Author: AidanAK47

One Punch Man – 07

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, One Punch Man

This episode mainly focused on a giant Meteor about to annihilate the city and the introduction if S class heroes, Metal Knight and Bang. Bang makes it a point to say how the top class heroes are hardly very heroic with most not showing up at all to stop a city’s total destruction. Even one of the two S class heroes that did show up only did so to test his new weapons. It’s seems that this show is making a point that there are few of these avengers out to do the greater good but more in it for more selfish reasons. So it is that out of the legion of heroes introduced, Saitama may be the closest thing to what a hero should be. Its is at this point where I must remark on the inconsistency of One Punch Man’s animation quality. At times it can be remarkably fluid and gorgeous but at other times it can be heavy amounts of animation saving techniques at work. What’s more concerning is that these random quality highs and lows can happen within close proximity. It really seems that any scene with Genos is given an animation overhaul but the scene with Saitama punching through the Meteor was a mixed with cheap and great animation. But that could be a clash of animation styles at work in one scene, as it certainly felt like the character animation and the explosion were done by two different people. The animators passion certainly shines through to save the scene but it could have had more impact with more movement and force behind the punch. However I must admit that complaining about animation in this show is much like complaining about a lack of sand in a desert. What’s been done has been done excellently, it’s more a minor complaint that I wish it had more consistency.

So Saitama manages to save the city but unfortunately fails to prevent the Meteor fragments from causing serious damage. Thus naturally for the human race, they blame everything on the man who saved all their hides. I have said before that Saitama’s greatest challenges come not from a fist fight but rather a more psychological approach. In this regard the Tank Top brothers actually picked a clever way of attacking him. By drawing in a crowd to berate Saitama for the destruction of the city. Nearly worked too, if they hadn’t tried to stage a publicity stunt of them taking him down in to boost their rank. It looks to be that Saitama’s deeds as a heroes are going to be mainly unsung and in the public eyes he’s an incompetent cheater of a hero. However at least he has Genos on his side who sees his true worth. Due to the differences in language there’s very few times I can judge a voice actor in a subbed show. After all what the subtitles say is merely an liberal interpretation using the closest english equivalent and I like the know how of the nuances of the Japanese language to truly judge the talent of Japanese voice actors. But I think we can all agree that even when lacking that knowledge it could be clearly seen that the actor didn’t handle that shouting scene right at all. From the manga it’s pretty clear his voice should be more angry and powerful but here the tone of his voice really didn’t match the mood of the scene. Quite frankly, it just didn’t sound right and really killed the scene for me. Next episode looks to be the beginning of the sea king attack which has been something I have been looking forward to since this adaptions announcement. However I wonder if they plan to make it a two partner or handle the seven chapter arc in one episode?

Young BlackJack – 07

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Young Blackjack

Racism is always a thorny topic to deal with. Regardless of intent there are just so many ways of messing it up, be it by using strawmen or one dimensional caricatures. It’s a topic that requires a delicate hand to prevent pushing it to its extreme all to make an obvious point of Racism being bad. So when I saw what was in store for this episode and knew that something as in your face as Blackjack was tackling a rather touchy subject I was rather worried. For good reason it seems, as we have two black men holding a girl hostage and beating up a guy just for the sole purpose of making a point that violence gets results. I never really looked at Blackjack as being historically accurate but I find the portions of the revolts being spilt between and nonviolent and Violent group to be suspect. Luckily this episode is not about that and instead just uses it as setup for Blackjacks next challenge.

As it turns out, Johnny the immortal is unable to feel pain. In a marvel universe that would equate to a superpower to which can be used to fight crime. In real life however it’s a serious issue that prevents the person from recognising just how damaged his body is. Pain may be agonizing but it alerts you to abnormalities within the body. Without it you could be walking around with a serious injury and never realize it till it was far too late. As our friend saw here when he didn’t even feel his twisted arm. For Johnny this is a double edged sword as it allows him to protest without being deterred by attacks, thus capturing his efforts on camera. But it also means his injuries become far more severe. The focus of this two part episodes looks to be just what is causing this abnormality though the preview of the next episode looks to have already given away the answer.

