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The spring has passed
And the summer come again
For the silk-white robes
So they say, are spread to dry
On the Mount of Heaven’s perfume~attributed to Empress Jitō
Anime
Zankyou no Terror, Episode 1
So, Zankyou no Terror didn’t make it into my First Impressions post due to a late start, but that’s okay because that was a premiere deserving of a full write-up. This is my first outing with Shinichiro Watanabe and I was, to be frank, hugely impressed with the episode from start to finish. I don’t have any experience with him regarding his style of direction, but if his other work is like this, I’m now much more interested.
Early Verdict: Premiere of the season, and it looks like Noitamina might be following up Ping Pong with another Anime of the Season candidate. Great aesthetics, great direction, great tension building, great everything. A must-watch in my book.
What can I even say about this shot? Just…man.
First Impressions: Summer 2014 Anime
Summer 2014 anime are rolling in, which means it’s time to decide how right I was about some shows and realize how miserably wrong I was about others. Fortunately, I don’t pollute my blog with those abominable season previews (I recently wrote a post that tackles more generally why you can’t judge a show’s quality without having seen it), so you’ll never know exactly what I was expecting. Instead, you get my generally unfiltered thoughts on the new shows of the season, based on what’s actually aired.
That’s the way I like it, and that’s the way I’m gonna keep it. And anyone who doesn’t like it—you can talk with my new best girl Sakurai.
Not included, but will be watching: Terror in Tokyo, Tokyo ESP.
If You Are in America…
…stop reading my blog and go watch 花火 and light sparklers with your high school friends and the girl you like, but won’t tell, and your pervy best friend who has more of a personality than you do and the cute alien girl who transferred to your class this semester and somebody’s hot older sister.
Seriously, guys…
Happy Fourth of July!
To everyone else in the world…happy Friday!
The World is Still Beautiful Review
So, my first venture into the realm of shoujo content…I liked it. Are you listening, rest of the anime world? This, right here…
This is how you do romance.
Mekaku City Actors Review
Sometimes it’s really easy to point to a specific part of a show and say, “This is where it went wrong.” Sometimes, a show is just bad from top to bottom, making it even easier to categorize a show’s flaws. Mekaku City Actors [SHAFT, 2014], appropriately for the studio from whence it hails, is not such an easy case to deal with. Straight up confusing at times, genuinely emotional at others, and just plain weird frequently, it feels like a classic case of misused potential. Even after twelve episodes of generally feeling ambivalent about the show as a whole, I still think Mekaku City Actors was trying desperately to tell an important story, and to be different enough that people would listen. Good intentions aren’t always enough, but for what Mekaku City Actors tried to be and for what it was, I’m giving the show a 6/10 (Ranking).
Do you like SHAFT? SHAFT likes SHAFT, too.
The Great Chaika Gif Gallery
I once had a dream: that I would have a Hitsugi no Chaika gif for any potential occasion. And yet, my imgur album had only a mere two gifs. And so, with the end of Chaika‘s first season approaching swiftly, I took it upon myself to create the greatest collection of Chaika gifs known to man—all in one place.
Gifs are nearly impossible to track back and credit to anyone person, but if you see your work included here and want to be mentioned, please leave a comment and I will add your name to my list of credits.
NOTE: I do not own any of the following images. Feel free to use them as you see fit. There is a Chaika gif for all occasions.
Now, behold! The Great Chaika Gif Gallery!
selector infected WIXOSS, Episode 12 (Season End)
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.
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.
Ping Pong the Animation Review
There are some shows that I consider “moments” shows. They’re shows you watch for the few seconds or few shots of brilliant beauty interspersed between a lot of reasonably good, but not great material. Ping Pong the Animation [Tatsunoko Productions, 2014] is what happens when you take a “moments” show and bring all the in between moments up to the level of the moments. It’s an unreservedly ambitious, glowingly creative and masterfully executed show worthy of the rating I’m about to give it. For all of the above, and everything I haven’t said yet, I’m giving Ping Pong the Animation a 9/10. (Ranking)
Spring 2014, Week 11: Highlights of the Week
Welcome to Week 11, the week the season starts to end!
This is a really serious show, you guys.
Mage in a Barrel 