Author: psgels

Hunter X Hunter – 12

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

The first half of this episode was just amazing. That was just an episode that could never happen in any other shounen out there, even though it’s a genre known for wasting time. Just seeing the characters waste 50 hours was an amazing way to flesh these guys out, and I especially love how the creators took their time to show that for half an episode, before the characters could continue. Between the lines, this show really is a battle of endurance, and this part nailed that.

I also love that the creators remembered that the organizers provided daily meals for the different contestants. These are the fun details.

As for the second half, that probably worked better for the people who didn’t watch the first series.It went all mysterious about the way in which they would make it, but having seen the first series I knew exactly the way they’d do it. This is the big disadvantage of watching a different adaptation of a story you already know: every single surprise is gone, taking away a crucial part of the suspense. In fact, this is something that I’ve kept wondering about people who often watch anime adaptations of mangas or light novels that they already read: is it really fun to watch something, knowing everything that’s going to happen in advance? Especially the ones that rely heavily on suspense.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Ben-To – 11

by psgels, posted in Ben-To

This episode ha lot of very good parts, and a few parts I didn’t like about it. As for the good parts though: finally Orthros are getting some good characterization, which is really great to see. With this, they actually pose much more of a threat than what they were when we first saw them. Especially the way in which they were inspired to become wolves was just completely hilarious. That actually was a very clever parody to the usual motivation tropes.

Also, Yarizui was really good here. First of all: so far this was the most realistic depiction of a cold I’ve seen in a long while: the creators actually remembered that heavy breathing are completely different symptoms, and finally someone doesn’t just realize they have a cold when they collapse. On top of that, her characterization was just damn awesome. And while this show is completely over the top in terms of fanservice at times, the creators have been very consistent with Yarizui’s fanservice: here it actually feels very natural. She’s not parading naked all over the place, but instead you can see why Sato is getting attracted to her through the camera angles. Which for one don’t just focus on her boobs or ass.

The part that I didn’t like is the classic example of fleshing out the main villain… by inserting an even bigger villain. Of course, this makes sure that the villains are fleshed out. That’s not the problem. The problem is that this bigger villain is very often a complete stereotype and powerhouse that can only go down in the usual ways. The characterization of these guys is very often below average because they’re all introduced so damn late.

Also, again there were no food battles here. I think that this has to do with expectation management, though this is very difficult to do. The creators are definitely going for the “climax”-climax, in which they carefully build up tension, only to release all of that at the same time for the final episode. This can become awesome, if they actually manage to pull it off. I remember last year, with Sengoku Basara Two as an example of how this can backfire on a series. There too the creators put everything on the final battle, and actually had a ton of different animation directors working on the final episode. And yet, the production took shortcuts, fights were skipped, the action didn’t really come together, and things ended with a bit of a downer. Episodes like these really need someone who knows how to make these over the top battles work. This needs to be the crowning moment of awesome for this series.

Also, the joke after the credits. How wrong can you get?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Fate/Zero – 12

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

I’m a bit confused here by the nature of those hand seals. First of all, it really appear that Assassin died last episode because Kotomine Kirei fulfilled his duty to spy on the five other masters, which already seems a bit strange to me on its own: this is a battle to the life and death. Are these mages really that good to have anticipated exactly every possible outcome or tactic that could be employed to kill them? It seems really early to just abandon Assassin like that.

Then this episode goes and out of nowhere makes Kotomine Kirei a potential master again… because apparently “the grail says so”. At this point I find that more like a Deus ex Machina, to be honest. Where did those seals come from? Are they from Lancer? But didn’t that red haired woman take them? So are they the remaining seals from Assassin? Does that mean that you can just continue to participate in the holy grail war as long as you don’t die, as long as you can capture another servant? Then why didn’t people worry about this when they learned of the first Assassin death?

Also, I fail to see the true importance of the seals here, and why having one extra counts as a tremendous advantage. Sure, it’s indeed handy if you’ve got a servant who won’t listen like with Lancer or Berserker, but with servants like Saber and Assassin they’re pretty much useless, while Caster and Rider drag their masters around so much that it would be impossible to control them with just three commands.

What I also wonder: what’s in it for the holy grail to see a bunch of magicians fight for it? I get why everyone’s fighting, but why was the holy grail created in the first place, and why does it have to have a war once every few years to hand out a wish? If it wanted to achieve something, couldn’t it just use that wish and achieve it anyway?

Oh, by the way: this episode is starting to work better than the casual talking episodes of early in the series, because we’re getting to know more and more about the characters. Seeming them discuss the plot becomes a lot more interesting this way.

Also, I know this is nit-picking, but this bothered me when I saw Archer with his hair down: how can he have his hair up in the ED?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam – 10

by psgels, posted in Last Exile - Ginyoku no Fam


Um… a recap.

