Author: psgels

Darker than Black – Ryuusei no Gemini – 04

by psgels, posted in Darker than Black - Ryuusei no Gemini



This wasn’t exactly the type of episode I’d expect from this series, On one hand, it’s still got the serious air, creative action-scenes and the dark nature of Hei. Suou has also gotten a lot better now that she’s a contractor, and Kirihara also is back and seems like she’s going to be a major player in the story. And at the same time this episode introduces a bunch of goofballs, including a bunch of punks, the father of one of these punks, who works as a cross dresser, and Suou gets sick fro having eaten very old noodles.

So yeah, overall I do regard the first season as superior to the second, mostly because of its very short length and I’m fully aware that this second season isn’t going to be able to top the Yin-arc. However, the execution has gotten much tighter at least (from what I remember of it, anyway). Especially the humour is better balanced here: the comedy episodes of the first season were amongst its worst episodes, especially that silly OVA was just pointless, but here it actually fits and contributes to the overall story, rather than being annoying.

In any case, I’m glad to see that Suou has indeed stopped being an annoying teenager now that she’s turned into a contractor. I like this set-up a lot and it works really well with Hei’s development from the first series. Or at least, I think he has developed. It’s hard to tell whether he did or not considering how he’s been acting most of the time, and we’ve never really seen him in a situation like this, in which he had to train and take care of an annoying teenager.

I also wonder: what’s Suou’s penalty? Hei said that he noticed that she used her powers when he was away, so it’s got to be something that alters her looks, but I didn’t quite pick up yet what it was.
Rating: * (Good)

Cencoroll Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



Anime Innovation Tokyo is a project meant to sponsor young and talented creators in creating something new and innovative. These people often have great ideas, but lack the budget and experience to really put these into practice, and that’s where this project helps them out with. I really like this idea, and therefore I’ll gladly promote their efforts. Cencoroll is the first project of theirs to be completed.

Cencoroll mostly stands out with its animation and storytelling. Regarding the former, you can see that the creators have gotten themselves a nice budget, but a limited one nonehteless. They make up for it with really good keyframes though: they’re very expressive, and well drawn, and a lot of time went into each frame.

I also like how down to earth the characters remain: despite that this is an action-series, none of the emotions of the characters are ever cheesy or overdone. In fact, the lead character is as nonchalant as you can realistically get. The storytelling also has a little bit of wit inside of it, when some plot twists aren’t explained and the writers assume that the viewers themselves are able to figure out that A + B equals C, which is something I appreciate.

The question however is: is this movie truly innovative? To that question, my answer is no. I wouldn´t exactly label this series as unique. However, it does have a “screw conventions we´re going to do it our way!”-mindset, and that’s the thing that counts: you can really see that the creators wanted to be innovative, and this is actually a great start for Anime Innovation Tokyo, as they come up with a concept that will generally be very well liked, andnot just be popular amongst the arthouse fans, while at the same time they put in a few neat ideas. I’m hoping that the future projects are going to be a bit more daring in trying out really new things, but it’s a great start nonetheless.

Storytelling: 9/10
Characters: 8/10
Production-Values: 9/10
Setting: 7/10

My Top 10: Horror Anime

by psgels, posted in Top 10 Anime

A few weeks ago, there were a lot of requests for a this, so here you go: in preparation of Halloween, here is the list of my 10 favourite horror series. It was an interesting list to compile, because even though I’m a big fan of horror, I never really thought about my favourite series of the genre.

Of course, there are many different kinds of horror. Anime is hardly ever truly scary, but it does have a wide variety of horror series with a genuinely creepy atmosphere, and that’s what I was looking for when compiling this list. This can be done with gore, scary images, monsters, but also psychological horror, and the classic Japanese style of horror that tries to creep the viewer out with a tight storytelling. I tried to include a bit of everything in this list, because I don’t believe that there’s one sub-genre that’s inherently better than the others.

