Author: psgels

Invincible Superman Zambot 3 Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Giant Robot shows from the seventies are pretty like today’s harem series: there’s a lot of bad stuff among them: uninspired premises that get nowhere apart from perhaps a rushed conclusion in the end. The trick is of course to find the good ones among the crappy ones, but that’s not always easy, considering how all of them look so much like each other. Still, I’ve managed to find one (thanks to this guy, link only in Dutch, unfortunately): Invincible Superman Zambot 3. This series is so much more than a simple robot-bashing show. This is a giant robot-series, Tomino style.

This show makes it clear that even before creating Mobile Suit Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino was already trying to popularize the realistic side of mechas. While the series starts out as your average series, where a bratty 12 year old kid gets the unlikely chance to pilot a giant robot, it soon becomes clear that saving the world isn’t just going to be a simple matter of beating every enemy robot that starts wreaking havoc. Already after a few episodes do we see the public reaction to the titular Zambot descending into sheer hate, as people start blaming the lead characters for destroying their homes in their fights.

Throughout the series, this continues to escalate into further chaos. Because the lead characters are a bunch of adventurous kids, they take way too long in realizing what sort of arrogant idiots they’ve been, and at the same time the tactics of the bad guy (with the awesome name of “Killer the Butcher”) continue to get more desperate and gruesome.

The monster of the week theme does remain, though, so that’s a bit of a downside, and there are really way too much transformation sequences. And as it turns out, there’s a whole backstory there to explain why out of all people, we have three kids piloting the robot who decides the future of the world. To be honest it sounds a bit far-fetched, but at least it’s better than nothing, and it’s sufficient to support what this series is really about: the fact that war is BAD, and should never be underestimated. A bigger problem is that a number of characters aren’t fleshed out enough. Especially the main villains are a bit too one-sided. It’s also strange that Kappei’s father, without a doubt the manliest member of the cast, is useless throughout the largest part of the series: he hardly ever does anything, he’s just there, even though there’s enough for him to do.

Nevertheless, the point of this series was to show that robot battles aren’t as idealistic as portrayed in most of these giant robot series, and that’s exactly what it did. When a building gets destroyed, it really gets destroyed and doesn’t magically disappear. People are going to care about it and get angry. Saving the world has never been easy, and especially the series’ finale lets that message sink in. Yeah, I can understand why Tomino got his nickname now. ^^;

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

Hyakko Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Usually, I’m not too big of a fan of school life series. I dunno, but they always look the same, there’s always the same set-up, often filled with dull moments. It makes it really hard to separate the cream from the crop at first sight, and even the ones that do seem vaguely attractive often turn out to be somewhat enjoyable, though not entirely worth the time invested in it. However, there are obviously exceptions to every rule. For this one, it’s Hyakko. I’m still not sure why I ended up enjoying this series so much.

From the outside, Hyakko seems like yet another comedy about a group of four friends. And yet, it feels fresh and engaging. Instead of simply focusing at a group of four or five friends, the creators attempted to bring an entire classroom to life, and that actually turned out pretty well. High school (or middle school or whatever the school system in Japan is called) indeed isn’t a time that you spend simply with three or four other people over and over and over again, you actually meet lots of different people with very diverse interests, and that’s what Hyakko is about.

And what makes this series extra enjoyable is the very strong cast. Unlike other school series with lots of characters like Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei and Pani Poni Dash, the characters may all have their own traits, but none of them are cardboard cut-outs, and all of them receive a bit of depth through the series, making their quirks even more enjoyable. Especially the lead character Torako is really fun, but really: the entire cast is enjoyable to watch with hardly any exceptions. I really laughed hard during the best jokes of this series. I also just have to give credit to the teacher’s voice actor: this guy sounded like he was having the time of his life while voicing his character, resulting in a bunch of awesome one-liners from the guy.

Unfortunately, like most comedies out there this series also got the inexplicable need to introduce some drama as the series nears its end. But as a surprise, it actually doesn’t suck, and it’s in fact pretty good at times. This series never forgets that it’s also supposed to be a comedy, and just when the drama gets too heavy, it’s sure to insert some sort of hilarious joke to brighten up the mood. This works great, compared to most other comedies which completely forsake their comedy for the sake of a dramatic ending. The ending itself is also really original: for once it isn’t about some sudden overdramatic plot twist or love triangle, but instead a very normal problem that is handled very subtly. Really, more comedies should look at this series for that.

