The Best of Summer 2017

Posted on by Karandi

Okay, we have made it to the announcement for the best of Summer 2017. Starting with my favourites of the season and then the reader’s poll results. With over 100 votes again, and a few more than Spring, I am hoping that the poll is becoming more reflective of the feelings of the community, however nearly 50% of the votes were split between three titles. Read on and all will be revealed.

My Favourite Show

My Hero Academia has sat at the top of my list each and every week and looking back over the season, I don’t see any reason to change it. If Princess Principal had wrapped up its story, it may have pushed past My Hero Academia, but without a full conclusion, it just couldn’t beat the ongoing story of the high school wannabe super heroes.

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I’ve really enjoyed this show over the last two seasons and I’m glad there’s been an announcement of a season 3. It isn’t the most amazing anime ever, but it is good fun and I could certainly stand more shows that I just enjoy watching because they are fun.

My Favourite Character

Uraraka from My Hero Academia. She’s adorable but really got to shine at times during the second season of My Hero Academia.

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Admittedly though, she did not have a lot of competition this season as a number of shows saw me struggling to even remember character names because I was that disinterested in remembering them.

My Favourite Story

This is actually really tricky because honestly the stories this season were… bland (well, quite a few were broken but I was trying not to be too critical). Princess Principal left itself wide open for a sequel as did My Hero Academia. Gamers and Fastest Finger First weren’t overly concerned with telling a story. A lot of the other shows the story was just complete rubbish when you broke it down (at least the ones I was watching). So… Okay, I’m going to give this one to Sagrada Reset.

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I absolutely loved the way this story brought everything together in the end. The presentation of the story might be questionable, but the narrative itself is pretty amazing once you get to the end of it and realise how cohesive they manage to make it.

My Favourite Opening Theme

Very easy choice. Princess Principal was by far the best theme of the season for me (though I kind of liked 18if as well but for a very different reason).

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The opening of Princess Principal just captured the feeling of the show beautifully and I loved the visuals that went with it. I really enjoyed listening to and watching the opening theme each week.

My Favourite Visuals

Relatively easy choice this season. As fun and colourful as My Hero Academia is, it is pretty standard from a visual point of view. Most of the shows I watched this season were a bit hit and miss. Knight’s & Magic had pretty fights and not a lot else, same as Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu. Ultimately, my favourite overall visuals had to be from 18if.

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That was also hit and miss from a quality point of view but each week was interesting to see what style we were going to get.

Favourite Screen Capture

I haven’t had this category before but I just had to share this one. It is going to be my favourite for awhile.

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I quite like it visually but the quote is kind of priceless and I really want that on a book mark.

Reader’s Choice – Best Anime of Summer 2017

Here it is:

Best of Summer

For the second season in a row, My Hero Academia snuck in a win. It was losing to Made in Abyss for a lot of the voting period and Princess Principal was a close third for most of the vote. However, in the home stretch, My Hero Academia bounced into the lead position. I’m glad it won this time given the season is now finished. I really had a lot of fun with this one and from some of the posts I’ve read on other blogs it is pretty clear that a lot of people have enjoyed following Midoriya’s journey.

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That is officially the end of the Summer 2017 anime season for me though most of the full series reviews are still to be posted. As always I’d love to know your favourites so please leave a comment below. Also, later today the worst of Summer post will come out so be sure to check it out.

Thanks for reading.

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Karandi James.

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Summer 2017 Final Thoughts

Posted on by Karandi

This is my final week on Summer anime and I’ll be getting around to series reviews very soon with Sagrada Reset coming out next week (it was the first one finished so only fair really). I still have my best and worst of the season posts to come out and on that note remember that the poll will close tomorrow so if you haven’t voted hop on over and have your say. Links for the best and worst anime of the Summer 2017 season. Write in votes are allowed so if I missed your show, please feel free to add it (the write in votes are almost winning for worst anime of the season so your vote will count).

As always, I’d love to know your thoughts on the shows of the season so please leave me a comment below.

yuri10d

Must Watch

My Hero Academia (Finished)

A great way to keep us all waiting for the next season. The thing is, this would be a terrible way to end a season except that we already got an announcement for the follow up so not too concerned that they left us hanging. This was great fun this season and I’m looking forward to more of it.

