Author: AidanAK47

Some Quick First Impressions: Amaama to Inazuma, Fukigen na Mononokean and Tales of Zestiria the X

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Amaama to Inazuma

Short Synopsis: A father wants to learn how to cook to make his daughter happy.

This is one of those shows, the ones you watch on a rainy day after being stressed out at work/school and too tired to stomach something that requires more attention. This is fluff but it’s good fluff. If you can get past the rather ridiculous hair for the little girl you have a show about a single father and his adventures in cooking for his daughter. While watching I found myself relaxing and smiling as I watched the father and daughter interact. The two have some excellent chemistry and their dialogue never comes off as forced or unnatural. Luckily the food tasting isn’t over exaggerated like that of other shows about food and the characters are good. The biggest negative I can say is that it’s not the kind of show you will rave over or put you on the edge of your seat. Rather more of a soft pillow to take a break in between shows. In regards to that I say this could be a good watch for tired minds.

Potential: 80%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

By formula, the show is Bunny Drop in ways more of eating and cooking together. The two shows have the same plotline of single father (or father’s figure) learn how to raise a child on his own, but if I put it that way I’d sell this one short. Yes, this show’s about a father tries his best to raise his daughter, and determines to spend more time cooking to make his daughter happy; but the central theme here, as clearly shown in this first episode, is about their relationship. And their relationship is one of the most natural and real in anime. They’re a bunch of likeable people, and Tsumugi charms her way through very natural and spot on behaviors. This first episode also succeeds on showing subtle emotions from each cast (like the way Tsumugi sings her favorite song, and asks her father to sing it with her), making them lively and true to life. This is such a pleasant watch and I believe it would be a solid low-key show to follow.

Potential: 80%

 

Fukigen na Mononokean

Short Synopsis: A boy hires a student exorcist to get rid of a Youkai that’s clinging to him.

Welcome to Natsume’s book of friends School life edition. Not sure how else I can put it other than that. This series carries a lot of similarities with it in being about helping Youkai and having a somewhat episodic structure. Is it better than Natsume? Truly I don’t know as i didn’t really find Natsume all that interesting. I think I just don’t like the concept of Youkai as I find them more silly than intimidating. I think this episode manages to be a great adaption of the manga and animation seems suited to it. I can see others taking quite a liking to this show if you are fond of shows such as Mushishi or stories dealing with sympathising with supernatural beings. If it feel on one front I say I am not too fond of the comedy which seems too slapstick for the nature of the series. If it’s your thing I think you will enjoy it quite a lot so I guess just try it out and see for yourself.

Potential: 60%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

I’m surprised to say I enjoy watching its first episode, but at the same time I have my doubt on it. It’s simply because most of elements that I enjoy in this episode is going to be one-off. The yokai this week is the real star of course and I like the gag where Ashiya passes out at school and wakes up in nurse’s office. The comedy is spot on so far and I mildly interested in the main concept: about Ashiya and Abeno and how they exorcise the yokai monsters. But the elements that going to be prominent are sadly just not as interesting and predicable. The chemistry between the two leads is just average. They’re still nothing more than their archetypical role and putting them on the same class is as cliché as hell (pun intended). Moreover, the way this week’s yokai even has more emotional complex than our two leads is not a good sign. The show has my curiosity so far, but it needs to do more than this to get my full attention.

Potential: 50%

 

Tales of Zestiria the X

Short Synopsis: A queen deals with the world’s destruction as she waits for the arrival of the hero called the Shepard.

Interesting. This episode is actually completely anime original as the game doesn’t actually show what happened to the queen before she met the main protagonist. Though I think this was a wise way to start the story as the game starts with a much slower less interesting tutorial. It’s Ufotable so naturally it looks pretty beautiful but I really hope they pick something better next time to bestow excellent fight animation and lush backdrops. Maybe an Adaption of “The empty box and Zero Maria” perhaps?(They certainly could get some experimental animation with that and the series does share some similarities with their previous work Kara no Kyoukai) Or better yet an original anime. None the less I think this better presents the state of the world than the game did but I fear this may have given viewers the wrong idea about the tone of the series. You should expect things to get more lighthearted and typical JRPG in the next few episodes. From the tales games I played the story doesn’t stray too far from JRPG archetypes. For one that King Arthur symbolism is so obvious that it hurts. My original estimate still stands for this, it will look quite pretty but considering that the game failed to engage me even with gameplay, i doubt stripping out gameplay will make it more engaging.

Potential: 20%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Man, talking about heavy-handed! Many of factors of this series scream “important” to your face: from the story itself about the young queen lose almost everything at the end of episode, to the many big talks, to the intense fight sequences to the dark and loud score to even darker art designs. As you can likely guess I’m not a fan of heavy-handed material and even fantasy genre in general but I’m quite impressed with the production values of this one and the destructive storms sequence is for me a glaring example on how CGI done right. I’m not familiar to any of “Tales” franchise so I can’t say how this one reminisces others. The visual and character designs remind me a bit of From the New World, which is a great sign. Story-wise everything is all over the place now but it’s no mean inconsistent, as I think we will understand more as the series continue. With the production is as great as this one, I really hope the coming episodes tone down a bit on its seriousness, but I highly doubt it.

