Tag Archives: Gatchaman Crowds

Gatchaman Crowds – Episode 11

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I don’t want to ramble, I want to see this show’s final thoughts! Loved that scene with 26 and Katze last episode – this stuff was alluded to earlier with the childhood pictures of Rui and Hajime, but the internet’s dark heart is aterrifying place, and Katze is stabbing right at the core of of it. But that’s a deflection, of course – as Katze continuously reminds us, he (and the internet itself) are not some malicious outsider, imprinting dark instincts on us – they are merely a reflection of our own maliciousness, of the way anonymity and freedom from consequences allow us to demonize and destroy each other. Hajime wields transparency as a force for good, as the prerequisite to honest communication that allows us to respect each other and accomplish great things as a community. Katze and the Neo-Hundred have chosen anonymity as their weapon, but as 26 demonstrates, when you’re relying on misdirection and anonymity to be your weapon, anonymity also has to be your shield. For him, when the screen is unplugged, he is left naked, defenseless.

Not sure where I’m going with all this. This show is stewing a whole pile of awesome ideas, and I’m basically just having great fun seeing how all the pieces fit. Let’s get a little bit more of the jigsaw.

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Summer 2013 – Week 11 in Review

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No Monogatari this week, so I only had two thirds of the great shows I normally do. That turned out to be fine, though, because the second-strings were in extremely good form.

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Gatchaman Crowds – Episode 10

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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.

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Summer 2013 – Week 10 in Review

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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.

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Summer 2013 – Week 9 in Review

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Fell behind on some shows this week, and haven’t had the time to catch up. I’ll update this with C3-bu and Monogatari whenever I get around to them. And hell, maybe I’ll even catch up on the handful of Titan episodes I’ve been too apathetic to watch.

Uchouten Kazoku 9: Best show yada yada beautiful art yada yada resonant themes yada yada incredibly naturalistic storytelling etc. As always, the grace of this show’s composition and dialogue fall well beyond my ability to articulate, so I guess I’ll just say that this week’s episode finally brought the scale of the show’s final conflicts into focus. The election of the Nise-emon and the Friday Fellows’ New Year’s bash are clearly going to be tied together in this final arc, most likely through whatever secret plan the Ebisugawas are plotting. Once again, Yasaburou proved himself the begrudging but undeniably best-qualified leader of the family, his easy nature making him the perfect diplomat when it came to the Fellows, the professor, and even Kaisei. I’m eager to see how Benten will figure into this conflict, but at this point I mainly just want this show to be finished so I can buy it and force everyone else I know to watch it. Why do I watch anime? Because every year we get a handful of shows worth talking about and maybe one or two of these.

Gatchaman Crowds 8: Quite an episode this week. After the tumultuous showdown of last week, they follow it up by… visiting a preschool. That kind of works, in a thematic way. Which is how most of the stuff in this show works – it often feels like Hajime is having a direct conversation with the audience more than she is with any of the characters around her. Her actions make much more sense given our fuller context, her smaller choices are often reflective of the show’s overarching ideas, and she’s so flawless outside of her communication difficulties that her alignment with the show’s philosophy often verges on (and you could easily argue fully veers into) didactic storytelling.

But anyway, theme stuff. Visiting the preschool and appearing in human form is pretty much perfectly Hajime – she values communication between equals above all else, and uses this opportunity to redefine the Gatchamen as just another group of people trying to help out, like firemen or policemen. She also uses the media presence to take the power of crowdsourcing out of Galax’s hands and publicly announce what’s going on and how people can help out (credit to tundranocaps for pointing this one out). And then Sugane and OD have their whole on-the-nose conversation about the egoless play of children being like the joyful horizontal society Rui’s so goddamn excited about. So we push the story forward while also talking about all the show’s favorite ideas. Good stuff!

