Goblin Slayer - Episode 3 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138424/gs032.jpg

Goblin Slayer - Episode 3 [Review]

An elf, a dwarf, and a lizardman walk into an Adventurer's Guild. Setting aside the issues I've taken with Goblin Slayer, I at least admire its commitment to economical storytelling. A real story arc kicks off in this episode, as the Goblin Slayer picks up a proper adventuring party alongside Priestess, who accompany him on his goblin-slaying simply because they've got nothing better to do. This seems fine considering that this series is so informed by tabletop adventuring (down to an opening narration of ‘gods’ determining the world by rolling polyhedral dice). So many campaigns I've played consciously started with “You meet in an inn and decide to go squish some monsters”, so it's an acceptable way to get the show on the road.

That aside, this episode of Goblin Slayer doesn't actually kick off the adventure properly, instead spending a shocking amount of time building up more background details for its setting. There's some to-be-important details about GS's previous witch companion and some magic scrolls he acquired with her. There's also a clever bit where it's revealed that an epic demon-lord-battling quest is building up in the background, which Goblin Slayer doesn't actually care about since he's entirely focused on slaying goblins, of course. Slayer generally takes the piss in this episode, with his attentive reaction to any mention of goblins already reaching memetic levels. This episode seems less concerned with painting him as a singular badass and more as a central excuse to start a plot that only currently features goblin-slaying.

That may be for the best, since the internal consistency of that portrayal is still in as much flux as it was before. The “other adventurers don't respect Goblin Slayer for slaying goblins” bit gets trotted out again for the second time in two episodes, and it still doesn't gel. The crowds around him act like goblins are easy pickings that he shouldn't be considered impressive for wasting his time on, but the whole point of that shocking first episode was to demonstrate that this wasn't the case. Goblins are both a nothing threat no half-decent adventurer needs to bother with and also potentially dangerous enough that the trio introduced in this episode have to seek GS as a specialist to help them take out their targeted nest.

Arbitrary storytelling issues like that shouldn't be as big a deal to enjoyment as they seem to be, but they're emblematic of the dissonance Goblin Slayer has settled into at this point. This gritty fantasy world still has fanservice-heavy designs, complete with slow zoom-ins on the witch's bountiful breasts and stock gags about the elf archer being flat-chested. We're constantly told how ugly and lame the Slayer's armor looks, despite it being an objectively striking design that the entire franchise is marketed on. Slayer's an always-alert badass who doesn't ever take his armor off in case of a sneak attack, but then he goes and overindulges on wine and passes out inside his helmet for the sake of a gag.

For what it's worth, the snippets of personality that the new adventuring crew contribute are appreciable compared to the pragmatic dryness that characterized the first two episodes. These characters may not have names (and the script dancing around that fact does get awkward at times), but they've already got an amicable chemistry with each other, Goblin Slayer and Priestess included. Nearly half this episode is dedicated to the characters just sitting around a campfire talking about being adventurers, and it does well on that level. The scene actually sneaks in some world-building details we haven't heard already, speculating on the space-based origins of the goblins in a way that feels somewhat natural, especially given that I totally believe a socially-awkward walking tank like GS would just casually blurt out that he heard goblins come from the moon.

All this breather time being used to actually set up a long-term story is appreciated, but right now I feel like Goblin Slayer is stuck between the priorities of its two different mediums. The detailed descriptions and world-building logs might've worked well in novel form, where a detached and names-free approach to narrative is easier to accept. But the anime version tries to pack in all the character gags, fanservice, and thrilling action set pieces you might expect from a more typical series, which rubs up against other aspects of the story's intended tone. We'll see if this balance clicks more next episode, as the series goes into another of its potentially-harrowing goblin battles.

Source

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episode 78 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138452/boruto78.jpg

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episode 78 [Review]

This week's Boruto: Naruto Next Generations answers some big questions as the latest arc heads into its third act. Now awakened, the injured gatekeeper informs Naruto that Mitsuki is headed to the Land of Earth with a group of Hidden Stone shinobi, prompting the latter to make a call to Kurotsuchi and brief her on the situation. Meanwhile, the gothic lolita-clad Kirara and an as-yet-unnamed member of the Stone group return to their hideout and inform a heavily veiled figure known as Ku that they've taken care of the Leaf's trackers. As Mitsuki and the other two members of the team prepare to cross the border into the Land of Earth, the childlike Sekiei reveals that he and his cohorts are artificial beings with very limited lifespans—and that Mitsuki holds the key to making them more human. After sending Cho-Cho and Inojin back to the Leaf, Shikadai and the remaining two thirds of Team 7 nearly manage to catch up to Mitsuki at the edge of the border. However, before they're able to make contact, the gang is intercepted by the no-nonsense Kokuyou, who's able to control Akuta (creepy canine-like creatures who appear to have a similar genetic makeup to the Leaf's newest enemies).

Compared to the past few installments, quite a bit of progress is made on the story front this week. Although we still don't exactly why Mitsuki chose to accompany Kokuyou and company, we're finally given some insight into why they've taken an interest in him. Now that we've finally gotten an extended look at this arc's antagonists, it's safe to say that, character-wise, none of them appear to be anything special. While their mysterious origins and combat techniques are mildly interesting, we've seen these same character archetypes assigned to countless small-scale Naruto villains, particularly the ones found in the feature films and filler arcs. That said, seeing how the gang fares against their respective techniques (not to mention the Akuto) may make for some entertaining action sequences in the coming weeks. While it's pretty clear that Mitsuki isn't a traitor, it'll be interesting to see the exact nature of his interest in this band of baddies.

Although this was touched on several episodes back, it's good that the show didn't simply gloss over Konohamaru's reaction to the revelation of Mitsuki's parentage. The fact that one of his students is the child of his grandfather's killer continues to weigh on him, but as he reiterates to Mirai, it doesn't change the way he feels about Mitsuki. Since Mirai wasn't born until after Sarutobi's death, she serves as the perfect audience for Konohamaru's musings on why the Third was such an influential figure. Also interesting is the conversation between Naruto and Kurotsuchi. Given the nature of the accusations against citizens of her village (and her country), it makes sense for the Tsuchikage to be skeptical of Naruto's claims and demand hard proof, although the gatekeeper's word ultimately suffices. Even though this series is set in a time of relative peace and cooperation amongst the Hidden Villages, exchanges like this help illustrate that tensions still exist.

This week's episode resumes the search for Mitsuki in earnest, with the gang's adventure in Ryuchi Cave hardly given a mention. Now that the villains have made a proper appearance and revealed their intentions, the stage is set for big revelations and exciting battles in the weeks to come. Although this arc's second act had some pacing issues and felt somewhat disconnected from the main story, episode 78 shows signs that Boruto will ultimately stick the landing.

Source

Fairy Tail: Final Season - Episode 3 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138446/fairy-tale-last-ep-3.jpg

Fairy Tail: Final Season - Episode 3 [Review]

Despite the fact that we're moving through the source material at a decent clip, Fairy Tail is still managing to cover all the important bits while maintaining its sense of the characters and lighter moments. That's mostly because the adaptation is good at picking out which pieces of the original manga are the most important to the central storyline, as well as the arc (Avatar) we're on now. Do we need to linger on Juvia's depression or her life with Gray? Not really; we just need to know that it happened. Right now it's more important to devote episode time to a flashback of Future Rogue telling Natsu about Frosch, because that piece of the past directly informs what's going on in the present moment.

And what is going on is that Gray appears to have been taken over by his dark side and joined a Zeref-worshipping cult. That's a major blow for Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, and the cats, because he was one of their closest friends when the guild was still operational. Natsu theorizes that Gray learned Demon Slayer Magic too quickly and wasn't able to properly acclimate to it, but what's more important is that a piece of him has been expecting this moment to come. A year ago, Future Rogue told him that Gray would kill Frosch in, well, a year, and when Natsu hears that Gray has vanished, he immediately thinks that the future might not be as changed as he'd hoped.

More importantly, this episode reminds Natsu that he really did do a pretty awful thing to Lucy, marking one of the few times he's really had to consider his actions and their impact on people rather than buildings he's destroyed. When the gang finds Juvia living alone in a rainy village and she tells them that Gray just up and left without a word, Natsu gets angry at his former friend for doing something so awful to Juvia. Lucy quickly points out that he did the exact same thing to her, and we get a few moments of Natsu just staring at Lucy with a conflicted look on his face. It's as if it's finally hitting him what effect his actions had on her, and it isn't a comfortable moment for him. Perhaps that's in part why he grabs Lucy's hand as he charges off after Gray to stop him from killing Frosch rather than just charging off himself.

None of this is to imply an advancing romantic subplot, although on the whole I'd call Lucy and Natsu's relationship healthier than whatever Juvia and Gray have. It's more a statement on Natsu doing a little thinking and maturing, as well as his devotion to making sure Fairy Tail is more than just the group assembled thus far—and I think that regardless of anything Gray might do to Frosch, Natsu's probably looking forward to having an excuse to beat the crap out of him.

How easy that will be remains to be seen, because Gray looks well and truly evil now, a clear sign of which is his slicked back hair. (I mean, the black marks covering his body. I'm sure the hair is just evil's devotion to style.) The Avatar group he's now a part of is basically a cult rather than a guild, made up of people who worship Zeref as a god. (How you feel about that is likely tied to your thoughts on Fairy Tail Zero.) They look like the series' usual rogues gallery, but I'm going to go on record here as saying that if you ever meet someone who says “smile” without smiling, you probably should run the other way. Fortunately for Natsu and Lucy, there is help en route in the form of Gajeel and Lily, who are now basically enforcers for the new Council – although Gajeel isn't likely to show Gray any kind of mercy.

Source

Tsurune - Episode 1 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138497/tsurune-owl.png.jpg

Tsurune - Episode 1 [Review]

What if Free! was about an archery club? With Tsurune, we no longer have to wonder. Kyoto Animation is sticking with what works for them, a concoction of harmless slice-of-life tropes mixed with heavy sports trauma that is so far underwhelming in every aspect but its visuals. Tsurune promises to be a beautiful show, but not a groundbreaking story. We've seen these character beats before in shows like Free! among many others. It might be fun to watch these predictably gorgeous Kyoto Animation characters run through the same angst-driven storylines as always, but I'm already concerned that this plot isn't going to offer up anything new.

Minato has a scar on his stomach and a chip on his shoulder. More specifically, he's struggling with a real mental illness that affects archers called Target Panic. The real illness creates symptoms similar to what happens in the show—afflicted archers tend to release the arrow too early. To use archery terminology, the show has a draw: what happened to Minato to give him this condition? Everything in his life is surely hurtling him toward a rediscovery of the sport he has abandoned (but not forgotten, as he still carries his archery glove in his schoolbag). Still, Minato's story is nothing new. He's a relatable everyman trying to overcome an injury that has both physical and mental impact on him in order to achieve excellence in his chosen sport. (We saw this last season in Hanebado!, for example.) Amidst a cast of predictable characters (the jokester, the delinquent, the class rep), it's difficult to predict the potential for anything beyond the same slice-of-life high school sports story we usually see. Keep in mind that the director here is Takuya Yamamura, the pupil of Free! director Eisaku Kawanami. It makes sense that he has taken a lot of storytelling cues from his mentor.

What does stand out are the music and visuals. The title “Tsurune” itself comes from a word we don't have in English—the taut sound of a bow at the moment of release. Needless to say, sound is deeply significant to the story. Delicate piano and (aptly) string melodies frame Minato's painfully typical struggles with more heart than the dialogue does. The biggest visual treat comes at the end of the episode when a defeated Minato emotionally bikes up a hill at sunset to encounter a mountain shrine at the top. There, a stranger in a hakama hits a moonlit target amidst a swirl of cherry blossoms. This fateful encounter, which somehow also involves a snowy owl, is the most memorable visual moment of an episode full of beautiful scenes. A muted color palette and a focus on light give the show its warmth, while an understated musical background that emphasizes the sound of a drawn bow and an arrow slicing the air underline the poetic appeal of this timeless sport. The soundtrack creator, Harumi Fuuki, is new to anime with just a few credits to her name (Forest of Piano among them), and I can predict that Tsurune will showcase her as a promising new composer.

This show's story isn't special, but it still comes with all of the quality visual and audio trappings we've come to expect from Kyoto Animation titles. This is only the first episode, so it's certainly too soon to write it off. I'm not wowed by the typical slice-of-life sports plot and the exact same characters and problems we've seen a dozen times already, but there's still time to see if it can hit the target a little more squarely in episode two.

Source

SSSS.Gridman - Episode 3 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138426/sg034.jpg

SSSS.Gridman - Episode 3 [Review]

One hard-to-deny advantage that technology has brought our world is ease of communication. The internet and cell phones connect us to our friends, family, and others in a manner so simple and instantaneous that it's difficult to imagine going back to a time without them. It could be argued that we take for granted how easy it is to contact others. So it's interesting that SSSS.Gridman hasn't dealt directly with the realms of cyberspace to the same degree as the original series that inspired it so far. Rather, the series seems to be reckoning with how our interactions play out in this densely-connected always-online future we're living in.

This episode of Gridman seems focused on telling you not to hesitate in calling your friends and to pick up your damn phone if they call you. In many anime and tokusatsu shows, conflict and plot progression can be facilitated through a lack of communication. Various situations may only crop up when characters refuse to directly speak with their allies and discuss what's going on. That's the central thread running through the first half of this episode. Rikka doesn't answer Yuta's call at the beginning, then delays in apologizing to him for it. Utsumi doesn't explain to Rikka that Yuta's worried the Kaiju he's fighting might be a human. Various non-communications like that pile up in this episode's suspiciously early monster fight, and the result is the first defeat handed to our huge hero and his socially-awkward sword.