Potential: 35%

Some Quick First Impressions: B-Project, Love Live! Sunshine!! and Orange

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

B-Project

Short Synopsis: An idol show about a group of male idols.

I guess they are still trying to create the male equivalent of love live aren’t they. Well I say you should take pointers on what made it work. For one you should never introduce all your characters in one fell swoop, especially if you have a lot of them. Out of the ten characters introduced I can remember four at best but I can recall that pretty much all of them are utterly one dimensional stereotypes. This may be just me, but it feels like reverse harems tend to rely heavier on stereotypes than regular harems. I mean of course harems make use of stereotypes to a massive degree but at least they somewhat try to differentiate them(Obviously not always successfully but still.). Whereas here, I am fairly certain I have seen all these characters before under different names. So a completely amateur is thrown into a manager role despite having no previous experience or any idea of what the job entails. Luckily she has the power of plot convenience as she is able to spot small details and is able to vaguely explain them though ridiculously silly metaphors. The music is terrible but the series is certainly trying to distract you from noticing it by having the singers sparkle and shine which just looks very silly. I may be judging this a bit harshly as while my expectations of what this would be were not wrong, it’s still at least watchable. If you are a fan of this sort of show I think it might do the trick but I will pass on this.

Potentail: 20%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

A typical Idol show, and story-wise the story about rookie manager learning her job is nothing new as well. This episode starts the rookie manager up with a group of 2 guys, so next few episodes we could see her taking more challenging job with the other teams of 3 and 5 people, respectively. While the music is nice I’ll say that I’m not in its target demographic because I can’t stand 10 male characters that all manage to have different hair colors here. At least one thing I learnt was that in recording sessions, singers had to be separated, because I always assume they had to sing together in order to have a chemistry together. We do learn new things every day hey?

Potential: 20%

Love Live! Sunshine!!

Short Synopsis: An idol show about a group of female idols.

Well at least they captured the essence of what made the first show so watchable and it certainly does have that bubbly optimism that is contagious. We have a brand new cast but I must admit that some of them don’t feel all that new. Our main heroine feels like another Honoka in that she’s a happy go lucky person that doesn’t think things through. There’s a girl who plays piano who’s likely to become the music composer for the group. There’s a student council president who is deeply opposed but will likely join the group later. but there are some new faces giving a different dynamic though one is pulling a rather stereotypical Chunni act. One big worry on watching this series is that it may be just a retread of the first show with slightly different characters. Ultimately if you liked the first season this is bound to give you the same things you liked about it. What will be a challenge of the rest of the series is providing something beyond that.

Potential: 55%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Here is another idol show, but this is the one that I can actually can get behind. Love Live has been one of the most successful idol show, and this new installment promises to be on a right track. This episode makes so many things right: a colorful set of characters, all the characters get introduced here and within its short time they all make an impression. But the biggest success is in its thrills: the sense of fun and exciting to form a group, to start something they passionate about. In that sense this is not unlike a sport show. While Idol show again is not my cup of tea, this first episode so far sold me on giving it another watch.

Potential: 50%

Orange

Short Synopsis: A 16-year-old high school girl received a letter from her future-self telling her to keep an eye on the new transfer student.

Theres still a possibility of me blogging this as the summer preview poll is open till the airing of the second episodes but if that’s the case then I am not looking forward to it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this episode, in fact the animation is quite expressive minus some still frame montages. But this really isn’t my kind of show. I have no love for my mundane memories of school so I can’t relate to stories that romanticize it. For if I wrote a letter to my previous self, I would tell myself not to be a dumbass and make good use of my time knowing full well that my over egotistical previous self wouldn’t take it into account in the slightest. When I watch this all I can think of is how utterly bland this main character is and seeing the telltale signs of a love triangle. We already have confirmed that Naho loves transfer student and that her friend is her husband in the future so we all know that’s coming to a head. Plus it looks like Naho’s female friend has a thing for Transfer student as well so it looks like it’s a love square with likely more incoming. It’s been too soon since Kiznaiver and I am too old for this shit. Plus that soundtrack is so melodramatic that it makes me retch, that piano is so sappy that it makes me embarrassed just to hear it. If this can control itself and keep the drama down to earth I say this could have some worth. However if this goes full Okada then well…watch Relife instead.

Potential: 50%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

This show really sets itself up for a melodrama here, but I do really hope it doesn’t get too overboard. Other than that, I happy with the entire episode. The cast is well defined and the dynamic between them is all natural. I actually care a lot about the main girl, more than any other main character this season so far, simply because I know exactly what she thinks. Timid, a bit shy and don’t want to be a bother to others, while only allow herself to get hurt. I understand that feeling all too well and I know this train of feeling could bound for many regrets later, on what things she could do better. All that to say this resonates to me on the personal level. The realistic settings and more mature character designs also help to make it look like a live-action series (indeed, Orange has adapted to live-action film last year). I’m afraid later on this show will get into tear-jerking territory, but at least for now, it has my full support.

