Thanksgiving’s tomorrow, so here’s an early Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Mage in a Barrel (that is, just me and my Nyarko nendroid)! For those of you in the states, I hope you have a nice holiday! For those of you not celebrating Thanksgiving, it never hurts to be thankful—at the least, take some time to remember that we can be grateful for the chance to watch good anime. That being said, let’s talk about them!
K: Return of Kings, Episode 8: Even with the aggressively ugly fog filter set aside (or whatever you chose to call it), K wasn’t all that great this week. A lot of grandstanding and talking and relatively bad action. All in all, K is at its best when it’s going for flash and style, and when it’s doing that in a somewhat campy, lighthearted manner. Heavy drama and philosophical arguments don’t jell with either the characters or the show’s other main strengths (that is, playing around with the visuals). It also didn’t help that the main focus characters were Munakata, who remains far less interesting than basically anyone else in the show, and the Gray King, whose motives are foggy at best and who we have no prior experience with. Give me more Anna, Homura, Shiro, Neko, and Kuroh. They’re the best things this show has going for it and, more importantly, they’re capable of carrying the show even when its not at its best visually.
Noragami Aragoto, Episode 8: In terms of timing, Noragami Aragoto seems to be on a really solid path towards its conclusion. We’re finally dealing with what’s been the biggest overall threat to Yato and company’s sustained happiness—Nora and Yato’s base nature as a god of calamity. Its interesting that Yato seems to have been sort of kidnapped by Nora and her “father,” which implies that he’s either subordinate to them or owes them a big debt. Or, perhaps, they just like keeping him down in the muck. It’s also hard not to notice that Yato’s outburst at the end of the episode as he tries to get out and return home greatly resembles the tantrum of a child—throwing things, yelling, and generally acting badly. In a lot of ways, it seems Yato needs rescuing, and I’m quite curious to see who all will end up playing a role in releasing him from these chains of his past. Remember that Yato initially confronted Nora this episode with the intent to finally cut ties—instead, like an addict, he’s fallen back in worse than ever before.
Mecha Sunday
Gundam Tekketsu, Episode 8: I’m extremely ambivalent on the events of this episode. On one hand, Okada has constructed a reasonably acceptable reason for Naze captaining a ship full of women; on the other, I’m deeply uncomfortable that same reason. A full-on, literal harem? That’s just… kind of ugh. So far, it’s being handled well-enough as a kind of counterpoint and parallel to Tekkaden, but the at the core this is still one guy who is married (if that’s even happened) to literally dozens of women. Naze’s turned out to be more likable than I’d originally thought he’d be, which helps the whole deal feel less gross, but even so, I’m now finding myself hoping we leave Turbines behind relatively quickly, rather than wanting them to stick around.
Comet Lucifer, Episode 8: In an information dump everyone expected, it turns out Felia is a sort of planet angel incarnation. In less expected news, Comet Lucifer spending the bulk of the episode focusing on Do Mon’s backstory (of all people), his relationship with Sogo’s mother, and even a bit on his relationship with Gus was quite the interesting choice. Frankly, that’s the more interesting story at this point in the show. It’s almost like the show understands Sogo and Felia’s story doesn’t have a kick to it, although I did sort of get Lord of the Rings vibes with them ditching the rest of the party to move forward. I expect Kaon, Roman (who had a nice moment with Felia, surprisingly), and Otto to catch up quickly, though.
Concrete Revolutio, Episode 8: The best show of the season continues to move forward without faltering. Concrete Revolutio always looks at least respectable, but there was a lot of solid visual direction (particularly with the lighting) this week. Of course, that’s not to say there wasn’t more going on, because there was and it was important. I think Jiro’s story is at least partially a tragedy, so it makes sense that there’d be a sort of tragedy in his past, too. Rainbow Knight—who clearly is the inspiration for future Jiro’s aesthetic—seems to be the tragedy of Jiro’s childhood, a one-time figure of pure goodness who was eventually cast in grays at the end of his life. Like events past, present, and future in Concrete Revolutio, the truth is hiding beneath lies, twisted truths, and half-truths—which leaves those who believed in Rainbow Knight to decide for themselves what the truth really is. That truth will surely be a big part of the key to unlocking Jiro’s character more fully, but there are forces moving within the Superhuman Bureau who may or may not be on his side. You can believe in justice and truth in the world of Concrete Revolutio, but expect the application to be far less concrete.
