SEASONAL PRATTLE

Engaging with directorial quirks and composition is always interesting, especially when the works that they’re attached to are bringing a level of eccentric styling and telling like this latest Nakanohito Genome. After a notable step up from its premiere that ultimately pushed it to lead off last week’s Check-In, episode three’s varied exterior and makeup finds itself worthy to be back in that driver seat; Doing a fair amount of lifting from a presentation sense to further push its loose and bizarre scripting – enhancing the show’s overall madness but not to the extent that it’s incoherent. More specifically, this approach particularly harmonizes well with Yuzu, who spearheads a good chunk of three’s interactions and takes advantage of a hearty serving of craft flair to seal her scenes down to her insert song. Nakanohito Genome is certainly still rough, weird and unconventional in spots, but it continues to draw entertainment from that state nonetheless.

Dr. Stone (3)

At this point, Dr. Stone’s previously noted strengths seem to be a dependable backbone rather than a circumstantial factor. The show’s roomy premise, sound conflict, and easily digestible telling continue to pay dividends as episode three happily reinforces just how appreciable Senku can be to the guts of this narrative. Comedic cuts off of Taiju, tense grounds with Tsukasa, critical science exposition, direct narrative momentum, etc, Senku does it all with little lag in switching gears. His versatility and ability to sell scenes – regardless if he’s alone or paired – are a joy to watch and are quietly becoming this series’ brightest spot. Nicely done.

Kanata no Astra (3)

Happy to report that Kanata no Astra was able to tighten up its writing this week after a previous performance that had its fair share of oversights in that department. It helps that our piece of narrative in episode three is more deeply concerned with its inner mystery than really any other detail. This work feels confident and decisive when particularly telling from that angle – offering a reasonable variety of red herrings in the way it visually frames the cast, and granting viable suspicion cognitively as Kanata takes viewers through each possibility. Stacking on this, Kanata no Astra displays arguably its best grasp on tension yet with its crash landing: Good brisk pacing with just the right amount of time for viewers to process each event, very tangible danger, and a variety of hurdles to overcome down to the wire. Good job.

Kawaikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka? (2)

Hensuki’s production continues to be a welcomed draw, boasting a clear line of artistic vision and higher effort through a number of shots and transitions – effectively levitating what is largely a straightforward “date episode” into something more tangibly flavorful. Be that as it may, episode two truly finds its pick me up through its OST. The handful of tracks played during its run really nail their mark; Bold enough to dominate a variety of tones and conscious enough to easily fit the scenario regardless if Sayuki or Yuika was leading. Textually, Hensuki still remains relatively average, leaning hard on its fetish reveal for narrative payoff and value rather than a more rigid set of storytelling mechanics and buy-ins. On a whole, Hensuki is proving to have enough wiggle under the hood to consistently rise above the fairly low threshold of its genre’s quality. For that, it’s still a viable Harem with decent upside.

Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note (3)

It’s good to see Luvia and other familiar tenants of this world showing up in our latest Grace Note, however, the content surrounding them is sadly mild at best. There’s simply little in the way of execution or presentation to augment what is a workmanlike narrative thread into something more grabbing. Thus, episode three’s classroom antics, students and corresponding cameos end up producing the most return for time spent while “another awful Clocktower mage desperate to reach Root” angle plays out blandly. Serviceable showing.

Okaasan Online (2)

Okaasan Online pushes forward, spitting out a second episode that once again heavily leans on its genre’s usual lacing and touchpoints to skate by. Episode two’s storytelling is consistently occupied with providing the most minimal skeleton to move viewers along; Porter and Wise’s limited, cliche riddled characterization is only matched by the ever degrading care of the narrative in terms of delivery and quality. Bouncing off of that, the closing half tonal slide from wholesome adventure to lewd was slippery at best – building credit to the notion that this show is notably more capable when it’s firing as a parody. Okaasan Online is looking fairly sub-par after this, but maybe there’s a little ray of hope if it can play better to its comedic strengths.

Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (2)

Returning to plague the week, Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou offers a second episode that ensures its nightmarish first showing wasn’t a one-off affair, but rather, a firm indicator for the general level of quality to be expected here. Much of our time spent in episode two falls into similar pitfalls as seven days ago, with the only real structural positive and difference being the visual clarity of the average scene. With that said, we’re still dealing with everything from a level of writing and delivery that can’t sell its narrative even if it was on clearance, to an extremely uncompelling cast with most members having little characterization beyond their name. Even with the poster girl, Yue, debuting and getting involved, Arifureta hardy gives you a reason to care beyond the surface. Low on creativity and touch, high on incompetence and waning mediocrity.

Maou-sama, Retry! (3)

Easily bringing its worst episode yet to close out this week’s Check-In, Maou-sama, Retry! is back with more occurrences, yet hardly a shred of sufficient writing to support any of them – meaning that once again the viewer is left to be entertained by the soggy hot pocket on a piece of paper that is passed off as a script. Episode three wastes little time drilling you with how painfully unimaginative this series is. From the setpieces down to the small pool of fibers that make up Luna and Killer Queen’s character – the amount of creativity and forethought is minimal at best. As if that wasn’t bad enough, three’s visual craft is outright awful. Characters are regularly off model and the action, if you can even call it that, is completely flat. Lots of lifeless portrayals of generic skills with even more generic names. What a mess.