Potential: 90%

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 14

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

Never have I wished so much for a main character to die and not have it be out of spite. Todays episode shows us what Subaru will likely be fighting to prevent for the rest of the series and it is quite brutal. First let us have a moment of silence for the first Opening and ending. Poor souls never got much use in the end but well enough of that, the new opening hints at plenty of new developments and things to come. The song isn’t all that great but the visuals make up for it, particularly like the ending part with Subaru reaching out to a Emilia being engulfed in dark hands. Our main enemy this time around looks to be the witch cult and damn if they are not intimidating. They have a certain disturbing aura that just makes they unnerving and based on the strange way they showed up in front of Subaru, they don’t seem quite human. What makes the scene most interesting is that the hooded figures bowed to Subaru and left him alive despite killing an entire village. I was already certain of it but it’s clear than Subaru’s power and presence is tied to the Jealous witch and somehow these figures recognise that. Either way the sound work was top notch during this scene and throughout the anime now that I think about it. The unnerving choir notes are the most notable and well used as they do add a layer of mystical malevolence to the scene.

So after the spat with Emilia, Subaru isn’t in the best mood, nor has he come to his senses. I like that he isn’t following the typical pattern of locking himself away from people and curling up in a ball moaning “Woe is me”. He is actively going out of his way to break out of his funk but the problem is that his answer for doing so really isn’t the right one. Subaru as he is right now isn’t particularly likeable but there’s a difference between being unlikable because of poor writing or unsympathetic protagonists, and being unlikable because the protagonist is heading down a path the audience knows won’t do him any good. No one is supposed to agree with Subaru here because it’s clear that his motivations are wrong. It’s funny because if we take only take Subaru’s dialogue without context then in a regular light novel it would be the path to victory. Snapping out of your depression because there only something you can do and brashly running to a battle. In another story Subaru would be celebrated and encouraged. However Re:Zero is not that kind of light novel and it’s clear that Subaru’s problem runs a whole lot deeper. I have sympathy for him, for throughout all of this it’s easy to forget that Subaru is just a teenager and that he has gone through events that would leave a lesser man mentally crippled for life. I say he has more right to go off the rails than a certain Eva unit pilot, that’s for sure.

Subaru is busy convincing himself that only he can help Emilia, that he is the only person on her side and that she needs him. This is very dangerous thinking and I think Subaru needs to come to terms with his limitations. He needs to see Emilia for who she is and stop making her his end all for all problems and if he wants to get out of this he needs to recognise that he needs help from others to do it. Rem is likely the best person to show him that and by god I don’t know how she hasn’t nabbed the main heroine spot yet because in my book she’s earned it more than Emilia. She sticks with him even when she sees he’s making mistakes and even stops him from getting himself killed as she goes to the mansion alone. However that action could cost her as I doubt Subaru’s mental state will allow himself to trust her after being tricked like that. Crusch and Wilhelm seem to hold some sort of respect for Subaru and are actively trying to help him come to terms with things. With Wilhelm it’s easy to see, as he recognises that Subaru has indeed faced death before based on his eyes. Crusch is a bit more of a mystery, maybe she’s a romantic at heart or maybe she sees something in Subaru. Or maybe she’s tired of seeing him depressed, who knows. She does hold a firm set of principles so it could be just a matter of wanting him to look forward and prove himself. But she certainly accidently planted a dark incentive in Subaru’s mind. After all there is something only he can do and he might be thinking of using it as his get out of jail free card. Regardless of intention, I hope Subaru does make use of return by death because Rem just died. I certainly am not in favor is staying in the dead end were the best heroine is dead. After a weak start episode and a flustrating episode this is now when this arc has kicked into gear and I am certainly excited for it. The stakes are higher, the circumstances difficult and enemy unsettling. Subaru’s suffering is of a higher degree but my wait till Sunday will be arduous indeed.

~AidanAK47~

Some Quick First Impressions: Momokuri, First Love Monster and Days

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Momokuri

Short Synopsis:  Girl has a crush on boy, girl begins to stalk boy, girl decides to confess to boy. Naturally the boy accepts it. The show chronicles their love story.

They really need to make clear what is a Tv short and a full series before they start airing. Well today’s lesson dear readers is simple, stalking isn’t cute. It’s creepy. A girl becomes obsessed with a boy and proceeds to do all the things a stalker would. Takes pictures of him when he’s not aware, spies on him, knows way too much about him and even holds items used by him in certain reverence. Despite her confessing to him and it being accepted she still can’t quite get rid of her old stalking habits which pretty much makes that the main joke. It’s not really funny and I am not fond of the idea of somewhat romanticising obsession. The characters aren’t really all that interesting and it’s focus seems to be on being cute more than being funny. I say give this a pass as there are better school romances this season.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

This is actually an ONA and its episodes are just 13 minutes long. With that said, throughout the two episodes there’s only one hook from the show: that the two main characters decided to date together, the rest stretches out to how the girl becomes obsessed of the boy, and their shyness when being together. For me 20 minutes of doing just that is simply not enough, and I don’t find the lead endearing or anything. The only thing that I give a plus for this show is we get to know how each other feel, even the supporting ones, through their voice-over and it somewhat balances out the seemingly one-note first love story. But then again I don’t have any high hopes for this one.

