summer 2015

My Love Story!! – Episode 21: “The Letter and Me”

That “my” in the title is shifting again.

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A new character joins the cast, possibly permanently (or as “permanent” as we can get with four episodes left, anyway), and she is… not boring, that’s for damn sure. As with most of OreMono’s story arcs, this one sets us up with a seemingly familiar character and story—the shy student watching their crush from afar—with a few key twists and acknowledgments along the way. I learned my lesson during the Mariya arc, so I’ll withhold any major judgments until we see more of this story play out. For now, though, let’s meet the new kid in town, and see how she interacts with and affects our (love) story.

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Snow White with the Red Hair – Episode 8: “Memories Draw Spirals”

It’s hard out here for a prince.

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Snow White continues its recent trend of following two chronologies, keeping us up to speed on current palace events as well as fleshing out Zen’s history, giving us more insight into not just our resident prince, but the people around him. At its core, though, both stories are about the same thing: How a person finds a balance between being a public, political figure, and a plain ol’ human being.

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My Love Story!! – Episode 20: “My Chocolate”

I’m not sure which of us is going to die of sugar overdose first: Me, or Takeo.

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It’s Valentine’s Day, which means love and loneliness are out in full force this week. As with Christmas, Japan imported this holiday from the west and then put their own spin on it, so I’ve included a super-sized Sensei Next Door at the end of this post to give everyone some cultural context. For now, though, let’s just focus on the main event: CHOCOLATE. Sweet, delicious chocolate.

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Snow White with the Red Hair – Episode 7: “Let Me Hear”

Facing your fears is hard. Facing your idols is darn near impossible.

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We pick up right where we left off both in terms of story and visuals, as Shirayuki pretty literally climbs a barrier to reach Zen, and the two renew their promise to stick by each other regardless of what others (even the crown prince himself) may think about it. I’m glad last week’s “cliffhanger” ending turned out to be a big tease, because anything less than direct communication would’ve seemed just plain out of character for these two.

Their relationship continues to be wonderfully comfortable, almost casual, filled with little gestures of physical affection and defined by their honesty with one another. Snow White‘s romance doesn’t have the high “squee” factor that a lot of shoujo do, but that just makes it feel all the more solid and real, a bedrock upon which both characters can plant their feet even when the world around them is fraught with tremors.

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GANGSTA. – Episode 7: “Birth”

It’s not just the lighting that’s dark and murky around here.

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I hope you watched this one with your blinds drawn, ’cause otherwise you may not have had the faintest clue what was going on half the time. Don’t get me wrong: GANGSTA has some very good reasons both thematically and practically to place its characters in lots of lightless rooms covered in long shadows with only the occasional faint ray of moonlight passing through barred windows, but man, was my tablet unhappy about it. In addition to those “work of fiction” and “subtitles” notes at the start of each episode, they really oughta add a “best viewed in a closet” notification, too.

Okay, lighthearted snarking over. Let’s get to the serious stuff.

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Snow White with the Red Hair – Episode 6: “The Back Full of Meaning”

And you thought your older siblings were bossy.

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The crown prince is back in town, and he’s not at all happy with the state of the Shirayunion. His concern over his brother’s recent perceived dalliances leads to a series of confrontations and surprise meetings which shake Shirayuki’s confidence, leave the usually self-assured Zen off-balance and defensive, and provide our young couple with the first real challenge to their relationship.

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Panning the Stream: Summer 2015 Midseason Review

Things’re really heating up, and I ain’t just talking about these August temperatures.

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The summer season is halfway(-ish) over but it feels like many of its shows are just getting started. Some shaky premieres nevertheless rife with potential have taken off in recent weeks, building momentum through character and plot development alike. My watch list isn’t quite as deep as it was in, say, the winter season, nor are the shows quite as across-the-board ambitious, but there’s a lot of variety, and the pure entertainment level is maybe higher than it’s been all year. I’m genuinely excited for the next episode of just about everything, and that’s a very good sign.

As for what I’m most excited about, you’ll just have to hit the jump to find out.

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GANGSTA. – Episode 6: “Thorn”

This week’s forecast: Cloudy with a chance of bigotry.

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Maaaan, but GANGSTA can be mighty bleak sometimes. I’m not complaining, mind you, as it does “pensive and faintly tragic” exceptionally well, but there were moments that were so quietly, matter-of-factly sad that the sky wasn’t the only thing that felt like crying. This really isn’t a show interested in making you want to go out and raise some hell in Ergastulum in the way that, say, Black Lagoon or Baccano did; it knows its world is deeply broken, and it makes that emphatically clear to its audience.

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My Love Story!! – Episode 18: “My Birthday”

Sweet sixteen and never been kissed?

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I considered doing this entire post in nothing but reaction gifs, partly just to see if I could (writing exercise, y’all!) and partly because a series of squeeing, laughing, and blushing faces is a perfect summary of what “My Birthday” did to me.

I’ve said before that OreMono is more than “just” a cute rom-com—it has worthwhile things to say and it generally says them very well. But lest we forget, episodes like this are around to remind us that, at the end of the day, OreMono is still very much a cute rom-com, which means that outside of all its thoughtful gender role commentary and genre-defying story lines, it is, first and foremost, a show that wants to make you feel things. It wants to make you root for its couple, and it wants to make you laugh. And speaking purely in terms of those goals, this is one of OreMono’s best episodes to date.

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