Princess Principal (Finished)

Alright, with an inconclusive ending this might not be a must watch for everyone, but comparatively for this season, this has been such a fun show to watch. Ange and Princess remain the highlight of the series right to the end and they do at least end the current mission/plot so while there are plenty of loose ends we aren’t left completely in the dark.

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Usually Entertaining

Sagrada Reset (Finished)

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Okay, I Guess

Gamers (Finished)

This final episode was actually highly amusing just to listen to. Visually it was pretty dull. I guess those who enjoy the game DLC debate will have fun listening to some of the arguments whereas anyone else will just wonder why they even made this final episode.

In Another World With My Smartphone (Finished)

Okay, this show actually fully embraced the harem cliché and somehow it just works. There were definitely some questionable episodes along the way but all and all, I’m kind of hoping that was actually sequel bait and the end because I wouldn’t mind some more of this. It is stupid, and incredibly lame at times, and every character is a trope pulled from many other anime, but this show is still fun and manages to do something with all those clichés.

Fastest Finger First (Finished)

This finished the tournament nicely but left us with a lot of questions about the characters and the team and where they will go next. As we are unlikely to get any more of this series, that’s kind of a shame. This was a fun watch but has almost no rewatch value.

18if (Finished)

My final impression of this was always going to depend on how they wrapped up the plot and to be honest the close was pretty lacking. Admittedly, we do talk Eve into not destroying the world, but there’s so much still unexplained and Haruto just kind of goes with Eve/Lily and that’s kind of it. Really wanted more from the end of this.

Vatican Miracle Examiner (Finished)

For a show that has quite a few low points and bits of silliness in what should be a fairly serious story, it actually became one of those rare anime that finished on a significantly higher note than the earlier episodes would have you believe. Thoroughly enjoyed episode 12 and now I just need to write my overall review.

Hell Girl: Fourth Twilight (Not finished – But I Am)

Since it was pointed out that the show was rerunning old material, and that then made me think I should just go rewatch the former seasons given I don’t really remember them, I’m out from this show. I’m still going to review though because I watched the new material.

Clean Freak Aoyama Kun (Finished)

Well, this show ended more or less how it started which was okay but nothing particularly exceptional. I am pleasantly surprised I made it through a whole season of this, but there were some funny moments along the way. Okay, there was also a lot of stupidity and one or two groan inducing episodes, but overall, still better than anticipated.

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They Made This

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu (Finished)

Well, at least they realised the only good thing in this show was how visually interesting the fights were, because you are going to be watching half an episode of fights once the show gets over its token attempt to give the characters some resolution. It is pretty and all, but given there’s no real purpose it all just becomes an exercise in seeing how many slow motion shots of good looking guys wielding swords they can throw at us in a ten minute period.

Knight’s & Magic (Finished)

Can I say thank-you now that this is over. This is my single greatest disappointment this season as I really wanted to like this show. It just never did manage to get itself together.

Chronos Ruler (Finished)

After a not-my-true-form second last episode we get a trust-your-friends plan as well as a that-should-have-killed-him-but-it-doesn’t-because-reasons moment for a final episode. As I get to the end of this show I think I was well justified in asking why was this even made.

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Tried and Dropped

Elegant Yokai Apartment Life (Episode 13)

Restaurant to Another World (Episode 1)

Centaur’s Life (Episode 1)

Convenience Store Boyfriends (Episode 1)

Saiyuki Reload Blast (Episode 1)

Battle Girl High School (Episode 1)

Hina Logic (Episode 1)

Tsuredure Children (Episode 1)

Fox Spirit Matchmaker (Episode 1)

Aho Girl (Episode 1)

The Irresponsible Galaxy Tylor (Episode 1)

Thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed this post and like the blog, consider becoming a patron to support further growth and future content.

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Thanks,

Karandi James.

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Princess Principal Episode 12: Everyone Wants To Go To Casablanca

Posted on by Karandi

Review – Some Spoilers:

It is no surprise that Ange returns this episode, though the sheer length of time it takes her to come to that decision and act is a little questionable. Once she’s in motion though it is hard to imagine she was ever going to fail.