Incidentally, people are getting all excited about the first few hours of Gatchaman’s appearance on Amazon or whatnot, but it seems a little premature to be celebrating that. Honestly, I’d be pretty surprised if a show this completely dedicated to such esoteric ideas finds wide success, particularly since its visual aesthetic is so unabashedly anime, which I’m guessing is pretty off-putting to most people interested in discussing crowdsourcing, gamification, and the false prophet of leadership. But then again, Utsutsu of all characters recently came in the top four of a Japanese summer “best female character” poll, so perhaps once again the right show will get big sales for all the wrong reasons.

TWGOK S3 9: TWGOK is not really my kind of show, but at this point I’m extremely happy I’ve watched the rest of it, because the improvements in this season are just insane. Keima’s always been an entertaining protagonist, but this season has forced him to actually take his Lelouch-powers seriously, and this was the episode where it all came to a head. His denial of Chihiro was some legitimately devastating stuff – normally I get uncomfortable whenever anything haremy attempts to take its characters emotions’ seriously (because if if I’m taking them seriously, I also have to take seriously the fact that harems are fundamentally fucked-up, dehumanizing power fantasies with all kinds of demented ideas about relationships and power dynamics), but this episode actually let the hammer fall in a way no other harem would. No funny gags here – Keima’s actions, while ultimately intended to help people, have completely toyed with people’s emotions, and when you do things like this you suffer the consequences. This has been coming for a long time, but I was honestly shocked by how effective it was, and the strength of this moment by itself raised my estimation of the show overall. Congrats, Season 3.

Free! 9:

Yep, still watching Free. This week’s episode was actually one of the best (which admittedly isn’t saying much), with a bunch of great gags and some quite effective dramatic moments. My enthusiasm for this pretty lousy show kind of dwindles the more information we get on the fall show seemingly determined to prove what KyoAni are actually capable of, so for the sake of leaving my children a full set of derpy comedy writeups, I’m hoping it keeps up the pace.

Gatchaman Crowds – Episode 9

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Oh man am I excited for this one. The Gatchamen have had their first semi-formal press conference, Hajime has pretty much completely taken over leadership of the group, and Rui has specifically been called out to collaborate with them. Hajime has no time for Rui’s careful backroom machinations, and she’s ready to draw the world kicking and screaming into a flatter future. No more secret heroes – we public now.

Incidentally, I was late on last week’s episode, but I didn’t skip it. That writeup’s here.

Episode 9

0:10 – Take THAT, idealism! 

0:31 – Oh my god these two I can’t take it 

And yes, she does indeed got him now. The Hajime always wins

0:45 – Of course Sugane’s all freaked out 

1:05 – All this Reiservice . Hell, even Uchouten Kazoku had a bathhouse episode that was all dudes. SEXISM IS OVER!

Editor’s note: sexism is not over

1:29 – Pai is the clear choice for public relations manager.  Also his phone charger is also a panda yes

1:44 – Yep! An excellent way to keep Pai busy 

3:25 – This OP is always so damn good. What style this show has

3:45 – Utsutsu’s certainly changed 

4:19 – Yeah, the internet is goddamn scary . They’re not sugarcoating it, and they’re portraying its ability to destroy the idea of personal space very efficiently

4:32 – Jeez, I can’t imagine anyone thinking that! 

4:45 – This is amazing . “Is Hajime retarded or something lol”

Lol indeed, internet. Lol indeed.

5:13 – Not a fan? Hajime don’t give a fuck .

Well, this is probably the first and last time I’ll see an anime character directly mock their own internet hatedom. Nice work, Hajime

5:24 – Light and dark yada yada.  Hurray for visual motifs

5:30 – Really like this shot.  Discussing the dark heart of human nature while being reflected in the black screen behind which hides the internet. That is a classy little metaphor

5:44 – Behold the glory of Hajime’s interior decorating. 

