The best-laid plans of mobs and men…
Happy to prove that it can keep balancing tangled gangster intrigue with character-focused drama, 91 Days returns us to Lawless and pours a potful of plot (a plotful?) all over us. Statuses shift, allegiances realign, and just about everyone tries to put one over on somebody else. And you thought your family was complicated.
Guess I oughta call it a “Rule of Four Review” at this point…
Between the two shows I’m covering for Evo this season, the standalone posts I still need to finish (I solemnly swear those last two Tanaka-kun mini-essays are gonna happen someday!), a potentially expanding load of freelance geek writing, and Moving Day Part Deux, getting a full Rule of Three post out this season just wasn’t in the cards. (Actually, if the other work stays steady, I may wind up retiring the Rule of Three Reviews entirely so I can focus on other posts, but if I hear a Great Outcry to keep them then I’ll reconsider.)
Still, I figured I owed it to you to pop in and at least let you know what my summer watchlist looked like. There isn’t a ton that I’m excited about, but I am really excited about a few of them, and given everything else that’s going on I’m more than happy to sacrifice quantity for quality. Hit the jump for a quick run-down.
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.
After watching Naho and Kakeru’s relationship almost fall apart last week, this week we slide back into the comfortable, content group dynamic and steady progress from before. That doesn’t mean it was a completely uneventful episode, though: Mixed into the relaxed slice-of-life festival story are small changes for Naho, a renewed focus on the supporting cast, and a science lesson that adds an important layer to orange‘s premise.
The mob acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.
I know I joked last week that 91 Days was going to turn into a road trip buddy comedy, but. I mean. I didn’t think it actually would. Our tense gangster drama lightens up this week, taking time off from crime family intrigue to meander across the lakes region of the U.S. and flesh out its two central characters along the way–and by “flesh out,” I of course mean:”make them endearing as heck.” Those felonious scamps.
Relationships are hard, y’all.
Friendships, romances, family ties–no two are the same, and they all take different kinds work. I’m not sure there’s ever a time when relationships get easy, but like anything else, experience does help. That’s why high school relationships can be such a muddled minefield, because for many people it’s the first time they’ve had to not only figure out How To Significant Other, but also how to balance different kinds of relationships in a healthy way. And boy, do Naho and Kakeru walk right into that minefield this week.
♪ I’ll be spending Friday nights writing ’bout a gangster’s paradise… ♪
91 Days had possibly the best premiere of the season, and two episodes later it continues to dig its hooks into me with twists, turns, mysteries, and conspiracies. You read or watch enough stories and you start to get a feel for where a narrative’s heading, but 91 Days has kept me on my toes with speedy escalation, a chessboard full of briefly glimpsed players, and a camera that just loves to build tension through canted angles and wide shots of empty rooms. I’m not sure where it’s all heading, and I love that about it.
I’m not sure if I’m happy or just relieved.
Adaptations can be a minefield, but orange has so far met my expectations, endearing me to its cast and sucking me into its story all over again. It’s easily one of my Top Three favorite shows of the summer (nestled right alongside gangsters and puppets, go figure), so I’ve opted to cover it for Anime Evo this season. Also, sorry it’s a little late–I had a busy travel weekend and couldn’t find the time until today.
I’m in a unique position with this one where I’ve actually read the entire manga, but anime newbies can rest assured that, while these posts do assume you’ve seen the episode(s) under discussion, this is a manga spoiler-free zone. So viewers and readers can read on free of worries!
One final explosion of titles before we settle into the new season.
I somehow managed to stop hunting Pokemon long enough to write my second and final batch of premiere reviews. With one exception (baseball anime BATTERY, which I’ll cover in my Rule of Three if it makes it that far), the summer rush has swept on by, leaving me to sort through the silt and see if I can find some gold. I wouldn’t call it a deep season, but there’s variety and potential, and one show that has me positively giddy.
Hit the jump to say hi (and goodbye) to the rest of the summer premieres.
Yeah. This has my name written all over it.
Evo let me gush about my other favorite premiere of the season (that doesn’t involve puppets, anyway). Prohibition-era gangsters, an atmosphere that fluctuates between quiet tension and bombastic battles, revenge plots, and mad-dog murderers. Sign. Me. Up.
Let the taste-testing begin!
I’ve been up to my ears in family gatherings, travel, and spotty WiFi this week, but I finally managed to watch enough premieres to compile them into the season’s first Panning post. We’re sticking with the new format I adopted for Spring: I’ll watch every new, licensed full-length show and talk about ’em, then roll them up into “digest” posts divided into three basic categories: “Guaranteed three episodes,” “On the fence,” and “Probably dropped.”
If a title catches your eye, you can find out where the show is streaming by using this handy search engine. Now hit the jump to ding the bell for Round 1—FIGHT!
The Josei Next Door 