Banana Fish - Episode 11 [Review]

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Steins;Gate 0 - Episode 21 [Review]

When I review a series, I try to avoid comparing the product at hand to whatever innumerable versions of it could have been, but I almost couldn't help myself with episode 21 of Steins;Gate 0. The plot primarily focuses on Okabe making a series of arduous time leaps to get back from 2036 to 2011, and though Maho's improvements to the Time Leap Machine allow for two-week leaps up to a point, eventually Okabe will have to revert back to the old two-day jumps. This means that it will take hundreds, if not thousands of leaps for Okabe to get where he needs to be, and all the while he has to deal with the physical pain of reawakening from his coma over and over, not to mention the work of re-explaining his situation. While Okabe has been in a dire cycle of time-leaps before, this kind of bleak, Sisyphean struggle feels like an honest attempt at engaging with Steins;Gate 0's untapped dramatic potential.

So it's a shame that the story has to rush through it all in a single episode. Obviously, extending this particular vision of Okabe's repetitive and draining quest for more than just an episode or two wouldn't make for good TV; it would be as miserable to watch as it must have been for Okabe to experience. But with a few tweaks and some spiced-up drama to fill in the gaps between time-leaps, I could see this premise serving as a much more interesting and propulsive hook for Steins;Gate 0 than what we've gotten for the past twenty weeks, a version of the show that allows us more time to fully reckon with this ruined future while also giving our hero a more engaging narrative focus. I'm not arguing that all of Steins;Gate should have been about Okabe's right to salvage Operation Arclight, but consider how much time this show has frittered away on stuff like Daru's Date Night and the Kagari plot (which still has yet to go anywhere). If this storyline had been given even just a half-dozen more episodes to breathe and get creative with how it handled the usual Steins;Gate formula, the series as a whole would feel much more satisfying as a companion piece to the original series.

That isn't what we got though, so we'll just have to make do with an episode that does a decent job with the material it was given. The direction and writing is slightly improved in the episode's first two-thirds – the narrative stakes and Okabe's own anguished resolve feel earned, unlike last week's inert and manipulative outing. Future Daru and Future Maho still don't get much to do beyond offer exposition, and even a reunion with Faris and Rukako blows by with little fanfare.

Amadeus is treated a bit better, serving as Okabe's guide and anchor as he travels further and further back in time, but the attempts at wringing some pathos out of her relationship with Okabe don't work for me. The AI has more or less wasted her potential as a tragic echo of the real Makise Kurisu, and she hasn't been given nearly enough screen-time to work as a character in her own right. This late in the game, Amadeus mostly feels like an excuse for Asami Imai and Mamoru Miyano to keep performing with one another. The scene where Amadeus and the rest of the Future Gadget Lab work to fend off the Strafor Forces so Okabe can avoid being captured and killed is fine, I guess, but it doesn't provide the warm-fuzzy feelings of camaraderie and hopefulness that I think it's going for. It's just another dot for the plot to connect before sending Okabe back to where we last left him, bursting into the lab to warn Present Day Daru and Maho about the imminent attack coming from Leskinen and his goons.

What happens next does manage to deliver those warm-fuzzies, as Daru gives Okabe a compliant right-hook to the face, and Hououin Kyouma emerges from the crumpled heap on the floor. Yeah, the animation and cinematography of this long-awaited return was wonky, but I don't think that could ruin the scene for even jaded fans. Seeing Okabe cackle maniacally and don his signature lab coat once more was a treat, made all the funnier by Maho's bewildered reaction at all of this, because of course she'd be freaked out. The stoic super scientist she's been crushing on all series is now rambling like a bug-eyed madman.

Kyouma's return is appropriately punctuated by a lab-coat swoosh and a dramatic declaration of “El-Psy-Congroo”, and even the incredibly stupid Leskinen scene from a few weeks back gets a nice payoff when Hououin Kyouma manages to out mad-scientist the mad scientist, with a little help from a battle-clad Moeka, who has gone far too long with nothing useful to do. I'm not at all crazy about the ending though, which sees the time machine possibly getting blown up again. To pull out that cliffhanger now after spending weeks trying to come back from the last time Suzuha and Mayuri exploded just feels lazy and anticlimactic. Steins;Gate 0 may have managed to put together at least one more decent episode before the season wraps up for good, but that final shot is just another reminder that this show has been a bumpy ride indeed, and I don't expect that to change in the season's final weeks.

