Author: psgels

Giant Killing – 22

by psgels, posted in Giant Killing



Most of this episode was half-time, but it still was an awesome one. The creators really know how to create tension here, with 35 minutes of the match left and still nobody managed to score. The characters in the meantime are as fun as ever. It also helps that Tatsumi continues to hype his own game with his seemingly endless confidence.

Still, you can see that after the despair of the previous episode, the defence is starting to get together. With 31 minutes however, the problem is indeed Natsuki. He indeed was a bit different from usual in this game, though I never really thought of why this was. The end of this episode however revealed that Tatsumi made quite a devastating comment about his determination. With that I completely understood why he had been running around like a chicken during the past episodes. I guess that Tatsumi wanted to motivate Natsuki, but here’s one thing that seemed to backfire. And interestingly, despite all of the build up of the previous episodes, we still didn’t get to see anything from Sera.

In any case, I’m still surprised at how well the chemistry turned out here. All of the attention that the series has put into the different characters is really paying off right now, and something tells me that the next few episodes will give the rest of the cast beyond the defenders their time to shine. It’s a shame though, I really don’t see huge DVD-sales for this series, so I really doubt that there’s going to be a second season.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru – 21

by psgels, posted in Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru



Holy crap, here is one series that suddenly became just better and better. Seriously, these past two episodes have far surpassed anything else this series had offered up to that point. And this episode ended with yet another cliffhanger, as if to say that it’s still nowhere near done yet. I keep wondering how many parts of the soundtrack the creators haven’t shown yet.

In a way though: I love these kinds of series: those who for their majority aren’t anything special aside from a few scenes here and there, and suddenly as they enter their final quarter flick the awesome switch and finish with one heck of a finale. Uragiri looks to be well on this path with only three episodes left, same with Kobato half a year ago. The disadvantage is of course that it’s impossible to pick these kinds of series out when they first start. I’m REALLY glad that I took the few hints of episode two and continued to blog this series, because I recall having laughed quite a bit at this series for how silly it looked at times.

One of the things I especially liked here was the way in which Reiga continues to set off hints to Yuki that Kanata was still out there, only to completely trash Yuki afterwards, telling him to get off his high horse. It’s a very interesting way of showing Yuki’s flaws, this naivety in which he keeps hoping for Kanata to magically return really adds to his character, and yet this doesn’t take his naivety over the top like what you see with most naive characters who too often degenerate into utter stupidity.

With three episodes left (according to ANN at least, don’t take my word on that because they still seem to believe that this show is only 13 episodes long), I do hope that the creators still have enough time to put girl Yuki’s background in it. Right now, that’s my biggest question mark along with the reason why Reiga protected Yuki in this episode. If the creators can pull that off, while making these three episodes as good as the past two, then I’ll be entirely happy.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Sengoku Basara – 20

by psgels, posted in Sengoku Basara



As much as I like the soundtrack of Shiki, I do not consider it to be the best of the Summer Season. The soundtrack for Sengoku Basara is just epic, especially after this episode showed that it can also hold its ground in the quiet and subtle scenes. I’m also not sure who that singer was who popped up in the middle, but she has a great voice.

Also, colour me surprised here. At the start of this series, I really thought that this was going to be an action series. As in: we get a bunch of exciting battles every episodes. As it turns out though, I was wrong: this series tries to be much more than just brainless action. This was the second episode in a row that didn’t spend any attention on any kind of action scenes, and instead it again focused on its character background and building up. The side characters may not have developed much, but there is actually quite a bit of character development amongst the main ones, especially Date Masamune and Yukimura, but also Toyotomi changed compared to the flashbacks we see him in in this episode.

The first season tried this too, but the key mistake it made was that it didn’t feel like it was building up to anything. The arcs were all seemingly unrelated, and not really that interesting. But yeah, at the same time I do have to agree: it did lay out the foundation for this second season to work with. Without that first season, this second season would not be as solid as it is now. I still blame it for being boring, though.

In any case, with so much build up, that final quarter had better be awesome. This series may not be the next Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, but I’m still enjoying it a lot. I expected to get bored when I realized that this episode again wouldn’t involve fighting, but this didn’t turn out to be the case.
Rating: * (Good)

Heartcatch Precure – 29

by psgels, posted in Heartcatch Precure




The episodic stories of this series are possibly even better than the multi episode arcs. I know that there have been a few lesser ones, but episodes like this more than make up for it. This show is excellent at portraying the normal problems and worries that kids might have without degenerating in the emo territory, but this episode was an exceptionally charming one.

It was about a boy who set himself a challenge for the summer holidays: bike a whopping 500 kilometers between Tokyo and Kyoto. From the moment that he finished this task it was already clear that he cheated somewhere in the middle: the way he acted, the way in which he wasn’t tired at all or the injury, they all pointed towards this, and the guy himself acted this out really well.

I loved how the episode played around wit this and really portrayed his worries as genuine. You could see that he didn’t like the support he received from everyone, and how he must have felt horrible inside that bus. On top of that, people were actually inspired by him to set their own challenges: Tsubomi set her own challenge of creating her own clothing (which looked awesome, by the way, and I liked how the creators sneaked a bit of character-development into this episode as well).

