JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind Vento Aureo 20
Hax! I'm calling hax! Seriously, though, as specific as that power might be, when used correctly, I can't immediately think of any reason why King Crimson would have any particular flaws. It's like Araki sat down and said, "You know, I really enjoyed that sequence of when everyone's trying to understand what Dio's Stand does at the end of
Stardust Crusaders. Why don't I take the element of that which was kind of neat (where Polnareff keeps going up the stairs over and over) and refine that into a more interesting concept?" While I don't know if "the Boss" is going to be as much of a driving force in the rest of the story the same way Kira was in
Diamond is Unbreakable, I can already see plenty of potentially interesting scenarios regarding how he can manipulate everyone and their Stands to trick them into defeating themselves. Like... how does Moody Blues even comprehend what happens when King Crimson uses its ability? Something as simple as that makes much of what I've come to accept as fairly rote in this part by now fresh and exciting again, which is the perfect kind of feeling you want for the halfway point. Bring on the insanity, because I expect
Golden Wind's going to go off the rails from here!
Kaguya-sama: Love is War 7
Another excellent episode, and perhaps the one with the most "directorial flourishes" to coin a phrase. While the skits this week weren't quite up to the standard of the last couple episodes (this was probably the weakest "dating advice" scene and Kaguya laughing at dirty jokes seemed a bit too basic for how long it lasted), the direction of these skits and a lot of the care and thought that went into the editing and unique elements of animation made them all much more enjoyable. Mamoru Hatakeyama has clearly already found his groove with the material at this point, and with him firing on all cylinders
Kaguya-sama continues to impress week-on-week for just how well produced it is, as well as how excellent it is at leveraging film techniques from multiple genres to enhance the comedic tone shifts of certain gags. There really isn't much more I can say; the latest episodes have maintained a level of quality well above where the series started, and it's just such a delight to watch. I can only hope that it lasts and remains popular enough that these last four episodes ahead won't be the end of
Kaguya-sama's adaptation, because this has become too good to end so soon.
GeGeGe no Kitaro 45
I was almost ready to call this episode wholly unremarkable until the last few minutes when my suspicions were proven true and we're treated to Kitaro standing by watching one of the most grizzly comeuppances in this recent iteration. On the whole, there's little hints here and there as to the truth of what's going on, but I feel that for a horror show, the episode doesn't really lean into the severity of the situation enough to make it as truly horrifying as it could be. That is, of course, until the last few minutes of the episode, which is a tone shift so drastic and dark that it genuinely shocked me, but it is in keeping with the theme of this cour, which has been significantly darker than anything this iteration of
GeGeGe no Kitaro has tackled before. Does the ending save the episode? Yes, but it doesn't turn it into a great one. I would still say this is the weakest episode of this recent cour, because the two minutes of sadistic pleasure watching someone get theirs in the most horrible way does not erase the twenty minutes of boredom that precedes them.
Mysteria Friends 6
Ah yes, I can definitely tell were the animation team spent their bulk of their time in this episode! The requisite beach fan service episode is here, and in large part it didn't disappoint. Between the action set-piece that was the magical volleyball match between some of the extras and Grea teaching a reluctant Anne how to swim, this was a very nice looking episode overall. There wasn't too much going on in this episode apart from the focus on the kinds of thing where an almost exclusively female-cast wear swimsuits the entire time. Blatant though it might be, the bulk of the episode is more cute than leering, with Anne's inability to swim and her attempts to avoid doing so coming across as particularly charming. Again, this series continues to be fluff, but at least it was back to being good-looking fluff this time around.
Mob Psycho 100 II 8
It was only a matter of time before Claw showed back up in some form or other after the conclusion of the last season, but I didn't think their return would take this form. Before getting to that, though, I really appreciated this small, self-contained story about Mob running the school marathon. Of course, he was never going to make it to the top ten, but seeing everyone around him cheer him on and help him out shows just how much he has grown as well as how much of a social network he has at school and how many people there respect him for his meager accomplishments outside of his psychic powers. There were a couple of threads left hanging at the end, and I do wonder if those will be addressed by the end of the season, but it's interesting seeing how that all worked out. But man, the harsh turn from that to the main conflict re-igniting from the end of last season was pretty brutal to watch, and I worry for the last consequences for Mob once all of what remains in this season is said and done. Whatever fighting is ahead, arguably the damage has already been done.
So this is pretty much the song itself for Carole & Tuesday's OP.
Tuesday's singer (
Celeina Ann) is
way better than I expected. Both vocally deeper and has more control than I was anticipating. The music is going to be really good for this. Based Watanabe.
Man, hearing that earlier today was a real treat. Even as an live, more acoustic version of the OP which we heard a verse of at the end of the PV they released a little while ago,
Carole & Tuesday has shot up as my most anticipated show of next season now that the music has started to come together. I can't recall the last series where Watanabe poured so much of his own vision into the identity of the music therein... I don't know how much he had to do with
Space Dandy's soundtrack, so has it been since
Kids on the Slope? Man, it's been too long if that's the case. I can only hope the series as a whole lives up to the OST, because I think that alone is going to be something special.