Potential: 10%

 

First Love Monster

Short Synopsis: Girl was saved from a car accident by a boy and she immediately has a crush on him. After she asks to date him, she finds out he’s a primary school student.

There’s nothing quite as tragic as a unfunny comedy. The manga gave me the impression this would be a more straightforward shoujo show but the anime looks to be pushing for a more slapstick comedy approach. In regards to that it’s lacking a sense of dignity as the second half of the episode delves into humor so juvenile that it’s downright embarrassing. I get that the joke is that these children in teenager bodies are acting immature and childish but I suggest maybe not resorting to kids toilet humor. What’s more the actually maturity of these “kids” is questionable as one hand you have them talking about their wieners and then on the other you have them commenting about how the main guy could be cuckold which is certainly not something a kid would know. The first half had me yawning  and the second half had me shaking my head. This isn’t worth your time.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

And talking about first love, we have this one in its extreme spectrum that speaks so much about “crush”. The premise alone is stupid enough, and yes the show goes for full comedy so it means that they don’t take themselves seriously; but to see the kid starts to do all kiddie things, and worst of all they design them to look like a teen who wear kid’s clothes and doing kiddie things, it just sends me chills down my spines. All other characters tick all the box of archetype and anime tropes here so I don’t see any reason that I would spend more time with it.

Potential: 0%

 

Days

Short Synopsis: A boy who clueless about football decides to join a football club.

This is all pretty standard for this kind of sports anime. A clueless newbie joins a sport where he must be shown the ropes. Gains a deep passion and camaraderie with fellow players. And to the world of that show the only thing worth giving a damn is the sport it’s representing. In this case, football. I find it somewhat endearing as it makes the sport look as dynamic and lively as a football match somehow resembles a superhuman showdown with overblown sound effects and overdramatic reactions. Still there is a certain draw to this kinds of shows and I would be lying if I said I didn’t get drawn in partly. It’s simple but effective though the motto of try very hard and you will succeed is one I see as quite foolish. As a certain sportsman once said, “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” It’s no Giant Killing but if you are looking for something watchable in between shows this is not a bad choice to go with.

Potential: 50%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

I have to say I have a soft spot for sports anime, mainly because a) I have a sport background and b) I had read many sports manga during my childhood. Days sadly appears to be typically underdog football show, where the main character is weak, don’t even know much about football so he has to try harder to be on the team, and his “pushing himself to the limit” attitude gonna inspire the whole team. There seems to be at least inspirational story but I had seen this many times before and for this episode the show doesn’t offer anything different. I’d say I like the character’s designs and I like how they include futsal here (they don’t often portray futsal in anime) but that’s all there is to it.

Potential: 20%

Some Quick First Impressions: Berserk, Relife and Rewrite

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Berserk

Short Synopsis: After being betrayed by a dear friend, the black swordsman ventures out for revenge while surviving the demons chasing after him.

Let’s get this out of the way first, yes indeed. This show is ugly. It keeps switching between 2d stills and janky 3d animated models that look like a Playstation 2’s throwup. It never truly allowed me to adjust because the quality of the show was all over the place and thus I was left being nagged that after nearly twenty years without a continuation, Berserk is graced with this visual abomination. But to be fair it was expected considering the studio. Music felt equally off in some places as instead of medieval themed pieces we are graced with heavy guitar and what seems to be some electronic rock? The tune played when Guts swung his sword at the tree demon was especially jarring.  Let’s move on to what matters, the story. This episode didn’t fair well in that category either as the pacing was fast and wonky. This wasn’t a faithful adaption as the studio wishes to skip some story arcs to jump right into the conviction arc, so it’s hastily trying to gather the pieces together instead of letting it flow naturally. I am a good bit disappointed as one of my favorite arcs, Lost children is going to be skipped but we are short in time when it comes to this. But there are parts of this that held some potential, Guts dream sequence was done very well and I rather liked the end with Guts making a declaration and silencing the demons whispering to him. The original Berserk anime in 1997 also had a shaky first episode and I am hoping that once this settles into the arc proper, it will begin to shine.

Potential: 40%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

The long awaited Berserk has finally arrived with new material. I am a bit worry about the amount of CGI when I first heard about it but now after watching it I’d say the CGI is pretty serviceable. In term of actual story, this is more like a self-contained story to show us more about Guts and his curses, about the way he unfortunately has to walk on, paved with skulls and dead bodies of the weak and innocents. I’ll say we will get into the actual arc when the next episode kicks in. The biggest drawback for me in this episode is the overall tone, which they mix between gritty, harsh, dark material with the light-heart comedy, and frankly it feels very awkward. All the out-of- place comedy involves Puck so I’m a bit worry since he will be prominent from now on. The fighting sequence, like I mentioned earlier, still holds much tension and at least the CGI don’t distract the atmosphere. That aside I think we pretty have a solid new episode of Berserk and I’m hungry for more.

Potential: 70%

 

Relife

Short Synopsis: A 27 year old man is given a chance to relive his high school life.