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This episode takes us back to the feeling we had back in episode 1. Things are moving along at a good clip with car chases, gun battles, a plot to kill the Queen, and Ange desperate to save her friend. It is good fun even while the show hits some of its darker moments.

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I still feel Zelda’s character would have worked better in this final arc if we’d met her earlier and had a bit more time to care about her character. Instead she comes off as a fairly ordinary villain which makes the reveal about who she is really working for seem a little last minute rather than intriguing. Also, her grand escape sequence would be cooler if I cared about her or if we knew there was going to be a second season for her to return in.

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But what really shines this episode are the main characters as they reunite and save the day before heading off to Casablanca… Wait, didn’t Princess reject that idea? Why did they end up there. Just one of many questions to be asked about the ending of this show given the various groups and plots still exist, the issues in the Kingdom haven’t been resolved, the Princess still isn’t going to become Queen, and I’m not sure the spies actually accomplished anything of significance. How can a show be so fun and yet so full of holes?

Anyway, I will get around to a full series review of this show, but in the meantime, go listen to the theme song again because that can have you smiling for half a day.

Thanks for reading.

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Karandi James.

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Summer 2017 Week 12

Posted on by Karandi

Okay, some shows are done and others are close to drawing to a close and I’m now having to seriously think about my plans for the Autumn season. Here’s my list but there will be one more to draw the season to a close. Remember polling for the best and worst anime of the Summer 2017 season is on so if you’d like to vote, jump on over. The polls will close on the 2 of October with results announced soon after. Write in votes are allowed so if I missed your show, please feel free to add it.

As always, I’d love to know your thoughts on the shows of the season so please leave me a comment below.

yuri10d

Must Watch

My Hero Academia (Episode 36)

While this second last episode was a little bit on the flat side, nothing is really going to squish my enjoyment of this second season overall. Still very much looking forward to the last episode of the season and really I just have to wonder whether they are going for the ridiculous kids take down All Might finish or whether All Might will gently crush them in order for them to learn some valuable lesson. Guess I’ll find out next week. Or hey, maybe the test will get called off for some contrived reason. Whichever way they go, I’m almost certain I’ll have fun with it.

Princess Principal (Episode 11)

The story of Ange and the Princess remains fantastic. The rest of the story, probably belongs in the next category down. It is usually entertaining but not unmissable. So, a little bit torn as we seem to head toward the end.

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Usually Entertaining

Sagrada Reset (Finished)

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Okay, I Guess

18if (Episode 11)

Way too much recap even as the story tries to steer us toward the conclusion. Seriously tiresome episode even as it gave us information we needed so you can’t even skip it.

Gamers (Episode 10)

This show is definitely going to finish the season in the just okay zone. There have been some highly entertaining moments within the show, but overall, it just isn’t the kind of thing I intend to rewatch or recommend to others. But hey, if you are into love pentagons, this one is really working hard to put as many miscommunications in as possible.

In Another World With My Smartphone (Episode 11)

Honestly, this episode was entertaining but if you are over jokes about breasts or panties, this is not going to work for you at all because the majority of the content this week is definitely focused in that direction. There are enough other things going on that I didn’t do an extremely late season drop on this, but it is hardly the cleverest of developments.

Fastest Finger First (Episode 11)

Back to the annoying character, but somehow this episode wasn’t as annoying as their last appearance. Possibly because the quiz seemed to remain the main focus and most of the other characters have kind of stopped over-reacting to that character. It makes their intrusions less intruding.

Hell Girl: Fourth Twilight (Episode 10)

Another pretty ordinary episode. And now I know that these episodes are in fact repeats so I’m ending my viewing of the series and just going to review the first half of the series that was new material. Apparently Hell Girl is more forgettable than even I believed.

Clean Freak Aoyama Kun (Finished)

Well, this show ended more or less how it started which was okay but nothing particularly exceptional. I am pleasantly surprised I made it through a whole season of this, but there were some funny moments along the way. Okay, there was also a lot of stupidity and one or two groan inducing episodes, but overall, still better than anticipated.

