Alright folks, it’s time for one more Week in Review. We’re actually reaching the late stages of the season now, though it doesn’t really feel like that. Stars Align is the only show I’m watching that’s formally concluding at the end of this season, and yet Stars Align also feels like it could go on forever – its team has only participated in one actual match so far, and all of its characters still have stories to tell. Meanwhile, My Hero Academia’s third season has only just finished clearing its throat, while Vinland Saga and Legend of the Galactic Heroes continue with the stately confidence of adaptations that know they’ll be sticking around for a while. I actually fell behind on LoGH this week, but I’ll hopefully be making up for that blurb’s absence with the sheer volume of writing I’ve assembled for this week’s other episodes. Let’s get to it!
Tag Archives: My Hero Academia
Why It Works: Let’s Explore the Finer Points of Anime Power-Ups!
I’ve got another fairly breezy Why It Works column for you all this week, though this one certainly plays into a fair number of storytelling and conflict-building fundamentals. When and how characters overcome their previous limitations is actually a pretty important part of shonen narrative design, particularly since audiences have been primed to assume “sweet power-ups” will always be a part of that genre’s narrative bargain. Today let’s highlight a few broader categories of character improvements, as well as what sort of narratives potentially suit them best. Let’s get to it!
Let’s Explore the Finer Points of Anime Power-Ups!
Fall 2019 – Week 7 in Review
I really don’t know how this happened, but somehow we have arrived at Wednesday once again. With the overall year drifting into its final stages, I find myself once more buried under a variety of seasonal projects, as I start to hack away at top tens and bottom fives and whatever else the ceaseless content mill demands of me. Additionally, this happens to be a uniquely consequential year, as it signals the end of a full decade in… well, reality I guess, but more specifically anime. While I try to marshal my thoughts regarding the inherently panic-inducing last ten years of my life, I hope you all enjoy reading my latest thoughts on the week’s new cartoons. Let’s get to it!
Fall 2019 – Week 6 in Review
Pack it on in folks, it’s time for the Week in Review! We’ve somehow arrived at the season’s halfway point, and though this year’s increasingly rapid succession of days is a source of constant terror for me, it’s also a source of NEW CARTOONS! Today I’ve got plenty of new episodes to talk about, having finally caught up on Vinland Saga, and I’m eager to share all my hip-fired opinions with you fine people. From My Hero Academia at last starting its engine to Stars Align demonstrating some remarkable sports drama finess, we’ve got plenty to discuss regarding this week’s episodes. Let’s get to work!
Fall 2019 – Week 5 in Review
Hey folks, and welcome back to the Week in Review! I’m unfortunately still behind on Vinland Saga, but I think I have a pretty good reason for it this time: I’ve spent the last four days feeling sick as a dog, coughing all through the night, and trying to make up on lost sleep all through the day. I’m feeling somewhat better now, but I’m also behind on basically all of my projects, so Vinland Saga will have to wait until next week.
Fortunately, this week’s other new episodes still gave me plenty to discuss! Legend of the Galactic Heroes is such a rich and politically acute production that each episode prompts a short essay’s worth of reflections, and Stars Align continues to stake a claim as one of the year’s very best dramas. Let’s break down all (er, most) of the latest anime highlights in one more Week in Review!
Fall 2019 – Week 3 in Review
Well shit folks, it’s time for the Week in Review. After one more week of racing to catch up on all the shows I’ve left hanging, I believe I’m at this point current on my actual schedule for the season. I finally caught up on Stars Align, which has continued to offer convincing and unexpectedly sharp-edged adolescent drama, and also powered through the remaining Vinland Saga. I’ve also put Blade of the Immortal on hold, which isn’t really a knock against the show itself – pulpy action dramas just aren’t really my thing, and my schedule this season is pretty darn full. I also won’t be covering Chihayafuru here, for basically the opposite reason – Chihayafuru is so much my thing that I’ve already written two separate articles covering its season premiere. With all that sorted out, let’s dive into the highlights of another week in anime!