Well despite this being only an impression of the first episode, I am surprised to say that you can view the entirely of the Relife anime right now.  All 13 episodes are available now to view on crunchyroll, making this the very first anime to begin and finish airing on the same day. Whether this is a blessing or a curse is up in the air for me as it’s great to have the full series at hand now but in that case how am I supposed to blog it? If this becomes the norm for anime I may be out of the job. Anyway what we have here is a pretty much perfect adaption of the Relife comic. It’s looks great and has captured the comedy of the series perfectly. As a man in my twenties I can certainly relate to Kaizaki’s troubles with finding work as it really wasn’t that long ago where I was a NEET myself. Can’t say I ever lied about having a job to friends though but man, that was rough. My own personal feelings may be heightening my enjoyment of the show as I can sympathise with the main character so much. However I truly feel like this is quite a good school life show and from ratings of the series as a whole, it looks to stay that way. An enjoyable little show and I give it a higher rating because you can binge right through it all now.

Potential: 90%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Although the concept about a failed adult has a chance to return to his high school life has been done to death at this point, most glaringly we just had ERASED few seasons back, there’s still meat behind this show so I’m eager to see more from this. The first thing that this series done right is to make Arata the main protagonist as relatable as possible, and his failure from his current life is something that most of us has been through. 28-year-old without a proper job, still relies on parent’s allowance and see all his friends has been settled down is not a pretty picture. The second thing the show is really good at, despise just this first episode, is the power of the cast. Just in about 10 minutes I feel like I’ve learnt about most of the cast, all their traits and the chemistry so far is rock solid. With that said, the gags about Arata being under-prepared, his sometimes silly reactions don’t do well to me, and judging from the first episode here I can see that comedy is not this show’s strong suits.

Potential: 75%

 

Rewrite

Short Synopsis: Something something, murderous little girl with ribbons, something something, high school, something something, fairies and giant squid monster.

If it’s something I say this adaption isn’t botched like I was expecting though the animation could certainly be better. But I suspect that any viewer watching this is bound to be very confused. I will say I am not fond of the choice to just use the soundtrack of the visual novel for the anime, even if I do admit that Maeda is a fine composer if nothing else. The visual novel tracks were meant more for a reading experience and hearing them in the anime felt too intrusive and sudden. There is nothing wrong with the tracks themselves but it’s clear they are being shoehorned into the anime scenes.While the show isn’t making any effort to explain itself I admit that the supernatural elements lend a certain mystique to the anime and act as a good hook. As a forty minute first episode, it did it’s job. However I give this a low rating namely because I know what’s to come and the end of the episode is perfect indicator of that. First we go into the old typical Key comedy and school life first half and then things are gonna get weird. Sorry I mean weirder. Still annoys me how Key heroines tend to act more like kindergarteners than high school girls and the hints of mystery bug me because I know the answers and those answers are pretty dumb. You may get some enjoyment out of this if you happen to be a Key fan but I recommend that you keep your expectations low.

Potential: 30%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

We have a double-length first episode and they use these 50 minutes just to set everything up. I guess this is an essential part of time-loop series, just like Re:Zero last season where the first few episodes just to set things up, get us to know all the main characters and then wait for the plot kicks in. In that respect, there are still ways too many characters get introduced in this first episode, while the main hook still hasn’t presented. There are some underlying bits that will be relevance in future episodes: like the very nature of our main character, Kotarou; or the setting place itself, it seems like there is something going on behind those factories; and I especially like the first opening of displaying the ruined city and it’s interested to see how that part connected to the main storyline. On other notes, the character designs of making every one “cute” annoys the hell out of me, and I can’t even get behind these uniforms: it’s more like a maid uniform for all I care. In all, I’m not quite convinced with this first episode but I’ll give it a 3-episode test to see if it can still hold up.

Potential: 40%

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 13

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

When I heard about this arc being hard to watch I readied myself for a number of things. I was prepared to see Subaru die gruesomely, to see him tortured and broken. However while I was ready to see him get destroyed by others; I didn’t expect him to be the architect of his own destruction. This was truly a painful episode to watch with Subaru attempting the brute force his way through story developments like a typical shounen protagonist and it just failing miserably. It wasn’t elegant, nor was it impressive and Subaru came off as outright pathetic in his attempts to make himself seem like a big deal. This is by far Subaru’s lowest point in the series and the visuals certainly show it. The manga tried to give him dignity in that there he was at least given some acknowledgement and looked decent even when getting beaten. Not in the anime, here he looked seedy, graceless and desperate.

Which leads me to rethink something I said in the last episode review of this series, namely that I was worried about Rem becoming irrelevant to the story. Perhaps I was worried about the wrong person and in truth the one whose rapidly becoming irrelevant is Subaru himself and he’s all too aware of it. After the closure of the mansion arc Subaru is in a a brand new run where he has no real idea of how anything will turn out. His usefulness has dropped to zero and his existence in Emilia’s life is no longer necessary. For when you think about it, he has no real reason to be at the King’s selection nor any real reason to be in Emilia’s life. The spotlight is moving away from him and I think Subaru has noticed. That’s what makes this episode a little easier to watch for me, for I see it as Subaru desperately kicking and screaming so that he doesn’t end up left behind.