5:52 – And there’s the light.  Not sure what depth to draw out of the contrast. We’ll see where they go with it

7:01 – Again, limited budget is not a strike against a great visual aesthetic . Love the rough watercolors feel. Again they draw the contrast extremely sharply by portraying the brightly lit school of last episode in grey darkness

7:15 – Not just change, but recognition 

7:55 – Hey, Katze just wants to make everyone a superhero, right?  Equality! Unfortunately, not everyone is Hajime or Rui

8:18 – Heeey, waaait a second 

9:05 – This is clearly the best use of opera-dubstep there has ever been . This soundtrack you guys

10:13 – Ah, I get it.  The light/dark stuff perfectly mirrors the mask/invisibility/transparency stuff. Hajime’sphilosophy centers on equal transparency – she does not want to hide what she does, she communicates directly with people, she values showing her face and meeting in person and speaking frankly. Everything she does is thusly fully “lit” and transparent. Katze and 26 (and Rui, initially) use masks, obscurity, invisibility – they set themselves apart from others, and cloak their intentions, and force change instead of opening dialogue. So the light/dark isn’t about good/evil, it’s about honesty/dishonesty, equal dialogue/forced change, transparency/obscurity.

10:33 – Very smart of Hajime to act quickly.  It’d be much more difficult to pin this as the act of an exterior party after the fact. And in spite of Hajime wanting to have everyone work together, people knowing the Gatchamen exist will definitely reduce panic here

10:48 – They’re really focusing on these candy . Maybe just a visual subtheme of this episode – Katze scatters candy carelessly, Utsutsu is given a single sweet by Hajime, which she carefully sets aside with her Note

11:49 – This is all some very pretty destruction 

12:37 – As if I needed  more reasons to love this show 

But yeah, that’s pretty much the ultimate example of our misplaced faith in higher powers, ain’t it?

12:55 – Vertical bonds are not strong enough 

13:58 – Utsutsu lays down the law . Her voice is too adorable

14:16 – Hey look the sun came out oh well that’s probably a coincidence 

14:30 – Even computer programs are not immune to Hajime’s pro-dialogue optimism 

14:56 – YES HAJIME YOUTUBE CHANNELS WILL SAVE THE WORLD 

16:03 – He’s a changed man, Katze . He’s seen… okay, I’m not gonna say it

17:09 – Galax isn’t the enemy.  It’s just one manifestation of an inevitability. Very glad they haven’t simplified this conflict

17:47 – Is she intentionally abusing how incompetent he is to humanize the Gatchamen,  or is she just a huge troll?

18:16 – Can we rely on you? No, you probably shouldn’t . But we’re on the same side

19:07 – Very excited for this.  You guys seen those suit images? Much style

20:05 – Rui’s prior honesty with X may save him now 

21:07 – GO SUGANE. KILL YOUR GODS 

And Done

Oh man, what a sweet conclusion. This world doesn’t need mysterious benefactors dictating justice from on high – not anymore. Brilliant.

Agh, this episode was so good. It’s all coming together so well. My fears from last week were happily unfounded – social media isn’t good or evil, it just Is. It’s powerful, and it’s here, and it changes the dynamic of human relations. It can be used to obscure truth and cloud human relations, but it can also be used for honesty and genuine connection. And that stuff about gods… yeah, I’m a big fan. This was maybe the best week yet, in fact. This show is absolutely killing it.

Gatchaman Crowds – Episode 8

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I’m hearing all sorts of crazy nonsense about this episode. Let’s just get to it.

Episode 8

0:32 – No mincing words today! 

1:32 – This is kinda interesting.  Well, first, I love all the quirky little details of their apartment, and this shot is a great example of that. But more critically, this line sort of points to how OD has consistently been cast as both the one actual hero in the old model (as in, someone the characters could completely rely on and surrender individual agency to if the situation became desperate enough), and also as the central father figure among the cast (though Joe performs this role for Sugane), which may amount to the same thing. OD’s protection is able to shelter them, but Hajime’s meeting of equals allows Utsutsu to become self-reliant

Also yeah that’s a pretty ominous line for him to be saying

2:21 – Is OD attempting to perform Hajime’s role? 

