SEASONAL PRATTLE
The Winter season’s halfway point is right around the corner and our assortment of airing anime has more or less shaped up, giving avid viewers a decent indicator to their overall quality and gently putting future expectations in place. With five weeks officially behind us time sure seems to be flying by, so let’s not waste any more of it and jump straight into this Check-In!
It shouldn’t be a surprise at all to see Magia Record up here leading things off with what was offered just the other day. The latest run was a great performance, demonstrating how elegantly its distinct, multifaceted aesthetic can pair with hard-lined writing that always circles back to how fragmented its characters are. Five’s media interludes and hostile craft flourishes provide reliable dividends throughout – doing especially well in echoing Yachiyo’s insecurities with striking composite that embodies the key swings of her Mifuyu centered narrative thread. Building off of that, Iroha’s twist and the post-credit breakdown offer plenty of magnetism to work with not only here, but for future episodes to come – once again harmonizing a sharp symbolic vision with writing that’s completely comfortable around emotional conflict. What a treat to watch unfold!
Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun (4)
“Effortlessly finding ways to sell Yako’s chunk of narrative with style”
Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun continues to stack quality turnouts, further reinforcing its status as not only one of Winter’s top works, but also, one of the most consistent. A great deal of episode four’s relative strength falls on how well its emotional scope matches beautiful composition – effortlessly finding ways to sell Yako’s chunk of narrative with style, and more importantly, grace when it comes to closing out. This series’ character writing has already proven to be snappy enough to land Hanako and Yashiro as individuals in addition to being a team, and this performance only lends that perspective more credibility. In an episode that demanded everything from comedy to empathy, our young leads repeatedly answer the call – reliably being a joy to watch all the way down to the finish line.
Runway de Waratte (4)
“It’s slicker behind the pen than a casual watch would suggest”
Another week and yet another rewarding showing from Runway de Waratte, which has quietly been good despite being fairly under-watched in the bigger picture of the community. Episode four offers steady value right away with a competent dramatic portrayal: Ikuto and his family show authentic emotional heart, and the inevitable problem solving and bridging of Ikuto’s work/life issues comes across clear with appropriate tonal range. If it wasn’t already, it’s obvious that this series has no problem levitating tiny character moments into important sparks of triumph, and given how smoothly it shifts gears into more airy material, like here post Toh introduction, it’s slicker behind the pen than a casual watch would suggest. Solid all around and I hope future episodes continue this trend.
Bofuri (4)
“Finds plenty of positive push off from a pure entertainment standpoint”
Bofuri rolls on, serving up an episode that’s not exactly the most polished when it comes to its writing, but still finds plenty of positive push off from a pure entertainment standpoint. The way “boss battles” are executed are seriously becoming a strength for this series, and it’s actively hard not to give a nod to the fluidity, awareness and tension provided by Maple and Sally’s fight with Silverwing – the easy highlight of episode five. For a show that spends a hefty amount of time swimming in the easygoing pool that is cutesy slice of life scripting, sleekly flipping the switch to a multiphased – highly competitive bout at the drop of a dime is relatively impressive. Bofuri has a nice amount of flexibility which is an aspect that’s sadly underacknowledged.
Heya Camp (4)
“Syrupy self-awareness for tranquility”
Despite its run length limitations, it’s nice that Heya Camp still maintains the syrupy self-awareness for tranquility in this lightly laced fourth episode. As usual, there’s nothing showy about its writing as Heya utilizes its handful of minutes to stay tonally on schedule rather than attempt to sell a grander, deeper narrative. It’s a safe low ceiling approach, but one that’s effective given this franchise’s value has always rested elsewhere. Heya Camp can survive on performances like this.
Plunderer (4)
“Dragging out borderline irrelevant sequences”
Lastly, I feel like every Wednesday at some point I end up checking a bunch of seasonal charts, including MAL, and put myself through a series of mental gymnastics to rationalize how this show remains so popular. On one hand, the answer feels simplistic enough: Plunderer rides on a ton of cheaply appealing elements down to its use of fanservice and may throw viewers a bone here and there when it starts to lean on its action – all aspects that would land well with a pretty big segment of anime fans. But on the other hand, the show is just flagrantly poor in terms of writing and at some point, that overshadows everything else. Well needless to say to anyone who watched this week, that “point” occurs quite blatantly with a substantial portion of episode four tripping over all too predictable plotting, dragging out borderline irrelevant sequences, and even at times accomplishing both of those issues in the same strokes. It makes for a sinking, familiar result that wouldn’t be shocking in the least if it were to occur again.
