psgels, Author at Star Crossed Anime

Chihayafuru – 31

February 23, 2013 by psgels, posted in Chihayafuru

Holy crap. The way this episode begun. I had no clue that the creators would even put so much meaning into the reading. To the point where Chihaya is able to take control of the reader and how this plays off to the actual readers (so that’s why they used that guy for that! He already was an established character so this makes more impact! How is this show able to do so many things at the same time!?).

Heck, yet again this show manages to put so much meaning into just about every scene of its. Every character here has a moment. How the heck has it been doing this for so many episodes already? I sound like a broken record saying this.

And here this episode suddenly comes with the most impossible set-up of a luck of the draw match that is entirely against their favor due to Chihaya’s stupidity, leading to everyone suddenly needing to go after cards that are nearly impossible to get. And holy crap, the end results shocked me. I knew that the end result would not matter because the two teams would pass anyway. But the creators kept it exciting, first by having Retro screw up, and then having Chihaya actually lose again, despite all that build-up. There was so much emotion and build-up put into that match, that in the end result didn’t really matter.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

AKB0048 – 19 & 20

February 23, 2013 by psgels, posted in AKB0048

In an attempt to catch up I’m going to combine two episodes in one for this one. But really: the only reason why I’m slow with this is my schedule. This really was a major episode for the characters. And not just one of them, but a whole bunch.

For a long while I kept wondering why Nagisa was the main character. This episode she got her chance, and she showed that it would be for her stupidity. She’s the only one stupid enough to suddenly make such a giant declaration when everyone is trying to be perfect. An incident that is bound to be able to get some publicity since the rules of AKB can be so strict sometimes. And yet she tries so hard. Cutting off one’s hair is a gret symbol for character-development.

And then there is Mimori, and I now see what the creators were trying to do with her. She grew from a walking boob joke to someone really interesting to follow in the way that she continues to grow, but in the end sacrificed too much, taking her body into neglect.

Kanata and Shiori meanwhile finally had a little moment together again in order to develop their relationship, and in particular the problem that Kanata still has not become a successor. Then there is the talk of the new Center Nova, who Hikari and Shiori are working towards becoming. It’s still build-up at this point, but the characters do a great job of showing why it’s so important for them.

And I think that is the strength of this second season. Like I expected, the focus is less on criticizing the idol business (it’s still there, though), but more on the characters. And so far, it has really succeeded in bringing out the emotions of all of the new characters. The huge case makes sure that it can keep switching between all of them and their stories. And it’s doing a pretty good job of developing them all. It’s the thing with series with a huge cast: you can’t have characters that are as well developed as with series with a small cast. The trick is the big picture: give everyone attention, and make the cast come alive. Highlight a few characters as the main characters, but don’t excessively focus on them at the expense of others. AKB does that pretty well.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 19

February 23, 2013 by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

It’s episodes like this that finally show me why there have been no attempts at a full Jojo series before aside from a few OVAs: it’s just so damn hard to animate. In this episode there were quite a few moments of characters talking in mid-air, and having entire dialogues over a span that should have just taken up a bunch of seconds. Without the incredible over the top style of this series, it ust would not have worked at all.

But really, the fight in this episode was awesome. The voice actors in particular were really having a great time yelling all of their lines in fashion that was as overblown as possible. Even the narrator was yelling at the top of his voice. I love just how much testostherone there was in this episode.

The one striking part in this episode was that pendant sliding off the cliff, that indeed felt like it took ages. One moment characters were fighting and yelling over the top, the next they were running like crazy after this tiny gemstone in this hilarious fashion, all while narrating everything that was going on. I know that I’ve often complained about shounen series explaining way too much, breaking up the pacing. In this case, it didn’t. The explanation and the buildup fitted perfectly and you just keep waiting here for the series to pull its next twist while the characters explain as fast and loud as possible.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

Zetsuen no Tempest – 18

February 22, 2013 by psgels, posted in Zetsuen no Tempest

The past autumn season had a lot of really good series. But at this point, I think that my favorite series of the bunch, is Zetsuen no Tempest. It nearly edges out Jojo and From the New World, but in the end it was this show’s twisted logic that hit me on an emotional level the most. This show is the best at what it does from all of those series for me.

it definitely was a season with so many series with a lot of thought put behind them: Psycho Pass, Robotics;Notes, Shin Sekai Yori. This reduces this to the essence with its complete mindscrews. The thing I noticed is that I just keep getting surprised by the twists that this show takes, combined with how well the characters have been fleshed out for the past season. This series has the right combination between characterization, character-development, and acting, and the plot makes brilliant use of them. It’s the series that succeeds best at bringing everything together and amking everything a whole. It all just fits! The other series this season all have a few areas in which they are really, really good. Tempest does it in all of them.

