In which the story opens itself to new perspectives, and the Josei is suddenly very glad to be an only child.
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 analyses are here for your reading pleasure:
And my own newbie-friendly commentary is below the jump.
Aliens are people, too!
These two episodes encapsulate pretty much everything I love about Sailor Moon, using supernatural events to develop characters and provide commentary on love, friendship, and gender roles. And it doesn’t hurt that they were darn amusing, too. This is kind of the show Sailor Moon R should have been from the beginning, really—when you have aliens masquerading as humans, it’s almost a crime NOT to have them constantly interacting with (and being confused by) (and being affected by) human culture and quirks.
Good sequels and good fantasies keep the stream from drying up this season.
My fall watchlist is considerably smaller than my summer one, partly because of time constraints on my part, but mostly because there just isn’t as much that interests me this season. Not counting sequels (and yes, I count Fate/stay night as a sequel even though it technically isn’t), I’ve only kept up with seven new shows this season. Compare that to summer’s whopping 13 at the midway mark, and it sounds pretty dismal by all accounts.
That said, there is a pleasant ray of hope this fall: Fantasies have made a sudden and welcome comeback, as nearly every new series on this list features some element of magic or “arealism.” Better still, a fair number of them are two-cour, continuing this year’s trend of studios producing longer series (a very nice trend indeed). And hey, I’m also trying to watch half a dozen U.S. shows and a trio of sports, so maybe the shortened list isn’t such a bad thing.
Most everything falls (pun always intended) in “solidly watchable” B-range territory, with a couple standouts and a couple series hovering near the chopping block. What’s shining and what’s dimming? Hit the jump for a midseason check-in.
In which we learn the dangers of interviews, elevators, and family fun time, and why it’s always important to knock before entering a room.
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 analyses are here for your reading pleasure:
And my own newbie-friendly commentary is below the jump.
Sometimes I worry that Sailor Moon will run out of episodic plot lines—then I remember that Cheers ran for 11 years, and they never had any aliens to battle, and I know we’ll be okay.
Man, I wasn’t kidding when I called Sailor Moon a “magical girl sitcom” way back in Episode 11. Toss in a laugh track and some flannel and there are days when this show would fit right in with the live-action teen sitcoms airing back in the early ‘90s. This week we’ve got the Babysitting Episode and the School Recital Episode—okay, more accurately the “School Festival Episode,” a long-time staple of school-based anime and manga. But it’s the same concept, really: An episode centered around a performance and one character’s dedication to it.
Nevertheless, SM manages to put its own (thoroughly ridiculous) twist on these tales, as the baby drama is less about the baby and more about Usagi struggling to connect with Amnesiac Mamoru, and the recital reveals some facets of Rei’s character we haven’t seen before. Also, Clow cards. Relatively few of those U.S. school sitcoms had Clow cards.
In which Utena proves that it can pack imagery and meaning into absolutely everything, even a recap episode.
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 newbie-friendly commentary is below the jump.
Moon Prism Power, Level Up!
Doncha just love shoujo and their emotions-based power-ups? Who needs training and fighting and slowly gaining martial experience when you can just feel feelings SO HARD that you turn jewellery into legendary crystals and absolutely nothing into magic rods? I wish I could’ve spent MY middle and high school years having my FEELINGS converted into Lovely Items: I was a fairly chill teenager and I still would’ve been able to ride into battle atop a sparkling Jayhawk while shooting flaming arrows from my longbow made of dreams and stardust. To victory!
In which… ah, the hell with the classy headings. Kick his ass, Utena!
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 analyses are here for your reading pleasure:
And my newbie-friendly commentary is below the jump.
The pretty guardian in a keffiyeh appears!
I’m on the road, sans my usual computer (and therefore my animated gif collection), and completely burned out from my week-long Utena watch-n-blog marathon, so today’s recaps are going to be an exercise in brevity. Fortunately it’s also an exercise is mostly-filler, so this should be doable.
In terms of general impressions, I had two thoughts this week: (1) Wow, the animation saw one hell of a dive during Episode 49, and (2) It seems like Sailor Moon might be trying to inject some life lessons into its relationships, and not just of the “love conquers all” variety. It’s nice to finally see a close boy-girl relationship that’s an actual friendship instead of a romance (even if we really didn’t get to SEE much of it at all), and I very much hope we get more of that in the future.
In which things begin to get very heavy and complicated and symbolic. Also, kitties!
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 analyses are here for your reading pleasure:
And my newbie-friendly ramblin’ is hanging out below the jump.
The Josei Next Door 