Review

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Release the Spyce - Episode 5 [Review]

Release the Spyce takes us back into the hunt for Moryo and the drugs that are flooding into Sorasaki, with Momo and Yuki working to track down clues that link the criminal syndicate to the mysterious company known as Kytuen Science. The girls brave an attack from one of Moryo's most intimidating goons yet, we're one step closer to fully revealing the identity of Tsukikage's traitor, and Momo even learns a lesson about taking some time for herself once in a while. The resulting twenty-four-minute adventure is another perfectly entertaining, well-directed, and mostly well-animated spy romp, though the heavy emphasis on the Moryo stuff this week goes a long way in highlighting that spark of flavor that has ironically been missing from Release the Spyce so far.

I think it's telling that my personal favorite chapter of Release the Spyce was last episode, which mostly ignored the the Moryo shenanigans unless it was using them as a means to the end of a character's emotional journey. When the nitty-gritty of the lore and plot are used as fuel for character-focused storytelling, I think Release the Spyce really sings. When RSP goes all in on its spy-ficton indulgences though, I find myself checking out a little, and not for lack of effort on the show's part. “Phantom Protocol” has all of the mainstays you could want from a spy piece: fancy gadgets, a fight with a muscly henchman that takes place on a train, a conspiracy that seems to reach into every corner of Sorasaki's criminal underworld, and a possible traitor that's luring our heroes deeper into Moryo's clutches. The mysterious woman in charge of Moryo even has a cute bird with its own little villain-scar, which remains an adorable touch.

Unfortunately, while all of these elements should make for a thrilling caper, Release the Spyce just can't seem to imbue them with the energy and suspense that the show reaches for. The ground-level gangsters, Emo and Marco, hardly make for threatening antagonists, and Moryo's brutish assassin Dolte is too easily taken down both times she tries to make a move on our heroines. The train fight between Momo, Yuki, and Dolte is likely the weakest action sequence that RSP has delivered so far, feeling uncharacteristically flat and sluggish for a series that usually has no problem making such scenes feel breezy and fun. There's also little for the team as a whole to do; the girls all make a big show of using Hatsume's invisi-cream to sneak into Kyuten Science, but not much comes of their infiltration, and the too-brief raid on one of Emo's drug operations is little more than an excuse for the other girls to throw Momo a birthday party. That's cute and all, but it's hardly the best use of the narrative's time.

The birthday B-plot is the other main focus of the episode, and even it feels weak in comparison to what's come before. Now that Momo has discovered the world of spies and spice, trained her body and mind to work with the Tsukikage, and overcome her rookie instincts to become a valuable member of the team, Momo's central conflict this episode is that she's not taking time to rest and relax. Sure, RSP makes an effort to tie this into Momo's continuing struggle to feel worthy of Yuki's mentorship, but I think there's something amiss with the story's sense of escalation when our protagonists' issues can be solved with a nap and a birthday cake.

It may sound like I'm down on Release the Spyce this week, but it's only because I still feel the show is capable of more than it's accomplishing right now. It's still a good-looking action series with fun characters and a great soundtrack, but it's also failing to make an impression with its story. The post-credits stinger names Hatsume as the mole selling Tsukikage out to Moryo, and putting aside whether or not this is a red herring, the biggest point of concern is that I had to double-check the show's wiki to remind myself who Hatsume was, because she's had so little to do outside of whipping up gizmos for the other girls to use. Hopefully next week's episode will give Hatsume and other members of the cast some more opportunities to stand out from the pack, and with any luck that more personal connection to the traitor-plot will give Release the Spyce a much-needed kick in the pants.

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Goblin Slayer - Episode 5 [Review]

So I believe this is the first episode of Goblin Slayer without any goblins in it. No goblin slaying of any kind takes place. Instead, as its title implies, ‘Adventures and Daily Life’ is about establishing the working routine of this world and the people who go about their business in it. And yes, that same well has already been visited in past episodes, but Goblin Slayer has never shrunk from reiterating itself. That sense of ongoing routine is baked into its premise, after all. And while I continue to be less than impressed with the show's insistence on presenting things as rote as possible, this episode at least succeeds at its clear goal of selling that ‘real fantasy world’ aspect.

The most clear story thread present in this episode concerns a pair of rookie adventurers taking on another classic early quest scenario: killing giant rats in a sewer. They lose their sword and talk to a procession of other characters about their options, eventually leading to a sit-down with the Goblin Slayer himself who gives them some good advice. The idea seems to be that this duo's interactions with the Slayer and other characters builds up this world to make it feel more alive. In that respect, adding this breadth of details works. But the episode still succumbs to the dry, flat sensibilities that have kept the show's engagement minimal in its least entertaining moments.