Elegant Yokai Apartment Life (Episode 12)

They managed a slightly more serious tone for most of this episode, but it really is too late to make me care. The issue with the teacher came back to the usual theme of humans being pretty terrible without the help of monster possession, and other anime may pull this story line off beautifully, but here, due to a lack of general care for the characters, it just comes off as preachy and pointless.

Vatican Miracle Examiner (Episode 11)

Not sure where to next given they kind of wrapped up their mystery last week, but I guess we’ll see where it goes.

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They Made This

Knight’s & Magic (Episode 12)

I’m going to be honest, so many things in this show have annoyed me that now I’m actively annoyed by more or less anything it does. This week even the sound effects were bugging me and they are pretty harmless. Some of the fight sequence were interesting, but they were pretty repetitive, and nothing is going to fix the story or the characters at this point.

Chronos Ruler (Episode 11)

Fight, fight, fight. Admittedly, this show has been worse than this, so I’m still not actually disliking the last couple of episodes. But, it all would have been so much more dramatic if earlier episodes had given me a reason to care about this current confrontation.

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu (Episode 12)

Certainly this show is having a good go at trying to up the ante in the final two episodes but just throwing more of the enemy at us while not fixing any of the plot or character issues really isn’t the way to make a grand ending. Basically I’m just glad that there’s only one more episode.

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Tried and Dropped

Restaurant to Another World (Episode 1)

Centaur’s Life (Episode 1)

Convenience Store Boyfriends (Episode 1)

Saiyuki Reload Blast (Episode 1)

Battle Girl High School (Episode 1)

Hina Logic (Episode 1)

Tsuredure Children (Episode 1)

Fox Spirit Matchmaker (Episode 1)

Aho Girl (Episode 1)

The Irresponsible Galaxy Tylor (Episode 1)

Thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed this post and like the blog, consider becoming a patron to support further growth and future content.

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Thanks,

Karandi James.

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Princess Principal Episode 11: Another Fine Mess

Posted on by Karandi

Review:

This episode was everything you could have wanted from Princess Principal after the bombshell ending to episode 10. Ange stayed true to who she has been and attempted to throw off pursuers and then run-away with the Princess. Princess however also stayed true to who she had become and pretty much told Ange she should run off by herself.

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This is kind of fantastic not because it was unexpected (because by this point it wasn’t), but because of how well this series has built up the relationship between these two characters. They are both hurt by the outcome of this confrontation and it isn’t just that they drew some tears, the audience is feeling the pain of this encounter.

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That said, the rest of the episode was pretty ordinary in terms of setting up for a final. It is functional but not exceptional and the introduction of Zelda at this late stage didn’t help things along. Still, looking forward to where this goes next.

Thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed this post and like the blog, consider becoming a patron to support further growth and future content.

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Thanks,

Karandi James.

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Summer 2017 Week 11

Posted on by Karandi

Another week of anime watching and as we approach the end of the season for most shows I start thinking about all the shows out this season I didn’t watch. Not the ones that I dropped or the ones I can’t access, but the ones I just never got around to trying or tried an episode and put on hold but never got back to. I’m kind of hoping that when I get some time in the near future that I can check some of these out before the new season kicks into gear. But for now I have my current list for Summer 2017 and there hasn’t been a lot of movement. Things are pretty well settled into their spots at the moment and I have to wonder if any of the endings will be dramatic enough or bad enough to shift things. Gamers is of course the exception having dropped back out of usually entertaining due to a fairly lackluster episode and plot development.

On that note, I have opened polling for the best and worst anime of the Summer 2017 season so if you’d like to vote, jump on over. The polls will close on the 2 of October with results announced soon after. Write in votes are allowed so if I missed your show, please feel free to add it.

As always, I’d love to know your thoughts on the shows of the season so please leave me a comment below.

yuri10d

Must Watch

My Hero Academia (Episode 35)

The exam is in full swing and the students are facing their weaknesses. It is amazing how cliché that sounds when writing it and yet how fun it was to watch because it is the characters we’ve learned to love over 35 episodes and because this show continues to remember that primarily it is meant to be entertaining us so even the emotional moments are high energy and full steam ahead.

