Author: psgels

[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, The Money of Soul and Possibility Control




I’ll start off this review with a ranking of Kenji Nakamura’s series so far:
4. Kuchuu Buranko
3. C
2. Mononoke
1. Bake Neko

This guy is an excellent director who comes out every two years or so with new and interesting concepts, that are especially well directed, with bright and colourful graphics and interesting messages that other anime wouldn’t bother with. He has gotten to direct more different series than any other director so far. Even when he’s flawed, his series are just plain interesting. With C, we have his first series that follows a full storyline, rather than just a collection of short stories.

Now, C is an interesting thriller. Like Eden of the East, it focuses on social commentary, but this time it takes a look at the financial crisis. The best way to characterize this show is as “interesting”: the world it created is very original, the people that the main character meets throughout the series all have their own stories to tell to flesh out this setting, the battles and action scenes are really well directed: all of this is really interesting to watch, despite some major flaws.

Because yes, unfortunately this show is of the kind that tries to stuff way too much in way too little. This show is rushed as hell, which leads to problems that it can’t fully explain its setting, or that it can’t take the time to quietly flesh out its cast. A lot of plot twist happen completely out of nowhere because this series didn’t have time to build them up, because it was focusing on more important parts. But for a rushed series though: it held itself up really well.

This of course all depends on how easily your suspense of disbelief can be broken, but the pacing and scenario of this series continue to prevent this show from getting boring at all. Whenever this show is glossing over a detail, it’s doing so because it’s focusing on something else. The music in this series is really, really good, and the action scenes consistently belonged to the most creative and vivid of the entire season. Beyond that, it knows what parts it’s building up to and because of that it’s able to close off with a excellent finale that gives a satisfying conclusion by bringing the bits and pieces that it did manage to build up through its run together.

Now, C does not have the best acting here. It’s because of this that the characters take a bit of a time to get used to. The animation is unfortunately not the most detailed, and the entire series is full of distorted faces. The characters range from nothing special to actually quite interesting, but a big problem is that the main character belongs in the former category for a large part of the series. There are enough good characters to make up for that, though.

C has ambition and knows how to use it well. That’s the kind of series that I really like. This is the kind of series that would have been even better if it had more episodes to work with, but it prevented itself wonderfully from just driving into a wall. Instead this is a runaway truck who somehow manages to emerge still running at full speed despite having hit various things alongside its rampage.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Excellent scenario, and while the pacing might make you think that it’s going to turn into a trainwreck, it never does and only gets more dynamic and exciting.
Characters: 8/10 – Varied, from interesting to a bit of a boring main character.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Gorgeous art, though too many distorted faces and out of place CG.
Setting: 9/10 – Very creative backstory, interesting developments and while this obviously isn’t meant as an analysis of the financial crisis, it’s still very interesting in what it does with its setting. It leaves many things unanswered, but not enough to break suspense of disbelief.

Suggestions:
– Eden of the East
– Kuchuu Buranko

[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control – 11

by psgels, posted in The Money of Soul and Possibility Control



And with this, Kenji Nakamura shows that he can direct a climax. heck, I’ll go out on a limb here and claim that this was his best episode since Bake Neko. This episode…. I have seen too many unbalanced series up till now, so I really didn’t think that this show would be able to do it. This show was ambitious; there’s no doubt that it would have been even better had it had 24 episodes. Many shows preceded it: Fractale, Kuragehime, Eden of the East, Toshokan Sensou, Moyashimon, and Jyu Oh Sei: all didn’t seem to understand that they only had 11 or 12 episodes. And yet this show knows its limitations and tries to make a rushed, yet exciting and interesting compromise.

This ending left stuff unexplained, but it did give the key questions a satisfying answer. I especially like how this was resolved: in the end the financial district collapsed because the yen it was based on collapsed. It wasn’t even Kimimaro who ended up solving everything: it was the golden teeth guy who brought it down. Apparently that would also cause the world to reset itself. Mikuni probably didn’t chose this option because he was afraid to lose both his sister and his money. He kept clinging to the present, which is why he was able to so easily sell off his future.

