#shd reviews

[skyhopedango]

stuff I watched this week

Soooo the new season is officially upon us, and after the most underwhelming winter season in years, spring looks... well. Let’s just say this week was Trope Week In Anime, at least in the shows I watched, and not in the fun way. (Which reminds me, gah, Double Decker will officially have its last episode on the 10th, noooooo. :( I’ll just cling to it until everyone in the fandom moves on...)

Anyway, about the stuff I watched this week... well, they all served to remind me that I’m old and jaded and have a taste that is apparently too finicky for my own good.

Fruits Basket 2019:

Well. As I mentioned previously, I watched the first anime as it aired, and while I did enjoy it, I didn’t enjoy it enough to have this overflowing, passionate nostalgia for it that so many people seem to have. (I do remember seeking out the manga to see more of the Hatori/Ayame/Shigure trio, and then the manga turning out to be a huge letdown in many ways.) So I see all this outpouring of “AAAAAHH THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER” and I’m sitting here being kinda like “...meh”.

I mean, there’s nothing objectively wrong with Fruits Basket, I’m sure it’s great if you’re into the sort of thing it does. And I’m sure people who have fond memories of the manga and/or the first anime, or are into its genre will enjoy this show tremendously. But it’s never been the kind of stuff that speaks to me, personally. And this episode just served to remind me that if anything I’d gotten even less tolerant of these character archetypes and tropes being presented in such a pure and undiluted manner. (And yes I know, manga readers, but as I said above I did find the manga a letdown.) If I was feeling generous I’d call it old-school, but I’m not so I’ll just say that I found this episode outdated. 

But, well, there was Nakamura Yuuichi doing well as Shigure, and I sorta look forward to seeing Ayame and Hatori, so I guess I’ll keep watching until they appear.

Kono oto tomare:

Did anyone say “tropes”? Holy crap this episode was full of them, and again, not in a fun way. Really, all along I was thinking about how much better it could have been if they just summarized this episode (and I guess the upcoming bunch of episodes) in like five minutes and just skipped to the part where something interesting happens, because anyone who didn’t know exactly what was going to happen, and how, after Kudou showed up has to be a complete and total newbie to anime/manga. I have read some bits and pieces of this manga and I enjoyed them so I kind of hope I didn’t just luck out with coming across the fun bits.

(Also, if I never see yet another “troubled high-school bad boy with a heart of gold who just wants to belong” character it’ll be too soon. I’m so tired of them.)

Fairy Gone: 

aka PA Works really, really wants a hit show in North America. Out of the three shows this week this was the one I enjoyed the most, although that’s not saying much, especially because I mainly enjoyed it for what we saw of the world design, and the character designs... not the monster designs, though, those looked unimpressive.

Anyway, so far the show is... well, it’s alright? It tries a bit too hard, and takes itself way too seriously for something that doesn’t seem to be all that deep, and it’s building on all too familiar tropes and beats. But who knows, it might just end up worth watching. Then again, this is what I was hoping for Sirius the Jaeger, and look how that ended up. Also, as much as I appreciate PAW making some effort to move away from their usual visual style (that is, to me, an instant turn-off), I’d appreciate it even more if they made enough effort to stop with the permablush on their female characters designated as “cute”. It’s just visually annoying.

So yeah, I wasn’t impressed with this week, I hope I’ll have better luck with next week. Especially with Double Decker EX#3! Please show, please - if you have to go, go out with a bang! But I’m secretly still hoping for a second season, as unlikely as that is.

[skyhopedango]

NobuCon chapter 106

I haven’t been recapping the recent chapters because I’m pretty much the only one who cares lol of lack of time/energy and because nothing particularly momentous happened. And technically nothing momentous happens in this chapter either, but there’s one little detail... Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve finally reached 1582.

aaaaaaahhhhhh...

Anyway, let’s go in order.

1. Kichou on the cover. Why is she so pretty.

2. The A part of the chapter is about Saburou arriving in Mikawa to see Ieyasu and discuss how they’re going to defeat the remnants of the Takeda clan. As usual he’s very happy to see Tadakatsu. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t bring Oicchan today...” “I don’t know why you’re apologizing.” “Yes, that is too bad...” “...”