2:35 – Yerp 

3:07 – One blunt line from Sugane is worth three Pai-OD conversations. 

3:22 – Again, we’ve covered this,  but “having fun” is Hajime for something closer to “achieving your purpose,” and is generally tied to the kind of social connection and service Hajime idolizes (though Katze has his own priorities, obviously). Great related post by /u/SohumB from last week

4:01 – She’s never thought much of Pai’s leadership, but now she’s ignoring it completely 

4:34 – Oof.  Double blow for Rui

6:20 – Well, Rui’s problem is obviously that he centralized power in his own way, and now he’s paying the price for that.  But X being a central intelligence is less interesting than X being an automated process used only to facilitate natural social and civic connections. The question of whether Rui’s ultimate goal is flawed or not can’t be engaged merely by abusing his admittedly hypocritical means. Kinda disappointed about that

8:32 – Fortunately Hajime always keeps things interesting 

8:35 – Pai’s pretty much already surrendered leadership 

9:04 – Joe continues to play from a hero’s journey script  decades behind the times

9:12 – But like Utsutsu, Sugane has learned not to rely on mentors/superiors 

10:03 – Hajime finally gets her wish.  Rui’s plan might work out after all, though not with his tools

13:12 – Sugane’s great with the kids 

13:47 – It seems like Berg-Katze wants people to distrust and destroy each other, so I guess Hajime is pre-establishing that this discord is coming from an outsider?  Announcing the Gatchaman also works to reduce their own mistique as untouchable heroes, which somewhat weakens Katze’s body-stealing (since that’s more powerful the more important the stolen body is, as shown with Rei)

14:13 – Oh she’s just getting all kinds of value out of this 

15:34 – Well there’s really no helping that 

16:36 – LITTERING?  THAT’S THE LAST STRAW

19:49 – They’re going a little deep on the fun theory here.  So I guess he’s thinking Hajime’s society taps into a kind of honesty of communal spirit and happiness best exemplified through the even ground of childhood

And Done

Interesting episode. At the moment, the show seems more down on the social networking than I’d figured it would be, and siding largely with Hajime in emphasizing the power of equal, face-to-face connection. I kinda hope not all the pieces are in place at this point – Rui’s ideal world is fascinating, so I’m hoping GALAX won’t just be pure antagonist from now on.

The difference between 26 and either Hajime or Rui is still pretty interesting. Hajime and Rui both use that “fun” argument, talking in terms of the inherent satisfaction and good-feeling of collaborating and building a better future. In contrast, this episode 26 was basically talking about his work in terms of compensation for services rendered. The show’s philosophy seems to lean towards this being the wrong way to frame improving the world, but as with last time, the situation just isn’t that simple for him – he’s not just greedy, he has a kid and a mortgage and is far past the point where he could simply start over. Influencing the next generation through reaching the children is nice and all, but it doesn’t fix his world, and the distance between Hajime or Rui’s ideals and the practical realities of many of the people they’d wish to have adopt them is something I’d love to see the show continue to address.

Summer 2013 – Week 8 in Review

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Because both story structure and the 1-cour system are kinda inflexible, this week pulled the interesting trick of having almost every single show I’m watching put their protagonist through the emotional wringer, questioning their very base motivation and bringing them as close to “defeat” (relative to each story’s stakes) as possible. Fun times!

Uchouten Kazoku 8: Jeez, you thought last week’s episode was heavy? This week dove directly into the grieving process, exploring the brothers’ father more fully than ever before through a series of quirky and moving flashbacks. Yajirou’s relevant backstory was fully laid out, culminating in the beautiful image of a rail car terrorizing downtown Kyoto and fading with the haunting shot of the family standing on the roadside, waiting for their father to come home. Even Yasaburou was forced to reflect on his relationship with his father, and possibly acknowledge that he must take up the mantle of responsibility simply because no one else can. Still on track to be the fourth anime in my list of basically perfect shows.

