Stupid social life interrupting my anime posting schedule. Well, it’s mostly due to my procrastination on the previous one so I can’t really start until Sunday. Anyway though, there are some really strong episodes this week. It’s now 2am, and I’m tired. Also that Persona 5 Trailer is as stylish as fk. We all thought Banchou is already the epitome of the concept but apparently Atlus has something else in mind.
Garo – ep17
“Snow Fall”
I was seriously not prepared for it. The writing has been on the wall since the beginning of the resumption of this series, that Leon will have to leave this tranquil environment sooner or later. It’s his moment of self reflection, the saviors for his troubled soul, and provides the precious thing that he will have to protect. It’s a usual scenario for a depressed protagonist to pick himself up, especially since the OP/ED visual sequence strongly hinted at his return. However I did not prepare for how this episode panned out. It’s one thing to do blatant spoilers, one thing to do them in a subtle fashion, and it’s just cruel to gave the viewers a false sense of security by giving out red herrings in those moments.
The writing is extremely tight. We see his doubt, his anger at his now powerless self, and his desperation to protect those dear to him. This family meant a lot to him, and I highly appreciate how the story took it time to slowly develop that bond and attachment across several episodes than to immediately swing in the axe. The series composer Kobayashi is known to share a very similar philosophy with Urobuchi in that she wants to see characters shine in the amidst of trials and challenges. This is a massive turning point for Leon, and will shape up his character to a much more fuller one. He’d already shown plenty of maturity in his own self reflection on those simple ideals and drives exhibited in the first cour, but this is the most crucial moment.
Time and time again there comes an episode that makes you become extremely agitated and anxious because of the signs present. I was extremely scared throughout. It’s not just liking that family, but also empathising with Leon’s plight after following his stupid self for the majority of the first cour. It is a very old trick in the books, but it just works so well, especially in the powerful final scene. Had he not already been billed as the main character, there’s a very high likelihood that he will just corrupt for more power later on. Nevertheless I look forward to see his own climb back up. He’s no longer the naive emo boy now.
JJBA Stardust Crusaders – ep28~29
“Anubis, Part1&2”
I swear, this show is quite amazing at the moment. Not only are the fights exhilarating to watch, the sense of humour is also great at the same time. There’s just a great flow to this arc in particular. Unlike most of the previous enemies in this Part 3, Anubis is a straight up formidable +stats enemy. No sneaky tricks, just a simple high stats on everything, not to mention the constant improvements after every skirmish. It’s not just a simple “how do i get to the stand user”, but now with an additional “how do i get him in time before he can deal with everything I dish out”. The simple condition of the fight also allows for some crazy choreography and cinematic. It’s just feels so straight forward and raw.
One thing that I really love about this anime adaptation is how the studios incorporate elements that were forgotten in the manga. Unlike many other adaptations, this one has a lot of great paddings during the fight, bringing back some forgotten skills again. The manga is not perfect, and those little additions just makes the story and characters feels rounder and complete. It’s funny when you watch a series that many other titles referenced to referencing itself constantly. Seeing another piece of the mystery in the OP sequence being solved is also very satisfying.
Polnareff once again confirmed why he’s the secret main character, with his joyous personality and the visually appealing fighting style. When [REDACTED] happened it was just pure joy, just because it demonstrated the insane level of flexibility that the stands formula can emulate. The moment of victory may felt like another obligatory Ora moment, but the leadup to that critical point is so good that I’m willing to give it a slip.
At the same time this show is able to transition into loud comedy rather seamlessly. The Oingo&Boingo ep was a comedy genius so far this season, and the second quarter of this Anubis arc is able to build on the established tension shown throughout this arc and gave us something extremely hilarious as we see Anubis bumbling his way through. It’s just such a great contrast with the tension build up from the previous segments, and finishes up this particular arc nicely. It just provides a satisfying wind down after all those fights.
Shirobako – ep17
“Where am I?”
