Basquash! - Episode 11

It's probably a little early to start discussing what impact the change in director and the reshuffling and replacement of various other staff members on the Basquash! project will have, but one thing is for sure - There were some occasionally disastrous lapses in animation quality here that were truly jarring against the normally superlative inducing quality we've come to expect from this series.

Thankfully, these issues don't seem to have extended to the actual plot itself too much, although this is admittedly a slower episode than we've been used to seeing from the series. After resolving his issues last episode, Dan and the rest of the team have been on a roll, tearing up teams left, right and centre and well and truly cementing their place in the public psyche. The net result of this is an invitation for them to play in the OCB at Turbine City, a city.... well, full of turbines basically, relying as it does on wind power to generate vast amounts of electricity.


So, while "Alan" is scouting out the town and trying to get to grips with its unique nature ready for the forthcoming matches, so everyone else seems somewhat distracted - Sela has some history to revisit in the town (despite her denials that she's ever been there before), while Iceman Hotty once again finds himself with a need to go back on some history of his own, visiting Falcon for some reason or other. Indeed, Dan seems to be the only one unfazed by the anything, casually wandering around basketball in hand, and only really showing any interest when the prize for winning the OCB tournament is revealed - A chance to play in the Lunar League.

In all honesty, this episode was only ever going to be about scene setting ready for the big tournament, and it manages to do this pretty well (thanks once again to some gorgeous backdrops for this instalment) while also delving a little more into Sela's previously unknown past and adding a little more frisson to the rivalry between Iceman Hotty and Falcon. So, no complaints on that front, but I really am disappointed by those aforementioned lapses in animation quality on show in this episode - Not what I wanted to see the week after an announcement that the character designer for the series is no longer working on the show. Will we be seeing more cost-cutting from this series? After so many episodes of top-notch animation it is perhaps inevitable, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, and even by normal standards the drop in quality here was a step too far.