Author: psgels

Chihayafuru – 16

by psgels, posted in Chihayafuru

Okay, so this was the kind of annoying recap episode that you can’t just skip through, but actually had some new content. At the start of the episode, in the middle, at the end and after the ED were some collections of skits between the different characters. Well, I guess that if you want to animate those, then this is the perfect place for it. And as an added bonus, unlike the Mirai Nikki skets, these were actually quite funny.

Do I think that a recap episode fits in a series like this? Nah, not really. This show is simple, yet well executed. That’s not the kind of story that would really benefit from having everything repeated again. Especially considering how the creators could have actually used this episode to at least get some sort of epilogue going at the end of the season. Seriously, out of all the Autum 2011 series that are still airing, this one really is the best. But there is no way in which it’s also going to have the best ending.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Mirai Nikki – 15

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

Okay. Something happened here. I’m not sure what, but this episode was much more fun than usual. The flaws of this series are still there. I mean, there was a point at which Yukiteru’s diary predicted exactly what traps he’d fall in, and yet he didn’t even notice realize this. On top of that, I have no idea why Seventh at the end didn’t just destroy the diaries of two competitors.

I think what really sold me on this episode was Yuno’s mindless enthusiasm. Before, I liked her character, but I couldn’t yet see why everyone was gushing over her. The part at the beginning of the episode, where she just sneaked in and prepared food for Yukiteru: that probably was my favorite moment of her so far. Now that’s a stalker..

Seventh also pretending to be Eighth was a nice twist, including making up these weird powers like being able to see the future of the next person you flirt with (wtf?). They’re still rather big stereotypes at this point, but it does work that they’re complete opposites of Yuno and Yukiteru. I do admit that I found the first half of this show a bit boring at times, but if it has indeed been building up to something bigger, I can still turn into a fan of it.

Also, I like the new OP and ED. In particular the animation, safe for the rather forced bits of the previous OP.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Another – 03

by psgels, posted in Another

Yeah. You can really see that the director of Blood-C is working on this thing.

The animation may not be as good here, and it also doesn’t necessarily have the same style of characterization, but this episode really showed: the horror is uncompromising. Censorship is for wimps and when someone dies, it is in full graphic detail.

The execution in this episode was also quite a bit better here. The thing with this show is that the animation isn’t really impressive. But if the animators need to animate something well, they do it. The dolls completely disappeared after the first half of this episode. And meanwhile, the doll shots in the shop were actually put in context. The rest of the episode made use of a few interesting cuts or camera angles that worked much better. As for the final climax… I’m a bit iffy on the use of music: that could have been better used, but it was such an over the top death that I can’t really think of a track that would have fitted such a scene better.

The classmates in this episode also surprised me by not being annoying. It’s very tempting to just throw in the usual annoying classmates to make the lead character look normal, however this show doesn’t really need to. Things are strange enough for the main character to stand out, so they can actually make for some rather down to earth characters. In particular the dialogue between them was the best so far.

And yeah, the atmosphere in this show works quite well. I really hope that the creators can keep this up for the rest of the series.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Aquarion Evol – 04

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

What the hell did I just watch?

In any case, in terms of soundtracks, there are quite a few good ones this season. There is of course the usual Natsume dreamy soundtrack. Rinne no Lagrange is also quite intense and well timed. By far the best though, is Aquarion Evol. This is pretty much the best thing that Yoko Kanno has done in a really long while. I really realized that once that piano guy started playing: that is some really complex music. And on top of that, the soundtrack is just huge.There were so many different epic tracks in just this episode, and it doesn’t look like the creators are running out anytime soon. A lot of effort really has gone into this thing.

Now, going back to the infinity punch: wut?

I must say, I did not expect things like that from this series. I thought it was just a regular mecha series that would show a bunch of normal battles between a bunch of giant robots. The battle in this episode however, really was something else. I mean, a show like Star Driver used the concept of using one’s libito to power a mecha before, but this really took the cake with that punch that circled the earth several times, only to break down the Berlin Wall. that separates the males from the females. Um, symbolism anyone?

I also love that at the end, that infinity punch didn’t disappear or something. So right now the entire world is now polluted by this gigantic arm that is wrapped around it twice. That must be one bitch to clean up in the end. Speaking of the end of the episode, it promised total chaos next week. Knowing the creators, I have no idea what to expect. It’s especially unlike Shoji Kawamori to pull twists like this this early in the game already?

