An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Month: August 2020

A Watchable Genius in War – Alderamin on the Sky Spoiler Review.

I’ve talked, previously, most notably in my review of Guilty Crown (And the Audio Commentaries) about the difficulty of having a genius character, particularly a genius with superior tactical and planning skills germane to the story they’re in, in a major protagonist role. However, despite the difficulties, it is actually possible to have a schemer character be well-written, effective, and not bring the show down around them. I submit as evidence Ikta Solork, and Alderamin on the Sky.

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The Color of Pain – Black★Rock Shooter Spoiler Review

It’s going to be hard to talk about Black★Rock Shooter without first addressing what this even is.

Like the Mekakucity Actors and the Kagerou Project as a whole, Black★Rock Shooter is a multimedia franchise with its roots fairly deep in Vocaloid music. In this case, though, the first thing was actually just a piece of art, depicting the character Black Rock Shooter (You don’t pronounce the star, so I’m dropping it when referring to the character), which quickly inspired a vocaloid song that the artist collaborated to create the video for. Because its absolute base is much more nebulous, different Black★Rock Shooter properties, unlike different KagePro properties, can have not just meaty differences but entirely different premises and concepts. Because of that, I need to specify that I’m speaking only about the 8-episode television Anime.

That out of the way, let’s dive in.

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Seasonal Selection – Deca-dence Episode 7

The “Back mostly with Natsume” episode. Last time, Kaburagi started a new game, and now he finds the situation in Deca-dence. It turns out that the peace of maintenance has ended, and the current “story” sees a massive hole in the armor of Deca-dence, a breach from which the Gadoll must be kept. In the early action sequence, a group of Gadoll get through the breach where more are being fought and begin to slaughter Tankers before Kaburagi (struggling with his new avatar) and Natsume (with friends) take them out and move to reinforce the breach.

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When I’d Rather be Reading a Card Game Tie-In Novel from the 90’s… – Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary Spoiler Review

A strange title, I know, but I’ll get to it. First, it’s time to take a look at Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary itself. Funnily enough, it’s also based on a game, one out of a massive series of RPGs. But don’t worry if you’ve never heard of the Xuan Yuan Sword series or the particular game this show is “based on”. I hadn’t, and from what I’ve looked up about it after the fact it doesn’t really seem to have much in common with what’s on the screen.

Set in a fantasy world that resembles a mythical version of ancient China, Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary follows a trio of characters who had their village destroyed by the burgeoning Taibai empire. Sisters Yin and Ning escaped, though the younger sister, Ning, lost her arms in the process. Meanwhile, Zhao, a boy that both sisters had a crush on and who had deep feelings for Yin himself, was taken by the Imperial forces to serve as a slave. Zhao assumes he’s the only survivor of his people, and the sisters similarly think they’re alone and that Zhao was killed like the rest. Years later, exceptional circumstances drag the three back together on opposite sides of a major conflict.

Sounds like the recipe for some high drama, doesn’t it? But even the best recipe can fail if the execution is botched, and the execution in Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary is… a problem, to say the least.

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Seasonal Selection – Deca-dence Episode 6

Previously, we saw Kaburagi zapped into unconsciousness, his fate unknown. This week we follow up with Kaburagi as he’s sent to robot Gulag. True, Kamina Shades Manager wanted to simply scrap him outright, but with the suggestion that someone (likely his friend in charge of the Deca-dence fortress itself) pulled strings in his favor, he’s sent off to a “bug correction” camp instead.

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I really wanted to make a Chain pun but I guess there was a missing link – Gleipnir Spoiler Review

Gleipnir, in Norse mythology, is the unbreakable chain that holds the wolf Fenrir, fine as a silken ribbon yet stronger than iron. What does this have to do with an anime about a boy who turns into a super-powered mascot suit and an assortment of other weirdos who got bizarre and sometimes creepy transformation powers from an alien living in a vending machine? I’ll be honest, while I could probably make up an answer, I haven’t a clue as to what the real one is. And that, I think, helps illuminate both the strengths and weaknesses of the show, a topic I’ll come back to at the end

The first thing you might come to know about Gleipnir is that it is, according to some, fairly derivative of Mirai Nikki. At least, that’s something that I heard from a lot of sources including friends and other reviewers, and briefly thought myself in the first two episodes. Usually, it wasn’t in the most flattering terms. But, having made it through the whole thing, I find myself disagreeing, at least about Gleipnir being truly derivative, or a knock-off. I certainly understand how someone could come to that conclusion: there are points on which Gleipnir seems to want the comparison, down to its opening recreating, with its leading lady, Clair, the famous image of Yuno Gasai on the rooftop in red and shadow that’s found in the first opening of Mirai Nikki. But, on the whole, I think that while some comparison between the two is important, Gleipnir is more different than it is something living in a predecessor’s shadow. Delving into that comparison seems as good a place as any to start with the show.

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Seasonal Selection – Deca-dence Episode 5

“The world needs bugs.”

This episode is mostly concerned with the resolve of the situation that the previous episode established, which takes about the right amount of time. As various teams deal with the small fry on the mountain, the sacrificial teams challenge the fog-spewing Gadoll alpha, which is supposed to be unbeatable. Natsume has to face it down for her life and the lives of her squad, but of something manages to kill it, the game’s storyline will be thrown into disarray.

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