Anime roundup 10/1/2015: Pomp and Circumstance

Charlotte-13 Charlotte finale – That was suitably epic. It was like watching an entire movie in 24 minutes. As Yū descends into insanity and loops back again, there is an amazing bounty of ideas about the forms psychic powers could take. And then it has to kick everything up a notch as Yū realizes he has to collect all the potential psychics as well.

It feels churlish to start asking questions like “But why not go back and save Kumagami, other than he’s clearly not as important a character as Ayumi?” or “But what about the scientific advances that come with the research into that vaccine, which no doubt will eventually lead to making psychic powers available to everyone?”. That’s not the kind of story Charlotte wants to tell. It’s about Yū and what he experiences.

I have had my complaints about the writing along the way, but the last episode absolutely stuck the landing. I can recommend this show without reservations.

(CrunchyrollWakanimViewsterAnimeLabDaisukiAniplex)

School-Live-12 SCHOOL-LIVE! finale – It turns out Tarōmaru still remembers who his friends are, and there’s hope for the antidote to return him to normal. Oh, wait, there isn’t. Dammit, SCHOOL-LIVE!, I can’t trust you for a minute. That has to be one of the most heartbreaking character deaths I’ve ever seen.

From that it swings up to the elation of graduation day, and the frenzy of planning that comes with it. Just to hammer the metaphor home, the girls are faced with the choice of heading for either a college or a business. I can’t guess where they’re going, but I will say that ending is the weirdest Mini Cooper ad I’ve ever seen.

There’s a little hook at the end for a possible next season (YES PLEASE), but this series has been a tidy self-contained story, and a very good one. Charlotte may have the best final episode, but this is overall the best show I’ve watched the last three months, and that’s really saying something this season.

(Crunchyroll)

insight-12 Gatchaman Crowds insight finale – So everyone was in on the plan from the beginning. Hajime is once again on a level of badass miles above everyone else, as she manages to keep Berg-Katze under control while taking near-fatal damage. All is set right in the end, and people are ready to stop and think about stuff for a while, but it seems the Kū are here to stay. And the CROWDS have been brought back. As if Japan wasn’t an interesting enough place already.

Is there room for this to get any weirder? Well, there’s still one more original Gatchaman series left to riff on…

I think this has been a good show, but I won’t be recommending it to everyone. This is a story about ideas, and everything else comes second to that. It has done great work with those ideas, but it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of densely brewed tea.

Also, if you liked this, you really should read Thinking Fast and Slow.

(Crunchyroll)

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