Also, what was up with that flamboyant headmaster? On hindsight it just seems so surreal what he had been doing. He knew about Mikono, so he dressed up like this drifter, and got into the boat she was supposed to take away from the island, only to drive her back again. Again, this feels like some weird satire on Star Driver of all things.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 43

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou

Oh my god, Natsume. Are you really delivering another brilliant episode? Seriously, even the previous seasons had episodes that slightly disappointed or didn’t work out as well as the others. This season has delivered one amazing story after the other.

Interestingly, this wasn’t necessarily about Natsume’s development. Instead, we’ve got a story entirely dedicated to a youkai here. In this episode it still was apparent how much Natsume has grown over the past seasons, but it really was about this quirky youkai that runs into him, along with a story of what happened in the youkai’s past.

For one, the Youkai was delightful to watch. He really nailed being funny, while also not getting lost in his own quirk. This guy is funny, but also surprisingly complex for a youkai. All in all it was a really interesting twist on the usual “youkai versus human romance”. It masterfully stayed away from cheese, despite an arranged marriage being used, along with “we can’t meet because we’re different!”. The ending in particular was delightfully light-hearted, yet incredibly charming. For the girl, it probably was a very nice experience, after which she went on and lived the rest of her life doing who knows what. All we see here is the side of the story of a youkai who is full of guilt for what he did.

I also realize now that the third season had surprisingly little of the book of friends. Because of this it’s also been quite a while since we last saw Reiko. With these opening episodes, you’d think that this season would be more about Matoba and Reiko, but with this series you’ll never know what the next story will focus on.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Phi Brain – 16

by psgels, posted in Phi Brain

So… Phi Brain is getting a second season. I did not see that coming. Despite that though, I’m pretty thrilled for it: Sato Junichi is going to do another 52 episode series. That is a lot to look forward to here. Now all that’s left to hope is that the source material is also up to it.

The most boring course of events will be that Rook will turn into some sort of damsel in distress after Kaitou saves him at the end of this first season. I really hope that there will be more to it than just that. It’s not just the predictability, but what’s more important is that that just throws away a perfectly good villain here. And there is also no way in which the creators will be able to top him. It would really suck if Rook’s role was reduced, because of how much he already did for Kaitou’s character development.

In the meantime we have yet another very good episode here. At this point, I have given up on the believability of this series. Heck, the creators just went ahead and completely rewrote the city map of Venice. Seriously? And that wasn’t even the weirdest part. that came with one of the POG givers coming up with a scenario where that organization was actually able to hijack and crash dozens of planes at the same time. The worst thing… is that I nearly believed him.

As a Gammon-centric episode however, it really rocked. Gammon stands out as a character because he is the only one here who gets more and more pissed off at Kaitou. These past episodes were all about developing the side cast in different ways. Cubic got a kick on the ego (on top of losing his pet robot… sortof…), Ana’s change was more positive as she grew closer to the rest of the cast with her episode. All of it put Kaitou in a good light, though. This episode instead show how he keeps standing in the spotlights of someone with such a huge pride as Gammon. The guy is talented, yet people never take him seriously and every time he has the chance to prove otherwise, Kaitou just bursts in from out of nowhere. I like where this is going here.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Rinne no Lagrange – 03

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

And this is why you should never leave a teenager in charge of intergalactic negotiations. “Long term? Who the hell cares about long term! You attacked us so I’ll attack back!’. Also, this is something that I’ve been noticing in quite a few other series as well. I mean, I get stylizing things as “there is no sound in space” and stuff. But it’s a bit bizarre to have the dark parts of the moon translucent…

In any case, I like what this series is doing here. Once again this episode placed a lot of focus on continuity. The battles aren’t just destroying random buildings. They’re destroying random buildings that people live in. It shows that everyone is involved.