Again, like with my other lists I’d love to see some other people’s top 10 (or whatever suits you best) horror-series. I’m also interested about other sorts of Top 10 lists you want to see on this blog. I might as well try to create a different Top 10 list every month.

Some series who didn’t make the list but deserve a honorable mention: Hakaba Kitarou (for those who are interested in the combination between horror and comedy), Betterman (a bit long-winded, but pretty nice survival horror) and Mouryou no Hako (has some horror elements, but not enough to really make it to this list).

#10: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Higurashi’s biggest focus isn’t horror, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a number of genuinely creepy episodes in its first season. Especially because at that point, you’ll have no idea what the heck is going on, which only contributes to the atmosphere. It has gore, characters going insane and a setting in which you can trust nobody, all packaged under such a seemingly cute exterior.

#9: Boogiepop Phantom

Boogiepop Phantom is really more of subtle psychological kind of horror, but like Higurashi it also really likes to confuse the heck out of its viewer, and takes this sense of mystery further than any series I’ve seen. This, combined with a number of disturbing cases of messed-up personalities earned this series a place in this top 10.

#8: Kurozuka

So yeah, we all know what a mess Kurozuka ended up to be in the character-department, but as an action-horror series it truly shines. It had a really powerful set of visuals and a constantly tight atmosphere and some incredibly tense and well-written action scenes. Madhouse really knew how to make a huge visual spectacle out of it, and the genuinely creepy atmosphere made this into a unique series.

#7: Perfect Blue

This is the only movie I have on this list, but it really deserves to be here. This is everything that psychological horror should be, and Satoshi Kon succeeded in creating a schizophrenic and paranoid 90 minutes. It’s an excellent character-study of the darker sides about being an idol, dealing with obsessive fans and the like. While it’s not the best thing that Satoshi Kon has written, it still knows how to capture its audience and stands out as the best animated horror movie for me.

#6: Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror

Of course, this is one series that can’t be missing in a top-list of horror anime. This actually was the series that introduced me to this great genre, and it really shows what you can do with it. It consists out of three stories, and while the second one isn’t exactly impressive, the first and third really manage to deliver in disturbing antics and very tense storytelling. They’re both well built up, and especially the third story Bake Neko (which would later spawn its own series called Mononoke) is storytelling at its finest.

#5:Paranoia Agent

More Satoshi Kon, as he takes another shot at psychological horror. This series was supposed to be a collection of stories that didn’t fit into his movies, and the result is a number of excellent character-studies about a collection of people who breaking down mentally. This is of course great horror-material, and he really manages to combine this with this creepy atmosphere in which you never know what’s real and what’s just an illusion. It’s a show that loves to play with irony, and another great horror recommendation.

#4: Gilgamesh

I’m still not sure why this series is so often hated, but I digress. At its core, Gilgamesh is a dark series with a constantly tight and cold atmosphere. Unlike the most of the above-mentioned series, the type of horror is nether gore, scary images or psychological, but instead it really tries to captivate its audience with its storytelling. It’s a series with a creative storyline that fits this type of series perfectly, resulting into an excellently creepy series.
(On a side-note: try finding a good image for this series. Thank you very much, Fate/Stay Night.)

#3: Jigoku Shoujo

Every episode of Jigoku Shoujo has pretty much the same concept: someone has a grudge on someone, someone accesses the Jigoku Shoujo Website, and someone gets sent to hell. But this series really makes use of this ritualistic set-up in its storytelling, again creating a very creepy atmosphere that never dies, even after 78 episodes. It’s a series that really knows how to build up its stories, and while they indeed may be hit or miss, this series however really hits hard and often enough.

#2: Shigurui

I think it was pretty obvious that Madhouse would end up dominating this top 10: five of these ten come from them, and Shigurui stands head and shoulders as their best work in terms of horror. It’s the only series that actually managed to freak me out while I was watching it, that’s how powerful the storytelling is. This series is absolutely brutal, and spares nobody: every single character is a huge bastard, and nobody gets spared when it comes to the incredibly well-drawn gore. Nothing is too much for this series and it shows this again and again and again. If you want to freak someone out, then this is my top recommendation for it.