Yasumasa trolling Tadakatsu with a straight face never gets old. :D

3. Stuff happens, mostly character banter, but the end of the segment has Tadakatsu and Yasumasa musing about how powerful Takeda Shingen was he defeated the Tokugawa forces way back at Mikatagahara). But, as Tadakatsu notes, Shingen is now dead. Yeah, Yasumasa adds -

“No matter how strong someone is, in the end we all die.”

And on this positive and optimistic note we step forward into... the fateful year of 1582.

aaahhhh....

4. It’s the new year, and Saburou is knackered as usual. So when Micchi arrives to offer his formal new year’s greetings, Saburou is quick to ask him to trade places. Micchi is like “...er, this is a bit sudden” but Saburou gives him puppy dog eyes and goes “Please? You just offered me your body and soul”...

And that’s all it takes. :D Micchi just loves Saburou too much.

Micchi gets a hug from Saburou, while Ranmaru looks on being all “aww, must be nice” :DDDD (no, he really says that)

5. Saburou tries to sneak out disguised as Micchi, but he runs into Kichou, who of course immediately clocks that it’s Saburou, and asks to go with him on a date. 

So they go, and have fun, and it’s cute. 

6. Yuki (now officially Saburou’s bodyguard) correctly guesses that 1. Kichou knows everything, including who is playing the role of Nobunaga while they’re running around in town, and who that person really is, and 2. that Saburou knows that Kichou knows. And everyone is OK with the situation. 

And so, the last year has started. There’s still some months until June, but I really, really can’t wait to see how the hell the Honnouji incident is going to happen, because right now I can’t even begin to imagine.

(As for the eventual outcome, I think by now it’s a foregone conclusion that Micchi is going to die as Nobunaga... I guess this will allow Saburou to escape and live somewhere quietly with Kichou. Maybe.)

[skyhopedango]

Oh boy, oh boy, episode 5! I can’t even pretend not to be excited, even as a joke. :D

1. I continue to love the fake-outs! they may wear out their welcome eventually but so far they're hilarious.

2. This episode made me fully realize just how much I love Mikami Satoshi as Doug. He not only has a great, expressive voice and style of acting, which does absolute wonders for a character as stoic and deadpan as Doug, but he adds an extra dimension of... idek, validity? is that the right word? to the character and the show.

That is to say, Double Decker models itself partly on live action (mainly US/English language) TV; and partly on its predecessor Tiger & Bunny, which modeled itself on American superhero/buddy cop stuff. Mikami's main profile is live action dubbing (and he’s the Japanese voice of Benedict Cumberbatch, hence the Sherlock references in Double Decker that even I recognize) and he absolutely brings that quality to Doug, which helps anchoring the whole show in a particular genre with a particular attitude. If that makes sense.

3. I also continue to fucking love the world design. It's familiar, retro-futuristic, hard-boiled American big city stuff, but subtly infused with surreal craziness, and it's awesome. Just looking at the backgrounds is fun!

4. I also love the dynamics between Doug & Kirill, and I don't mean how obviously shippable they are (that doesn't hurt though) but how well-written their interactions are, how well their dialogues work, how well the implications and callbacks work... Generally the writing in this show is superb, and Doug and Kirill are a great example of handling such a pair well.

5. Kirill is too genre savvy for his own good. :D

6. What's up with Kirill's watch, by the way? Is it just me or is it a bit too elaborate not to have some sort of plot importance eventually?

6. Just, the whole Bamboo Man action set piece from start to finish. Holy shit it was awesome. People are probably going to rag on it because "eww CG!" but as for me, I'm not bothered by that. I thought it was really damn good, you don't see this sort of thing often in anime, and even if overall it probably didn't flow as well as theoretically it could have (a bit more dynamism would have done the scene well), it was still impressive AS. FUCK. Damn.

7. Also... Bamboo Man is a NEXT, isn't he? If it's not the Anthem that gives him powers... also he seems to have a time limit... gee, where have I seen that before...

8. Finally we see Doug losing his cool and it's awesome. Kirill's reaction was great, too - and so very Kirill. "I'm gonna buy us time!" "You have a plan?" "Nope!" :D

9. The twist in the stinger, especially how the whole episode set it up, was so good. Sure, you could guess that something was up, and it was obvious that something was up by the end of the episode, but the stinger was just so well-done, from direction to music.

