7.25.23 PING PONG THE ANIMATION (2014) it's been a very long while since i've really teared up while watching something, but this one really got me good! i'll blame it on my upcoming period but i'd have cried any other time, most likely. god this was just such an exciting and fun watch for me, i've been trapped in anime limbo for about months now because every single series i start feels so uninteresting to me, so my initial assumption was that i'd end up dropping this after around 3 episodes. i was pleasantly surprised because i spent my entire day watching this one because i couldn't find it within me to stop and leave it for another day, it was something i had to finish.
if you're curious, i cried because of the song in the final episode, where the choir of kids sing about being alive and it made me so emotional thinking about both the events of the anime and also life in general. sometimes you just miss the passion of being a kid and feeling like you could conquer anything if you tried hard enough, and maybe i just need to capture that sense of vitality again. well anyways, i find it so hard to sum up my thoughts and feelings about this one because it felt so perfect to me.
i picked this one up because i'm a huge fan of masaaki yuasa, mostly due to his own art and i envy his style more than any other artist i've ever known. i'll probably go on to check out other things within his filmography because prior to this, all i had watched was eizouken. who knew ping pong could be so emotional... my favorite character was kong wenge, if you were wondering. i cannot dislike a character as cool as he... and yes, i did cry seeing his relationship with his mother and during the scene where it's christmas and he's making wontons with her, when the rest of his team come in to join and help them. he comes into the story with the impression that japan is beneath him and that the players are nowhere near china's level, only to end up finding his own sense of belonging with his very own team. his story was just one of many that really moved me.
and i can't end this review without mentioning how absolutely brilliant the soundtrack was for this show, like seriously. every little background track was right up my alley, just so well put together and beautifully perfect for every scene. i've already saved practically the entire soundtrack on my spotify, this one will definitely be remembered by me for years to come. please check this one out!! even if you don't personally like sports anime or anime in general, just check it out!! and don't say anything about how the art is an "eyesore" or whatever, because you're insane and stupid for thinking it. just watchhhhhh, you won't regret it!!!
6.25.23 THE BEAR (SEASON 2) literally woah!!! this season was actually pretty amazing, but i definitely have my qualms with some parts of it. i finished watching this with my friends just last night, so my thoughts will most certainly not be polished whatsoever.
i think this season did a pretty nice job at developing the cast of characters without relying on catching them while working in The Bear, giving us a way more in depth look into the personal lives and motivations of these characters and why they're in the line of work they do. for characters like Syd, we see how her faith within not just the shop, but Carmy as well slowly dwindle, especially after she's sent around town visiting different restaraunts for inspiration. she witnesses functional teams, teams without chaos or discourse, as well as efficiency and security. by the end of the season, while she's excited for the restaraunt's demo opening, she confesses she doesn't feel as if she can step up to the plate. with sydney as a character, we see how much insecurity has started to settle in within her after season one and all the rebuilding that needed to be done for the restaraunt to even live on, and i think they handled her character and her personal incentives perfectly. in season two, a lot of the side characters we see in season one even get their own personal closeups, like ebra and tina, which i think was pretty cool, while not rushing others storylines or taking up too much time on anothers. most of the episodes still have the chaotic, suffocating and anxiety inducing charm, especially episode 6 which was hands down the best episode of the season. getting an inside look at just what sort of family carmy has, and how it's led to where we are now in the story. i thought the cameos were insane, definitely wasn't expecting them, which is relieving because it would have been a bummer if they had advertised all these cameos to get people to tune in. it was a neat little surprise, and most of the cameos did an absolutely fantastic job with what roles they were portraying, like jamie lee curtis.
i think my biggest nitpick, which most people have been agreeing with online, is how rushed of a storyline carmy and claire was. she's the childhood sweetheart that gets away only to crop back up in carmy's life and give him solace during a time of absolute disarray. except, we barely see much of claire outside of carmy, and her character was written in such a strange way that i wasn't sure if the writers genuinely thought the audience would adore her, or if they wanted us to find her and carmy impossible. i enjoy that they show us how little carmy can handle a personal life alongside his work life, showing that he can only put his all into one thing or another, and never knows how to share parts of himself equally, but i think claire as a plot device leaves the audience finding her and her many scenes sort of... boring? her dialogue is not great, coming across as the indie girl of every man's dreams, basically like a john green character. i don't know, i guess we'll see in the next season how she really fit into this whole thing, or i guess the point of her story is that she didn't fit at all. carmy has no ability or personal strength to allow himself happiness, and it's really evident in the final episode.
overall, really great season to follow up season one with, and they never let go of the charms that drew people into the show in the first place. i'm excited to see where they can take this story, and i hope the next wait will be worth it!!