Oh, and that fight. That fight between Kimimaro and Mikuni was absolutely wonderful. The animation and direction made it into an epic ending, the type that I stopped hoping for because there are just too many shows who promise this, and end up too mundane. This was bold, daring and excellent to watch. This is really what I’m looking for in action scenes.

Thinking back, Kenji Nakamura has always had a knack for endings, but it still came as a surprise as to how good this episode was. It was obviously rushed, but it didn’t break my suspense of disbelief. Of course series that are completely logical and explained are wonderful too, (and again, C would have been even better if it got the chance to explain all these things), but the kinds of shows that test the boundaries of suspense of disbelief, yet never actually cross them are awesome too. Although with those shows you really delve into “your mileage may vary’-territory, since everyone has a different suspense of disbelief.

As the final twist, I really liked that in terms of the big picture… nothing really ended up being solved. In the new world, there just was another Financial district lending out Midas Money. Kimimaru&co didn’t really change anything, they just prevented one guy from destroying countless futures.

Overall, if this wasn’t Noitamina and gotten its length doubled, it could have been better than even the likes of Madoka Magica. Unlike most rushed series though: this series rocked. It had its problems, it didn’t have the best acting, but it had more than enough to make up for it.

As for the next Noitamina: Summer will have two adaptations, while Autumn will have two original series. With that, the writers are really going to have to pay attention to make everything fit, and end at the right moment. For examples of how to do this right: Sarai-ya Goyou, Genji Monogatari and Hourou Musuko. As for Usagi Drop, the guy behind the series composition will be a complete mystery, so we can’t say anything about that, yet. As for No6’s Seishi Minakami: he’s more of a really, really good writer than a good pacer: some of the shows he wrote and adapted are perfectly paced and fit really well in their time, while other are either too long or too short, with the biggest offender being Shigurui, who just ended. If the story itself is any good though, he is the guy who can make it even better and that’s why I’m looking forward to it. But yeah, I am not going to expect the endings for the upcoming Noitamina series to be as good as the two we got to see with C and Anohana.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Hyouge Mono – 12

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono



I was surprised to see Christian references pop up at the end of the episode, until I realized that Japan’s seclusion of course only started with the Tokugawa period. Before we already saw Oda Nobunaga as very interested in other cultures, and now it turns out that one of Sasuke’s brothers has taken up Christianity (or at lest, now is the first time I noticed).

In any case, this episode marks the start of the cooperation between Hashiba and Sasuke. Surprisingly Hashiba is a lot more open now, I have no idea whether him killing Oda Nobunaga had something to do with that. The new alliance seems to go against that of Akechi Mitsuhide (who also pulled an interesting act to paint Oda Nobunaga’s castle white, the opposing colour of Sennou Soueiiki’s preference). And to think that that old guy of episode two is returning, this definitely is turning out to be interesting.

For these past two episodes, I’ve also been surprised at the role of the soundtrack in this series. It’s still Bee-Train like in the way that it’s completely unconventional, but most bee-Train series have always had powerful soundtracks with a lot of presence. This one doesn’t, and only pops up every now and then. Overall, it’s not OUtani Kou’s best work. That award goes to either Gunslinger Girl Il Teatrino or Haibane Renmei.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai. Review – 92.5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai




Moe in Noitamina. It was a risk. Especially after how Fractale screwed up so badly, seeing A-1 try again in a timeslot whose audience has always been at older audiences with the same teenagers that anime is filled with… I definitely had some doubts right before this series started. And then Ano Hana aired and turned out one of the best written shows of the season.

Ever heard of the phrase “short but sweet”? This is the key to the best Noitamina-series out there: most of them can only be eleven or twelve episodes long, so they really need to know how to use their time, and this series is a brilliant example of how this timeslot should be used. It leaves no moment wasted, it never drags, and it’s always developing its characters, delivering heavy drama, and moving back and forth between showing new things about its characters and fleshing them out.

The show follows six teenagers as they deal with their pasts. All six of them end up as well rounded characters, with their strenghts and flaws: one is an airhead, another is an asshole, another is socially awkward. This series juggles all of them together brilliantly. The acting is excellent and this show is even able to breathe life into the side characters of this series.

