The Story

The conversation around Zombieland Saga has picked up. Spoilers: It’s not all good.

Remind me.

Over the last two weeks, Zombieland Saga has garnered increasing mixed reception. On one hand, viewers love its brand of comedy, the way it manages the genre spaces that it wishes to occupy, and the overall dynamic the cast brings. On the other, the comedy really falls flat for some, and the second half performances have been described as cringy and even outright embarrassing to watch. Certain viewers were so put off that it actually resulted in the creation of some pretty unfavorable content and discourse, including this poll asking if it’s an early runner for trash of the season.

Oof.

Yup. Currently, Zombieland Saga sits with a healthy amount of people on the fence, and that number is only growing. There’s a lot more “This is okay” and “I’m not exactly sure what to make of this” type of responses than people may think depending on the circles they travel. This series can easily appear as a highly applauded work on the right platform and then be made out to be a questionable dumpster fire on the next. The truth is, the grander conversation is somewhere in between and its viewer to viewer consistency on the topic is shaky at best. 

How do critics feel about it?

The most visible ones seem to be reasonably supportive of it. But once you start working your way down the ladder things can get progressively hazier.

The Bottom Line

Zombieland Saga is on track to becoming yet another divisive work when it comes to its quality. The voices shouting on both ends are fairly strong and it wouldn’t be surprising at all if this one ends up contentious no matter which way it falls when the dust settles.

 

 

“QUOTE OF THE WEEK”

–The truth hurts. Tokyo Ghoul:re 2 is already in the toilet and it’s only just begun…is anyone actually surprised?

 

 

SEASONAL PRATTLE

Find what you’re looking for fast
Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara
Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai
Akanesasu Shoujo
Zombieland Saga
Goblin Slayer
Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet
Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken
Ore ga Suki nano wa Imouto dakedo Imouto ja Naira
Conception
Sword Art Online: Alicization

Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara (2)

Irozuku continues to remain consistently acute, pairing well-observed moments of insecurity and youth with highly applaudable technical craft. The results make for the kind of low key storytelling that acknowledges that life isn’t a series of propulsive beats, rather, it’s more of a set of countless quiet ones that all have their own hand in giving those bigger beats shape. From emotional tells that articulate depth and weight to the very magic that lends this work flavor, Irozuku is beautifully orchestrated even in the smallest of moments.

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (2)

The first episode wasn’t a fluke! Bunny Girl Senpai’s knack for close character reading, chemistry, and banter are very real tools at its disposal – and apparently aren’t the only ones. Episode two brought a fine amount of dramatic fortitude to this work’s arsenal, demonstrating understated control of Mai’s personal drama and the needed pacing during these twenty minutes to sell it effectively. This series clearly knows when to push and pull with its leads and that knowledge does a great deal to mold even the tiniest of exchanges into this work’s episodic goals. Overall, Bunny Girl Senpai continues to be a roundly enjoyable experience. The show’s character writing is good, and its structure doesn’t allow for too many blind spots or lulls.

Akanesasu Shoujo (2)

I’m not really expecting Akanesasu Shoujo to go to any profound places, but can we at least be more competent in our telling moving forward? A large chunk of this second episode suffers from contrived or silly writing if not both – often making this work’s parallel world premise feel like a casual trip across town. The cast is just way too nonchalant about the events of last week, meeting alternate versions of themselves, and just navigating these worlds on a whole to the extent that it’s hard to buy into Nana’s personal drama or take any scene with reasonable weight. Maybe next week we won’t take such a blatant step backward?

Zombieland Saga (2)

I was a little worried Zombieland Saga would veer off into territories that didn’t match its strengths – the tightrope act between the genre spaces it wants to occupy is a delicate one – but thankfully, it was up to the task to walk it. This week is arguably better than last, showing off sharper comedic timing and much more variety in its expressional work during key beats. Sakura’s versatility as an mc is still a quiet strength here. We already know she holds up well when it comes to the comedic bits and can generally lead, but she’s also solid when acting as a brace for other characters.

Goblin Slayer (2)

More satisfying showing from Goblin Slayer this time around, and I’m happy to see it take direct steps forward in tackling my biggest issue with last week – the lack of texture. This series was just all too hollow in illustrating its world and characters beyond the dark overlay in the premiere, coming off as paper thin at best and highly interchangeable with virtually any other generic modern fantasy work. This week, there’s at least a concentrated effort to contextualize some of the larger touchpoints of the show, including Goblin Slayer himself. It’s not exactly rolled out with grace or subtly but it’s an improvement nonetheless in this facet and I can only hope that Goblin Slayer continues to improve from here.

Worthwhile Prattle:

My Trigger, Your Trigger

Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet (2)

Better showing this time around from Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet and much like above with GS, I’m glad we’re addressing some of the bigger issues that underlined the premiere. This latest entry was much more comfortable with letting Inuzuka and Persia’s dynamic breathe – allowing the two to show off their charm together or land a comedic beat without relying on the rest of the Black Dogs and White Cats to provide the set-up. While the narrative likely won’t allow for too many more of these opportunities to happen, it would be nice to see our leads, well lead, and get them.

Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken (2)

Good to see Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken putting out yet another confident episode, showing more dexterity when it comes to pacing and doing a better job of letting its comedy occur naturally. We’re not making huge strides forward, and that can be off-putting to some, but I appreciate this series’ fairly methodical approach so far and hope that continues.

Ore ga Suki nano wa Imouto dakedo Imouto ja Nai (1)

It’s almost as if Ore ga Suki nano wa Imouto dakedo Imouto ja Nai isn’t even slightly trying to gain its own identity. A story weaved from the most conventional and dull beats of recent imouto works that came before, paired with a cast that’s even more basic, all to make one giant underwhelming performance. By the credit roll, all it has to its name is twenty minutes of subpar set-up – pushing out the bare minimum to establish generic twin tail imouto and her paper-thin brother’s light novel author relationship.

Conception (2)

Every inch of Conception’s narrative feels like a rough draft of a rough draft written by some repressed 14-year-old kid that has never actually seen two humans speak. It’s a feat that this got the greenlight – somehow getting away with a ridiculous lack of awareness in its cast that’s only matched by the lack of thought in this episode’s structure, mixing it all with a premise that makes Sora to Umi no Aida’s seem smart and presenting that through an underpowered production effort. I’m not sure what the anime community did to deserve this trash, but clearly, we messed up somewhere.

Sword Art Online: Alicization (2)

There’s plenty of key directorial touches, grander splashes of shot framing and fundamentally sound pieces of storytelling that make this latest Alicization a strong one. Manabu Ono’s vision of the material is so keenly crisp that it almost feels like he’s wholly carrying the project: Conversations this week never overstay their welcome and were firmly accompanied by a solid coat of visual craft polish even during stills, scenes feed into each other with little drag ,and it’s all backed by a methodical pace. Ono is taking his time in this telling, seeing that the material unfolds with care and the labor shows with this competent performance.

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