Young Blackjack remains a fun watch though this episode was one that a tuned out to more than the others. When compared to the intensity of the previous Vietnam episodes, the conflict here lacks weight. It isn’t this mans life at stake but rather something which is more of an inconvenience. The three day time limit just seems to be a attempt to add urgency to the problem but regardless of whether they fail or not this will not result in the man’s death. The conflict just is minor with more focus being on the moral dilemma of letting a man depend on a potentially life threatening defect.

Subete ga F ni Naru – 06

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Subete ga F ni Naru

I can’t say I enjoyed this episode of Subete too much, mainly because there was less investigating and more character building. That wouldn’t be a problem if the character building wasn’t so focused on our main leads. The leads are fine, what we need is to expand on the other characters present on the island otherwise who can we point our fingers at and say “There! They did it!” Out of our entire cast, four of them are rounded enough to be considered suspects. Two of those are the detectives and the other two are presumably dead. We still have a host of workers and support characters who have as much depth as a cardboard cutout and if this series does decide that one of these people is the murderer then it’s going to have to make it much more justifiable with its second half. I was rather frustrated to see this episode focus on our two lead arguing over leaving the island, explaining everything we already know to some people who seem irrelevant to the case and the going back to the facility. Admittedly it does establish a reason why this teacher would be given the authority to act as an investigator but it feels that’s all this episode really did. The conflict seemed just like unnecessary filler seeing as it all was pushed aside so easily.

What new information we did learn was minor. One is that when the body of Magata was exiting her room on the robot trolley, the elevator was called to the roof suggesting that someone was there during the time of the incident. The other was that Magata did indeed stab and kill her parents which has me confused. If she intended to do the deed herself then why did she present the knife to the director? Why kill them openly in front of the director and his wife? Her actions make it seem that she wanted to get caught which counter her desires to be unchained. Why did she tell Moe that a “doll” killed her parents? I guess just like our main characters, we just know far too little on these matters to make a judgement. It’s possible that now is when the real investigation starts but if that is the case then I hope we work in some red herrings and side character development. For if this series focuses far too much on the “how did it happen” then the reveal of “why it happened” could come off as cheap and lacking impact.

One Punch Man – 06

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, One Punch Man

It is interesting that the challenges that Saitama faces that get him worried that truly the most mundane and ordinary. Saitama can punch a monster into oblivion but when it comes to essays or going to sales he’s powerless. Here we have him about to be kicked out of the hero association if he doesn’t catch a criminal in two days. For all of Saitama’s infinite power he can’t do a thing if there are no criminals to catch. Saitama’s greatest weakness is his own mentality but at least Speed of Sound, Sonic has bailed Saitama out of this jam. Though I must say the animation sure takes a hit whenever Sonic shows up.  Maybe someone less talented his handling his scenes or maybe they just aren’t given as much attention. None the less the scene still worked and despite some shortcomings there was some eye candy. Namely Saitama breaking Sonics sword with his teeth. We are also introduced to two new girls of the show, Fubuki and Tatsumaki, who will likely play a part in future events. Fubuki only had about two lines so not much can be said about her but Tatsumaki seems to be channeling the aura of a lolita tsundere. Her cocky unstable side holds some potential but I think I will need to see more to discern whether I like her character or not.