My only complaint with this series lies in the sound department, something of which I hardly ever have problems with. The serious scenes of this series were nearly ruined by the sound director, who at times is a bit too eager in inserting sad piano music when there’s absolutely no need for that whatsoever. The OP and ED are also plain baaaad. Seriously, Hirano Aya should stop doing singing stuff she’s bad at. And it’s not even one mistake she made, she just keep taking jobs that are simply way too far out of her league. Her work on Nijuu Mensou no Musume was excellent, but apart from that I really haven’t heard any performance of her that really impressed me.

Nevertheless, in a season full of good comedies, Hyakko has turned out to be the best of them after Skip Beat. There are only a few episodes that are just mildly hilarious, apart from that all of them hit the mark. The drama is a bit too cheesy at times, but for a comedy it’s way above average in that aspect. And even though it has received mixed reactions, I really enjoyed the characters. I’m really getting amazed at how each non-kiddie series from Nippon Animation seems to turn into something special.

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

Shikabane Hime Review Aka – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Shikabane Hime


Gainax’ latest series: Shikabane Hime. The first thing that you need to know before watching this is the following: Shikabane Hime is NOT the next Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. While it still has a lot of very stylish action, this series is much more than a simple brainless action series, and definitely not the place to go if you want to see action series as overblown as seen in Gurren Lagann. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for compelling characters, then this is the place to go.

There’s actually a lot to like about this series. First of all, it unites Gainax, one of the most un-subtle animation studios in existence, with Masahiko Murata, the director of Gilgamesh, which was in its turn incredibly subtle. The result is a very interesting combination between those extremes: a lot of quiet moments, expressive characters, combined with fast-paced and gorgeously animated action-scenes, all coated in a horror-ish atmosphere.

Another potential turn-off for this series is the male lead, Ouri. At first sight, he may be nothing more than a typical fourteen year old lead character, but the series quickly proves you wrong. Instead of immediately giving the guy superpowers and a central place in the story like in most other anime of its kind, Shikabane Hime instead tries to subvert this trope by explaining as good as possible at how such a seemingly insignificant guy can get himself some power. In fact, the entire first season of this show is dedicated to setting him in the right position for the second season, and flesh out the rest of the cast as well. This is one series that knows that it shouldn’t reveal all of its cards right at the start, and it’s so much better than the tons of series that start with “oh hey, I’m going to give you powers because I purely coincidentally managed to bump into you. Oh and by the way love me”.

And since this is Gainax, the animation for this series is really impressive. And thankfully it was spent in the right way: not on flashy beams or CG, but instead it’s dedicated to make the characters expressive, and the fights more centred around close combat, resulting in a number of gorgeous visuals. The soundtrack for this series is also downright excellent, and among the best of the season. This turns the fight maybe not as large in scale as in Gurren Lagann, but nevertheless the small scale fights never cease to be exciting.

As for the bad parts, there’s one particular episode where the boob jokes run a bit out of hand. You’ll know when it’s there, but it has particularly nasty effect on Ouri’s male classmates, turning them from regular classmates that turn up only once in a while into a bunch of paper bags who can only think about sex. This series is definitely at its lowest whenever these guys start whining about girls. Thankfully, this only happens two or three times through the series, but it remains rather jarring.

Overall, Shikabane Hime has been a great series for me. It had compelling characters and action, and it’s only been building up for the second season that’s about to arrive in January. In the beginning, it may seem to suffer a bit from the “monster of the week”-theme, but at the end it did what it was supposed to: create a solid base for the second season to work with, giving the important characters enough background and fleshing them out sufficiently.

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

Shikabane Hime – 13

by psgels, posted in Shikabane Hime



Short Synopsis: Recap
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10 (Enjoyable)
So yeah, it’s Chrismas evening, so it was something to expect. Nevertheless, for a recap it was a good one: it came at the right time and it felt like it made sense: Keisei has just kicked the bucket, so of course Ouri is going to remember the times they spent together. At the same time, he’s also being pushed to his new duty, making him recall even more important things from the past. If you want a recap, at least make it necessary, and that’s exactly what this series did. The opposite is of course having recaps for the sake of having recaps.

In any case, I’m glad that I ended up blogging this series. It may be a shounen series, but it is a very good one, centred around more than just fighting. The entire series has simply been building up to the second season, and that’s why I’m getting pretty interested in how that one’s going to turn out. Even now, Ouri still doesn’t have any 1337 powers, and the guy still needs to work hard. With such a set-up, it’s got such an advantage over 95% of all other shounen series.