#1: Ghost Hound

But in the end, nothing can beat Ghost Hound for me as my favourite horror-series. With its huge attention to detail in terms of psychology, it knows exactly what to do in order to create an incredibly creepy atmosphere, and on top of being an excellent psychology lesson, this series also really manages to create a unique atmosphere that attempts to do much more than being simply creepy. If you want to get in the mood for Halloween, then this is my top recommendation: Ghost Hound knows how to capture its audience, and it does so with a frightening consistency.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni – 18

by psgels, posted in Umineko no Naku Koro ni



It’s episodes like this that really remind me why I’m still such a fan of anime. This episode was just… beyond awesome. Major spoilers coming up, do not read this entry if you haven’t seen the episode, and for the rest I can say little else than:

What the Fuck!?

I sort-of suspected that this episode would end with a bang, but this kind of a bang… I never saw coming: freakin’ Beatrice set everything up. The reason why her acting felt so forced was that it was SUPPOSED to be acting: there’s no way Battler was going to notice, and instead Beatrice started playing the innocent victim, while creating a new villain in Evatrice. Holy crap, talk about an awesome plot twist!

I’m now starting to see why Beatrice was supposed to be such an awesome character. The sheer cruelty in which she continuously keeps thinking of scenarios to fool Battler, and does it every time, and at the same time you can see that she isn’t perfect. My guess is that she originally didn’t plan to include the Evatrice plot in this arc, and instead just tried to use her Teacher to confuse Battler, but when he cornered her (when Ronove interrupted her when she was about to give away an important clue) and they went into that emergency meeting of theirs, they decided to go for such an elaborate illusion.

On top of that, Beatrice seems to have two intentions that contradict each other: her first goal is to “win” from Battler: make him acknowledge that she’s a witch. However, on top of that it’s also her “job” to “win” the game endlessly, and she seems to be under the orders of Lambdadelta. While seemingly contradicting each other, could it be that the first goal of hers is also just a red herring? That she simply already is a mage, but needs to keep the Ushinomiya-family in that endless loop of theirs for some reason? That could explain why Battler’s sister suddenly popped up as a major player.

Anyway, back to the murders: the survivors this time are Battler, Eva, Jessica, Krauss and Rosa. It’s interesting how Evatrice confirmed that Jessica isn’t one of the murderers, and neither Eva nor Battler killed Nanjo. However, that doesn’t go for Krauss and Rosa. In fact, while I don’t think that Krauss was the murderer in the first two arcs (perhaps he got killed off before he could get started), but he actually seems like a pretty likely suspect this arc: remember how he said that surprisingly nice comment about how he regrets having been so mean to his family members? After Beatrice’s act and all, I don’t believe one word from that anymore.
Rating: **** (Fantastic)
And remember, I reserve the right to delete posts that talk about what happens in the novel after this episode

Kimi ni Todoke – 04

by psgels, posted in Kimi ni Todoke



I’m not exactly happy with this episode. It was all angst, angst and more angst based on a misunderstanding, and I feel like the creators were really forcing it in order to get as much drama as possible. Wasn’t this supposed to be a very simple romance? When I think of simple romances, I think of Sasameki Koto, not this kind of series in which the creators try to create as much misunderstandings between the lead characters as possible.

Yano and Yoshida, overhearing Sawako talking is classic romantic fodder. Instead of letting these romances play out naturally, the creators just had to drag on these misunderstandings, hadn’t they? It would have been fine if this was just a short misunderstanding, but the creators were dragging it on for way too long. Angst isn’t necessarily bad, I really liked how Bokura ga Ita did it, but this episode just felt forced and pointless.

