anime

Season Reviews, Sports Edition: Baby Steps, Haikyuu!!

These two shows may share a genre (and a final grade), but they couldn’t be more different.

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Okay, so technically this should be the “series” (not “season”) review of Haikyuu, but c’mon – we all know they’re going to make more. Of course the big surprise this morning wasn’t that Haikyuu DIDN’T get an official Season 2 announcement, but that Baby Steps DID. Yes, The Little Tennis Series That Could will be back in Spring 2015, with more of its unique MC and equally unique take on the sports genre itself.

I’ve quietly become a big fan of the sports anime/manga genre over the last couple years (thanks largely to Chihayafuru, the perfect “gateway” sports show for a shoujo fan if ever there was one), but one thing that continues to surprise me is just how different each show can be, delivering its own style and tone to a genre that is, at its core, about coming-of-age, hard work, and striving to achieve your goals.

Perhaps no two series are more indicative of the many ways a show can go about portraying these themes than Baby Steps and Haikyuu. To see just how different, hit the jump for some spoiler-free reviews on the first 25 episodes of these two sports stalwarts.

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Season Review: Tokyo Ghoul

Despite a lack of subtlety and some truly absurd story arcs, a well-developed core cast, a central question with no easy answer, and a riveting final episode make Tokyo Ghoul’s first season a worthwhile (albeit bumpy) ride.

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Very mild spoilers throughout. I can’t review without discussing overarching themes and touching on some character arcs and plot points, but I’ll avoid any specifics.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 37-38

The cards may have gotten shuffled, but Sailor Moon is still as entertaining a game as ever.

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While my heart still aches from the losses of both Zoisite (ZOISIIIIITE!) and Mamoru, I have to admit the series has managed to move into its next arc without skipping a beat. There’s an almost effortless chemistry among the Moonies nowadays, to the point where the creators pretty much just have to plunk them down in a story line and I know I’m going to enjoy whatever happens next. It also helps that we’ve been gradually developing a group of likable side characters, so if the story DOES need an extra spice, lovable dorks like Yuichirou Teddy are around to add to the mix.

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Season Review: Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji): Book of Circus

Ciel and Sebastian take their act to the Big Top and bring down the house in this, Black Butler’s best—and darkest—story to date.

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A Note on Spoilers: I want to make these newbie-friendly, so I’ll try to avoid discussing specifics and instead stick to overarching concepts and themes. There are a couple paragraphs toward the end that deal with the finale, so I marked them with a warning message. Of course if you prefer to go into a series without knowing anything about it, then the short version is: It’s disturbing and heartbreaking and excellent. Go watch it.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 35-36

The Moon Princess has awakened, and everything is terrible.

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You’d think that finding the Moon Princess, the Legendary Silver Crystal, AND regaining a whole bucket-load of memories would lead to some power-ups, knockout punches, and a few happy endings, but HAHA, NO, THIS IS ‘90S SHOUJO WE’RE TALKING ABOUT, AND ‘90S SHOUJO RIPS OUT YOUR HEART AND TAP-DANCES ON THE LEFT VENTRICLE.

Turns out Sailor Moon is helmed by a bunch of sadistic bastards, so y’know that finish line we saw on the horizon? Yeah, it’s actually a mile farther back than we thought, and there’s a moat full of crocodiles between us and it. Angry, brainwashing, character-murdering crocodiles.

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The Sensei Next Door: Lingo

I made the utterly insane decision to catch up on Hunter x Hunter before the final episode airs in a few weeks (you can follow my 50-episode odyssey on Twitter), and it’s been making me think of this term a whole lot. So I figured I’d spend some time explaining it, and why I actually think it’s kind of great:

GAR
adj (slang).
Ridiculous levels of badassitude.

verb (slang).
To love a character because of their ridiculous levels of badassitude.

“GAR” is one of those accidental Internet slang things, sort of like “teh.” The story goes that a commenter was discussing an episode of the Fate/stay night anime and the absurdly macho character Archer. The commenter meant to say he was “gay for Archer” but one typo later and he was instead “gar for Archer.”

Somehow the term took off, although almost exclusively in the anime community (I didn’t even know about it until it cropped up in Enzo’s Lost in America blog), and eventually evolved into an adjective used on someone or something that’s unbelievably tough, persistent, and all-around badass (“Roy Mustang was so GAR when he fought Lust, you guys”). It doesn’t have to be a good thing, mind you – GAR can be excessive and exhausting, and you can use the word in a negative sense – but most of the time it has positive, fist-pumping, “hellz yeah!” connotations to it.

I’m actually really fond of this term, partly because it’s practically an onomatopoeia (if you saw “GAR!” as an SFX in a comic, you’d totally know what it meant), and partly because it encompasses all these notions of traditional masculinity/manliness while still being sex- and gender-neutral. Anyone can be GAR. And that’s awesome.

So go forth, ladies and gents, and remember: When the chips are down, you’re covered in wounds, and your buddies are bleeding out all around you, just grit your teeth, clench your fist, and give the world your best GAR battle cry. Somewhere, someone will swoon over it.

Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 33-34

Never mind hitting the fan – that just hit a whole freaking wind farm.

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Boy, when Sailor Moon decides to focus on plot, it doesn’t mess around, does it? Not only did we finally meet Sailor V this week, but it turns out she’s the already-awakened (and quite well-informed) scout, Sailor Venus. She even has her own talking cat, Artemis, who despite being named after a Greek goddess appears to be the only male member of the main group. And he and Luna are already friends! (They better be friends, anyway. ‘Cause Luna/Rhett OTP, 5eva, y’all.)

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Heroine Boys and Princely Girls: How “Nozaki-kun” is Challenging Gender Roles in Fiction

Going all analytical on Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (“Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun”), the funniest – and smartest – show of the summer anime season.

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For those who haven’t seen Nozaki-kun yet, it’s a comedy about a high school girl who finds out her crush is secretly a popular shoujo mangaka (comic artist). She ends up working for him as one of his assistants, and the story follows the two of them and their friends/assistants as they navigate life at school and work.

Simultaneously very funny and sneakily brilliant, it’s one of those rare beasts that can provide smart satire without coming across as pretentious or bitter. While it does play with anime/manga tropes, I think there’s a universality to the humor and ideas that can work even if you’re only a casual anime viewer. In short: You should be watching this series.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 31-32

The creators have been doing a great impression of Oprah as of late. YOU get an episode, and YOU get an episode…!

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…Ev-ery-bo-dy gets an episode!

I said during the last cour that Sailor Moon works better as an ensemble show, and this past (very, very good) stretch of episodes just keeps proving it. While Usagi isn’t always the most riveting main character, she’s a fabulous supporting actor, playing the roles of Cupid and Best Friend with a loveable blend of warmth and silliness. Plus, giving us time with the rest of the cast (Moonies and Muggles alike) expands the Mooniverse, opens the door for future story lines, and will make us care a whole lot more if/when Shit Gets Real with the Dark Kingdom.

Of course, SM’s episodes are only as good as the characters they follow, and so there’s bound to be some peaks and valleys. This week sees a little bit of both, although I didn’t DISlike either of them. I just happened to super-adore one and only kinda-like the other. Somehow I suspect you already know which is which, but just in case there was any doubt, the details are below. Brace yourselves for cuteness, and enjoy!

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