Short Takes~
- Miss Monochrome S3, Episode 8: Bless Yui Horie for also voicing the ridiculous cat that showed up in this episode. She is truly a wonderful woman. Also, I did buy Miss Monochrome’s recently released album, and it’s really great!
- One Punch Man, Episode 8: One Punch Man is not a show built for multi-episode stories. Although there was action and although Sonic was the most entertaining he’s been yet, this is not a show where the set-up for the big moments is exciting enough on its own to make episodes feel fulfilling without the big fight at the end.
- Haikyuu!! S2, Episode 8: Tsukki’s been kind of a neglected character, so it was nice to see him get a moment in the spotlight. All in all, his story was nice, but I’m still just waiting until Haikyuu!! gets its butt into gear and gives us some real matches.
- Starmyu, Episode 8: A little late watching Starmyu this week; I’ll have notes up when I finish it!
More Robots!!
Because Mecha Sundays just aren’t enough, I also watched a little bit more of Turn A Gundam this week, along with pressing forward in SDF Macross and picking Captain Earth out of my on-hold list. It’s definitely an interesting experience watching so many shows from the larger mecha genre all at the same time, because they each definitely have their own flavors and interests. Turn A‘s Manupichi arc was probably the best the show’s ever been, Macross still balances being funny and serious with aplomb, and Captain Earth looks incredibly pretty.
I’ll likely be writing about all three of these shows in the future, so keep an eye out for them!
Mage in a Barrel 
No surprise here, COMPLETELY disagree with your thoughts on both K and OPM.
I love the philosophical angle of this season of K. It’s all about character motivations. Shiro, Nagare, Anna, Munakata and Grey Kingy all have very different reasons for what they choose to do with their power. And it’s fascinating to see those philosophies in conflict. I honestly think this is the best thing about this series. Sure, the flashy animation and gorgeous character designs are great, but it’s the questions about the use of power that the show asks that really fascinate me. The first season pretty much only asked questions without giving any answers. This season is exploring those questions further and I think some answers are being set up. I LOVE it. I’m not a fan of Munakata as a person (though much of the K fandom would take strong exception to your assertion that he’s not interesting, there are some rabid Munakata fans out there) but as a character he’s an amazing foil. I find it interesting that most of the fandom on tumblr seems to be taking Munakata’s side in this little fight with Fushimi, even though Munakata, in my opinion, was being a huge dick and Fushimi’s concerns were more than legitimate. I really LOVE the way the philosophy of the Green King ties into Shiro’s past too and I think the Grey King’s motivations make a lot of sense. I hope there’s a lot of tension between all these conflicting worldviews in the coming episodes. Yes, battles with cool color powers are nice, but I prefer them when they are founded on the participant’s beliefs and motivations.
And honestly, I have no idea why you would think OPM isn’t good for multi episode stories. This was an excellent episode all the way through and I can’t wait for the next part. As much as I love K, I have to admit this is anime of the season for me.
Noragami was pretty good. Honestly though, I’m sick of Nora. I wish they could just resolve everything about her and Yato soon and never, ever bring her back. I don’t find her interesting or effective anymore at all.
I’m feeling rather meh about the Gundam show. We’re still 2 episodes behind but the episodes have been so hit or miss thus far and I just find I’m not really excited about watching it. May decide to drop soon.
Utawarerumono, The Perfect Insider, Sakurako-san and continue to be highly enjoyable in their own ways. Osomatsu-san this week was freaking hilarious. Comedy gold.
Since my husband and I aren’t following many new anime this season we’re also watching The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior (Bokura wa Minna Kawai-so) from a couple years ago. It’s an absolutely gorgeous anime. The art is just surprisingly beautiful for a slice-of-life comedy series. And the characters are really fun. I’m putting this on my “surprisingly good and unfortunately underrated” list.
