The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Episode 7

Well, this sure is a show that I am watching. Roughly twenty minutes of it, once you remove the opening and ending songs. It helps that one minute of that running time is situated before the opening, which gives me a little sense of momentum at the opening. And I can generally make it a good six or seven minutes in before I begin checking the time remaining.

In this week’s Nagato Yuki-chan, the characters got on a train and then looked at some souvenirs. In next week’s episode, I suspect they will take a bath. Stay tuned.

Here is my very sad episode review. Sad notes are below.

Continue reading

Spring 2015 – Week 4 in Review

It was do or die time this week, and two shows ended up on the chopping block – both Plastic Memories and Punch Line won’t be joining us for the rest of the season. Punch Line was always a stretch, but I’m pretty sad to see Plastic Memories go. Fortunately, those drops are really just reflective of what I already knew about this season – the top tier is fantastic, everything else is kinda crap. BBB, Oregairu, Sound! Euphonium, and Ore Monogatari!! remain excellent, Unlimited Blade Works and JoJo are still perfectly entertaining, and Nagato Yuki is… well, Nagato Yuki. Keep doing your thing, Nagato.

Continue reading

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Episode 4

Haruhi continued her invasion of Nagato’s show this week, almost accidentally stealing Kyon as Nagato derped about working on Valentine’s Day chocolate. I didn’t feel like this heightened drama was a great fit for this show, and said as much in the review, but it certainly is an interesting experience to see the assumptions of one show acting as the “villain” in another one. Still, I think cute scenes with Kyon and Nagato are basically this show at its best. We’ll see how this wacky misunderstanding plays out next time.

My full ANN review is available here. Notes below!

Continue reading

Spring 2015 – Week 3 in Review

So I know this is supposed to be the bad season that follows winter’s shocking bounty, but it turns out this season is actually really good. It’s not exactly a deep bench, and Plastic Memories is so far turning out to be a disappointment, but Blood Blockade Battlefront, Oregairu, and Sound! Euphonium are all top tier shows, Ore Monogatari!! isn’t far behind, and even the rear of the pack is relatively entertaining. I normally only expect one or two truly great shows in a season, so even if nothing else rises in my standings (and honestly, there’s not much that could, outside of maybe a surprise turn by Punch Line), this is still solidly above par. Who would have thought that a season with a sequel to one of my all-time favorites, a show directed by one of my favorite directors, and a new low-key drama by KyoAni might actually be pretty okay?

Yeah, I guess I should probably have seen this possibility. Well, for once, I’m very happy to be proven wrong. Let’s run ’em down!

Continue reading

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan – Episodes 1-3

And my second episode writeup of the season is up! This one’s a little less intense, because, well, Nagato Yuki-chan is a pretty derp show. Silly faces and eating turkey and hoping Haruhi doesn’t completely overwhelm everything. Kyon and Haruhi are already falling back into their old relationship pattern, so I guess it’s time for Nagato to fight back, but I can’t see current Nagato doing much but mope and accept things if Haruhi ends up Stealing Her Man. I’d honestly really prefer more cute near-relationship scenes than an overt drama triangle, but I guess we’ll see.

My full writeup is available here. Notes (such as they are for a show like Nagato Yuki-chan) below!

Continue reading

Spring 2015 – Week 2 in Review

Well, I’m exhausted. Preview week’s done, my new media and identity essay is out, and I just want to lie down somewhere for a very long time. But anime marches inexorably on, and so it’s time once again for the week in review. This’ll just cover episodes that weren’t already covered in my retrospective – I’ll be continuing Punch Line conditionally and MY Love STORY!! definitely, but their first episodes only arrived within the last week. Other than that, my lineup seems pretty set for the time being. Let’s run ’em down!

Continue reading

Spring 2015 – Virtually Every First Episode Retrospective

It’s time at last. Time to run down all the highlights and lowlights, time to reflect on what was and what’s yet to come, time to talk about way too many god damn anime. As expected, this season’s new crop isn’t really able to measure up to the departing set – but when we’re losing Shirobako, Death Parade, Yurikuma, and Maria all at the same time, that’s probably to be expected. There are still new gems to enjoy, and new could-be heroes to watch with shining eyes as they rise only to incinerate in a cloud of their own wasted potential. The season’s beginning is always a fraught time, but don’t worry, I’ve got quick blurbs and links to all my friggin’ ANN reviews to guide you through it. Shows run from most loved to most reviled, with general categories of watchability marking each group as it arrives. And incidentally, the three I’ll be covering for ANN this season are going to be: SNAFU, Sound! Euphonium, and Nagato Yuki-chan. Alright, enough preamble, LET’S RUN DOWN SOME ANIME.

Continue reading

Spring 2015 Season Preview

It’s that time once again! With three weeks of the winter season to go, it’s time for me to start feeling existential dread at the thought of one more preview guide, and time for you all to get some uselessly vague predictions about how this whole spring season’s gonna go down. As per the usual, I’ll just be covering stuff that actually looks interesting to me – if you want the full list, head on over to anichart to check it out. Normally, this is a time of celebration – it’s the end of winter doldrums, and spring is generally a pretty stacked lineup. But between Shirobako and a few intrepid newbies, this winter season has actually been perfectly respectable, so let’s try and approach the upcoming shows with a bit less desperate of a look in our eyes. It’s just another anime season, you guys. No need to get excited.

Continue reading