10. "Since it seems it's over for us, I'll just let you know - you've got that wrong" :DDDD

This show continues to be tons of fun, something to look forward to every week, which is crazy considering how little I expected of it before the first episode. 

Unfortunately it also continues to be ridiculously underrated... I understand it doesn’t fit any of the popular trends, but come on guys, it’s a great, fun show! You’re allowed to watch and be fan of more than one show per season!

[skyhopedango]

Sooo! HizaUe is out, and since this was the anime I looked forward to the most in the winter season, I guess it’s time to stop moping over Double Decker and get on with my life. (BUT I WANT MORE!!! I wish I could draw or write to create fanworks and just create more Double Decker for myself...)

Anyway, I’ve been reading the manga for this for a long time now, and I was really looking forward to the anime! And... normally this is where I’d say that “it was just as great as I hoped it would be” and leave it at that, but I’m afraid I can’t, because... well, I guess this is not going to be another really good adaptation like last year’s How To Keep A Mummy or Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori. 

So watch me write 500 words about an episode of a kitty anime... orz

I mean it’s definitely cute! Haru is adorable! And she totally gave me all the feels. But when it comes to Subaru I can’t help but feel that his characterization is really off. Probably for pacing reasons - the show is likely only 1 cour and can’t afford spending time on building him up like the manga does, but that kind of distorts his character and situation. 

In the show, at least in this first episode, Subaru comes across as just your usual introverted dude who is trying to mind his own business and do his job, but keeps getting interrupted and bothered by his insensitive editor and some cat.

What the show doesn’t manage to get across is just how desperately alone Subaru is. There’s a world of difference between being simply introverted and being literally alone, with no family and no-one you would call a friend, shutting yourself off from the world, escaping into your comfort zone, not reaching out and not allowing anyone to reach you. Subaru is the latter case, and the first volume of the manga does a great job showing this, and showing how this little cat that he picked up on a whim completely disrupts his daily routine and keeps dragging him out of that safe space that he normally retreats into.

I didn’t get this from the anime. I think that by introducing Hiroto so early (in the manga he appears in the end of the first volume) as Subaru’s friend who comes by fairly often, and by speeding through Subaru’s introduction and thus downplaying the way he shuts himself off from the world it kind of ruins his character arc. His character arc being that for the first time in years, he slowly finds himself getting attached to someone (even if she’s only a cat), and basically starts coping with his grief and his defense mechanisms. And through this he realizes that he actually has people who care about him, people he can call friends; and that he can create new relationships, and he doesn’t have to be afraid of being left behind. The manga has a really nice way of handling this aspect and I really hope that after the first episode the anime will do a better job of getting it across.

Oh well, I’m still gonna watch it every week, because KITTY. 

CATS. KITTIES. ANGELS.

Aaaahhh why are they so cute.

[skyhopedango]

Hahaha, so cute :D

Anyway, episode 2 did a better job re: the theme of Subaru’s story (that is, reconnecting with the world by very slowly developing a connection with another being, and getting over his issues with forming attachments and feeling affection), but just when I thought “yeah, this is the content I’m here for, aside of kitty cuteness!” they just... yet again randomly added some anime original material about Hiroto being regularly around and taking care of Subaru, because... why? 

I’m kind of hung up on this because it’s such a weird adaptational choice, not only completely tonedeaf but also it makes no sense. Like, I suppose they just wanted to pander to the audience by adding another cute guy right from the start, but by that they’re working against the entire premise of the story, and I wonder if they’re aware of that and don’t care, or not.

Hiroto is fine and all, but by shoehorning him in and presenting him as Subaru’s friend who Subaru interacts with on regular basis, and whatnot (despite him actually not even being a regular in the manga) just makes no sense. Subaru’s story of alienation, loneliness and emotional repression is completely undercut if we are told that actually he has a friend who he sees regularly. In the manga Hiroto shows up in the end of the first volume, coming home from some time spent abroad. By that time Subaru has already developed a connection with Haru, so the point of Hiroto being there is so he can point out how Subaru is different than how he remembers him, confirming how Subaru is making progress. 