I finished rewatching season 1 of Black Butler this week, which was one of the earlier anime I watched. I was able to appreciate its strengths much better this time around, but the weaknesses of its anime original content stood out more. I’m going to skip season 2 for that reason and watch Book of Circus and Book of Murder. As I understand they are based on the manga, I’m really looking forward to them. (I’m going to have to pick up the manga too one of these days.)
And I’m really, really excited that my 12 year-old has finally started watching Gurren Lagann (and of course I’m watching with her). She’s been enjoying it right off the bat and also really likes Kamina. Last night we watched episodes 5-8 together and naturally wept together at the end. Man, even when I knew what was coming I found myself getting really emotional over it. Oh Kamina. Never forget!
LikeLike
Aww, you’re watching Kawaisou. I’ll forever remember this show as the one who really gets introvets.
@OPM: I’m actually feeling similarly to iblessall about this episode, though I’m not sure I’d say it’s not good at multiple episode shows. For example, I’m curious what they’ll do with the biking hero. My problem is this: I’m generally neutral about shounen fighters; I like some, I don’t like others. This one’s appeal is the meta-level, but this episode I had some problems: it felt like it was buying into its own conceits, and this doesn’t work. On the action front it was an anticlimax, considering the over-the-topness of the first episode. The pacing is drawn out and focuses on fights, while I suspect it intends to focus on hero culture. The result is an episode that I wouldn’t call bad, exactly, just somewhat dull with islands of fun, as if they have a story to tell but suspend it for the type of fight scenes I’ve seen enough of.
LikeLike
Hmmm… that wasn’t my reaction at all. I loved pretty much every minute. It didn’t feel anti-climactic at all to me. I loved all the action and all the pauses in between as well. I don’t think it has to focus either on being meta or on being a shonen action series or on hero culture. I think all those things play off each other and it has been very effective for me so far. But I also tend to like a lot of shonen action series. They’re what got me into anime.
LikeLike
I do think that my problem with the show is that I’m somewhere in the margines of the target audience to begin with. I’m liking it well enough.
LikeLike
It sounds like we’re watching K and and OPM for somewhat different reasons. For me, both of them have always been primarily shows I watch for fun, the visuals, and characters I find easy to like. I definitely see the dialogue on the use of power you’re talking about, but I guess I just don’t see K as having anything particularly interesting to say on that topic (or as saying it in a particularly interesting way). That being said, I’ll continue watching both of them. I’ll also say that I enjoy OPM as a whole much less than most of the stuff I’m watching this season, so my baseline of interest in it isn’t all that high.
As far as Fushimi and Munakata’s conversation goes, I think both of them had important and legitimate points. Munakata’s (outdated?) notions on leadership and honor are causing him to withdraw from a fight he should probably still be engaged in, but Fushimi pledging his loyalty to a king only as long as he feels good about it is cowardly and disingenuous in a sense.
And ahhh TTGL!! It’s been quite a while since I last saw it, but I’m looking forward to rewatching it somewhat soon (especially now that I’ve started watching a bunch more mecha anime). Hope your daughter continues to enjoy it! Who’s her favorite character?
LikeLike
We watched a few more episodes last night and she met Nia. But she says so far Kamina is her favorite. There’s still so much to go though. We’ll see how she feels at the end. (I am proud of my budding Kamina disciple!)
LikeLike
Besdes the world / America getting worse it seems the interest in Anime is so dead from a less than stellar season but also the lack of interest on almost anime website forum / blogs / lack of anoucements! Has anime peaked ? Just some thoughts brief at that !
