Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou (Ep. 4)

     You know it’s a decent slice of life show when nothing happens but you still feel content and would love to watch the next episode immediately. What makes this one work? Character dynamic, for instance. Even during everyday situations Chi and Yuu have something to talk about, to reference their immediate past or to blabber anything that comes to mind but the subtle sense of humor, variety of topics, specific character traits of the girls and, of course, brilliance of the VAs make it a very pleasant experience. Character animation as always also plays a big role in making the characters dear and relatable – just like that moment when Chi doesn’t forget to check if Yuu’s hair looks alright before taking a photo. The second part succeeded mainly because of the setting – the temple sure felt mysterious, with all these weird and slightly unsettling statues built everywhere (but who the hell would build one straight in the middle of a road?). The scene when Yuu finds herself in the dark impressed me quite a bit – claustrophobic shots and tilted angles sure makes you as well as Yuu (pun intended) feel uneasy. So yeah, even though the story is very laid back and almost unambitious, there’re many little things that make it endearing.

Kino no Tabi (Ep. 4)

     For the whole episode I kept that Tiffany (or what’s her name) expression which exactly describes my level of excitement. Well, let’s talk about relatable characters. Shizu? One episode (and a tiny bit of another) isn’t enough to make me care about. He’s just a bland righteous guy without anything else going about him for now. Kino? It was portrayed that Shizu’s choice to remain with the people rather than oversee them was a sound and empathical one, so should I like Kino because she chose the opposite? I guess it leaves Riko, and he’s only likable because he has a cute face. Right. Also, there’s too much idiots everywhere. The fact that the people chose not to leave the ship was kind of a point so that’s fine but the AI… How can an AI decide that it’s not safe to land because some other people might attack but it’s perfectly ok to sail a sinking ship? It’s not that there’s lack of manpower so what kind of AI would manage to overlook the fact that the ship is barely floating when there’re certainly opportunities to fix it? Whoever did the programming screwed up hard. And you tell me that on this whole ship there wasn’t a single person who would take care of Tiffany since she was born because she wasn’t related to anyone? I don’t know, maybe I have a too idealistic view on the humanity but come on. While I appreciated that Shizu and not Kino was the center of the story, the explanation that was info-dumped by Hermes near the end threw away all the good work building a nicely flowing story. To sum up, it’s just another half-assed attempt to give some possibly interesting ideas an embodiment. Oh well.

Mahoutsukai no Yome (Ep. 4)

     Somehow any time an anime ascertains that mages and sorcerers are completely different and one shouldn’t confuse them by all means, I’m forced to laugh. In this show they seem pretty similar so far and only their goals (whatever they might be) differ. Anyway, a story about cats seems fitting concerning all this magical stuff, though it’s still not clear why precisely cats have to oversee that region and what’s the point of having them in this particular story in the first place. Still, such a bizarre idea of a cat country was implemented in the usual world quite nicely – a cat may have an owner whom she looks to be taking care of (which also sounds funny). Also at this point I have to mention how much I do love the locations – it’s a real refreshment after so many uninspired high-school related anime. All the other stuff, concerning that sick girl and her husband and the sorcerers remains unclear. I just hope that the next episode will sort things out, kidnapping Chise, throwing her into the lake and, of course, Chise’s visions included. By the way, doesn’t it look familiar? The previous arc also had Chise kidnapped by a flying blond person who in the end threw Chise into a lake. Well, let’s hope that the best moments of the arc are still awaiting.

Ballroom e Youkoso (Ep. 17)

     I appreciate all the effort to make Tatara-Chinatsu relationship deepen but it didn’t make a really interesting episode. All I could think of was the fact that Tatara and Chinatsu just don’t mesh. Why force the thing then? Mako was clearly happy with Tatara and she has the skills to be a great partner. She also is still physically incompatible with the Jerk. I’ve said that already quite a lot but is there really a point in not separating for our main couple? I bet Chinatsu even would be happier with the Jerk. Yes, sometimes it’s good to aim higher and overcome some pretty difficult obstacles but that only makes sense if there’s some achievable goal so that you won’t have to try to break a brick wall with a needle, and that’s precisely how I’d describe the progress of Tatara’s and Chinatsu’s pair. Meanwhile the onsen part provided as always completely unnecessary fanservice. At least it gave some spirit to otherwise not that interesting bickering, shouting and all the other drama stuff. Maybe if I cared more about the characters it would’ve been a more meaningful character-building episode but oh well.