The episode's first half in particular is quite guilty of this. Large portions of it simply feel like the Goblin Slayer chatting with established characters to remind us of who they are. “I'm running into everyone today” he remarks at one point, commenting on how procedural this all feels. There is more of a sense of something developing with the rat-killing duo as their plotline comes and goes, but it's all still very meandering. It's not ever clear why we're taking this detour with these characters, save for it serving as a demonstration of how adventurers in this world can fail a quest in a way that doesn't lead to their horrific deaths. The story's insistence on not giving anyone names also frustratingly obfuscates if these two are meant to be characters who may recur later or simply a flavorful addition to an otherwise dull episode.

I keep circling back to discussing this duo rather than remarking on the titular Goblin Slayer's portion of the episode simply because his contributions feel so unremarkable. His repeated catchphrase throughout this episode is “I didn't do anything”, intended as a humble reaction to being thanked for helping people, but it comes off more like an apt observation of how uneventful his scenes feel. He gets some decent world-building bits, like dispensing more realistic fantasy weapon advice to the rat exterminators. And the whole portion at the end with him sitting in on the promotion exam turns out to be ripe for setting development that feels like it might actually lead somewhere later down the line. That's further served by all the information we glean from the discussion between Guild Girl and her Priest friend after Goblin Slayer leaves the room.

The show also continues to get some entertaining mileage out of its main character's one-track goblin-slaying mindset, with his line about the best way to replace a lost sword being to ‘steal one from a goblin’ getting a good laugh out of me. Given how tonally distaff the show can be sometimes, I find myself questioning how seriously I'm supposed to take it in any given moment, so some genuine humor is appreciated. The point of that may be to contrast with the ups and downs of how things turn out for the adventuring duo, with the guy's savage attack on a giant cockroach giving way to a jovial tavern celebration of their triumphs. As with the horrors pointedly demonstrated in the first episode, this one seems to be pushing the idea that such events are commonplace in this world.

But framing the happenings of a fantasy town as boring and routine doesn't necessarily make for the most interesting half-hour of television. This episode feels like a collection of framing stories that would have been better used between more adventurous parts of episodes where more stuff actually happened. Putting them all together in this way just comes off like rote filler in a show that isn't running long enough to need it. It's kind of neat that this fantasy story is constructed with enough moving parts that an episode like this could be done so early, but just because they could do something like this doesn't mean they should.

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Sword Art Online: Alicization - Episode 5 [Review]

With episode 5, the series makes a much-needed transition back to the physical world to show what happened in the wake of Johnny Black's attack from the end of episode one. This episode doesn't quite explain why Kazuto is in Underworld, but it does set up most of the context necessary for that explanation next week. Still, as setup episodes go, this is a quite effective one that ties in some threads from various other parts of the franchise.

This episode corresponds exactly to the first 37 pages of novel 10, though it's the least direct adaptation so far. While some scenes are copied practically word-for-word from the source material, others are new. The most significant thing dropped is a more detailed commentary on AIs and how Yui carries out her searches, but I thought that bogged the story down when I was reading the novel, so it's not missed here. I was also pleased by how this version keeps the supporting cast more involved, such as with Klein driving Asuna and Suguha around during the investigation. The most significant addition is that various characters are shown using the Augma devices from Ordinal Scale so they can interact with Yui on location in the physical world. It's a slick way to integrate the movie content without disrupting the original story at all. Another addition is the opening scene that specifically links the incident with Johnny Black back to the raid on Laughing Coffin in Aincrad, as shown in the GGO arc. It's an example of a scene that works better in animated form than it might have worked in print, making for a sharp inclusion.

From a pure storytelling perspective, the most significant moment is the formal introduction of Rinko Kojiro, the coworker/lover of Akihiko Kayaba who was mentioned briefly in the epilogue of the Mother's Rosario arc as the person who had passed on the designs for the Medicuboid from Kayaba. She's a crucial link in the overall story, and not just because she provides the means for a disguised Asuna to sneak onto Rath's Ocean Turtle. (The “rath” creature from the poem “Jabberwocky” has been described as both a turtle and a pig, hence the significance of Rinko's observation about what the Ocean Turtle looks like. In other words, it's another overt reference to Alice in Wonderland.) A picture of her provides another link to Ordinal Scale, and her flashback scene to her time with Kayaba also provides some of the keenest insight yet into what Kayaba may have been trying to accomplish with the game Sword Art Online. Kayaba indicated at the end of the very first arc that Aincrad was based on a childhood dream, but this flashback scene clarifies that he never got to finish that dream and find out what was at the top. That raises the tantalizing suggestion that Kayaba's participation in the game as Heathcliff was more about trying to complete his childhood dream than just wanting to monitor the game's progress from the inside. It also adds new meaning to his plan to make himself the final boss on floor 100.