Also, my fears of Madoka being too perfect also turned out to be ungrounded. Her aforementioned stubbornness is an interesting way to show her flaws. The enemy was willing to actually negotiate, and yet her pride for her hometown was an interesting way for her to ignore that. The big danger for this is taking it too far. Flawed characters are of course great to watch, but when these flaws make them mindlessly stupid then it’s just a sure sign of bad writing. So far though, Madoka isn’t really stupid. Just mindless and really impulsive. On top of having some bad ideas, she also balanced this out with some good ideas. Part of the fun of this show is how she perplexes everyone around her aside from her cousin. That cousin who really needs a bigger role here.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mouretsu Pirates – 03

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

So, interestingly enough Tatsuo Sato decided for both this series and Rinne no Lagrange to just completely cut the romance. I like that. I believe that adaptations nowadays are too scared to make concessions, and instead either do them half-heartedly, or try to adapt a story, only to run into huge pacing problems at the end. Mouretsu Pirates in particular is different: it’s both faithful to the spirit of the original source, and yet it also tries to be itself. By cutting out the romance, it can focus on the other parts of the story. And I must say, it takes balls to drop the romance of all things. In most stories it just gets inserted for the hell of it and because it sells better.

In any case, after three episodes Mouretsu Pirates turned out to be a completely different series than what I imagined it would be. The big reason for that is that the main character isn’t even a pirate yet. Heck, if you didn’t know the title of this thing you could be fooled into thinking that this is going to be a show about a yacht club. Instead,, this show is carefully building its world and concepts.

The big danger of this is it becoming boring before the build up can pay off. Unlike Rinne no Lagrange, which immediately started off exciting, this show is really taking its time… and therefore isn’t the most exciting. The key for this series will be to remain interesting while it builds up. Right now it still is because of the details on the yacht club, but that can’t take forever.
Rating: * (Good)

Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam – 14

by psgels, posted in Last Exile - Ginyoku no Fam

And then.. this show suddenly comes with one of its best episodes so far. Talk about a pleasant surprise here.

The battle against Gracies turned out to be really well portrayed here. Heck, at this point it’s pretty clear than when Gonzo was forced to let go most of its staff, the one department that was not compromised was the 3D department. In terms of CG, these guys still are amongst the best of the industry. This episode didn’t just look absolutely gorgeous. The 3D animation was just stunning. It’s bizarre how rushed the 2D animation looks in comparison. And yet, at the same time I’m also really glad that they didn’t turn this into a full 3D series, and this series really knows what parts should be CG, and what parts should be normally drawn.

That giant wall that appeared in front of Gracies also was a neat idea. Oh, and this episode also explained why all pilots of Gracies are females: it has to do with their religion and culture. That’s also why people looked up to that girl last episode: she wasn’t only popular, but it was more like her position of being able to fly in the sky is a core part of the theology for these people.

I also liked how Fam&co were kept out of the picture here. Last episode seemed to suggest that again Fam held the key to getting out of this mess, but instead she just gave them a temporary advantage. Afterwards, the contrast between the huge battles, and Fam trying to get back to the Space Pirates’ home worked really well in this show’s favor. Next episode we should go back to that flying brick of an Exile, which could prove to be even more interesting.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hyouge Mono – 38

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono

And so it has finally happened: the beginning of the end. I’m still quite surprised that it completely revolves around Sennou Rikyuu, rather than Sasuke. Still, Rikyuu having to perform Harakiri: it makes for a great ending. The end of this episode also showed that it will be Sasuke’s turn to try and stop things, which is actually something that will put him into the spotlights again one final time. I know Koichi Mashimo. He really finds a good ending important. Even the mother of all incomplete shows, Blade of the Immortal, still tried to leave with a good feeling. This build-up really can leads to some excellent finale that will be really hard to beat by the rest of the year.

This episode finally finished the thing that this series has been building up for months now: Sennou’s death. Bit by bit, ever since that bald priest got executed, things have slowly been building up to this point. There was the statue, the many scenes of high tension between the two, and last episode showing Rikyuu destroying one of those three legendary pots. This time with the assassination, it was the final straw, and I especially liked how Hashiba made the conscious decision, yet was partly pressured to do it.

I mean if you read it in a history book, things like Harakiri and Seppuku seem so incredibly distant. Were these people really so crazy to just order people to kill themselves? It’s really hard to imagine the state of mind that these people were in when they made these decisions, and especially reading about them quickly makes them feel like they were made on a whim or something. With that in mind, I really have to congratulate this series for deliver so many solid performances. Despite the over the top moments, the acting of this show is really top-notch and believable. With such an in-depth look at the mindsets of these people at these times, I really can say that this show gave me new insights about the history of Japan.

And really: it’s been a while since a series taught me something. Especially as extensive as how this series has been doing.
Rating: ** (Excellent)