Quick Final Thoughts – Dances With the Dragons

Ever wonder what LoveChuuni’s Rikka watches?

Yeah, it’s stuff like this.

And it’s not the worst thing, at least it wasn’t terminally boring, but it was painfully generic. The world, the main characters, the titular dragons, none of them are anything remotely original, and it all just blended together into one big pile of “meh”.

The dynamic between our main duo is just boring as hell and makes one of them come across as terminally stupid, but the show takes him very seriously as he basically racks up credit card debt and has zero intention of ever paying for anything because he “works hard”. Oh, and this is also the guy who uses the big Final Fantasy greatsword which is simultaneously a buster sword AND a gunblade. Very original.

Our actual protagonist’s only notable attribute is that he already has a girlfriend, which is a little surprising for a show like this, but they’re both pretty much cardboard. His most major trait is that he gets annoyed at his partner, and hers is that she’s a bad cook.

Yeah, unless you really liked Blue Exorcist, I can’t see this being particularly noteworthy to anyone. I’m already struggling to remember it. 4/10

Quick Final Thoughts – Yotsuiro Biyori

There’s nothing wrong with it, per se, but there’s too much else to watch.

I get why I might like this show. I’m a fan of slice of life, any show gets points for not starring teenagers, and the cast is mostly handsome men. It’s certainly a pandering show for a specific type of person.

Unfortunately, the first episode just didn’t do much to hold my attention. It’s not really boring, but cafe settings are just not interesting to me anymore, and the guys themselves are not particularly interesting. I recognize that I’m basing that on one episode, but there should have been more to grab me in that premiere, and spending a whole season watching these guys impress women just doesn’t sound like a good time for me.

It’s not bad, but it’s not my thing.

Quick Final (?) Thoughts – IDOLiSH7

From the studio that brought you Re:Creators comes a male idol show with almost nothing going for it.

The characters are likeable enough, but the dance numbers are all rendered in godawful sub-10 FPS with dreadfully boring costume design, and in a world where we have iMAS Side M and Love Live Sunshine demonstrating how phenomenal animated dance and spectacle can look, both with better design and more interesting characters to boot, there’s just no room – and, given TROYCA’s previous work, no excuse – for how awful this looks.

The only thing even slightly interesting is the character drama, but it’s just nothing compared to what we got with LLS!, and I have no idea if I’ll finish it when I have so much other catching up to do.

Dropped after 4 episodes.

Quick Final Thoughts – Laid-Back Camp

Nearly everything one can ask for from relaxing slice-of-life.

This one was a strong effort from episode one, because not many slice-of-life shows can get me so excited just to watch the next episode, while maintaining such a calming effect. Laid-Back Camp doesn’t go for anything too ambitious, sticking with a group of genuinely likeable characters exploring their hobby and being really good friends to each other.

Basically, it’s wholesome as fuck.

And while there are some failings in the animation department, they’re mediated by great background work (I suspect from Silver Link, since Non Non Biyori is famous for its backgrounds of similar settings) and really good character design (I’m really attached to Nadeshiko’s camping outfit, it’s a little kooky like her, but very coordinated at the same time).

Basically, there’s nothing tremendously new here, but there’s absolutely something to be said for excellent execution of ideas that work.

8/10!

Quick Final Thoughts – Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond

Now here’s an amazing show that still knows how to have a rollicking good time.

The first season was largely anime-original, as the source material doesn’t have much of an overarching plot, and it delivered a fantastic story that gets a few nods here, but this second season sticks to the manga’s episodic nature, and proves to be fantastic at telling human stories in its wacky, off-the-wall universe. These are common stories, but ones that haven’t been told this way before, from KK trying to be a good mother, to Zed getting marginalized, or a doctor making ultimate sacrifices to help her patients. It reminds me a lot of the first part of fellow Bones production Fullmetal Alchemist, particularly the more drawn-out 2003 version.

However, this does come at the cost of the building stakes that we got in the first season with its story about the second end of the world, and that’s something to come to terms with in order to get on board here.

Bones delivers more jaw-dropping action production here, but one thing it’s lacking in is the awesome opening and ending department. The first season’s opening, “Hello, World!” and ending “Sugar Song to Bitter Step” are legendary for their amazing production work, and while the new songs, both by Sugar Song’s artist Unison Square Garden, are a great time, they aren’t backed up with quite as ambitious visuals and creative direction, and that’s at least partly due to a change in director.

So, to summarize, while this followup isn’t quite as masterful as its predecessor, the show remains a fantastic time, and it’s still well worth a watch if you liked the first season.

Oh, and the dub remains one of the best I’ve ever heard, and Aaron Dismuke as Leonardo was a stroke of genius, and that’s before getting into the other great performances on display.

9/10!

Quick Final Thoughts – Made in Abyss

Heh, speaking of being late, the biggest show of last year and I procrastinated on it so hard.

Intentional discomfort is a fine line. Media which is intended to keep you on your toes has to have a really, really good hook to be able to keep viewers around, or else that discomfort will push them too far and make them give up.