On top of the fantastic meta jokes and the shocking revelation in the beginning of the episode, I’m really liking this new arc. If a major element in the first cour is Miyamori and Ema finding their way in the professional environment, this one is about them taking up leadership roles and become mentors for the newcomers. The new recruits provides a nice diversity and plenty of new personalities to the group itself. There’s more scenes showcasing the appeals of the newbies, and the two veterans got some quality moments just by being caring for them. Miyamori is really cute and sexy in this episode just by her show of confidence and maturity. The new outfit is also fantastic as well.
The trouble with the author and the character design may be sorted, but there’s another last minute crisis from the editor regarding to the production of PV. Promotional Video is not something new for those watching anime, but it’s nice to see the process behind its creation, which is like another short anime episode being made. The familiar rush of production processes is highly welcomed, and once again topped off with a nice heartwarming moment at the very end when we also get to see the fruit of their effort comes into play. I won’t say that it’s an engaging PV due to the lack of the snappy cuts, but it’s still a nice looking clip to say the least. There are also more hilarious moments during the production like the take off cut into the commercial. Now that is a nice absurd character comedy that I love so much.
I do find it amusing how the biggest punching bag in Tarou has changed to a welcomed fun character. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that he’s no longer the source of fk ups, and instead they comes from other external sources. Once he’s actually competent, his personality becomes less irritable and more interesting at the same time. This show is still some life drama, so the conflicts will still come no matter what, and it just seems like that outsourced studio will be the culprit later on. We may have diffused a major timebomb, but the quality of the other one may cause a bigger headache later on, especially with the modification in the character design earlier on.
Death Parade – ep5
“Death March”
Instead of the usual decision of the week, it goes into fleshing out the main characters more this time round. Unlike the horrible explanation ep three weeks ago, this one goes into a more natural progression, spending more time onto the assistant and putting Decim into an unusual situation. Several more main casts are introduced, and it allows for more interesting interactions especially with the main pair. There are more questions raised, especially with the unique background for the assistant as being the unusual one of able to remember that she died. The fairytale could be a foreshadowing to her fate, but it’s too early to make a concrete prediction anyway.
There’s no forced moral questioning this time, but it’s setting things up for future conflicts nicely. I like how they are starting to link toward the OVA episodes, now with the selection board having the same background picture as the one we seen in that special episode. With the other Arbiter taking the centrestage next week, we should see some variety in the judgments and a fresh take on the formula. Decim is nice, but he needs to surprise us more. Ep3 gave us a nice teaser, but I’m guessing there are more to come when the truth behind the assistant is revealed.
I do love how they are still giving us a game even though there’s no new pair this week. The interaction between Nona and the Oculus hints some bigger picture in the background, but that’s all we know for now. Castra is hot though, I still seem to have a massive weakness for brown skin ladies. Random ramblings aside, I’m enjoying this episode by a lot. The fight scenes are really well animated as well, which is a surprise given the nature of this series. Not surprised by the quality, but just how there’s always opportunity for some little actions.
Parasyte – ep17
“The Adventure of the Dying Detective”
Just as Shinichi is slowly becoming a monster, the path of humanity taken by Tamura Reiko is just an equally fascinating one. Even though she’s a monster, her development is the most interesting one in this story. From the initial tough opponent who’s just high in the intelligence stats, her brain power allows her to study the nature of human and her own species. Ever since the initial encounter we’d been seeing moments of her where she begins to understand the human emotions little by little, especially with her new role as a mother. It was setting up to be something horrifying, but with the latest episode it seems like the writer has something else in mind for this development.
I love she also provides a new dimension in combat that also serves to illustrate the nature of the parasyte organisms at the same time. There are a lot of trick plays, but the main strategy is a simple disruption one. It won’t work against the final boss that’s for sure, but it’s nice to see different style of fighting than just “my fist is stronger than your human host”. The end sequence offered plenty of things to be concern about, especially since Tamura is slowly playing the role of a 3rd faction ally than a nasty opposition. I really like her right now, but the title for the next episode is just not offering anything comforting.