Now, this is the kind of series where the characters write the plot. If you like series that have a complex storyline, you don’t need to go for this series: this is just a coming of age drama, but it’s amongst the best I’ve seen. It is very dramatic though: this series really pushes to get as much drama into 11 episodes as possible without making itself shallow: all of the drama here is meaningful and brings out the best of the characters, but if you like series with more restrained and composed acting, you might want to look elsewhere.

If you are looking for an emotional roller coaster however: watch this. Few series can boast to be this well laid out, especially when so small. Everything fits just perfectly. I’m not a fan of moe, but this show is so good that it immediately won me over.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Brilliant at juggling around its drama, never leaves a moment wasted, although the drama can get a little heavy-handed for some.
Characters: 10/10 – A complete tear-jerker; wonderfully rounded characters that play off each other amazingly.
Production-Values: 9/10 – No still frames, no recycled scenes, fluid animation, detailed art, excellent soundtrack. An overall job really well done in every aspect.
Setting: 9/10 – A soothing village back in a forest. Down to earth.

Suggestions:
– Asatte no Houkou
– Clannad After Story
– True Tears

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai. – 11

by psgels, posted in Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai



And it’s finally the time of the season again to review the large batch of series ending. The first one is Ano Hana, and really: I don’t expect any of the other series in the next few weeks to come even close to this one. There is just no way. This episode was completely amazing and it pretty much cemented this series as my favourite series of 2011 so far.

the creators really wanted this to end with a tear-jerker, and BY GOD, they succeeded! It’s not the kind of episode that tries to be as sad as possible, but god dammit it was emotional. Just about every character unleashed the final bits of his or her development. Every character got the chance to vent his or her lungs and confess about his or her problems. Everything came together magnificently. I cried more at this episode than at any other episode of this show so far.

This show… this show really knew how to save the best for last. Menma’s wish is so simple, yet brilliant. It ties everything about Jinta together. It wasn’t something epic, but just a small detail about one of the friends she grew up with. Or Poppo, who finally revealed that… he actually saw what happened in that river. It was clear that he had a secret, and this episode made such a wonderful use of that. THIS is how you build up plot twist and make them hit as hard as possible!

The ending also was just bittersweet. Sure, it still remains unclear why Menma was a ghost, or why everyone was able to see her at the final time, but really: who cares. Ghosts just work that way, and it didn’t go against anything that this series built up for. It was truly excellent as the emotional climax of this series.

There’s just one overused cliche in this episode: Menma’s airheadedness, or “I like everyone as friends”. This is a bad twist because anime often use it to sneak their way around having to seriously develop romance. Can we really fault Anohana for that, though? With Menma, she just feels like a kid who just isn’t bothered with romance, even though everyone around her is. In terms of that, she was a great character. It’s perhaps not exactly realistic, but even then it has some of the most natural characters of the season, aside from perhaps Showa Monogatari that nobody watches.

Overall, A-1: we couldn’t have asked for a better apology for Togainu no Chi and Fractale. I love these people, and this is the second time they produced something of classic material, after Birdy the Mighty. Not since Asatte no Houkou have I watched a teenaged drama without anything else that I liked this much (and with Asatte no Houkou only half the cast was actually teenager). Just about everything fits here and nothing feels wasted or out of place. This really was a wonderful watch.
Rating: **** (Fantastic)

Sket Dance – 12

by psgels, posted in Spring 2011 Kaleidoscope



One sub-genre of shounen that I’ve been missing for quite a while: the ones based around playing games. And I don’t mean those stupid kiddie shows that are meant to sell toys or cards, I mean the ones that are based around the characters involved playing various games and try to be creative with that. Of course these kinds of arcs can be terrible if the creators don’t make them fun to watch, as it’s impossible to get a good plot out of that, but I can enjoy a good tournament arc once in a while. Sket Dance is a very nice example of this.

It’s not just the characters playing games that was fun about these past two episodes. In fact, the way the games are won is about the only predictable part. What also makes these episodes so great is characters like Bossun fidgeting from the sidelines, or the energy that this series has, setting every of the games up. I especially loved the stress in trying to find the fifth member for the tournament and how Bossun just randomly switched the names around in his panic.