We're barely three episodes in, but SSSS.Gridman's initial commitment to genre status quo lets a huge upset like this land. Yuta and Calibur quickly jump into battle when the fight starts, practically going through the motions in a way that telegraphs a big shake-up like their defeat coming. Post-fight, the point seems to be selling what a real shock a loss on this scale in these Saturday-morning battles would be. Gridman and Yuta are only gone for a few minutes of the episode, but their absence is felt in the hopelessness of Rikka and Utsumi's reactions. They can't even bring themselves to check his apartment or ask their friends about them, fueling their sad spiral even further.

That turns out to be the whole point, demonstrated by the rest of Gridman's power-up pals in their snappy suits arriving. The 'Neon Genesis Junior High Students' (now that has to be an Evangelion reference, right?) already make a great quirky group of heroic allies (my favorite is Borr, the tiny twin-tailed girl voiced by Aoi Yuuki), but their outsider context also allows them to dispense some anime-atypical advice to Rikka: you've got a phone. Just try calling your friend if you want to talk to him. From there, everything comes together for the Gridman Alliance. Yuta's fears about fighting another human are quelled by simply asking the kaiju if it's a human, in a brilliantly simple solution that lines up with the themes of this episode. While Gridman seemingly winning by just getting a new power-up in the form of giant arms made from Max's mechanized fist truck comes off a bit contrived, it still fits within that framework of happily calling on your friends for help when you need it. Just look at what these kids can learn from Gridman and his pals!

Much of the information that's imparted to the audience in all this pro-communication storytelling does admittedly come off as clumsy. The whole “are the Kaiju people?” question at the heart of Yuta's dilemma is only floated by Utsumi as a joke before becoming relevant a few minutes later. It might have worked better had this possibility been presented to the heroes in one of the previous episodes. And when we do finally get around to explaining all the details of the Kaiju, a boy named Anti created by Akane, it feels somewhat circuitous. Some audience members might enjoy speculating on what Anti is before the reveal is properly explained, but with all the other complications this episode works into its plotting, it might be more obtuse at some moments than necessary.

Storytelling quibbles like that would be more of an issue if this show weren't still so darn fun to watch. This episode gives us the most giant-size battle so far, deftly mixing CGI and traditional animation through some of the most effective direction yet. The 3D models get surprisingly evocative animation, especially effective given that Anti's the first Kaiju with some semblance of a personality. And I love how this series commits to showing how much city-wide destruction these giant fights wreak. I could honestly gush forever about various little touches of animation and direction in this show. There are the terrific moody elements of the rain at the beginning of the episode, sudden cuts like Anti's transformation that let the shock hit hard, or Utsumi and Rikka's emotional distance in the wake of their defeat being literally reflected through two separate mirrors.

But just describing a Studio Trigger production like this doesn't do justice to what you get out of actually watching it. SSSS.Gridman successfully marries storytelling based around the solid theme of open communication to great atmospheric direction and killer giant fight scenes. It succeeds as a ‘third-episode twist’ that illustrates how it's not committed to a structural status quo, while also enforcing why we root for these characters. Yuta and Utsumi's relationship deepens with their discussions of the Kaiju and humans, and Rikka further cements herself as the emotional core of the show. It all adds to that sense of the series' high ambitions for concept and entertainment, not just checking off what power-ups Gridman is going to get next. (Though I'm pretty excited to see those new toys in action too.)

Source

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san - Episode 3 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138453/skullface3.jpg

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san - Episode 3 [Review]

In its third episode, Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san delivers another funny and informative take on life behind the counter. The first segment finds the store being set upon by sales representatives from various publishing companies. Although assertive types like Pestmask and Okitsune are able to lay out specific boundaries with relentlessly pushy reps, Honda-san, ever the people-pleaser, has considerable trouble saying no to their demands. This segment concludes with a guest appearance by Frédéric Toutlemonde, one of the French manga world's most prominent figures. Despite having a far more agreeable demeanor than the other reps, Mr. Toutlemonde ultimately tries to push his luck and presses Honda to place his books next to popular titles, specifically One-Punch Man. In the second segment, Honda puts his eagerness to please to good use when an elderly French man enlists his help in selecting a manga for his granddaughter. In spite of the man's very specific criteria (the book must be appropriate for an 11-year-old, sufficiently “Japanese-y,” and translated into French), Honda, with the help of his coworkers, sells the man on a French-language version of Chihayafuru and earns his immense gratitude.

In addition to featuring an assortment of funny gags and character interactions, both of this week's stories illustrate how vital a bookstore's employees are to the success of certain titles and publishers. They're not just responsible for stocking books and ringing up purchases—they can help make or break a book depending on the resources allotted to them by publishers and their own personal enthusiasm for a title or genre. This first story in particular provides viewers with a fascinating (albeit comically inflated) peek at the Japanese bookselling scene's close relationship between publishers and individual stores. While you'll occasionally come across a company sales rep while working retail in the U.S., you're unlikely to experience efforts that are this consistent or forceful. As usual, the demure Honda makes a reliable comic foil to the animated individuals that converge around him—particularly the overly pushy salespeople.

Like episode two, both of this week's stories strongly emphasize teamwork within the store. When Honda is left alone with the salespeople, he's a pushover. However, when more forceful members of the team get in on the action, the reps are less likely to have their demands met. In the same vein, when Honda is unable to think of a title that meets all of the elderly French man's criteria, the booksellers pool their knowledge to produce suitable recommendations. Nearly every retail employee has dealt with customers with comically specific needs, and it often takes stark determination and knowledgeable staff to send these individuals home happy.

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san continues to use over-the-top characters, minimal animation, and awkward interactions to present a consistently entertaining portrayal of the retail experience. It's equal parts educational about the industry (in Japan specifically, though some things are universal) and laugh-out-loud funny, even with the chaotic nature of the first two episodes being somewhat muted this week.

Source

Sword Art Online: Alicization - Episode 3 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138447/sao-alicization-ep3.jpg

Sword Art Online: Alicization - Episode 3 [Review]

Episode 3 confirms the uniquely slow pace of this new SAO arc. This story isn't always going to be so devoid of action and major events – after all, the episode does end with the strong indicator that next week will deliver some major action – but this seems unlikely to be the last time we have a whole episode play out in such a relaxed fashion.

Actually, this episode could be even slower if the adaptation was perfectly faithful. This episode covers most of part 3 and some of part 4 of Chapter 1 of the first novel (I misspoke last episode and was labeling parts as separate chapters), and in the course of covering roughly 50 pages, it does cut out a lot. Most of what's missing are Kirito's extensive ruminations on the nature of his new world and the people he meets, which would have been difficult to smoothly include without bogging down the story. The production staff does compensate for that in small ways in Kirito's bath scene and his contemplation of Object Control Authority, but some of his thought processes are definitely being skipped over. Other bits removed include more details about Selka and Kirito pestering Eugeo over learning how to do the light spell, which are much more trivial to the overall story.

These cuts do allow the episode's story to flow along smoothly. Selka gets more formally introduced as the younger sister of Alice this week. The implication that she's trying to take Alice's place in more than one way isn't as obvious but it's nonetheless retained, and that gives Kirito and Eugeo the impetus to go back to the cave in the End Mountains. The Blue Rose Sword that the trio found among the dragon's bones also gets properly introduced, which leads to the suggestion that it might be the key to eventually chopping down the Gigas Cedar, perhaps in combination with Sword Skills.

The other important event is Eugeo's use of Alice's light spell from episode one. With more firm knowledge now that this is an artificially-created setting, the wording “System Call” to begin the spell now carries more meaning. It raises the interesting notion that spells in Underworld are actually just voice activation commands portrayed as something arcane; Eugeo's mention that “System” is just a command to him, not a word with meaning, is key to this interpretation. This is certain to have bigger impact down the road.

The technical merits of the series are holding steady, but the real test will be next episode, when the next big action sequence lands. For now, the series is just in a holding pattern as it nudges along the character and world-building developments a little more.

Source

Review

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138171/boruto77.jpg

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episode 77 [Review]

Boruto and the gang complete their Ryuchi Cave adventure as Mitsuki's whereabouts finally come to light in this week's surprisingly eventful installment. After turning Cho-Cho to stone and injuring Aoda, Garaga retreats into his feeding grounds in an effort to give himself the home court advantage. Although the young shinobi are eventually able to gain the upper hand against their opponent, Boruto ultimately decides not to take Garaga's Reverse Scale, opting instead to form a summoning contract with him. After looking into the snake's memories, Boruto discovers that Garaga had been betrayed by the last ninja he made a contract with, causing him to distrust all shinobi. Impressed by the group's strength, the White Snake Sage reveals that Mitsuki is currently en route to the Land of Earth with a mysterious group of Earth ninja. What's more, Mitsuki actually saved the gatekeeper's life before departing the village. By temporarily stopping his heart, he created the illusion of death, which prevented the Earth ninja from finishing him themselves.

Back in the Hidden Leaf, Sakura and Moegi discover Yurito's true intentions, causing him to flee. When he stumbles upon Team Udon, it's revealed that the supposed traitor is actually being controlled by a genjutsu, courtesy of an Earth ninja. Unfortunately, no sooner is Yurito freed from the genjutsu than the perpetrator sends an insect-like exploding tag to finish him off before he can reveal anything else.

Now that Boruto has made a contract with Garaga, the Ryuchi Cave affair feels like less of a detour. Whether Garaga will remain with Boruto for the rest of the series and serve as his own recurring summon (like Naruto and his toads) remains to be seen, but it would present a number of fascinating narrative possibilities down the line. The parallels between Garaga's past and Boruto's current situation with Mitsuki feel a little forced, but they certainly help justify his presence in the story. Garaga was betrayed by the person he trusted most, the last shinobi to bond with him, and he spits in the face of Boruto's unwavering trust in his own “traitorous” friend, Mitsuki. As such, Boruto wants to prove to him that some friends are loyal to the end and that some relationships are worth fighting for. (This also mirrors his father's knack for charming one-time antagonists.) Garaga may be outwardly doubtful about Boruto's claims, but he did agree to the boy's terms, so at least part of him isn't sure. After viewing Mitsuki's snake's memories, the group is confident in Mitsuki's innocence, even if certain questions still need to be answered.

Moegi being observant enough to realize Yurito's true intentions was a fun turn in what seemed like a predictable series of events—as was Yurito simply being a genjutsu-controlled pawn instead of an actual traitor. If more surprises like this are in store, this arc's third act should prove more entertaining than its somewhat lagging second one. While nothing spectacular, we also get a couple of solid action sequences this week when Team Udon fights Yurito and Boruto's group goes up against Garaga. Despite the abundance of detective work and exposition this portion of the arc demands, it's nice that the screenwriters haven't forgotten to throw a bit of action our way each week.

With the White Snake Sage excursion behind them, our heroes are free to resume their original quest: locating Mitsuki and discovering his connection to the Earth ninja. At times, this side-adventure felt too drawn-out and detached from the main story, but episode 77 does a decent job of tying it into the bigger picture. As an added bonus, Boruto forming his first summoning contract is a significant level-up that potentially paves the way for big developments in the future.

Source

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138087/ash-vs-death.jpg

Banana Fish - Episode 14 [Review]

Tender is the Night is maybe F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous novel after that one we all had to read in 10th grade, The Great Gatsby. It also might be his most autobiographical novel—no easy feat in his case. The story was inspired by the psychiatric struggles of his wife Zelda and their relationship. So it's not a bad choice of title for this week's Banana Fish, where Ash is stuck in the hospital and it seems that more than a few unsavory forces want to use that vulnerability to their advantage. Tender is the Night is also Fitzgerald's last completed novel, which could be some foreshadowing of this episode's very deceptive ending.

First though, we get 20 agonizing minutes of Ash and Eiji separated. After they seemed to unconsciously call out to each other before Ash's fight last week, now they're forced apart by the hospital staff and Yut Lung, who's back and creepy as ever. He gets Sing and Eiji released from the jail cell where everyone at the scene of Ash's crime is being detained, but uses it to keep Eiji behind his own bars while he figures out what to do with him. As Yut Lung himself says, Eiji annoys him just as much as he elicits feelings of protectiveness in Ash. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that right before Yut Lung said this, Eiji reminded him that he's a few years older than he is. He's a shady criminal mastermind, but he's still a petty teenager, and that's why Yut Lung is so much more fun than Banana Fish's other villains. I'm glad he's back. I wish the "progress" he's made on his plan against his brothers didn't feel so sudden, after previous episodes built that up so much.

Eiji in peril basically means "it must be Thursday," and he's in considerably less danger from Yut Lung this time than he was in the past. Still, it's frustrating to watch as he calls out for Ash but gets continually stopped from doing anything to help him and vice versa. A pretty early indicator that at least some of the people minding Ash are not all they seem is how hesitant they seem to be about allowing certain visitors. Then again, telling Ash that only lawyers are allowed to see him could also be a way to spare him the agony of finding out where Eiji is right now—and why he can't see him. All of these two boys crying out for each other happens between a new OP and ED that are somehow even gayer than ever. Seriously, along with the visuals of Ash and Eiji running toward each other and giving longing glances, the lyrics literally spell out that they're in love.

Probably the most important thread this week is the explicit detailing of Ash's trauma. We see his flashbacks to Shorter's death and the deep guilt he feels about that through his dreams—and how this parallels fears about Eiji's death. In his nightmares, a vision of Eiji bleeding from the neck literally turns into Shorter doing the same, and back and forth again. Ash seems to be haunted by being forced to kill others in the process of protecting Eiji. That even includes other people he cares about like Shorter, even if we know that Shorter's death was a mercy kill. Shorter still put himself at risk out of his own desire to protect Eiji. I appreciate the way that Banana Fish doesn't just let this go, giving Shorter's death more gravity and realism than it could have had. As Banana Fish has steered away from the "shocking" rape threats, it's revealed a heart-rendingly realistic understanding of how trauma impacts individuals.

