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Showing posts from June, 2021

MARS RED ‒ Episode 13

In fact, this finale is buoyed by its confidence, as it eschews any temptation to throw last-minute curveballs at its characters. Instead, its conclusion feels like a natural resting point. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko

Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko feels like more of a character study and a series of slice-of-life sketches than a feature-length film. Its depiction of the life of a girl on the cusp of adolescence is very on-point, although its story ultimately doesn't leave a strong impression beyond that. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Higehiro ‒ Episode 13

If lame attempts at resolving years' worth of childhood trauma over the course of a single conversation aren't your bag, though, then don't worry, the show has you covered with another 10 minutes' worth of repeating old beats over again. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Megalobox 2: Nomad ‒ Episode 13

The whole season has been chiefly concerned with how men can often feel forced to express their pride and masculinity in harmful and toxic ways, and how the powers-that-be will exploit that desperation for entertainment and profit. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Goblin Slayer Novel 11

“A problem” is, in some ways, a good way to define the storytelling here on the whole. It's not a bad book, and the development of the desert nation is interesting, as are the new races who are introduced. But the interlude chapters in the first person feel disjointed and detached from the rest of the novel. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Pompo: The Cinéphile

Pompo: The Cinéphile is the perfect showcase of anime cinema – with equal emphasis on both words. Every single frame is packed with vibrant colors and flavors, with snappy transitions between animation-like and cinematic expression. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Record of Ragnarok

Record of Ragnarok is a show of extremes. Both within the text and beyond it, this is an anime that rapidly oscillates between highs and lows in every respect. I feel that in so many ways it says a lot about the state of the industry. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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To Your Eternity ‒ Episode 11

Okay. Now that I've finished my post-To Your Eternity routine of frantically pacing my office and screaming, “My boy! My precious lizard-faced boy!” for ten minutes without interruption, I think I might be ready to tackle this review. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Tokyo Revengers ‒ Episode 11

There is some short-lived tension over whether Draken will actually die, and it leads to probably my favorite scene when Mikey does the classic shonen leader speech – only to sneak off once Draken does pull through to quietly. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Higehiro ‒ Episode 12

I maintain that Higehiro has done a pretty good job of telling an emotionally resonant story about believably damaged and likeable people, but in recent weeks the show just hasn't had the visual chops or the storytelling skill to handle high melodrama. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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By the Grace of the Gods Season 1

This plainly isn't going to be a show for everyone. It's slow-moving and doesn't always use its plot points or characters as well as it might, and apart from their work “transferring” humans from earth to Seilfal, the gods are almost non-entities. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Moriarty the Patriot ‒ Episode 23

We have arrived, then, at the final problem. Canonically, this is the story that originally introduced Moriarty, both as the Lord of Crime and in general, so it may not be overstating to say that this is the end goal of the entire series. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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86 ‒ Episode 11

Two weeks ago, Episode 9 ended with our beloved cast of characters marching off into the unknown. Since then, it's been a series of constant surprises; I had absolutely no idea where they're going or what's going to happen. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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WAVE!! Let's Go Surfing

There's something fascinating about WAVE!! Let's Go Surfing, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the content of the show. It is, in many ways, emblematic of a kind of content-farm approach to media that is driven entirely by profit. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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SSSS.Dynazenon ‒ Episode 12

Going into SSSS.Dynazenon, my initial question was whether it would "live up" to SSSS.Gridman. But that's inapplicable to the series, because it's clear that it's not a sequel or a spiritual follow-up, but a companion to it. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Higehiro ‒ Episode 11

I can absolutely empathize with Sayu not wanting to go back to the place where she lost her friend, and lost her own sense of self-worth on top of it all. In that way, it's really an unambiguously good thing that Yoshida is there with her. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Full Dive ‒ Episode 11

Given that I'm clearly not in the audience that finds these odd sidebars all that funny, it really undercuts any strides I feel the series has made when it's taking up my time with violently repetitive poop jokes. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Odd Taxi ‒ Episode 11

Can you hear the sound of the engine? That's right, it's Odd Taxi, pulling up with another episode, dropping off big answers, and keeping some bigger questions still locked in its trunk. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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MARS RED ‒ Episode 11

Maeda's return is an appropriate example of MARS RED's strangeness and sloppiness. This was last week's big cliffhanger, but our former protagonist exits the stage almost as soon as he enters it. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon GN 1

This book is a bit darker than your typical yuri manga. Hinako is desperately trying to figure out a way through life when we meet her – she's about to have a date with a man who is financially successful, nice, and good-looking, and she really, really doesn't want to go. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Super Cub ‒ Episode 10

Koguma has a stark realization: she can't ride in all this snow. I mean, she could, but… at what risk? However, Reiko has different plans for her, and demands that Koguma come over immediately... https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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MARS RED ‒ Episode 10

MARS RED punked me good. Here I was brushing up on A Midsummer Night's Dream to prepare for this episode, based on its title, only for the events to turn around and reference the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice instead. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Odd Taxi ‒ Episode 10

Twenty minutes sure do zoom by when you're sitting in the backseat of this particularly peculiar cab. It also feels increasingly evident that not a single second of Odd Taxi has been wasted. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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To Your Eternity ‒ Episode 9

I mean, who among us has the power to resist the glorious montage that opens up the episode, where Fushi and Gugu embrace their roles as the towns local “monsters” by spooking the hell out of everyone in sight? https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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Higehiro ‒ Episode 10

Yoshida wants to do right by Sayu and send her on her way back home, but he is also struggling with how much he has come to care for her, and how badly he feels he needs her in his life. https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
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