Meanwhile, so far the anime has been sidelining Kawase (the editor), at least compared to how they’re adding more of Hiroto. Kawase has a larger role, definitely so the first volume of the manga. He’s the person who actually takes care of Subaru - we saw that in the first episode when he rushed over to Subaru when he didn’t respond his calls, and we should see it in the upcoming episodes (and by god if they shoehorn in Hiroto again...). He’s the character who makes Subaru first realize that “hey, maybe this person is... worried about me? he actually cares about me? huh.” 

Like... sure, this is just a cute little anime from a cute little manga and it’s not like Dostoevsky or whatever, so it’s not that deep. But I do think the manga does a great job with Subaru, and so these adaptation choices just bother me. But, eh, this is another of those things that nobody else gives two damns about so I guess ignore me? :D

[skyhopedango]

Random thoughts on Sirius ep 9

It’s episode 9, and you know what that means: an arc three plot-heavy episode to set up the finale! In other news, it’s taken Sirius 9 episodes to finally find its own voice and start standing (wobbling, I guess) on its own legs. I guess it’s inevitable, with 9 episodes under its belt even the most derivative show can grow some sort of a personality... but at least Sirius's personality is likeable, and as predictable as the main plot directions are, and how I wish the show had done some things differently, I do like the smaller details.

So let’s see what we have to work with for the last arc of the show. Keyword for the day: “father”.

Yuliy fights the loli twins. Maybe it’s because it’s really late and I’m tired, but damn their constant giggling is annoying. Yuliy gets one of them, and has a chance to kill her...

...but he doesn’t. As he tells whatshisface later, it’s simply that he couldn’t handle the look in her eyes. I suppose this is to show that he has a Good Heart™ but for someone who had been repeatedly described as a vampire killing machine who used to see killing vampires as his only goal in life (...would’ve been really nice to actually see that instead of having it brought up in dialog only...) this kind of rings false. I mean, I could buy it we also learned that killing vampires was something he’d always struggled with because thou shalt not kill and whatnot, but if this is supposed to be some sort of character development... nah.

Meanwhile, the Jaeger gang is on a train, traveling to... not Sakhalin! Ha! They’re actually on the way to Yuliy’s ancestral home, Dog... Dogville? Is that how the name of this vaguely Siberian ethnic tribe’s village is supposed to be romanized? I hope not, partly because why English, and also... Dogville. Werewolves. Don’t.

While Fallon and Philip stupid banter like the filler characters they unfortunately are, Dorothea takes on Yuliy’s role as Person Willard Can Sit And Talk Exposition With. Willard tells us, for like the millionth time by now, that Yuliy is finally finding himself a real purpose in life instead of living for revenge and killing vampires. Yes, we got it. We got it. Dorothea is like “lol you’re like father & son” because Yuliy going “YOU’RE LIKE A FATHER TO ME” and whatnot on that rooftop surely didn’t make that clear enough.

Meanwhile, Yuliy and whatshisface try to talk to the old guy, turns out he knew Yuliy’s dad (Alexey), and knows where he is and what happened to the box. But he’s not telling anything, so Yuliy & blondie retire back to the town for the time being. And of course they just happen to run into Iba and Ryouko. They have dinner (? lunch? breakfast? what time of the day is it supposed to be?) where we learn, to the audience’s incredible surprise because who could have predicted this, that the old guy is in fact the Japanese army officer who disappeared 15 years ago. Somewhere along the line he developed a unibrow.

Later Yuliy and Ryouko have a heart to heart about family and fathers, and geh, this is still the weakest part of the show. Even as the other plotlines are progressing fairly organically at this point, this scene was as if the episode just ground to a halt.

I guess it was needed because Yuliy needs someone to spout exposition about how he feels. Family, protecting those important to you, blah blah blah, basically now that his brother, and eventually father are back in the picture once again, Yuily has Family Feelings, and it’s portrayed about as delicately and elegantly as a sledgehammer handled by a drunk rhino. (Also: father. Because his mom didn’t do shit raising them, or what?)

Speaking of family, Mikhail has learned that Yevgraf is planning to use Yuliy to get the box (and he’s hilariously upset about it, like come on dude, how long have you known Yevgraf? also did you seriously not think that he might do something like this after what happened in the last episode?) so he tries to sneak off of Yevgraf’s Blimp of Evil to do something about it. And god help me, his shirt is even worse from the back.