I will admit that seeing Subaru going through all this is not a pleasant experience and while I appreciate the subversion of the shounen tropes, it’s still somewhat flustrating to see Subaru act like this. What makes this somewhat more frustrating is that Subaru is basically making the moves the viewer likely would. I know if I heard someone start berating the girl I liked by racist assumptions I would call him out on it regardless of where I was. Same goes for Julius as he questioned Subaru’s declaration of being Emilia’s Knight, I too would try to shout him down. Upon being challenged to a duel I would relish any opportunity to hit him. But here Subaru is making all the moves the audience wants but is experiencing the consequences of taking such actions. By declaring himself a knight he publical embarrassed Emilia in front of everyone and by fighting Julius he showed everyone just how much of his words was pure empty talk. I really like that when looking at it from Julius’s perspective all his actions seem logical. Most often to make the hero look better they have his opponent act illogical and unreasonable but here Julius was the more level headed one. He tried to make Subaru see just how he was making Emilia feel and even his challenge was him giving Subaru a chance to show his worth; while preventing him from getting murdered in a back alley for insulting the knights by making him an example. Obviously he isn’t right in every regard, I am fairly certain he got some enjoyment out of beating Subaru to a pulp and his philosophy of might makes right is just wrong. However he isn’t just some one dimensional caricature for Subaru to beat down and show everyone how great and right he is.

On the matter of the king’s selection I find it amusing that none of the candidates is aiming to simply be a good ruler and many are going for a radical and dangerous change. We have Priscilla who basically promises a complete dictatorship. Crusch wishes to rid ties to the dragon and let the people rule the nation which seems like a pretty big deal. Anastasia admitted that she is only after the crown to satisfy her own greed. Felt after being pushed into running as ruler due to Roms interference, declares that she was get rid of the social class hierarchy. Emilia in contrast seems to be the most reasonable one and promises to give equality to all people. Basically each participant has pretty much declared that they are going to do whatever the hell they want when they get the crown so I wonder just how this is planned to be settled.

The defining aspect of this episode is the scene after all of Subaru’s embarrassments where he and Emilia finally have a talk. The talk bordered on the overly melodramatic but hit some big points. Namely that Subaru has placed Emilia on a pedestal so high that he can’t even see her for what she is anymore. Emilia cannot understand just why he holds her so highly and Subaru can’t explain because of the curse. Leaving him rambling like a madman to Emilia about events that just didn’t happen to her. After Subaru lets out his most selfish true feelings; Emilia declares that they go their separate ways leaving Subaru alone. This is probably the most human Emilia has been in the series and he comments such as “I had high hopes for you” cut deeper than a knife. This is a massive turning point in the series but one that has me worried. This is big in regards to Subaru in that once he arrived in this world he made Emilia his center and focused all his efforts for her.

Now he’s lost that and the time has come for him to find a new objective but there lies a problem in this. If Subaru dies then possibly all this will be undone and even though while watching this episode I desperately wanted someone to kill Subaru just to undo the utter cringeworthy displays he put in, I do not want his confrontation with Emilia to be undone. If I am asked about whether this episode was a good or bad episode I say my decisive factor is what comes after this. This could be a great example of Shounen deconstruction if it remains this way and a great cornerstone of Subaru’s development as must pick up the broken relationship pieces caused by his mistakes. But if all this gets swept under the rug and Subaru gets to replay for the perfect end then this episode will leave a particularly bad taste in my mouth.

~AidanAK47~

Kiznaiver Review – 60/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Kiznaiver, Reviews by AidanAK47

Kiznaiver is a very different faire from Studio Triggers other works in that it takes a more serious tone and has a writer who tends to go more for the melodramatic. This is a tale about a group of very different people gathered together and have their pain linked to one another. In an effort to take a step towards world peace a system was devised to allow people to feel the pain of others as if it was their own and thus these group of people must learn to coexist with one another to complete missions given to them throughout the summer. This is the premise sadly lost in this show as it eventually gets lost in a love pentagram, excessive teenage melodrama and angst over the past. Kiznaiver is a polarising title in that it has elements of great worth and characters, while not particularly deep, that have good chemistry. However while it had a vague idea on the themes it wanted to touch and what it intended the characters to be, it purely gets lost when it comes to presenting those idea’s. What we are left with is a series which doesn’t know where it is going and wastes more than half its runtime in reach of a goal. Though once it finally decides on its direction it sacrifices all it has set up and it’s greater elements for forced drama and soap opera like developments. All to end on a climax with feels undeserved and rushed.

Kiznaiver is a bad story with excellent presentation as while the story developments are confused and lack focus, the presentation could fool you otherwise. Direction is particularly excellent in giving emotion to certain scenes and the visual aesthetic is quite appealing. The anime also sports a great opening with what may be the last song by the excellent band “Boom Boom Satellites”. The OST has some notable tracks and sound direction is spot on. The characters are quite likable and at times the comedy can work well but it falters when it sacrifices the comradery of the group for the cheap thrill of over emotional outbursts and vocal preaching. The plot gives special attention to certain characters only to abandon them to the sidelines afterwards and at times changing characters to fit what is demanded of the plot only to double back and have them return to how they were. At the beginning Kiznaiver was aiming to be zany and fun like any other trigger anime but halfway in it decided it was going to be Kokoro Connect. Then reaching its endgame without really deciding on which of the two it would prefer to be.

