This week on Why It Works, I found a very good excuse to fan out about Yutaka Nakamura’s kickass animation. His work on the Deku-Todoroki fight was both terrific and clearly emblematic of his recent output, and so it seemed like a perfectly good excuse to poke at his catalog and general style. I’m certainly not an expert when it comes to critiquing animation, but man, the guy can make some awesome scenes.
Todoroki’s Secret Weapon: Studio BONES’ Yutaka Nakamura
I guess I should have stopped talking about the anime being good! The cosmos apparently did not appreciate my joy, and so this week in anime was pretty friggin’ bad. The Eccentric Family had easily its worst episode of the season, Sakura Quest kinda fell into its lazy sitcom mode, and Re:Creators took a couple of turns so disappointing that I felt tempted to drop the show altogether. Not really a good showing for what had looked like a pretty bulletproof season.
Still, My Hero Academia had a fucking amazing episode, and one bad week isn’t really enough to shake anything I’m watching. Plus I know you guys love to read through my suffering, so I guess at least one audience gets to benefit from this week’s disappointments. Let’s start with the good news and run this week down!
For this week’s Why It Works, I had fun with a pretty specific deep dive, poking at the various dramatic pillars that made Uraraka’s battle so interesting. My Hero Academia is pretty much bulletproof when it comes to shounen storytelling fundamentals, particularly in this arc, and so it hasn’t been all that hard to keep finding new topics to explore. A classic concept executed well is a very fine thing!
Why It Works: Building Uraraka’s Battle
The anime… is good. Really, if anything, I can only complain that this season’s incredibly consistent quality has made it a whole lot harder to come up with reasonable topics for these intro paragraphs. I’ve been leaning on the meta well a bit too heavily, but given I’ve dropped everything that ever caused me any pain whatsoever, it’s just hard to stay even-handed here. Sakura Quest has shrugged off its early messiness, My Hero Academia is slam dunking its brilliant source material, and The Eccentric Family 2 likely had its best episode yet. I try to stay impartial, but folks, it might be time to recommend you try Anime. I’ve heard it’s pretty okay.
Alright, I think that’s around my required word count. Now let’s both of us escape this preamble and RUN THIS WEEK DOWN!
Today on Why It Works, I basically let myself geek out and do all that in-universe theorizing that really isn’t actually criticism. I’ve already read through the whole sports festival arc, but I tried to just rely on exactly what we know so far to inform this article, which meant my terrible memory actually came in handy for once. I really enjoy doing more flavor-focused articles, and I hope you all like them too!
Why It Works: My Hero Academia Quarterfinal Roundup
Look, this season is just great, guys. I don’t know how many times I can say it. A season that’s simultaneously airing one of My Hero Academia’s best arcs, the sequel to one of my favorite shows ever, and the spiritual successor to Shirobako would frankly have a damn hard time being bad. Even with Tsuki ga Kirei taking the week off, there were no shortage of high points this week – Sakura Quest had one of its best episodes, My Hero Academia ran through an entire goddamn tournament bracket, and even Re:Creators pulled off some of its most rewarding conversations yet. This is a fine time to be an anime fan!
Alright, let’s get right to it.
Well folks, it looks like we’re somehow halfway through the spring season. Things have been insanely busy on my end, as I’ve been scrambling to deal with a bunch of work-related backend stuff that’s altogether far less exciting than watching cartoons. Fortunately, the cartoons themselves have been as strong as ever – this spring has an extremely sturdy lineup, so stuffed with watchable shows that I’ve essentially had to shave off an entire second tier of contenders. Keeping up with my Current Projects means I don’t really have the time to watch nine airing shows a season anymore, but I certainly can’t complain about having too much to watch!
As usual, this is the point where I vaguely rank the shows I’m watching in some kind of descending order. Also as usual, these rankings are essentially meaningless – I like making ranked lists, but I don’t think they have any meaningful value, and establishing this hierarchy while none of these shows are actually completed only underlines that. So sit back, relax, and let’s have an enjoyably pointless time!
Alright, let’s talk My Hero Academia. This latest volume gave me one of the strangest sources of frustration I’ve experienced regarding manga – feeling annoyed that a certain arc wasn’t padded out. Normally I’d be all for skipping through the dramatically irrelevant fights of Deku’s final exams, but for this story, I can’t think of many things I’d more like to see than the secondary characters of Class A battling against professional heroes. It’s a testament to this manga’s great cast and fun fights that I basically want filler battles.
You can check out my full review over at ANN.
Hey all, and welcome back to the Week in Review. We’re somehow approaching the halfway point of another season, and things are still looking pretty solid in anime land. I’ve got Tsuki ga Kirei and The Eccentric Family for my character stories, Sakura Quest and Re:Creators offering some interesting ideas, and My Hero Academia to just be a generally entertaining time. That’s pretty much everything I ask for in a season, and so as of this moment, I’d say anime is pretty okay. Let’s start off in the tumbleweeds of Manoyama and run this week down!
I returned to My Hero Academia this week, digging into the satisfying action fundamentals underlying its recent cavalry battle. This season has been an absolute joy so far, and the nature of the sports festival makes it just as fun to talk about. Here’s the piece!
Why It Works: My Hero Academia’s Tactical Tapestry
