An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Battle School, But Weirder – Myriad Colors Phantom World Spoiler Review

So, while it’s something of an informal genre, I’ve talked a good deal about “Battle School” shows in the past. Typically, these are shows where the characters are in school (usually High School), but the curriculum includes some degree of combat. Most typically, these are Shonen action shows, and on the more prototypical end tend to have harem elements. The Battle School theme can at times be compared to Isekai, in that both have an oft-repeated archetypal form that’s not generally regarded as being of particularly high quality, having more of a mass appeal than a depth of meaningful storytelling.

In general, if given the choice between a bog-standard Isekai and a bog-standard Battle School, I’ll usually pick the Battle School, since even at their weakest they usually have a little more creativity, and the worst reprocessed examples I’ve seen haven’t been as bad (After all, Isekai gave us In Another World With My Smartphone). However, even then most battle schools do play it fast and loose with the logic of their settings. Chivalry of a Failed Knight was a fairly good show, all things considered, but it didn’t really explain much about its universe because, to be entirely fair, it didn’t need to. You might get a paper-thin excuse as to why the world has children wielding kickass powers to battle… whatever the hell it is they battle (that’s something that can vary from show to show) but it’s typically set dressing to give us the cool action scenes the show knows you want.

While Myriad Colors Phantom World has the basic trappings of the Battle School show down, its tone and themes are actually very different, which makes it something that, in my mind at least, is fairly interesting to explore in terms of its ideas, whether or not that makes it actually any more watchable.

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Reach Exceeds Grasp – Eden of the East (Plus Movies) Spoiler Review

Sometimes, creators don’t have a full story in mind when they start working on a project: they have the genesis of an idea, a good jumping off point, or even a first act, but not a conclusion. They have interesting questions, but the answers were not prepared ahead of time. Sometimes, we the viewers likely never learn that this was the case, because the later acts came together well enough that it didn’t matter that they were being made up as the story went along. Other times you get situations like many long-running TV shows and at least a few Stephen King novels, where whether the end result is good or not, it’s clear that there was some serious “Fly by the seat of your pants” writing going on.

Along with that, you also get situations like the one I discussed in Occult Academy where there was clearly some desire for a particular moment, and the story becomes contorted in order to reach that moment. This is even more usually a problem, and I refer you to my previous review for a lesson in why and how.

Why do I bring this up? Because Eden of the East is a franchise with an interesting relationship with both these concepts.

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Seasonal Selection – Shikizakura Episode 9

So, I misread things last week – the smooth talker from Black Team wasn’t the big monster; he was in the scene already. In the first couple of seconds, said big oni proves itself final boss caliber, however, as it swallows the core of the defeated Shinja and one-shots Kakeru out of the fight, cracking (nearly shattering) Ibara’s power suit crystal in the process, rendering Kakeru powerless to transform again and Ibara silent, at least in a conventional sense.

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Seasonal Selection – 86 Episode 19 (S2E8)

After another recap break in the action, we resume 86 with the hunt for the Morpho. Uncharacteristically for this show, the episode is mostly dedicated to the action. It’s extremely good action, but it does mean that the summary will cover more of what there is to say.

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Seasonal Selection – Shikizakura Episode 8

So, for those who wanted a darker and more serious episode out of Shikizakura, we have this one And, compared to the bits earlier in the show that have tried to go for more serious material, it’s fairly effective.

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Life in the Wired – Serial Experiments Lain Spoiler Review

There are a few shows that I’ve reviewed that can really be considered classics. A number of these are fairly well known to show their age; they obviously have something to recommend them, that their names are still remembered after twenty years or more, but they can be affairs where a casual viewer would probably prefer something that came after, learned from it, and built on it. It’s true not just in anime but in media in general that, after a point, anything is going to show its age. Some do so more gracefully than others.

But there are some older offerings that do really hold up, where even if they show age or are the product of their times, they can be looked at significantly later and still shine bright.

Serial Experiments Lain is a show that exists, compared to those two extremes, in a very interesting place. A big part of what means it straddles the line is that Serial Experiments Lain deals with humanity’s interface with modern technology, particularly computers and the internet. In some ways, Lain was actually weirdly prescient about how such technology would alter human lives. In others ways… it came out in 1998, so give it a break.

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Robot Zombies on Motorcycles! – Blassreiter Spoiler Review

There are some credits that you really have to sit up and take note of. I’ve talked at length about Studio Trigger and their particular brand of madness, but I have, perhaps, been remiss in mentioning Gen Urobuchi as well. He’s primarily a screenwriter, responsible for a number of original concepts, including shows like Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet and Madoka Magica. The former was something of a divergence from what he’s more famous for, while it’s said (though perhaps apocryphal) that he had to have his involvement in the latter concealed until after the third episode aired.

Why? Because this guy is nicknamed “Urobutcher”, and is well known for his dark, tragic, and often nihilistic stories, as well as his habit of slaughtering the casts of his shows, often including even likable characters to whom other writers would give a great deal of plot armor. He does have other offerings, including things like Gargantia and the film Expelled from Paradise that don’t exactly follow that pattern, but there’s a reason that Urobuchi has that reputation. 2008’s Blassreiter is no doubt part of his bloodthirsty reputation, a tortured and apocalyptic story in which Urobuchi actually manages to get more death moments for named characters then there are named characters in the show.

It’s also a show about robot zombies who sword fight while riding motorcycles.

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