We finished Lazarus last week, and I came away unsure how I felt about it. There were enjoyable episodes to be sure, and I liked the characters well enough.

spoiler

First off, I called it early on - we weren’t ever gonna find Skinner until the very last minute. Nearly every episode was a red herring. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; When thinking about Cowboy Bebop, the comparison one can’t avoid, most of those episodes are also “unnecessary” as far as the overall plot (in so much as there is a plot) is concerned. So I’m inclined to say it’s not that big of a deal, and you kinda have to go into a show like this with the understanding that each episode is just it’s own little adventure that you gotta try to enjoy on it’s own merits.

Now, I do think the ending was a teeny bit too convenient. You’re telling everyone in this crew just happened to have been at the airport incident, inexplicably survived, and then completely forgot? The show absolutely glosses over why they survived the bio weapon when everyone else died. I dunno, man, but this felt flimsy to me.

But I think what takes the cake for me is the whole Hundan assassin subplot. The show pushed this hard, despite the fact that it only affected a minor character. There seemed to be some kind of relationship hinted at between the Hundan and Axel, by way of the necklace, but this isn’t really explored very well. This all might have made more sense to me if we discovered that Axel himself had escaped from the same assassin school, but (as far as I’m aware?) that was never revealed as such. So yeah, this assassin dude felt like a huge waste plot energy that could have been spent more wisely.

In the end, I think I come to the conclusion that it was a mostly enjoyable show that I don’t regret watching at all but also wouldn’t rush to recommend it fully either.

Started a couple of shows this week, and here are my impressions:

• Chihayafuru - SungWon/ProZD has been talking this show up for years, and since it’s recently been featured on the Quest for the Best podcast I finally decided to give it a try. It seems fun! I wasn’t sure about it initially since the first couple of episodes very much feel like the “let’s be mean to Chihaya and Arata for no goddamn reason” show but now that I’m about 5 episodes in it’s become fun to watch the main character bulldoze through her problems.
• Nyaight of the Living Cat - A zombie apocalypse is going down, except instead of zombies it’s cats. Anyone who allows a cat to cuddle up with them turns into one! Fun writing, great voice acting, mediocre animation. Might be better to read the manga tbh.

I’m also coming up on the end of season 1 of Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex. Episodes 20 & 21 were awesome, so I look forward to finishing the first season soon.

This Season

I picked up Uglymug, Epic Fighter and There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… last week for fun. They are alright; I hope they will continue to be entertaining or become more entertaining.

Also, out of all the anime I set my sights on before the season, Turkey! had the most interesting first episode. Its premise reminds me heavily of

mild spoiler

Zenshu. I was caught completely off-guard by the ending

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Past Seasons

I gave BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!! a shot but lost interest by the third episode.

It’s the same situation as Ping Pong for me. The production quality is high, as is the average rating. However, the story failed to hook me and the characters are not ones I see myself rooting for.

So I dropped it.

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My music anime spree wasn’t over though. Next on my list was Sound! Euphonium.

And this one hits the spot. This is the kind of drama / story I am into.

By now - even though my sample size is small - I am convinced: music anime with competition are really just sports anime.

Think about it: they all have the underdog, David versus Goliath story. If it’s a team sport, there would be drama surrounding the members’ interpersonal relationships. Most importantly and meta-ly, both genres tend to be underwatched even when their story is good.

And Sound! Euphonium’s is good. It has a typical sports anime storyline, but when the execution is good, the uniqueness of its premise (or the lack thereof) doesn’t matter.

My main complaint is that there’s too much narration from Kumiko, the protagonist. Also, I hope it won’t be yuri bait.

I am looking forward to the rest of its seasons. 9 or 10 / 10

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Edit: I’ve just finished binging season 2. This one felt even better than the last.

Every aspect of this anime is perfect. I love the attention to detail, especially when it comes to the small movements that people make. It’s 2D, but the drawing is somehow life-like.

This anime is no doubt a masterpiece. It deserves nothing short of 10 / 10 for its rating.

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Non-Anime

(As in, non-Japanese animation, but since anime is really just animation, they belong in the same vein to me.)

I watched KPop Demon Hunters since it was garnering plenty of attention. It was a fun watch.

I found it similar to Nimona and Frozen, with a dash of your typical battle shounen.