In this week’s installment…
Love prevails as many of this week’s episodes feature romance to one degree or another. Whether you prefer the dysfunctional, roundabout relationships of Durarara!! and Working!!! or the more easy going vibe of Snow White and My Love Story!, there’s something for everyone. Also, Gatchaman Crowds Insight is still really good.
Miss the Early Edition of the Roundup? Check it out here for our coverage of:
Chaos Dragon, Ushio and Tora, Miss Monochrome: The Animation 2, Classroom Crisis, School Live!, Prison School
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Durarara!! X2 The Second Arc
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Artemis: It’s no secret that I’m a big Shizuo fan, so I personally loved this episode. Nothing particularly weird or spectacular happened (well, not by Durarara standards anyway), but this still felt like one of the most energetic episodes we’ve had in a while. Lately the show’s been feeling a great deal more melancholy in tone, and while I have nothing against that, I’ve still been missing Durarara’s original giddy vibrancy. Also, while one of my complaints is that the cast has just become too large and scattered to be able to keep up with even the main characters on a regular basis anymore, I’m really happy to see Simon again. Lord knows I missed that man last cour; now all I need is Kida back in the picture and I’ll be well and truly satisfied.
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Artemis: I know Inami’s a fan favourite, but I just don’t care for the girl. That said, it felt downright progressive of this show to finally stop dragging its feet where Inami and Souta are concerned. That’s right, after something like 30 episodes, Souta has finally started to recognize Inami as an actual person his own age rather than a violent animal. D’awww. Stunningly, there’s also genuine progress being made between Satou and Yachiyo – and that’s a couple I can really get behind. Satou has long been my favourite Working character, and unlike most other relationships in the show, this actually has the potential to be a healthy and functional one.
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Gatchaman Crowds: Insight
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Jel: If you’ve had any trouble following Crowds, either this season or last, then this episode lays out the issues about as plainly as it possibly could. Standing around talking about philosophy would normally be a good way to derail all your momentum, but the fact that everyone at least has a bit of truth to their point of view makes the discussion pretty fascinating. Hajime’s dialogue is particularly great. It sounds terrifying at first, but when you really think about it she makes more sense than anyone. The truly terrifying part of this episode is Gel’s inability to take no for an answer, plus he’s running on a platform that sounds good enough on paper that you’d have to believe a lot of people will agree with it. It’s all playing out in line with my theory that he is the true final boss and I can’t wait to see how this all goes wrong.
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Gangsta
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No new episode this week and there is talk of the original airing being moved to another day. We’ll see if that affects the simulcast schedule and be back with it next week.
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Snow White With the Red Hair
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Artemis: I admit I was worried about the pacing in Snow White at first – that opening episode just whizzed by, as did the following couple. So did this one in fact, but I’m realizing that that’s probably a good thing. This isn’t an action-filled series, and unlike most shoujo romances, it also tends to steer clear of any melodrama. It can’t afford to drag its feet if it wants to keep the viewer’s attention, and luckily it doesn’t; like the general tone of the piece, Snow White’s pacing is cheerfully brisk, and I’m always a little surprised when the ending credits roll, just because it doesn’t feel like that much time can have passed. This episode was no exception, although looking back, I don’t think it felt rushed either, despite introducing two new and fairly important characters at the same time as Shirayuki was taking her admittance test. I don’t think I speak from bias when I say that this is a genuinely good show in most, if not all, respects.
My Love Story! – You see, the little birds with the sunglasses mean uhhh… what???
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Non Non Biyori Repeat
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Artemis: I have a bit of a soft spot for teru teru bouzu, so little surprise that I quite liked this episode. Of course, I don’t think there’s ever been an episode of Non Non Biyori that I’ve outright disliked, although some are sweeter or more touching than others. I have to say though, I’m actually enjoying this season more than the first one. Maybe it’s the comparative lack of showcasing Hotaru’s creepy (yes, creepy, not cute) obsession with Komari this time around, or maybe it’s just that I’ve now been living in the Japanese countryside myself for longer. Either way, Repeat has been evoking a very sentimental response from me, and that’s not something I get from anime all that often.
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My Love Story
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Jel: I love when this show reminds itself that Takeo and Yamato’s seemingly perfect relationship is not realistic. It works for them for now but it’s not how things usually go. Kurihara’s behavior, obnoxious as it is, was a much more believable interpretation of a dumb 15 year old boy trying to deal with his crush on a girl. It made for an entertaining episode at least, and I’m glad to see My Love Story find new directions to keep the plot interesting and shine further light on Takeo and Yamato’s feelings for each other. Even though the episode seemed to be about Kurihara and Nanako, it really was about them learning more about themselves. On a final note, how cool is Suna? He managed to be far and away the smartest guy in the room without saying one single word. Now if they can just get him together with Saijou from last week I will be loving this show even more.
The Glorio Blog 