Author: Dee

Deehttps://joseinextdoor.wordpress.comI'm a writer, a translator, a book worm, and a basketball fan. I have bachelor's degrees in English and East Asian studies and a master's degree in Creative Writing. (So, basically, I majored in nerdiness.) To pay the bills, I work as a technical writer. To not pay the bills, I write animanga reviews, watch far too much anime, and cheer very loudly for the Kansas Jayhawks.
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Episode 3.03: “A Wanted (Inhu)Man”

Sparks fly. It’s quite shocking.

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SHIELD has spent the past two seasons developing and solidifying its central cast into a group of people who, short-sighted and secretive though they can often be, are genuinely trying to do the right thing by both the world and one another. We’ve seen how much they care about each other (often to a fault), and it makes any tension between them feel like family members fighting, any downtime like hanging out on the couch with your own friends, and any awkwardness like you just stuck your own foot in your mouth.

And this is a very good thing, because it means even episodes like this one where the central story moves so fast it barely makes sense, never mind resonates, can still mostly work because of the interactions and emotional beats woven into the various plots. So while I’m still struggling to give anything remotely resembling a damn about Lincoln (I swear I’m trying, you guys, I really am!), I’m fully invested in our SHIELD family, and that holds the show together even when a few seams start to stretch like they did this week.

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Panning the Stream: Sequels and Carryovers Edition (Fall 2015)

♪ Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back~ ♪

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While the fall premieres haven’t been quite as dismal as I’d originally feared, this is one season where most of my excitement was reserved for sequels, and so far they’ve done a solid job of not disappointing. Two 2014 favorites are back and just as fun as ever, campy vampire fiction makes its triumphant return, and we head to a familiar setting after nearly a decade away.

This season’s a little odd in that we have some sequels in the traditional sense (i.e., stories that pick up right where the previous season left off) as well as some “sequels”: stories taking place in the same universe but with different characters, locations, and time lines, making them fairly accessible to newcomers. I’ve divided them up accordingly below, so hit the jump for familiar faces, or locations, or both.

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Panning the Stream: The Perfect Insider, Anti-Magic Academy, Shomin Sample

Throw another potential gold nugget in the season’s li’l pile, at least.

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I sat on this post for a bit because there are still technically a couple premieres left, but none of them are available for legal streaming as I write this and I’ve got a packed weekend ahead of me, so I figured I’d go ahead and queue this up now. Consider it the last batch of new fall shows—I’ll throw up a post tomorrow for the extensive number of sequels (and “sequels”) I’m watching, and that’ll wrap up for the madness that is premiere week. If any of the stragglers catch my eye, you’ll hear about it in a Rule of Three.

As for this final batch, it features one of my favorites of the season and two more to add to the stack of unremarkable-to-ohGodwhy LN adaptations flooding our streams this season. Hit the jump for praise and headshakes alike.

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Noragami Aragoto – Episode 2: “One of Her Memories”

We’re just diving right in this season, ain’t we?

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It’s another strong (albeit painful) outing for Noragami this week, as various relationships are strengthened, frayed, or shattered altogether, characters confront the tenuous bonds of memory, and a particularly nasty antagonist sets his plans into motion.

Oh, and speaking of that antagonist—well, I pretty much called it last week, but as soon as he started mustache-twirling I realized I story-predicted myself into a predicament. So to clarify something important: Yes, I did start reading the Noragami manga, but I stopped at the end of the Yukine arc, meaning that everything happening in Aragoto is new to me, too. So you don’t need to worry about me giving away any plot points. (And if you have read this part of the manga, no spoilers in the comments section either, please!)

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 146-147

{Insert witty subheading here}

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What do you get when you cross fall anime season premiere week with fall allergy week? A very fuzzy-headed blogger, turns out. I had a ton to say about Episode 147, but I blazed through 146 to make up for it, and I have exactly nothing of value to add in the opening remarks except “It was a good week and neither episode made me throw my tablet out the window, yay!”

And if you wanna read the SuperSubstance I managed to scratch out before the sinus meds wore off, hit that jump and dive right in!

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Panning the Stream: Dance with Devils, Beautiful Bones, Atashin’chi

There really is no accounting for taste, I s’pose.

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The stream’s slowed a bit in recent days, but we’re still clipping along at a pace that lets me give you another trio of series, and two have even earned themselves full meet ‘n’ greets! One surprised me by how much I enjoyed it, while the other I was surprised I didn’t enjoy more. Hit the jump to read on and shake your head at my questionable judgment.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Episode 3.02: “Purpose in the Machine”

Things get messy.

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The memory of Season One’s snail’s pace must still haunt the writer’s room, because we waste no time this week moving all of our story lines forward and wrapping up some at a blazingly fast pace. While I’ve enjoyed SHIELD a lot more since it became plot-focused, I do have to wonder if we didn’t lose some opportunities this week, particularly when it comes to developing characters. But hey—at least May’s back!

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Panning the Stream: Attack on Titan Junior High, Mr. Osomatsu, Peeping Life TV, Starmyu

They sure are throwing a lot of, uh… different stuff at us this season, I’ll give ’em that at least.

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Got an odd batch for you here. Only one of them is technically a new series, but the others aren’t really sequels in the proper sense, either—more like spinoffs or reboots. We’re also heavy on the comedy this time, with mixed results, but there were some moments that tickled my funny bone. Hit the jump for laughter and crickets alike.

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Panning the Stream: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Concrete Revolutio, One Punch Man

After an early stumble, Fall may be climbing up again.

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The anime gods heard our complaints yesterday and saw fit to grace us with three series that are a vast improvement over the majority of the others I’ve watched thus far, packed with great animation, distinctive characters, and competent (or at least passionate) writing. In truth, these were the three I pegged as potential goodies going into the season, so it’s mostly just a relief that they weren’t total clunkers. Hit the jump for all the exciting details.

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Panning the Stream: Comet Lucifer, Young Black Jack, & Four Bad LN Adaptations

Off to the races once more!

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As a reminder, I watch every licensed premiere and do at least a brief writeup about them. I’ll do full meet ‘n’ greets for shows that caught my interest enough to warrant it. Everything else gets a blurb explaining what I liked, didn’t like, and why the show might not or didn’t make the cut.

The fall deluge of new shows has begun, and despite that exciting tag line, it’s been more like a five-car pileup than a “race” at this point. I like to include at least one full meet ‘n’ greet in each of these, and it took a whole lotta panning before I found one. Hit the jump for a flicker of potential, a half-naked doctor, and a pile of light novel nope.

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