“QUOTE OF THE WEEK”
–A commenter fresh off of seeing this week’s Sword Art Online Alicization. Come on, you knew someone was going to say something like this sooner or later.
SEASONAL PRATTLE
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (10)
Good articulation of the difficulty of actually reaching out for help when you constantly find yourself inadequate in the eyes of loved ones, and an effort that Bunny Girl Senpai pulls off with minimal participation on Sakuta’s end. Nodoka’s narrative this week is more thoughtful in practice than on paper – layered and human filled with insecurities and weaknesses to live up to family expectations. Its dialogue reflects those layers, resulting in a conclusion that felt like a natural extension of her character rather than an inorganic attempt to inject drama. As much praise as Sakuta and Mai get from viewers, the quiet strength of this series is quickly becoming its supporting cast.
Banana Fish (22)
The way small off-hand moments are sold to create a sense of warmth and atmosphere. The knack to grant a sense of naturalism and innocence even with minimal craft. The timing and awareness to convey more emotional exchange than actual language. Aspects like this may not be as immediately appealing as a work’s larger narrative strokes, but they’re very rewarding in the foundation that they create. I’m happy that Banana Fish continues to champion those aspects time and time again.
Yagate Kimi ni Naru (10)
Between its careful direction and quietly excellent pacing, Yagate Kimi ni Naru continues to be one of the more complete works of the season. This week’s moment-to-moment scripting never felt reductive, and often did a good job of contextualizing upcoming tension. Even better, Yagate’s visual personality syncs up perfectly with what it is trying to achieve; Yuu’s headspace isn’t exactly the easiest to convey, but there’s plenty of craft choices here to help that.
Irozuku Sekai no Ashita (10)
Moody sequences elaborating Hitomi’s trauma backed with purposeful, goal-oriented writing, felt like the necessary antidote needed to cure Irozuku Sekai no Ashita’s roundabout mode of storytelling as of late. So it’s good to see P.A. Works serving up just that, portraying Hitomi with legitimate emotional heart as her mother’s impact on her came across clear and unfiltered with underrated attention to tone. It’s a bit of shame that this series’ dramatic priorities have been questionable in recent weeks, but ten’s a positive sign of bouncing back.
Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken (10)
Even in an episode that’s largely a stepping stone for greater drama, Tensura still comes across as one of the most confident shows this Fall structurally. There’s a lot that can be said about this work’s ability to capitalize on passive situations and display good group chemistry, but Rimuru’s efforts to make each scene click regardless of the atmosphere is quietly the highlight here.
Zombieland Saga (10)
A little surprised at what Zombieland Saga offered both in terms of structure and outright writing. Burning nearly fifteen minutes on the build and delivery of a snowy mountain trip to essentially say “you need to relax and get tighter teamwork” feels simultaneously dragged out and simplistic. Couple that with the episode’s adherence to typical mild idol drama and a not so subtle ending, it becomes hard to say ten did the series any favors other than drum up a last-minute cliffhanger for Sakura. Here’s to hoping her fallout next week is more cared for than this.
SSSS.Gridman (10)
I’m not sure what was worse: Akane not knowing about the computer that transforms Yuta into Gridman despite it existing literally right next door to her house in a world that she created, or the fact that we spent ten weeks on Akane trying to kill Gridman – and thus by proxy Yuta – with various Kaijus only for her to rip a page out of School Days’ playbook and just run up on him and shank him to get the job done.
I keep thinking SSSS.Gridman’s writing can’t wet the bed any more than it has, but here we are.
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