Related to this is the way the episode explores Ash's distrust of the justice system (something more than validated by this week's ending). I've seen reports on Twitter about how Japanese fans see Banana Fish as newly relevant in the age of #MeToo—how well it portrays the lifelong impact that assault can have on victims, and how Ash as a male character created by a female writer reflects women's fears and reactions to sexual assault. (That's not to say that men can't be rape victims; we've seen some high-profile male victims come forward as a part of #MeToo. But more that Banana Fish reflects a particularly "female" attitude toward the issue, through its creator. This is particularly true given how Ash feels like it's something he has to worry about around every corner, an expectation that haunts even women who haven't been assaulted.) I think the way that his traumatic history has impacted Ash can hit close-to-home for some viewers even in the best of times. But the news events of the past few weeks make that little reminder hit particularly hard for American viewers. The justice system both here and in Japan chronically fails sexual assault victims, and we've just seen an incredibly frustrating example of that in America. If Banana Fish is part of a larger cultural reckoning in Japan around this issue, that's a real sign of cultural progress for all of us.

So on to that ending. In all of Ash's battery of tests at the hospital, one that stands out is an "intelligence test." Ash gets a chance to show off his super-genius math skills in spite of a lack of "formal" schooling (although I'm sure Golzine hired lots of tutors for him), and his results show a super-genius I.Q. In the real world, high I.Q. isn't necessarily a "superpower" like that, and the test in general is somewhat discredited as speaking more to racial and class subdivisions than raw intellectual power, which we are still not sure how to precisely "test." But this is fiction, and it's a sign to Ash's enemies that he's even more valuable than they thought. After Ash fends off an assassin disguised as a nurse, he's kidnapped by "FBI agents" who are clearly more than they seem. Ash seeing through them is shown as a sign of his super-genius, but any viewer could figure that out pretty quickly. Meanwhile, they "fake" his death by sending out a news report that he died on the way back from the hospital.

Even if you haven't read the manga or don't know spoilers for it, it's pretty obvious that Ash isn't actually dead. Despite Banana Fish's high body count, Ash is the center of the story, and killing him off at this point makes no sense. Plus, we would at least get to see a moment that shocking. The offscreen nature of this incident and the focus on other characters' reactions makes it just a cruel cliffhanger. I'm sure Eiji will be in suspense for a while, and we'll see the drawn-out agony of his reaction. But the real mystery is why these guys feel the need to tell the world that Ash is gone. I guess we'll see.

It's weird how that final plot point makes the entirety of "Tender is the Night" just feel like setup for that twist in retrospect. This is another one of Banana Fish's "slow down" episodes that takes time to explore the dynamics between its characters. Unlike previous installments, we don't get tender moments between Ash and Eiji—quite the opposite, in fact. But we do learn more about who they are to each other, as well as about their relationships with other people orbiting them, like Max, Sing and Yut Lung. The fact that this episode succeeds so well is a testament to how far Banana Fish has come. It no longer just seems like nice moments in between cruel twists. Those "breather" moments are more of an end unto themselves.

Source

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/fit400x1000/cms/episode-review.2/138176/aot-49.png.jpg

Attack on Titan - Episode 49 [Review]

With Attack on Titan set to go on hiatus until April of 2019, “Night of the Battle to Retake the Wall” serves as our mid-season finale. As far as bridge episodes go, Episode 49 is both very typical and more than a little bizarre – at times it feels like a recap episode, and at others it comes across like a comedic one-off meant to settle the tone of the show back into something resembling Attack on Titan circa 2013. It does its job of hinting at the big changes that we're going to see in the future, but I'm also not entirely sure if the episode comes together in a satisfying way.

We open with Hange, Levi, Erwin, and the other coup leaders trying to make sense of the serum that Kenny snatched from Rod Reiss before he transmogrified himself into the B.A.T, and Hange admits that their technology simply can't deduce the true nature of the concoction. After a bit of deliberation, Erwin decides to leave the material in Levi's hands, giving him the responsibility of deciding when to use it and on whom. Outside of putting that future plot device into the show's back pocket for the next arc, this scene is largely about reinforcing Levi and Erwin's respective character arcs for the season; Erwin is still determined to push forward and figure out Grisha Jaeger's master-plan, to avenge his father's death by finding out the truth behind this world. Levi's place in the future story is more nebulous, save for a teaser that comes at the end of the episode, but we'll get to that later.

All of that foreshadowing is pushed aside for the most part, as the bulk of the episode actually takes place at the celebratory dinner that the scouts have all earned in preparation for the titular mission to retake wall Maria. This entire sequence is largely played for comedy – at the sight of fresh meat, Sasha literally goes insane with hunger enough to try and eat Jean's hand and has to be bound to a pole and gagged for the remainder of the night. Eren and Jean also get into a brawl over Jean's frustrations regarding Eren's tendency to suicidally charge into battle, with the main joke being that the rest of the crew has largely given up on trying to break up their brawling (except for Levi, naturally).

These are cute exchanges that don't do much more than refresh us on character beats we've seen done more seriously earlier in the season, but Conny's brief exchange with Eren does explain why they're still important. They remind us that these traumatized war veterans are only four months removed from the immature dorks we met way back in 2013. Sasha used to be the one who stole food to share with the whole group; now the thought of fresh meat is enough for her to violently attack her friends just to get a taste. These men and women have all been scarred, and while it occasionally manifests as slapstick comedy, the hurt that underlies it all is very real. I don't think that we needed an entire episode of these shenanigans to bring this point home, but it's still a valid one to be making at such a transitional moment in AoT's narrative.

Eren, Armin, and Mikasa also get to do some reminiscing of their own, which is good, because the events of Season 2 and 3 have kept their relationships out of the limelight for a while now. Eren and Armin even get back into their old debate about whether the ocean exists or not, which seems conspicuously appropriate when you take into account the water-focused teasers for the second half of the season (and the opening shot of season 3's first episode). It's still unfortunate that Mikasa has been given so little to do this season – here's to hoping that Season 3 Part 2 will afford our girl some more character development instead of just repeating Eren's name over and over into the wind.

Speaking of next spring, the only other talking point from this episode comes from the post-credits stinger, which shows Eren and Levi duking it out in the ruins of Shinganshina. This feels like one of those teasers that might resonate more with folks who've read the manga, because the seeds of whatever issues that could lead to such a falling-out have barely begun to be sewn; either that, or it all stems from what's inside the Jaeger basement, which anime-only viewers can only guess at for now.

Using a pseudo-cliffhanger like this as a stinger for next year's episodes highlights my issues with this mid-season finale as a whole. Its individual components are valuable to the show's narrative – they foreshadow future events, and they give our characters more time to be their old familiar selves. I just wish either the source material or the staff responsible for adapting it had found a more compelling story with which to deliver all of these disparate pieces. Whether we like it or not, we'll just have to wait until April of 2019 to watch where AoT goes from here. At the very least, we'll finally see Levi Squad take back the wall and kick down the door of that basement once and for all. No foolin' this time, and no take-backs.

Source

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138166/op857-1.png.jpg

One Piece - Episode 857 [Review]

I have a pretty intimate attachment to this second half of Whole Cake Island, so I've always had the usual concerns for how the anime was going to adapt it. For whatever pacing issues still linger—for the record I still think the more tension-focused action fares much better with all the dramatic slow-motion than the plot-heavy first half—they are animating the hell out of the Katakuri fight, with many show-stopping scenes still on the horizon. Emotions are running crazy high now that Katakuri has a personal stake in the fight and Luffy is at least somewhat able to keep up with him in Fourth Gear.

The hits are getting so strong that the two fighters are sending each other flying hundreds of yards with each blow, and we're witness to some dreamlike tunnel vision as the environment warps around them to emphasize their speed. The fight is getting so exciting now, but by the end of the episode the status quo is restored with Katakuri recollecting himself and turning his pseudo-invincibility back on. It's an exhausting hit of the reset button that wouldn't be so bad if it were much earlier in the fight, but there isn't much you can do but sit back and wait for the next interesting story event to happen. I do like how it serves the power play of the fight, though, where as long as Katakuri can keep his cool and use his Observation Haki, he's the one in control of the fight. (I also like his new Bayonetta mochi arms.)

Elsewhere, we finally get an update on the cake baking subplot, where Chiffon's dad is knocking on the Sweets Factory, hoping to see his daughter for the first time since she was born, but he's coming face-to-face with Charlotte Oven, one of Katakuri's triplets. Oven's arrival on Cacao Island is where you really feel the wrinkles in the plotting of the Big Mom chase. He's there to offer some tension, a powerful foe just outside of the factory where Sanji and Pudding are making the cake. The Big Mom family have overheard the Straw Hats' plan to reunite with Luffy on this island, and so they're gathering reinforcements to make things even more difficult on the off-chance that Luffy wins his fight, but this new tension is coming at the same time we're being reminded that the Straw Hats' plan still has nine hours to go. You've got heroes and villains who want the same thing (a non-rampaging Big Mom) but can't work together because of Reasons™, and the points of tension keep coming at the most awkward times.

Now would be as good a time as ever for the audience to be asking themselves what they think is going to happen. The show is pushing this big gathering on Cacao Island including the whole Straw Hat crew, Luffy, Oven and his reinforcements, and then finally Big Mom herself. What's actually going to happen when Big Mom eats that cake? Will she be satisfied and let the Straw Hats go? Will she be just as antagonistic when she's sober? Maybe the cake will straight up knock her unconscious, like what Sanji bragged was going to happen? There's a really engaging puzzle box brewing in this chase, where the audience is being lured into trying to figure out the trajectory ahead of time. Mom's never rampaged this long so this is uncharted territory, even for her children.

The One Piece anime delivers another bombastic fight episode this week, digging its heels in the ground with a great production. I really like where things are going, but the rhythm at which it takes steps forward and then steps back can get cumbersome, which is an issue for how complicated the plot is and how desperately it needs to keep its story straight in order to be as impactful as possible. As has been the One Piece way for ages, the series keeps telegraphing how long-winded it is, almost like it's bragging, and I think episodes like this suffer the most from it.

Source

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/fit600x1000/cms/episode-review.2/138104/fairy.jpg

Fairy Tail: Final Season E01 & E02 [Review]

 Welcome back to Fiore, continent of magic and home to the guild Fairy Tail in the city of Magnolia! Or, at least it was – just about a year ago, Makarov disbanded the guild and everyone went their separate ways. Now Natsu and Happy are back from their year-long training and ready to get the guild going again – and the little fact that it no longer exists is in no way going to stop them. Luckily Lucy has been keeping track of where her former guildmates have gone, and together the three off them set off to find everyone and get the band back together again, starting with Wendy, who has joined Lamia Scale in the city of Marguerite.

Of course, this means that everyone has to want to get the band back together again. Wendy isn't sure she does. She's made a new life for herself in Lamia Scale, and more importantly, she has Shelia, her closest non-Fairy Tail friend, and she doesn't feel good about just leaving her. While she does eventually come to terms with the fact that Shelia is her friend but Fairy Tail is her family, the fact that the very first person Natsu and Lucy reach out to almost refuses them says a lot about the amount of time that has passed. Wendy was part of Team Natsu when the guild was operational, a major piece of Lucy and Natsu's adventures since she joined the guild. That she even considers sticking with the new life she's built post-Fairy Tail says that the guild may not be as important to everyone else as it is to Lucy and Natsu. For the two of them, it is unquestionably their family, the one place they never doubted they could (and would) eventually come back to. Look at where we find them at the start of the new story arc (technically the end of the previous season): Lucy has devoted her life to keeping track of where as many people are as she can, using her new journalist job to help with that, and Natsu has exactly zero doubts that he would be welcomed back after a year-long, largely unexplained silence with open arms. “Moving on” is not an accurate description for what either of them have been doing.

It makes perfect sense, given their characters, as does the fact that Wendy does eventually realize that she really does want to go home. (And can we just take a moment to appreciate what an amazingly good friend Shelia is?) But what about someone who came to the guild later, like Gajeel, or who was always a bit more stand-offish, like Gray? A year can be an awfully long time, and people do change. The emotional shock of the guild's dissolution may have had very different effects on the other members, which is something that next week's episode is going to begin exploring. Lucy and Natsu have gotten stronger and Wendy and Carla have as well, but who's to say that everyone else followed the same basic patterns?

Luckily Fairy Tail is adept at not only keeping things moving (this in no way felt like twenty-three minutes per episode), but also at tempering the more difficult bits with humor. Bluenote's mage noticing how much stronger and more frightening Natsu has grown this week is kept from feeling too ominous by the fact that at that particular moment, Natsu is holding Shelia up by her shirt and berating her for stealing Happy. Lucy's relief at Natsu and Happy's return is kept a little lighter by the way she and Natsu fall right back into their regular relationship, and Loke's proud preening over Lucy's new star dress skill lightens up the danger of the fight for Marguerite. Both episodes aren't afraid to have weightier moments, but they also don't wallow in them, which helps to maintain the balance of the story.