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau (Ep. 4)

     I guess great visuals don’t always come with a great story. Well, it isn’t bad, but certainly not on par with everything else. I’m just skeptical. An adventure story like this generally should be fun but some elements don’t sit that well with me. I guess till the very end I’ll remember the slaughter of the undeveloped characters and how pointless it felt. This episode provided something similar though of a smaller scale – Chakuro heard that the Whale would be sunk and that apparently only the elders are ok with that so isn’t there a point in telling everyone and trying to do something collectively? I don’t mean anything like an outright revolution but I hope that guards are chosen not because they’re dumb so some talk possibly could’ve persuaded them and no fight would’ve been needed. And what kind of guard is that captain? What’s the point in a guard who himself chooses who to let through and who not based only on his own gut feeling? Another thing that didn’t sit well with me is that after that hallucination scene and a moment with his dead waifu (I guess it will be Chakuro’s motivation for the whole season) Chakuro so quickly gets a new one who previously wasn’t important to the story at all. At least she proved to be useful but jokes concerning her feel a bit at odds with the grave atmosphere of the story. Well, maybe not grave but at least serious. It shouldn’t be a harem story, you hear me? By the way, I like Lycos’ logic – “we came to slaughter everyone on that other Whale and that’s reasonable but we didn’t plan to attack you lot, sorry about that, our bad”.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou (Ep. 3)

     Just like I expected – something new happens (that is the new character (voiced by none other than the notorious Akira Ishida if my ears don’t lie) appears) and the girls get a goal, no matter that it’s temporary. These additions come at just the right time when the overall tone is established and some developments can start to appear. Thematically the episode comes very near to Kino no Tabi and its existential problems – what can you make of a man who wanders making maps that no one needs? The episode also provided some very nice moments – Yuu insisting that she doesn’t love food above all else and in the end giving some to the mapper (and in turn receiving a similar gift from Chi) was very heartwarming indeed. At this point it’s also appropriate to address the CG. Sure, when it’s only the vehicle, it’s fine, but if any of the characters also appear in CG, particularly when, say, Chi (CG) is driving and Yuu (2D) is standing nearby, it’s quite difficult not to cringe. The collapsing building also looked rather unrealistic. To be frank, the whole idea that a usual glass and metal structure could fall down and still basically retain its form sounds as fantastical as a pair of dragons. P.s. I feel for you, Chi. #FearOfHeightsForLife.

Kino no Tabi (Ep. 3)

     Basically my reaction to the episode was “yeah, so what?”. Sure, some people may be bothersome but do you need to create a whole episode about it? For me there just wasn’t anything that interesting about it. The last episode about the Coliseum had a negative impact on this one – I’m afraid there’s still no reason for me to like this new Kino, as after effectively butchering a whole country last time she didn’t get any brownie points in this episode. Yes, her purpose for the most part is to be a bystander, an observer, but somehow Kino from the old show had something likable about her and I can’t say anything similar about the new one. An idea about a moving country is an interesting one, but it seems like the attitude of its residents would benefit from some empathy. Is it normal to just go trampling everything with a stance of “we just don’t want to turn around so move away. We’ll destroy your crops and buildings and stuff but we’ll be quick about it. And, yeah, by the way, we’re kinda sorry about that. See ya!”. Also the whole thing of such a huge machine stopping in order to take in a single stray traveler seems like a terribly inefficient use of power. So yeah, it just wasn’t an interesting episode. I can’t say it was bad but if the show wants to reach the quality of the old Kino, it needs to do far better than now to breach my indifference.

Mahoutsukai no Yome (Ep. 3)

     I’m still not comfortable about how quickly the action moved to Iceland without any set-up or narrative reason. Yet, the episode finally managed to strike the right cord. Examining such fundamentals as cycle of life and death or a place in nature of any living creature calls for discretion and subtlety and I think the show nailed it. Especially for Chise it should be very uncomfortable to see how peacefully the dragons are able to view the fact of death and leave present life without regrets. Chise’s past hasn’t been shown fully yet but her mother’s death probably was one of the defining events of her life making her as she has been before meeting Elias – lonely, full of regrets and without much inclination to live. This meeting with the dragons should teach Chise a bit of coming into terms with the inevitable and living her life to the fullest. Sure, it might not be a sudden change but I feel that she placed this message deep inside to let it grow. The old dragon itself was portrayed very impressively – from the moss to the peeling scales, not to mention his whole size. The idea of death immediately giving life to another being speaks of a fundamental truth and also suggests that every experience, be it pleasant or not, has some meaning, even if you can’t understand it at the moment. Just as Chise’s painful past made it possible for her to become who she is now and pursue a happy future.

