Space Patrol Luluco

Type: To infinity, and beyond!

Synopsis: Wait, wrong space cops. This is actually a story about a normal girl who learns a little lesson about what normal actually means….by having her father be frozen and being forced to work for an understaffed and under trained police force while also sorting out her complex feelings towards her criminal mother and budding sexuality. Normal girl stuff.

Pros: The show is produced by Trigger, everyone’s favorite pseudo-indie anime company. Like, they don’t make millions of dollars, but they can still afford to release season long anime every few years. Anyway, Luluco was their latest anime in 2016. The animation style was a mix between mostly Panty and Stocking and a little Kill La Kill during the action. I think the Kill La Kill song even plays at some point. The show is full of references to other Trigger/Gainax shows, with full blown, and surprising, cameos at a few points. I haven’t talked about the story because Luluco is your typical Trigger side-project farce. Most of Luluco’s adventures are silly stories with a punch-line ending, with the climax being about a girl’s first love. At 10 minutes per episode, it should take you under two hours to finish the whole series.

Cons: I liked the show. Fun plot about space hijinks. It does drags a little in the middle when the Space Pirate shows up, but I’ll forgive it for plot reasons. But I’ll be honest, I wasn’t very enthusiastic while watching it. Maybe I’ve watched too many Trigger/Gainax shows, but the magic just wasn’t there for me. Which is ironic, considering Little Witch Academia cameos. Speaking of, this really felt like a side project. Something for the team to do while finishing Little Witch Academia, Trigger’s actual next anime release. Luluco felt like Trigger’s Greatest Hits: The Anime to me. The show literally ends by fighting an galactic entity who can’t understand emotions! I don’t know, maybe I’m just a jaded old man who can’t remember what it’s like to be a 13 year old girl in love for the first time. I guess time makes fools of us all…

Watch it?: I mean, JUSTICE, right? (4/5)

MVP: Luluco

She got a space bike at the end.

Best Episode: Ep.11 “I Never Knew” (Legends never die!)

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Stigma of the Wind

Type: One story arc (maybe two)

Synopsis: Imagine a show that starts off with a black sheep from an elitist and prideful Japanese family coming home after being exiled for being a “disappointment.” The family happens to be in the middle of a crisis, and naturally targets the black sheep as the culprit, half because he’d likely hold a grudge and half because they’re bullies. But the black sheep isn’t going to take any more of their sh#t, and kicks their asses with his new wind powers.  Because screw Hierarchical social systems! DOWN WITH ELITISM!!–Then it turns out it’s not his fault…and everyone starts hanging out with each other, and ah, goes to the amusement park together. Huh, kinda petered out after the start there.

Pros: This show is based on a light novle. A one story light novel if I’m perfectly honest. And that’s the story of the return of Kazuma, the banished member of the Kannagi family of Fire wielders. Due to his inability to control fire, Kazuma was deemed an embarrassment and kicked out of the family. But a few years later, he comes back as a very powerful wind user. His return happens to be around the time that members of the Kannagi family are being killed by wind magic. The Kannagi’s assume it’s Kazuma, judge him guilty without a trial, and are soundly defeated by him. Worse yet, a few try to get him to turn himself in out of family loyalty, despite being exiled from the family. Jerks! This whole story arc, and the subsequent one involving someone trying to get revenge on Kazuma for something he didn’t do, are really compelling. It introduced a lot of the characters really well, it sets up the conflict as both a fight between family and between tradition, and it explores the idea of how resentment grows from inequality. Episodes 1-7 are watchable. Too bad I can’t say the same for the rest…

Cons: This show his based on a light novel that clearly had 2 thought out story lines, and nothing else. This means that either the author ran out of ideas very quickly, or that the anime writers went off script. Either way, after ep7 the show goes from an exploration of complex family interactions to a light hearted love comedy. Let’s just forget that our entire family was slaughtered and go to the amusement park! I’m sure that will convince the man we gave serious inferiority issues to marry his 18 year old cousin! I mean, now that he’s so strong, we can invite him back to the family no problem! Everything becomes very troupe havey after episode 7. Ayano goes from the headstrong heir of the Kannagi household to a love sick puppy. Kazuma goes from an anti-hero to kinda a brooding trickster? And Ren, well Ren actually become more tolerable. I though for sure he was going to be like a shota-type man child, but he was pretty normal. In any case, the show stagnates after it’s opening, and not amount of useless and unnecessary backstory about a dead chick is going to fix it.

Watch it: “Promise you’ll always protect me,” who says that!? (3/5)

MVP: Kazuma

Prime Kazuma. Not Tsui Ling Kazuma.

Best Episode: Ep1-4 Return of Kazuma Arc (interesting beginning)