Fall 2019 – Week 2 in Review
Alright folks, we’ve got a ton of anime to discuss and not nearly enough time, so let’s get to work. In addition to catching up on all the second episodes I missed due to preview week’s never-ending nature, I also spent much of the last week tying up various loose ends from the summer season. I spammed through what remained of Vinland Saga, have nearly caught up on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, concluded Carole & Tuesday, and swore a blood oath to catch up on O Maidens at the first possible opportunity. With only a single season left in the anime year, it’s time to start thinking about 2019’s best shows, and that discussion kinda demands actually having watched the year’s best shows in the first place.
Meanwhile, the fall season itself is proving to be full of treasures, packed with strong continuing productions, excellent sequels, and some genuinely stunning new productions. Both Blade of the Immortal and Stars Align have immediately established themselves as top shelf 2019 productions, while steady favorites like Legends of the Galactic Heroes and Chihayafuru remain as compelling as ever. It’s a genuinely kickass anime season, and I’ve got a heck of a lot to talk about. Let’s break down the concluding stars of summer, and the new favorites of the fall season!
Fall 2019 – Virtually Every First Episode Retrospective
Hello folks, and welcome to hell. Having fought my way through nearly every premiere of the fall season, I’ve weathered injustices and disappointments both familiar and entirely new, all to bring you the freshest possible anime delicacies. There were a huge number of new releases this fall season, but with so many of the season’s high-profile shows being sequels, separating the strongest newcomers from the pack seemed even more arduous than usual. I succeeded, though, and I return to you with arms full of alluring new cartoons. Additionally, many of the shows that are either continuing into the fall or commencing new sequels are also really darn good – if you’re not current on them, I’d highly recommend supplementing your viewing schedule with something like Vinland Saga, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, or Chihayafuru.
As usual, I wrote full length reviews for all of the premieres I’ll be summarizing here, which you can check out over at ANN’s preview guide. I’ll also be including links to each individual review below, as I run down the season’s new prospects from best to worst, and separate them into loose tiers of view-worthiness. Returning to help me define those tiers will be an array of representative Chaika gifs, because everybody loves Chaika and it’s easier to describe gifs than to write funny descriptions anyway. Without further ado, let’s break down the fresh premieres of the fall anime season!
Fall 2019 Season Preview
You folks enjoying this summer season? ME NEITHER. FUCK this summer season, we deserve better than this, we’re throwing it out and starting over.
Seriously though, this summer season’s actually been pretty great, but time’s cruel grinding of gears creaks ever onward. With only three weeks left in our current season, it’s time once more to turn our gaze forward, as we examine the approaching highlights of the fall season. Some anime seasons are defined either by larger-than-life creators or ambitious new productions, but for Fall 2019, the biggest stories for me are a pair of long-awaited sequels. My Hero Academia’s fourth season will finally be arriving, and even more importantly, friggin’ Chihayafuru is at last getting its third season! Chihayafuru is one of my absolute favorite recent anime, and having never gotten the chance to watch it as it was airing, I’m absolutely thrilled to experience season three alongside all of you.
Those two shows are likely the biggest stories, but as always, there are plenty of other properties with strong potential or talented creators attached, and every season ends up offering some welcome surprises (like the excellence of this summer’s Granbelm). Per usual, I won’t be summarizing every single upcoming show here – you can check out a site like anichart for something like that. Instead, I’ll just be highlighting the shows that actually catch my attention, with an explanation of what element of their production team or source material or whatnot caught my eye. Without further ado, let’s preview the top prospects of the upcoming season!
Why It Works: What to Expect from the My Hero Academia Anime’s Fourth Season!
Today on Why It Works, it’s time for some shameless promotion, as I break down just a few of the things to look forward to in My Hero Academia’s fast-approaching fourth season. If you’ve read the manga, none of this will be new to you, but if you haven’t, this post should offer a spoiler-free sampler of the directions the story will soon be taking. Have at it!
What to Expect from the My Hero Academia Anime’s Fourth Season!