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Free! -Dive to the Future- Episode 10 [Review]

By centering on just one character, this episode was the most successful of all Free! -Dive to the Future- so far. Whether you like Makoto or not (and if you like Free!, how could you not?), it's a relief to see the story this week from just one point-of-view. In “The Grab Start of Hope!” Makoto is our avatar and connection to the Free! universe, but he is not a passive one. As Makoto interacts with the people around him, he grows too. After weeks of whipping around from one character to the next every other minute, this steady focus on one person's story and development is a relief.

While the majority of the episode focuses on Makoto, it actually begins with Rin. Visual repetition makes the hand-off go smoothly. While Rin and Sousuke catch up and Rin asks an emotionally-charged question about Sousuke's surgery, a water droplet on a cafe glass is a stand-in for Rin's unseen tears. Almost directly after that, while Makoto and Nao discuss Haru's devastating (though informal) loss against the Swedish powerhouse Albert, a drop of pool water punctuates a heavy moment. It's the first of two effective instances of nonverbal storytelling. The second comes later, when Makoto lets a ladybug take flight off his fingertip, a gesture that only crystallizes for the viewer and Makoto all at once near the end of the episode. The ladybug represents the next generation of swimming talent right as Makoto realizes his purpose: to be the person to guide that talent into their future success.

Makoto and his extremely Dad chic outfit (complete with a purse) continue to be our window to the story throughout, offering a consistent thread to hold onto when the swollen cast of characters gets to be too much. He chats on the phone with Nagisa and Rei, and we learn that Shizuru calls Haru's coach “Grandpa?” (There's no way that guy is older than 45, and yet he somehow has a grandkid in high school. I get that the show is trying to connect its giant cast with lots of family ties, but that one is hard to swallow.) It's fun to see Rei crack a joke with his underclassmen—it's hard to imagine the uptight Rei from season one doing something like that, and it's another one of those moments that shows how everyone is growing up. Another moment comes when Haru takes Makoto's advice and ultimately does what his coach is telling him to do: work on polishing the basics of his technique. In the past, Haru might have gone all emo and inward for a few episodes before deciding to trust the people who care about him. Makoto understands Haru's mindset from a lifetime of friendship, but later he's able to tap into what his young protege Misaki is thinking too. This conclusion is particularly true to Makoto's nurturing character, while also showing his evolution into a more ambitious coach.

We have far more than twelve characters, but after this Makoto-centric episode, I think it might have been cool to focus each one on a different swimmer's perspective. A central focus did wonders for this episode, parting the confusion to add emotional heft while finally making me feel like I saw a character in this show grow as a person for once.

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Black Clover - Episode 49 [Review]

Well, now.

I'd be hard pressed to think of a way this Vetto fight could have hit my buttons any harder. It looked like things were wrapping up last week, but it turns out that Vetto let himself get stabbed on purpose as a way to nab Asta's sword, and you know how much I love hearing "one more thing" in my shonen pulp. It turns out there's one more final stretch of the fight, and this week's episode is an immaculately animated climax.

The Black Bulls are at their limits, and Vetto only appears to be growing more and more violent, contorting himself in wild and unnatural ways. Vanessa's still moving Asta around with her thread, but the show is leaning much harder into the exhaustion that our heroes are feeling. Asta's such a doofus that it too easily feels contrived when the other characters pontificate about how inspiring he is, but everything clicks this time around. You've seen these circumstances before, but rarely with this much purity. The "demon" inside Asta's grimoire is summoned, and the show's first opening theme kicks in as an insert song to score the final blow. For a series that so often struggles to feel sincere, this is as good a celebration of the genre you could ask for. It's so close to being Asta's Super Saiyan moment.

And the tables don't turn just enough for the good guys to win, they go so far as to wreck Vetto beyond repair. Asta is "A demon who devours even despair," (I love reminders that Asta's powers are evil, but in a good way) and Yami finally makes his appearance at the end of the battle to one-shot what's left of Vetto. There's a frustrating convenience to when Yami can and can't participate in this arc, but the last scene is so good it's hard to argue. "Consider this my thanks for looking after my squad." What a one-liner.