This episode again: I loved the aftermath of the revelation of Yoshino’s girlfriend. Everyone had their own reactions that were just awesome to follow, even though the pacing or intensity might not have been as high as with other series (compare that to other series which have to resort to killing people, this show managed to do it in an entirely different, yet equally exciting way).

Another thing that quite surprised me about the upcoming spring season: Bones is not in it. It’s a pity, really. They always come with very creative premises and ambitious series. Like this one.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

From the New World – 20

February 21, 2013 by psgels, posted in From the New World

I’ve said this before, but in general, I prefer series that might not look like 100% crisp, but have impressive animation, over crisp series that have harldy move. Of course there are a lot of exceptions to this rule, and it does entirely depend on the character-designs what really is best for a series; Chihayafuru for example really benefits from its crisp and clean animation and Shin Sekai Yori is the entire other side of the coin. I think it has a lot to do with how this is a novel adaptation and the character-designs… they are pretty simple, yet effective. In any case I do like the freedom that the animators have to bring them to life a lot.

That one wcene in which Misaki fought with that mutant. I reallly liked the animation there. It was such a unique action scene and even though it looked a bit confusing, the camera movements were really, really good there. I really hope that the creators saved some particularly impressive animation for the end of the series.

And this episode continued with the horror, and it was really good horror. It’s been a while since there has been a series which had the main character narrate bits of the story, and throughout the series she kept saying how badly things would escalate, over and over again. With this episode, I can understand why. The Queerats really have launched an all out war on the humans, even employing biological weapons by mutating their own kind.

And I must say, Yakomaru is a really good villain. This guy is smart and cunning, and for a long while throughout the series, you weren’t really sure whether he would actually be the villain. Sure there were signs, but nothing was concrete. And now he has just gone all out. In the final month Saki will take over the leadership of the humans. I really wonder what she can do against him.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo – 18

February 21, 2013 by psgels, posted in Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

Let’s talk a bit about the issue of Cheese. Mari Okada, I find her to be a fantastic and prolific writer, but she does have a weakness: the cheese. Drama that is just a bit too overblown. She has had a number of tricks to hide this, though. Her best series combine lots of drama with a lot of great twists that just keep the story changing.

The twist in this episode was Jin proposing to Misaki. That was great. I loved how the creators used the teachers to add a bit of humour there. The build-up to it though was a bit disappointing, and had a bit too much cheese. It’s here where the drama between Jin and Misaki was dragged out a bit too long, when suddenly an entire episode focused on it. The episode just was not witty enough to keep up with it, and it really showed that the two of them are not main character material: they have a nice story but they can’t keep you busy like Sorata and Shiina can when they’re together. The two of them meanwhile were busy with what felt like recycling some of their chemistry in this episode.

Also, Jin. You’re in an anime, so I know that you’ll end up happily ever after and all. But I don’t think your tactic would have worked in real life…

After this we’ll probably also get an episode around Jun. That’s one I’m looking forward to. But please, for god’s sake: do something about Ayoama and that sister. This episode was really building them up to go down the predictable, dull and overused path. Just… do something with it. I am fearing that those will lead to a pretty disappointing conclusion here…
Rating: 4/8 (Enjoyable)

Robotics;Notes – 17

February 20, 2013 by psgels, posted in Robotics;Notes

At the end of the previous episode, there was a bit of speculation about Subaru. I mean, there is the golden rule of anime: a character isn’t dead unless this is confirmed. It looked like this was another one of those cases. What happened in the end was even better, though: consequences.