The second half of this episode was the weakest I have seen from One Punch Man so far. It was essentials a overlong joke that everyone knew the punchline to. We have two eccentric A class heroes taking on a powerful monster wandering around Saitama’s neighborhood. They get destroyed, Saitama comes along and punches the thing into lunch. The fight animation was great and I liked the nature of these heroes powers, but they were clearly here only for this episode. It had one good joke in how Genos sensed them dramatically only to dismiss them and go back to cleaning the toilet in a pink apron. However this segment really felt like filler despite it being in the manga. Perhaps because it was just a bonus chapter there. It’s the ending of the episode that brings something interesting to the table as it shows that Saitama’s neighbourhood is a ghost town because Saitama draws in powerful monsters who hear that there is a really powerful being that resides there. So Saitama is unaware that he’s made a name for himself among the monsters and is currently the source of a rumor of a dangerous monster residing in the neighbourhood. Oh Satama, popular with everyone in all the wrong ways.

Young BlackJack – 06

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Young Blackjack

There are times when Blackjacks over the top nature can be entertaining presentation wise and others when it can remove any sense of surprise. While I do like the things Blackjack explores, it is very clear cut on how it shows it. In this episode the man that Blackjack and the army Medic have been spending two episodes trying to save, dies when he wanders out of his room and trips a landmine. This scene was exhibited in such a way that I knew exactly what was going to happen before it did. The minute I saw Steve in that field, I knew he was going to die and he made that all the more certain as he started walking back with tears in his eyes, triggering so many death flags that the reaper himself couldn’t stand it any longer. Bob was quick to blame the Vietcong but I point my finger at the others. In particular I find it funny that Blackjack never thought of the state his patient would wake up in and worse still had no one watching over him. To be fair however, it’s not as if anyone would expect the guy to walk into a single landmine placed in a wide open field. Really, how is it that that single lone landmine managed to remain undetonated right up till this moment or who was the lazy soldier who figured a single solitary landmine in the middle of an open field near a Vietnam village was a perfect place to kill some Americans?

As I said, I don’t think the characters handled this very well, especially when it came to Bob. It doesn’t take a psychiatrist to figure out that Bob was in a very dangerous emotional state and yet the characters only seem to make it worse by antagonizing him. Blackjack and the Medic in particular really should have handled the situation better as it was clear to anyone with eyes that Bob was about to do something drastic. Which makes me even more surprised that he was left to his own devices. In all honestly, you guys have no one to blame but yourselves for the guy calling in an air strike. The episode finale is something I raise an eyebrow at, as Black and the others finish surgery on a Vietnam soldier, survive an air strike and carry the guy through a literal sea of fire in what looks to be very flammable material. This show can be silly and over dramatic but that was really pushing it.

The episode’s final reveal was unfortunately lost on me due to my ignorance of the source material. Upon the reveal of the army doctor’s name I was feeling left out as the way the reveal was staged made this seem like a very big deal, yet when I heard his name I had no idea to its significance. So one google search later, I got exactly who he is and it puts these past few episodes in new context. Put simply, this mystery Medic is Doctor Kiriko, Blackjacks future Arch-nemesis. Eventually this war twists his personality causing him to essentially become Blackjack’s evil counterpart so it is rather interesting that these two worked together once to save a life without even realizing it.

Subete ga F ni Naru – 05

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Subete ga F ni Naru

The more I hear about Magata’s DID, the more suspect it becomes. According to this episode, Magata didn’t conceive DID out of trauma or accident but instead intentionally crafted alternate personalities so well to the point that it became DID. I personally find the mechanics of this rather fantastical as I don’t think anyone can intentionally create a mental disorder. I see this more like a child creating an imaginary friend that’s been blown out of proportion. I really liked Souhei’s explanation on how Magata was pure regardless that I disagree with it. It is a amusing hypothesis that children are born with multiple personalities fighting for dominance and as we grow into adults that personality is chained down to one. It’s the kind of philosophy that I like to indulge in a lot despite it having no real factual basis. Still to determine that purity just seems wrong as in Magata’s case she doesn’t really account for the value of human life. I don’t consider someone who can take a life without thinking about it pure, rather ignorant or emotionally stunted. In either case Magata is most certainly not pure, she’s far too calculating to be so.