These really are “get things going” episodes at their heart. This week's indulges in some flashbacks, both to Wendy and Shelia meeting and to the whole Acnologia debacle. Both are important (especially the latter) and inform what's going on at the moment, but they also serve as ways to remind us of where the characters are coming from without resorting to a full recap episode. There's definitely more Wendy than anyone else this week, but given that we opened with Lucy and Natsu (and ended with them last season), that's fine even if she's not your favorite character because we need to be reminded that her core strength is emotional. She's a strong fighter, yes, but ultimately Wendy is driven by her concern for others, and she'll always put them before herself. She wants to go back to Fairy Tail and she doesn't want to disappoint Lucy and Natsu, whom she says she sees as siblings, but she also sees Shelia as needing her more. Her brief arc in these two episodes does a good job of reminding us what guides her as a character – and why it's so important to those who love her that she be happy herself.

Next week we'll find out what Juvia, and possibly Gray, have been up to during the guild's hiatus. (I say “hiatus” because Lamia Scale and the Bluenote wizard's reactions indicate that no one thought it was ever truly gone.) It looks like we're in for some heavy revelations.

Source

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138152/gs021.jpg

Goblin Slayer - Episodes 1 & 2 [Review]

The intent of Goblin Slayer is pretty clear straight away. It's self-styled as a dark fantasy-action series, a breed apart from those colorful adventure anime where heroes use flashy attacks and spells to fell magnificent monsters in glorious combat, always emerging victorious. In this story, the main character is a stoic man of few words who uses relatively simple and reliable methods only to dispatch goblins, those most basic of fantasy enemies. It's a methodical task that he must undertake, or else the land will be overrun by the little critters, who actually pose a serious danger in large numbers, as less-savvy adventurers immediately find themselves overwhelmed and gruesomely murdered, and in the case of the female adventurers, captured and raped.

Oh yes, in case you were living under a discourse-free rock for the past week, one of Goblin Slayer's most notable attributes is its full-on display of goblin rape. So fair warning, I'll probably be discussing that element regularly in these reviews. The scene in the first episode is pretty graphic and gratuitous by TV anime standards, seemingly around mostly to make a strong first impression of what kind of subject matter this series will be dealing with. Things are significantly more restrained in the second episode, with only allusions to sexual violence. Still, showing off its grim fantasy world and the consequences of living there in gritty detail is the only notable thing about the series at this point.

Narratively, the entirety of the show's ambitions are right there in the title. The first half of the first episode is spent demonstrating what goblins are and why they must be slain, and then the second half shows the Goblin Slayer slaying goblins. And that's it. The second episode has marginally more going on, defining the Goblin Slayer a bit more as a character, but it's still very much about gritty world-building for its own sake. The main problem is that once we're over the initial shock of seeing all those critical roll failures in all their horrific glory, there simply isn't much to the Goblin Slayer experience. There's actually a pretty good gag in the post-credits sequence of the second episode, where we see a bard recounting the Slayer's adventures in sweeping dramatic detail, when we actually know how dry and simple his process is. Showing a monster-slaying adventure in this way is a neat idea for one or two episodes, but that isn't going to be enough to carry a full-length series. Goblin Slayer needs to find an actual story in all this carnage and fast.

That's a dubious prospect, since what we get so far doesn't instill me with much confidence for the storytelling quality. I don't want to get all pedantic, nitpicking every plot hole and inconsistency, but there are still some glaring issues that mostly come as a result of the disparate fantastical sides of this story being at odds with each other. This is primarily evident in the case of the goblins themselves. One central conceit of this story is that other adventurers look down on the Goblin Slayer for only taking jobs exterminating weak monsters that no one takes seriously, which flies in the face of what the grave danger we're shown that these goblins present. Inexperienced heroes getting caught off-guard by the horrors of trying to face goblins doesn't work when we've already seen how clear it should be to any adventurer worth their salt that there's plenty of danger to the prospect of confronting a goblin horde. It makes the lack of regard that the denizens of this world have for goblins and the Goblin Slayer come off as arbitrary, just to force him into the role of misunderstood loner.

This brings me to my major takeaway from Goblin Slayer so far. So much of it revolves around playing up a misanthropic power fantasy. The hero is looked down upon by society at large, but he gets to be an unstoppable badass in his chosen role of goblin-slaying. The elaborate social revenge angle is hilariously palpable in one scene where he's being mocked by other adventurers, and you can practically hear the story bitterly seething over whatever graphic goblin-based fate should befall anyone who doesn't respect this underappreciated badass. At least he's understood by his cute companion Priestess who helps him slay goblins, his cute childhood friend who loves being protected by him, and the cute Adventurer's Guild clerk who doesn't judge him for taking goblin-slaying jobs. Goblin Slayer isn't subtle about pandering to the fantasies of its target audience.

Despite the too-transparent setup, Goblin Slayer is still technically fine in many regards. The dry and methodical battle scenes are decently impressive to watch, giving us a strong idea of how effort and experience have informed the Goblin Slayer's methods. Generally the animation and art are nice, though the CGI Slayer looks wonky when overused, and a lot of the cartoonish anime-girl designs clash with what's supposed to be a grimy and understated fantasy-world aesthetic. But the show's good production work can't cover up how little there is going on. Many anime fans, myself included, have had that watershed moment where we caught some of Ninja Scroll or Wicked City when we were fourteen, and I have no doubt that Goblin Slayer will find an audience to revel in the grisly pleasures of its premise, but that's all it's got going on right now. Goblin Slayer is a one-trick pony, and the trick isn't that great so far.

Source

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/138142/sao-alicization-ep2.jpg

Sword Art Online: Alicization - Episodes 1 & 2 [Review]

Unlike with most series that I've reviewed for daily streaming, I have actually read the source material for this story. I am current with the English releases of the novels (the 6th of 10 novels is in my reading queue right now), so you can expect running anime-to-novel comparisons for most or all of this series. In the interest of avoiding spoilers for anime-only fans, I will restrict commentary to what's currently going on in the story, except for the occasional "this will be expanded on later" comment. Also, for the sake of clarity, I will be referring to Kazuto as Kirito when talking about what he's doing in Underworld, but refer to him as Kazuto otherwise.

The double-length first episode was the prologue for Alicization, so episode 2 is where the main story actually begins. Episode 1 laid enough groundwork about what Kazuto has been doing lately to come to a reasonable conclusion about what probably happened to him after his real-world encounter with Johnny Black. For whatever reason, he was plugged into the STL system, presumably because it's functioning as some sort of life support. Assuming that's the case, it remains unclear why he's not able to contact Kikuoka or whoever else is directly controlling the system from the outside. Previous comments about memory-wipes and time acceleration within the system may be affecting this, or perhaps there's just no mechanical way to directly interface with Underworld from the outside in real time. Whatever the case may be, Kazuto is clearly stuck in Underworld for the time being, and given the length of this arc, he will be for quite some time.

The Underworld setting quickly becomes an intriguing mix of game mechanics and daily life in a fantasy setting. Further references get thrown out about the mysterious Taboo Index that seems to govern everything, and details like Callings suggest that Underworld is a highly regimented world. Even so, the people don't act like normal NPCs and seem to have full autonomy within the constraints of the Taboo Index. Game elements are still present in the form of the System Call windows and the way the sturdiness of objects is numerically indexed, but how deep that system goes is unclear at this point. Kazuto also seems to be able to access his Aincrad Sword Skills, though the reasons why remain unclear once again.

In a story sense, Eugeo is clearly a grown-up version of the boy he knew but can't remember from his earlier time in Underworld, but what has become of Alice in the intervening six years, since she never returned to the village? The promo art and opener for this arc make it clear that she's still alive, providing even spoiler-level hints of what's happened to her, but anime-only fans shouldn't expect to find out what those images mean for probably at least a dozen episodes. You can probably expect an even longer wait for a reveal about the nearly-naked woman in the episode's final shot too. Even by SAO's normal standards for storytelling, this will be a slow-paced arc, so get comfortable for the ride.

Fortunately, the story gives fans a fair amount to appreciate. On top of the bevy of mysteries at hand and all of the tantalizing tidbits thrown out in the strong opener, the relationship forming between Kirito and Eugeo already shows great promise. In all his adventures up to this point, Kazuto/Kirito has mostly been surrounded by girls, so he hasn't had a close male friend prior to Eugeo – and no, Klein doesn't count. Watching how this develops and what effect that might have on a boy who's practically had to be forced into socializing should be interesting, and how the anime version handles this element could be the biggest key to the success of this arc. The technical merits so far also look promising, and the series sports strong songs and visuals for both its opener and closer.

So far, this anime adaptation is following the source material relatively closely. Episode 1 almost exactly conformed to the prologue chapters (except for cutting the cliffhanger off earlier, probably to save for later), while this episode covers chapters 1 and 2 and part of 3, although the scene where Kirito discovers that his Sword Skills work is from content that will probably be covered in one of the next two episodes. The content being cut is mostly just Kazuto's more detailed ruminations on his situation, which wouldn't have translated well into anime form. Overall, I am quite pleased with how this adaptation is starting out, and it gives me hope that the anime version may smooth over some upcoming rough spots.

Source

Banana Fish - Episode 13 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137776/lynx-and-leopard.jpg

Banana Fish - Episode 13 [Review]

Banana Fish makes a direct reference to the literary work in its title this week. It's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," a short story by Ernest Hemingway about a doomed couple camping on the mountain. The leopard Ash discusses in his conversation with Eiji in the episode opens the story, symbolizing the fate of the main character—who also wanders out of his "habitat" to a remote wilderness, succumbing to preventable wounds. Ash seemingly takes the "wrong" message from the story, seeing himself as doomed to find a "place of no return" like that leopard, but Eiji reminds Ash that humans can change our fates. We have wisdom that animals do not.

It's an interesting story to have hanging over this episode, which is also preoccupied with fate, death, and the extent to which we can impact either of those. It's also an episode that illustrates how living with these constant preoccupations has warped Ash's view of the world and himself. It's not a bad place to return to Banana Fish from a week off. This episode is full of what the series does best: subtle character drama that requires your attention. I really appreciated that these characters are understood as people, not just as plot points and means to a story's end, which Banana Fish can unfortunately dip into in its weaker moments.

One such character is Arthur, who gets that classic last-minute burst of character development before someone is slated to die. "The Snows of Kiliminjaro" really digs into how personal his beef with Ash has been. Before, Arthur just felt like a particularly bloodthirsty second-in-command for Golzine. Now we see his resentment runs deeper to the way that Ash has always been singled out as the favorite of the mob with his effortless talent. Arthur isn't like that, and somehow the fact that Ash didn't ask for his talents or want them makes Arthur hate him even more. His interesting bit of double talk comes after Ash evades him on the subway, telling his starstruck henchmen that Ash is "just human!"

Yet we see that Arthur himself doesn't really believe this. He's also in awe of Ash's abilities, knowing full well that Ash is a stronger fighter. If he didn't, why would he need to pull the subway trick to defeat him? Arthur should feel like he could take Ash in a fair fight, but he knows he can't, which is why in every showdown they've had, he's tried to cheat in some way. It also reinforces the connections Arthur possesses that Ash no longer does, since he's able to shut down a whole subway line for this. (I also appreciated the depiction of that particular aspect of New York life, as someone who struggled with subway construction shutdowns last time I was there. Even if it's unrealistic in execution, this felt closer to home than some of its other depictions of the city.)

This big fight is juxtaposed with tender moments focusing on Ash and Eiji's relationship. It really hits home the way that these two come from "different worlds"; while Ash is fighting for his life on the subway train, picking off Arthur's mooks, Eiji is back at their apartment, processing his feelings for Ash over tender romantic music. If the framing isn't enough for you, Eiji spells it out explicitly. The awful things Ash has experienced have taken their toll on him, and even if he closes that off to the rest of the world, he still shows this to Eiji—intentionally or unintentionally.

I also found this scene interesting in terms of framing. While the visuals keep reminding you that Ash and Eiji do indeed inhabit separate beds, Eiji talks about him with an intimacy where if you heard the lines out of context, you'd think ottherwise. Plus, there's romantic music playing. It's pretty clear what we're supposed to think about who these two are to each other. It reminds me of all those old Hollywood movies where they showed married couples sleeping in separate beds, like that was going to fool anyone.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I think their relationship is relevant in an episode that seems to be so concerned with how that relationship impacts their choices. That's the other big thread of this episode, how Ash's attempts at "selflessness" toward Eiji are really selfish in nature. We see the truth of that in his final line, where we learn it's more about him being afraid to share this side of his life with Eiji, to have him see Ash at what he considers his worst, than it is about protecting him. But throughout the episode, Ash leads us to believe it's about Eiji's safety, while other characters (mainly Eiji himself) give us glimpses of the truth.

Ash's underlings are also beginning to catch on. I thought it was notable that they compared Ash's bond with Eiji to that with Skip, but they seem to realize over the course of the episode that this isn't true. Eiji occupies a truly special place in Ash's life, as the parallels with that past girlfriend showed us last week—he's so special in fact, that Ash seems to have "Eiji-dar" in that last scene, picking out his voice from a crowd. As Ash's gang realizes why Eiji wants to stick around, they end up helping find him rather than going to the airport. Even if Ash is in denial about the importance of this relationship to him, others can help him see the light.

Of course, the truth is that while having people he loves around give him more "weaknesses" for enemies to exploit, love is also his strength. Eiji grounds him, keeping Ash from going off the deep end—acting as a conscience while reminding him that he'll always be worthy of love, even when he can't see it for himself. Eiji also gets to see a more vulnerable side of Ash than anyone else; he's the one person who knows that he's not just the untouchable genius mob boss façade he presents to the world. Ash doesn't really have anyone else in his life like that, with the death of his brother and other close friends. So Ash pushes Eiji away at his own peril. That's the message of "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"; while main character Harry bemoans how his creature comforts and wealthy wives have made him too soft as a writer, it's his isolation on the mountain—pushing away even Helen, the woman who accompanied him—that kills him. I hope Ash gets a chance to re-read it soon, because maybe he should remember more than just the striking visual of that dead leopard.