But I will post anyway ! The Top slots are decent
EPISODE(S) of the WEEK 7 / 8 –POSTED BELOW / EOW on RANKINGS
WEEK 7 / 8
TIER 1 TOP FAVORITES
A TIE For First / Second
1 Haikyuu!! Second Season EOW
1 Noragami Supernatural 2 / Noragami Aragato SUB / DUB [/blue] EOW
3 Seraph of the End 2 Vampire Reign FUNI SUB DUB EOW
3 One Punch Man EOW
5 RWBY Vol. 3 No EP
6 Concrete Revoltio / Choujin Gensou EOW
7 K 2nd Season / K Return of Kings EOW
8 Heavy Object EOW
9 World Trigger / (Fugitives From Another World)
10 GARO CRIMSON MOON / Garo -Guren no Tsuki EOW
11 The Perfect Insider / Subete ga F ni Naru EOW WK 7
12 Beautiful Bones Sakurako’s Investigation EOW WK 7
13 Comet Lucifer EOW
14 Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note EOW WK 7
15 Kagewani series EOW
16 Shomin Sample FUNI Sub / DUB
17 Hidan no Aria AA
18 MISS Monochrome 3 EOW
19 Hacka Doll the Animation EOW
20 Lance N’ Masques EOW
21 Young Black Jack
22 TEEKYUU 6
EPISODE(S) of the WEEK 7 / 8
Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note EP 7 / The Egg Hamburg Steak Knows Part 3
Tantei Team KZ w/o Aya investigated Sunahara meats and founf a few samples were tainted with pork. They even had a ralk withe Plant MGR who said all production lines were seperate ! So they checked on drivers and one was discovered to be lazy taking naps and even going to thre back of the truck when not a pickup farm. So it assumed he is mixing pork with meat ! TTKZ invite Aya back figuring she wouldnt be as upset now to complie the report to take it to the Police /Media > Aya is worried about the company / and Sunahara who could bankrupt ! Aya wants to talk to him first even though the others dont trust him. The anime presented corporate / public trust and even concern for the company itself ( Aya) . Food allegries / contaimination are big issues and the anime did a very realistic job of looking at it ! Very postive anime!
Beautiful Bones Sakurako’s Investigation EP 7 / The Entrusted Bones Partb 1
Sakurako comes to Shoutarou’s school festival and goes to his cafe ! After eating she takes of to an off limits science lab where she is upset how skeletons are taken care of! Shoutarou finds her and then his teacher Isozaki finds them and gives them a lecture ! She gets the bone skeletons in good shape ! Isozaki asks for help with a room of other bones / of course Sakurako is happy to help but a mystery evovles going through the old teacher’s boxes even finding human remains which the police take over !
This where it is a liittle confusing as Sakurako visits hospitalized professor named Shitara Masamichi and investigate a case! Is itt linked to the bones found at the School?
Lance N’ Masques EP 8 / GIVE Me COURAGE
I liked the homage to the Raiders Of The Lost Ark in the PV’s
All kinds of action going on / looks like the chief has more than riled up eveybody ! Lots of fights to be settled and repercussions ! Even once what was friendships are being tested!
The Perfect Insider EP 7 / Gray Boundary
The 2nd Anime Today to a movie Liquid Imersion for your senses ! Altered States
This was a good episode . Souhei is taking a better interest in the case ! Lots of interviews / reveals !
Two segments really stood out Souhei’s interview with Magata’s sister Miki in the best Japanese english I have ever heard !
And Moe’s dive into her inner thoughts in the deep immersion chamber like altered States or Ghost in the Shell ! She has a [plesant experience chasing after Souhei but then the imagge changes into a acoustic chamber to talk with Magata ( is she the programing) ans asks about Moe’s parents dying and how she got blood on her dress (she accidently broke Souhei glasses)
Oh Magata laugh after killing her parents!
I liked the old TV rebuild ? What was she up to ?
Noragami Aragoto OAD
I was ROFL from Start to finish ! Well played
Hiyori goes off to a ski resort with her parents ! But Yato / Yukine show up with pretty much everybody. A lot of ski slope hijinks with Yato / Yukine . Everybody gets to stay at Tenjin’s rented lodge ! The ping pong match was insane ! But a mystery writer in a slump tries to kill Yato for infro for his novel not knowing he can’t kill him ! After awhile Yato realizes somebody is trying to off him but becomes a detective ! He bames everybody by using a revenge therory revealing why after he diid so many bad things and gets various beatdowns even by Hiyori who kicks him out of the lodge only to have the writer kidnap him and throws him off a clifff. But Yato is more mad at the writer or being mad at Idols for good selling books because Yato tried being an Idol in one of his get rich quick schemes!
