Kyoto Animation and novelist Takeda Ayano make beautiful music together.
Sound! Euphonium is the story of a high school concert band trying to figure out who it wants to be. Are its members content to hang out for a couple hours after class, making friends and fooling around? Or are they willing to set and work towards goals, to find something they want and go after it with everything they have?
In which it’s time for more than just the audience to wave goodbye to Ohtori Academy.
Click here for an explanation of the watch party, and an invitation to chime in with your own thoughts (Tumblr tag: #Utena Watch Party).
For Returning Viewers, Vrai’s episode analysis is here for your reading pleasure:
And my own newbie-friendly commentary is below the jump.
Takeo takes on his most formidable foe yet: Math I.
As the title suggests, this is the week when Takeo’s poor grades threaten to catch up to him, but it’s less about Takeo’s school work and more about his future plans, and how those plans mesh (or clash) with those around him. As a result, it’s full of college talk, hilariously overbearing and eager-to-please parents practically proposing to Yamato, and a lingering question of where everyone sees themselves after high school. Oh, and it all basically turns out to be Suna trolling Takeo for a solid 20 minutes. Now that’s future planning for you!
Beach Episode! Everyone mark your anime bingo cards!
It’s a week full of equal-opportunity fanservice, as the gang heads to the beach and both Takeo and Yamato get to ogle one another SO HARD they’re lusty teenage hearts nearly explode from the experience. Fun (and funny) times are had by all, Takeo’s more popular than he’s ever been (even with some of the ladies!), and our young couple very nearly level up their relationship under another trademark Madhouse sunset.
Yet for all the silly rom-com shenanigans, this week is once again filled with crossed signals and miscommunication, and the series itself at last acknowledges (via our beautiful, ever-observant Suna-min Roll) that trouble may be brewing in paradise.
In which Utena gets us to believe in triumphant victories only to stab us in the back. Literally.
Click here for an explanation of the watch party, and an invitation to chime in with your own thoughts (Tumblr tag: #Utena Watch Party).
For Returning Viewers, Vrai’s episode analysis is here for your reading pleasure:
And my own newbie-friendly commentary is below the jump.
Aww, that was fun. See you guys next week!
Okay, no, not really, but OreMono really isn’t making my job easy with episodes like these. Don’t get me wrong: “My Mountain” was funny and adorable and I liked it a whole lot, but it pretty much speaks for itself.
In which Utena wonders if she likes it and should put a ring on it.
Click here for an explanation of the watch party, and an invitation to chime in with your own thoughts (Tumblr tag: #Utena Watch Party).
For Returning Viewers, Vrai’s episode analysis is here for your reading pleasure:
And my own newbie-friendly commentary is below the jump.
I hope none of you got whiplash from all those twists and turns we just took.
We found the plot! We found ALL of the plot! Or, to be more accurate, a certain someone jumped out of their time machine and threw the plot down at our feet. Honestly, the more I think about these two episodes, the messi(ah?)er they are in terms of coherent writing and execution, but as far as emotional reaction and pure entertainment value go, they were pretty dang exciting and did a whole lot to forward the overall story line. So, all in all, I’d call them a success, even if I am going to mock them a little mercilessly along the way. Hey, it’s part of the job description.
Hop in and strap on those seatbelts, gang. Eudial’s takin’ us for a Sailor Moon Spin.
In which I am positively flabbergasted by the amount of sympathetic words I’ve written about Touga and Saionji.
Click here for an explanation of the watch party, and an invitation to chime in with your own thoughts (Tumblr tag: #Utena Watch Party).
For Returning Viewers, Vrai’s episode analysis is here for your reading pleasure:
And my own newbie-friendly commentary is below the jump.
Ever wanted an inside look into the hows, whys, and wherefores of aniblogging? Well, Lauren Orsini of Otaku Journalist has just released a brand-spanking new book, Build Your Anime Blog, which explores the process from creation to maintenance to (hopefully) Interweb sensation. It also includes interviews with eleven hardworking, long-time anibloggers and one tenderfoot upstart.
And yes, the upstart is me.
But don’t take my word for it. Here’s the Otaku Journalist herself to give you the skinny:
The Josei Next Door 