Maybe it's because the show took a week off, but this strikes me as a particularly elegant episode. Everything about this week's installment feels exquisitely deliberate, particularly the shifts between Ash and Eiji's stories and what that structure says about both of them. With seemingly everyone off to prison, hopefully the show can continue to use all the different characters and stories it's telling well in the future.

Source

Gintama - Episode 366 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137488/op855.png.jpg

One Piece - Episode 855 [Review]

As of right now, the Luffy vs. Katakuri fight seems really at war with itself, since it's so long and slow without a ton of variation in the material, but even when it gets repetitive, the action manages to be interesting and engaging. The fighters have cool powers, and there's a much greater emphasis on the actual choreography than we often see in One Piece. Right now Luffy's greatest challenge is out-speeding Katakuri's Observation Haki. Since his opponent can predict his moves, he has to exhaust twice as much stamina to dodge. It doesn't help that now we're learning Katakuri has "awakened" Devil Fruit powers like Doflamingo, meaning he can turn the physical world around him into mochi as well.

Once again, there's not a ton of story movement as much as now would be the time for things to get going. I think the scene I actually appreciated the most this week was with the side characters chit-chatting on the shoreline of Whole Cake Island. Charlotte Montd'or and the Artist Formally Known as Baron Tamago (now "Count Niwatori") talk about the Straw Hats' chances at victory. An element that really gets lost when you're watching this show week-to-week is that enormous sense of gutsiness and achievment. Niwatori is looking back at recent events and remarks that Luffy's crew has already accomplished more than any other rookies could dream of, between breaking into the Emperor's lair, knocking her castle down, and (mostly) surviving all the way to this point. Montd'or doesn't wanna hear it, but the reminder is in the audience's head.

The biggest change this week actually comes with the Germa 66 fight, which finally concludes this week. It's funny, in the manga this whole fight was off screen until the very end where we see them chilling on a mountain pirate corpses. I didn't mind some of this filler but it really undermined itself by showing us the same batch of match-ups over the past several months, so the ending feels so much more extreme by comparison. Each Vinsmoke kid took several episodes to defeat their given opponents, and now they've suddenly taken out hundreds of people.

The episode ends with the Vinsmokes calling in and tricking the rest of the Big Mom pirates into thinking they were victorious on the Germa side of the fight, and now they're planning to make their next move. They're still in that quasi-ally state with the Straw Hats, so who knows what sort of help they might lend, if they're even in the helping mood at all after all this.

So we're two-for-two on Luffy vs. Katakuri fight episodes where not a ton happens, and we've had little of the other Straw Hats present to balance it out. There are parts of this fight that are definitely a long-winded grind, and if the show had the luxury of trimming it down, I think it'd improve the experience a lot. That said, the fight has yet to get boring per se, and it helps that the animation hasn't bottomed out, but we're in desperate need to get some of that oomph back soon. It's an acceptable episode, but I'm hungry for a lot more substance at the moment.

Source

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137618/overlord-3-ep13.jpg

Overlord III - Episode 13 [Review]

In terms of coming to a dramatic climax, the third season of Overlord easily ranks as the least of the seasons so far. Though there are potential battles on two occasions, neither actually materializes; Ains' duel against Gazeff is over so quickly that Gazeff never even has time to flinch, while the later confrontation between Albedo and Momon (I'm guessing Pandora's Actor was playing the role of Ains there?) is merely a posturing standoff rather than a real fight. Neither result was unexpected; Gazeff knew as well as we did that the duel was tantamount to committing suicide, while the latter bit was obviously just a show for the people of E-Rantel to convince them not to be as afraid of Ains because they had a supposed intermediary in Momon. That even the otherwise-sharp Demiurge couldn't figure out that this was more a coincidence than something Ains actually planned adds a faint amusing touch to the scene, but that still leaves the episode short on drama.

The finale at least partly makes up for this in other ways. The polite progression of arranging the duel's conditions shows the respect both men had for each other, but even so, it still looks on the surface more like Ains' interpretation that Gazeff was foolishly throwing his life away. Both the circumstances and Climb's later insight on the matter speak otherwise, however. This wasn't just a matter of honor or pride or fulfilling his loyalty to the king; Gazeff has shown signs of knowing that his time was coming, and he decided to use it to make a point. He was trying to forestall any other foolish opposition to Ains by demonstrating its utter pointlessness, in the process making sure that Climb or especially Brain didn't try to follow in his footsteps. He also gambled on drawing more of Ains' capabilities out so that the Kingdom would have a better sense of what they faced. This makes for an entirely different situation than the hopeless fights of the lizard men or Midnight Eye, where they were given no choice but to fight for survival.

The rest of the episode was mostly little character moments, like the crushed king having to deal with the aftermath, the Emperor realizing the absurdity of what he was planning based on the battlefield reports, the middle son of the king taking over most duties, and Renner's twisted little smile at Climb doing her bidding. And of course the season has to end with all of the major denizens of Nazarick once again bowing before Ains and pledging their loyalty as he formally declares the establishment of the Sorcerer Kingdom. I know that's one of the series' core hallmarks, but it is starting to get a little tiresome.

The revelation that Gazeff's sword could actually harm Ains if he'd had a chance to swing it is an interesting little tidbit, but it's a pointless one unless another season is animated. There are a couple of other places in the episode where it felt like little details were missing too. Still, the season as a whole was strong enough to warrant being my runner-up best for the summer 2018, and since not all of the characters introduced at the beginning of season 2 have appeared again yet, there's certainly room left for more.

Source

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137516/gintama366.jpg

Gintama - Episode 366 [Review]

Following last week's somber installment, Gintama once again ratchets up the wackiness and slips back into full-on irreverence. After arriving in Edo, Takasugi informs Gintoki that although the Cult of the Phoenix has spread its influence across the universe, it doesn't have a physical HQ on any planet. Instead, the Mobile Cathedral Kuyo, a massive warship that can't be seen by the naked eye or detected via radar, serves as the cult's only base of operations—and it's currently in Terran skies. Claiming that he has some business to attend to, Takasugi temporarily takes his leave and encourages a reluctant Gintoki to meet up with his old friends. Little does the silver-haired samurai realize that he's being tailed by Hijikata and Mobcop/Yamazaki, both of whom pose as mannequins to avoid detection. However, before long, Gintoki also attempts to pass himself off as a mannequin in order to elude Otae, kicking off a bizarre (but perfectly Gintama-ish) series of events.

While in mannequin form, Gin discovers that Otae has taken over the Kodokan Dojo and turned it into Taezap, a parody of Japan's popular Rizap fitness chain. In the two years Gin's been gone, Binbokusai has stepped down as head of the Yagyu School and become a wandering junk collector. After dropping the mannequin act, Gintoki disguises himself as Takasugi, only to be immediately apprehended by Sacchan, who's taken over the Oniwaban in Zenzo's absence. Hoping to ascertain her beloved's whereabouts, she poisons the disguised Gin with a powerful laxative and teases him with the antidote. After thoroughly crapping himself, Gin manages to give his captor the slip in a clothing store. However, through a series of cringe-worthy events, he soon finds himself wearing Kyubei's underwear on his face and surrounded by Kyubei, Otae, Tsukuyo, and Sacchan.

While not the only humor-focused installment of Silver Soul's third act, episode 366 arguably bears the strongest resemblance to the Gintama of old. The story takes a stock sitcom set-up (i.e., a character wishing to elude his friends) and subverts it by being as chaotically over-the-top as possible. For the central conceit to work, certain characters have to be unbelievably stupid—e.g. Otae and Binbokusai not recognizing the “mannequins,” Gintoki not recognizing Hijikata and Yamazaki, and Sacchan falling for Gin's increasingly desperate ruses. In true Gintama fashion, the situation becomes progressively crazier the longer it continues, and all signs point to this comedic powder keg exploding next week. This provides a stark contrast to the previous episode's dead-serious tone and helps remind the audience that first and foremost, madcap humor will always be this franchise's modus operandi.

Although delivering laughs is this episode's primary focus, it also helps further the narrative by revealing the fates of several more Edo residents. Binbokusai's death fake-out and Kyubei's false claim of being over her fear of men are easy to see coming, but both are reasonably effective gags nonetheless. Otae turning the Kodokan Dojo into an ineffectual fitness club for overweight women and keeping her clientele fat by providing them with free ice cream is both darkly humorous and perfectly in line with her devious nature. Tsukuyo's post-time skip fate has yet to be revealed, but if the other Gintama girls are any indication, we're in store for more hilarity.

This marks my one hundredth Gintama episode reviewed. In the three years I've been writing up this show, a lot has changed in Sorachi's world. When my reviews started, Gintama was still a continuity-lite, fourth wall-shirking comedy that gleefully lampooned all forms of popular culture and all aspects of human society. However, the overarching plot that had simmered in the background for the better part of a decade eventually emerged to take center stage, altering the show's tone and narrative structure in ways few fans guessed possible. Excluding last year's Slip Arc, Gintama hasn't felt so much like Gintama since the quadrilogy of endgame arcs began. With the proceedings becoming more ridiculous by the second, Gintoki engages in his time-honored tradition of digging his holes as deep as possible, and outside of the first couple minutes, there isn't a moment of genuine seriousness. As we creep closer and closer toward curtain call, we should savor episodes like this while we still can.

Source

My Hero Academia - Episode 63 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137486/mha63.png.jpg

My Hero Academia - Episode 63 [Review]

So let's formally meet U.A.'s Big Three:

Mirio Togata—Buff Tintin

Nejire Hado—friendly ditz who doesn't seem to have much of a filter

Tamaki Amajiki—purple-haired Sasuke with profound social anxiety

All three of these kids are a real shot in the arm. They're incredibly enthusiastic (or at least two out of the three are) and they bounce off of the 1-A students really well. They're the kind of devil-may-care goofballs that could easily strain a lesser series, but My Hero Academia can keep adding color upon color to positive results. It should come as no surprise that Mirio is the one to steal the show, however. When his boisterous greeting falls on deaf ears, he says "Screw it! Let's have a fight!" and suddenly it's a sparring match between all of 1-A versus a single opponent.

Mirio's Quirk is Permeation, which we got a glimpse of it last week. He can move his body through solid objects, including people, the floor below him, and his own clothing. The demonstration of his power is a lot of fun, and he wipes the floor with the entire class while buck naked, but the big lesson that the show is trying to push this week is that his Quirk is very unimpressive on its own. When he re-solidifies his body while overlapping with other mass, his body will get forced out of that space like a video game glitch. The amount of training and experience he's had to undergo just to do really basic actions is immense.

Mirio is a product of hard work, a very common message in these kinds of shows, though his Quirk is straddling the same fine line as Midoriya's One For All where the "hard work" part hardly feels like it factors into the story as much. I'd be lying if I said being graced by his presence hasn't made me suddenly want to get down and do a bunch of push-ups, however. Permeation seems like a cool power all the same, and it's clear that there are a million fun applications for it that are impressive from a combative stance, as well as being visually interesting. This whole sequence keeps the entire cast awake and on their toes.

I think something that the Big Three really offer this show is a more detailed hierarchy of strength, which otherwise used to just boil down to pros and students. Mirio and company are a riot, and there's a sense of unity and camaraderie between them that implies many more stories left to be told. They're a new bar for the 1-A students to reach for, but more importantly they're a new chance for the audience to plug themselves into this world. If you were a hero in training, how far would you take it? Mirio's swagger pries on that exact part of my imagination.

Elsewhere in the big picture, just to round the season out with a little more meat, we begin to develop the new storyline. A new villain group led by a man named Overhaul is crossing paths with the League of Villains, and we very briefly touch on the man who was once All Might's very own sidekick. We don't have a lot to go on with either of these guys as of this episode, sadly.

So that's a wrap on season three. As always I'm trying to wrap my brain around how good this series has been at encapsulating the Shonen Jump formula with so much freshness and sincerity, but it was also this season where I most found myself in awe of its thematic ambitions. It really wants to bend the definition of heroism into new shapes, and I'm going to be rooting for it all the way as it does, and as underwhelming as the License Exams were compared to the arcs before them, I came out of them appreciating the experience as a stepping stone for our fledgling heroes. As for this episode in particular, it does have to be noted that this is more of an introduction to things to come than a showstopper in its own right, but I found it electrifying nonetheless. I love these new characters (especially Mirio), and the series' fervor still lingers even when we're just warmly strolling our way into a new arc.

Source

Black Clover - Episode 51 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/fit400x1000/cms/episode-review.2/137359/s-g-0-23.png.jpg

Steins;Gate 0 - Episode 23 [Review]

Despite all the times it's let me down over the past six months, I went into Steins;Gate 0's last episode (not counting the upcoming OVA) in the hopes that it would make the most of this final opportunity to turn things around. Even though far too much of S;G 0's story has felt meandering and unnecessary, there's the kernel of a genuinely fun Steins;Gate 0 spinoff buried underneath all the detritus. The core concept of ‘Operation: Arclight’ is actually quite good – give Mayuri the agency and depth of character she's desperately needed from the very beginning and find a creative way to connect this timeline to the main story of the original Steins;Gate. But in execution, this final storyline was as much a mixed bag as anything this series has produced, and unfortunately this finale stays the course in that regard.

I don't want to spend this entire review covering what I didn't like, so let me get the positives out of the way up front. Simply by virtue of playing off fan nostalgia, episode 23 of S;G 0 earns some brownie points by paying off some of the plot points it's been sitting on for months, albeit in a sloppy manner. It was nice to see Mayuri finally get her moment to take a leap back in time herself. It was entertaining to see Okabe get in the last word during his battle with Leskinen, and no matter how many times the show milks the return of Hououin Kyouma, I can't help but smile every time Okabe busts out his doofy mad scientist laugh. Say whatever you like about Steins;Gate 0 (and I'm definitely gonna), but you can't deny that this story tried its damnedest to provide the thrills, charm, and fanservice that it knew Steins;Gate fans were craving.