Ballroom e Youkoso (Ep. 16)

     Quite unexpectedly I have barely any negatives to say about the episode. That grand prix part felt like anything but a grand prix. Technically it’s supposed to be a competition above all other competitions but it looked even duller than anything we’ve seen already. Please use the competitions sparingly – no anime can be alive let alone interesting using only half-baked tournament arcs. The four-legged thing reminded me of Junji Ito, so Tatara’s confusion about it was quite well portrayed. I wonder why anything similar didn’t happen with Mako if they were synced so perfectly. The other part of the episode also quite well portrayed the building stress when Tatara and Chinatsu tried to force things, even when it’s clear that they’re incompatible right now. Wouldn’t it be a better choice to split up? Also I noticed that Chinatsu changed her personality since her introduction. At first she was that arrogant and bratty gal who can’t be wrong and looks down on any lame dancing dude. Now she’s just hot-headed but also able to listen to Tatara’s opinions to some extent. I’m not sure the change was gradual enough but it’s definitely better not to see that initial Chinatsu ever again..

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau (Ep. 3)

     Well, come on, you see an exhausted person, possibly your friend who might as well have easily died by now, and you say what? Of course – “what happened to your clothes?”. The show’s first episode was very impressive but after that it certainly didn’t get better. Lack of establishment and build up to this slaughtering came back to bite once more. No matter how hard Kujira no Kora tried to evoke empathy, it failed. Come on, I’ve barely seen these people each like for 20 seconds at most and now you expect me to care? That one is dead and this one, the chieftess and that another guy are also dead, what’s that to me? What was the point of having so many characters appear and share the screentime if many of them already died and died without any effect on me? This whole military operation is also a bit fishy. If this army came to eradicate that other ship then why would they start killing everyone on this one? And, stranger still, why would they suddenly stop? Not to mention that the military is pretty incompetent, conveniently stopping and sparing some certain characters. Also, we saw what Ouni, Chakuro and Lykos can do when they concentrate and become determined to fight till the end – the military guys are beaten like no big deal. In the first episode it was told that 9/10 of all the population can use this Thymia (and Chakuro is even counted as being pretty inept at it) so why aren’t the military guys being ones completely wiped out? I’d think a score of competent Thymia wielders could destroy everything to dust. And of course we get an obnoxious villain character with an obnoxious hair color. Don’t tell me these military guys are supposed to be lacking emotions because this dude clearly doesn’t. Oh well, I guess I should lower my expectations quite a bit as our unlikely hero motivated by his dead girlfriend together with a new girlfriend, a fragile wise man and an antihero with a dark past (and dark hair, of course) will try to save the nation, destroy the villains and get their revenge. How original.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou (Ep. 1)

     After still having an empty slot in my seasonal schedule I decided to choose this one, mainly because it felt the most original and unlike anything I watched recently. That is if some parallels with Made in Abyss are dismissed. And there are parallels for sure, quite a pleasant soundtrack by Kenichiro Suehiro of Re:Zero not being the least important. Still, character designs are the most apparent, but in this show they stay even more stylized so it’s very difficult to read the girls’ emotions and to get attached to them. Nevertheless, the voice acting by Inori Minase and Yurika Kubo is of the highest caliber, instantly building some chemistry and making the characters quite interesting after all. The elephant in the room still is the setting and all the related questions – what happened? why are the girls travelling? where? who are they? And so on and so on and so on. As an introductory episode this one was fine for it passed in a second but I have some concerns about the future. Something else must be introduced because mindless roaming around with nothing else to interact with will get old pretty soon,  no matter the loveliness of the interactions between the girls. That new element might as well define the real value of the show.

Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou (Ep. 2)

     Well, poor Akutagawa didn’t deserve to be burned. Anyway, the second episode felt pretty much the same as the first one, and I must say I liked the atmosphere. The setting remains intriguing, especially with some of girls’ history hinted at, but once again it’s the characters that carry the show. The girls have differentiated a bit more, with Chi  looking more and more serious and calculating while Yuu just does what she wants most of times. It’s a classic example of how well such a character dynamic might work – the girls don’t do anything significant and just travel somewhere but their conversations, albeit inconsequential, still prove to be quite enjoyable. I wrote that so stylized character designs make it harder to relate to the characters but now it’s clear that it’s compensated by the ability to apply squash and stretch very organically. The end product just makes you feel the diverse temperature range the girls’ experience, right to every single unconscious movement and reaction. I still await some goal in this journey but so far even without that the show clearly works well indeed. Bonus fact: the ED was soloed by the author of the original manga – tsukumizu, – who’s not an animator by all means. Impressive.

