The Frontline Report is a weekly column where I briefly summarize the past week of my personal journey through anime, manga, and the related spheres of pop culture.
It probably says a lot about me that for this week’s Frontline Report the show I wrote the most about is the one I think is the least good. Oh well, you know what they say about tigers and changing stripes. As always, let me know what you think in the comments!
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The aquatope on white sand – This week’s episode deals with Fuuka being recognized, first by a coworker who happens to be deep into idol culture and later by a trio of curious teens. The bizarre public afterlife of people who aren’t famous but used to be is a fascinating and very complicated topic, and I’m glad that aquatope is not just conveniently forgetting Fuuka’s recent past. Something that’s interesting to me is that it’s not totally clear whether Fuuka actually regrets leaving the industry or if she thinks putting it behind her was the right choice. At different points in this episode you can make the case for either stance.
Blue Reflection Ray – This show is draining, man. For as good as BRR is, the fact that its episodes contain so much exposition combined with how heavy the show gets can definitely lead to episodes like this one where watching them just kinda feels exhausting. That may sound negative but I actually think that’s a positive trait. Is that weird? It’s probably weird.
The Detective is Already Dead – With the constant torrent of new anime, there’s a pressure to only let yourself watch the best of the best. Things that are masterpieces or at least seem like they’ll get into that conversation. If you subscribe to that philosophy, you can go ahead and move Detective to your Dropped list now. Detective is not the best, it’s honestly not even very good. But, when I find myself auditing my own time once a week (as I always do, it’s a bad habit arguably), I ask myself, “am I still getting anything out of this show?” Inevitably, I walk away answering “yes.”
Detective is…just kind of flummoxing. It has middling production values, and consists almost entirely of dialogue. (A trait I imagine works a little better in the original light novels.) Nonetheless, once or twice per episode it will do something that reels me back in, and temporarily banishes my skepticism. This week it was Nagisa talking down badly-traumatized cyborg idol Yui as she threatened both her and her co-lead with a pistol. Yet, while I maintain that Detective‘s problems have never been rooted in its premise (which I believe absolutely can be put to compelling ends), the fact remains that when Siesta reappears in a flashback in the post-credits, she is a dynamic, charismatic, theatrical presence that the show has no access to without her. Thus, the question of what happened to Siesta and how it will be resolved, and consequently whether Detective will ever actually earn its premise, is still an open one. She remains a compelling character, even in absence. A true “subtracted woman” who exists outside of the very narrative she controls. What can you do? The detective is dead already.
Magia Record Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story Season 2 -The Eve of Awakening- – I made most of my thoughts on MagiReco’s second season premiere pretty clear in my writeup for GGA. But it bears repeating; this is probably the best premiere of the year. It is pure “fanservice” in the older sense of the word; it’s a love letter to Madoka Magica as a franchise, the fans who are still ride-or-die for it ten years later, and the magical girl genre itself. It’s an open question as to whether the rest of the season will live up to the admittedly very high standard set by this premiere, but even if it doesn’t, I remain confident the show’s going to continue to be worth watching.
Sonny Boy – Barely to its quarter mark, Sonny Boy is the season’s easy standout, the only thing in the same conversation as Sonny Boy is the aforementioned MagiReco, from which it is otherwise very distinct. If you’re only going to watch one show this season, make it this one.
A friend ventured that Sonny Boy, at present, is depicting its characters reinventing the worst facets of society from scratch, since it’s all they know. This week’s episode with its magic blackout curtains and supernatural NEET-ism solved only by empathy seems like it may gesture to a way out somewhere many weeks down the road. Honestly though, you don’t need me to say this, but as hard as it is to say where Sonny Boy is headed, the ride alone is worth the price of admission.
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