reviews

Moon Crisis Make Up! How Chiaki Kon Saved Sailor Moon Crystal

A miracle romance for the ages.

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Sailor Moon Crystal premiered to a lot of excitement, but the hype train soon ground to an unceremonious halt thanks to the show’s poor production values, breakneck pacing, terrible questionable changes to the source material, and general lack of energy. Some fans hung on. Many jumped off. With no real nostalgic attachment to the franchise and a ’90s anime I was enjoying much more, I wound up in the second group.

Then the Season 3 (“Death Busters Arc”) announcements rolled out: the show was moving from a bimonthly online (ONA) schedule to a weekly TV one, getting both a new series director (Chiaki Kon) and character designer (Akira Takahashi), and giving itself a Moon Prism Makeover. The hype train let out a low, tentative whistle. Curious but not all that optimistic, I gave the season premiere a try, and was shocked to discover it was actually…fun? Against all odds, Kon and her staff have breathed life into an adaptation that was dead in the water, thanks to a few simple changes that made a huge difference.

Click here for the full post at The Mary Sue!

Review: Welcome to Night Vale – “Ghost Stories”

My big ol’ nerd umbrella expands to cover podcasts with my review of the latest Night Vale live show.

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I’m fairly new to the town of Night Vale (feel free to greet me with a friendly “Interloperrrr!” if you’d like). Utena Watch Party cohort and online buddy Vrai convinced me to give the show a try last August, whereupon I fell hard for its likably flawed protagonist, diverse cast, offbeat humor, and casual weirdness, blazing through the entire series in a little under two months. Since then, I’ve become a Weird Scout, picked up some sweet WTNV merch, tossed around wild theories with friends, and attended a book signing event. (But I definitely didn’t go as one part of a genderswapped Cecil/Kevin duo for Halloween or design WTNV/Utena crossover art or create a Spotify playlist in loosely chronological order so I could relive the stories of Night Vale in song form—no no, certainly not. That would be ridiculous.)

Point is, I have a lot of love for this series, so I was thrilled to finally see my first live show when “Ghost Stories” floated through Chicago in April. And with the crew gearing up for the second part of their U.S. tour in July, now seemed like a good time to let others know about it, too.

Click here for the full review at The Mary Sue!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Episode 3.21 & 3.22 (Season Finale)

A big room with people

Our season three showdown was bundled into a 2-hour finale that refused to quit playin’ games with my heart, featuring the usual blend of fist pumps, emotions (soooo many emotions), bursts of thoughtfulness, and, yeah, the occasional raised eyebrow, too. There’s a whole lot to talk about, so let’s get right to it.

You can click here to join the conversation on TMS or hit the jump to read on.

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Panning the Stream: Spring 2016 Midseason Review

Pick a show, any show.

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We’ve reached the midway point and Spring shows no sign of slowing down or dropping off. From calming comedies to urban fantasies to action-packed (melo)dramas to whatever-the-hell The Lost Village is supposed to be, there’s a lot of variety and remarkable quality, with most shows building on themselves nicely or, at the very least, maintaining a steady course.

While I wouldn’t say there’s a ton in the way of jaw-dropping creative ambition at this point (aside from Concrete Revolutio anyway), if you’re in the mood for entertainment, Spring 2016 has got you thoroughly covered. Hit the jump to check in with our motley crew of anime titles.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Episode 3.20: “Emancipation”

Er, spoiler alert?

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The political boulder Civil War threw into the MCU pond ripples down to the small-screen this week, highlighting the difference between public officials and private citizens as well as the tenuous balance between security and freedom. It’s tough for me to discuss certain aspects of this episode without bringing in at least general details from Civil War, but since the film hasn’t even been out a week, I’m going to skirt around that conversation for now. Maybe once Season 3 wraps up and I’ve had a chance to see Civil War a second time, I’ll do a longer write-up on the conversation the two stories are having with one another.

The point is, if you’re an AoS-only viewer, you can read on without fear of Civil War spoilers, like how the North wins but Abraham Lincoln still dies at the end. What a twist!

You can click here to join the conversation at TMS or hit the jump to read on.

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Life, The Mooniverse, and Everything: The Sailor Moon Newbie Retrospective

A two-year-long journey through a twenty-year-old classic.

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A couple springs ago, when I was just getting into the planning stages of launching this blog, Viz hit us with some big news: They had licensed the original Sailor Moon, and they were going to re-release the entire series with a brand new uncut(!) translation. And just like that I had my first ever blogging project: A 200-episode series of Newbie Reviews. (So, you know. A nice, easy commitment.)

I loved Sailor Moon‘s directors’ later works (especially Ikuhara of Utena fame), and I knew a little about the series itself, but I really had no idea what to expect–whether I’d like it, or find it too childish, or get trapped in Filler Episode Hell. What followed were 24 months and 100 posts of quips, critiques, praises, giggles, feels, and flails, as I slowly fell in love with the cast, the stories, and the silliness. It was easy to see why the franchise had so many long-time fans. And, as the final credits rolled, I counted myself among them.

It’s been a fun journey, but now that I’m sitting at the destination, I wanted take a moment to look back, talk about the series as a whole, and maybe reminisce about the characters and moments that stuck with me the most. I, er… got a little carried away, and the post ballooned like a Dead Moon Circus tent. I’ve done my best to break it up with my favorite Sailor Moon gifs. Hit the jump to take a leisurely stroll down Memo(on)ry Lane.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Episode 3.19: “Failed Experiments”

There’s more than one civil war brewing in the MCU.

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There’s a possibly game-changing MCU film on the horizon, but our SHIELD team doesn’t have time to press pause and set the stage for that. No, they’ve got their own set of small-screen problems that increasingly feel like they’d fit right at home on a big one: Alien invaders, super-powered battles, strained loyalties, and two sides moving ever closer to an explosive confrontation. Bring along your camping gear, team. This one’s intense.

You can click here to join the conversation at TMS or hit the jump to read on.

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Rule of Three Review: Spring 2016 Anime Digest

Don’t mind me, I just fell over under the weight of my watch list.

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I hemmed and hawed about exactly when I should post this sucker. Due to a combination of already offset premiere dates and delays caused by the Kumamoto Earthquake (a list of ways you can help here, if you’re interested), some of these are into their fourth episode while a couple have only aired two. So consider this more a rule of three-ish review, I s’pose.

The number of shows that made it this far is, uh… not insignificant, with a good mix of comedy and drama (or at least loud glorious trashy action) to offer a little something for everyone. Even the stuff on the bubble is pretty solid, and would have been a lock during last season’s sparser schedule. I’m going to try to be brief here so as not to overload you on word count, but let’s see if I can’t praise some favorites and maybe point you towards your next favorite along the way.

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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Episode 3.18: “The Singularity”

Past the point of no return?

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Hive’s endgame is revealed, his army grows, and the gang find themselves with a major victory totally eclipsed by their more recent failures. Oh, and a ‘ship long in the building sails with a flourish out of SHIELD harbor. Why does that make me even more nervous?

You can click here to join the conversation on TMS, or hit the jump to read on.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episode 200 (Stars Finale)

My God, it’s full of Sailor Stars!

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And so we come at last to the end of things. As is tradition, I’ve got a Stars retrospective after the recap, with general commentary on the season as a whole. As for any overarching thoughts about the entire series and my two-year trip through the Mooniverse, I’ve decided to save those for another post tentatively scheduled to go up the first week of May.

For now, though, we’ve got a finale to tackle!

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