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「家族プラン」 (Kazoku Puran)
“Family Plan”
This episode is proof for me that a director doesn’t have to make a word-for-word adaptation of a manga for it to be a good adaptation – or a faithful one. Manga is not anime, and the same structures that work well with one don’t always work with the other.
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「聖杯問答」 (Seihai Mondou)
“Holy Grail Dialogue”
For the better part of half of this episode, I was pretty set on how my impressions in this post would go — that Urobuchi Gen writes some exquisite dialogue that’s truly worthy of kings — but then the second half rolled around after Rider lectured Saber on what it means to be a king and I just had to tackle it from a different angle — Fate/Zero is too epic for words.
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「Connected passed pawn」
With episode 9 of “Fam”, it’s another case of taking the good with the bad. That’s pretty much become the norm with the series, so it doesn’t come as a surprise so much as a bit of a letdown.
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「Real Me Doesn’t Exist」
Sometimes, we don’t know who exactly our true self is, but just knowing that one exists and having the resolve to find it out can be just as important as its eventual acceptance. Both Rise and Kuma weren’t as lucky as the others, who had Shadows that spelled out exactly who their true self was, but they do share the determination to discover it. This mere realization is enough to awaken their Personas.
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「私」 (Watashi)
“I”
If one of the goals of this IM@S adaptation was to turn to make it one of the most unexpected dramas of the year, the producers should give themselves a pat on the back for a job well done.
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「美しい棺」 (Utsukushii Hitsugi)
“Beautiful Coffin”
When I stop for a moment and look back on how Mawaru Penguindrum started and where it is now, I can’t even confidently say I can succinctly sum up the plot off the top of my head. A lot has happened in terms of characterization and conveying a deeper message, and only now has the series started to address the underlying plot in a way that should make sense to all viewers.
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「on your mark」
With the end of the fall semester comes the beginning of a budding unrequited love!
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「捕食 prey」 (Hoshoku)
At times, it feels like Guilty Crown is on the verge of shaking off the jitters from a rocky start, but every time the series is about to, it has a knack for injecting a sudden development with no precedence or build-up and expecting viewers to get emotionally invested in the subsequent scenes.
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「海勝麟六の犯罪」 (Kaishō Rinroku no Hanzai)
“Kaishou Rinroku’s Crime”
With only two episodes remaining after this one and so many unanswered questions hanging over things, it seems very likely that this is the arc that will take us to the end of the series. If so, they’ve chosen to go out with what looks to be a good mystery.
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「星を追う子ども」 (Hoshi o Ou Kodomo)
“Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below”
I honestly don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Shinkai Makoto is the most important anime director in the world. But while I’ve been arguing for years that the endless examples of him being called “The Next Miyazaki” were off base, it appears as if Shinkai-sensei may have taken them to heart.