Princess Principal (Episode 10)

Here we go. After two episodes of a fairly nice character episodes we return to a legitimate mission and they really step up the drama this episode. Truly a great watch and hopefully a sign that we can expect good things as this season draws to an end.

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Usually Entertaining

Sagrada Reset (Finished)

Okay, the final episode of this show wasn’t great when thought about objectively, but it did provide some closure on the characters finally and very much gave us the sense that we’d come full circle with the three characters coming back together only each one has changed so much by going through the events of the past two years. I’ll get around to a full review of this show soonish, but I know I can’t easily recommend it given some of its more interesting choices. Still, it has ended up in the usually entertaining because I found it oddly satisfying.

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Okay, I Guess

18if (Episode 10)

After the incredibly disappointing episode last week (ep 9), episode 10 pulls out all the stops to remind us what this show actually does well and gives us some hope that this show might even resolve before it ends. So let us count ep 9 as an anomaly and hope for a good end.

In Another World With My Smartphone (Episode 10)

Beach episode. After episode 9 which I didn’t much like, a follow up beach episode was just a little bit painful. Hoping this show can turn it around given up until the last few episodes this was actually surprisingly fun.

Gamers (Episode 9)

While I still quite like this show, recent episodes have taken a noticeable drop in quality in writing and appearance. It is like now that the audience is hooked into all this teen drama they aren’t even really trying and are just keeping the balls up in the air long enough to get to the end of the season.

Fastest Finger First (Episode 10)

This week’s quiz was really fun, though they kind of disappeared the annoying character or at least sent them to the sidelines for a bit. It kind of looks like they’ll come back next episode so we’ll see how this goes then. Still, some fun questions and another quiz format to play with this week.

Hell Girl: Fourth Twilight (Episode 9)

Well, we hit a slow episode and one that was kind of lacking in satisfaction. Still, Fourth Twilight has so far been mostly positive given I’m only luke warm on the series in the first place, so an episode or two like this isn’t really a problem.

Clean Freak Aoyama Kun (Episode 11)

Oh wow, I hated this show this week. Amazingly that wasn’t enough to drop it below any of the shows currently under it, which says a lot about their quality, but I really didn’t like watching this episode. I’m really hoping to not have to endure a similar episode next week.

Elegant Yokai Apartment Life (Episode 11)

We end on a cliff hanger which is probably the only reason I’ll start the next episode. This show has been consistently disappointing in everything it has done and this final story was actually shaping up well and then mid-episode it was like the writers got bored trying to actually build up tension and just threw ideas around until they’d filled up the requisite time. Then they attempted to get back into the more serious mystery but by then any tension was gone.

Vatican Miracle Examiner (Episode 9)

Another mystery begins and we’ll see how this one plays out. This show seems to have settled after that initial mystery where it just went a little bit crazy and hopefully this new mystery resolves well.

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They Made This

Knight’s & Magic (Episode 11)

Yep, I was right to drop this one down here. The narrative issues continue as does the absence of characterisation. This one is strictly for people who like watching robots go boom while a cute looking boy cackles gleefully.

Chronos Ruler (Episode 10)

This could potentially get interesting, or it could just be another in a long line of ideas that should be interesting but just gets lost in the mess of writing that this show has delivered so far. Still, I definitely started to think that maybe, just maybe, this show might pull off a reasonable end of season.

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu (Episode 11)

This was at least a good attempt at building some drama. So there is the possibility that this could at least end on a high note even if the overall narrative is still pretty nebulous as they haven’t bothered to deal with it, instead focussing on the personified swords working out their issues.

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Tried and Dropped

Restaurant to Another World (Episode 1)

Centaur’s Life (Episode 1)

Convenience Store Boyfriends (Episode 1)

Saiyuki Reload Blast (Episode 1)

Battle Girl High School (Episode 1)

Hina Logic (Episode 1)

Tsuredure Children (Episode 1)

Fox Spirit Matchmaker (Episode 1)

Aho Girl (Episode 1)

The Irresponsible Galaxy Tylor (Episode 1)

Thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed this post and like the blog, consider becoming a patron to support further growth and future content.

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Thanks,

Karandi James.

