Back to JohnIG's Profile JohnIG's Profile

_Passion as an easy slice-of-life_

I enjoyed this. I watched it before I tried many other high-school shows that would go on to disappoint me. This one didn't.
I didn't realise how well it did what it did, until I saw so many do it poorly.

This show is about characters in high-school having passions and trying to follow them, whether that means standing on their own, or pulling others along with them. The lead characters story arc to sing for herself, regardless of the organised choir refusing her, all the way down to a side-character (the guys don't get that much development really) who is pursuing his ... dream of playing Badminton, and the silly singing (and sometimes badminton) group, allows him to do that.

The characters are passionate, they have a background, and reasons for what they do, it is told competently, and it concludes in a satisfying way.

What more do you want?

*Also the characters aren't all excessively annoying, like most other high-school anime!

_Wibbly Wobbly - Timey Wimey_

The structure of this anime is really cool in how non-chronological it is.
They set up tons of mysterious situations, with little cute but mischievous gnomes, robots, silent sidekicks, duplicates, dystopias, and the structure accentuates those mysteries.

Every episode could be set at any time, at any place, at any point in a story that hasn't started yet. That makes it really cool.

On the other hand a few episodes felt a little hit or miss, and also some of the mysteries start to fall apart into just complete lunacy, which is funny but not always equally satisfying. It's got a great deadpan sense ... of humor, and a very attractive pastel art style.

I have to admit, it's been a coupla years since I've seen this, so I'm going to be fairly vague about it.

It has an amazingly unique art style, where the texture of various clothes stay in place as the characters animate across them. It makes it all feel trippy and magical.

The characters are fairly creepy, and I was riveted while watching it. The setting was distinct in an early 20th century feel with a heavy military history, but off to the side of the real events, out in the country-side. For the life of me I can't recall the plot, but I remember there was ... a cool old-school motorbike and that should be enough for you.

I do remember the end including a very out of place mech battle, which kinda put me off, so that dings it a star, but most anime watchers (who are used to that kinda thing) will just take it in stride. Plus kudos for putting mechs in an old-school 10-paces pistol-duel setting.

Enjoy!

_The Art of Using/Wearing Less_

Kill la Kill is all about the art of using less, sometimes it pulls it off masterfully, like in the first episode where the giant explosions pop in a single frame leaving a giant crater and some screen shake for impact, other times they use it for maximum comedic effect like with Ryuko's school friend Mako's dialogue -switching between 3 poses, with 2 frames each- to enemies flying off cliffs in a 1 frame pose that gets rotated at the edge. These are the folks who did the masterful Inferno Cop, and a lot of that levity is in this show ... too.

The plot is basically an excuse to get all the characters naked, but there's nothing wrong with that (when I say all, I mean ALL). And as such the plot is funny and engaging, with a good bit of mystery and twists. And the majority of the twists feel spot on. The strands of this clothing narrative come together well... most of the time.

I feel like Kill la Kill has the same issue Gurren Laggan had, laggin' around the two-thirds point, the ever increasing battles eventually providing diminishing returns, and slowing down the plot. Also there's a slightly inelegant heel/face turn back-to-back that just doesn't have the time to develop.

Overall an enjoyable watch: action, story, humor, all underpinned by a cool art style, with only an episode or two feeling out of place or redundant.

Enjoy!

If it feels like it's starting out as a standard 'kids go to weird school to learn psychic abilities', it grows out into so much more. It gets epic in scale, immensely sad and also horribly creepy.

The use of setting inside Shinsekai Yori is one of it's boons, leaving you a bit uncertain whether this is past or future. It sets up both mystery into the origins of it's world, but also long-term progression in the politics of it's society and relationships.

The horrifying imagery that's presented reflects a society's downfall as well as it's characters emotional upheaval. It becomes incredibly visceral at times, sinking ... the viewer deep into the dark mood that permeates it.

Whatever your reservations, you should jump in, and stick it out awhile.
You will not regret it.

_Fantastic World Building + Subtle Character Building_
This show really had me hooked at the start, it just carries a sentimentality with it, that not a lot of other shows can (Uchouten Kazoku manages this a bit at the start).

The flash-forward/backward structure allows you to see a lot of characters from different angles and slowly fill in the gaps in a really satisfying way. The world they live in is a really broken place, and the pressures put on those inside it make them warp in incredibly interesting ways. There are a lot of parallels to be found throughout the show, especially in the father/child relationships.

It's ... a fantastical world, that keeps you puzzling, with characters that keep you wondering. At the moments when it's supposed to hit home emotionally, it does, and the drops, oh my god the music drops in at the end of every episode and it feels amazing every time. It keeps you hyped for every episode to come.


**Also of note: if you're confused by the OVAs (that predate this run), the full show makes a lot more sense**

It's wacky aliens, with temporary mind-control powers come here to stop an evil entity, BUT FIRST... let's go fishing :D Chill out a bit, gather up some friends, and maybe catch a fish or two.

It's heart-warming relationships between family, friends, and heart-warming progress in our lead character breaking out of his shell thanks to a fishing pole and an alien friend.

The art style it provides is colorful and evocative, really shining a bright light on these relationships and wacky narrative.

If it has any negative, it's that the voice acting can get a bit screechy, but overall it's well worth a watch!

Enjoy!

Ping Pong is not your typical sports show.

Not just because the art style is extremely kinetic, sketchy and often metaphorical; emphasizing animation and emotion over drawing and painting.

But because instead of the usual single hero who is destined to face stronger and stronger foes, learning their weaknesses, and defeating each one in sequence, you get something different. Something personal.

You get the story of not one character but many, each of their ping pong matches is a reflection on where they are in life, why they are alive, what drives them and what breaks them apart. And each match they focus on, does that ... for both players at the table. Each player is playing for their own reasons, and each player wins or loses based on where they stand at that moment.

It's fascinating to watch, and the stories that develop, means that even when a character loses at a match, it doesn't mean they've lost at life. This sports show is about the players, the play is just its metaphor.

Incredibly Versatile and Wacky
It's good, every week brought to you by another director, and a different animation style.

Each week of the first season feels like they're mimicking classic anime episode tropes, and while the second season also has that, a lot of the episodes are more free form.

You follow a few consistent characters who are alien bounty hunters (and a narrator) and the mysteries that arise around them, but mostly its just episodic, wacky, fun and often surprising.

Also SPACE!

[and the occasional fanservice, so if that bothers you watch out.]