An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Category: Anime Reviews

Wacky, Sleepy Antics – Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle Spoiler Review

We once again visit Generic JRPG Land, the world that always seems to exist, particularly for parodical or comedic subversion, where a human hero must do battle with the Demon King to save the world or some nonsense like that. Except this time we’re not following the hero this time. Instead, we’re going to spend out time with the kidnapped princess who would normally exist just to motivate said hero.

She’s tired, bored… and about as clever, industrious, and self-centered as Wile E. Coyote.

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After the End – Darling in the Franxx Spoiler Review (Part 3; Episodes 16-24)

So, after two weeks, 26,000 words, and 15 episodes, what more can really be said about Darling in the Franxx? It’s probably no surprise that the answer is “quite a lot!”, at least given the close nature of my episode summaries for this show and the number of episodes left. But it’s more than that: we’ve been through the conventional best parts of the show, but ahead of us we still have the unconventional, the strange, and the troubled… which are on their own fairly fascinating, whether these elements worked or didn’t and how.

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The Bird That Shares Wings – Darling in the Franxx Spoiler Review (Part 2; Episodes 7-15)

It’s still January, so we’re still going to be taking a long, long look at Darling in the Franxx. Last week we looked at the opening act, which told the story of Hiro and Zero Two coming together, seemingly overcoming fates that would have seen them be trapped alone in the world. If you want the introduction to the show and a lot of material that this entry will largely assume you have, follow the link and read on. Where the show was set to go from there was a big question mark – there were hints of ‘more’ to come, but no real concrete outlook as to what we were doing next.

Seems like the perfect time for a beach episode to me.

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The Kiss of Death – Darling in the Franxx Spoiler Review (Part 1; Episode 1-6)

So, it’s January, which apparently means it’s time for me to do something long and different. This year, I’ll be looking into Darling in the Franxx, going through it not as a whole show in a single go, but arc by arc to try to really go a little deeper. And you may be inclined to ask “Why?”. What makes Darling in the Franxx worth an extra level of effort?

Well, let me answer the question with a question. What’s your favorite anime? And what qualifies a show for that vaunted status? Honestly, go ahead and answer in the comments, I’d love to hear what people think about that. For me, it’s not a matter of quality alone. I recently covered Haibane Renmei, and said then that if I was put on the spot, that would probably be the show I’d name “best” of those I’ve seen. But, I also commented, it’s not really in contention to be what I’d call my “favorite” I made somewhat similar comments regarding Madoka Magica and Made in Abyss, stressing that there is, at least in my case, a disconnect between recognition of quality and favoritism.

For me, what places a show among my favorites is when it captures the imagination, meaning that it’s something I come back to and think about a good deal after – even long after – I’ve finished watching. Favorite shows are ones I return to, either for rewatches or just in terms of thought. These are often flawed shows, though they tend to have at least some great strengths. Memorable characters and creative scenarios are, generally the order of the day, as apply in shows like Robotics;Notes or Mekakucity Actors (Part of what’s probably my favorite franchise, the Kagerou Project, but which suffers some when viewed in isolation as an anime). And those elements certainly appear in what I’m willing to call my favorite show, Darling in the Franxx.

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Peace and Fluff – Helpful Fox Senko-san Spoiler Review.

What is fanservice?

When you say the word “fanservice”, I feel like most people think of something very particular – the beach episode, the hot springs episode, panty shots, or anything else that puts cute girls (or beautiful women) in skimpy outfits or less for the viewing pleasure of the audience or otherwise indulges prurient desires. And, certainly, this is a kind of fanservice… but it’s not the only one. I’ve talked about others before; in Granblue Fantasy when a ton of characters we’ve never seen jump out and show their stuff in the final plot episode, obviously to appeal to people who were their fans in the game even though the plot didn’t have room for them, that’s a kind of fanservice.

In short, while there is absolutely one kind that stands heads and shoulders above the rest, fanservice is material that exists to gift the audience with exactly what they believe they want, satisfying some natural viewer desire whether or not it’s actually germane or intellectually fitting.

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Cyberpunk, Magic, and Critical Mistakes – Shangri-la Spoiler Review

Shangri-la is a very peculiar show for me. I wanted to like it. I tried to like it. I gave it chance after chance and said time and again things like “they could recover from this”, or “they could still bring it back” or “that’ll make sense if…” only to be, in some sense, disappointed every time. This isn’t a show where every thing is bad, but it is one where critical flaws ultimately produce something of a frustrating experience.

In some ways, I think Shangri-la is best studied in a master class on how to not write speculative fiction. It is so particularly, precisely bad that we really do have to sit down and dissect its failures in order to understand and learn from them. In others, I have to wonder: is there anything worth saving? Well, there’s not much point dawdling, so let’s take a look. Fair warning, this is going to be a long one.

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A Vision of the Old Days: Record of Lodoss War (1990) Spoiler Review

So, what is there to know about Record of Lodoss War? This story is one that, if rumor is to be believed, is basically the creator’s Dungeons & Dragons campaign, and it practically relishes every expectation and convention of the AD&D/OD&D era, to the point where I’ve usually heard it compared to D&D tie-in material, particularly the Dragonlance novels, more than to later anime. At least to western audiences it sort of serves as a bridge between two spheres of nerdy media, Anime and the Western Fantasy/TTRPG scene. Given its age, it may no longer be a true “gateway” to Anime, but it probably served as one for a lot of people who were already into D&D.

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Where Angels Tread – Haibane Renmei Spoiler Review

Haibane Renmei is… actually, that’s probably going to be the hardest part of this review: defining what Haibane Renmei is. As a show it’s a little too plot-heavy to really be called Slice of Life, but also a little too low-key to be called a drama. Perhaps it would be best to term it as a Slice of Life show that evolves into an emotional drama, since there is absolutely a point where the show takes a turn for the dramatic?

It is, without question, a beautiful show. Despite being very down-to-earth, without a ton of places to show off impressive spectacle or visual wonder, I can say that everything looks amazing. The color, lighting, backgrounds, character design, and motion are all quite striking in their own ways, despite being fairly humble. This is a show that takes things that are plain, and makes them memorable and beautiful with its focus and care.

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Would you like Sadism with that? – Blend-S “Spoiler” Review

Here I go, reviewing another Slice of Life show that doesn’t really have much of a plot to spoil. The idea of Blend-S is that a girl, Maika, wants to get a part-time job so she can save up the money to study abroad because she loves everything foreign. However, her employment chances are hurt by her meek demeanor and intense resting death glare. Despondent, she visits Cafe Stile where the manager, an eccentric foreign goofball, at once falls head over heels for Maika. Even once his other employees knock a little sense into him, an offer of employment still stands, because Cafe Stile is a character cafe, where the waitresses act out particular types, and Maika’s absolutely withering unintentional glare makes her the perfect call to become the cafe’s new character: a vicious sadist! Which is, of course, about the farthest thing from what she really is.

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From Sigil with Love – Chaos;Head Spoiler Review

Chaos;Head is another entry in the vaunted Science Adventure series. These shows aren’t always strictly the best (though they do contain some excellent entries), but in my experience they are typically very fun. These shows delve into concepts grounded in urban legend, psuedoscience, or light science fiction and typically do their best to spin them into emotional character-driven dramas. In the case of Chaos;Head the concept on offer is Subjective Reality – that is, the idea that what’s “real” is not an absolute fact but rather a fact that can be determined by the will of the observer or the consensus of conscious thought.

And with that, some of you will get the review title. Hats off to the ones who know that reference.

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