What’s more: this also shows perfectly that the characters in this series aren’t stereotypes: by making everything fit so well at the beginning, this episode shuffles around the characters competences, and shows that everyone doesn’t just have one thing that they’re good at, but are in fact well fleshed out characters. At least, this goes for the main characters. This episode ended with the single biggest stereotype in the entire series’s turn about to start, so I have no idea why the writers chose her of all people to fill in aside from shock factor. She’s bound to lose (predictability yo!), but then again, I wonder more about she plans to do to make that match entertaining.

Overall, I am not really fond of Shounen jump adaptations, especially the ones that go on for ages, due to how incredibly long they take to get somewhere. The good parts tend to be overshadowed by the really long and draggy ones. Sket Dance though managed to be entertaining throughout its entire run so far. Its lack of plot doesn’t really matter so far: it’s really good at giving colour to its character, and it also keeps bringing back old characters, not just as cameos, but to flesh them out even more. And it’s really creative and funny in the process.

But yeah: the big question is whether this series will end up dragging, and when this will happen. There have been tons of once excellent shounen jump adaptations whose huge length became a huge turn-off: Gintama, Bleach, Naruto; even Dragonball Z would have been a pretty nice series if it ended right after the saiyan arc. Will Sket Dance avoid this and know when to quit like Level E, or will it pull a Bleach, jump the shark and refuse to end for the next couple of years?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Steins;Gate – 12

by psgels, posted in Steins;Gate



And wit this, the second half of Steins;Gate has begun. That twist at the end is bound to change everything for this series. I also love how well animated that final part was. This series is a pretty neat example of delivering great graphics with a limited budget.

Now, it’s still the question as to whether Mayuri is really gone or not (Makise also revived once and we still don’t know why), but I’m really interested in what that scene was between her and Okabe where they were 70 million years in the past, or how Mayuri seemed to know that something was going to happen to her. This episode really was building her up to be some very interesting character for the future.

Beyond that: Okabe actually suggested to publish the results of the time machine. That also would have been quite an interesting concept: how would it get used? How do you prevent it from falling into the wrong hands? And how would people notice that something has actually changed? Are there more people like Okabe around who retain their consciousnesses throughout different timezones? The only one who has been hinted to be the same is Shining Finger, and perhaps Suzuha.

Overall I like the balls that this series has to keep its cards to itself for so long. This show actually did a great job of building up with its first half. Sure, it was annoying at times and the characters could have been more versatile, but it built up its setting really well, the slice of life moments were good and it managed to put a lot of meaning into it plot twists of changing time. Now, for the second half, I do hope that the creators don’t end up fully abandoning those small things like the shopping scenes. That had something really down to earth that I really liked so far.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Last Exile Review – 87,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




Okay, so I finally managed to finish this series. I can now understand why when it first aired in 2003, it made quite an impact. It had this unique charm and excellent CG animation that actually still holds up today. It’s got a few problems, but overall it’s a unique adventure series.

The big strength of Last Exile is that it’s inspired and imaginative in just about every single way: it’s heavily influenced by the Miyazaki flying movies, but it managed to build its own original setting around that: there are original ideas behind just about every facet of this show, the designs too are just completely unique (with excellent CG to back this up). This is a wondrous journey from start to finish.

Now, beyond the ideas, this show also has the execution to back it up. I want to specifically praise the characters and the acting, who too feel unlike other shows of its kind. To best explain this: the dialogue feels much more natural and balanced than what you usually see in anime, making good use of pauses and nonverbal communication as well. The drama in particular is really well delivered thanks to this.

In terms of the story, this is a bit of a strange one, though. It’s the kind of series that really dislikes exposition, and keeps most of this as brief as possible. Because of this, a lot of the stuff in this series is left to the imagination as to “how and why” they happen.

Due to the acting, another interesting effect is that some characters go completely against their supposed archetypes. The one big exception is the main villain who really is an evil megalomaniac no matter how you cut it, but characters like Lavie, Mullin, and even Alex Rowe: they really know their characters and don’t try to be anything more for the sake of some extra forced drama. I really appreciate that, but because of that this series does have a few points where it drags because of that. It does come together wonderfully for the ending, though.

