Author: psgels

Tamayura – Hitotose – 11

by psgels, posted in Tamayura

“Oh yes, today is christmas”.

I find this a very typical line here. Christmas stands synonymous for a warm-hearted feeling, so I pretty much expected this show to fully use it. And then this episode came, and it actually showed that it doesn’t need it. This episode was charming beyond belief, even without the Christmas feeling.

I think that out of all of the characters in this series, the best developed one is actually Maon, and not Potte. Every character is of course very well rounded here, but Maon has this extra edge, where she actually managed to crawl out of her shell very believably. The whistling really shows this: in the second half, she only used it when feeling down. What once was the start of her development now has turned in this reminder to herself of how she should try out many different things.

As a writer, I could really relate to this episode, and what it means to keep living up to everyone’s expectations. A writer’s block is inevitable sometimes, and while at first it seems like just simply putting your mind to it, in practice things don’t go as easily. Personally I’ve found that looking at your work from a different angle works best, with the challenge being finding that angle. This episode portrayed it wonderfully. It was also a very un-typical story, and yet it was exactly something that you’d expect a high school girl to write.

And holy crap, this thing will end next week! Overall, I’ll be content if it ends there though. That makes this series short and sweet, unlike Aria, which requires a lot more effort to fully watch. If you add these 12 episodes to the four episodes of the OVA, you pretty much get the perfect length: 16 episodes. This is something that a lot of other producers should realize. Sure, it’ll probably be a bit harder with continuous stories and all, but what I’m saying: producers, be creative. You’re working in the anime industry, so it shouldn’t be that hard to find inspiration.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mirai Nikki – 10

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

Hmm, either the OP and ED changed, or some wiseguy at the subbers thought to be funny to overlay a piano track. I’m edging for the latter because it just sounds too unprofessional. I mean, it’s nice and all that someone at Gotwoot knows how to play the piano and all, but using this method you make both products just inferior.

In any case, this episode consisted out of two halves. With the first half, I’m beginning to understand why everyone keeps going on and on about Minene. On top of showing an interesting and different part of her past, it also finally showed a confrontation between diary holders that didn’t involve Yukiteru and Yuno. If we’re going to compare Fate/Zero with this series, then it’s not the fact that nobody died in Fate/Zero that irks me the most, but rather that every major confrontation has to have Yukiteru in it. He’s just not an interesting character, even after 10 episodes.

This is shown even more by the second half of this episode, which returned to the dating sim roots again. I get that they’re trying to build up and all, but that bridal fair just wasn’t interesting at all to see Yukiteru stutter and mumble his way through. Afterwards, during the big supposed moment of this episode: what idiot just mentions a corpse in front of someone he hardly knows?
Rating: (Enjoyable)

2011 Summary Part 1: My Top 23 OPs and EDs

by psgels, posted in Yearly Summaries

Compiling my top OPs and EDs of the year always is the most annoying part of writing up my yearly summaries, because this means that I have to listen to hordes of utterly horrid J-Pop songs in order to separate the cream of the crop. Still, having cringed for god knows how many times at some utterly terrible songs that eventually instantly made me turn for the off-button like some sort of reflex, I do want to highlight the series that do put in effort to create a memorable opening or ending. Whether it’s based on a simple well executed idea, or an ambitious project with a really interesting creative vision. I don’t care for OPs that just introduce the cast or hint un-subtly at random spoilers, or EDs that just contain a mellow ballad with a still image, I want to see something different or more. These too are great opportunities to showcase great animation.

So ere you have it, my top 23 of favorite OPs and EDs of the past year. Why such a random number as 23? Well… I miscounted. actually thought that I was making a top 20, but only found out too late that I had three entries too many for that.

Continue reading “2011 Summary Part 1: My Top 23 OPs and EDs” →

Phi Brain – 11

by psgels, posted in Phi Brain

So, let me get this straight: this episode involved our cast being turned into giant monsters, invade a city, and move around buildings in order to solve a puzzle. Who the hell comes up with this stuff?!

But yeah, that’s what I like about this show: the complete ridiculousness of its premise. This episode’s puzzle really took the cake in terms of ludicrousness of the puzzle’s theme. They were never THIS crazy, but that only shows that this series is getting better. When they already get this surreal, I’m looking forward to see them actually push that even further in the second half of this series.

Again though: this was really enjoyable, and I’m warming up to the characters more and more. The chemistry between them is also just getting better and better.

Also, the side-villain. This guy’s reaction is just extreme when it comes to failure. Also, why is his screen bouncy? What kind of bizarre technology are they using. This episode seems to be the end of him, though I do hope that he’ll at least get some closure.

Also, did they seriously give a professor of theirs the nickname Pythagoras? They do know that the real Pythagoras was a crazy old man who founded his own bizarre religion? Well.. the creators did indeed get that second part right. So what about the first part…?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Nurarihyon no Mago – Sennen Makyou – 24

by psgels, posted in Nurarihyon no Mago

So, this seems to be heading into an anime original ending? Let me say the following: as someone who didn’t read the manga, I didn’t notice this. In a way, I do agree with the decision to end at this point: this show should not be allowed to drag on any longer. I’ve heard that the next arc will be even longer than this one. There’s no way that I’m going to watch that. This will be good closure, if it indeed is handled well.