Friday is off to a great start!
The Ultra Anime Block just was cool ! / The ailien theme for both Hackadoll and Miss Monochrome!
Hackadoll EP 8 / Kind of Main Heroine-ish
Hackadoll’s 1-3 help an Ailien girl who got seperated from her mothership and is being pursued by MIB ( HD # 4) The ailien wants to go to a high place to summon the mothership but instead the girls take on a tour of the city ! Finally she gets them to take her to Skytree but is happy she spent time with them HD #4 tries to stop her buts taken along too ! Kinda of happy they did a good job in a rounabout way!
Miss Monochrome – The Animation 3 EP 8 / Project
MM and Ru-Chan rescue a cat Cato who is actually an ailien and for thanks takes her to the home planet where there is an Idol contest going on ! She enters but Ru-Chan is the winner for being able to vaccuum.
KAGEWANI EP 8 / Camouflage
I thought of 3 movies when I saw this. First Daylight Movie withe tunnel collaspe / then Dune with Sweet smell ( Spice) then a Godzilla movie with that collaspe !
Banba is going back to the school with his ex Saori ( a geologist ) and have just a tunnel to go through when it collaspes He wakes up and there is a sweet smell and he witnesses a creature basically suck the brains out of a wiman who is trapped . He finds Saori and just barely escapes when it is bombed and Saori is buried ? But she is an illusion as a super sized ( true form of the ground creature appears ! Just so creepy!
GARO: CRIMSON MOON EP 7 / MOTHER DAUGHTER
The seal on Seimei’s mother weakens and the Horror within tries to get out. As Douman works to free the Horror buried under Kumano, Michinaga sends Seimei to eliminate the threat. Raikou chases after Seimei to stop her from killing her own mother. Instead she turns her into a Madou Tool ! Seimei is becoming my favorite female anti-hero of the fall!
Noragami Aragato EP 20 / God of Calamity
After Kugaha’s defeat, Ebisu decides to conduct certain, secret tests that dont turn out so well ! Meanwhile, Yato reaches new highs and new lows after Hiyori gives him his own shrine. He follows her eveywhere ! He doent want to fade away if Hiyori forgets him. Hiki / Nora is dispatched to seperate Yato from Hiyori by their “Father ” A 3rd year Fujisaki Kouto at Hiyori’s school who runs into her ! Very sad for Yato! Yukine gets trained by Kazuma which is funny!
Heavy Object EP 8 / The War of the Ant and the Grasshopper – The Invasion of the Oceanian Military State III
Qwenthur / Havia go into the Oceania man made jungle and discover the Gen 0.5 object they report to the allied force but Filde overrides them even jams their signal! Filde has the object attack them but use a miisle to throw mud on it’s objects ! hey see a cabl dragging so they want to short it out Havia uses a front en loader but is shoot at > So Q tells Havia to climb the water tower becuse he is going to shoot a water pipe to make a curent ! It works and is picked up ON sat. So they get rescued then Baby Object has to go after Exact Javelin. Which she destroys Frolaytia confronts Filde who claims she cant touch him. However the whole coalition heard what happened ! But Havia kept his promise to punch him .
A Much better episode !
K 2nd Season / K Return of Kings EP 8 / Kaput
A Flashback is shown when Iwahune is in the disaster that took the lives of 700,000 people , He rescues a boy( Nagare ) using his power! So the showdown between the Alliance against the Grey King Iwahune commences ! It is a distraction so Yukari / Sukuna. Iwahune holds them off even destroying Reisi ( Blue King’s sword ) So everybody is second guessing themselves but Fushimi really lets Reisi have it to the point that Fushimi resigns after Reisi calls him a traitor. At the end Fushimi is going to join the Green Clan ?
