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Owarimonogatari-Episodes 5-7 (Rewatch) (On Hold)

On hold until MVM's Part 2 comes out. Review will be out soon for Part 1. On case anyone is interested, the review will be an altered version of review I put up whilst it was streaming, however given I now have a lot more experience as a writer, I imagine it might have to be altered a fair bit!

Anyway, I haven't watched a whole lot of anime these last couple of days, I need to get back into the swing of things a bit.
 
Monthly girls Nozaki-kun eps 7-12 & specials eps 1-6
Really enjoyed this, and was quite angry at the end at first as I thought they weren't gonna let us know Nozaki's response. But it did well and brought back his oblivious ways.
 
What's this you ask? ayase posting in the viewing journal? ayase still watches anime and doesn't just use AUKN for off-topic discussion and complaining about packaging and import taxes on all the anime he buys and leaves to gather dust unwatched on his shelves? ayase still actually wants to talk about his opinions of anime despite opining several months/years previously that there's no real point now because nobody actually seems interested in discussion any more, just spewing their opinions into the sea of information where they drown in the ridiculous quantities of data we now consume on a daily basis?


The answer may surprise you.



It's yes. Please help cure my jaded attitude towards reviewing and engage with me.

Bakemonogatari Episodes 1-4
Still too early to tell, but I'll definitely be persevering. The characters of Araragi and Hitagi, while I feel like we've seen similar a good few times before, are different enough takes to be fairly endearing and hopefully their individual personalities will grow and become more apparent with time. The show's premise has also hooked me pretty nicely right from the get-go, which is promising. If it is going to be girl/supernatural problem of the week and if they're told with the emotional weight (ha) of Hitagi's story then I'm more than okay with this.

Or at least I think I'll be okay with this. Because the pacing in these last two episodes... I'll resist the temptation to say it's moving at a snail's pace (and this arc started so well...) because that wouldn't really be fair. It is spending time on a worthy cause developing Araragi and Hitagi's relationship, but while I'm someone who's normally okay with things moving pretty damn slow I just feel a like there's an awful lot of talking and not a lot of doing going on. Anime is a visual medium and while Bakemonogatari has, even in these first few episodes, treated me to some genuinely beautiful set pieces and stills it's not really engaging me on a visual level in the same way as some of the other more wordy anime I've enjoyed over the years. At least not yet.
 
Hnnnng, love that theme. Mayoi's arc is what made me say "Yeah, I reallly realllly like this show".

Pacing is slow but given that I believe no arc is longer than 4/5 episodes I don't feel like it turns into a drag (plus the character interactions are just grand to watch) but I can't say it's for everyone.

--

Sereph of the end: Season 2 episodes 2&3 - I feel like they're
pushing for the sweet male friend in the group to go berserk at some point in the future. Maybe berserk enough to be lost .. he hasn't even mentioned to his friends that he spotted the vampire who killed his sister, holding that in can't be healthy

Arslan Senki: Episodes 5&6 - Good couple of episodes, not a fan of some of the animation though which takes me out of my immersion ..
 
ayase said:
Bakemonogatari Episodes 1-4
Click to expand...

Can't remember having any particular objection to the pacing of Bakemonogatari, but I think saying there's a lack of action is a fair comment. Visually, I appreciated the show more the second time through though (maybe because I didn't have to spend so much time looking at the subtitles?) Despite so much of it being just characters standing around and talking at each other, I liked how it creates this weird, artificial space with no-one else in it - there's something very stark and theatrical about that. The use of static shots with rapid cuts and almost subliminal inserts also reeks of the French new wave, which I think the series acknowledges later on with what I swear is a definite nod to La Chinoise.

That said, I think the whip-smart dialogue is always going to be the star here. The Mayoi Snail arc is still my favourite one, just because of the clever exchanges between Araragi and Hitagi.
 
Bakemonogatari is the purest distillation of modern art / architecture into animated form. Or rather, post-modernist. I definitely approach it more as an approach in style than any kind of overarching narrative.
 
Is anyone f'n watching Onihei? After episode 4 I can say its the best samurai anime in the last 10 years. Sword of the Stranger came out in 2007 along with Shigurui.
 
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The show isnt perfect of course, but as a samurai theme, nothing beats this in the last 9/10 years. Nice sword fighting animation, nice ost and some good old blood along with some heads and arms chopped off :D I just love it. The story is like Champloo, overall, is 1 story per episode, which for me is fine actually.

No one wants to know what really got me into anime but I will tell, Rurouni Kenshin Trust and Betrayal. Now maybe you will see why I love Onihei. Now if we could only get Trust and Betrayl to be released in the UK in BD...
 
City Hunter - Episodes 43 - 51 [Series 1 Final]

I really enjoyed the first series of City Hunter, consistently funny and very entertaining.
 
I really do need to get back to watching City Hunter, the few episodes I've seen (years and years ago) I really enjoyed.

Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka OVA
Ranma ½ 01 & 02
Chiruran - Nibun no Ichi 01- 05
Otaku no Seiza OVA
Kuzu no Honkai 04
 
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