It's just a shame that the show's reach almost always exceeded its grasp.

Take Mayuri's big moment. She finally manages to avoid an explosive death and journey back with Suzuha into the past so she can set Okabe straight. I'll admit that I'm still fuzzy on exactly why this instance of the time-machine escape worked out differently than all the rest, but I honestly don't care much at this point. At least this plotline was finally allowed to move forward. So Mayuri goes back in time, calls her past-self to pass along her message to her beloved mad scientist, and then disappears with Suzuha into an unknown time so the Prime Mayuri can help save the universe by slapping Okabe in the face.

To be fair to the show, I'm pretty sure I understand the intended effect of this narrative fakeout. Originally, I saw Steins;Gate 0 as the story that would contextualize the war-torn apocalypse we caught a glimpse of at the end of Steins;Gate Prime – or at least, that's what we thought we saw. However, Mayuri's big moment functions as sort of an emotional twist, a reveal that the core of Steins;Gate 0 was never about the terrible future that Okabe has been dreading for the entire series, but rather the emotional journey that he is forced to take in order to realize the Steins;Gate timeline once and for all, a journey that culminates not in a grand gesture of cross-timeline communication between the two Okabes, but rather a moment of agency and intimacy between Okabe and Mayuri. We even discover that the portentous and eerie nature of the original Future Okabe Video was all a ruse, sent from a peaceful timeline by the happy Future Gadget Laboratory, not because WWIII is on its way, but because Okabe still needed to find a way to save both Mayuri and Makise.

The slap is meant to be a metaphor, you see, like the entire emotional foundation of Steins;Gate 0 condensed into a single moment that only looks suspiciously like an easy cliché. Purely in the abstract, it's a fairly creative resolution to this story. The problem is that when this thesis is made manifest across twenty-three maddeningly inconsistent episodes of television, almost all of its cathartic power becomes lost in translation. If S;G 0 were a twelve-episode series told from Mayuri's perspective that cut out all the fat and honed in on the truly meaningful things it had to say about its protagonists' relationships, this anime could have been a knockout. It could have stood as a vital companion piece to the original series.

Instead, we got this lumbering aimless mess. We got Leskinen, a complete misfire of a Big Bad Villain whose entire shtick makes the story of Steins;Gate 0 worse. We got Kagari, a brainwashed, time travelling, future-daughter to Mayuri, who is also obviously a clone of Makise Kurisu, and yet Steins;Gate 0 manages to make such a ludicrous character feel meaningless and uninteresting instead. We got hacky sitcom filler episodes and confusing detours into the past or the future that never ended up going anywhere meaningful, because the very premise of Steins;Gate 0 made it impossible for the show to do anything too surprising with these leaps.

Even the reveal of the true nature of Okabe's message from the future lacks the punch it should, mostly because it makes a greater mess of the series' own rules of time-travel. The flash-forward to Future Okabe's time is shown to us after Past Okabe has already watched the video, meaning that he's already on his way to negating this entire reality to create the new Steins;Gate universe, but the show doesn't neatly close the gap. When Future Okabe finishes the video, Suzuha is still a child, meaning that the actual mission to send Suzuha back into the past to deliver the video message is years off – Okabe himself is set to test the very first iteration of the time machine, so he can travel to some far-off year to rescue Mayuri and Suzuha from their exile. The show doesn't actually communicate this gap in the two narrative chronologies though, which initially made me confused as to why and how Okabe was embarking on a time travel mission when the whole timeline should be fixed. I had to scour some message boards just to check and see if I was on the right track with my interpretation of events, so it's possible I might be missing something, but the fact that I spent the show's final minutes feeling more confused than anything else speaks to how much this series struggles with communicating its overly ambitious ideas, something the original Steins;Gate never had a problem doing.

At the end of the day, this last episode of Steins;Gate 0 was a perfect microcosm of everything that I disliked about the show as a whole. It has some solid character beats and a couple of truly effective emotional moments, but they're all wrapped up in an ugly mess of weak art and bad writing. This is simply a story that didn't need to be told; even if you like the basic idea of the show's emotional arc, it's one the original show already covered. Okabe already got beaten down by time, only to rediscover his inner mad scientist and march boldly on towards Steins;Gate. Steins;Gate 0 just gave us that same emotional journey all over again in an uglier and less interesting fashion. Perhaps the game is a more satisfying experience, but I can't imagine recommending Steins;Gate 0 to anyone save for the most die-hard fans, and even then, it would probably just be easier to watch the first series again instead.

Source

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137376/free-three.png.jpg

Free! -Dive to the Future- Episode 12 [Review]

This may be the final episode of Dive to the Future but we definitely haven't seen the last of Free! Even this episode feels like a lead-up rather than a wind-down. “Dive to the Future” was all about looking forward, accelerating from one event to the next, and for what? There's no real resolution, just a teasing acknowledgment that Free! is here to stay. At this point, we've lost our chance for a tasteful farewell to this beloved franchise. As long as there's still hype for a rapidly multiplying cast of shirtless swimmer boys, there won't be a goodbye.

With such a massive revolving cast of characters, it's easy to forget that the primary protagonist of Free! is Haru, but this episode re-centers on him. An opening sequence requires no words to show Haru's lifelong love of the water. Later, after a disastrous race, Haru returns to the ocean that surrounded his world at Iwatobi, but he rarely visits as a Tokyo college student. Flanked by Makoto and Rin, he shouts at the ocean before running directly into the sea, clothes and all. It's perhaps the most evocative scene of the episode because it's a return to the series' roots, bringing Haru control of his own story at long last, revitalizing the water's role as the show's most temperamental character.

This episode went without an opening song, probably to save time. But even so, this week's plot was a lot of “hurry up and wait” with no payoff. There were some strong relationship-building moments in this final episode, but they were all disappointingly brief. Ikuya's arc ends with a race against Natsuya that culminates in a tearful brotherly embrace. It's framed by tons of exposition, so this is less of a scene on its own than a visual moment. Later, Asahi and Hiyori's rivalry is made entirely irrelevant by that one guy from the newspaper, Kinjou. He doesn't even speak—we only know he's a villain when he elbows Asahi and doesn't say sorry. Every interaction felt rushed, and I figured that was so we could fit in Haru's expected second-day triumph. But all we see of that is television background noise, as viewed from his new rival Albert's perspective.

Then comes the announcement: “See you in 2020!” Just in time for the Olympics. My first thought was relief; despite how much ground it covers, this episode was a letdown when it came to concluding the season. But after that initial thought, I was wondering, “Why?” This season didn't need to be the frustrating rushed mess that it ended up being. It didn't need to tell its story in hundreds of pieces spread across twelve episodes. It could have followed the model of its most successful episode, “The Grab Start of Hope!” which centers almost exclusively on Makoto's perspective. If Free! wants to be a story about continuing character development, it needs to give its characters more time in the spotlight. It needs to create space to tell meaningful stories, rather than glimmers of relationship-building in between tons of exposition.

This franchise isn't telling a new story and it hasn't been since Free! Eternal Summer. It's simply presenting the same coming-of-age angst season after season, but with a bigger and bigger cast. But just give me two years to cool down, and you can bet I'll have forgotten that I wrote this and that I'll be hyped for Free! 2020 along with everyone who remains. In spite of it all, Kyoto Animation has created some lovable characters. We'll just have to see how long it can get away with coasting on that because, time has gradually been running out.

Source

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137346/bc51.png.jpg

Black Clover - Episode 51 [Review]

With the quest for the Underwater Temple's magic stone having come to an end, it's time for the Black Bulls to report back to the Wizard King with their findings. The big event this week is that while they're preoccupied at the Royale Capital, the enemy Diamond Kingdom (who we faced in the Dungeon Exploration arc with Lotus and Mars) is waging war on the city of Kiten.

Now, I believe this is the episode that the series was originally expected to conclude on. However, as it stands this particular episode doesn't feel like it was ever designed to be a finale. It's introducing a new conflict, and it's unfortunately ugly. The Diamond Kingdom has brought themselves a flying army, which means doodles by the hundreds of floating men awkwardly copy and pasted in the sky as they launch their slow-mo attack. From weak character designs to flat storyboarding, this is an unflattering experience to say the least. Hopefully this isn't a sign that the seasonal expansion will impact production values negatively.

It's frustrating, because I'm still feeling the afterglow from that Vetto fight. I want to like this show. I want to believe it's going to be smooth sailing from now on, but clearly it's going to be the same rollercoaster of ups and downs as ever. As of now, this new scenario is very boring and unengaging. Obviously, I've learned enough times by now that how I feel at the start of an arc is rarely how I feel by the end, but these waters are rough nonetheless. As an audience, our foot in the door for this story comes with Yuno and the Golden Dawns showing up to kick ass and take names, all the while Yami and company are making plans to teleport themselves over as well. We spend most of our time watching the Black Bulls view the battle from a distance, and the intrigue doesn't truly kick in until Yami mentions wanting to keep an eye on William Vangeance, who's loyalty to the Clover Kingdom is still suspicious. The actual battle itself is ultimately just a backdrop compared to all the interesting places the story could go from here.

When Black Clover really shines, it makes the mediocrity taste that much worse. It's like I forgot how this show normally looks and feels and now my tongue is drying out. I don't want to be too hard on a new storyline for taking its time getting all its ducks in a row, but I'm currently lost as to what its current goals are. I wonder if we're maybe being set up to eventually sympathize with the Diamond Kingdom, since we've been touching on the Clovers' corruption lately and the most interesting potential conflict at the moment would be an in-fight between the Black Bulls and the Golden Dawns.

We begin this new storyline with an unmotivated turn of events featuring bland antagonists, poor animation, and little for the audience to get excited about. I'm going to refrain from setting my expectations either which way for the new season, but I have to take this show one episode at a time and this one was painfully dull.

Source

Overlord III - Episode 12 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137312/overlord-s3-ep12.jpg

Overlord III - Episode 12 [Review]

Though they have been used relatively sparingly, mind-boggling displays of power have always been one of this franchise's big draws. That they come infrequently has actually been to the franchise's benefit, however. Ains and his Nazarick minions are so much more powerful than everyone else that no one can even challenge them, so too many displays of naked awesomeness could actually turn the content into a yawner. (See Kaze no Stigma.) That Ains' outward confidence has always been at odds with his inner voice has also helped keep him from being just an arrogant bastard.

But sometimes story circumstances allow for a big batch of aggrandizement, and this is one of those times. The Empire has asked Ains to launch his most powerful spell as the signal to the beginning of battle, in part so that the Emperor can get a gauge on what Ains can actually do and thus formulate a strategy against him around that. So what's the best way to deal with such backbiting? Just be so overwhelming in your display of power that you leave even allies literally shaking in their boots. That's exactly what we get when Ains drops a spell which almost instantly kills off tens of thousands of Kingdom troops, and then for a kicker uses their “sacrifice” to summon these massive, Cthulhu-esque masses of mouths (what we've been seeing all season in the opener) that sprout tentacles and immense hooves and bay like goats; in fact, Ains even refers to them as such. He then lets then run rampant across the field and intimafates even allies into applauding his greatness, to say nothing of what the display does to the Empire force's commander; I have to think that this display will serve its purpose and convince the Emperor that he wants no part in opposing Ains. Even the most boisterous Kingdom forces who survive the initial onslaught certainly take the hint and flee the battlefield.

This all leads to the episode-ending confrontation that we all knew had to be coming: Gazeff Stronoff once again standing before Ains, this time as an enemy. The respect and congeniality going both ways is clear, with Ains even offering Gazeff a position as a subordinate in exchange for sparing the lives of others on the battlefield. Ains had to know that it was an offer that Gazeff couldn't accept and that he'd put Gazeff in a position where he had no choice but to call for a duel. Likewise Gazeff knows full well that he probably can't even scratch Ains, but it's a confrontation he cannot avoid without sacrificing his well-justified loyalty to his king. Essentially it's a display of honor but without all of the baggage which all too often comes with honor duels, and that's why watching Gazeff fight his doomed fight next episode is still going to be a treat.

On the downside, yeah, the CG of massed soldier movements isn't any better than last episode, and the gooey muck which oozes out over the fallen soldiers didn't look good, either. The scene involving evacuating the king was also executed in too relaxed a fashion for the situation, thus sapping much of its urgency. The sheep-creatures were more impressive, as were movements and actions by human characters and the final little bits of character-building here and there, including Climb being ribbed about marrying the princess (which is ironic because Brain has no clue how badly Renner actually wants that). Ains also leaves us with a semi-mystery about who the “three, no four” which couldn't be targeted were and why; past precedent strongly suggests that Climb is one, and Ains' offer to Gazeff seems to indicate that he's another, but is Brain also one? If we presume Renner is the third then who's the fourth?

That just adds something else to look forward to for the final episode.

Source

Attack on Titan - Episode 47 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/fit400x1000/cms/episode-review.2/137220/aot-47.png.jpg

Attack on Titan - Episode 47 [Review]

This week is Attack on Titan's big infodump for everyone's favorite Killer Cowboy, Kenny the Ripper. It's an interesting morsel of a much larger story that's still very much in progress, and as far as fleshing out more of Kenny's backstory and the general history of AoT's world is concerned, “Friends” gets the job done. That said, it's one of the bumpier rides the show has delivered so far this season, feeling less like a cohesive backstory episode and more like a combination of leftover scraps that, while definitely important to the bigger picture of Attack on Titan's narrative, don't necessarily fit together so neatly.