I am dropping any theories on the director’s wife being behind the killings as it would be a boring development and having seen the character in this episode I just don’t think she looks to be the type. Instead I have found myself a new prime suspect, one whom I feel has the perfect motive and skills necessary to pull this off. That person being, Dr. Magata herself. At this point I highly doubt that Magata is actually dead seeing as the only person to confirm it was the island’s Doctor. She’s the only one who can program the facility to have a bug at that exact moment and her dead body was the only thing to exit the room.As put forward in this episode, Magata hated being tied down and I have no doubt that being held on this island is completly agonising for her. This entire situation may be an elaborate escape attempt but it seems that something has gone wrong. The director’s death seems to signify that he was going to be the one to fly her off the island but he either said something she didn’t quite like or he got cold feet. One particular detail which I think cements Magata as the directors killer happens to be something that was revealed in this episode. We see a flashback where Magata went to a shop and bought a knife, this same knife was then given as a present to the director at the end of the episode. This is hinting that it was the director who killed Magata’s parents because she desired it but one thing that really catches my eye is the design of the knife. I am willing to bet that this knife is the exact same knife that is currently stabbed into the back of the directors neck.

When regarding Magata as the killer a lot of things start to make sense. On that note I must admit that another outlandish theory has occured to me. Is it possible that Moe Nishinosono and Shiki Magata are one in the same? The reason I have been having this thought is because Magata seems to have a large connection to Moe despite not actually knowing her. Magata make presumptions as to how Moe’s parents died and one detail that really spurs this on is that when Magata questions her on what she was wearing when they died, a flashback Moe has shows a girl in a purple dress with black hair. The biggest torn to this theory is that Moe’s family seems to be a fairly famous name and when it comes to murder mystery in general, the detective being the killer is generally disapproved of. I still would like more information on the other characters but I am very much ready for more Subete, it’s such a pity I need to wait a week to get it.

Fairy Fencer F Video Game Review 55/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Game Reviews

 

When I first looked at Fairy Fencer F I knew exactly what to expect and it didn’t deviate from my expectations in the slightest. In that regard it was like junk food, inherently bad but a comforting satisfaction in it’s simplicity. The story is minimal for its run. It basically involves our main character having to collect a hundred magic swords so to revive a goddess. So the majority of the game is you going to different areas to collect swords, gathering companions and doing this till one of the characters remembers a magic macguffin which can revive the goddess without collecting the rest of the swords. Insert evil corporation that would prefer to revive the evil God instead, ultimately steals your hard work, succeeds, a final boss fight against said evil God and you got the plot. Pretty predictable from the get go. They really want to depend on the characters to sell this story and at least for the main character they succeed.

 

 

The main character Fang starts of as a snarky egotistical bum who pretty much acts like you would if placed in the same situation. His Dialogue is quite funny and he has a general policy of just making fun of the situation. Sadly the story demands that he become a more friendly person so as the story goes on he sadly becomes more boring. The rest of the cast suffers from being a lineup of anime clichés with only Galdo being an exception because they gave him a canadian accent in English. They have some funny lines but really it’s when they play off Fang that they work. Still despite the clichés I found the assassin who communicates primarily by saying “kill” and the slob female researcher quite likable. But one thing that I found rather disconcerting was to rapid change of character one of your party members when through once the second half of the game began. How this person started and how he was by game’s end were so completely different that they could have been separate characters altogether. But when it comes to reality it is easier to buy bulk ammo online for safety but it also comes with a lot of responsibilities.