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Princess Principal Episode 10: A Brief Reunion

Posted on by Karandi

Review:

This episode definitely went for a darker tone and spent a great deal of time setting up a situation just to make it hurt when it got to the inevitable end of the line. That isn’t to say it wasn’t a great watch. Predictability isn’t a problem so long as the journey is worth the time and this one certainly was with some truly excellent characterisation of the team adding to the weight of the emotional feels that they dumped on us in the latter half of the episode.

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While Chise and Princess are pretty much sidelined for the episode, Dorothy, Ange and Beatrice more than make up for it by providing some charming moments as well as some dark spy shenanigans.

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That said, the close of this case isn’t for the faint of heart because while there are certainly more graphic scenes in other anime, there’s something particularly tragic about this episode. And in case that ending wasn’t bad enough they set up what may actually be a conflict for the end of the season (maybe).

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Now I want the next episode because Ange’s next move is going to be interesting regardless of her choice.

Thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed this post and like the blog, consider becoming a patron to support further growth and future content.

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Thanks,

Karandi James.

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Summer 2017 Week 10

Posted on by Karandi

At this point I’m really feeling like I’m chasing my own tail around in circles for all that I’m very busy but don’t seem to be accomplishing much. Hopefully that changes soon but in the meantime, this anime season is drawing to a close and with a few exceptions, I’m not even upset by that. As much as I have found some ‘okay’ shows to fill my down time if these had disappeared I probably wouldn’t have been all that upset. Still, the Autumn season is coming and I know there’s a couple of titles that I am particularly hoping come out on something I can watch.

As always, I’d love to know your thoughts on the shows of the season so please leave me a comment below.

yuri10d

Must Watch

My Hero Academia (Episode 34)

Not the best episode this week but clearly setting up where we are going for the end of this season so a workable episode. Overall, season 2 of this show has exceeded all of my expectations and been a thoroughly fun ride. Hopefully it ends on a high note and also hopefully season 3 isn’t too far away.

Princess Principal (Episode 9)

After last week being a strong character story with a weak case, episode 9 kind of follows suit but for different reason. Chise narrates this episode and as an outside (we’ve gone back in time a bit again) she isn’t really in the loop for the case, but in this episode it doesn’t matter because she’s given her own role and story that works well with the team’s case. I continue to really enjoy this show and find the characters quite delightful.

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Usually Entertaining

Sagrada Reset (Episode 23)

Episode 23 was pretty satisfying and now they just have to not totally stuff up the ending and this series will be pretty good. Odd though that pacing and characterisation are pretty terrible and the narrative takes twenty something episodes to come together and yet somehow this show has nearly made me feel that all of that wait was worth it.

Gamers (Episode 8)

This continues to be an amusing enough mess of teen drama that kind of appeals to me. If nothing else, this show has kept me highly entertained this season if for no other reason than wondering what about it is actually appealing.

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Okay, I Guess

In Another World With My Smartphone (Episode 9)

Pretty sure this was the worst episode of the show yet, even including the slime episode. Another couple like this will see this show tumble a little in its standing, and that would be a shame. Cliche driven though it is, it has been amusing up until now. I think they just need to figure out what to do now that they’ve made Touya completely untouchable.

18if (Episode 9)

If we get another episode like this one, 18if might even get dropped and it will certainly fall lower on this list. I really didn’t like episode 9. The subject matter aside (though that is certainly questionable), the story itself was incredibly lackluster.

Fastest Finger First (Episode 9)

Not so sure about the last episode. The introduction of a truly annoying character definitely hurt my enjoyment of a show that has otherwise been consistently entertaining. Will have to see how this develops and hopefully the show can maintain its fairly even enjoyment until the end.

Hell Girl: Fourth Twilight (Episode 8)

The formula continues and once again a very satisfying conclusion as yet another horrible person goes to hell. It is hard to even worry about the fact that the one pulling the string is also going to go to hell in most cases as you genuinely cannot think of what they should do by the time they get to the point of pulling the string. Certainly, there are points earlier on where they might have made different choices, but eventually they all end up cornered.

Clean Freak Aoyama Kun (Episode 10)

Another fairly average episode. Then again, this show continues to feel better than it is simply because there are so many other shows doing worse this season. This one is at least pretty consistent in its delivery of content even if that content isn’t particularly great.