Durarara!!x2 Shou – ep5
“No One Knows What the Future Holds”
New characters, new chaos, new crisis. As per usual, here comes another bunch of colourful set of characters. Like any introductory episodes of a story heavy arc, there isn’t much great heights to talk about, but plenty of little moments that allows the entertaining character interactions to shine through. Once again the Dollars gang is in danger from another outside source, and another all out war is imminent. Unlike the rather carefree and disorientating storytelling in the previous volume, this one is a lot more straightforward so far. However they both share the same trait of difficult to predict the main meat of the story.
Shizuo is starting to have more presence in this volume than just being a force of nature, and this volume is setting up a nice stage for his insane power to be showcased to many people. This army in Ikebukuro is getting larger, but I’m still not sure how the war will turn out. The loli introduced in this episode is really fun though I have to say. I’m also really loving the OP right now as well, it’s growing on me nicely. Just like the title suggested, I have no idea what the future of the volume holds.
Saekano – ep4
“Budget, Deadline, and New Development”
This show continues to poke fun at the old galge tropes and the hilarious childish behaviours the worst kind of galge players can exhibit. After the fantastic encounter climax at the end of the previous episode, now we move on to the insecurity phase of the “relationship”. Playing on a famous scenario back in Kakyusei 2 where the heroine got confessed by the more well off man, the fear shown in this episode is pathetic to say the least. It’s an old joke that definitely flew over many western audience’s head. Kato remains to be an extremely refreshing yet unrealistic character, while destroying all other heroine’s chances at the same time.
There’s also a brief detour with segments involving the other girls, mainly involving Utaha senpai and her Light Novel businesses. We had a brief hint at her troubled debut and how much the main character supported her. It’s a nice tease at their prior relationship, but in the overall context it just serves as a mere distraction to the overall relationship progression. Those interview scenes also feel like a stress relief for the author as he vents out some steams of most frustrations, while poking fun at the usual business maneuvers. There’s tonnes of inside jokes in this show, and most likely would be lost for the western audience who isn’t really into the volatile LN scene.
iM@S Cinderella Girls – ep5
“I don’t want to become a wallflower”
I’m starting to think that this series needs a proper character focused episode soon. It’s nice to keep on letting everyone has some decent screentime during the episodes, but it’s starting to feel stretching thin. I was hoping that this will be one focus on Mikunya’s frustration, but it just came across as childish since there wasn’t enough sufficient buildup for the reaction to carry much impact. I do like how the final “conflict” incorporates Anzu’s gimmicks into the scenario, and I actually got a chuckle out of that sudden show of interest.
Now here comes the big point in this episode though. I’d been championing the characterisation of Producer since ep1 with his adorable cold demeanor, but this episode demonstrated just how much trouble his flaws can bring to this group as a whole. He’s not a sweet talker nor a motivational speaker. He knows how to get things done, but requires help from other people to help carrying the task. The way he handles the anxiety from the rest of the group triggered the final conflict of the episode. While it’s harmless this time round, who knows if his bad communication skill would interfere with the people management later on? He certainly isn’t perfect.
On the side note, Nitta is so friggin hot.
Aldnoah Zero – ep17
“Dawn of Intrigue -The Turning Wheel-“
Mazuurek just became one of the most interesting character within 1 single episode more than that little Miss redhead hotpants could ever achieve. In a role that acts in between the two main characters, he is probably the one with the most understanding across the two factions so far. The sense of loyalty is always a great trait in characters, and while pretty simple and you can say one dimensional, his role in this story provides a more interesting amalgamation of ideals from two sides. Yes he has raised a lot of death flags, but that’s just how this works really when you’re being asked to become a spy for the enemy.
Yuki-nee also got some nice character moments in this episode as well, but just like the ones dedicated to Rayet they are mostly rehashing the idea that we’d already known. Seriously, when will the writer finally do something meaningful for Rayet? We’d been hearing the same thing over and over again and again without any significant changes. The comedy scenes are amusing, but it’s the upcoming conflict that intrigues me. Even with the establishment of power and authority, there are always idiots who will go against the protagonist. Hopefully this turn of events will be the trigger of something way nastier though.