Bonen no Xamdou – 20

by psgels, posted in Bonen no Xamdou



Short Synopsis: Not going to put that here due to spoilers on the anime blog aggregators.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10 (Awesome)
Okay, so while the previous episode felt a little underwhelming, this one was utterly amazing. It’s here that you can really see how much the building up in the beginning has paid off, and for how many episodes the attack on Sentan Island was still mentioned. It really got the message through that people die during these attacks, and that made this episode, where the Southern Government suddenly crashes down on the Tessik Village all the more powerful.

What I found ironic is how only a few episodes earlier, the soldiers of the Northern government were too scared to shoot at a friend. And here they’re basically trying to kill off tons of innocent people. It seems to me that Toujiro has made sure to prevent them making the same mistake twice.

And again this episode demonstrates how awesome the monster-designs of this series are. Kujireika really seems to have lost it, but the imagination that went into her new character-design must have been huge.

The rest of the episode was mostly building up, though with this series, that’s always a good thing. What stood out for me is that Akiyuki and Haru are finally getting tied to the main storyline again. After all, the two at the beginning of the episode had no real reason to be involved in the war: they were just a travelling couple. Still, now that it seems that the white-haired kids have contacted him, he’s probably the first of the Xam’d to lose his face, and then get it back again, and somehow that is good for the objective of these kids. Whether the talking eye ball was part of their plans too, I don’t know, but there’s a good chance for that.

Mouryou no Hako – 12

by psgels, posted in Mouryou no Hako




Short Synopsis: Akihiko gathers everyone to tell them about the things he discovered.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10 (Awesome)
I don’t think that for the past year, I’ve ever been this frustrated at a climax than with this episode, apart perhaps from Kaiba. This episode was simply amazing, and then the creators stick in that damned cliffhanger just at the parts where the juicy parts really are about to begin! That final episode can’t come soon enough.

But really, with a series of this calibre, it actually has the chance of being my favourite ending of 2008, with all the building up that has basically been meant for that final episode, and the big questions still aren’t revealed, even though the huge amount of revelations in this single episodes. I’ve probably said this before, but I really have pity with the poor fansubbers who have to translate and typeset this series. This really is something else, and I’m still utterly amazed at how many open questions the creators managed to create without me even realizing it.

So, let’s see if I got everything correctly: The scientist whose name I forgot is actually Youko’s father, and one of the culprits is Suzaki, the one who died. In the last episode, we didn’t see Atsuko, but instead Youko (my mistake). When Kanako got in her accident, it was actually Yoriko who pushed her, after being inspired by reading Sekiguchi friend’s novel. The trigger was seeing Kanako crying (probably due to Youko, I think that it was then when she found out about how her sister was actually her mother). The man in black coat was Akihiko himself, who seems to have witnessed the event.

When Kanako was caught in the accident, her wounds couldn’t be treated in a regular hospital, so Youko desperately tried to search for a different address. That’s why she wound up at her father’s, and it was Suzuki who she talked to. It then seems that Suzaki was the one who chopped up Kanako and moved her out of the research institute in BOXES, in order to avoid detection. After that, something came and killed him, just like how Kubo Shunko was silenced. The question now remains: who the heck was that?

The way the episode ended was just filled with question marks: what is Kubo doing at the research institute if he’s supposed to be dead? Why did Akihiko say that they’re “inside Kubo”?

At this point, I can’t say whether Mouryou no Hako has been the best series of the past Fall season, since half of them aren’t over yet, but it’s definitely been the best series of the fall season that only lasted 12 or 13 episodes. At the moment, I can’t wait to see what the creators have in store for the finale.

Kurozuka Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Kurozuka


From the director of Death Note, Kurozuka is Madhouse’s latest action series. This time, it’s packed with lots and lots of Japanese-styled horror, and comes in a package that just oozes style. With an OP that’s even more extreme than the second one from Death Note, this is the perfect watch if you need to lose some frustration, pump some adrenaline or find some other excuse to watch a bit of tense action.

Because really, this series hardly gives the viewer any time to take a breath. There are lots of quiet moments throughout the series, but even they remain clouded the show’s very thick atmosphere, as it prepares for the next climax. This series set out to create an combination between action and horror, and it pretty much succeeded in this.

But yeah, Kurozuka is all about action and atmosphere, so don’t even try to expect something special from the plot or characters. The plot is actually pretty decent. It’s simple, yet it’s got a number of surprising plot twist, and even though the ending isn’t going to answer every question that’s left behind, it succeeds in keeping an air of mystery around the show.

The problem with this show is the cast of characters. They’re just… there. They hardly get the time to be fleshed out, but none of them make a particularly strong impression, safe for a few minibosses, who manage to provide the best action-scenes of the series. The main character Kuro has his own background, but we never see any sides of him, other than the silent stoic side that doesn’t talk a lot and wants to fight.