Usually when a character gets hurt majorly, he takes a bit to heal up and within no time at all he’s completely fine again, as if nothing happened. Subaru indeed survives, but it’s at the cost of him losing the ability in his legs. He will feel this for the rest of his life. I keep hoping for characters to die in anime, not for the sake of them dying, but for the sake of consequences: taking risks is risky, yet characters get away with them surprisingly easy. Having risks like these built up well does amazing things for the suspense of disbelief. In any case it does for me.

This episode was a really good aftermath. The show suddenly got really dark after the previous episode, and this episode really let this sink in, and shows how easy it can be to screw up if you’re thoughtless. The characters all have their own ways of dealing with that and I really liked that. I mean, those warnings at the beginning of the episode, about the realism and stuff. They might seem superficial, but in the long run they do add up to the believability of this series.

Now, let’s talk about Noitamina for a bit. By far the biggest disappointment of the upcoming Spring Season is what will be used to fill the timeslot that has for years stood for showcasing anime to an older audience. In case you haven’t heard it yet: it’s going to have a re-run of Katanagatari. I guess that that was the price that had to be paid for having two two-cours series at the same time. But with this, I now have a much better idea of the strengths of the timeslot. Let’s have a bit of a re-cap:

– 2005 saw the start of the timeslot, and it defined itself as a mature programming block with Honey and Clover and Paradise Kiss, two series about college students.
– 2006 saw it continuing this trend, along with it branching out to other genres, most particularly horror with Ayakashi – Japanese Classic Horror.
– 2007 saw the timeslot continue to grow and establish itself as a force to be reckoned with with Nodame Cantabile, Mononoke and Moyashimon, three really strong series that really pushed boundaries all around.
– 2008 was the height of Noitamina in terms of TV-ratings, with Hakaba Kitarou and Nodame Cantabile’s second season racking up massive ratings. The formula here still was very typical for the timeslot: there was a college series, a series about working life, an adventure seris and an avant-garde series with bizarre visuals.
– 2009 saw the results of two fantastic years, and the producers were able to experiment much more, leading to some of the most unique series out there that really stand on their own. In terms of originality it was a fantastic year, but especially Eden of the East and Tokyo Magnitude stand out here. Both really well produced and transforming the timeslot into a showcase for producers to deliver things with ambition without regard for the mainstream.
– 2010 was the best year for Noitamina ever. This influence of 2009 was really noticeable here as the series got the most freedom that they’ve ever had, even allowing it to expand to two series at the same time. Sarai-ya Goyou, Yojou-han and Shiki: all three were just fantastic and would not have been possible so close within each other without it.
– Then 2011 came, and it showed that such quality could not be kept up. Fractale and Guilty Crown were… disappointing. However, what was so interesting about the timeslot is that it had a whopping eight different series. The fun there was keeping track of all of them: awaiting what series they would come up with, and how they’d fare. Sure, it didn’t always go well, but it was definitely interesting beyond belief.
– 2012 saw more experimentation after that year, making this even more exciting. It returned to its roots again with Natsuyuki Rendezvous and Moyashimon, it tried out 2 full-cour series and it even went with something as Thermae Romae to fill up an empty month. It’s because of this excitement of keeping up with everything that I managed to finish nearly every Noitamina-series to date (the only exception being Nodame Cantabile’s final season).

Based on this, I think I now have a good idea of what would be the ideal format for the timeslot: mostly easy to produce yet ambitious 11-episode series, combined with your occasional 2-cour series here and there. This keeps the timeslot fresh with every season something new to look forward to, plus it’s good for variety. The past two seasons were great in showing that the timeslot can deliver two really good two-cour series at the same time, but its price: not being able to look forward to a new noitamina-series for two seasons long, it does hurt. And I think that the tactic of using reruns, will make it lose some viewers. Silver Spoon to the rescue!
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Psycho Pass – 17

February 19, 2013 by psgels, posted in Psycho Pass

This was one of those delightful episodes that I think shows Urobuchi Gen’s writing at its best: it just kept coming with its eloquent dialogue that makes you think, on top of throwing in a bunch of big plot twists that completely turn around the plot, as hinted in the previous episode. It’s where the series changes completely.