Haikyuu!! Second Season EP 8 / llusionary Hero
The story behind Tsukishima’s lack of interest in volleyball is reveled in the backstory with Yamaguchi first meeting with him. It is reveled that both of them have older brothers that play on the Champion Karasuno team. Tsukishima is inspried by his brother being on the team and even joins the middlle school but his brother wont let him come to matches . But it his last game and he goes to watch and finds not only his brother not playing but is cheering for them only! But to present Yamaguchi tells Tsukishima how he and Hinata are like the sun and the moon. So Tsukishima goes and asks the Fukurodani Academy what do they get out of playing VB and one answers it took 3 years but it’s fun ! Very good life lessons in this EP
Seraph of the End 2 Vampire Reign EP 19 / Shinya and Guren
The Moon Demon Company discuss plans how to save the hostages and try to kill the strong noble vamps but Guren sets a time limit and not to take casulties even if means leaving hostages / squad members behind ! The reason this whole incursion was just a diversion and they are needed for another mission! The attack goes off but Guren and Shinya are trapped by Crowley / Horn / Chess. Yu convinces the Shinoa squad to save Guren / Shinya. Lots of pre-planning but when the action starts it was for good reason!
Comet Lucifer EP 8 / PATH
This was probally the best EP so far as many reveals / some sad made the story easier to understand ! So- Mon catches up to the Felia runaways with curry . He tries to talk Sogo about going further as what happened in the past. Apparently Do- Mon was assigned to protect Sogo’s mom who was working on ctstals from a comet that was sought by others and she was killed in a raid to steal the secrets! Do-Mon was close by but too late to save Sogo’s mom! So he basically adopted her! He did get the crystals back . And there is stiil something going on as to why Do-Mon quit the army and Gus did not like that ! The council that is trying to get Felia ( but dony like the tactics employed ) are missing along with their plane ! Only the one member is left that wants her directly along with her female asst. This is stiil a weal point as there is more to be revealed ! However Sogo and Moura have a plan to to narrow it down to themselves and Felia as not to get the others in harms way. But Moura shows Sogo her true form . A Good looking and explains how Giftum can bring an entire planet to life ! Despite its sometimes uneven episodes Comet Lucifer has settled in nicely ! Not Perfect but very good to watch!
Concrete Revoltio EP 8 / Nobody Knows About the Rainbow Knight
The one thing that keeps this anime from being at the very top of the Fall saeson is it’s jumping around and the new Superheroes / Villians each week ! However each week a visual delight / and moral social issues are ! Daitetsu is heading a group of Superheroes who dontb want to jointhe HB ! They were actually kidnapped by Rainbowc Knight to protect them but died in disgrace but was liked by Jirou. But Daitetsu is also Eye of Lucifer a villian he uses to get work . But Jirou dreeses as Rainbow Man and gets the truth exposed !
One Punch Man EP 8 / The Deep Sea King
CHP 23 Threat From The Sea / CHP 24 Sea King / CHP 25 Glimmer of Hope
I am not going into detail that much / but this was such an OP episode > It rivals “Kill La Kill ” for being over the top! Way too many scenes to talk about but The Sea King Sonic fight was awesome! Of course the comic satire of the episode is just so cool! The Heroes Assoc. are having a hard time with the Sea King ! Who will save the Shelter ?
LikeLike
Is there something in particular that makes you think there is a lack of interest in anime? Since I started hanging out on tumblr I’ve been sucked into all kinds of anime fandoms. It’s very lively there. I suspect the tumblr format is just really good for this kind of media fandom. I’m finding it immensely enjoyable.
http://mythopoetlovesanime.tumblr.com/
LikeLike
I am not saying myself as you can see ! But I am talking about bloggers / Anime interest sites seem to have more live action / game posts than anime lately ! I would kinda ignore the not stellar Fall season but I look at the whole anime kingdom as t the upcoming season!
It could be world / national events but this was before the last couple of weeks .
And on the CR forum it seems a lot of the the good posters have vanished ! This could be because the season is not the most oh wow type but a lot the 2nd cour shows are doing quite well !
But back to CR there was big crackdown on posting in the forums that was the standard for years and now things are taboo! It kinda turned me away !
