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So, as promised last week, I have completed watching season 1 of The Apothecary Diaries as well as Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina. Some thoughts below…
The Apothecary Diaries
Overall, I really enjoyed this show and I am looking forward to more in the future. The visuals in this show are fantastic. Each episode was an absolute spectacle between such detailed art, a vibrant color palette, and some really nice, subtle animation.
As for the story, Last time I wrote about this, I compared the show to Sherlock Holmes, and I stand by that comparison. If you are a fan of Sherlock and the deductive reasoning to solve mysteries kind of story, then this show is right up your alley. I had predicted that Maomao’s Moriarty would appear as an antagonist. However, I was only kind of right. Moriarty appeared, but they aren’t an antagonist in the same, straightforward way. Also, the game that is afoot is far from resolved by the end of the first season.
Wandering Witch
Overall, I enjoyed this series. It spends the first episode doing the setup/prologue of Elaina’s backstory and then the rest of the series is an anthology series in which each episode is a pretty self-contained story. There are some recurring characters that will appear multiple times as well as a loose framework of a larger story of learning more about her witch role model (whose identity is strongly hinted to the viewer).
I think it would be impossible to talk about this series without comparing it to Kino’s Journey. In that respect, this series has a lot to live up to since Kino’s Journey is one of my favorite series. I think that this series is at its best when it is silly and fun, focusing on Elaina’s journey as a witch and the hijinks that ensue (especially when some of the recurring characters are involved).
There are a couple episodes in this season in which the tone changes dramatically and things get dark. Some episodes are more successful at this turn than others. Notably, I think the infamous episode 9, complete with a content warning at the start of the episode, was just needlessly graphic for the sake of shock value. One of the things I appreciate the most about Kino’s Journey, is that it does a lot of excellent storytelling with very dark subjects often through subtlety and implication. There is nothing subtle about Wandering Witch. When an episode’s storyline is dark, it smacks you across the face with it. That being said, there is one exception that I really loved…episode 3 (which felt the most Kino-like to me, and I loved).
If you haven’t seen either Wandering Witch or Kino’s Journey, I would still recommend Kino. However, if you liked Kino, watched both series, and still want more, then Wandering Witch will scratch that itch. However, know that it won’t satisfy in the same way.
Wandering Witch
I didn’t make it that far for this one. I put it On Hold but never continued. Not sure which ep it was, but Elaina was oddly cold and distant when stuff happened after she started travelling and I felt like that really didn’t fit her character thus far. It was quite jarring for me.
Yeah, I think this is what I was trying to articulate as well. Elaina is so upbeat, outgoing, and bubbly that when an episode is dark and she changes into a more stoic character, it feels out of place.
Weekly ranking roundup:
- Anime Corner - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Date a Live
- Anime Trending - Full Results - Weekly Winner: Konosuba
- Reddit Karma - Weekly Winner: Delicious in Dungeon
Credit to /u/Abysswatcherbel for making the chart for reddit karma and /u/Nooble5 for the Anime Trending chart.
So I guess Mushoku Tensei took a week off? It gave the chance for somebody else to come in and top the reddit chart this week. Delicious in Dungeon took advantage of the opportunity and topped the chart for reddit.
I finally finished JoJo Golden Wind. Honestly, it’s by far my least favourite. The characters are unbelievably stupid (much more so than the previous parts), Sex Pistols is an incredibly irritating stand despite how often it’s used and the story just felt like a weaker version of Stardust Crusaders. They also didn’t really do anything with the unique origins of Giorno, which felt like a waste. I still enjoyed it, but it’s a 6-6.5 at best. Even below Part 1 imo.
I now started with Stone Ocean and am already enjoying it a lot more. A female MC is refreshing and the story (so far) is interesting too.
Certainly an unpopular opinion, but a welcome perspective. Personally, GW is peak JoJo and Stone Ocean dropped the ball a bit, but went back to peak JoJo form towards the end.
You didn’t enjoy the turtle arc?
You mean the one in the train? It was fine. It’s not as if I didn’t enjoy GW, just not that much.
Binged odd taxi in one day
Now it’s top of my list - along with apothecary diaries - for mystery / crime anime
I have been watching the original Patlabor TV anime and I am absolutely loving it. I’ve been needing an outlet to gush about it, so here goes.
Noa is one of the tomboys of all time.
My interest was piqued by this clip from one of the movies, and the idea of a future where police mechs exist, but are armed with simply a giant revolver, which the pilot has to jump out of their mech and manually insert shells into to reload, is equally hilarious as it is charming.
I expected something somewhat serious, but I should have guessed that the series is basically just a police-work slice of life, but with mechs. (Though there are more serious story arcs, as well.)
I adore the lead characters, and some of the villains genuinely get me pissed. There’s more than meets the eye to all of them, and everyone is SV2 (special vehicles section 2) is likeable on some level. Though I find Ota difficult, I can’t tell if he’s a badly designed character, or a genius one meant to be genuinely disliked, while sometimes showing redeeming qualities.
Noa and Asuma are probably my favorites, but I also like Kanuka and Hiromi a lot. I LOVE how low-energy Captain Goto is, and the old married couple vibe between him and Captain Nagamo is cute af.
The animation is impressive, especially for the time (The original series aired in 1989). And I’m normally super bothered by watching things in 4:3, but I’ve barely noticed that the series isn’t widescreen.
The OP is also something didn’t skip as often as I usually do.
If your interest is piqued as mine was, give it a shot! It’s a forgotten gem, IMO.
I might check this out. I have a friend irl that is a big Patlabor fan and has tried to get me to watch it in the past. I just started watching Squid Girl this past week since I am a big fan of the manga, but I haven’t really been digging it. So, I might just bail and switch over to this next week.
You’ve good friends.
I’m closing in on having watched it all now. I totally see why people who’ve gotten into the series become big fans. The franchise has me utterly charmed.
It’s a wholesome anti-drama with a really endearing cast that frequently get up to all kinds of antics. And it somehow combines that with the seriousness of public service to the point that characters can have full on crises of confidence when things go wrong.
It’s like watching a kids show, that does fun and cool things because they are fun and cool, but also without the show talking down to you like you’re actually 12.
The title for this post ends with “Week 22” which is fairly meaningless… I think the count started last season, but didn’t get reset to “Week 1” at the start of the current season, some 9 weeks ago.
Another thing on the list for improvements?
This number refers to the week number for the year. So, back in January I started at 1 and have been increasing since. I guess if people don’t find it helpful, then I can just drop it or replace it with the date similar to what @NineSwords@ani.social does over on !lightnovels@ani.social.