You also have to leverage this feeling so that it’s spaced out, or the same thing happens. This is where I feel Inuyashiki went very wrong, stuffing tons of shock content in with essentially no break in between.

Made in Abyss wants to draw you into its fantastic, gorgeous world, but it does NOT want you to get comfortable. It wants you worried, it wants you squicked, it wants you sad, and it wants you terrified. You might enjoy the experience, but it will not be a happy one, and you will be unsure if you’ll even get a happy ending when all is said and done. These characters are going to be miserable, going to lose hope and get hurt and watch awful things happen, and you are going to want to keep watching, because it is a masterwork at keeping you invested. Despite being truly one of the most disturbing shows I’ve ever witnessed, probably even more so than Inuyashiki, this one has a better premise, better characters, and a story you’ll want to see to the bitter end, because you’ll want to know just as badly as the characters just what lies in the depths of hell itself.

My only issue here, is that it isn’t over. You won’t find an ending here, despite the original nature of the show, and so the biggest, most tantalizing mystery is still unsolved. So, for now, despite getting my highest recommendation if you’ve got the stomach for it, I can only give it a 9/10. If a conclusion is announced, however, it will be a 10/10 experience.

Quick Final Thoughts – Inuyashiki Last Hero

I took too long to watch this and not finish it, but I’m frankly just not enjoying this.

This show’s MAL score is almost an 8, and based on the overall quality of the first four episodes, I can’t say I get it. For having produced Yuri On Ice! and its remarkable skate sequences, Inuyashiki looks remarkably bad when CG isn’t involved. Tons of in-betweens seem to be just straight-up missing, and the show’s “realistic” art style just does not render well, resulting in something really ugly-looking most of the time.

And the content has gone from an interesting idea to a black-and-white good vs evil story with tons of content which seems to only exist to provoke shock, from graphic, callous murder to several implied rapes (and one actual onscreen one) and none of it connects as well as it should. Frankly, these elements are so distracting that it takes me entirely out of the experience every single time, and I just can’t remain invested in the story, especially not when the most commentary the show can provide is that the villain kills people for no reason, but the HERO is just so amazing and he heals injured cats and cancer patients, and is essentially Jesus.

4/10. What a waste of perfectly salvageable material.

Quick Final Thoughts – Himouto Umaru-chan S2

A definite improvement over the first season.

I’m aware that a lot of people found the first season of this show to be unwatchable and obnoxious, but even as someone who still enjoyed it nevertheless, the reason the show has improved is pretty easy to explain.

While Umaru remains nerdy and lazy, her selfishness and her negative impact on other people have been reduced dramatically, making her much easier to root for in the long run. We do see her growing and changing as a person, and we see a lot less misery on the part of her brother, retooling their relationship into a very friendly, coordinated one. This season demonstrates why he needs her around, and that her behavior has gotten a lot better, leaving us with a solid and funny slice of life comedy, even if the plot doesn’t resolve.

Maybe we’ll see more?

7/10

Quick Final Thoughts – Konohana Kitan

Yeah, I know I’m only getting later and later with these now we’re a month into the new season, but winter is a busy time.

This one turned out a little better than I expected from the first episode, where we got some strong episodic storytelling out of a neat concept. While the stories were a little uneven, it was never anything less than pleasant to watch.

Studio Lerche gives some fair production value to the project and the character designs are all nice to look at, and the traditional Japanese fashion looks awesome in the setting.

I wish I had more specific praise for this one, because I genuinely did enjoy it, but I wish it had been just a bit more challenging, because I can’t see myself remembering this one as much as I’ll remember, say, Flying Witch.

I’d still say it deserves a look if you enjoyed that show, though, or if you want a casual look into Japanese folklore.

7/10

Quick Final Thoughts – Anime-gataris

Well, that came out of nowhere in the best way.

For most of its run, the show I can most easily compare Anime-gataris to is Shirobako. While that was a fairly realistic show about what it’s like to make anime, this one is about what it’s like to be a fan of anime. All kinds of hilarious discussions of concepts like the three-episode rule or kitchen sink plots come up over the course of ten episodes, followed by the most joyous shark jump I’ve ever seen. Basically, with its fourth-wall breaking humor and tongue-in-cheek jabs at itself (poking fun at the plot and artwork, among other things), you could basically consider this a better version of Chronicles of the Going Home Club.

What holds it back from really being great, though, are two problems. First, the animation really isn’t as fluid as it should be, and if a character is more than a few feet from the camera, they tend to go off model in a slightly distracting way. Second, some tonal issues occur in the last arc of the show where it gets more serious and dramatic than it can really pull off, and it would have done better to focus on the sheer comic potential of what’s happening. It intentionally jumps the shark, but there’s a less deliberate dolphin that it accidentally trips on and prevents it from really sticking the landing.

Still, it had me well in stitches throughout, and if you consider yourself an otaku, you owe it to yourself to give this a watch, because you won’t be disappointed.

Oh, and special credit to whichever of the writing staff was in charge of coming up with parody show names. Give him an award.

8/10