I know you post a lot it’s just one of those gut feelings that something is amiss I hope I am wrong really!
I watch a lot of OVA’s / Specials/ movies and read a lot of manga too .
I checked your site I like Yona and all caught up on the manga. Watched BBB / sub Dub !
I just watched an older anime that was redone / besides awesome old Rock and Roll music some of the best OP street fights > I am talking about the old style gangs . This is BE-Bop High School ! Crude yes at times but the music fights are great ! I grew up on older anime and this is fun to watch !
LikeLike
I’ve been away from the Crunchy forums for a bit.. What was the big crackdown?
LikeLike
First Happy Thanksgiving ! I saw all the crazy wind damage in your area ! I hope you werent affected too much!
Yea if there was a thread that nobody posted for a while and you added something you were told not to double post after years of doing it you either had to add or edit your old post !
Then of course image posting / I know it’s 2 / 3 but again I liked doing 4/ 5 like the bloggers and that was a no-no.
One crackdown was the endless over qouting like in an argument but that actually was needed.
Then one that ruffled a lot of people / the Show Antipaction threads would no longer be used for discussin threads after years of doing it that way . To me it just creates duplicate threads ! There’s a couple people who worked hard on that and it felt like a slap in the face!
Now hardly anybody posts me included amd or the threads are less interesting. they took the fun out of what was a good point about CR.
With the recent annoucements of more $$$ coming in it just seems there was a shakeup / crackdown. Thats’s my take!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve also been a while for a while and wow, that all sounds… really weird. Maybe I’ll get lucky, get hired, and be able to make some changes back to the way things were before haha.
LikeLike
Like anything, I think anime goes through different phases and waves. I don’t think the medium’s dying or going through a real dearth of creativity or anything. Certainly, there are production issues throughout the industry, but stuff like Concrete Revolutio is proving that great anime is still being made and still can be made.
And, as far as I’ve heard, anime’s more popular than ever in the Western fandom. Toonami’s getting great ratings, CR’s subscriber numbers continue to rise, and new people are always finding out about it. It’s just that a much smaller number of people work their way deeper into the fandom where we are—most don’t need or necessarily want that level of engagement.
LikeLike
At least you aren’t /reading/ OPM. That would really drive you insane, especially with English Shonen Jump’s irregular release schedule for new chapters. During the Boros fight (which is gonna be the finale for this season- HYPEEE), the mangaka actually went back and redid several chapters… and Shonen Jump published the edited chapters one week at a time. Just… urgh.
Not much to say about Noragami that you guys haven’t said. But it really is the most solid show of this season, and possibly last season as well. Lovin’ it.
Saw this week’s and last week’s Gundam in a mini-marathon, which (I think) helped balance out the episodes tone-wise. It’s really starting to hit its stride, and OH MY GOSH ORGA WAS SO CUUUUUUUUUUTE~~~~
…I still need to see this week’s Haikyuu. Even if I’m reading the manga (and oh my gosh is it a blast), watching the show is its own reward. That thing is sheer campiness, and I love it.
LikeLike
Oh, man, reading sounds bad. I mean, I’m used to heartbreakingly long waits in between chapters of Chihayafuru (and now Akatsuki no Yona) and their monthly release schedule, but with shounen battlers that would be even worse. ;-;
Orga was indeed cut, while also keeping his hotness. Very impressive showing from this young man.
LikeLike
Speaking about the harems, I actually liked how it worked here since it’s clear that everyone is completely fine with this relationship, in a good position from it, is getting what they want out of it etc. As long as consenting (fictional) adults are happy with it I see no issues!
LikeLike
I definitely do recognize that all the stuff that you’re talking about is true, but I still can’t get over vague feelings of squirminess about it.
LikeLike
Norigami: During the conversation between Hyori and Kofuku about Yatto, and gods, and how they cease to exist once forgotten, there is a cutaway shot of blue flowers… Forget-Me-Nots….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aha, I’m not very well acquainted with the language of flowers, so that you for pointing that out!
LikeLike