 

 

Graphical, I was surprised to learn that this was a PS3 title as from the screenshots above it would be better suited to PS2. I played the Steam version of the game so this wasn’t a deal breaker because I bought it on sale. But those who bought it at full price would be quite underwhelmed. It’s a very cheap looking game. The 3D graphic models above are only used in the Area levels which are only one or two rooms long. About the size of a Kingdom hearts world with enemies roaming about instead of the band of many a JRPG, random encounters. For the majority of the game you will be working though menu’s and the story is told in Visual Novel format. There are some pros for the fairly good English voice acting and animation on the sprites but for an RPG it’s the lowest form of presentation. But it does come with a plus. This may be because of my high spec Laptop or the general low requirements for a game such as this but I never experienced a loading screen in this entire game. It was a rather refreshing experience to have a game that reacted instantly no matter what you did. Hit load and straight away you are right where you left off. Entering and exiting battles is fast making grinding less of a chore. Overall it’s nice that the game doesn’t hold you up as you run though it. Except when it comes to the tutorials which are intrusive to everything. They pop up frequently at the beginning to teach you the most obvious things imaginable. I was honestly shocked to enter the shop and get a tutorial on how to buy items. Game, this isn’t my first RPG and even if it was I am sure I could figure out the nature of capitalism. The combat system I found to be quite unique up until I noticed other JRPGs that use the exact same system so I don’t think I can give Fairy Fencer any points for something that was likely lifted from somewhere else. Still I rather liked the combat system for being quick and satisfying.

 

 

So Fairy Fencer F is a title that can be wholeheartedly enjoyed if you enter it knowing that you won’t be getting something original or outstanding. I believe it’s worth a recommendation to those who like the genre…or at least that’s what I thought before I reached the halfway point. For you see Fairy Fencer commits what I consider to be a cardinal sin of game design at that point. I find it odd that this point is rarely mentioned in its reviews on sites as it can change your outlook on the game completely. For you see once you reach the halfway point an event happens that transfers both the main characters to the past. Storywise it’s a mildly interesting development but take note. The characters have returned to the very first area of the game and that means that you must replay all the levels yet again to reach the ending. The areas where you need to go don’t change. Neither do the enemies or bosses.(Except for some extra enemies and one different boss.)This has to be the most insulting, lazy and blatant padding to grace an RPG since Bravely Defaults final section. You literally replay the game over again. As a person who has limited leisure time and someone who was genuinely enjoying the game up to this point, I find this to be an unforgivable betrayal. So much so that it spoiled my experience with the rest of the game.

 

 

With that the problems of the game really started showing, in particular the overabundance of mechanics. You have two kinds of expence, normal experience which levels you up and Wp which can be used to gain new abilities, spells or upgrade one of your stats. On top of this you have challenges which are like achievements that net you permanent stat boosts. Some of these can make sense like attacking a certain number of times will grant you a strength stat. But some are insipid and tedious such as jumping a thousand times in the over world to upgrade endurance. You can also equip fairies which gain experience with your character and level up, granting you more stat boosts and extra buffs. On top of that you can grant Fairies special buffs by using them to pull out a sword from one of the two gods of the world. There are numerous ways to power up your character but it’s clear the game was not built to work with these mechanics. So it is very easy to become an overpowered god long before game’s end. This makes the game very easy and what baffles me is that you can buy DLC which only serves to make the game even easier. If people need that then they might as well give up on playing the game and just watch a let’s play of it. This isn’t simply in the levelling system but combat and other areas. For example the shop has a synthesising system where you can take materials got from enemies and convert them into items and equipment. This system is completely worthless, items lose most of their value once you get a fairy with a SP regain ability and equipment makes very little difference. What’s more there is a side quest system meant to complement this, which rewards you with materials and money for going to areas and gathering a certain material or killing certain monsters. But you will never need this at all and the shop and pub become worthless by the halfway mark. Combat has a number of unnecessary systems too. Attacking has a combo system where you can attack a number of times based on how much WP you spent upgrading the combo tree. You can buy new combo moves with WP and these can change your weapon into various modes, like guns,axes, bows, knuckles, swords etc. Enemies are weak to certain weapon types but the extra damage done is barely noticeable and this weapon weakness systems serves only to activate something called avalanche mode which allows other characters to put in extra combo attacks without using up their turn. This Avalanche mode is useless. It’s activation is based on luck and rarely activates when you need it. Instead it often activates when an enemy is nearly dead and the extra attack amount to nothing but overkill.