My only complaint about this episode was that Abe no Seimei is a very stereotypical villain with one-sided motives. Still, it’s not a case where all hope is lost. This episode was very solid in how it delivered the background of the girl who would once become Hagoromo Gitsune. That was actually a great closure for her story.

The pacing here was fine as well (and hey: people actually bother to distract the main enemy while giving others the chance to talk). A lot of stuff happened in this episode, which is a really major difference to how this show once was with its endless stream of build-up.

Now, for the anime original ending, this series needs to remember the largest flaw of these kinds of endings: the fact that they nearly always tend to play it too safe. That’s the big issue with nearly every single one of them, in one way or the other. I’ll hold my breath for this one, but at the same time: I can actually see an ending being possible here. Much more than usual.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Ben-To – 10

by psgels, posted in Ben-To

After two weeks of no food battles, getting to see another one does make it extra sweet. Especially when the creators still haven’t lost it at all, and the battle in this episode was excellent as usual with very creative fights that had some really terrific direction, including a camera that just wouldn’t sit still and a good use of the supermarket as a setting.

I think I get what the creators were trying to build up on here: the two twins are supposed to be the main villains of this series, and instead of immediately showing their strength they just built up their characters through different ways, before heading to this episode. The big problem with this is that they were really annoying characters before the fight happened. The good thing is that this fight indeed served its purpose, and I like them a lot more now.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hunter X Hunter – 11

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

I’m afraid to say it, but this episode was won by the first Hunter X Hunter series. It’s here where the difference in direction and acting unfortunately worked against this series’ favour. The difference is very much in the details, but there are a lot of details here that when stacked up, unfortunately weigh this episode down quite a bit.

First of all there’s that character design of the female prisoner. That was just… way too much. The whole mind game between her and Leorio had much less impact due to Leorio’s overacting. Then there are these details like when Leorio had to grope the girl to confirm whether she told the truth: there they came up with a creative way to censor it. Here, it’s just the same. Or take the part where the ninja manages to finish the trial: the joke the first series had there, with Hisoka and that other guy, worked much better.

Killua’s match was the real downer, though. This is supposed to be one of the worst mass murderers out there. Why then did they play this cheesy rock tune when they explained who he was? The gore was toned down, showing that while this show is willing to get quite gory, it won’t cross the usual borders. There, that scene really made impact, but here it just lacked something.

The strange thing about the music of this series: it’s composed by Hirano Yoshihisa. This guy is usually awesome. He composed the soundtracks for Himitsu, Real Drive, Death Note and the Book of Bantorra. It would have been great to hear his epic and experimental style here, but it really doesn’t sound like he’s trying for this series. What gives?
Rating: * (Good)

Some Quick OVA Impressions: Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, Appleseed XIII, Kung Fu Cooking Girls, The Epic of Zektbach and Koi Sento

by psgels, posted in OVA Impressions

This is me, clearing a bit of backlog in terms of OVAs. I’m not going to make a single post for all of them, but I do want to say a few things about them. Hence, a compilation post.

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn – 04

This episode illustrates the worries that I had when I started watching this OVA perfectly. Talk about a solid direction! Talk about great action. Some of the characters were really good here, like that female lead, the various captains. This really was epic…. if only it wasn’t for the excessive whining from the male lead. Dear god, I thought he’d never shut up. This episode just kept showing him angst over and over. He ignores orders just like every other bloody Gundam lead, and in the middle of a war he gets too scared and keeps whining towards everyone to stop fighting. Good lord, this really feels like watching Zeta Gundam all over again.
OVA Episode Rating: 7,75/10

Appleseed XIII

Okay, with this Appleseed XIII is much more character-centric than the movies have ever been. this was a bit of a weird episode where the tensions in the relationship between Deunan and Briarios stood central. And seriously Deunan, get some controls on your hormones! Nevertheless, the subject matter of this episode was very inspired. I especially liked the role of Deunan’s father in this episode, and how she both considers his upbringing of her a blessing and annoyance. It’s probably because of this that she’s also trying to get away from Briarios. They are really turning into interesting characters, although the facial animation still needs some MAJOR work here…
OVA Episode Rating: 8/10

Kung Fu Cooking Girls

I jus realized that I forgot a bunch of OVAs throughout the year. This one is a Chinese production, but it’s a really good example of interesting animation. It’s only eight minutes long, the animation is a bit messy, but very detailed and especially the fight choreography is really well done. Apart from the animation though, there’s not much more that makes it worth watching. There is in particular this very annoying guy who keeps looking for food who distracts the flow a little too much and the pointless fanservice is also pretty pointless here.
OVA Episode Rating: 7,5/10

