Episode Write-ups

selector infected WIXOSS, Episode 12 (Season End)

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Sometimes, I feel like selector infected WIXOSS is deliberately trying to be a deconstruction of Madoka Magica. I think Madoka is a good show, but I don’t really like it. I haven’t seen the movies, but I always felt like the show itself was just a little bit too…easy. Everything fell together too perfectly, the ending was too convenient and the characters served their purposes a little bit too well. Weird complaints, I know, but seeing as WIXOSS currently feels like a more engaging, more interesting and more substantial version of Madoka, those little differences mean a lot.

selector infected WIXOSS

J.C. Staff doing their best SHAFT impression.

And this is the last time I’m going to compare the two shows, because WIXOSS has obviously diverged from the path Madoka took. Essentially, episode 12 reached the end of Madoka and showed what happens when you have all the right pieces (enough wins, a grand battle, even a special power), but everyone isn’t on the same page. And now heading into selector spread WIXOSS (sweet name) in the fall, WIXOSS is firmly out of Madoka territory.

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selector infected WIXOSS, Episode 11

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Another week, another really good episode from selector infected WIXOSS. Have I said enough times how pleased I am that WIXOSS is turning out to be good? Suddenly, we’ve moved from having characters that are essentially faceless to characters with defined personalities and desires, and character growth happening all over the freaking show. Man, stuff like that gets me excited to watch a show. And WIXOSS is now at the level where I wait to watch it when I’m not exhausted, because I want to have the best experience I can.

selector infected WIXOSS

It doesn’t really fit into anything else I want to talk about, but this was such a lovely moment between Ruko and her grandma.

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selector infected WIXOSS, Episode 10

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If you had asked me after week 4 which anime would be the most consistent through the rest of the season, I probably would have told you Ping Pong, and I would have been right. If you had asked me after week 4 which anime would show the most improvement over the next six weeks, I would not have said selector infected WIXOSS, and I would have been wrong.

I am genuinely impressed with WIXOSS currently, and it has done a ton to restore my faith in Mari Okada’s skills after Nagi no Asukara went off the tracks in its second cour. For a long time, WIXOSS has essentially just been running on having a twisted plot and a foreboding atmosphere, and that’s been enough to keep me interested. Now, though, Okada is starting to weave in some truly fascinating character threads and is slowly deepening both the characters and the pit into which they are descending.

selector infected WIXOSS

If you were doubting at all that WIXOSS was calling for Madoka comparisons…

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One Week Friends, Episode 9

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There were a lot of dangers for One Week Friends coming into this episode, and, sadly, it seems the show just couldn’t avoid all of them. As I go on here, keep in mind that One Week Friends has been in my top 4 shows of the season since week one, and so I hold it to a higher standard. I’m about to be somewhat rough with this show, and its because my expectations were not met and I felt the show got away from the things that make it exceptional, tumbling into the mundanity of the rom-com-drama genre in places.

One Week Friends just isn’t built to handle big drama, but that’s what the show tried to pull off this week.One Week Friends Continue reading →

One Week Friends, Episode 8

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Ah, man. I cried a lot watching this episode. It started with Shogo throwing the towel in Hase’s face in one of the best reactions to a PDA I’ve ever seen, and then came the walk…but we’ll get there. Brains Base is doing fantastic work on One Week Friends, but this episode took things a step farther. The writing and direction continue to be excellent, and really the whole package of this show amounts to what Kotoura-san could have been. Parts of this episode started to remind me of Toradora! and comparing anything to my third favorite anime of all time is a huge compliment. So, about this episode….

One Week Friends

“Oh, a beach episode? Seen one, seen them all.”
How wrong I was…

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selector infected WIXOSS: Episode 7

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Sure, there are some problems with this show, starting with the characters. But, it’s time to stop pretending that the sense of foreboding each episode creates isn’t a noteworthy feat in itself. Some shows do things better than other shows, and selector infected WIXOSS does a great job of controlling atmosphere each week, and has been doing it since the very first episode. Creating an appropriate atmosphere for your show isn’t enough to make a show great on its own, but it’s foolish to disregard a show’s good traits because not all of its parts are of equal quality.

selector infected WIXOSS

With toys like that, no wonder Tama likes to battle.

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Hunter x Hunter: Episode 126

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The title of this episode is “Zero x And x Rose.”

This will be a short post, because trying to applying simple language to this show, which I am more and more convinced is flirting with the purest incarnation of the glory of narrative fiction and the visual medium, is ultimately a futile and foolish exercise. And yet…there is no way that I can simply sit back and allow this moment to flow like water and be forgotten. It is true that the beauty of any point in time is that it passes on; we can never hold time still, for it ever marches forward, relegating the present to the past and bringing the future to the present. And yet…as a writer and as a person, I cannot help but try to hold time still for just a bit, to recall the memory of a moment which surpasses the limits of this time we face.

Hunter x Hunter Episode 126 King Surprised Continue reading →

selector infected WIXOSS: Episode 1

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selector infected WIXOSS, out of J.C. Staff and written by Mari Okada, has been my most highly anticipated show this season that wasn’t based out of a preexisting franchise (Fairy Tail, Soul Eater NOT), and I’m glad to say I wasn’t let down by the first episode.

I still have yet to see a J.C. Staff show that I regretted (or even disliked) watching, so until something comes out that really lets me down, I have more faith in them than there seems to be out in there in the community at large. However, I’m not blind to their missteps (Golden Time could have been totally irredeemable if not for the content), and WIXOSS seems like it might be the type of show that needs everyone on their A-game the entire way through. Generally, I have liked Okada’s work, but I do fear a bit having seen the stumbles that Nagi no Asukara experienced during its second cour.

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Review: Kyousougiga, Episode 00

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It’s generally against my philosophy on reviewing shows to do any sort of review after one episode (other than drops), but Kyousougiga‘s episode 00 is something I just couldn’t let go by without saying something. After Crunchyroll so graciously picked up the show a few episodes in, I gave it a shot out of boredom, knowing nothing about the plot, characters or anything else. I could try to describe the episode, but it’d be better for you to just watch it. Click the picture to take off on 25 minutes of excellence.

Kyousougiga

http://www.crunchyroll.com/kyousougiga/episode-0-646481

In case you need more convincing, allow me to highlight the strengths of this episode. Continue reading →