Things get messy.
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!
The Noragang is back after nearly two years away, but it’s like they never left.
The first season of Noragami snuck up on, sucking me into the world and characters a little more each week, and despite a somewhat rocky anime-original final arc it ended up being one of my favorite shows of 2014. I started snagging the manga once Kodansha brought it stateside, so needless to say I was pretty stoked when BONES announced a second season in the works. (Oh, and if you haven’t seen the first season yet, it’s available on Funimation, Hulu, and Netflix in various sub/dub formats, so you have plenty of binge-watching options.)
I’m covering this one over at Anime Evo, so same drill as we did the past two seasons with My Love Story. The posts will also eventually wind up here in their entirety, just so I have them for my own records.
Remember that thing I said about Ami episodes a few weeks back? WELP.
Oh hey, lookie there, I mostly enjoyed SuperS this week! Funny how those weeks so often coincide with Ami episodes, innit? And, I mean, anytime Sailor Moon does an episode about artists, it usually ends in a good time. Although it’s always super(S) unpleasant when the show decides to make cracks about Usagi’s weight. For a series that’s usually so good about empowering young women, it has a rough track record when it comes to body image commentary, that’s for darn sure.
Still, most of the events were pleasant enough, although we’re still deep in Filler Territory, meaning there ain’t much to talk about other than what’s in the recaps themselves. So hit the jump and let’s get to it!
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! Turn and face the strange!
Last season ended with Inhumans and Monoliths and a whole lotta promises that SHIELD was going to continue going Full Comic Book, and we waste no time making due on those promises, as this episode is absolutely chock-full of superpowers, aliens, sweet science-y magic, and barely contained breakdowns.
Well, that’s one way to boost manga sales.
After a bumpy third act hamstrung by ongoing production issues, Gangsta comes roaring back with a stellar final episode that reminds me of all the reasons I fell in love with it in the first place. Taking time to expand upon the supporting cast while never losing its central focus on our main trio, “Odds and Ends” is one-part character study and one-part tense, action-packed shootout, drenched in melancholy and badassery in equal turns and looking damn sexy to boot. It’d be one hell of a great way to end the series… if this were anything even remotely resembling an ending, that is.
As has become customary, I’ll spend the first part of this post providing a mostly spoiler-free series review and the second discussing the episode itself. Hit the jump and I’ll let any newbies know when to close the window.
Sometimes I feel like I’m playing Russian Roulette with this season.
Every week I wonder if I’m going to get good SuperS or UGH SuperS, or maybe just plain old meh SuperS. It’s a gamble, and if I lose, the price is… well, a few grouchy words and a large red hand print on my forehead, mostly. It’s a low-stakes game. In some ways I’m grateful for it—I’ve given up on there ever being any plot this season, so the sliding scale of quality keeps things exciting, at least—but I do miss the days when I could just sit down and feel confident that something fun and/or emotional was going to happen.
This week was… not great. It wasn’t even table-flip-worthy, just one-part forgettable and one-part unpleasant. But, on the plus side, it means the word count is a lot shorter, too! So take solace in that, I s’pose. Then hit the jump for a lady who deserves better, and a Fish of whom I expected better.
SUKI DA indeed, Takeo.
My Love Story took last week off presumably because they needed extra time to animate all the sparkles, but we’re back with not only the finale to our two-parter, but to the show itself. Confessions will be made! Desserts will be baked! Audiences will be adorabludgeoned! And anime’s most charming high school rom-com will come to a predictably heartwarming conclusion.
I’ve shuffled the order of my original Anime Evo post around a bit, so the first half of this one provides a spoiler-free review for any newcomers interested in checking out this series. I’ll let you know when we switch from the review to the episode recap. Hit the jump and prepare your heart accordingly!
And so we come at last to the end middle of things.
Snow White hits its first-cour finale today, so it makes sense to spend the first half of this post providing a mostly spoiler-free review for anyone who somehow hasn’t made this a part of their watch list and is wondering if they should. Short answer: Yes, you should. Long answer: Hit the jump for some glowing paragraphs, and I’ll let you know when we’re moving back into spoiler territory.
That’s about as apt as an episode title can get.
A whole lot of characters see screen time this week, but this one’s defined more by who isn’t present than who is. Alex spends most of her time in a fugue state off camera, her brother Emilio is heard but not seen, Erica’s the topic of much discussion but never shows her face, and of course the Handymen themselves are absent altogether, and barely even mentioned by the other players.
Psst, Sailor Moon. Your talent is showing.
These episodes are great examples of how exceptional directors can elevate throwaway or even downright poor material, taking a pair of one-off episodes and filling them with visually exciting shots, angles, sight gags, and character animation. The Showrunners of Sailor Moon Past and Future have pretty much always been around to direct individual episodes, but here we get a back-to-back pair that stand out from the recent run and do a nice job highlighting each person’s strengths.
The Josei Next Door 