Yoru no Yatterman – ep5
“The Hurricane Dedicated to His Mother”
A more laidback epsiode that’s generally inconsequential. There’s more obscure references in this show to the older 80s series, and this time there’s less thematic significance to it. It’s also a lot more comical and carefree, but at the same time this episode just feels redundant. I won’t be commenting on the content of this episode because it is more likely to be a special episode to correspond to the current event instead of heavy in canon. Yes Goro found out that they are still alive, but other than that this episode doesn’t really advance the story that much.
Even if the story isn’t progressing here, we are still seeing more of the characters as they grow. Leopard is starting to mirror her mother’s acts of kindness, and Galina is gradually getting his training even if there’s no signs of improvement in this episode so far. This whole group is growing, but I can’t share the troublesome niggling feeling that this episode is essentially wasted. I’m sure this is just a brief breather after the fantastic ep4, but the fact that this exists just makes me worry about the overall pacing.
Tokyo Ghoul √A – ep5
“√A – Rift”
Even though this is billed as an original route, the flaws of a compressed storyline is still present in the writing. The moments individually carries a lot of nice sound directions with a clear idea of the theme it wants to portray. However when placed together there are just some extremely niggling screenplay aspects that doesn’t allow us to get fully immersed in them. I like the music choices, especially the placement of silence, in this episode. Like I’d said last week that this show felt more like an art film than your typical shonen action with its presentation, but this is a case of the show being significantly weaker than the sum of its parts due to the lackluster fight choreography, ham fisted scene placements, and missing pieces of information that felt more like neglect instead of deliberate act.
At the same time however, this show continues to hint at us the unusual phenomenon of Human turning into Ghouls, and how much humanity those individuals in Aogiri still retains. It has got to the point that those human characters look like the monsters instead. There are a lot of sentimentality being inserted during this episode, but their effectiveness is probably not as high as the creators were hoping for. Nevertheless, that ED tells a nice short spin off story which adds well to the overall package. It’s becoming one segment that I just have to catch no matter what because the art is so good to watch.
Assassination Classroom – ep4
“Grown-Up Time”
Bitch sensei appears! Best girl candidate appears! I don’t think I need to say more! Oppai banzai!
While she may be a very interesting character later on, her introduction chapters isn’t really something new and fresh just yet. I do appreciate the sentiment from the students and their interactions with her though. There may be Engrish involved, but it’s a nice heartwarming moment when they connected.
Log Horizon 2 – ep18
“When the Concert Ends”
We’d been in this world for too long that sometimes we forgot that for the PotL their world is so restricted, therefore I had a great pleasant surprise when they mentioned the elements of translator and the ingame score to demonstrate the joy that the music Isuzu is able to provide to those people. I was expecting something a lot more sinister, but this is also a great link to the game nature that binds the world together and illustrates just how limited it is without the new influx of creativity from the players. Yes there’s also more backstory about Isuzu, but I don’t really think that’s adding anything substantial to the story.
The second half further hints at the messed up nature of the Odyssey Knights, and also the forced smile that Nureha is putting out in front of others. The things about the OK will get further revealed next episode it seems, judging by the preview, but Nureha’s part will probably take longer to be fully exposed. With another big battle on the horizon, I’m really liking the final shot of the episode where Nyanta actually opens his eyes. Yes that’s another old trope, but man it is effective.
After thoughts
It seems like I always get a weaker episode a week after I rave about an episode that’s just perfect in many ways. Yatterman Night has been my favourite show since its ep1, and as you can see here its ranking this week isn’t too flash. It just frustrates me about the inconsistency in storytelling in many series, and I just wonder if shows are starting to make ep4 the early climax episode instead of the usual “3 eps rule”, and leave ep5/6 to rot in may ways. I’m still liking that series a lot, but it’s harder to place it in my top shows of with that ep5. A massive strength in Shirobako though is how it just doesn’t have a weak episode, every week is just pure delight in may ways. Anyway, I’m tired now. Sometimes I just wonder if I should still persist writing 2 paragraphs for each show, and go for the usual “One-Liners” for shows outside my top5. Who knows, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
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