We'll start with Kenny himself, who gets the lion's share of the episode devoted to revealing how his relationships with the Reisses formed, and how his generally bleak and violent existence brought him to where he is today, dying of terrible burns under a tree while Levi watches. The opening scene sets up the most interesting thread of the episode, which is Kenny's begrudging friendship with Rod Reiss' doomed brother, Uri. In typical Attack on Titan fashion, this begins with Uri almost crushing Kenny to death with his Titan hand after Kenny fails to assassinate him, on account of the Ackermanns being exiled from society and demonized as traitors. Given how Kenny seems to respect power above all else, he convinces Uri to let him live and serve as an adviser, so thus begins a strange relationship that lasts until Uri dies and passes on the Founding Titan's power to Frieda.

This newfound power on Kenny's part leads to a couple of noteworthy developments, but “Friends” also takes some time to address Kenny's relationship with Levi, which is honestly less engaging than I expected it to be. Levi's mother was Kenny's sister, and after she died of starvation, Kenny took it upon himself to at least teach Levi how to use his Ackermann strength to cause a little chaos and get by in the Underground. To be honest, this sequence is probably more noteworthy for how much time we spend in the mysterious subterranean city that has only ever been hinted at before, as even Kenny admits that he was never cut out to be a father and just leaves Levi down there alone one day. If there are any more complications or nuances to be found in this relationship, this episode doesn't explore them, and I'll admit that I was hoping for more ground to cover between these two, especially since Kenny dies this week.

Kenny and Uri's friendship is much more compelling, although it's not necessarily due to how the pair interacted when Uri was alive. Rather, I liked how Kenny's motivation for potentially stealing the royal family's Titan abilities for himself isn't just about seeking pure power, but about trying to connect with humanity. It isn't clear if Kenny is a straight up sociopath, or if his hard life as both an Ackermann and a person forced to live in the Underground has ruined his ability to form connections with others. Either way, it seemed to Kenny that Uri became a more empathetic and emotional person as he lived with his powers over time, and part of the reason Kenny formed his Anti-Personnel Control Squad to begin with was for Kenny to see if such a transformation was possible for him too.

Even with this backstory episode, we still haven't gotten enough details about the APCS to justify their undying loyalty to a man like Kenny, who admitted to gleefully killing his followers' comrades for years before they joined up with him. The one nihilistic speech we get from the blonde girl that died in the cave collapse a couple of weeks ago wasn't quite enough to make up for that lack of development. And since Kenny and Levi have shared so little screen time, it's hard to get invested in Kenny's apparent death this week either. Knowing this show, I wouldn't be surprised if Levi secretly injected Kenny with slow-acting Titan Juice for a surprise reappearance down the line, but for now I'm considering Kenny's role in this story to be more disappointing than anything else.

The rest of the episode feels similarly rushed; we get Historia's coronation, which was nice, though I wasn't a fan of the awkward way the episode reexplained the reasoning behind Historia's gambit last week. I understand her need to assert her royal authority as quickly as possible, but it ends up making the way the team took on Rod Reiss feel even more contrived, and the way the crowd conveniently keeps shouting how impressed they were with Historia's kill was another bit of uncharacteristically lame writing. Still, the scene where everyone cheers on Historia's revenge punch for Levi was pretty cute.

Then, out of nowhere, the episode ends with a cut to Titan Reiner getting the snot kicked out of him by the Beast Titan, with the final shot showing us the mysterious blond man inside of the Beast from the end of season 2. I understand why this scene would arrive now, at the conclusion of season 3's first story arc, but it's still a janky way to reintroduce a plot point that we haven't gotten hints of for over a year. I'm looking forward to the Titans coming back into the narrative more regularly now that this coup is over, but I do think this arc started much stronger than it finished up. Even with all of the manga's fat trimmed off, I can see why this part of AoT's narrative wasn't everyone's favorite part of the story. I loved many parts of it, but it's clear the series is still figuring out how it wants to handle its more complicated long-term story beats. Historia is the Queen now at least, so I'm prepared to consider these first ten episodes a net positive overall.

Source

My Hero Academia - Episode 62 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137185/mha62.png.jpg

My Hero Academia - Episode 62 [Review]

With the Provisional License Exams over, MHA's third season is in a funky spot with having to pace its final episodes, which are more of a prologue for next season's arc than a finale in their own right. Since this series tends to alternate between more epic stories and low-key exam arcs, it's becoming a pattern for these seasons to be front-heavy. It's negligible in the big picture, but I'm excited to see what's next and I'm not ready to have to wait on season four!

The first half of this episode gives us a closer look at Twice, the kooky Deadpool-wannabe from the League of Villains. The real Twice is not at all what I expected, being more of a grizzled, sunken-eyed tough guy than a comedic goofball. His Quirk gives him the ability to duplicate things, including himself. His backstory is just straight-up the movie Multiplicity, except instead of being a fun romp for the whole family, he and his clones mercilessly killed each other, and now he lives in existential dread because he can never be sure if he's the original or not.

With Shigaraki and company, the villains of this series have routinely been vindictive, those who hate hero society and want to take it down a peg. The opening of this episode aims to shine a light on those who get lost in the shuffle of the more spectacular heroes vs. villains dilemma. For someone like Twice, the villains offer him a place to belong. He was a criminal in his past, so he was never going to be the type of person that heroes fought to protect. Twice's story is played alongside newscasters debating the merits of Endeavor as the new number one ranked hero, so this society caught between contradicting definitions of heroism is looking more and more troubled.

Heading back over to U.A. and the kids—sans Midoriya and Bakugo who are currently under suspension—are being primed on the next stage of their training, which will be hero work studies, a more intensive version of their internships. By the end of the episode, we're being introduced to a trio of upperclassmen, titled "The Big Three" (insert joke about One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach here), who are considered to be U.A.'s top students and the most likely candidates to one day take over All Might's position as the number one hero. This is another case where we've spent so much time with our 1-A kids that we forget that a world exists outside of them, meaning the series can constantly introduce new faces with "oh no, these characters are the actual strongest ones!" The most noteworthy of these three is the eccentric dead-eyed blondie who's a dead ringer for Vault Boy from Fallout/Lucas from Mother 3/Tintin.*

*Look, manga readers already took the best jokes a long time ago.

My Hero Academia's kind of stuck in exposition mode for these last two episodes, though that doesn't have to be a bad thing. I found the first half's vignette about Twice to be very effective in illustrating the state of a hero world falling apart, and I'm looking forward to getting to know The Big Three. This feels like a necessary step for the story as it digs into some nitty gritty world-building and manages to be pretty entertaining as we coast into the season's non-climax.

Source

Banana Fish - Episode 12 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137137/precious-halloween-boys.jpg

Banana Fish - Episode 12 [Review]

My friends who've read the manga told me that this episode of Banana Fish would make for an exciting one, and they were not wrong. Much of it is setup for the gang warfare to come between Ash and Arthur, but there's a lot of action too, even if most is off-screen, with how much of the episode focuses on Ash eliminating his adversaries. There's also some strong character drama in expected and less-expected places, as all this violence slowly takes its toll on Ash.

One of the interesting ways the episode frames all this is setting up Yut Lung as a foil to Ash. This isn't the first time Banana Fish has done this, but the conversation between Yut Lung and Sing at the beginning of this episode really hammers their connection home. Sing remarks on the similarities between them and Yut Lung seems to agree, particularly in how they come from similarly difficult backgrounds. That gives Yut Lung insight into Ash that some other characters might not have—but like any good foil, this also highlights their differences. Yut Lung seems to take joy in hurting the people he needs to hurt, while Ash regrets this necessity of revenge. That's what makes Yut Lung one of the "bad guys" while Ash is our hero, setting up the central conflict of this episode. It also makes me wish there was more Yut Lung around than in just those early scenes.

This episode really ramps up Ash's descent into murder and darkness. To some degree it comes out of nowhere, as a way to set up a fresh conflict. Why Ash is suddenly willing to take things so far, and not consider that some of Arthur's men he's killing are cogs in the machine just like Shorter, is not explored as well as it could be. At the same time, it makes sense that Ash is consolidating his power and realizing that he can't be too choosy about his victims at this stage. Still, Eiji is worried about what he's hearing—that Ash has been killing unarmed people, people who beg for remorse. Ash has his reasons, and we know Eiji loves Ash too much not to eventually forgive him, but it does lead to real conflict between them. It also conflicts with Ash's personal desire not to let Eiji be corrupted by his cruel world.

The two boys talk about girls, and Ash ends up telling Eiji about a girl from his past he liked who was killed under suspicion of being his girlfriend. I suspect that some people might take this story as confirmation that Ash and Eiji's relationship "isn't like that," since he likes girls, but the episode makes the opposite clear. First of all, interest in the opposite sex doesn't automatically mean lack of interest in the same sex. Ash is likely intended as bisexual, and that's just fine. (It would also fit within the aesthetic and tropes of the era that influenced Akemi Yoshida. Male bisexuality was seen as trendy and glamorous in the late 1960s and 1970s.) But more importantly, this story comes up in an episode that constantly reminds us how much Eiji is in that position with Ash now. He's the person from "outside" who has a hold on Ash that nobody else does. And in his effort to protect Eiji from succumbing to that world like he has, Ash makes himself more vulnerable, in a way that someone like Yut Lung—who is only out to protect himself from further harm—is not. Everybody against Ash knows that Eiji is the way to get to him, just as this mysterious girl from Ash's past once was.

Comparing the character's past or current heterosexual desires with their same-sex ones is also a common trope in BL, the genre Banana Fish would help influence. It's a way of reinforcing that this desire is "for real," by juxtaposing it against other desires that we take for granted in that way. To be honest, as many frustrations as I have with some LGBT tropes in anime and manga, I wish more Western media representations of bi characters could take a page from that. I don't like the way it's so often used to suggest that the character is "just like straight people", but I do like how it shows the character's desires for the same and opposite sex as being on equal footing.

We also get more into the political side of the Banana Fish plot. For as many parts of the show's "MK Ultra But For Real" story feel implausible (like that Pizzagate restaurant), this sounds like something that Cold War-era America might have actually used such a drug for if they'd had it. The U.S. in that era was constantly trying to overthrow democratically-elected leaders who were seen as insufficiently supportive of the U.S. or too pro-Soviet, replacing them with right-wing dictatorships. Something like "Banana Fish" allowing them to take over the minds of local politicians, rather than having to search for someone who was already on their side, would make that even easier. The focus on "Kafghanistan" and its role in the global drug trade seems like a way to bring this into the modern War on Terror landscape, even though that would also fit right into the 1980s setting of the original manga. Since this reflects real-world geopolitics, this is a lot more interesting to me than the other aspects of the drug plot, though it's still something the show could bungle. I'm curious to see where Banana Fish takes this. What's interesting is how Ash, this kid who hasn't had much in the way of actual schooling, is so easily able to piece together this political situation.

One thing I haven't discussed as much in this series is the meaning behind the episode titles, which are all references to famous literary works. Besides the "Banana Fish" of the series title and first episode, which are references to J.D. Salinger's famous story, these episodes largely take their cue from works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and other American writers from the so-called "Lost Generation"—people who came of age in the bleak aftermath of World War I, having lost so many of their compatriots to that brutal war and the Spanish flu outbreak that accompanied it. The focus on Fitzgerald in particular, as in titles like last week's "The Beautiful and the Damned," also reinforces the "New York, city of sin" focus of the anime, as much of Fitzgerald's work focuses on the decadent lifestyles of the rich and famous in New York during the 1920s, the height of the Prohibition era. (The Beautiful and the Damned is also largely about Fitzgerald's infamously fraught marriage to his wife Zelda, so read into that what you will for an episode centering on Ash and Eiji's relationship and intimacy.) The Hemingway novel referenced this week, To Have and Have Not, focuses on a goodhearted fishing boat captain in Florida who is forced by larger economic forces into darker ventures like smuggling. The similarities to Ash's situation couldn't be more obvious.

By invoking these famous works of American literature, Banana Fish is also situating itself as sitting alongside their caliber. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to put it there yet, but there is definitely more to this criminal love story than meets the eye. Even with its pulpier elements (and it's not like Fitzgerald and Hemingway didn't indulge in those too), Banana Fish paints a compelling picture of the way that society can force otherwise good people into horrible things. There's also a bit of hope in the way it shows that love can redeem people. Eiji may be the person who brings Ash back from the brink, even when he's fake-tormenting him with Halloween pumpkin displays. Here at the halfway point of this anime adaptation, I think it's clear that this element is what gives this story such staying power.

Source

Banana Fish - Episode 12 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137137/precious-halloween-boys.jpg

Banana Fish - Episode 12 [Review]

My friends who've read the manga told me that this episode of Banana Fish would make for an exciting one, and they were not wrong. Much of it is setup for the gang warfare to come between Ash and Arthur, but there's a lot of action too, even if most is off-screen, with how much of the episode focuses on Ash eliminating his adversaries. There's also some strong character drama in expected and less-expected places, as all this violence slowly takes its toll on Ash.

One of the interesting ways the episode frames all this is setting up Yut Lung as a foil to Ash. This isn't the first time Banana Fish has done this, but the conversation between Yut Lung and Sing at the beginning of this episode really hammers their connection home. Sing remarks on the similarities between them and Yut Lung seems to agree, particularly in how they come from similarly difficult backgrounds. That gives Yut Lung insight into Ash that some other characters might not have—but like any good foil, this also highlights their differences. Yut Lung seems to take joy in hurting the people he needs to hurt, while Ash regrets this necessity of revenge. That's what makes Yut Lung one of the "bad guys" while Ash is our hero, setting up the central conflict of this episode. It also makes me wish there was more Yut Lung around than in just those early scenes.

