Welcome back to another week of the 2018 Autumn Anime Season. Below you’ll find my summarised thoughts on what I’ve watched this week with links to reviews.
It has been a wild week with some really great and emotional episodes as well as some real duds, and as always I would love to know your thoughts on the season.
In a few more weeks I’ll be opening the poll for best and worst of the season and I’m really looking forward to this one because there are sure to be a lot of diverse opinions (too many good shows).
By the way, as we are now less than 60 days from the planned release of the 2018 version of the ebook ‘Thoughts on Anime’, I’ve been working with the 2017 edition to make it available in more formats. If you would like to help support my blog or catch up on some of the posts and anime I wrote about last year, you can buy it here.
Thoughts on Anime 2017
A collection of reviews, top 5 lists, features that appeared on the site during 2017. Available in EPUB, MOBI, or PDF forms. No Images.
A$4.00
A Certain Magical Index Season 3
Episodes 6 and 7 continue this one’s somewhat meandering plot. I get that we have these separate arcs and that the overall narrative kind of runs under them, but sometimes I really do lose track of whether anything we’re watching is important or why. There’s just too much going on in this story and too many characters. All very messy despite being fun.
Banana Fish
Episode 20 – Not Reviewed
Eiji and crew’s rescue attempt may have had more than a few holes in it, then again they didn’t have Ash to plan so who is surprised, but it was dramatic, fun, and gave us more than a few good moments. While it is hard to believe we have fighting on this level in the streets and sewers without massive police involvement, Banana Fish maintains the feels that have made it so engaging from the beginning.
Bloom Into You
There’s only so many times you can say an anime is gorgeous, but it does remain true of Bloom into you. The characters are also really getting fleshed out now as they learn more about one another and are feeling their way through the changing relationships. This one remains a very solid watch. Patrons can access the post using the link, password on Patreon.
Conception
Well, this show is… Actually saying it is getting worse is probably inaccurate. It is more that after seven episodes my tolerance for its style (which wasn’t high to start with) has worn fairly thin. So while before I kind of enjoyed bits of the episode in between the cringe, now it is all just cringe.
Dakaichi
Episode 8- Will be reviewed with Arthifis
Right, so this was definitely the low point of this show so far and amazingly not because it decided to push the relationship but because it did what so many anime do. It sent its characters to the beach but didn’t do anything even remotely compelling with the story while they were there. Apparently just watching characters eat ice-cream and playing volleyball is supposed to be riveting, or seeing Junta’s jealousy max out. Sorry, but no. Very dull episode.
Goblin Slayer
Episode 7- Will be reviewed with Arthifis
Looks like we are back to over the top and sensationalised violence. I actually really loved this sequence when reading it but found it really hard to watch. It isn’t that the violence is worse than in episode 1, although it kind of is, it is more that I’m far more attached to these characters and they haven’t been careless, so watching them get trapped and nearly slaughtered kind of hurts. Still loving the show though.
Jingai-San No Yome
Episode 8- Not Reviewed
That question of why does this exist isn’t going away anytime soon. This week the various monster type creatures act as cheerleaders at the athletics carnival, we get a cute montage of events, a relay race and then the main pair walk home. That is literally all. I’m tilting my head and staring very intently but struggling to find any kind of point.
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
Futaba’s mystery is solved relatively simply, but perhaps simple is good. Certainly the episode is and we continue to get some excellent character performances from a cast that just keeps getting stronger. Also, the preview for the next episode looks fantastic so I’m looking forward to it.
Release the Spyce
This one is rapidly dropping down my list of anime I am interested in. I almost considered dropping it and picking up Zombieland Saga again. Honestly, if they want a story about the power of friendship and believing in yourself that is fine, I can get behind that. But they need to do a better job of it. In the meantime we’re left with a fairly messy mix of sub-par spy story and sub-par cute girl story.
Run With The Wind
The fallout here was a bit unexpected. Instead of the less able team-members being discouraged, they seemed finally ready to go. Instead it is Kakeru who seems most affected by his result at the race and his already prickly personality has taken a turn for the worse. It is your usual sports/team drama but Run With The Wind remains very in control of its characters delivering a pretty satisfying viewing experience.
Skull Face Bookseller Honda-San
This one continues to work provided you have any interest in how book stores work, love books, or just really love overly emotive skeletons. I caught up on episodes 6 and 7 this week and both were fairly good for what they are but given it isn’t an overly ambitious anime in the first place, what they are is more or less slices of daily book shop life with some silly comedy thrown in.
Sword Art Online Alicization
I enjoyed this week’s episode, though that doesn’t mean it isn’t without its problems. So far, Alicization seems to be struggling with getting any forward momentum as it seemingly can’t decide whether it wants to deal with the drama of the real world and Kirito’s injury or whether it wants to just kind of do slice of life stuff inside a video game. It’s still good fun, but there’s definitely going to need to be some balance soon.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
So they say the story is finally starting. That’s fine. We’re only 8 episodes in, no rush. Still, it has probably been worth it because while I was fairly detached from this series, all this build up has slowly drawn me into the world and the characters and I will admit I was actually kind of excited as Rimuru stood looking over the village and out to the world. Looking forward to what happens next.
Tsurune
While a training camp isn’t exactly an innovative idea, Tsurune pulls it off with its usual attention to detail, characters, and just a general control of pacing. It isn’t exceptional, but it delivers its story with conviction and has a well polished execution. This is my calm and relaxing viewing of the season and I really enjoy the calm it brings.
Voice of Fox
A superb effort here as Voice of Fox really nailed the dramatic conclusion to Sky’s harassment of Hu Li. This isn’t overly subtle, but nor is it trying to be. Instead it opts for exploring the drama of the situation and it does it beautifully really making me feel for Hu Li’s situation even as things seemingly get worse and worse for him.
Xuan Yuan Sword Luminary
The visuals were a bit better these last two episodes, assuming you ignore the fight by the river where the rive kept disappearing from the generic fight animations we’ve seen multiple times. The conflict between Yin and Ning has come to a head and Ning has made a choice that is pretty much guaranteed to end badly for everyone. As much as this anime isn’t amazing, it remains fairly interesting week after week.
Episode of the Week
Character of the Week
Dropped or On Hold
Thanks for reading
Karandi James
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