SEASONAL PRATTLE
Majo no Tabitabi is a pretty work at face value, but its beauty is almost always underlined with a careful dusting of emotional text. Episode four is no different, its aesthetic qualities are quick to absorb attention and fall in line as an easy highlight here – shining with elegant shot framing, acute scaling, and an arresting choice of palette that plays to the cold isolation and ever decaying kingdom that is Mirarose’s world. Better than that, episode four acts as yet another reminder of how much of a difference-maker execution is in the grander picture of a narrative. While Mirarose’s story has its curves, in hindsight it’s not all too complicated or tricky – almost simplistic even. However, nearly every beat feels sincere in its sell, from more apparent moments like Elaina triggering the castle barrier down to subtle, one-offs of the king’s wall portrait – there’s enough grace to collectively frame it all into a story that’s easily embraceable. Very good job!
Adachi to Shimamura (3)
“A firm mixture of creative portrayals and effective discourse”
Adachi to Shimamura continues to be a very favorable series, bringing a firm mixture of creative portrayals and effective discourse to define its third showing. The pacing and dialogue here are noticeably comfortable – Shimamura in particular is never really overtly witty or quirky for narrative purposes, rather, she just sort of gets in tune with conversations and scenarios that she finds herself in with natural elegance. Rich colors and sharp composites highlight this, turning up appropriately to drive home three’s deeper strokes, and peeks into Shimamura’s headspace remain on target. Adachi to Shimamura has no problem poignantly displaying specific perspectives and being rewarding in the process.
Akudama Drive (3)
“Swindler felt like a relevant lead capable of carrying scenes”
This wasn’t as thrilling as Akudama Drive’s usual content, but episode three was still very enjoyable – finding some fun individual sequences and larger group chemistry along the ride. It’s nice to see the dividends this show pays despite skating on pretty thin plotting: Three is another front-loaded, ungrounded endeavor – getting more value out of the ups and downs of its mission and the exterior of its production as opposed to any resonating character work or associate intangibles. And while it would be nice to see more out of the cast, what we got in that department was pretty good here relative to what we’ve previously received. Our Akudama pairings had their glimpses of comradery, and more importantly, Swindler felt like a relevant lead capable of carrying scenes rather than the tag-along accessory she’s been portrayed as. Akudama Drive could certainly do more behind the pen, but currently, it’s not a liability with the show getting enough juice out of that end to get by.
Jujutsu Kaisen (3)
“Illustrated a couple of new strengths”
Good turnout from Jujutsu Kaisen, which illustrated a couple of new strengths that were both welcomed additions and further rays of hope for the quality of this show’s future: The first being a knack for its gruesome tenets, once episode three got rolling I don’t think there were even thirty seconds of screen time that didn’t prominently cater towards its gritty tone, and the second, an underlying genre proficiency that makes its brand of shounen storytelling a fun experience. More episodes like this, please
Tonikaku Kawaii (4)
“This show’s character progression isn’t just fast, it’s practically slapped together”
Four episodes in and Tonikaku Kawaii is back to spitting out mixed bags that eventually trend on the mundane side more than anything. While it was nice that Four finally had the wherewithal to start scratching the surface on Tsukasa’s past, giving some much-needed context to her character beyond “pop-up wife” – the rest of this week’s content for the most part was unfortunately borderline. This showing didn’t have as much rapid-fire humor as seven days ago in three, with the new faces introduced here feeling like a distinct downgrade in terms of energy and hijinx from Aya / Kaname, and the scripting was basically a conventional anime episode for this genre overall. More importantly, it was a big red flag quality-wise with how sporadic and apparently off camera our MC developed. Nasa went from “OMG is it okay if I hold her hand? O////O” literally two episodes ago to confidently proposing and kissing Tsukasa without hesitation. This show’s character progression isn’t just fast, it’s practically slapped together with the tact of a new, editor-less Youtuber trying to jump cut for the first time.
Noblesse (3)
“The way our narrative moves is still quite slow”
Given what Noblesse has offered so far, this recent third episode actually feels reasonable, rather than the sluggish, tepidly told genre piece peppered with tropes that it’s been previously. Immediately, it’s easy to see that Noblesse is at least putting in more effort this time around to be funny: Tashiro, Manabu, and Tao’s hacking antics and related boyfriend suspicions actually had effective set-up and close – which is sadly, a milestone in this show but an accomplishment worth celebrating nonetheless here. Unfortunately though, the rest of the content couldn’t garner similar praise. The way our narrative moves is still quite slow, apparently more concerned with mundane household interactions and dry banter than really getting down to relevant business. And when it finally does, episode three is spectacularly plain – portraying M-21’s fight and capture with little style or flair at all. For that Noblesse still remains to be rather pedestrian.
Kimi to Boku no Saigo no Senjou, Aruiwa Sekai ga Hajimaru Seisen (3)
“Managing to come up empty-handed in terms of world-building and character development”
As unexpected as the color of the sky, Kimisen’s latest attempt at entertainment is merely another arrangement of lousy fantasy romance writing, managing to come up empty-handed in terms of world-building and character development yet again. It’s silly how episode three was structured – an occasion that continues to pummel you with a predictable romantic route and linear beliefs of our two warring empires, before falling completely prey to a pulled out of thin air fight with what’s presumably this series’ ultimate antagonist – landing as both out of place and too climatic for a third showing. Be that as it may, Kimisen would march on, not even presenting a level of choreography or wit to make the fight interesting, and ultimately ending it in a surprisingly easy victory for our cardboard cutout couple. It’s too early to decisively say this series belongs in a toilet bowl – but the immediate future of Kimisen doesn’t appear to be too bright.