 

 

There is also a world shaping mechanic which is where you can sort of equip a Fairy to a area and it will grant a special buff to that area. However while it will give you a benefit like enemies dropping extra gold, it will pair it up with a cost such as gaining less exp. However I found an exploit in this system when I happened upon a shaping ability. The ability granted that you would receive more WP but all damage was doubled. I believe the double damage was intended to be a danger but they didn’t think it through. You don’t just take double damage, you deal double damage too. Meaning, your attack power is doubled. End result was I often killed enemies on the first turn before they had a chance to attack. Only way they could get the upper hand would be if they ambushed me but that stopped once I gained an ability that makes it that I can never be ambushed. I actually had to stop myself from using it out of pity because the game was easy enough as it is. How much of Fairy Fencer F you enjoy really depends on if you can excuse a weak story, enjoy its battle mechanics and most importantly deal with a large amount of recycled content. The last part of that sentence was the deal breaker for me and makes this a game I wouldn’t recommend. If it’s one thing this game proves it’s that length for the sake of length only serves to test the patience of the player. If Fairy Fencer had simply opted to remove this time travel nonsense it would have been a shorter JRPG but ultimately a much better experience.

One Punch Man – 05

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, One Punch Man

This episode looked to be a big dig at the educational system. After all, the most powerful being on the planet applies to be a hero and is relegated to the lowest class because of the results of a submitted essay. Of course how an essay actually determines how someone can be a hero is ridiculous but sadly such processes of selection are not relegated to fiction. Job interviews are a prime example of that, they depend not on the skills you have but rather how good you can make yourself look. So Genos gets an S rank because he aced the tests and happened to blow up the House of Evolutions base whereas Saitama who actually was the one to defeat the House of Evolution gets saddled with a C. But well its Saitama, it’s only a matter of time before he shoots through the ranks.

The highlight of the episode was clearly the Genos and Saitama sparring. I hoped that for this particular scene Madhouse would go all out for the fight and they certainly didn’t disappoint. The fight presented some of the best animation in the series to date. Genos really is a marvel to watch fighting, with his mechanical parts and jet boosters just make him pure eye candy to behold. I see others who comment on the episode claim that the animation beats Ufotable and I don’t quite agree. The animation is great but they still are using shortcuts and Sakuga. Personally I feel Ufotable has better art consistency but Madhouse has some great dynamic choreography. That really is the charm of One Punch Man, the animation has so much character. Like Saitama’s swagger away after he beat Genos with a indirect Punch. The humor throughout the episode was great, especially the last joke of the episode gets me every time. Well now it seems that One Punch Man has removed it’s old formula and gone for something more consistent and I certainly can’t wait to see the top class heroes reaction to Saitama

Young BlackJack – 05

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Young Blackjack

With Blackjack and the others captured last episode, it’s only natural that the next step would be torture. Still I expected something much worse than what was presented. All things considered, I think Blackjack and the crew got off easy. They didn’t even get a “Tiger Cage.” Of course the big threat here was that the patient Blackjack treated isn’t out of the woods yet and the conditions of the imprisonment isn’t helping. Having the wound infested with maggots isn’t exactly ideal, even if it worked out for the best. Still I pity the poor souls that had to resort to Maggot therapy, the feeling must be unbearable. In relation we learn more about Blackjacks past and how he came to get his scars. The exploded bomb explanation could use more elaboration though at least we know that Blackjack didn’t simply just walk out of a hospital like nothing happened.

I actually found an article about this episode which complained that Blackjacks Torture scene was sexualized and really that statement has me confused. While watching the scene I wasn’t under the impression that it was intended to be sexual and I think this really is a matter of the eye of the beholder. That said that scene between Yabu and Blackjack was most definitely suggestive. With that blur and the look of compassion between the two you wouldn’t be surprised if the suddenly engaged in a passionate embrace. But let’s leave such fantasies to the fujoshi’s.