Gatchaman Crowds 7: Another doozy. Hajime pointing out Rui’s hypocrisy pushes him to Do The Right Thing and directly confront Katze. And so his Hundred are murdered, he’s nearly killed himself, and the Gatchamen’s chain of command is shattered. Only Hajime is able to save them, and even then only because her intelligence and philosophy amuse Katze. But even she is shaken by the appearance of a character who seems to put the lie to her fundamental faith in our common goals and desire for connection and understanding. Rui chose to forego his own ideals in order to hopefully create a future worthy of them. Will Hajime be forced to do the same?

Monogatari S2 7: Man, I act all cool and brooding about this season’s two Anime Worth Discussing, and then we get to Monogatari which was all derping around with loli Hanekawa and making terrible decisions about time travel. So far, this new arc has been much more comedy-focused than the first, which is fine as long as the comedy is good, and Araragi/Shinobu still have a fantastic dynamic. This episode was entertaining for what it was, but I’ll be happy to get into the meat of this time travel nonsense next week, and discover exactly how badly these idiots have fucked everything up.

C3-bu 8: Back to frowntown for this one, as Yura’s incredible insecurity has led her to first prove her worth to the team at any cost, and now seek victory in the same way. Cheating? Why, I never. I find pretty much everything about this show outside of Yura’s character development pretty flat (routine plotting, workmanly direction and dialogue), so it’s fortunate that they’re doing such solid work with her arc.

Free 8: And wrapping up my “everything sucks for everyone” roundup, this week featured Haru feeling really sad about not winning at swimming. Aaand not much else – the very distinctive direction from last week has been tuned down again, so once again it’s mainly watchable because I make silly jokes the whole time. I sure am excited for KyoAni’s next show…

TWGOK S3 8: I think this show’s turn will come next week, when Keima’s overt two-timing blows up in his face, but this show has always been more episodic anyway. Regardless, this particular week was mainly a rearrange-the-board style episode, setting up pieces to be knocked down in the next couple episodes. That’s fine, that’s sometimes necessary, but it’s not the kind of episode that shines in a weekly context.

So yeah, kind of a downer week overall, but the shows I’m invested in are still doing their thing with aplomb. As long as 2-3 shows continue to impress me, I’m happy.

Gatchaman Crowds – Episode 7

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I’ve been excited for this one all week. The confrontation has occurred, Hajime has kind of rubbed Rui’s nose in his own hypocrisy, and no hope of an alliance is in sight. Is Rui actually gonna take off his damn makeup and be honest with them? Not likely – he’s obviously very proud and he seems somewhat incapable of seeing other perspectives. Is it war, then? Possibly, though I don’t know what that would do theme-wise. Either way, I think we’re at the breaking point.

Episode 7

0:02 – Nice shot . I bet this’ll be a cheery episode

0:11 – Another really nice one . This show occasionally has animation issues, but its direction and aesthetic are extremely solid

1:07 – Rui’s losing it. 

2:01 – The only other intelligent Gatchaman . He’s a good influence on these kids

4:19 – Simple trick with the lighting here , but it works nicely.

Not sure why I’m on a visual kick this week. The show has kind of set its thematic pieces in place, I guess – we know Hajime and Rui’s philosophies quite well at this point, so all that’s left is to let some dominoes fall

4:27 – Accidental pause reveals another fantastic Hajime face 

5:06 – And Utsutsu is drawn into the light 

5:18 – Bleh.  Another too-much-information moment from Pai. Annoying to see in a show that so often assumes the viewer actually has a brain

6:52 – HOW REAL IS THIS GETTING

7:49 – This escalated quickly 

8:58 – NOT THE TIME FOR A MONOLOGUE 

10:19 – Hurray for leadership 

10:50 – Hajime knows what’s up. She doesn’t blame people for it, though 

11:29 – Awesome shot 

11:41 – Rui has no trouble deciding.  But that has its own pitfalls

God, I love how mixed this show’s feelings are on all its ideas. Well, except for Hajime’s uber-person-hood, I guess

