Author: psgels

Heartcatch Precure – 14

by psgels, posted in Heartcatch Precure



Happy Mother’s Day everyone.

You know, I often dislike it when creators kill of a characters’ parent. It’s overdone, a cheap way to care about a character… ah, screw it. This show just surpassed itself. This was the best episodic story that Heartcatch Precure has shown us so far, and it pushed all of the right buttons. Screw cliches, there’s nothing wrong with them if used right!

It’s an awesome idea from the creator to make a mothers day special, because it really fits the main themes of this series (family) perfectly. The main focus of this episode this time fell on one of Tsubomi and Erika’s classmates, who has lost her mother a number of years ago (probably due to the birth of her younger sister). It’s really an episode about the loss of one’s parents, and how this forces her to take on responsibilities, even though she’d rather be playing around.

Shiku really was a strong girl for her age, but at the same time that went at the expense of her childhood. This episode was all about her, sorting out her own feelings about her mother. Her character-development was also handled really well: after she realized that she shouldn’t be so hard on herself, she really started experimenting with being a kid again, joining the fashion club. Speaking of which… this means that we’re going to see much more of her, right? This sounds very, very promising.

As for the bad guys… they intrigue me a bit. With the main theme of this show being family, it really hasn’t been reflected at all in those three grunts that always change people to desatorians and whose name I forgot. However… was it really a coincidence that that narcissistic one was walking around with a bouquet of flowers on MOTHER’S DAY? I mean, something tells me that that was a bit too much of a coincidence.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 56

by psgels, posted in Full Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood



And King Bradley shows his fangs again. Apparently, he’s fast enough to avoid bullets and cut them in half, and his presence is so great that he’s able to create shock-waves of air to smack down his victims. Bones, that may have been a bit too much; those are tricks that cheap shows use in an attempt to make characters look really strong.

Nevertheless, talk about an action-packed episode. The previous episodes were full of euphoria, and here Bradley comes and completely turns the table. None of the characters who have a good chance of actually beating him (Roy, Hohenheim) are anywhere near, so instead characters as Greed and the people from Xing are going to have to keep this guy at bay. This episode already started with the first casualty on the good guys. In any case I love how even in the finale, the creators try to make everyone important.

The promised day was actually a very interesting way to bring everyone together at the same place: everyone currently is in central city, trying to prevent it from occurring. It’s a lot more impressive than what the first season pulled, as it tried to pull some really weird plot-holes, just to keep the characters inside the story. Thankfully, this season really knows that there are some characters who have no business being here, like Rose, and the library girl whose name I forgot. I’m also very glad that the creators also didn’t try to shoehorn Winry in somewhere. She really served her purpose well, but it’d be just stupid for her to suddenly appear int he middle of Central City, just for some extra drama for Ed. Instead, the climax really takes place between a lot of different parties that all do have their business and reasons for being there.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Top 25 Favourite OPs

by psgels, posted in Top 10 Anime

Well, so this was requested a few months ago, and I finally got around to finishing it. I had a lot of fun scavenging youtube and compiling this list, so here are my 25 favourite anime OPs. Before reading, you should note that my taste here is rather weird. I don’t like generic J-pop and J-rock, bar a few exceptions.

What I look for in an OP is song or musical piece that I like, along with creative visuals, but perhaps the most important thing is its context with the series it’s based on. Is there symbolism? Does it capture the atmosphere of the series it’s based on? That kind of stuff. I’m also a big fan of shows that do something interesting with their visuals.
Continue reading “Top 25 Favourite OPs” →

Angel Beats – 06

by psgels, posted in Angel Beats



Well, that was taken care of more quickly than expected. This episode went and completely changed the relationships between the different characters. As it turns out, the new student council president was just as Yurippe: confused, and trying to do something nonsensical because of the regrets that he held from the time that he was still alive.

Otonashi’s dramatic confession scene was a bit weird, since we knew so little about the new president at this point (his backstory yet again felt a bit forced here), but it did show that the real villain of this series is the setting itself. The end boss is probably going to be the one who created it, and I really hope that we’re going to see him soon, in order to be able to give him some depth before the thirteen episodes run out.

At this point it’s also pretty clear that Otonashi is special: he doesn’t seem to hold any particular grudge, or is particularly confused in the way that the other characters are. The creators are probably using his amnesia as some sort of plot device for later, to reveal god knows what kind of a background he had when he was still alive.

