reviews

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – Episode 5

Shakespeare may be nations and centuries away, but “all the world’s a stage” has never been a more apt sentiment.

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Has there ever been a series with as much unabashed love for performers and performance as this one? From the many rakugo stories to the bursts of shamisen music to this week’s low-budget kabuki play, Showa Genroku depicts Japan’s classic performance arts with a careful attention to detail and a fierce respect for the mediums.

Yet the series never lets itself slip into rose-colored nostalgia; rather, like the rakugo-ka who preserve the tales of Edo (and therefore its lost world and the flawed people who lived in it), Showa Genroku seeks to capture with the same blend of affection and honesty a time, place, and people who no longer exist. And it accomplishes this the same way humanity so often has: Through the telling of stories.

Click here for the full post on Anime Evo!

Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 180-181

Like two peas in a space pod.

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After hanging out with our cast in entertaining if not exactly novel ways for the past few weeks, we may have finally hit on a new topic for the show to tackle: Xenophobia! And here I thought Sailor Moon had run out of ideas.

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Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – Episode 4

Shh—don’t tell anyone, but I may have dropped another 1500 words on the rakugo anime. Again.

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If the past two episodes were about building the bonds and demonstrating the importance of Kikuhiko’s makeshift rakugo family, then this one is about showing how those bonds could one day unravel. Yakumo’s story has always carried a strong undercurrent of longing and melancholy, but this is the first time we’ve really felt a creeping sense of dread, that we’re on the roller coaster ramp climbing to an inevitable fall. We’ve known it was coming since we got in line, but that’s not gonna make the drop any easier.

Click here for the oh-so-full post on Anime Evo!

Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 178-179

Luna gives the Star Lights a (Ya)ten out of ten! As for me, well…

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I was planning to leave an annoyed bullet point at the bottom of this week’s post demanding to know whur mah Outer Guardians at, but so far Stars has been pretty good about anticipating my impatient grumbles, because Haruka and Michiru made their triumphant (albeit brief) return this week. Huzzah!

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Rule of Three Review: Winter 2016 Anime Digest

I’m not as cold about this winter season as I worried I’d be, but…

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You may have noticed the distinct lack of “Rule of Three” posts over the last week, and there’s an odd reason for that. While I’m still watching way too many shows, and still enjoying them for the most part, there’s surprisingly little to actually say about them. With a few exceptions, this is a fluffy (or maybe “trashy”) kind of season, more entertaining than expected but difficult to review because a lot of it boils down to “it’s fun and I kinda like it.”

So rather than force myself to find 2-4 paragraphs worth of things to say about 10 new series (sequels don’t get Rule of Three Reviews), I figured I’d just write 1-2 about each of them. Digest post, go!

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Rule of Three Review(ish): Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju

And here we have an announcement that will surprise absolutely no one.

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Despite extra work hours and winter illnesses and basketball games and frankly not having the time to cover another series this season, especially one as dense and historically grounded as Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju… I am, in fact, doing exactly that! Because I love this show and I want to talk about it. So screw sleep. I can sleep in the spring.

I’m covering this one over at Anime Evo, so click here for the full post, where I lay out the overarching story for any newcomers and then dig into the narrative and cinematographic choices of the third episode. Come along, friends. We’re gonna have ourselves a grand old bleary-eyed time.

Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 176-177

For the Moonies, “Don’t stop believing” is more than just a song you belt drunkenly at parties.

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I’m sensing some definite parallels between this season and Sailor Moon S, where some aggressive-minded realists (or perhaps cynicists) take up residence in Juuban and have their methods challenged by the local idealistic sailor team. The Star Lights aren’t quite as hostile toward the Moonies as Haruka and Michiru were (yet, anyway), but they’re having similar arguments and changing in similar ways.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 174-175

Show biz has got nothin’ on high school.

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I’m fighting a week-long cold that’s been sitting on my chest like a fat cat before breakfast, so I hope you can forgive me for both the belated and short-ish post. These were fun episodes (Minako-centric stories usually are, these days) that helped establish our new trio, shed some light on our new villains, and forward Sailor Moon‘s ever-present coming-of-age narrative. They also featured some of the oddest attacks to date, including one that I just… boy howdy, do I just.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 172-173

Do you wanna build a redemption arc?

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Villains come and villains go. And sometimes villains come and friends go. And sometimes villains come and friends go and more villains come and maybe some new friends come, too, but we’re not really sure yet because it’s early in the arc?

What I’m trying to say is, it’s a week of endings and beginnings on Sailor Moon, some more surprising than others. Hit the jump to say goodbye, how-do-you-do, and the occasional “WHOA WAIT WUT.” Yep. That sounds like a new SM arc, all right.

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Sailor Moon Newbie Reviews: Episodes 170-171

Fairy tale retellings sure can lead to some thorny situations.

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Apologies for the delay—I had a whole mess of season- and year-end posts to tackle this week, so I took some time off to keep my brain from blowing a fuse. I’ll be back to posting on Fridays again this week, and as always, if there are delays or schedule changes, I’ll be sure to let you know on Twitter.

Our season-opening arc keeps blazing forward, building to a(nother) showdown against our Big Bad, but that doesn’t mean Stars has no time for character growth. This week turns the focus to our Moon Defense Squad, integrating the outer guardians more thoroughly into the group and pushing the inner guardians into their roles as confident warriors with their own unique strengths. It’s good stuff. Er, except when it isn’t. But we’ll talk particulars below the jump.

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