12:21 – Rui’s no fool.  He knew it was hypocritical, but was willing to use any means to establish a world where things like Crowds hopefully wouldn’t be necessary. Another great shot

12:42 – It’s nice having Sugane be the one who makes a connection with Rui, not Hajime. They can talk on equal ground, whereas Hajime stands above everyone, even if she is well-meaning in her lecturing

13:18 – I like Berg Katz mockingly reflecting all of Joe’s melodramatic move names. Just grinding in how old-fashioned and irrelevant this style of hero is, which works both for his character and for this show’s goals

13:42 – Oh god we got the first meeting flashback. Joe’s been throwing out death flag after death flag all show, but that’s probably the last straw

Incidentally, is there actually a respectable term for “death flag”?

14:24 – So apparently OD’s real goddamn powerful. And also an unstable risk, or something. Guess that ominous moment in the OP is relevant

14:48 – Even Pai’s suit has stubby little legs 

17:32 – Dear lord . Also, didn’t want to pause it at the time, but I liked how Berg Katz was mocking him for only doing what he could as an individual human being, as opposed to being the kind of hero the show itself is so sceptical about

18:03 – Might not work this time, Hajime.  Some people just want to watch the world burn

18:14 – Her favorite question. 

19:31 – They’re conveying barely attached to this reality  pretty well

19:42 – Something she can’t understand.  That reoccuring “everyone having fun” thing points to a common humanity that Katz lacks. Hajime’s shocked for the first time

20:08 – Her faith in our nature was shaken.  But it’s not always misplaced 

20:40 – Rui, asking for help and advice?

21:35 – Really hammering on that “bright future”/”when is the world brightest” thing today  – starting with Utsutsu’s conversion, ending here

And Done

Sooo, is Joe dead? He seemed pretty dead, but Utsutsu’s powers are pretty broken, so I dunno. Somehow I don’t think that episode-ending tea party would be appropriate if Sugane’s mentor had bit the bullet.

Anyway, sweet episode. Shit finally hits the fan, and I’m happy to see them finally turning towards Berg Katz. I like how pretty much everyone’s view of both human nature and the power of social media has been examined and discarded by the halfway point, and I’m interested to see what Rui does going forward. I particularly like how Rui finally got his act together this episode – Hajime’s accusations last time didn’t force him further into his own self-delusion, but instead made him resolve to actually attack his own hypocrisy. And when his powers were broken, he freely admitted his rhetoric had been hypocritical all along.

Bunch of other random interesting stuff. All the Gatchamen got some development, and Pai straight up abandoned his subordinates. I hope that results in some changes in their structure – Utsutsu and Sugane almost certainly have far more faith in Hajime than Pai, and even if Hajime’s willing to let this slip, I doubt Sugane will.

This show is full of fun surprises, and at this point I just want to marathon the damn thing out. Watching shows as they air really sucks sometimes.

-edit- Just realized that Pai’s early jealousy about OD being good at managing them plays well into this episode’s mini-arc of tearing down his leadership ability. So that’s actually nice, in retrospect.

Summer 2013 – Week 7 in Review

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Management: I think a lot of people find this format more friendly/useful than the timestamp writeups, and I write these things either way, so I think I’ll be posting them here going forward. Also, feel free to let me know anything you’d like more of in the comments.