One thing that’s been irking me about the backgrounds of these characters is that we hardly ever see how exactly they died. This episode again: that student council president really must have angered the gods badly with his story: first his brother dies in an accident, then his father dies, and then he himself dies. His mother probably died even before that because there isn’t even a mention of her. To be honest, I feel like Key is trying a bit too hard here, like they did with Kanon. But then again, their previous stories have also shown that they like to hold a ton of trump cards for the end, so let’s hope that that’s going to be the case here as well.
Rating: * (Good)

Durarara – 17

by psgels, posted in Durarara




And… things actually make a lot more sense now. It’s convenient to say the least, but with the conclusion of the second arc, this episode revealed the true nature of Durarara: divided into three parts, with Mikado, Anri and Kida at the centre of each respective arc, with Celty meanwhile as the red thread that returns in all of them. Both Mikado, Anri and Kida turn out to be leaders of their own group: the dollars, the zombies and the yellow scarves: in their own ways they all gathered an immense and influential group of people despite being a bunch of teenagers. They did so individually, and just happened to become friends at high school without knowing this about each other.

The next and final arc will probably focus on the yellow scarves and Kida, where Izaya will play a very prominent role as the main villain. It’ll probably also involve much more of the other groups than the previous two arcs. Now the question remains what the rest of the cast is going to play in this.

In any case, the second arc for me was less impressive than the first arc. It’s a lot shorter, that’s one thing. But to me it feels less varied than the first season, with the eventual background of Anri being a bit cliched, and nowhere as interesting as the reasons Mikado provided for becoming the leader of the Dollars. It felt a lot less spontaneous, if that makes any sense.

But then again, that may have been the purpose: central to the first arc were the dollars, which are meant to symbolize freedom and individuality: everyone is free to do what he wishes, and it allows everyone to act on his own. The first half was whimsical because of that: it stressed how Ikebukuro was full of interesting people that you could run into. The second arc was completely different: Saika was more about enslavement: forcing your love upon others. The pacing became much more straightforward, and in a way more personal compared to the characters in the first arc who felt like they came and went.

Now, if this was just build-up, I’ll be happy enough. I’m a big fan of shows that completely change direction, but this shouldn’t be so extreme as a shark jump. I know the director, his finales are always very good and well built up despite a few lesser moments. Unfortunately, I do not know whether the novels allow this as well. The yellow scarves to me seem based around the flock-instinct: blindly following each other without putting emphasis on individuality. It’s in between the freedom of the Dollars and the brainlessness of Saika. I have no clue how the creators are going to weave that into the other hanging plot threads such as Celty’s head, but it had better be good. I’ve often had it that the final episodes of a series completely changed my opinion of it, so there’s still plenty of room for Durarara to be a classic if it makes well use of these final seven episodes.
Rating: * (Good)

Sarai-ya Goyou – 04

by psgels, posted in Sarai-ya Goyou



This series just surpassed itself. This really was a wonderful episode that wasted no time to get to the bottom of its characters, this episode was all about subtle hints at the background of various characters. We learn about how Matsu met Yaichi, and also that Otake knew him for the longest.

But the best thing about this episode was again the interplay between Masa and Yaichi. The way in which Masa tries to find out more about the Masa who never talks about his past was really well portrayed. Especially when Masa hit the nail on the head: Yaichi doesn’t seem to be doing the kidnappings for the money. The way he throws around money… it’s just as if he’s asking for it to run out faster so that he can do another job.

Then consider what Matsu said: he has really changed. Could it be that this change started when he started the kidnappings? Like Ume said, they haven’t done even 10 of them, and Yaichi was already involved with three of them, so they probably started quite recently. Because of whatever caused him to change, he started getting interested in Masa, and doing stuff that wouldn’t really be important contrary to what he would have done when Matsu first met him. Either that, or Matsu always had the wrong image of him: you never hear the other characters talk about his change.

On another note, it’s a shame that even though Noitamina is currently so well written and produced, with Sarai-ya Goyou and Yojou-han, the tv ratings have reached a depth for the series. 1.7%… that’s even less than Kuchuu Buranko. I have a hard time grasping the cause for this, actually. Noitamina has always been a timeslot that was also popular amongst non-anime fans.

It seems that the best-rated shows of the time-slot play in modern settings. There are exceptions, like the early Honey and Clover and Paradise Kiss, which aired when the time-slot was still young, and Hakaba Kitarou (the best rated Noitamina show ever), which made use of its huge nostalgia factor, but Nodame Cantabile, Moyashimon and Hataraki Man all are about down to earth characters that anyone could relate with. The same with Eden of the East and Tokyo Magnitude: it’s very easy to relate to these characters. And I guess that that’s something that Yojou-han and Sarai-ya Goyou do not have: it’s hard for your average person to sympathize with a bunch of kidnappers, or a ridiculously fast talking loser. This trend is probably going to continue for the next summer. And don’t get me wrong, I’m really looking forward to Shiki, but again: it doesn’t look like the mainstream will have much to relate to there either.