Now that Itsuki is pretty much walking along with Tsubomi and Erika (also, is it me or does Tsubomi still have a crush on Itsuki), I wonder what these kinds of episodes are going to look like when Cure Moonlight is going to return. Is she also going to run along with them? Either way, in the way that Itsuki managed to change this series, I’m really looking forward to seeing what her more mature presence is going to do with the mood of this series.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Durarara – 12,5

by psgels, posted in Durarara



Most DVD-specials are simple side-stories. This one is too, but in this case I really recommend it because it was everything that made the first half of Durarara so addictive. It doesn’t have anything to do with the main storyline, but it’s a really fun ride from beginning to end.

I’m not sure whether this is an anime original chapter or a side-story taken from the light novels, but whoever it came from, they really went all out here. The time line was more screwed than ever. Because of that, the first scenes of the episodes are completely random and nonsensical, but as the episode goes on they all fall wonderfully into place. There are some great plot twists too, I especially had to laugh when the creators explained the source behind those sparkly ufos. The only thing I didn’t get was that really weird Daffy Duck laugh at the five minute mark…

Central to the plot were a number of mysterious red bags that kept travelling from one place to the other in this episode, and even though they mostly served to confuse the viewer rather than the characters apart from the Americans, it worked really well, considering how different their contents were. I also loved how ridiculously cheesy those American thugs were: their accent was horrible, and yet they had no problem pronouncing Japanese names. Ah heck, for all we know they could all be Japanese people who are forced to talk in English for their jobs. Oh, and Isaac and Miria made their comeback again!

Mikado and the others had no purpose whatsoever in the story, but I still like how the creators found something interesting for them to do, just portraying them hanging out and doing nothing with strange ears on. The TV-series should have had more scenes like those.

Speaking of which, yeah. I now fully understand why I didn’t like the second half as much as I would have liked: it had none of this addictive pacing, and instead went for a very straightforward style of storytelling without pretty much any kind of warning. It tried to make up for this with its character-development, but that just wasn’t enough. A second season would completely fix the problems I have with it, though at this point this seems unlikely, considering how the director has already moved on to a new series Kuragehime. I’m really looking forward to what he can do with a josei-series, though at the same time it looks to be one of the weakest premises he worked on for a long while. I don’t really like the thought of yet another one of those otaku-aimed shows. On the brighter side though, I just discovered that the Series Composition Guy has this habit of completely disregarding his original source material, so we might be in for something completely different from the original manga it’s based on. That provides opportunities, both good and bad.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Kimagure Orange Road OVA Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




With this, I get it. Kimagure Orange Road is annoying. It got on my nerves beyond belief. But in the end: it really is worth it. I mean, there is so much that modern teenaged love interests can learn from Madoka that it’s almost scary. This OVA at first sight seems much of the same as the TV-series, but there are a number of notable advantages that it has.

The formula is the same: get a bunch of episodes together in which the lead character (often with the use of his psychic powers) accidentally ends up in a really awkward romantic situation. The fact that this is eight episodes however, means that the cast has a lot less time to get on your nerves compared to the incredibly long TV-series. To me, this really worked in focusing on the good stuff of the OVAs: the serious and romantic scenes. And they really get their chance to shine in this OVA.

The graphics also got a major update here. You can really see that the artists especially put in effort to bring the cast to life now that they’re not bothered by a TV-series budget any more. It’s got this great classic look from the late eighties, and it doesn’t look as immature as the series did.

I can’t say that this OVA wasn’t annoying, because it definitely did have its moment. But really: if you finished the daunting task of watching the entire TV series of Kimagure Orange Road, then you might just as well continue with this OVA. At this point they’ve got 50 episodes worth of development behind them, so they sure as heck aren’t going to be shallow here. And besides: it’s great to see a show that isn’t incredibly scared to show teenagers drinking alcohol. Seriously: why does every modern anime try to pretend that teenagers never drink or smoke?

Storytelling: 9/10 – Annoying, but really knows exactly what it does in getting the best out of the characters.
Characters: 9/10 – I’ve said this before, but Madoka is one of the best characters of her kind. The others… they’re nice, but pale in comparison.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Smooth and detailed animation when it matters, with a few bugs here and there though.
Setting: 8/10 – Save for a horrible portrayal of a bunch of Americans, it’s solid and does its job.

Suggestions:
– Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ouki
– Maison Ikkoku
– Mahou Tsukai Tai OVA

Kuroshitsuji II – 09

by psgels, posted in Kuroshitsuji II



Now that Alois is gone, this series did lose a big part of its fun factor, but this episode seemed to realize that and really had fun playing around with the rest of the cast to make up for it.

I mean, a plot to brainwash Ciel and make him think he’s Alois? That’s quite intriguing. If anything because of how the end of this episode promised Sebastian to go completely insane in the next episode. That shinigami that attacked Sebastian with that lawn mower also was another one of those crazy ideas I loved.