This week was so good. My top two shows for this season are swiftly becoming two of my all-time favorites, and both of them had fantastic turns this week that seemed to indicate a honing of focus for the second half. Those first:

Uchouten Kazoku 7: This episode got me right in the gut. It started off extremely strong, with one last beautiful Benten vignette before returning the focus to the brothers. But the key here was the ending. This whole episode, the perspective shifted subtly but in a crucial way – while Yasaburou was still prominent, the focus this week was on illuminating the various sides of his put-upon older brother, Yaichirou. Seeing the contrast in his behavior towards the professor (calm, deferential), his rivals (confident, authoritative), and his brothers (childish, honest) really drove home the fact that his family is the one thing he truly relies on and lowers his guard towards. Which made the final scene, when his brother confessed to his role in their father’s death, absolutely heartbreaking. Yaichirou starts off essentially begging his brother to be innocent, and falls apart with a cry and collapse when he is let down. Right now, the political issues are secondary – this is Yaichirou realizing the one thing he trusts cannot be relied on. In a narrative sense, this moment clearly points towards what conflicts will cloud the second half of this show. But in its own context, it is one more incredibly personal and relatable moment in a show absolutely brimming with them, and its tragedy does nothing to diminish its beauty.

God, I hope this show maintains this quality to the end. So far I think it’s a goddamn masterpiece.

Gatchaman Crowds 6: Not to be outdone (by much, seriously, that Kazoku episode killed me), Gatchaman Crowds pulled out all the stops this week. The cliffhanger meeting from last week was delayed only so the existence of Gatchamen could become public knowledge, and the repercussions of this were as predictable as they were awesome. While the Gatchamen went to ground, Rui was forced to act – the existence of actual superheroes would throw a serious wrench in his “everyone’s a hero, no-one’s a hero” master plan. And so he arranges a meeting with Hajime through a fun set piece demonstrating the power of GALAX, ending with a clash where Hajime takes all of five minutes to acknowledge, question, and dismantle Rui’s philosophy. Hajime ain’t nothing to fuck with. Sugane and Hajime’s relationship also progressed this episode, with Sugane finally getting it through his thick skull that Hajime is far smarter than any of them. This show is heating up.

Monogatari S2 6: It sure is tough being the first seed in a season with two of the best dark horses in recent history. This episode of Monogatari got a bit too indulgent and pointlessly Isin-ish in the first half, but the second half was a lot of fun. Shinobu’s lack of fucks regarding the dynamics of time travel, and Araragi’s extremely valid and well-thought-out concerns (which he only mentions after the fact, of course, because at the time a girl had said she needed his help), made for an extremely entertaining ride. These two have one of my favorite dynamics in the show, and sending them off on a buddy cop time travel story promises all kinds of great shenanigans.

Free! 7: Thank god. Last week’s slice of life tedium feels thoroughly behind us, because this week saw a new episode director (the one behind K-On and Tamako Market, surprisingly) inject a massive infusion of visual distinction and purpose into the proceedings. Great direction and cinematography throughout this week, and virtually everything that happened was purposeful. This show’s narrative is absolute pap, but good direction can make almost anything compelling, and this episode proved that. Nice work, Free.

TWGOK S3 7: One of the funniest episodes yet for TWGOK, with this episode attempting to pull a double-booked-date double-seduction hat trick (yes, I know a hat trick involves three things, shut up). Not much else to say – last week disappointed me because it played the romantic scenario too straight, and this week bashed two or three romantic scenarios together at the same time, with Keima continuously ratcheting up his ambition despite barely being able to stand. This is comedy I can get behind.

C3-bu 7: Eh, I’m just enjoying this show for what it is at this point. This episode was pleasant, and the characters were pleasant, and the pacing was pleasant. Yura slowly becoming a moesoft tyrant is pretty great, and her characterization is well-realized. It’s a show with middling ambitions that pretty much always hits the mark.

Hunter x Hunter 93: This show is so great. This week transitioned from a tyrannical genetic mutant establishing a human meat farm to… a teenage boy tailing his friend on a date to watch out for any funny business. And it worked. It always works. I don’t know how they do it, but this show is fun and fast-paced and well-directed and full of creative ideas or great twists on old ones every single time.

So yeah. Almost everything was excellent this week. No complaints from me.