Though the main part of this episode was to introduce the American Medic whose methods are borderline insane. Parachuting into war territory with a full host of surgical equipment is something I figured would get any man dead long ago. Naturally he scoffs when he encounters Blackjack and it’s fairly predictable how this turns out. Both dislike each other at first but then see each others skills. Then they share a drink with mutual respect. I can’t say I am sold on this new character yet but I am intrigued to see what he can bring to the show and  whether he will play the role of mentor or rival.

Subete ga F ni Naru – 04

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Subete ga F ni Naru

The plot thickens as we are given a little more insight into Dr Magatas room. In this episode we learn quite a few things. That in Magata’s room she has a robot called Michiru which seems to be built with the sole purpose of imitating Magatas voice and to lock the door, and that Dr Magata suffered from DID.(Dissociative Identity Disorder) However I find myself wondering if her case of multiple personalities is genuine as she seems to be far too much in control of it. If anything it looks more like she invented her other personalities as a means of dealing with loneliness. This episode makes clear that none of Magatas other personalities were involved with her parents murder and states that the only one who could kill them was her core personality. However she claims that a doll killed her parents which according to the main characters could suggest that Magata did kill her parents but was forced to by someone else. Other interesting facts was Magatas messages on her computer which suggest that she knew that she was going to die. In murder mystery, usually everything introduced is in someway related to the murder and this one certainly makes it hard to connect the dots. But allow me to speculate a little. There is heavy focus on the director’s relationship with Dr Magata so it’s clear that is related to all this.

The easy explanation would be that the director killed Magata and that would clear up some issues. After all the director has the most access to the facility and from Magata knowing she was going to be killed, she would be more willing to accept it if it was someone she loved that was ending her life. Her interview with Moe would also factor into this as maybe she felt a connection to someone who was also in love with an older man. But if the Director killed Magata, then who killed the Director? Again, a easy assumption but it could have been his wife. Having learned about there relationship she might not have taken to kindly to it and killed the Director. There is a certain disconnect between the two murders. The first was clearly very calculated, and yet the second looked more like a impulse murder with a simple stabbing. But the directors wife lacks the screen time to consider her major factor. But another question is on my mind, is Magata truly dead? The show itself seems reluctant to have the characters examine her body as Moe was interrupted by Souhei before she could get a close look. The first to pronounce her dead, the doctor, did it rather suddenly. He was strangely not put off by the situation and straight away when to check her Pulse. It’s potentially possible that he was told to lie. Who knows, maybe Dr Magata is actually hiding inside the Robot, pretending to be an AI? Well alright, that’s rather ridiculous.

I rather liked Moe’s reaction to the dead bodies. Often in murder mystery the actual effect of death on people is played down so as to not let the drama effect the puzzle of the murder. Still here we have Moe attempting to brush off her shaken up nature and attempt to play detective. Yet her feelings are clear to everyone present. I still find the lack of character development on the others to be detrimental as I want to start pointing fingers but can’t really do that if the side characters have no characterization as of yet. There is also a issue with the shows rather bland presentation as while trying to find screenshots for this episode I found it difficult. While the shows substance is excellent and intriguing, I find that there doesn’t seem to be an effort to make it visually interesting. Counters to that claim would be that dream sequence at the end of this episode or some of the other more surreal moments. But other than these moments it just feels very…static. Though to the animators credit, there is only so much one can do with a story that has characters primarily talking in a room and not much else. But perhaps use of more visual metaphor could make things more dramatic though that runs the risk of ruining the mood of the scene. I may complain about that but I must admit to loving this series, nothing quite gets my brain working on all cylinders like a good murder mystery. Come up with a theory, watch it get shot down, come up with another one. That’s what makes these kinds of stories special.