English Dub Review: City the Animation Episode 2

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

More shenanigans ensue in CITY.

OUR TAKE

Last week, I gave a lot of background info about City the Animation, from its spiritual predecessor Nichijou to its significance for the studio that makes it, Kyoto Animation. This week, I gotta tackle talking about all of these small but interconnecting plots like so much wet pasta noodle, which I am kind of dreading. Even though I did enjoy this episode quite a bit, as I did the last one, it can be hard to find much substantial to say about this sort of format of show. But this week actually helped illuminate for me why I enjoyed these two shows, and it’s not just because of the unique style of humor I noted before. While there are many new recurring gags this week, a few of the segments also carry on from last week’s, such as the manga artist and his assistant, who feel the need to end their manga because the artist is completely out of ideas, only for them to suddenly get a shot to get all their fame and success back. Likewise, the Mont Blanc Trio of three college girls who are our ostensibly main cast, also got more moments this week that flesh out their friendship.

I’ll try to not bring up Nichijou as much because I’m reviewing THIS show and not that, but they really are the same show down to the bones. But the reason I’m comparing them is that the reason Nichijou worked and why City likely will as well is that these jokes are just as much about making us laugh as it is about immersing us in the lives of people living in this…CITY. It’s a comedy just as much as it is a slice of life, which feels redundant to say since those two genres go hand in hand more often than not, but it’s important to state here. We are going to see plenty of funny things, as well as heartwarming and interesting things that make us feel more at home for the remaining eleven episodes. Or at least, that’s my hope, and these first two have given me reason to think that, so I’d say we’re off to a good start here. And if not, well, then it gives a good reason to go back and check out Nichijou again, so that’s always a plus. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a couple other shows to review tonight.