SEASONAL PRATTLE
Seasonal anime was pretty good this week! Practically all the higher end shows had commendable turnouts and even a few of Winter’s lesser titles made some noise. Be that as it may, there are still some duds out there to lowlight and I’m feeling antsy to do just that, so let’s skip the chatter and slip right into this select smaller batch of coverage:
So here we go, Magia Record served up another wonderful performance boiling down to a pleasing cliffhanger which ultimately lands itself up top here as the leading anime for this week’s check-in. Everything about this showing is just so crisp: The boldly imagined and executed fight with the Amane twins, the conscious painting of details down to Iroha’s luck count – yet again being excellently implemented and narratively purposeful, and of course, Felicia’s closing breakdown and tethering to this show’s themes of isolation, discovery, and suffering. Episode seven’s overall production speaks for itself, showing the same level of comfort and visual acuity for color and space that’s consistently levitating the show’s tenets into something more immediately tangible – but now the base story has become very interesting as a standalone property too. If Magia Record keeps this up and builds off of it, being a highly effective dual-threat work is not out of the question at all.
Somali to Mori no Kamisama (6)
“Packed with emotive power and reliably firm progressions to the very end”
The only happiness we can count on at times is the happiness we build ourselves, and the happiness we share with the people we love no matter what previous complications existed in those relationships. This latest Somali to Mori no Kamisama is a good reminder of that, a glistening episode packed with emotive power and reliably firm progressions to the very end. While surprisingly, it isn’t exactly as aesthetically appreciable as former weeks, the wrapping on Uzoi and Haitora’s narrative more than makes up for it – never lingering too long or overselling the tragedy of their situation. Concise drama with the level of punch that we received in this performance can be tough to execute, but Somali to Mori no Kamisama pulls this off with grace. Well done!
Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun (6)
“Good harmonizing of this show’s palette and narrative considerations”
This was a delightfully strong showing and pretty accurate reflection of a bunch of the aspects that are great about Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun. Lots of fine character moments across opposing tonal planes that played off of how much we’ve learned about our core cast, good harmonizing of this show’s palette and narrative considerations especially through our second half flashbacks, and the fine sense for its genre’s touchpoints and a very smooth application of pace – all amount to a substantial 20~ minutes. Learning more about Hanako is always enjoyable, and it becomes really easy to see why this work is such a good product with the way that was constructed and presented. Please give this show a watch if you aren’t already!
Darwin’s Game (6)
“Three strikes of blatantly inept writing”
Darwin’s Game carries on, enthusiastically delivering an episode that raises the question by curtain call if anyone ever actually reviewed its script. With that said, I’m not exactly sure what’s worse in six: The completely terrible hold of how CPR works, Kaname and Shuka consciously choosing to hang out in the freezing water post-rescue, or how quickly and easily Sui was forgiven and brought into the clan. The grand reveal that the true way to win this game apparently rests not in some discreet or hidden location on the map – but literally in the center of the map where a ton of players have likely passed by throughout the day – should also be mentioned in the mix. However, I figured three strikes of blatantly inept writing was enough to get the point across here. This was a pretty obvious swing in a miss in terms of quality.
Plunderer (6)
“Filler-ish in impact and loosely blueprinted”
Lastly, the most notable takeaway from this week’s Plunderer is that there’s somehow 18 more episodes of it that got approved and will see the light of day at some point. Currently, it’s hard to even pin what this show’s endgame is or what overarching aspirations it has – it’s just narratively treading water so hard with showings like ours here in six contributing deeply to this feeling, coming off as filler-ish in impact and loosely blueprinted from some of the series’ most irrelevant offerings thus far. Pelmo never hits home (her best opportunity for an emotional pull sadly gets interrupted by groping abyss hands), the production seems to be taking a turn for the worse, and its plotting is very forgettable. Needless to say, this is a clunker from Plunderer.
