Evangelion Episode 1 and Framing

April 2, 2017April 2, 2017 ~ bristlebristle ~ 1 Comment

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One of the reasons Neon Genesis Evangelion stands as one of anime’s biggest cultural icons is the boldness of its framing and shot composition. Nothing that came before it and very little that came after conveys quite as many things as Evangelion does in the dynamic composition of its space. Most vividly this is seen in the construction of Shinji’s space, cold and distant by default but veering on tense and claustrophobic in moments of conflict. In the first episode of Evangelion alone there’s a lot to pick at in the way Shinji is framed, and we’re going to do just that.

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Recent Funcurve Content Roundup

August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 ~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

As you may have noticed, this blog has been pretty dead over the last few months. Meanwhile, my content stream for Funcurve has continued and I’ve just neglected posting any of it here. So in the interest of consistency I’ve decided I’ll just post everything I’ve done since then right here. Links to it all can be found after the break.

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Charlotte Funcurve Review

January 13, 2016 ~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

Charlotte - 12 (1280x720 HEVC AAC).mkv_snapshot_17.26_[2015.11.18_15.09.52]

So, there were some complications that I couldn’t get to with this Charlotte review until I was back from my three week trip to Japan, but those were sorted out and just a few days ago this was published.

I thought Charlotte was pretty rubbish. Pretty much everything bad I’ve ever heard about Jun Maeda. Lame repetitive slapstick gags, completely ridiculous unearned dramatic peaks and ends up crushed under the weight of plot twists it doesn’t have nearly enough grace to handle. But let’s not dwell on these things. That JoJo: Stardust Crusaders review is done and it’s coming very soon if you want something a little less mean from me.

You can find the review right here.

My Fall 2015 Anime Rankings (Of Everything I Watched)

October 11, 2015 ~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

A new season comes with a slew of new Anime, and things are looking considerably better than last season. I didn’t do anything like this for last season because I really wasn’t watching much. Gatchaman Crowds: Insight is actually the only series I finished, with everything else falling into backlog limbo. I’m glad to say that this season all my most insatiable desires are being met from human drama to popcorn to cutesy fluff, with big hits and reliable picks all around. I also came across a couple duds, but I was careful to avoid most of the stuff that didn’t look appealing to me. So, here’s my thoughts on all dozen first episodes I watched, arbitrarily ranked from best to worst and reviewed in one sentence with some notes attached to the end on how interested I am in continuing with them. Continue reading “My Fall 2015 Anime Rankings (Of Everything I Watched)” →

Charlotte Episodes 1-3 Review (Full Series Review Excerpt)

October 11, 2015October 11, 2015 ~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

So, I’ve got a big review of the whole 48 episodes of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders for Funcurve that’s on the way. The first half review is finished but the whole thing is going to be published back to back, so I decided I wouldn’t keep you waiting with a preview post a month or two before the review is even published. Before I get to the second half I decided to write about something completely different, so here I am writing about friggin’ Charlotte. This was a choice that was sort of made on a whim, as I haven’t seen very much of Jun Maeda but have a nagging curiosity about his super divisive melodramas. In the earlygoing Charlotte is… okayish? There’s definitely a lot of things about Maeda’s style that are immediate turn-offs to me, but there’s bits and pieces that I think I just might come to like in the long run, or not. You can find the preview after the break.

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Amagi Brilliant Park Funcurve Review

October 11, 2015October 11, 2015 ~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

This post is a month later than it probably should have been, but I thought it was worthwhile to post a link to my review of Amagi Brilliant Park here. Amagi Brilliant Park is good quality popcorn, with plenty of lovable KyoAni comedic grace. It lags in its final stretch from being a bit too self-serious, but it makes a solid recovery for a nice conclusion.

You can find the full review here.

Sword Art Online II Funcurve Review

August 5, 2015 ~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

Meant to post this a couple days ago but I was a bit lazy about it. I’m pretty proud of this review. Sword Art Online really has no shortage of things to talk about, to say the least. It’s a series with all sorts of problematic elements, but it has the admirable sense of a series that wants to improve. I think Sword Art Online II is a respectable outcome of that motivation, and despite serious stumbles it truly delivers in the end. It might not be worth it for people who utterly hated the series to keep watching, but for fans and for anyone with just a little earnest love for SAO there’s a fair bit to be pleased with in this sequel series.

You can find the link to this review here.

Amagi Brilliant Park Episodes 1-4 Review (Full Series Review Excerpt)

July 24, 2015July 24, 2015 ~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

With Sword Art Online II out of the way and ready to be published, my next project for Funcurve is Amagi Brilliant Park. This is a fun little series I never got to finish when it aired. Just a really playful and silly show that demonstrates KyoAni’s comedy chops really nicely. Not always a hit, but pleasant all around. Preview of my full review comes after the break.

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Barakamon Funcurve Review

July 20, 2015August 5, 2015 ~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

Sorry I didn’t put a link here sooner. When this got published I didn’t have internet at home, and it was too much of a hassle to put this together on mobile. This is a bit of a wordy review, the longest I’ve ever done because I essentially went through the series episode by episode. Despite that, I said all I needed to say about Barakamon and I’m pretty proud of it. It’s a lovely series with plenty of nice ideas that I enjoyed talking about. Expect my Sword Art Online II review to also be published in the next couple weeks!

You can find the Barakamon review here on Funcurve.

Sword Art Online II Episodes 1-7 Review (Full Series Review Excerpt)

July 8, 2015July 24, 2015 ~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

My Barakamon review for Funcurve is done, and you can expect it published soonish along with a blog post linking to it. It’s a little bit wordy, but I said all I wanted to say. Now I’m on to Sword Art Online II! If anything, I think Sword Art Online is fun and easy to write about. It’s a series with a particular charm to it that just makes me want to like it despite all the nasty stuff it does. Sword Art Online II is a legitimate improvement with slightly less nasty stuff, but not as much of one as I would like. After the break you’ll find a little snippet of the first part of my review. Hope you like it!

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