Yeah, this had a bit of a context, with Giselda writing to home and all, But damn, watching this reminded of how long ago it has been since one of these appeared. I think the last was with with the Armed Librarians and Phantom. That obviously says that recaps in no way make shows bad, but still…

I will say this at least: it really seems like Gonzo is struggling to put this out. Although this episode fit in the context of the story, this was obviously meant to give them a bit of a breather. But still: the most important thing here is that they still haven’t lost their ambition. I mean, despite the production issues, they are putting down an incredibly solid production here with a lot to like. Just look at how AIC is currently trying to handle the same thing with Persona: that too has major production issues, but at times it just looks like the creators aren’t even trying. Seeing all of the gorgeous and well acted parts of this episode definitely showed how hard the creators of this show are trying, despite the obvious shortcomings of this series.
Rating: — (Lacking;It remains a recap, after all)

Hyouge Mono – 35

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono

The death scenes in this show are truly un-rivaled. No other show does them as well and as creative as this series. This episode finally had another one, and even though the one who died wasn’t one of the main characters, it still was really refined and well acted.

Still, with Toyotom Hidenaga, who once was Hideyoshi’s right hand man, another chaptr of this story is closed here. What’s so bizarre here is that we’re leading up to the finale, but this point in history is relatively short on battles. I really expected these final episodes to include some more of the battles that this show did so well, but instead it has been all about the characters lately. Sasuke in particular: he once was a messenger, but right now as a daimyou, he is getting more and more removed from the battlefield. As shown by how he’s now actually selling some of his pottery designs.

In fact, this whole series structure has been bizarre. The big reason for that is the sheer difference between Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The former was the definition of coolness, while the latter had much more strange and lame sides, while at the same time also being this capable ruler. If anything, he lacks the charisma of Oda Nobunaga, but what do you expect with that ridiculous getup he walks around in?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mawaru Penguin Drum – 23

by psgels, posted in Mawaru Penguin Drum

Okay. It’s time for answers. Finally the plot is coming together!

This episode really had me at the edge of my seat. It’s not just the plot that revealed some huge secrets: the characters themselves are also getting pushed on the main stage, and the drama around them is worthy of a finale so far. The big twist came right at the beginning of the episode: the bad guy of this series has pretty much been a dead guy. The rabbits were actually what he turned into. The two penguin hats? They’re part of Momoka.

Momoka actually tried to stop Sanetoshi from fully blowing up the world, although she failed partially. Somewhere in this half-spell, both parties got the abilities to play with the dead: My guess is very much that Mario would also be dead if it wasn’t for that hat of his, or at least that would explain why Natsume is so worried about him. The thing is however, that Sanetoshi’s healing powers are surprisingly long-lived, compared to what the Penguin hat could do. Heck, I’m very much inclined to say that Sanetoshi is currently deceiving Kanba, with the few healing powers that he still has left.

Penultimate episodes do have this tendency to focus too much on plot and too little on characters. This show actually didn’t! In this episode, Shouma was sorting out his own feelings, Himari tried her best to get Shouma and Kanba back together, Kanba got really sinister in the part where he cold-heartedly shot Shouma. And holy crap Ringo and that fire scene! Her role had already changed completely in the second half of this series, but this really brought her character to a different level.

Now, the ending of this series will definitely be the type of ending where the creators will try to put as much as possible into one episode. For these types of endings, the most important thing to remember is balance. There is no doubt that at this point, the creators have more than enough ideas to fill that last episode with. It’s bound to be awesome. but what would rally make it this series’ crowning moment of awesome is if every one of those ideas get just enough time to play out, while still making everything flow well into each other. Let’s really hope that the creators can pull this off, because this show deserves it.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Hyouge Mono – 34

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono

If you’re wondering why this entry is so late (yes, all three of you), it seems like the raw providers have nearly completely abandoned this show, and I couldn’t find it for a long while.

In any case, this is the episode where Riyuu went nuts. The first half though, was unfortunately a part where the animators screwed up. I know that it sounds a bit strange to complain that his facial expressions looked silly with the nature of this series, but up till now, all of the silly faces in this series were really well drawn. Here though, they weren’t.

But really, Sasuke has turned into a bit of a side-character with this. He really is being guided around by Rikyuu at this point, and despite his good intentions, he does miss the point of the “Wabi Sabi”, as it seems to be called. After the badly drawn faces, this episode really grabbed itself back together as it showed Rikyuu trying to get back at Hideyoshi, especially with that large statue of his.