One thing I do like more and more was that teacher and his crazy midget theories about Sawako. He’s getting funnier with every episode. But seriously though, I hope that the rest of this series is going to be different from this episode. There definitely is potential: even though Kazehaya is rather dull, Sawako, Yano and Yoshida are nicely characterized. Just not in this episode.
Rating: – (Disappointing)

Konnichiwa Anne – 30

by psgels, posted in Konnichiwa Anne



Every week I keep hoping for Anne NOT to go to school, and this episode listened to my prayers: it was an entire episode, dedicated to the Hammond family, and holy crap! Spoiler alert!

Hammond was bound to die, we all knew that. However, I didn’t think that the creators were going to be this fast with it! We’ve got eight episodes left. I really thought that the entire second half of this series would be spent on the Hammond family, in contrast with the Thomas Family, and that Hammond’s death, and Anne’s subsequent leaving of that family as the major climax. This episode gives my entire expectations for the rest of this series a whole new dimension.

Hammond’s death didn’t have the same impact as the Bert’s, but that’s only logical. He’s only had the screen-time of about four episodes, and really didn’t have the time to truly make an impact. And not to mention that his death was a bit cheesy. Did the creators really have to pull down these angelic lights for it? Nevertheless, this was a great episode that really gave a lot of depth for the Hammond family for as far as possible. We see how the couple fell in love, and how Mr. Hammond just kept working himself to death, in order to support his family.

The death scene also showed a fundamental difference with the Thomas family. One thing I really liked about that scene was the random passer-by: he immediately tried to do everything he could to try and save Mr. Hammond. That’s not something you see often in anime, is it? It really showed that Mr. Hammond is well liked in his town, completely the opposite of Bert, who people refused to help even when Noah was in trouble. You could call Mr. Hammond naive, but at the same time he strikes me as someone who didn’t want to give in to his illness: with his heart, he knew that he wouldn’t see his children grow up, and therefore did everything he could to ensure them a future as good as possible: he kept taking on large jobs to give his wife financial support, he searched for Anne to support his wife for after he dies. And in the meantime, he simply tries to forget about his problems by being nice, fantasizing like Anne and generally looking at the bright side of life.

But yeah, the problem is going to be: what will the rest of this series focus at? Anne is going to have to leave eventually, but how long will that take? We know that she and Mrs. Hammond don’t go well together, and I think that Mrs. Hammond will use that reason to send Anne to the orphanage. Still, I do think that the two of them are going to spend a few more episodes together.

I also really wonder what this series is going to do for its climax, and what this series is going to look like once Anne does arrive at the orphanage (which at the same time seems so close now). At this point, episodes in this series can either be really good or really dull, with nothing in between: at this point I’ve really lost my patience with this show’s cheesy episodic stories like what we saw in the previous two episodes. However, at the same time the themes of dysfunctional families have been fleshed out really well now, with the Hammond family to contrast with the Thomas family.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 29

by psgels, posted in Full Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood



Well, so this episode was an aftermath to the previous onslaught of plot-twists.

Surprisingly, Wrath lets both Ed, Al and Roy Mustang go, threatening them with killing their loved ones if they dare to take action back. On one hand, it seems a bit stupid to let these dangerous people loose. But yeah, on the other hand if he’d just keep on killing people whenever they’d discover his secrets, people would eventually get suspicious.

Ed, Al and Roy now need to get as many people as possible on their side. They’re going to have to organize a good protection on their loved ones if they’re going to stand a chance against this guy. Roy in this episode makes the first step by recruiting Armstrong, but a whole lot more needs to happen.

The part I liked best about this episode was back at the doctors. It had a strange combination between a breath of fresh air, the elated and then disappointed Lan Fang as she discovered what happened to Lin, the tension between her and Mai Chang and the rather quirky antics of that doctor. It’s another great example of how well this series plays around with emotions.
Rating: * (Good)

Aoi Bungaku – 03

by psgels, posted in Aoi Bungaku



Oh my god, No Longer Human just keeps getting better and better. This isn’t just a great adaptation, but also an adaptation that makes optimal use of the fact that it’s adapted in a media that also uses music and graphics. From the perspective of someone who hasn’t read the novel, setting aside some of the scenes that were cut, I think that this really was the best possible adaptation that it could have hoped for.