The Epic of Zektbach

This is an attempt to tell an epic ancient warfare story… in just under 30 minutes. Okay, I give the creators credit for actually trying this, but the results are just completely bizarre. In the first ten minutes a massive war that is spread across the entire country is being one… by just one woman who happens to have a really powerful sword. This could have been something if 1) it had more time (seriously, the things it tries to cram in here lack serious development) and 2) better actors. Aside from the main character, none of the characters stand out and are just complete archetypes, and even the main character is forgettable. I appreciate the experiment though: now we know that you can’t tuff an epic storyline in half an hour.
OVA Episode Rating: 6/10

Koi Sento

This is a romantic adventure of about 20 minutes long, fully animated in Cell Shaded CG. Its content is really romantic fluff, but the execution is really fun and enjoyable. It’s got good acting and characterization and the characters are all pretty colourful and enjoyable to watch, and it’s got some great ideas to fill its airtime with. In particular the deer was hysterical. I love that animal. I believe that this aired right next to Norageki, which is pretty similar in terms of production (although completely different in terms of story content). Norageki is much better in the end, but as a way to randomly burn 20 minutes, this is quite an enjoyable way.
OVA Episode Rating: 8/10

Tekken – Blood Vengeance Review – 75/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

For those of you who don’t know, Dai Sato was the one who, a while back, unleashed a rant about the current state of anime, claiming that it’s dying and that fans lack respect for good stories. Seeing as this comes from one of the best writers in the business (we’re talking about the guy who wrote Ergo Proxy, Eureka 7 and episodes of Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell and Toward the Terra, this made some impact.

His next movie is Tekken – Blood Vengeance, and with this I seriously wonder what happened to that statement, and in particular the line “Sato vowed that he would still continue to work on it in attempts to avert that bleak fate.”. My biggest guess right now is executive meddling.

Tekken – Blood Vengeance certainly isn’t a bad movie. However, I went into this movie expecting a lot of over the top martial arts fights and an over the to action-heavy plot. What I did not expect is that this movie got stuck inside a high school for about half of its time. I’m not kidding here: the main character is this high school girl and for most of the movie she’s sent to infiltrate some random high school in order to find someone with special powers. The lengths that these creators will go through to force a school setting in is unbelievable sometimes.

This movie is actually quite funny, albeit unintentional. I wouldn’t say it’s so bad it’s good: the direction is solid, the pacing is nice, and when the action does arrive it gets quite enjoyable. But the plot is just completely silly and over the top, while the characters all take it seriously. This campiness in which the characters just assume that riding a panda or a very ditzy and pushy android are part of everyday life are hilarious. The only really bad part about this movie is the romance, which comes out of bloody nowhere, which makes it even more hilarious.

It also should be noted that this movie assumes that you’re familiar with the rest of the Tekken universe. And don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that it’s full of techno-babble that you can only understand by having played the games. No, this movie just refuses to devote time to flesh out about half of its cast, because apparently, this has already been done in previous installments. Because of this there are points where random characters completely take over the show, especially near the climax. Although the ending was wonderfully cheesy again.

And really, the direction is competent here: 3D animation is still continuing to evolve, and the character models get more expressive every year. The movements still are clunky, but when you compare it with 3D movies of a few years back there is some definite improvement, which much less of the botox-faces syndrome apparent.

Tekken Blood-Vengance is by no means a good movie though, due to all the cheese and undeveloped characters. If you want cheese though, then this is a good choice: this movie knows that it’s cheese, but it tries to deliver itself anyway. It’s enjoyable, though not much more. Dai Sato: get back to write stuff like Ergo Proxy again.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Very camp, but well enough paced and executed.
Characters: 7/10 – Some of these characters are really out of place, and others just assume you’re familiar with the Tekken Franchise.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Solid 3D character animation.
Setting: 7/10 – A high school in an over the top martial arts movie. Why?

Suggestions:

Fate/Zero – 11

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

Now I understand why the first episode felt so underwhelming to me: I just didn’t care about any of the characters. Normally I really like the “lots of talking”-series, but something didn’t quite work with me. Now, I realize that those first episodes were like some random stranger coming up and starting to quote Shakespeare for more than an hour: why should we care? I mean, even Mouryou no Hako didn’t immediately start with its incredibly long dialogues, but first created a hook with that fantastic first episode of its. So yeah, now I understand. This was by far the best episode of Fate/Zero so far and significantly increased my opinion of it.

Nearly the entire episode was just one big monologue of Rider. And it was glorious. I mean, the best character of the series just got even better when he explained exactly why he’s in the tournament, and what he thinks a king should be. It clashed wonderfully with Saber, and interestingly used the way in which Saber has been so timid for a king in a way that I really did not expect. The decision to include Archer made things even better, because now we have this drinking talk between three people who couldn’t be any more different from each other. I also love how everyone’s master just stood around, not knowing what to do in this situation.

But oh my god, it’s been a while since we had an episode that put so much emphasis on well written dialogue that worked so well outside of Hyouge Mono. I really began to fear that my tastes changed a bit after such an absence of series that would dare it. Especially after how Shaft hi-jacked this genre with shows as Denpa-Onna and moved it from well written dialogue to just random blabber that doesn’t go anywhere. With this episode, it’s great to see that the “lots of talking”-genre still is alive.
Rating: *** (Awesome)