Elegant Yokai Apartment Life (Episode 10)

And the mess of tones and ideas continues while the writing remains pretty poor. This show’s biggest flaw is that it is boring but that just makes you notice that the narrative hasn’t been going anywhere and that the tone is inconsistent. At least if the show were interesting I wouldn’t be so focussed on its flaws.

Vatican Miracle Examiner (Episode 9)

Another mystery begins and we’ll see how this one plays out. This show seems to have settled after that initial mystery where it just went a little bit crazy and hopefully this new mystery resolves well.

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They Made This

Knight’s & Magic (Episode 10)

I’m not making anymore excuses for this. Ernesti’s enthusiasm aside, the story in this is utterly broken and poorly delivered. Not one of the characters has more than a one note personality and as of episode 10 I still have no idea what the actual conflict in the story is. They keep finding various things to fight against but the initial set up seemed to be about beasts that needed to be kept at bay and now we’re in some random fight with a Kingdom we didn’t even know about until episode 9.

Chronos Ruler (Episode 9)

Absolutely no story this week, just Victo dealing with family issues while everyone else played with a snake in the forest (true story). Anyway, this didn’t get any better or worse, but my tolerance of cute sword guys with no plot kind of gave out which is why this one is no longer on the bottom of the watch list.

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu (Episode 10)

And Katsugeki is not dropped but only because I’m kind of in the habit of watching it. There really isn’t any other reason why I’m still holding this one on my watch list.

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Tried and Dropped

Restaurant to Another World (Episode 1)

Centaur’s Life (Episode 1)

Convenience Store Boyfriends (Episode 1)

Saiyuki Reload Blast (Episode 1)

Battle Girl High School (Episode 1)

Hina Logic (Episode 1)

Tsuredure Children (Episode 1)

Fox Spirit Matchmaker (Episode 1)

Aho Girl (Episode 1)

The Irresponsible Galaxy Tylor (Episode 1)

Thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed this post and like the blog, consider becoming a patron to support further growth and future content.

Patreon2

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Karandi James.

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Princess Principal Episode 9: East Meets West

Posted on by Karandi

Review:

We kind of knew it had to come along, an episode that focusses on the fact that Chise is actually Japanese and that there are different cultural expectations. Fortunately, this episode elicits more laughs than groans and actually manages to make for some great character moments even while it plays on some fairly obvious cultural clichés.

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Of course, Chise is the focus of this episode and the narrator, bringing her unique view of the other characters to the forefront as well as highlighting the dynamics of the group. And again, this could have felt really trite and it is definitely a nod to the strength of the writing that this episode pulls it off and makes you feel you’ve gained a greater understanding of all the members of the team through this episode.

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Still, the bully triggering the duel was a fairly clunky plot device, even if it was ultimately well used. As he isn’t a character we’ve ever seen before or one we are likely to see again, there was little emotional investment and you kind of knew that he was more or less a fly to be swatted (though it was still pretty satisfying when Chise landed that hit – despite the fact that I now want to know what her ribbon is made out of).

Overall, a fairly good episode in what has been a pretty great watch this season.

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Karandi James.

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Princess Principal Episode 8: The Truth of the Black Lizard Planet

Posted on by Karandi

Review (with potential spoiler):

This episode is excellent in that it finally clears up a lot of the viewer’s suspicions about what happened between Ange and Charlotte once upon a time and it does it well. It is an expected reveal but one that is dealt with appropriately. What it isn’t particularly good at is being an episode on its own.

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The story essentially has the group staking out a building and other than interactions between Ange and a pickpocket where she begins to tell a story from the Black Lizard Planet (giving us a flashback of overly adorable Ange and Charlotte) and a few montages, very little happens. This is an important character episode but the plot of the episode is really flat.

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While the occasional character driven episode in a larger narrative works, Princess Principal has been completely episodic up until this point (and out of chronological order) so giving us an episode that doesn’t stand up in its own right but as part of the larger picture might work, is a bit of a risky move. Fortunately, the characters here are charming enough to pull it off so even if you walk away realising that pretty much nothing happened, you still feel pretty satisfied.

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Thanks,

Karandi James.

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