The strange thing with this series is that it may not be the most exciting series. And despite the solid acting, there are certain moments in the story that do feel forced. And yet, now that I’ve finished watching this show, it feels so complete. The end of this series really feels like the end of a long journey, and yet I can fully see a second season that focuses on a completely new cast work; the setting is more than rich enough for that. I wouldn’t call this amongst Gonzo’s best; they made too many classics for that, but it still makes the top 7 and it’s definitely a great show to watch.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Lots and lots of style. A bit one-sided at times, but never really drags.
Characters: 9/10 – Characters who fit the setting incredibly well. Very natural dialogue and voice acting.
Production-Values: 9/10 – This show is eight years old and still looks unique and amazing. You don’t often get to say that about 3D CG in a tv-series.
Setting: 9/10 – The setting still stands on its own with great ideas and a detailed description. It leaves things unexplained, but gets a nine because it really speaks to the imagination.

Suggestions:
– Shangri-La (just note that while Last Exile is really subtle, Shangri-la most definitely isn’t).
– Simoun
– The Third

Tiger & Bunny – 12

by psgels, posted in Tiger & Bunny



This episode was depressing to watch. I mean, it was almost completely one-sided the way in which some of the best heroes were just pummeled down like it was nothing. This episode did make sure to not god-mode that villain, and an obvious turning point was built up for the next episode, but damn: this episode put a big dent into the glory of these superheroes, especially with Sky High beaten so easily.

Also, the set-up where two main characters have to work together despite their differences is quite a cliche. Often this starts off with tension, leading to them getting to know each other and becoming friends for the rest of the series. This episode toyed with that really well, as it showed that there still is no full trust between Kotetsu and Barnaby when Kotetsu screws up Barnaby’s plan, right after he was asked to trust him (even though Barnaby did the same to Tiger a few episodes ago, only Barnaby didn’t screw up).

This arc is the halfway point of this series. It’s a really unusual place to show how damn flawed the main character is. Previously, this series built him up as this heroic guy with the right ideas, powers and mindset, and yet he hasn’t done anything well here, even compared to the other heroes who also were outclassed. The only way in which he was useful is due to a mistake he made that exposed the bad guy’s weak spot.

Overall, with Tiger and Bunny, Sunrise have finally done what I’ve been hoping of them: return to their string of awesome science fiction series of ten years ago. For nearly ten years, they just kept coming with imaginative action shows that just kept coming with original ideas that were really well executed, and yet for some strange reason this trend stopped around 2005/2006. I’ve got really mixed feelings about their next series, Sacred Seven though. The big thing with that show is that it has the most amazing staff members behind it… and yet it looks completely generic. These are the people whose resume includes the direction of Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, the animation direction behind Berserk, the script of Zone of the Enders, the original concept behind Karas and Argento Soma… and they end up doing a high school battle series that looks just like all the other high school battle series out there. WHY!?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 12

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



And yet again, Hana-Saku Iroha delivers an amazing episode. This… was sharp. It was bloody sharp. The entire episode was pretty much a string of characters doing the complete opposite of what you’d expect them to do while somehow still remaining perfectly in character. Mari Okada: how the hell did you manage to write three original stories and two adaptations in just half a year, and how the hell did you manage to create such sharp dialogue for just about all of them, save for Fractale? Heck, delivering the best screenplay for slice of life dramas is one thing, but doing it multiple times across different series. what the hell has she been taking? This hardly isn’t human anymore…

Okay, so Ohana completely gives a different twist to the love triangle by flat out telling Tohru about her crush, after this show starts to give off hints that he’s now interested in her mother instead. Meanwhile Tohru spend an entire day doing a rather morbid date that really doesn’t sound pleasant, ending. Ko’s co-worker meanwhile reveals herself to be really direct, Tohru forces Ohana to kidnap Ko and Ohana’s mother whom she first wanted to kidnap herself suddenly decides to take a few days off to go to a certain inn.

This isn’t the roller coaster of emotions that the previous episodes were, but instead it juggled the different characters around and fleshed them out brilliantly. It threw all of them in new situations and it just kept coming with detailed dialogues. This episode was also wonderfully paced.

Now, the question is: what is the plan for the creators? Do they actually have what it takes to keep up this pacing across the entire series, or are we simply at the mid-way climax here? Either way though: what an improvement over the first third of this series!
Rating: *** (Awesome)