It’s also amazing how much stuff the creators managed to squeeze just into one episode. It feels like the creators got two episodes’ worth of content in just twenty minutes. This series just hopped from one tense situation to the next, with an eerie silence in between. This episode really was a roller-coaster ride.

The plot of this episode was also far more subtle than I imagined. I originally thought that this episode would see the beginning of a mass murderer, but instead it’s about someone who’s struggling with his own sense of humanity: he still blames himself for having survived that double suicide back then, and because of that he never really allows himself to bond with his new wife and daughter that he found, who were really nice enough to take him in.

While he’s got a great daughter, and a girlfriend who supports him all the way (she even managed to find him a job as a manga author), he instead hangs around in bars, visits prostitutes and gets drunk. Especially after the rumours start floating around that he’s a killer he starts to get out to drink even more. On top of that, his old friend keeps returning to remind him of the past he’s trying to leave behind.

And then comes that saleswoman, who meets him as he lies in the snow after a particular rough night. Here I thought that the entire setting was trying to be as dark and gritty as possible, and then she comes. She refuses to believe the words of a hopelessly drunk guy, and instead fully trusts in his kind nature. That his story about having failed a double suicide was just a story he made up because of his talents as a storyteller as a manga author. While on one hand, she;s obviously wrong, but what counts is that trust she has in him, at a time and place you’d normally suspect people to just turn a blind eye and walk away…

Anyway, long story short: awesome series; watch it. Especially now that subs are actually coming out fairly steadily, against all my expectations.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Cross Game – 30

by psgels, posted in Cross Game



This could very well be the best recap episode ever.

So basically, before the second half of this series starts, Aoba looks at Wakaba’s portrait and the episode then commences to recap pretty much the first episode. And oh my god, the nostalgia!

Because we now have gotten to know the characters, despite this being a near-exact copy of that first episode (if my memory doesn’t deceive me), it stands out as ten times better than what I remember it to be, and even then I already was impressed with that episode. It was so awesome to see Wakaba back, along with the younger versions of the cast. And of course, the point at which Wakaba eventually died hit even harder.

This episode was pretty much a filler, but I don’t care. It was awesome.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Kemono no Souja Erin – 41

by psgels, posted in Kemono no Souja Erin



Yeah, this episode was meant as one big build-up for the thing that happened in its final 30 seconds. You definitely don’t want to read this entry if you have yet to see this episode.

The creators kept hinting, though I failed to notice that entirely. Erin basically gets summoned to the queen as a token of gratitude for using Lilan to save the royal family. Of course, Damya immediately proposes her to start working as the Queen’s bodyguard. They act really surprised when Erin declines, and so Erin tells the Queen (without Damya, and with Ialu) about the tragedy that happened when the queen was only one year old. Like expected, she didn’t know a thing about it, and everyone from her time has taken great care in order to never mention it again. I’m surprised if there are still people alive who remember it, aside from the Wind Tribe.

But yeah, that came as an utter shock to the queen. I’m not sure what exactly did it: that shock at such an old age, or whether the Psi Gamuls finally succeeded in poisoning her, but whatever it is her death came as an utter surprise to me. This of course has huge implications. I already thought that Damya would cause trouble eventually, but what kept him back was his genuine loyalty to the queen. Now that that’s gone, he’s probably going to pick a fight with the Grand Duke, using that attack as an excuse, and in order to win he’s probably going to do whatever it takes in order to get Erin to cooperate.

If there are indeed only 2 novels, then this marks the beginning of the end. There are nine episodes left, and in those, the story is going to have to come to an end, and I’m very curious to how the creators are going to do it.
Rating: ** (Excellent)