This episode really ramps up Ash's descent into murder and darkness. To some degree it comes out of nowhere, as a way to set up a fresh conflict. Why Ash is suddenly willing to take things so far, and not consider that some of Arthur's men he's killing are cogs in the machine just like Shorter, is not explored as well as it could be. At the same time, it makes sense that Ash is consolidating his power and realizing that he can't be too choosy about his victims at this stage. Still, Eiji is worried about what he's hearing—that Ash has been killing unarmed people, people who beg for remorse. Ash has his reasons, and we know Eiji loves Ash too much not to eventually forgive him, but it does lead to real conflict between them. It also conflicts with Ash's personal desire not to let Eiji be corrupted by his cruel world.

The two boys talk about girls, and Ash ends up telling Eiji about a girl from his past he liked who was killed under suspicion of being his girlfriend. I suspect that some people might take this story as confirmation that Ash and Eiji's relationship "isn't like that," since he likes girls, but the episode makes the opposite clear. First of all, interest in the opposite sex doesn't automatically mean lack of interest in the same sex. Ash is likely intended as bisexual, and that's just fine. (It would also fit within the aesthetic and tropes of the era that influenced Akemi Yoshida. Male bisexuality was seen as trendy and glamorous in the late 1960s and 1970s.) But more importantly, this story comes up in an episode that constantly reminds us how much Eiji is in that position with Ash now. He's the person from "outside" who has a hold on Ash that nobody else does. And in his effort to protect Eiji from succumbing to that world like he has, Ash makes himself more vulnerable, in a way that someone like Yut Lung—who is only out to protect himself from further harm—is not. Everybody against Ash knows that Eiji is the way to get to him, just as this mysterious girl from Ash's past once was.

Comparing the character's past or current heterosexual desires with their same-sex ones is also a common trope in BL, the genre Banana Fish would help influence. It's a way of reinforcing that this desire is "for real," by juxtaposing it against other desires that we take for granted in that way. To be honest, as many frustrations as I have with some LGBT tropes in anime and manga, I wish more Western media representations of bi characters could take a page from that. I don't like the way it's so often used to suggest that the character is "just like straight people", but I do like how it shows the character's desires for the same and opposite sex as being on equal footing.

We also get more into the political side of the Banana Fish plot. For as many parts of the show's "MK Ultra But For Real" story feel implausible (like that Pizzagate restaurant), this sounds like something that Cold War-era America might have actually used such a drug for if they'd had it. The U.S. in that era was constantly trying to overthrow democratically-elected leaders who were seen as insufficiently supportive of the U.S. or too pro-Soviet, replacing them with right-wing dictatorships. Something like "Banana Fish" allowing them to take over the minds of local politicians, rather than having to search for someone who was already on their side, would make that even easier. The focus on "Kafghanistan" and its role in the global drug trade seems like a way to bring this into the modern War on Terror landscape, even though that would also fit right into the 1980s setting of the original manga. Since this reflects real-world geopolitics, this is a lot more interesting to me than the other aspects of the drug plot, though it's still something the show could bungle. I'm curious to see where Banana Fish takes this. What's interesting is how Ash, this kid who hasn't had much in the way of actual schooling, is so easily able to piece together this political situation.

One thing I haven't discussed as much in this series is the meaning behind the episode titles, which are all references to famous literary works. Besides the "Banana Fish" of the series title and first episode, which are references to J.D. Salinger's famous story, these episodes largely take their cue from works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and other American writers from the so-called "Lost Generation"—people who came of age in the bleak aftermath of World War I, having lost so many of their compatriots to that brutal war and the Spanish flu outbreak that accompanied it. The focus on Fitzgerald in particular, as in titles like last week's "The Beautiful and the Damned," also reinforces the "New York, city of sin" focus of the anime, as much of Fitzgerald's work focuses on the decadent lifestyles of the rich and famous in New York during the 1920s, the height of the Prohibition era. (The Beautiful and the Damned is also largely about Fitzgerald's infamously fraught marriage to his wife Zelda, so read into that what you will for an episode centering on Ash and Eiji's relationship and intimacy.) The Hemingway novel referenced this week, To Have and Have Not, focuses on a goodhearted fishing boat captain in Florida who is forced by larger economic forces into darker ventures like smuggling. The similarities to Ash's situation couldn't be more obvious.

By invoking these famous works of American literature, Banana Fish is also situating itself as sitting alongside their caliber. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to put it there yet, but there is definitely more to this criminal love story than meets the eye. Even with its pulpier elements (and it's not like Fitzgerald and Hemingway didn't indulge in those too), Banana Fish paints a compelling picture of the way that society can force otherwise good people into horrible things. There's also a bit of hope in the way it shows that love can redeem people. Eiji may be the person who brings Ash back from the brink, even when he's fake-tormenting him with Halloween pumpkin displays. Here at the halfway point of this anime adaptation, I think it's clear that this element is what gives this story such staying power.

Source

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episodes 74-75 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137097/boruto7475.jpg

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Episodes 74-75 [Review]

The gang makes a little bit of progress on the Mitsuki front in this week's double-sized Boruto. Despite being able to subdue Boruto and Sarada, Team 10 ultimately decides to scrap their mission to bring them back to the Leaf, opting instead to accompany them on their quest. Soon after, the group reaches Ryuchi Cave, which initially appears to be a lavish palace. Although the Sage's retainers seem welcoming, it isn't long before they reveal their true intent: testing the gang's worthiness of seeing their master. Should the group fail in this task, they will be eaten. After passing several tests, Boruto is allowed to meet with the Sage. However, the old woman claims that all she's able to do is teach Sage Art to worthy students—not analyze the thoughts of snakes. Following some prodding, the Sage agrees to comply with Boruto's request if the group is able to defeat Garaga, a giant snake who resides in the cave's deepest regions, and bring her his Reverse Scale, as this will make him subservient. As the gang sets off to face their latest opponent, the Sage informs her servants that because the young shinobi are certain to die, she doesn't anticipate upholding her end of the bargain.

Though one episode leads right into the next, thematically, these episodes don't make sense as a single hour-long special. (Granted, this wasn't necessarily the reason they aired together.) While each one solidly stands on its own, 74 and 75 are difficult to judge as a single entity, given their tonal differences and settings. The former is a competently produced action episode, while the latter leans into light horror, surrealism, and folklore. Episode 74 feels like an organic next step for the story, whereas 75 appears to be the beginning of an arc-within-an-arc. (Which wouldn't be much of an issue if the audience weren't still in the dark about Mitsuki's fate.)

Teams 7 and 10 deciding to join forces and search for Mitsuki together is a fairly predictable story beat, but it's interesting that the one thing Shikadai in unable to predict—the presence of Mitsuki's snake—is what makes him realize that the village's narrative doesn't fit together. Orochimaru sending Suigetsu to distract Moegi is also an impressive bit of foresight, as the former villain smartly predicted that Ino-Shika-Cho would decide to assist Team 7 despite never actually meeting them. This may represent an evolution in Orochimaru's views on the value of friendship—or, as Suigetsu suggests, it could simply be a matter of parental concern. Either way, moves like this indicate that Naruto's one-time main villain is serious about turning over a new leaf.

Episode 75's creepy atmosphere and folklore homages are this action-free installment's best assets. Unfortunately, the whole “three trials” trope comes across as too simplistic, as do the nature of the challenges Boruto is forced to face. Regardless, the Sage's retainers are legitimately scary, and they help sell the idea that the gang is in actual peril—even though this may technically be one of their lowest-key challenges to date. Hopefully, the forthcoming fight with Garaga will entail Boruto discovering a direct clue as to Mitsuki's whereabouts, because if not, it will simply serve to pad this arc even further. Given this show's track record of mixed results, it's easy to see either scenario playing out.

Though Mitsuki drives the plot at every turn, he's being pushed even further into the background despite occupying such a central role. While entertaining in their own right, the episode-length skirmish with Team 10 and the challenges posed by the Sage and her servants feel like diversions, keeping both Boruto and the audience from learning more about his missing friend. Mitsuki suddenly vanishing may be what set this arc in motion, but his continued lack of presence is starting to feel like a ploy for time on the show's part.

Source

Black Clover - Episode 50 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137034/bc50.png.jpg

Black Clover - Episode 50 [Review]

With the Vetto fight finally over, it's time for some relaxation. Of all the big battles we've faced so far in Black Clover, the sentimental falling action feels more earned here than usual, but that's almost entirely because the fight itself was so good, because otherwise there are some tough shortcomings. It's going for a very One Piece-y vibe where the heroes end the arc all beaten and battered, and the locals patch them up and thank them as they leave. It'd be much sweeter and more beautiful if the arc's narrative strengths had anything to do with the people living in the Underwater Temple, which they certainly did not. (Aside from maybe Kahono)

Right off the bat we discover that the old man had lied about possessing the magic stone because he wanted to initiate the battle royale. It turns out he didn't even know what the magic stone was to begin with and the only reason the Black Bulls were able to obtain it was because Asta's bird just found it laying around offscreen during the fight. The whole battle royale set-up is still so baffling to me. Now that the arc's over we can see the through-line in full and it's a cooky old man holding his grandchildren's dreams hostage for fun so the viewers at home can watch a dull tournament that gets interrupted immediately, and none of it mattered on any conceivable level.

Which brings us Kahono and Kiato, who have suffered the most in the fallout of the Vetto fight. Kahono's lost her vocal chords and Kiato lost his leg. Even though she's lost most of her voice, Kahono can still speak to Noelle telepathically and they share a nice moment together. Kahono's a good girl and you hope she can recover sooner than later, and her friendship with Noelle is a genuine and heartfelt beat that I wish could have been explored with more lucidity in the arc itself.

Also in need of some rest and relaxation is Asta, who's broken both of his arms and gets to spend the episode dual-weilding a pair of slings. It's a really funny visual, but more so I really appreciate the scene where he and Yami pay their respects to Vetto's corpse. Vetto was by far the show's most effective villain yet, and he isn't simply knocked-out or imprisoned. He's straight-up dead, and it's not without recognizing that there's some kind of injustice at the heart of the Clover Kingdom giving birth to villains like the Eye of the Midnight Sun. I thought the extraordinarily entertaining fight was enough to warrant a moment of silence, but the show offers Vetto sincere sympathy for the ambiguous despair he's been carrying throughout his life.

So that's a wrap on the Underwater Temple arc. It was like a delicious sandwich being held proudly together by two slices of stale, moldy bread. The Vetto fight alone is enough to call this the best arc of the series to date, and it's a good thing that it makes up about 80% of the arc because it exists in spite of some honestly garbage material. This is a conservatively animated conclusion that in equal parts cuts to the heart of its most important characters and suffers from the fundamentally weak storytelling that kickstarted the arc. I want to say I really enjoyed myself, and I did, but it still has some serious issues.

Source

Free! -Dive to the Future- Episode 11 [Review]

https://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thumbnails/max300x600/cms/episode-review.2/137064/gou.jpg

Free! -Dive to the Future- Episode 11 [Review]

There are shows that tell a story and shows that share a highlight reel, and right now, Free! Dive to the Future is the latter. Like flipping through an old school yearbook, this episode distills its story down to the casts' highest highs, lowest lows, partings and reunions. After a season in which everyone has been scattered around Japan and beyond, “Streamline of Unity!” united the full cast (or close to it) in Tokyo. With a lot of deep cuts for fans of the franchise, this episode was heavy on continuity. However, it was light on substance, reminding us that when push comes to shove, this is a story about relationships first and a swimming anime second.

After nearly three seasons, a movie, and several OVAs, Free! has a lot of material to rely on, and this episode took full advantage of that. Viewers might remember Rei and Asahi meeting for the first time in middle school, or they might not. Either way, there's a flashback just in case. Viewers might remember in season two when Momotaro saw Rin's chest muscles and thought they looked like cleavage. If they do, his sister Isuzu's comment to Gou about her brother's chest won't seem to be entirely out of left field. If viewers happened to watch Free! -Take Your Marks-, they'll recognize why the current Iwatobi members react to meeting Makoto and Haru the way they do—they remember them from the Arabian Nights-style recruitment video. The viewer certainly remembers Rei and Nagisa's three-year friendship, so that particular highlight reel is just nostalgia. In general, this is all capitalizing on the character and relationship development that Free! has been cultivating for years—precisely so it can make tiny nudges now for big viewer payoff. If you're a diehard fan, these moments are imbued with so much significance that it feels at least a little less low-effort.

Swimming is the reason the cast is once again united, but it's not the source of the action or the drama. Rei wins his race and Nagisa loses his, but it doesn't seem to have any point in the grand scheme of things. I have questions about how Rei can come in first in his race at the national tournament but still not advance, but I'm no high school swimming expert. We don't really find out about anybody placing nationally, and the plot indicates that it doesn't matter. What does matter? The power of friendship. See Rin and Haru hang out, minus the angst! See Rin and Sousuke hang out, also angst Free! Ditto for Nagisa and Ai, Nagisa and Rei, and so on. Forget about Albert, the other rival guy in the newspaper, and anything to do with Hiyori and all that drama. This was almost story-Free!, just a montage reel of beloved characters.

Overall, this reflects the same thing I've been saying all season. The cast is huge. There's tons of material to build on. Sometimes the series gets halfway cohesive by becoming more myopic, centering on just one swimmer and his relationships to other people in the cast. (We've seen this when both Makoto and Ikuya got episodes.) But most of the time, it's a potpourri of glimpses of your favorite swimming boys in seemingly random order. It's still cute and sometimes even heartwarming, but it's only because there's so much great stuff in the canon already that this show can afford to coast on.

Source