Last episode I said that there were two possibilities: Shougo escapes, or he doesn’t. In the end the first turned out to be true, but he did it in a really good way: I really thought that that woman would end up being the main villain of this series, but instead the creators intended Makishima to be the one. His arrest was really meant to show the truth behind the world, along with how he really is a special person who can overthrow the society.

The soundtrack also really helped. The thing is that this series does not have a coherent soundtrack: it uses just whatever the hell track it pleases, and this does result in that you can’t expect what kind of thing it will pull next. That worked really well in this episode. The voice acting also really helped with the really long monologues throughout the airtime.

And yet, there is still that one question that makes me wonder: why does nobody in this world believe in security? Just… something to prevent things from going horribly wrong. I keep seeing more and more in this series that everybody seems to act under the beliefs that everything will go right.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

Spring Season Preview

February 17, 2013 by psgels, posted in Seasonal Previews

The upcoming season is relatively small: 27 series, 13 of which seem interesting. Production IG will be a powerhouse with many different series, and there will be a lot of mechas and bishies. There are a lot of sequels, and relatively little crap. Oh, and one of the reasons there are a bit fewer series is because I left out the kiddie shows this time. It just takes up too much of my time for some info that’s just completely useless.

Movies and OVAs to watch out for:
In the past I also did a separate post for the upcoming movies and OVAs for each season, but here is the thing: writing up these posts really takes up nearly an entire day. I can manage to do this once, but two days after each other… I don’t have the time for that anymore. Still, I do want to highlight the upcoming movies and OVAs, because there’s often a lot of good stuff amongst them. This is no complete list, just the ones that caught my attention:

Anime Mirai

Impressions: Anime Mirai, otherwise known as the Young Animator Training Project. For the third year in a row, four studios have received a budget and made a short story based on it. Madhouse, Studio Trigger, Zexcs and Gonzo each have their own entry and a lot of freedom, so now let’s see what they have come up with this year. I really like this initiative.

Hana-Saku Iroha – Home Sweet Home

Impressions: Aah, finally the Hana-Saku Iroha movie will air, written by Mari Okada her first movie) and directed by Masahiro Ando, so it’s pretty much the staff of the TV-series making a movie, and there is enough inspiration left. Looking forward to it.

Precure All Stars New Stage 2: Kokoro no Tomodachi

Impressions: I’m not going to watch this. I just to say: the counter is currently on 32 Precures. This is starting to turn into pokemon.

Aura: Maryuuinkouga Saigo no Tatakai

Impressions: You don’t often see this: a movie adapted from a light novel. Normally these things get TV-series. It’s from the same writer as Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, so it’s worth a look. The premise reminds me a bit of Chuuninbyou demo Koi ga Shitai: a girl arrives pretending to be from a different world, and the main character suffered from delusions like that in his past.

Steins;Gate Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà vu

Impressions: Steins;Gate will also have a movie, and just like Hana-Saku Iroha it will also be the staff of the anime to adapt it, meaning that we have a very solid team behind the movie. The question to ask is: the series ended very conclusively. What will the sequel be about?

Saint Young Men

Impressions: The movie that starts like a bad joke: Jesus and Buddha sharing an apartment. And they made an entire movie based on that. A-1 Pictures is behind it and the promo material does look gorgeous. A-1 Pictures will produce it and it will be directed by one of the staff members who worked on a lot of Kyoto Animation projects. There really are not many comedy movies, so I hope that this one will work.

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai.

Summary: “Living on the shadow of his prodigious younger sister, Kyousuke Kosaka conducts a normal lifestyle until he accidentally finds out that she hides a secret. In addition to being smart, pretty, and popular; Kirino Kosaka is also an obsessive consumer of anime and eroge (adult computer games). After being assured that Kyousuke is committed to not mock her and keep this concealed from their parents, she starts to share a bit of her world with him. Kirino faces several problems as she tries to keep the appearances and balance her exemplar school life with her hobbies. Her brother then becomes a crucial ally while dealing with all the difficulties that lie ahead.” – (Taken from ANN)
Produced by: A-1 Pictures (?!?)
Director: Hiroyuki Kanbe
Series Composition: Hideyuki Kurata
Original creator: Tsukasa Fushimi
Character Designer: Hiroyuki Oda

Impressions: Blagh! Incest! Still the worst premise of the season. Next.