The Story

The pretentious side of our community is at it again dismissing yet another promising seasonal title for rather silly reasoning.

Give me the deets

Basically, the mentality of “just watch Revolutionary Girl Utena instead” flourished upon Revue Starlight’s premiere as certain vocal elitists were quick to brush off the show. When the premiere started picking up a lot of positive feedback their takes got more negative – often ending up as some variation of “this is just try hard Utena mixed with idol shit.”

Why?

Because there’s enough immediate touch-points in and beyond Revue’s personnel where people feel comfortable making the comparison. Mix that in with elitists, well, being elitists and voilà – you now have a work that will “never do it better than Utena” in their eyes and gets hand waved as a weak attempt in trying (as if that’s its goal). Have I mentioned how silly this is yet?

What’s next?

Hopefully fewer people parroting this kind of narrow-minded nonsense down the road. While it was originally just a handful of voices when I first observed this, I’m seeing more of the community here and there mimicking this awful attitude now that the subs are out. It’s a real shame.

The Bottom Line

Revue Starlight can be a great experience for you if you aren’t immediately forcing it in the shadow of another work. Please give it a fair chance and don’t just put it on the shelf or skip it because someone said “insert show here does it better.”

 

 

“QUOTE OF THE WEEK”

–An underappreciated take. Never underestimate your mom’s taste .

 

 

SEASONAL PRATTLE

Find what you’re looking for fast
Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger
Banana Fish
Satsuriku no Tenshi
Asobi Asobase
Happy Sugar Life
Revue Starlight

Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger (1)

There’s a lot going right with Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger: Well blended character interactions that don’t take away from the mood, efficient tempo and a workable floor of writing to bounce it all off of are just a few aspects that are at the top of that list. Masahiro Ando’s brand of action feels as comfortable as ever, and overall, this premiere comes across as well-sculpted and propulsive. Can’t wait for more.

Banana Fish (2)

Utsumi’s direction remains strong, the score is still sharp, and the setting just keeps gaining texture. Tiny aesthetics choices bring consistent gifts, and the exchanges between Eiji and Ash provides a flow that just inherently clicks. Banana Fish’s actual narrative also isn’t lacking – it’s utilizing a finely constructed crime drama shell containing a collection of entertaining personalities to keep viewers engaged. I’m ready to see wherever it takes us next.

Worthwhile Prattle:

Banana Fish The Clever Shoujo Complex

Satsuriku no Tenshi (1)

Even if you ignore the awful chemistry and jarring tonal choices, Satsuriku no Tenshi still has plenty of ammo to sink this second week. This episode’s failures are mainly rooted in just how impactless Rachel is – each of her scenes feel very floaty, carrying no weight at all as her complete lack of expression totally undersells the situations she finds herself in. Her bland character acting is only matched by Zack’s bland dialogue, that contributes nothing but reinforcement for how shallowly constructed he is so far. Beyond that, this week just lacks the awareness of proper storytelling fundamentals, riding wholly on the base intrigue of its premise instead of a push and pull to rally interest. Lots of red flags for the level of quality here but let’s try to be optimistic since it’s still early.

Worthwhile Prattle:

Cautiously Optimistic 

Asobi Asobase (1)

From the small stepping stone gags to the larger skits built on keen delivery, Asobi Asobase actually felt much closer to a competent comedy product than a lot of its Summer peers so far.
This premiere just has a flat-out strong awareness for the knacks of comedic timing, and an even better control of expressional work to complement. Its jokes are poppy, scarcely oversold, and the conversational tempo keeps things from dragging. Good stuff.

Happy Sugar Life (1)

Yes Happy Sugar Life is edgy, and I’d probably enjoy it significantly less if it continuously tried to match its narrative with poor construction and execution; instead, the approach it actually chooses keeps things from being a total flop. This work has an underrated level of composition, scenes are better imagined than expected and it sells Satou’s headspace well in the second half. This very likely will just be trash, but if I’m going to roll around in trash I’ll at least take Ezo’la’s embellishments along the way.

Revue Starlight (1)

With plenty of confidence in its own storytelling, Revue Starlight delivered a sharply composed premiere worth embracing from start to finish. The vast majority of plot beats had a notable amount of touch and fluency, scenes rarely stuttered and Tomohiro Furukawa’s time spent under Ikuhara is clearly paying off.

Ultimately Tomohiro’s vision shines brightest during the performance – a directorial effort that shouldn’t be missed this season. The results are a complete attachment, intimacy with the act portrayed and a gorgeous imagining of the entire presentation. Very well done.

Worthwhile Prattle:

To Be A Center

 

 

If you enjoy this blog and would like to see more of them then please consider following Seasonal Prattle or using the sharing tools below to spread the word. Thank you!