It’s interesting how the people in charge of Noitamina don’t seem to be marketing geniuses. And that’s a shame, because Noitamina is such a great timeslot because it has proven that in order to go mainstream, you can also appeal to adults: instead of trying to win viewers with panty-shots and yelling teenagers, it has shown time and time again that anime is also very appealing for adults. While I love Sarai-ya Goyou and Yojou-han, I’m a bit sad that they’re doing so badly in the ratings, defeating the entire purpose of the timeslot. The thing I’m worried about isn’t exactly Noitamina changing, but rather that the ratings will end up in a downwards spiral, causing it to get cancelled. That’s what I’m most afraid of.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei – 03

by psgels, posted in Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei




This series really is why I love episodic series. The bad ones obviously suck beyond belief, but when shows like this one make optimal use of them they can really turn into something unique, and the short stories can allow for ideas that would normally not fit within a linear storyline. A lot of things have to be done right in order to get a good episodic series, though, but to me the key seems to be creativity, along with somehow finding a way to build-up: connecting the different episodes together. I believe that if these aren’t present, you’re just better off with a linear storyline in order to get the best out of your characters. But Yojou-han has both of them.

This seems to me a study of all types of losers. Watashi is socially inept throughout all the episodes, but every time it is in a different way. In the previous episodes he created his own problems by his pranks, but in this episode he just was another one of those losers who didn’t fit in because he had no athletic skills. Ozu instead of trying to get him into his pranks instead left him completely out of it for once. Interestingly though, I do believe that Watashi’s character has remained the same throughout the first three episodes: what we just see is him, reacting to different situations in a different way. That definitely is one interesting way of character-development. You can see his reckless parts in the way that he flew into his death at the end of this episode: it’s exactly those parts that we saw in episode two when he created that crazy video.

Whether Akashi and Ozu are the same… I’m not sure yet. This episode showed that Yojou-han is a show in which Watashi, Akashi and Ozu hop between different clubs, all three with their own agendas, while the rest remains constant. The actor of the previous episode still is an actor here. Akashi in this episode proves that she’s actually a very good cyclist. In this episode she loses her strap again, but there’s no promise scene. The cake is also gone. She’s a lot less cold than what she was in the first two episodes as well, it seems. As for Ozu, if he indeed also is the same character in every episode, then he strikes me as a guy who always grabs every opportunity to make someone’s life miserable, finding the right allies to accompany him. In this episode there probably already was some sort of bike-stealing club, which is why he didn’t really need Watashi. The second episode in contrast only needed him to show what a guy that actor really was: Watashi himself just did the rest.

Either way, I love the concept of this series: showing how the same people in different settings can be so different.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Ookiku Furikabutte – 32

by psgels, posted in Ookiku Furikabutte



Team building. I like how this series uses the quiet moments in between the matches in order to do this, rather than scheduling in a random episodic adventure somewhere. A lot of stuff happened in this episode, and it immediately started with the message that the opposing team that the lead characters faced in the previous arc isn’t done yet.

In this episode it also becomes more than clear that Abe and Tajima are taking turns in dealing with Mihashi. There’s actually a tiny bit of development here: Abe is getting more and more relentless with Mihashi, so much that even the teammates are really noticing how much on Mihashi’s lip he’s sitting. His reaction after Mihashi suddenly asked whether or not he’s going to stop catching was the most over the top we’ve seen of him so far. There’s a bit of a danger here with the creators going over the top with that, however. Like, the creators using a gimmick that worked well in the first season to extremes in the second.

Oh, and we learn a bit more about the coach: she’s a 23-year old college student. It’s still a bit of a mystery how she became the coach, but there are more characters like that who have yet to reveal their backgrounds despite very obvious hints (I’m looking at you, Hamada). This episode also introduces… fangirls. The fandom was always a bit downplayed in this series: even though it was mentioned a few times, you can really see that the creators were focusing on what happened on the field. At this point those girls are still a bit too one-sided at this point.
Rating: * (Good)

Rainbow – 05

by psgels, posted in Rainbow



Holy crap. I’m not often disturbed by gore in anime, but there are a certain number of exceptions (from madhouse series, of course). This episode was such an exception: what an amount of detail they put into that broken hand.