This is an astonishing finale for the Vetto fight that leaves the audience in awe of what the heroes are capable of. Long, strenuous effort is rewarded with a glorious smackdown. As we're closing out, we get a brief glimpse of Vetto's childhood, his devotion to Licht, and his reason for hating humans. In line with Asta's demonic powers, it does force you to pause and wonder who the real underdogs are. The Black Bulls are scrappy, and that's what makes them pure of heart, but shift the perspective just a little and they become a band of monsters who will crush anything that gets in their way.

For how clunky this arc began, it's turned into something amazing. This is some stellar material. I don't know if the show will ever stop being a punching bag as a messy pantomime of the shonen formula—and it's still really messy—but when it hits, it hits hard. Black Clover pulled out all the stops this week.

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Banana Fish - Episode 11 [Review]

If the last few episodes of Banana Fish were a bit much for you, episode 11 acts as a breather. Ash resettles with his gang in New York, he and Eiji get "comfy", and the focus shifts from plot developments to character revelations. Stuff still happens, but it's largely set-up for the next arc. After lots of action and tragedy the past few weeks, it's nice to relax for a bit and watch these boys comfort each other. And if you're along the ride because of the Ash/Eiji relationship—which I'm guessing is most of you—"The Beautiful and the Damned" is a real treat.

For all the seedy fascination its drug plot demands, this show keeps plugging along because of its characters. The heroes are so likable (even when they're doing awful things!), the villains despicable but (at least in Yut Lung's case) fun to watch, and the relationships between all of them so strong. Nowhere is this more obvious than its central pairing, which this episode seems set to explore. First, in a hilarious sequence at the beginning, we see the wildly different way that Ash treats Eiji from everyone else around him. Ash's gang is terrified of his temper, enough to refuse to wake him up from his two-hour nap on time. This surprises Eiji, who is used to the softer side of Ash. The gang members are likewise surprised when Eiji literally slaps Ash awake, and their boss reacts with little more than grumbling and this priceless face. Later, in a conversation between Ibe and Max, Max thinks it's curious that Ash and Eiji have gravitated toward each other when they seem so different. Ibe sees that Eiji has brought out the part of himself that's in Ash. Ash can only really act like a teenager when he's around Eiji.

Ash and Eiji also get some moments alone, where Ash allows himself to be vulnerable with him in a way that he can't with anyone else. He confesses a really silly childhood fear—pumpkins—which gets Eiji howling with laughter, given how incongruous this seems from Ash's hardened attitude toward everything else. It's yet another reminder that Ash is still a kid deep down, even if that only comes out around Eiji. Then there are some more physical moments between them that the show doesn't hesitate to hover over longingly. (For the record, this framing is straight out of the manga.) "Two bros chillin' in the hot tub five feet apart 'cause they're not gay" don't hold each other like this or fall asleep in each other's laps like this. Ash and Eiji may never explicitly state the nature of their feelings, but it's evident through their actions in a way that would never be in doubt if they were a man and a woman. Plus, there's the fact that Eiji gets more than a little excited at the thought of Ash dropping his pants.

Frankly, this central relationship is most of what makes Banana Fish work. The conversations about rape and abuse are better than some others in its subgenre, but I can think of plenty of other anime that handle these elements leagues better. (Granted, most of these have come after Banana Fish, so I can see why it stood out in the 1980s.) The drug plot, violence, and gang elements feel kind of silly and juvenile when you stop to think about them for too long. ("MK Ultra but For Real" sounds like a plot from a creative writing high school class.) It's the character relationships that elevate this show beyond its genre trappings, and Ash and Eiji form the show's beating heart. Their bond transcends even their other friendships and familial-esque relationships in the series. Love and desire don't need kisses or sex scenes to communicate themselves. Ash and Eiji show their love in everything they do. It's obvious if you've watched much romance anime how much the language evokes imagery of devoted couples. Denying the romantic implications makes Banana Fish as a show less interesting to me, and it also makes many of their interactions nonsensical.

