite subtle, and come through more in the overall context of the story than any overt lines. It’s a good place to be.
You can check out my full writeup over at ANN, or my notes below!
Hyouka – Episode 13
The festival is in full swing now, and each member of the Classics Club have their own giants to slay. With Chitanda on site procurement, Satoshi on promotion, Oreki on sales, and Mayaka dealing with her own manga club troubles, episode thirteen bounces back and forth across characters, portraying the individual dramas of each member across the course of the festival’s entire first day. But that doesn’t mean I have to bounce around. The episode’s structure is intelligent; by shifting continuously between characters, it keeps tension high, builds meta-narratives across multiple individual conflicts, and even results in cute scene transitions like Satoshi’s thoughts about Oreki leading to Oreki being up to no good. But I’m going to disregard all of that effort and take this character by character, starting right where the episode does, at Satoshi’s much-anticipated quiz competition.
Winter 2016 – Week 3 in Review
The season’s shows are still jostling at this point, jockeying for position and demonstrating which of their early strengths they can maintain and as-of-yet not quite imploding. Rakugo Shinju and ERASED are the easy top contenders, but beyond that, it’s a mixed field of shows that are either imbalanced, lacking in ambition, or somewhat inconsistent, but all still more or less worth watching. It’s probably not the generally strongest member of this pack, but Grimgar is actually the one I have the highest hopes for. The show’s weaknesses are loud and frustrating and obvious, but its strengths are very unique, and that appeals to me more than something like Dimension W’s straightforward but somewhat flavorless polish. But the overall crop still makes this easily the best season since last spring, so I’d say this is a good place to be. Let’s RUN ‘EM DOWN!
Dagashi Kashi – Episode 3
Dagashi Kashi’s third episode came and went with little fanfare or incident. This episode is very watchable, but that’s about it – the jokes aren’t generally that funny, and the structure’s a little samey. That said, I was very happy to see this episode’s second half actually start to make Hotaru feel like a real person. Shows about wacky comic instigators I could take or leave, but shows about awkward kids who inherently lead to funny situations through their weird passions? Yeah, that I can deal with. Hopefully this wasn’t just a one-off thing.
You can check out my full episode review over at ANN, or my notes below.
Hyouka – Episode 12
Well, it’s finally arrived. Hyouka’s first arc was in truth about Chitanda’s uncle, but its impetus was the creation of a club magazine for the cultural festival. The second movie arc took place over summer vacation, and concerned getting a different club’s project ready for the festival. And now, at the beginning of Hyouka’s second half, the stage is finally set for the show’s third and most ambitious arc, the festival itself.