Not to mention that, even though this episode had quite a bit of action, the scenes that the animators spent the most frames on yet again was Claude’s hands as he was crocheting. It looked very good and realistic, really. But why that scene, of all places?

Now, the only thing I’m a bit worried about is the conclusion here. I mean, at this point the creators can easily revert everything back with another Deus ex Machna again, because at this point, this really seems to be one of those plots that the creators make up as they go along. I really want to see this show end with something epic. I don’t really care about the depth, this show never was one of those where you can expect that.
Rating: * (Good)

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu – 09

by psgels, posted in Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu



Okay, so this is the long awaited moment in which Ryner “snaps” again. Is it as good as the third episode? Nah.

The second half of this episode was very intense, yes. But to me, it felt like it was trying a tad too hard to make Ryner’s life as miserable as possible, using too many cliches in the process. “Oh god, I’m a kid with lots of powers. I used to live peacefully with everyone but now that I’ve shown my powers after evil people killed my friends everyone sees me as a monster!” Yeah; been there, done that.

It’s a stock fantasy cliche, with not enough to deviate it from the other stories that use it. The reason why the third episode was so awesome was because it really was about the relationship between Ryner and that girl who was in love with him. It developed both him and her; it was well directed and just kept throwing in more and more interesting stuff. This episode was just there to show how sad Ryner’s past was. The enemies were also rather generic as well.

As a build up, I guess it suffices and it’s not like this episode was annoying like the one with that female captain, but this show has now reached the point in which I’m starting to get bored. Apparently, especially the later volumes of the original light novels are going to be awesome, but I first want to see that before believing it.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Shiki – 08

by psgels, posted in Shiki



I like Natsuno. He’s no idiot and continues to use his head. He’s not one to rush into a situation, and instead thinks before he acts, and his actions are so far all taken with the intent to learn as much as possible about what’s going on. More protagonists should be like this.

The vampires in the meantime aren’t stupid either: they’re not going to let someone like him walk around freely, as shown by the counterattack at the end of this episode (which was really well directed and creepy, by the way). With fourteen episodes left, I wouldn’t be surprised if this show would evolve into a thriller, something like “humans versus vampires”. When both sides are this formidable, I can’t wait for this second half.

And I guess that that’s why Masao and Megumi are so important here: they’re the vampires who have many sentiments towards these characters. In fact, I’m very interested in how that cat guy manages his vampires. This episode really made it apparent that someone is tightly controlling the different vampires. How do those vampires react exactly when they run into someone they know or hold dear? Megumi showed that they don’t lose their memory, Masao showed that they don’t exactly lose their self-conscience.

Also, the soundtrack is just getting better and better, and I really like what Yasuharu Takanashi did on it. To compare it with his other work, it sounds closest to the combination between Jigoku Shoujo and Toward the Terra’s soundtrack. Beyond that, it’s also interesting that he has been experimenting a bit more during the past year: the OST of Jigoku Shoujo and Toward the Terra (but also Mononoke, Before Green Gables and Seto no Hanayome) lacked this… “spark” that I did notice at Heartcatch Precure and Shiki’s OST. They feel like they have much more contrast, compared to his more subtle earlier works.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Aria the Natural Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




Watching Aria the Natural was… a challenge. Seriously, watching it (especially its first half) was a unique experience in trying to not doze off while still paying attention to the dialogue. I was nearly put to sleep by how calming the storytelling is here; that’s usually a really big insult!

Aria is all about making memories: those small events that leave a lasting impression on you, and the Natural is also full of episodes that focus on moments like these, in the middle of a ton of slice of life. Calm and soothing beyond belief, it’s very much an “Iyashi-kei” (healing-type) series that even more than the first season of Aria, is perfect if you just want to relax, or get rid of some stress.

The dialogue is also very important for this series, as it loves to flesh out its cast and setting with it. I especially liked how detailed and imaginative the script was. The thing that also sets Aria apart from most other slice of life series is that it really pays attention to the unique setting it’s in: the culture, history, traditions and people of Neo Venezia all get their turn to show a bit about themselves, and to be honest: I actually enjoyed this part more than the characters themselves.

Whether it’s the best slice of life series out there, though… I can’t say that. Aria is very good at what it does, but personally I enjoyed series as Windy Tales and Akage no Anne more. Even though the main characters have gotten 39 episodes worth of screentime, in which we do get to know them quite a bit, I still think they’re missing something. It’s like… they were trying too hard at times to be adorable, especially with the overuse of those comical chibi-faces. I’d also have liked a bit more variety in the different episodes. There were a few times at which I felt that this series might have gone on for a tad too long. This is just nitpicking, though. I enjoyed this show a lot regardless.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Calm, soothing, yet detailed, and a great script.
Characters: 8/10 – A charming cast.
Production-Values: 8/10 – An excellent soundtrack. The animation itself is nothing special but nice to look at.
Setting: 8/10 – Neat idea, well fleshed out, well used.

Suggestions:
– Windy Tales
– Ristorante Paradiso
– Mushishi