SEASONAL PRATTLE
Deca-Dence arrived at its finale, befitting its usual structural tendencies and operating with enough wiggle to provide a fine finish that potentially leaves the door open for future material. This series has always been defined early on by its consistently profitable designs and direction, but Yuzuru Tachikawa and Hiroshi Seko’s marriage in storytelling proved to be more formidable as the weeks went on – ultimately amounting to a steady strength that had little trouble communicating its core casts’ positions, desires and dramatically different worldviews in its post-human setting. In light of all that, I can’t recommend Deca-Dence for everyone. It does take a small degree of commitment to see the rewards of its narrative, and it helps if you already enjoy the genre spaces that it wants to occupy. However, if that’s no issue for you I’d say Deca-Dence is a worthwhile show, creative and smooth in its themes and almost certainly the most underrated title to come out of this fading Summer.
Oregairu 3 (12)
“Landing effective shots that lend credibility to why these leads belong together”
And so it ends. Oregairu concluded with one more episode that worked hard to ensure its grounded and consistently measured writing closed the curtains on what’s been an enjoyable run. On a whole, I appreciated this finale’s graceful ensemble approach and how it balances that with more intimate sequences solely for Hachiman and Yukino – allowing an appropriate amount of screentime for even secondary cast members to say farewell, but still landing effective shots that lend credibility to why these leads belong together. Oregairu has been a reliably good series, significantly stronger when viewed in totality, but still plenty pleasant in pieces. I’m sad to see it go, but I’m always glad to see good shows end well.
Kanojo Okarishimasu (12)
“Better articulations of their core desires”
Wrapping up, Kanojo Okarishimasu offers its finale – almost solely concerned with navigating its material as a dramatic piece rather than its usual light-hearted and comedy laced self. And that line of handling actually works out fairly smooth here: Both Chizuru and Mami’s performances were better articulations of their core desires than I expected, Mami especially coming off strong with her choice of banter during the karaoke/bridge scenes, and Kazuya confronting his feelings and dabbling in self-reflections made for one last solid complement to the show’s general perspective of relationships. Given that we didn’t get an ending too conclusive, I’d be happy to see this show roll on for another season. Kanojo Okarishimasu may not be a show with a particularly sharp toolset, but there’s enough in its kit through characterization and composition to play above the pay grade of your typical harem and be fun.
The Misfit of Demon King Academy (13)
“A roughly assembled bookmark”
The Misfit of Demon King Academy reaches the finish line, ending up with a turnout that felt more or less on par with most of its recent content. With last week’s rush job already having succeeded in setting the stage to how this final episode might be handled, it’s less unexpected to see how compressed the entire war fallout is and more how clumsy some of the choices are – namely when it came to how short lived and anticlimactic Kanon vs Anos was, highly convenient bits of writing like the Agronemut magic, and the equally surprising and awkward amount of screen time the fan union was able to grab. When the smoke cleared, this just felt like a roughly assembled bookmark trying to gain some sense of closure after accidentally covering too much material. It works functionally enough at a glance but when you look at it for more than a minute it’s really easy to see the seams.
The God of High School (12)
“Seemingly ditching the limp charade that it was ever an adequate show in the first place”
As The God of High School creeps closer to its expiration date, oh so very near to finally liberating viewers from the lit trashcan it calls a story, the series continues to burn – releasing rancid stenches that only deeply inept anime can. This latest performance in episode twelve is such a messy collection of ideas, progressions, and direction – seemingly ditching the limp charade that it was ever an adequate show in the first place – that it’s hard to believe The God of High School’s writers even know what’s going on at this point. From the USA randomly launching nukes, to a giant CGI Buddha falling from the sky, and all the way down to the laughable writing that is both Jegal’s character and involvement – the series has gone completely down the gutter, content with being sewage. Its end can’t come soon enough.