But, again, her introduction and the discovery process are all setup for next episode's reveal about Kazuto's status. Certain assumptions can be made from the doctor's concern that Kazuto could have suffered brain damage after his heart was stopped for five minutes, but the how and why will have to wait for the next episode. Asuna also deserves some props for being able to pull off the deception even with the technical assist, including some remarkably good English. The attention to detail on clothing designs is another high point, as the avatars in the opening scene in ALO were clearly updated and various characters were wearing outfits in the physical world that I don't think we've seen before; the cat heads on Suguha's outfit were an interesting detail. The one technical downside is that the CG rendition of the helicopter was a bit too artificial. The return of some of the franchise's core musical themes and the scene where Yui encourages Asuna to follow in Kazuto's footsteps were also nice touches, as was the symbolic scene where a strand of Rinko's hair slides out from being tucked behind her ear – the same kind of strand that Kayaba had brushed back in a tender moment in the flashback. It's a simple scene that's nonetheless loaded with meaning.

As both setup for what's to come and an effective adaptation of the source material, this episode warrants a high score.

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Fairy Tail: Final Season - Episode 282 [Review]

Welcome to the action episode of Fairy Tail! Not that most episodes aren't action-packed, but this one marks the first major battle with most of our main cast. That's not surprising, since prior to the end of last week, we had no way of knowing if Team Natsu, let alone all of Fairy Tail, would ever come back together, so in some senses, this is a big deal because it does away with half of that concern for good. With the reveal that Gray was working for Erza in investigating the Avatar cult, we now have all five humans and two cats who make up the group back in the fold, six if you count Juvia. (I'm torn on that one, personally.) And you know what that means – it's time for everyone to strut their stuff and show off just how much they've grown in the year since they were last together.

In some ways, that's what makes this episode fun and exciting. It would have been easy to write off Lucy's new Star Dress transformations as just fanservice, but now that we've seen her use Taurus, it's clear that that is not the case. The outfit may not offer much support (bras need to cover the entire underboob area to provide support, artists), but it has drastically upped her physical strength. Given how people have generally regarded her as the weak link magic-wise, whether or not that's strictly true, this is a major coup for Lucy. Her magic may not be as flashy or destructive as her teammates', but she's clearly grown as a magician just as much as they have.

Wendy gets to be the second most impressive in terms of magical power changes, because frankly we expect Gray, Natsu, and Erza to be ridiculously overpowered. Like Lucy, Wendy can now really hold her own with more than just support or healing magic, and Carla's doing pretty well too with her new human form. (The scene where she smacks a guy with her tail is kind of great.) Yes, probably the girls' new power-ups still pale in comparison to the guys' and will still be more back up than main attackers, but it's still impressive how far they've come in a year. (Amusingly, they're also more circumspect about showing off as well; Natsu and Gray immediately start boasting at each other.)

In terms of getting the gang back together again, it's nice to see Gray apologize to Lucy, because she went through some awful stuff at Gomon's hands. What's more amusing is to see Natsu charge in between them while they're talking; while I wouldn't suggest romantic jealousy, it's still clear that he resents being left out of the conversation, and I wouldn't put it past him to have been counting on holding Lucy's poor treatment over Gray's head. Gray clearly has missed Lucy, and that's good to know, because it does imply that the relationships within the guild were not superficial. That doesn't excuse not contacting each other, especially within Team Natsu, but it is a hopeful sign.

Meanwhile, Avatar's plans to summon Zeref by creating a site of mass murder is one that, while perfectly in line with their creepy cult, may be a little difficult for some people at this particular moment. What's more important than their plans is what it says about Zeref's reputation; those who are familiar with Fairy Tail Zero will see the disconnect, but others should be paying attention for it, because it will be there. The mention of the Book of E.N.D. is another major piece of the story's end game worth keeping an eye on, because as things get going, it's a name you're going to need to remember.

With all of this foreshadowing and happy reunioning going on, it's too bad that the art and animation aren't as good as they could be this week. The prime offender is, of course, Erza's horse and his creepy horse grin, but Gray's consistently off-model (especially his pants), and there are a lot of shots where the characters look unfinished. Luckily the story is good enough to offset this, and with more answers coming next week, it seems that will continue to be true.

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