The Story

Seasonal Prattle is curious given how beloved both works are. Would you give up this current season of Attack on Titan if it meant you would get a fourth season of My Hero Academia right away?

I’m going to need more details on how this would go down first

Okay, if you choose to give up Attack on Titan, you would forget everything that you’ve seen from season 3 so far. Attack on Titan s3 would disappear from this Summer season and would air again next year at the same time (next Summer starting July 23rd, 2019). So it’s not like it would be gone forever, but you’re going to have to wait.

And what about the fourth season of My Hero Academia?

You would get season four of My Hero Academia effective immediately. It would air on Saturdays and run for 25 episodes. Assume that the production unit is the same from season 3 too. You can watch ahead if you’re a manga reader, or if you’re an anime only viewer you can finish season 3 and have season 4 waiting for you to smoothly glide into without any wait.

Hmmmmmmm

Yeah, give it some thought.

The Bottom Line

Would you do it? How much is Attack on Titan worth to you? You don’t actually have to comment or anything with your answer, but at least mentally decide.

 

 

“QUOTE OF THE WEEK”

-Evirus on Schichisei no Subaru’s awfully written recent developments. What would seasonal life be without poor light novel scripting?

 

 

SEASONAL PRATTLE

Find what you’re looking for fast
Steins;Gate 0
Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger
My Hero Academia s3
Asobi Asobase
Attack on Titan s3
Free! Dive To The Future
Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria

Steins;Gate 0 (16)

The real star was tonal execution and after a few playbacks it’s pretty clear that this outing isn’t just the best of Steins;Gate 0, but one of the best of the season on a greater whole. It was just one scene after another of finely timed beats that convey both thematic and emotional positioning, consistently utilizing Hanazawa’s vocal strengths to great effect and matching it with underrated composition. Even ignoring directorial touches and emotive prowess, this episode textually was well built. The script is rolled out with care, still sometimes looking for hooks a little early, but always balancing itself with a firm understanding of the delivery of drama.

Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger (4)

I can really get behind Tenrou: Sirius the Jaeger’s effort to contextualize its narrative in a more free flowing narrative, for both craft reasons and beyond. It’s really easy for a studio with any reasonable level of visual talent to get carried away with key scenes that are conducive to their skill set, but Sirius never really crosses that line. This series has more poise and restraint than a lot of people give it credit for and I’m happy to see that show up this week.

My Hero Academia s3 (17)

For as strong as My Hero Academia can be upfront with its presentation, it’s actually nice to see a more subdued and methodical approach to this week’s fight with Seiai Academy. Not everything has to be propulsive, and while there’s certainly a place for the dynamic, silky smooth cuts this series often gets away with during its more action oriented bits, there’s a place for strategic writing to take the lead as well. Contemplative episodes likes this one are rewarding in their own ways.

Asobi Asobase (4)

A large part of why Asobi Asobase works so well is purely because it leans heavily on taught comedic fundamentals. This latest episode has a chokehold on the build and delivery of gags – understanding when too much is seriously too much and when not enough is not enough. It’s like each bit has been premeasured with just enough comedic power to last you until the next joke down till the credit roll.

Attack on Titan s3 (2)

It’s easy to get caught up in how energetic this week is – Tetsurou Araki feels like he’s in peak form coming fresh off of Attack on Titan’s season one material with the way he directs viewer attention and handles complex movements. And that effort is only matched with some nice scripting and choice dialogue, especially from Armin, in this episode’s second half. It still remains to be seen how long WIT can keep this up, but my fingers are crossed that their future entries remain this dynamic.

Worthwhile Prattle:

Pain

Free! Dive To The Future (4)

Free! continues to have pretty self indulgent drama, but at the same time its level of awareness and play off of that makes it effective. The way Ishihara navigates this episode’s final act is applaudable this week, with a bunch of well timed cuts and close-ups that really add volume and weight to the dialogue – directly elevating the drama on hand. If we can keep on selling moments like this, I’ll be very happy with this season’s turnout.

Hyakuren no Haou to Seiyaku no Valkyria (5)

Between its dry, poorly delivered dialogue choices and extremely limited character acting – Valkyria might have outdone itself with how lackluster its writing can be this week. At this point it’s actually a feat how underwhelming this work has been even if you fully embrace the stereotypes that comes with its pedigree.

 

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