The show tries to act as a character study and tries to get across a deeper insinuation about the nature of feelings and connecting with other people but when examined it comes across as shallow and simplistic. Mainly resorting to a traumatic past as the cause of someone having communication issues instead of taking into account that maybe their are those of us who simply can’t connect with others. Or simply don’t want to. Two character get more focus in regards to this and one has their development more or less negated within two episodes of coming out of her shell. The other remains rather enigmatic and when it comes down to it, all that we truly learn of her is that she has a contrived tragic past. If it doesn’t affect you then sadly she has nothing else, besides acting as a love interest. Despite this it has moments; in both the forced drama and zany antics there were points when it comes across as genuine and heartfelt. Though this does make me lament just what this series could have been if had better planning. This is Trigger trying something different and as an experiment it is interesting. I would like to see Trigger tackle something like this again but if they do I hope they hire a better writer.

~AidanAK47~

Kiznaiver -12

by AidanAK47, posted in Kiznaiver

This was certainly pure narrative confusion at it’s zenith and in that regard I don’t mean that the events depicted were hard to understand but rather a general confusion on what mood it wants to go out on. In this episode we had comedic, drama and climatic showdown all hastily weaved together to try and make something work. In that regard I may have succeeded on small fronts but failed as a whole. So Noriko has gone full supervillain out of nowhere and is attempting her own version of the human instrumentality project. The story tries to explain away her motivations by having Mutsumi lay out that Noriko has somehow gotten it into her head that in order for her to give back pain to those deprived by the Kiznaiver experiment, she needs to take on everyone’s pain and somehow that will fix everything. Or something about wanting to connect to others through pain…honestly I have lost all interest to truly dissect it at this point. Basically the logic is akin to saying the best way to heal a bruise is to break your arm. But who cares, the show only cares that Noriko needs to be stopped and the only way to do so is to have Agata give her a good talking to. Thus through the power of love and friendship and all that complete utter bull…um sorry I mean he’s going to snap her out of it with a good scolding. It’s clear that Kiznaiver wanted to have a big climax and that I am not really supposed to question the machinations of it too much. For if I do, awkward questions show up like isn’t Noriko forcefully abducting an entire city and performing dangerous surgery on them? Did she get away with this scott free, like no repercussions whatsoever? Where did she get that legion of followers who do her every bidding? And the big one, just what is this supposed to accomplish?

All the while this deathly serious stuff is happening, there are random jarring moments of comedy sprinkled in with little regard to the tone. I just say when you cut from Norikos sister telling Agata about how lonely Noriko was and how he needs to save her to two of those weird mascots sumo wrestling in the park, well it’s clashing.At this point the KIznaiver things is basically magic and Noriko’s big terrorist attack is stopped once Agata tells her to just let things go and badda bing badda boom, everything’s solved. The other Kiznaivers didn’t really have a point here besides chucking in their two cents on the situation. Giving speeches that solemnly remind me that these people haven’t really hung out long enough in front of the audience to give them the “nakama” card. Also for some reason the bullies come back and are unceremoniously booted off screen again. Seems their sole purpose was to act as an exposition device for the other Kiznaivers so they know what is going on. Well once Noriko comes to her senses it’s time to settle the shipping in the epilogue because that truly is what was given primary focus this series. Yes I am somewhat glad that Kamina 2.0 and Yoko 0.5 got together but personally I would be most interested in seeing more of Luluco finding Nova in the background.

The ships are pretty much what was decided in episode 4 with Noriko and Agata, Chidori and Tenga, Yuta and Maki with Nico doomed to forever alone status. Unless her and Hayame kick something off. Truthfully this all felt forced as while I can get why these characters could go for each other, I find it far too sudden with it all happening in such quick succession. As I see the gang all together again I find somewhat of the feeling that gave me hope for the series in the beginning. The characters do play off each other well and I do find their interactions amusing. (Particularly Noriko’s comment that she and Agata will have a pure relationship…until Agata pushes her down.) This is strange even coming from me of all people but perhaps Kiznaiver would have fared better if it left all this Kiznaiver experiment stuff to the side and just had it be about the characters playing off one another.

Looking over it all Kiznaiver was a confused series that spent too much of it’s start wasting its time and pushing for a dramatic climax as it reached it’s end. Some say that perhaps with a two cour season it could have shown more of it’s potential. It certainly could have but seeing as the writer couldn’t build a series for one cour I doubt she could do it much better with two. I blame the majority of Kiznaivers failings on the writer as speaking in terms of presentation it’s fairly remarkable. In much lesser animation studio this story wouldn’t nearly have been what it is and I see it as a testament of just how much Trigger can really do even with lacking material. If there are those of you who have lost faith in Trigger due to this series I say watch the short series that aired alongside it this season. Space patrol Luluco is shorter, more in tune with triggers style, had a far more satisfying climax and is overall a much better show than Kiznaiver. Most of all I truly look forward to that Little Witch Academy TV series they announced. Kiznaiver ultimately wasn’t what I hoped but I am certain Studio Trigger has more bullets to fire.

