SEASONAL PRATTLE
Riding on firm storytelling fundamentals can still consistently steer your twenty minutes of content into pleasant places, especially if that content is orchestrated in a way where it speaks for itself. This latest Shadows House is just that, one of CloverWorks’ better outings on this project as most scenes during the debut are primarily on an island – operating with minimal dialogue and narrative hand-holding. And for that, episode five relies on a lot more physical cues than usual that are sensitive to precise space and expression as Emilico and Kate try their best to pass and stand out. Edward’s long strings of silence only further promote this, allowing CloverWorks to fill in the gaps with friendly production choices that still nail the anxious atmosphere that looms over the performance, and a good grasp of direction is needed to round it all out. This Spring season has been blessed with a higher amount of quality works than usual and Shadows House is certainly among them.
86 (5)
“Could have benefited greatly from better elaboration”
86 moves on with its fifth installment, visually putting together some gratifying sequences and offering a few interesting concepts, but also coming up as rough around the edges at times when articulating it all. On that note, the big positive of episode five is that its personnel does a good job of framing key emotional responses and leveraging most of its craft choices in a way that’s not just attractive, but collectively meaningful to the segments they’re attached to. Scenes moved fluently through credible exchanges of dialogue and are designed inventively enough to give the audiences a wide range of looks to avoid feeling dull.
However, there are pieces of the story here that are just plainly undercooked. In a much more polished show, the actual workings of the Para-Raid and the risks associated with its use wouldn’t have been a glossed over touchpoint and more of a careful device for exploring the muddled relationships of 86’s various characters, and perhaps offering fuller challenges to the dividing assumptions between them. And much of the same can be said about Shin’s ability to hear voices – yet another relevant part of episode five that’s woefully undertold and could have benefited greatly from better elaboration. 86 on a whole is still a good show, but I wish it was more routinely graceful in how it carries itself.
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song (7)
“A good starting point for what’s to come”
Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song had a relatively reserved and perhaps slightly lukewarm episode this week, as seven is mainly concerned with stage setting and illustrating the most visible ramifications of the Metal Float event on Vivy than anything else. The fact that so much of this episode’s material was geared towards showcasing Vivy’s rebooted personality and gently integrating Ophelia into the story meant it wasn’t as captivating as previous showings, however, the early ambiguity as to why Vivy’s behaving differently and a few subtler red flags in Ophelia’s disposition served as fine wheels to roll this episode along into a good starting point for what’s to come. Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song tends to work best when its episodes are actively driving to emotional payoffs, but showings like this one are satisfying in their own way too.
Fumetsu no Anata (4)
“Lacking any type of visible enthusiasm and nuance in its writing to elevate what the script wants to accomplish”
Fumetsu no Anata e Episode comes back with an okay fourth episode, nothing special structurally or in its visual craft and at times – actually leaving a bit to be desired in terms of delivery. Part of what made this show so formidable in the first place was its combination of slow shifting, yet emotionally rewarding drama and an applaudable range of directorial and textual traits to reinforce it all. Unfortunately, this week is relatively far from all that with Parona and March’s imprisonment and escape formulated like it’s a simple stepping stone – lacking any type of visible enthusiasm and nuance in its writing to elevate what the script wants to accomplish. Fumetsu no Anata e certainly has shown to have the tools to engineer a great show, but it needs to get more consistent in using them.
Super Cub (5)
“Not as harmonious with the current aspirations of the show as it could be”
Super Cub pushed out a neutral episode this week, focusing on Reiko’s Summer. That said, this episode ushered in a different sense of energy operating from her perspective – gaining more aggression from production flourishes like Ishikawa’s choice of music and dealing with an inherently rougher narrative all while dialing back on the usual soothing airiness that would be expected had this been through the lens of Koguma. It’s not exactly a bad thing, but this series’ fundamentals and ingredients are a lot more aligned with the comforting nature it’s been basking in so far, and that sentiment only gained more credibility as Reiko inevitably falls short of her Mt. Fuji objective – depriving viewers of the routine personal victories that have been on a streak up until this point. Reiko’s a good character, and this episode does well in illustrating her determination, but it’s just not as harmonious with the current aspirations of the show as it could be.
Mashiro no Oto (6)
“Pieced together better than expected”
Mashiro no Oto is essentially in camp mode this time around but thankfully not to any detriment to the show’s quality. Episode six on a whole is pieced together better than expected – good at segmenting all of its vignettes into a self-contained twenty minute timeslot and getting characters like Kaito and even Mai some spotlight as it hums along through the days of practice with no real hangups. Typically, camp episodes have a tendency to be more tropey in nature, often winding up as mixed offshoots of hallmarks from beach or hot springs scenarios and at times, can be a bit character-stifling with nothing of real value in that department actually happening. But here, we’re not treading water at all! Six does a reasonable job progressing the central narrative and even lands some more meatier bits for Setsu’s character and outlook on the competition. Not a bad return at all considering what could have been.
Higehiro (5)
“Navigating viewers to a kind conclusion with little resistance”
Sayu and Gotou’s confrontation didn’t specifically produce the barbed situation that appeared to be in the forecast seven days ago, but this latest Higehiro was still reasonably good nonetheless. On the broader narrative front, Yoshida and Mishima’s shared screen time continues to create more clunkers than not, with most of the interactions found between the two coming across as overly intrusive and pushy. Be that as it may, every other character combination in episode five is effective, especially those in our anticipated encounter. Gotou and Sayu are complicated in their own ways, and there’s a frankness to their emerging relationship that gives this episode a real sense of warmth – avoiding any steep dramatic hills that could have easily been climbed if the story wished, and navigating viewers to a kind conclusion with little resistance. A route with more friction here could have potentially been more entertaining, but sometimes the wholesome route ends up the best route.
Osananajimi ga Zettai ni Makenai Love Comedy (4)
“Offering only the rotting stench of embarrassingly poor romcom spittle and the cliche antics of a paper-thin protagonist”
While the phrase “another Osamake episode” has become something to cringe over, its fourth showing is a striking reminder of why that’s so –offering only the rotting stench of embarrassingly poor romcom spittle and the cliche antics of a paper-thin protagonist. Nothing of value is being accomplished here: This episode consists of no more than a hasty, loose assembly of a basic harem that checks the archetype boxes down to the inclusion of a bargain brand imouto, eventually giving way to one of the haremettes suddenly catching amnesia with no explanation at all and calling it a day. There’s little written setup and coherent logic in the way scenes play out and how characters self-manage, and basically every development is sporadically sudden to a major fault. Osamake is empty beyond what it presents at face value – and its face is truly malformed and repulsive.