I want to come back to the way that Banana Fish discusses rape and abuse, especially in these private conversations about Ash's history and trauma. There have been times when the story's really stretched my suspension of disbelief, as in the revelation about his rapist baseball coach when he was a child. The kind of victim-blaming he receives from the small town really doesn't feel like a believable reaction to an 8-year-old boy being assaulted by an adult man. (When people do take the perpetrator's side in child rape cases, they tend to blame whatever adults they think are "coaching" the kids, not the kid himself.) His homophobic dad's advice to "just take it" feels even more unbelievable. Banana Fish makes a lot more sense when you see it through the lens of its adult female writer and audience, reflecting and processing their female experiences with sexual assault through a male character. This is yet another thing it has in common with other BL genre works and a lot of slash fanfiction in general. There's been much ink spilled about how BL is a way for women to process their feelings about men at a distance, usually in the context of romantic fantasies, but I wonder how much that can be said about women writing about sexual violence against men as well. It's something I've started thinking about over the last few weeks, but I definitely want to explore further in future reviews as I see how Banana Fish further handles this topic.

Regardless, we get to see Ash be vulnerable in Eiji's arms. This makes it all the weirder in the later part of the episode when he transforms back into his precocious, super-hacker, genius mob boss self. At least the spyware is one of the more believable technology updates. (Though it begs the question, if Ash has had spyware on Dino's computer this whole time, why wasn't he aware of some of the mob's other plans? People put everything on computers these days, after all.) The theme of the episode seems to be how Ash can show so many different faces to so many different people. With some, he's the criminal mastermind, steepling his hands Gendo Ikari-style as he walks them through his latest airtight scheme. With Eiji, he's a normal, sad, hurt teenage boy, who can joke and sob and confess silly childish fears like pumpkins. It's the many sides to Ash that make this story so fascinating, giving viewers the hope that he can find a more authentic self underneath all that trauma one day.

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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episode 73 [Review]

The mystery surrounding Mitsuki's disappearance grows even more complex as Boruto and Sarada seek answers from their teammate's elusive parent. Upon arriving at Orochimaru's research lab, Boruto is shocked to find two other Mitsuki clones in different stages of development. Despite being bothered by Orochimaru's seeming lack of concern over Mitsuki's disappearance, Boruto tasks him with running some tests on the messenger snake his wayward teammate left behind. When the tests fail to generate any helpful results, Orochimaru suggests having a figure known as the White Snake Sage extract and analyze the snake's thoughts. The next phase of their mission clear, Boruto and Sarada head to Ryuchi Cave (the Sage's home) but are quickly intercepted by Team Moegi, who are intent on bringing them back to the village.

With only minimal progress made on the story front, this week's episode is largely able to get by on its entertaining character interactions. For example, this is the first time Boruto and Orochimaru have met, and although their dynamic is about what you'd expect, it's fascinating nonetheless, with the brash youth having no patience for Orochimaru's enigmatic riddles and poetic turns of phrases. Even though Boruto doesn't appear to think much of Orochimaru, it's clear that his father's former nemesis sees a lot of promise in the lad and thinks he can help Mitsuki mature into a more rounded person. Since the gang is visiting Orochimaru's lab, it's kind of a shame to see Karin and Suigetsu relegated to brief cameos. Sure, Sarada's already met them, but it would've been fun to see them engage in some extended interactions with Boruto. Also a highlight this episode is Naruto's exchange with Konohamaru, which is surprisingly poignant, and it marks one of the few times a character from the previous generation has taken issue with Orochimaru's past misdeeds. While Naruto obviously had his reasons, Konohamaru's frustration at not being told that one of his pupils is the son of his grandfather's killer is palpable.

Boruto and Sarada's determination to bring Mitsuki back into the fold is somewhat reminiscent of Naruto and Sakura's attempts to bring Sasuke back to the Hidden Leaf. Like his old man, Boruto is willing to go up against his peers if it means locating his best friend. Orochimaru even states that Boruto is just like the Naruto of old. While it's highly likely that Boruto and Sarada will eventually convince Team Moegi to aid them in their quest, the prospect of a Team 7/Ino-Shika-Cho face-off is certainly exciting.

Although Boruto and Sarada only come a little closer to tracking down Mitsuki this week, they learn a great deal about their friend's pre-Hidden Leaf life. Despite criticizing Orochimaru's parenting skills, Boruto has a brief about-face when he discovers that he doesn't know nearly as much about his best friend as he likes to think. It's frustrating to see our heroes impeded by obstacle after obstacle—they now have to fight their own friends in order to continue on their journey—but this is hopefully in service of making the forthcoming payoffs feel even more rewarding.

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