19 Jun 2013

Anime Weekly 19/06/13



Oregairu surprised me this week by having Hachiman finally moving forward with Yui (or at least considering it). I absolutely love subtle, unexpected moments of romance like this! Another example of this would be in Seitokai Yakuindomo, though admittedly that was more unexpected due to its genre. I think it would have been perfect if they just removed that one line of internal monologue... there's no need to spell things out like that when Hachiman's hesitation and expression said it all! Hataraku's stomach troubles continue this week and I can't help but shake the feeling that it would play into the larger plot so far. If not, that joke is being dragged out way too long.




Oreimo isn't moving as fast any more, but the plot and characters are just in shambles right now. It's like watching a bad situational comedy with no continuity and schizophrenic characters. They just announced episode 14 to 16 will be streamed online in August this year (no more long wait!), so maybe that explains the pacing getting back to normal. At this point, I'm too invested to quit watching this train wreak, so hopefully it'll at least be entertaining.


Shingeki recovered this week with some pretty awesome scenes of the characters flying and swinging thru the air, cumulating to the transformation and what seems to be a betrayal. The crux of the series is getting to learn, bit by bit, about the enemy. A lot of series tend to have a dumb protagonist surrounded by historians that explain to him/her the world setting and how things work. Shingeki circumvents this by having a mysterious enemy that no one knows much about. Because of this, I could see this show being told from different perspectives and it'll still work. I hope they make use of this advantage to delve into the mind of Commander Pixie. That bald guy is... interesting.


Nothing irks me more than seeing an interesting story go to waste. Henneko recovers from a disastrous plot and heads into a more intriguing one, but at this point the Stony Cat has establish itself as an incredibly convenient deus ex machina that I can't bother to engage my brain. Thanks for trying.


I was a little disappointed to see Aku no Hana treat last week's awesome episode like this. While they do try, the sense of dread in this one isn't as strong as I would have liked. I mean, this is where Kasuga finally makes the decision he was unable to make the previous week. A totally broken Nakamura would have done the trick nicely. Also, the final OP airs! After hearing the original full song, I've been waiting for this. They decided to use the original vocals this time, instead of having a seiyuu sing it. I hoping we can have a broken Nakamura singing this version of the OP before all is said and done though. I think the energy and desperation she brings to the song would be a perfect ending!

You'll notice I did not mention Suisei no Gargantia this week... and that's because I have not watched it. It's just such a chore to follow now, not fun at all. Urobuchi Gen is only as good as the people adapting it... Even Psycho Pass was better than this! And that's not a very high bar to leap.

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