~AidanAK47~

Joker Game Review – 50/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Currently Watching:, Joker Game, Reviews by AidanAK47

When experiencing the wave of new anime each season it can get rather tiresome to notice all the teenagers fighting supernatural forces while gathering a harem through seer luck or similarly tired concepts. So when something like Joker game comes along and takes a road less traveled with it’s story, naturally I am well on board. However the sad thing about entertainment is that even if you try something new, if you don’t succeed it amounts nothing more than a show which had a good idea and a lesson for others to not brand out from their tired concepts. In that regard I truly lament such anime but unlike them I don’t think Joker Game will remain as a lesson for others, for to do so it would have to be memorable. An idea with such promise, a tale about a team of Japanese spies sent out to gather info in the time right before World War II broke out. You could spin quite a tale with that setting but sadly Joker Game settles for a much more simplistic level.

The first problem with the show is it’s episodic format and it truly limits the plot when each episode’s story needs to be resolved in a short time frame. Each episode has a brand new cast and a brand new setting. This essentially prevents the viewer from becoming attached as there is rarely anything consistent to latch on to. But most importantly in episodic shows the show is often held up by the characters and their interactions. However Joker Games protagonists are completely interchangeable with little in defining characteristics. No matter the episode the main character plays the role of the super spy who never fails and in that regard is mainly a plot device. When looking over the story, Joker Game is style over substance and merely a spy power fantasy. The writing lacks the nuance to weave a compelling narrative around international espionage and often resorts to contrived or trite developments in order to make the protagonist look as good as possible. The villains in each episode range from the over the top evil to inconsequential, often any threat they pose is completely undermined by episodes end. The writer holds his protagonists in too high a regard which ultimately makes this a show about the triumphs of several Gary Sue’s and how much better they are than other people. It don’t take long for this aspect to wear on you and through the episodes the victories of the D-agency spies become less compelling and more boringly anticipated.

Through while the writing can reach unrealistically silly levels as the D-agents display skill bordering on the supernatural, you can still find some interest here. The show never truly drops to a level of becoming bad and to some they can come to enjoy the exploits of the spies and their missions. I found three or four episodes to have above average value and the show remains consistently watchable. However it never truly excels and in episodes can become quite boring as you wait for the inevitable cop out win of D-agency. The episodic structure continues right up to the end where the show simply stops instead of ends. The art and animation remain consistently good and the soundtrack is rather catchy and nostalgic of Noir fiction. Joker Game is a show that lacks the high points to be recommended and the low points to be outright hated, it’s middle of the ground which made the score of this series rather appropriate. Joker Game is a series destined to be lost to the ravages of time, soon to be forgotten.

~AidanAK47~

Joker Game – 12

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Joker Game

Upon finishing yet another rather uneventful episode of Joker Game, I began to wonder just what this series had planned for its finale. “How best to top off a rather mediocre series such as this?” I thought to myself. However when looking over general consensus over the episode I found out that I seen the finale of Joker game, and this was it. I was truly shocked. Nothing in this episode felt final or conclusive, not even an after credits scene or a simple affirmation that yes, this was indeed the end. In some ways it’s fitting, as Joker Game is a series without an impact so to bow out before anyone notices you are gone is somewhat poetic. However i must wonder why this particular story was chosen as the finale. When compared to other episodes of the series it is a much somber and simple affair. A spy is killed under the watch of a D-agency spy and he must investigate just what happened. Naturally he finds out what happened easily and decides he is unfit to be a D-agency spy. For he actually has human traits worth caring about.

It is rather funny that this was the first Spy to make me somewhat care about him and at least showed some level of humanity. Yet when the episode ends they get rid of him because he is far too human to be a part of the team. It really is a testament to the utter lack of defining traits these boring supermen have that they see any some shred of personality as a weakness. This is the author pretty much saying that because this man was lead astray by his memories of a girl in his past that he was no longer “cool” enough to be a part of the big boys club. Also got to love the casual sexsm of Yuuki stating that the reason the D-agency doesn’t have women is because they are far too temperamental and in less control of their emotions. Considering the time period it’s not all that surprising for Yuuki to think this but considering how much of a super spy he is, I would have thought he was too smart to believe such rubbish

Frankly I don’t have much to say about this. I have long beaten the problems of this show to death and seeing as it just repeated those problems it’s just left me reiterating points like a broken record. There’s really nothing here, a man dies, the spy finds out why he dies from offscreen info and decides he’s not fit to be a spy anymore because he feels love. Only real point of note is when the man of the episode got bent out of shape when the D-agents were reporting to hm. Yuuki pretty much gave him full authority on the mission which is likely because he knew what happened and figured he would let the man be in control of his last mission. With an episodic series like this you could have chosen any episode to be the finale and there are certainly better episodes to end on. Ultimately I think I will have a hard time recalling this series in a year’s time, in fact I still don’t even know anyone’s name. Besides Yuuki. Maybe because he was the only real consistent character in the series.

~AidanAK47~