We are very happy to announce that preorders for A Letter for You, a Violet Evergarden zine are now open until November 30th! All profits will go towards Limbs for Life foundation!
I have a backlog of anime that I haven’t reviewed, so here’s a quick rundown.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Complete
Mushi-shi,Gonkutsuou, and Violet Evergarden – The gold standards. Great stories, wonderful characters, excellent music and amazing art. Up there with Back’s The Man Who Planted Trees as some of the most beautiful examples of animation ever made. On my short list of things I rewatch to cheer myself up. Now, when is Mushi-shi Season 2 getting put on disc?
Fruits Basket - I find myself nicknaming anime based on Golden Age movies. This is “Pollyanna Meets the Magnificent Ambersons”. An exemplary portrayal of mental health problems and dysfunctional families.
The Wind Rises - both a beautiful bio-pic and a meditation on the intersections of art, war, and commerce.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ongoing
Ascendance of a Bookworm - engaging characters in an engrossing story whose complexities unfold in a natural progression. Started a little slow, but rewards patience.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Complete
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - This story really got off on the wrong foot in terms of bad story decisions and poor art. Eventually develops into the compelling story it should have been from the start, but the first few episodes are inexcusable.
Stein’s Gate - another one that starts slow but rewards patience.
Death Note - This show has an intricate, compelling, almost constantly surprising plot – and that’s all. In order to enhance the shine of the plot, the characters are either repellent or boring, while the art and music are deliberately dull – which works in context but limits the rewatchability. It’s worth seeing once for the plot, twice for the details you missed the first time around, but no more than that. I can’t help contrasting it with Gonkutsuou, which managed to combine an intricate and compelling plot with engaging characters and stellar art and music. Unlike Gonkutsuou, the universal feeling of my family at the end of Death Note was relief that it was finally finished.
Cowboy Bebop - an experimental show that needed to be made to improve the field, but uneven in quality except for the outstanding music.
My Roommate is a Cat - nice plot and characters, clever conceit with the joint POV, my terrier loved the plastic bottle trick, but the whole thing comes off as a bit too neoliberal. The main character’s decision to become a hermit is treated solely as a bizarre and negative personal decision that hurts his family. Excuse me, but doesn’t that phenomenon have roots in wide-spread social conditions? Some problems really do extend beyond someone’s head.
Mirai - imaginative family study.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ongoing
Dr. Stone - Great first season, lackluster second season.
My Next Life as a Villainess - also had a great first season and a lackluster second season. Thrilled as I am to see a good screwball comedy I came away with the impression that maybe the audience didn’t understand the genre.
⭐⭐⭐
Sweetness and Lightning - lovely slice of life that’s a bit lacking in character development.
Somali and the Forest Spirit - a beautifully decorated cake only three-quarter baked. Why couldn’t the story have been as good as the art?
Orange - I admire the writer’s commitment to making a story where all the characters were bland. I admire my commitment to finishing it.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower – Nice but dated children’s fantasy. Did we really need a revival of the “put everything back where you found it” genre? I don’t think so.
Dropped After Four Episodes
Re:Zero Starting Over in Another World - Subaru is just way too annoying and immature. Yes, “jerk learns lesson” is one of the oldest tropes around, but not this jerk, not this time.
The Promised Neverland - Beautiful art, compelling plot, likeable characters, but as high as the bar is set, this story is either going to engage in some serious hand-waving or get very bloody. I don’t see how they can thread this needle. And then there’s the racism, serving as the icing this cake doesn’t need.
Dropped After One Episode
Kagome Love is War - “Oh yeah, I remember people like this from high school, the ones smart enough to be the kings and queens of the box, but not smart enough to think outside the box. They were an irritating nuisance. I suppose it would be fun to laugh at them.” And so it was – for about 15 minutes. Then they got too irritating.
The Flying Witch - it’s lovely, but it’s hard to believe that someone would be taught to wield such power but not be taught how to be more responsible.
One Punch Man - a show that needed to be made, that I am so glad was made, that hopefully will benefit the entire industry from it’s biting takedown of overused tropes, but not a show I found enjoyable to watch.