Just... why? What was the character designer thinking? Like, what’s even the point of the shirt being like this? I’m all down for edgy designs but this is literally the most pointless tattered outfit ever. If at least the rest of his clothes were like that too, but no! They’re perfectly fine! It’s just this shirt! 

Anyway.

Of course he gets caught by the others, but suddenly one of Yevgraf’s goons starts coughing up blood and collapses. Turns out that this is the symptom of the disease that is killing off the vamps. Yevgraf tells the lolis to clean up that shit, and haha, they’re like “ewww I’m not touching that!” One of them just throws her knife at him and tries to make him kill himself, but he shakes off her control, turns into a monster, and ends up being gunned down by his former colleagues. Ouch.

Yevgraf walks away, telling Mikhail that if he doesn’t want to end up like that he should behave himself. ...End up like what? Gunned down, or manifesting the symptoms, losing his sanity, and then getting gunned down. I’m assuming the latter, going by what Mikhail told Yuliy on the train, but is Mikhail carrying the disease or what? If yes, how can Yevgraf keep him well? (What’s he doing to him that can’t be done for the rest of his people?)

Meanwhile (...I think? I’m starting to lose sense of time) Yuliy & Co, now with Iba and Ryouko, visit the old guy. Iba is quickly proving to be the only reasonable person in the cast, but old guy only budges when he learns that Dogville(?) had been completely destroyed by the vampires. He gets all emotional over that, how Alexey did all that, for this...! Yeah, turns out that he was Alexey’s boyfriend there when Alexey sealed the box, and he stayed in Sakhalin because he didn’t want to leave Alexey. 

Yuliy is like “omg what a wonderful friendship” and old guy goes... “’Friendship’... yes, I guess that’s one way to call it.” 

(OK, he doesn’t say that, but let’s face it, we all did.) 

Meanwhile...(?????) the Jaeger gang arrives at Dogville, where the prof is searching for something, while the others bury the dead that have been lying there for... how many years now? One would think that Mother Nature had already taken care of that, but I guess we needed an emotional beat here for some reason.

I know I’m like a broken record, but I really wish that instead of the obviously forced thing with Ryouko, or the Hyakko clownery, the writers had spent more time on the Jaeger group. They’re supposed to be important for Yuliy, there’s supposed to be bonds here, but... it just comes off as forced because we never actually saw those bonds.

The next morning Iba is brooding by the window, being all tall dark and handsome, when Ryouko bursts in and tells him that Yuliy and Blondie have disappeared with the map they got from the old man. Iba is like “OK, we’ll go after them, I sorta remember the map after having glanced at it for a split second”. Okay. 

(Btw, Iba & Ryouko already have more chemistry than Ryouko ever had with Yuliy.)

Yuliy & Blondie are indeed out there in a blizzard, but suddenly they stop in their tracks because they find themselves facing a zombie army led by...

.

.

.

SIGH.

...huh, this was long. Lots of stuff happened in this episode.

[skyhopedango]

random thoughts on Sirius episode 3

(Yes, I’m procrastinating.)

Hey, it’s a saiga antelope! Someone’s been doing their research.

Awwwww, so cute!

Sakurai Takahiro is just so good, damn it. This is the kind of role he could do in his sleep, and I expect him to sound more routine in Angsty Evil-ish Pretty Boy mode, but he was so good in this flashback, and in this scene in particular. 

...this show is not one for subtlety, is it. The characters literally sat down and exposited about Yuliy’s Feelings. :D 

“Aren’t you afraid of me?!”

“Well, your eyes are kind of glowy and you’re yelling at me, but otherwise..”

Am I the only one who finds the placement of this scene weird? At this point Yuliy doesn’t know yet that whatshername saw him fight the vampire. So why is he expecting her to be afraid of him? And when she does tell him that she saw the fight he’s like “well, there you go, you shouldn’t get close to me”. 

Blah blah blah vampires world domination, yawn. This isn’t going to be one I like for its story... 

But anyway, despite myself I continue to low-key enjoy this show. I wonder if it’s one or two cours...

