Author Archives: torisunanohokori

Let’s Make a List: Explaining my Lack of Excitement Over Sequels to my Favorite Anime

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Please Teacher is a show memorable to me for sublime use of natural scenery and subtle characterization overcoming a really dumb plot. It’s also one of my all-time 50 favorite anime. So this show ostensibly has a sequel or some other big franchise project (if I were a betting man, I’d put most of my funds on “anime movie version”) on the way for its tenth anniversary. This is notwithstanding Ano Natsu de Matteru, the spiritual successor it got last January.

Am I excited about this news? Well, slightly. See, I’ve had a lot of bad experiences with my favorite anime getting sequels, and I’d really have to know more than what fictional universe it’s taking place in before I get excited.

Note: Since my tastes are somewhat idiosyncratic, and I’ll be talking mostly about shows I’ve seen and loved, feel free to disagree.

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First Reactions: Space Brothers Episode 50

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Space Brothers has a fairly impressive, but not top-tier soundtrack. Like, the songs are good, but not on the level of something like Wish or Dance of Curse in terms of show compatibility. The reason why the audio performance in this show *is* top-tier is something that left its prints all over this week’s episode: Katsuyoshi Kobayashi’s sound direction.

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First Reactions: Cuticle Detective Inaba Episode 12 (End) and Quickie Scores (8/10)

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My biggest criticism of this show as a whole is just the fact that it hasn’t been able to constantly harness its potential and occasionally throws in a long-dull skit that breaks up the action. It became a lot easier to rate after the final episode, which was one of the highest-energy ones of the show.

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First Reactions: Blast of Tempest Episode 23

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This week’s episode once again showed the show’s consistent ability to cycle on all cylinders. Appropriate to the week’s wait for the details of the heroes’ grand plan, we got treated to a wham-bam reveal and a complimentary visual feast.

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First Reactions: Psycho-Pass Episode 22 (End) and Quickie Scores (7/10)

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For all the trappings of morality and exploring social constructs, this show came down to a 1-on-1 cop vs. criminal staredown. I’d be lying if I said I was impressed with the way chips fell down as Psycho-Pass came to an end.

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Final Review: Ten – Tenna Toori no Kaidanji (10/10)

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Ten-Tenna Toori no Kaidanji (hereafter referred to as Ten) is a manga that ran in Monthly Kindai Mahjong for a 14-year period from 1989 to 2002, and the work that catapulted the award-winning mangaka Nobuyuki Fukumoto into the Japanese spotlight. Though it is less well-known in western circles than the author’s other works (Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji, Akagi), it is by no means an inferior product. Indeed, it is in many ways his best work, a sublime combination of the author’s trademark gritty, greasy yakuza storylines with dynamic storyboarding and a quasi-religious journey through the author’s philosophy on life.

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First Reactions: The Unlimited – Hyoubu Kyousuke Episode 11

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On the plus side, this episode set up a couple of really interesting routes that the final episode could potentially take. On the minus side, the normally marquee action was a couple of settings downward on the smoothness slider.

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Preair Impressions: RDG and Karneval

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The Spring 2013 Season is still a few weeks away, but that doesn’t mean companies aren’t going to try to get a leg up on the competition by getting stuff out early. In some cases they’re just digging their own grave, but there’s plenty of great shows I would never have watched save for an early airdate and a snazzy intro.

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Introducing Unnecessary Terminology: Storytelling vs. Storycrafting

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I had a thought the other day about types of fantasy that I thought I’d hash out and share. This is a bit on settings that applies more to short-form stories than it does to franchises. Examples are largely anime because, well, me.

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First Reactions: Space Brothers Episode 49

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The drama surrounding Nitta’s family situation, as well as Bold’s rationale for his training methods, are beginning to become clear. The former was somewhat depressing, though enlightening, the latter was surprisingly pie-in-the-sky.

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