Also, did Date Masamune just try to poison a few people?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Un-Go – 10

by psgels, posted in Un-Go

Now that we’re nearing the climax, the dialogue in this series moves even faster than ever. But really: I don’t mind. In fact, I actually encourage this series to continue with this style, and where you really have to put in effort to follow everything. This is a great way to involve your audience, and it’s been a long while since I watched a series that did it so well. The best way to illustrate this effect is to mention Boogiepop Phantom: if you thought that this series moves fast, you haven’t seen anything yet: that series is a complete puzzle to figure out. Your mileage may of course vary very much, but I really enjoyed having to puzzle to get everything out of the story.

Bettenou’s powers proved to be a terrific end boss here. What the hell here is real? In this episode the creators also suddenly came with small details like this handkerchief that had been tampered with. On top of that, the creators keep throwing us for a loop with multiple attacks on Kaishou. It’s indeed a very plausible theory for him to fake his own death, but who was this shady figure who stood behind Bettenou in that one shot? And why would Bettenou ask Inga to expose some of Kaishou’s deep secrets if she was working together with Kaishou? And what about that taxi driver who happened to be familiar with that female investigator?

With one episode left, I’m pretty confident to say that Noitamina did it again: Un-Go so far stood head and shoulders above all other Autumn Season Series, and the other shows are going to have to try really hard next year if they want to be able to top it. I mean, if the ending actually delivers like I hope to, then this pretty much is the example of how to do a fast paced Noitamina right. Instead of just rushing through its storyline, it actually made optimal use of its time. Compared to No.6 or C, which ended up skipping details, this show actually managed to focus on them.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

OVA Impressions: Eiyuu Densetsu – Sora no Kiseki

by psgels, posted in OVA Impressions

My main reason for wanting to check this out is because the Kinema Citrus team is behind it. They already showed that with .Hack//Quantum they can put down a good rpg adaptation. This is a genre that is exceptionally challenging to do, because 1) you cannot animate grinding, leveling, or talking to everyone in the continent to get a feel for the setting, and 2) a lot of RPG adaptations are OVAs that need to find a way to condense their huge stories into a much shorter timeframe. And despite all that, there have been quite a few shows that actually pulled this off. Eiyuu Densetsu though… not so much.

And don’t get me wrong, this OVA was well produced. The characters were well acted, the animation was very good, the action was well directed. In terms of production, it all lived up to Kinema Citrus’s standards. It’s just that the content in this episode had one major flaw: it assumed that its viewers were familiar with the source material…

… so yeah. If you played Eiyuu Densetsu: go ahead and watch it. This OVA is entirely dedicated to pleasing you. If you haven’t though, it’s a whole different story. This movie ultimately boils down to an abridged version of the TV-series, but it doesn’t bother to introduce anything. It refuses to explain anything. Who are these characters? Why are they on this journey? Why is all this important to them? The explanations that are there all assume that you know these things. On top of that, this OVA has a really bad Deus ex Machina near its climax, and it doesn’t even attempt to make full use of its time by wasting three whole minutes on a hot spring.

To tell epic stories like this in a limited time frame, you need to use your time cleverly. The best way is to put in a lot of small details that flesh out the characters as you go along. but Tales of Symphonia’s method of rewriting the story to make the pacing flow better in anime format works as well. This one wastes too much time on fanservice and random pointless scenes that would have worked on a 26-episode series, but not a short OVA. Even though this is 40 minutes, that’s still short.
OVA Episode Rating: 7,25/10

Chihayafuru – 11

by psgels, posted in Chihayafuru

Here’s also the thing with the team matches: because Chihaya’s team has two rookies, it pretty much means that the three other players need to win all of their matches to make up for that. That does put a lot of extra tension on them compared to the usual. It’s just one of the examples of how well this series is put together. This episode pretty much spent an entire episode and nothing more on the finale of a tournament. The perfect length to both deliver a good climax and to also prevent things from dragging on.

No,w, I do wonder: nearly all of the characters of the flashback arc returned. Will these characters do the same as well? Especially that tall guy looked like he might return much more often after this, and it’s already great to see two characters who actually know the main cast in this team, through various karuta clubs.

I also love how this show handles its foreshadowing in this episode. I often feel like sports series try too hard to build up on the big opponents that they have to beat. For on, it’s still a mystery of what Arata is going to do. But also, this episode referenced the upcoming opponents in just one single line, and never again mentioned them afterwards. I like how subtle this was done.

Speaking of which, I can already see one really big problem with the way this series is set up: Arata. Right from the beginning it was clear that Chihayafuru would end halfway through its story, but for a long while it was still a mystery what this would actually mean for this series (especially for the ones like me, who haven’t read the manga). However, Arata is clearly being set up to only reunite with the main cast, in the second half of this story. In other words: the part that’s never going to be animated. And that’s a bloody shame because the part where Arata appeared again in this episode was awesome.
Rating: ** (Excellent