“QUOTE OF THE WEEK”
– A quick comment after this week’s Shield Hero. “Melty” is officially making a strong push for dumbest character name this Winter.
SEASONAL PRATTLE
The Promised Neverland (9)
The Promised Neverland is doing a very good job of speaking for itself at this point, bouncing all of its themes and characters forward off a wall of crisp craft resources and solid telling. It’s a pleasure to see this week work its conversations and more dramatic beats: Sharp use of sound design is an immediate stand out both in the application of silence / chosen tracks, and harmonizing with that is a spread of shots and patches of expressional work that certainly pull their own weight. The Promised Neverland has quickly shaped up as one of the best works at selling its discourse.
Mob Psycho 100 s2 (9)
Really enjoyed the level of touch Bones put on this week’s Mob Psycho. In an episode as busy as this one, full of introductions on top of shifting perspectives, smooth assembly through fine direction and sequencing is an absolute must. There’s plenty of nuanced and expressive frames all throughout this one to accomplish just that with Teruki’s fight being of particular interest – packing a bunch of weight despite its short length through sheer creative design alone. It’s a beautiful sequence to see.
Dororo (9)
Happy to see Dororo whip up a firm episode, one that wasn’t quite on the level of its material pre-week six or six itself, but still an overall showing that was more spirited than its last two recent entries. While Dororo’s gender reveal and overall visual composition – lathered with smart use of color and lovely backgrounds – will take their rightful credit of applaudable pieces to come out of these twenty minutes, it’s ultimately hard to overlook its meaty emotional core . Episode 9 packs a deep punch with Dororo’s backstory, and it’s encouraging to see the series land it flush. Hopefully it continues and builds on this effort from here on out.
Kakegurui xx (9)
Another solid episode of Kakegurui that rides on the merits that intriguing game design can lend a series like this. Besides having its importance painted from the start by largely being featured as the show’s cover art and promotional material, the Tower of Doors gamble has had plenty of buzz from manga readers ever since season one – and I’m starting to see why. The stakes are on the higher end even for Kakegurui’s taste all while we’re presented yet another multifaceted gamble that has hefty potential to really challenge the participants’ headspaces. Arguably more interesting though, is those very participants themselves and their competing internal logic. The contrast set up here between Sayaka’s rational approach and Yumeko’s erratic one is already proving to be engaging, and if it pans out even remotely as good as source readers claim, it should lead to a very nice payoff in the coming weeks.
Kaguya-sama wa Kokuraseta (9)
Coasting on stern textual mechanics can still reliably guide an episode’s content to satisfying places, even if that content isn’t exactly working its genre spaces to its usual extent. This week didn’t have the spread of comedic sets and spikes that the vast majority of Kaguya’s content had, but the entry we got was quite respectable nonetheless. Fever dream Kaguya salvaged a pretty tame first half with pure charm alone, and Hayasaka brought a crucial amount of snap in the limited scenes she had. Palpable cast chemistry has been a more blatant strength all season long, but it’s still nice to see it front and center on display here taking the lead
The Rising of the Shield Hero (9)
Last and certainly least, Shield Hero manages to deliver yet another twenty minute showing full of underwhelming writing and craft. At this point, calling it “mediocre at best” is being extremely generous, as this work’s storytelling fundamentals are laughable even for its genre space. Our entire first half feels phoned in, leading with an introduction to Melty that is as highly convenient as it is poorly set up, and chasing that with a glass of flavorless “bonding” scenes that just scratch the bare minimum of establishing a relationship between her and the rest of the crew. However, this weak effort would quickly be upstaged by Shield Hero’s usual thirst for pure irritation – rolling out a second half loaded with Naofumi being his typical grating self to those who clearly support him, and bringing back Spear Hero / Myne for more clown show villainy. Once the dust settles and the credits roll, it’s clear this series is in full tumble downhill. Further episodes will tell its falling speed, but it’s reasonable to assume that it’s fast.
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