(Also, the scene where the group members awkwardly tried to cheer up Yuliy was kind of cute. I hope against hope that we’ll get a true ensemble cast...)

[skyhopedango]

Random thoughts on Sirius episode 7

Man, what a cop-out. Oh well, at least one of my predictions came true. RIP Kershner, I’ll miss Koyasu Takehito hamming it up... now I only have Tsuda Kenjirou left as hammy vampire.

So, if vampires can be slaughtered like that with specialized guns then what the hell are the Jaegers doing not using guns?! 

Mikhail can’t stop flip-flopping over whether he wants to kill Yuliy or not. Last time he was all “if you stay a Jaeger you’ll be my enemy THERE WILL BE NO MERCY” but of course now when he actually has to kill Yuliy he not only lets him get away, he even leaves him with some plot revelations and a brotherly advice.

Because you see what he really wants is for Yuliy to not be ~consumed by revenge~! (I suppose revenge will be Mikhail’s job, in the end.) So he even tells him to ~live~ and ~do what only he can do~. He of course conveniently neglects to mention what that is, because he read the script and knows that Yuliy and Willard will have to talk about it later.

You can tell how this is the plotline that the writers care the most about, because so far it’s the only one that feels really genuine. And I don’t hate this turn of events, because it sets Mikhail on a path that I tend to enjoy. It’s just that, the whole thing is so by-the-numbers that I can’t get into it emotionally. Oh well, not everything can be Gankutsuou. 

(PS: Watch Gankutsuou, it’s amazing and beautiful.)

So anyway, Yuliy now goes to find Kershner, and find him he does.

(Hahaha, what is this pose? :DDD He looked hilarious, floating like that.)

We have some Willard drama that is brought up and resolved super fast. It goes like this:  

Kershner: “Hey boy, did you know that it was actually Willard that led us to your village so we could massacre your folks? Well now you know. I GLOAT AT YOU.”  Yuliy: “THIS CANNOT BE! ROAR ANGST MURDER!“ Kershner: *dies* Willard: “Let me reveal in a short flashback how I fucked up your life and then kept you around hoping to make up for it. Kill me now.” Yuliy: “OMG MAN I COULD NEVER HURT YOU DON’T YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH YOU MEAN TO ME YOU’RE LIKE MY FATHER LET ME POUR MY HEART OUT TO YOU IT HURTS SO MUCH WHY DID ALL THIS HAPPEN WAAAAAHHHH”

This whole thing would’ve felt more genuine if we’d seen some actual father-son like interaction from you two. Or hell, if the revelation about Willard was actually properly set up. Just sayin’.

(Also, we never learned Willard’s backstory and why he was after the box, did we? I guess Yuliy didn’t find it important to ask...)

So anyway, the next day Willard and Yuliy have another expository scene and now they FINALLY TALK ABOUT THE DAMN BOX. And yep, it’s a mysterious object supposedly containing awesome shit. 

Willard is like “as far as I know the box is protected by those of the Sirius bloodline” and Yuliy goes “oh, I finally understand what my brother was telling me to do, instead of wasting my life on empty revenge!” So of course he sneaks out and boards a ship to go after the box alone, instead of going to London with the others. He gives a bit of parting thought to the Jaeger team, thinking that while it was nice being part of a “pack” where everyone supports one another, he has a Calling that he must follow. 

This would’ve felt more genuine if we had seen more of you guys acting as a team where everyone supports one another. Just sayin’.

We also get to check in on the vampire boss, Yevgraf, and his annoying vampire loli twins. He throws in a new plot point about a disease that is apparently spreading among of his kind? which is I assume why they’re dying out, and the reason Yevgraf wants the box and its magical powers. And going by his scene with the old vampires in an earlier episode I guess he already knows where he can find it.

And who else is after the box? Our friendly neighborhood secret agent, Iba. You see, the Japanese gov’t is also aware of the box and want to get their hands on it before another country does. They already had some guy looking for it but he went AWOL15 years ago, so now Iba has to take over. He’s not happy.

Random note: there were some nice BGMs in this episode, particularly the one that started during the Willard flashback.

Random note #2: Yuliy, I appreciate the effort, but next time you’d better grow at least a pair of cute fluffy ears.