Kino no Tabi (Ep. 2)

     At first it must be said that this arc was also adapted by the old anime. I didn’t like this story that much while watching it back then and this new adaptation certainly didn’t improve my opinion about it. The old show dedicated whole two episodes for this arc (which was quite exceptional) and now everything is crammed into one. I can’t say the older version provided much detail about the participants of this tournament but at least it attempted to. I’m not even talking about about Shizu’s role – I’ll forget him after 2 seconds. Even more, now we get some laughable villains that are incompetent enough to bring anything but guns into a gunfight. The fact that Kino doesn’t need to do anything to win adds neither enjoyment nor any characterization for her, especially since she wanted to fight in order to test herself. The older show apart from having Kino seriously make an effort to survive also took some time to present the country itself and the darker aesthetic suited the place far better than this sunshine-and-flowers color scheme. I understand that Kino’s point in making everyone fight was to emphasize the idiocy of such rules the country has but does it make me like Kino? No thanks, I prefer to have nothing in common with people who don’t bat an eye while making others kill themselves. In this context Kino is no better than the old king.

Mahoutsukai no Yome (Ep. 2)

     The show has all the credentials to be great but somehow I fail to find it as captivating as some others of the same genre – for example I needed only a few seconds to confirm my affinity to Flying Witch. Well, it’s probably just the initial stages where the setting and principal characters are introduced without much space for development of the relations. Chise still remains a bit confused and cautious girl, Elias also retains his distance for the most time and others so far had barely any time to become more prominent. Especially later on there might arise a problem concerning the jokes. Now some of them already don’t land and once they become an integral part of the show (well, it’s very likely) I’m afraid that their novelty will no longer manage to compensate the fact that the jokes don’t really mix well with the rest of the show. You know, chibis and stuff. Another thing that might be considered a problem though more than that it just confused me a lot – why would you suddenly move to Iceland and start some business with dragons? A new character was just introduced and moving so quickly to a place that couldn’t be more random and doing so in the final seconds of the episode just feels incredibly weird. But once again, I guess I just need time to get accustomed to the show and after that Mahoutsukai no Yome will have much to tell.

Ballroom e Youkoso (Ep. 15)

     Forget the animation, please at least do the basics. Very few scenes were anything that you could call above average and the rest was, well, barely serviceable, and that only with increased tolerance levels. Is it just me or there’s really something wrong with the show despite the fact that its scheduling should be alright? And on top of that it’s I.G so there shouldn’t be that many problems, right? Once again I was just bored. Sengoku failing (sort of) a competition? Oh well, that happens. Tatara changes his dancing school? Ok, that’s understandable. No big deal. There’s just hardly anything or anyone that I could make a connection with so nothing feels exciting. As far as I remember, during the cup match against Shizuku and the Jerk, Tatara and Mako made a good impression on everyone, just as if they were on a comparable level. So why then we are again and again told how bad of a dancer Tatara really is? It just doesn’t seem right. The time division between the training and competitions also feels weird – as if the only visible progress is made only during the actual tournaments. The training that should comprise the larger part of the development of any sportsman here is hardly shown at all and there’s no end to competitions that feel way too repetitive. At least the sexism in the sport was addressed. Tatara chose the right side but it looks like you can’t win unless you conform. And if that’s the problem with the ballroom dancing in the real life I guess I’m very sad about it. …And what the hell was that sekuhara scene for? Seriously…

Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau (Ep. 2)

     The things are clearly escalating and I’m quite conflicted about that. On one hand it makes things far more interesting with endless possibilities in the future but there are also some concerning things. I think the peaceful society needed more time to settle in. In other words, the characters are just established and I’d preferred more time to get invested into them before everything changed and Fire Nation (with clown masks) attacked. There are lots of characters and even though showing that everyone might be important in this little society is nice, I can’t remember many names or see how relevant is some guy giving flowers to a chieftess that just gave an infodump meant for the audience and certainly not for anyone else. These little scenes about different people also make the episode feel very segmented and lacking a central storyline. The time could’ve been better used emphasizing principal characters and their relations. The problem of not making me care enough is made clear when this blond girl apparently saves Chakuro by blocking the fire. Yes, I remember her face but without the fact that she started to envy Lykos for getting more attention from Chakuro, I can’t say anything else about her and therefore care for her. Her apparent death thus is completely wasted. The new elements introducing some magical source that eats human emotions and a bunch of really evil guys from the preview of the next episode also don’t look very comforting. The show just feels like someone was really impressed by Shinsekai yori and tried to emulate that. Anyway, the visuals retain their polish and pretty much every other frame might be used as a screenshot. I don’t even need to say a thing about that locust swarm.