Normally I really don’t like it when a show pulls a Murphy. Not enough drama? Let’s throw in some punks! Let’s nearly kill someone! Let Easter and Christmas take place on the same day! But seriously, this show does it with such force. It’s so incredibly determined to show a worst-case scenario. As much as I hate the extreme cheesyness of this series, I’m still glued to the screen from start to finish.

Here is a tip for this series however: during the lighter parts, stop playing that ridiculously cheesy music. I really feel that the first half of this episode would have been a ton better if just no soundtrack was played at all. It’s a very simple choice the director could have made. I like series that have a lot of emphasis on music, but these shows should know when to use it with subtlety. It doesn’t really work to play sad music every time. If the music is good enough, then okay. It can be awesome to play really outrageous music during just a simple and random conversation. But not this kind of cheesy stuff.

Psycho guard’s absence in the first half did show that he’s just a special case. Most guards actually can be normal people. It’s just that this is one ridiculous nutcase that gets to run free. The question is of course his portrayal: insanity is often a very tricky thing to portray in anime. It’s just so easy to go over the top with it. The same as the punks that were introduced in the second half. I admit that I know very little of how punks like them used to behave in Japan in 1955. They were just kids during the war, their role models probably ended up to be criminals. Can it really go so far, though?

Then there are the idiots. Mario really took the cake in this episode, which really surprised me. In a way though, I can really see a teenager do that. It’s stupid and annoying, but at the same time I can see how he wants to be kind-hearted, but really fails to think of the consequences of his actions. The thing with these things is obviously balance again. Stupid teenagers is one thing, but they’re not that much of a moron. Compared to just about everything that this show does over the top, Mario’s actions actually feel pretty believable.

Overall though, out of all the brilliant directors that are stationed at Madhouse, it’s a shame that Hiroshi Koujima got allocated to this series. I haven’t seen the other series he directed, but the stories I heard about them all reeked of mediocrity. Rainbow is set to be his best work, but that’s only because the rest of the staff is so excellent. The manga won a bunch of awards (and I can really understand why), and Hideo Takayashiki has more than enough experience to plan out the series correctly. Sure, he may have screwed up at Kaiji, but most of his works were really excellent: Ride Back, Maison Ikkoku, Souten Kouro, One Outs, Akagi, and then there’s the script of the Hi no Tori Movies, Oniisama E, Master Keaton. And it really shows: for all that it’s worth, there really has been nothing wrong with the pacing so far. This episode was yet again well paced, combining both the light and the dark moments with each other. It’s just a shame that the director has no idea what the word “subtle” means.
Rating: * (Good)

Senkou no Night Raid – 05

by psgels, posted in Senkou no Night Raid



I’ve been thinking… most of the criticisms for this series stem from not the fact that it’s bad, but rather because of its ambitions. If this was any regular series, I’m sure that I would have cut it a lot more slack than I’m doing now. This series may indeed not be realistic in some ways, but on the other hand I consider this to be along with Yojou-han the most innovative series of the season.

I mean, compare this to Rainbow: there, the acting is just bad, no matter in which context you put it. But because of the huge risks this series took, it’s much harder to pull this off correctly than, say, a romantic comedy. What I actually love is how Anime no Chikara has really been trying to put an international flavour to anime, and not just by focusing on one culture at a time, but blending a whole lot of them together. Most series that focus on foreign countries usually just focus on one of them at a time, but here it’s different. Sure, it may be funny to listen to the “German” that Kazura gargled up in this episode, but would the alternative (just pretending that everyone can understand Japanese) really have been better?

So you know what, screw the criticisms of this series: I like its guts. This episode was actually very good, despite not being that realistic. Kazura’s past acquaintances however were handled with a lot of subtlety: they worked on opposite sides, and yet the creators didn’t try to turn it into some cheesy drama. Instead they gave Kazura the chance to see his friends one more time, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he would get assassinated.

Also, I’m glad: the photography really remains a major theme throughout the series. It’s a chance to see the characters busy with something that isn’t life-threatening, and adds a bit of character to them, instead of being just a one-episode gimmick to never return.

The big constraint is obviously going to be time. I swear that this is looking like a 24-episoded series at this rate. It’s in any case completely different from what I expected when first starting this. To think that the creators would go for the episodic approach to flesh out the setting and characters. It’s definitely more varied, but what about the climax? Please don’t let it go down the same path as Sora no Oto.

I’m also digging the character-designs more and more. It’s definitely better than the big-eyed brightly coloured style that anime has become infamous for. Also, is it me or do the creators get better and better at their detail? Look at the corpse at the end of this episode and the way it was twitching. Very well drawn.
Rating: ** (Excellent)