But then again, if you want deep characters, you can always watch a different series. Kurozuka knows exactly what it is: an action flick that never really goes anywhere deep, and that’s where it succeeds at. The graphics for this series are downright awesome, and they turn every single episode into a visual feast. There’s always something nice to look at and a continuous atmosphere. My only real complaints are that the ending doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the series, but nevertheless I personally enjoyed watching this series a lot.

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

Kurozuka – 12

by psgels, posted in Kurozuka



Short Synopsis: The plot of this episode is obviously going to be one big spoiler, but even then it can’t be summarized in just one sentence…
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10 (Good)
Aha! So the creators decided to go for a big WTF-ending. And WTF it is! Since I kept associating this series with Ultraviolet because of their similarities, i expected a similar ending, one where all the threads that were left hanging were wrapped up inside a nice conclusion. Well, even though Ultraviolet’s conclusion was pretty straightforward, this one MOST CERTAINLY ISN’T.

I’m still not exactly sure what the heck went on there. Kuro first slaughters the kabuki players (of which I have no idea what they were even doing there), suddenly blood comes raining down from out of nowhere with buckets at a time and then he finally arrives at the room where Kuromitsu is. The one who’s talking to her: Benkei. That bugger seemed to have received immortality was well (or at least a body that ages very slowly, as becomes apparent later in the episode).

As it turns out, he was no traitor, but instead he couldn’t bear to see his friend that’s fallen in love with such a person as Kuromitsu, which is why he betrayed him. I’m not sure whether he was actually in love with Kuromitsu, or didn’t see her fit as someone who Kuro should love… it’s there were he obtained a body that wouldn’t die, though over the years, his body did age a bit, as he’s turned into an old man. As it turns out: Kuro has become immortal, but Benkei chopped off his head. Apparently, he spent ages without any body whatsoever, and that’s why Kuromitsu created Kuon to serve as a body for Kuro. That plan failed, however, and in the end she had to settle with a random soldier from the bad guys.

Okay, so far so good, but why did Kuromitsu still go after the guy’s head once he got a new body? I’m still not sure at this point, and the rest of the episode didn’t make things any clearer: Kuro and Benkei fight, Kuro wins. Kuromitsu then finally manages to chop off Kuro’s head. Time then reverts, we see a bunch of flashbacks and we suddenly see Kuro and Benkei again as if they were in the first episode, only with the rest of their surroundings destroyed. Eh, what?!

To be honest, I’m not sure whether this was the bets ending the creators could have gone for. Sure, the confusion is fun and all, but it’s leaving a strange taste in my mouth. The threads, such as where did the bad guys come from, why did they last 1000 years, and why did they work together with Kuromitsu in the end are unsolved. What was the purpose of the kabuki players, why are they so keen on killing every single being? What’s up with their blood obsession? What was Benkei doing at Kuromitsu’s, after 1000 years? I really need to watch this episode with subs, but even with that there are just too many threads left hanging for this series.

Overall, it was a fun series, and it’s got an excellent sense of horror, but when I have to compare this to Ultraviolet which aired this summer, then I’d prefer the latter. That mostly is due to the rather lacking characterization, that’s plagued through this series, safe for two or three episodes. Ultraviolet on the other hand did have a strong cast that was fun to watch.

Ie Naki Ko Remi Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Note: this is a review of the 1997 World Masterpiece Theatre version of Ie Naki Ko, not the Osamu Dezaki version of 1977. I’d love to have watched the original version, but unfortunately I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere; it’s gone up in smoke, so I needed to settle with this inferior version. For those of you who don’t know, Ie Naki Ko has a whole backstory to it.

In 1996, the World Masterpiece Theatre franchise was in a lot of trouble. The previous WMT-series, Famous Dog Lassie, had been suddenly halted after only 26 episodes, and it was replaced by this series. 23 episodes later, and it was suffering from bad reviews and low television rates, so it got taken off the air completely by the television network. After 23 years of non-stop series, the World Masterpiece Theatre went into a hiatus that would last for nearly ten years, until it was picked up again by Les Miserables. Even among the WMT-fans it seems to have been rated as one of the lesser series of the franchise.

However after watching the series, I do want to say that if the version that’s universally considered as a cheap rip-off is already this good, then I can only imagine how incredibly beyond awesome the Osamu Dezaki version must be.

But yeah, this series definitely has its problems. The creators here tried to stuff a story that’s meant for 52 episodes in only 26 of them. They changed a lot from the original novel, including the actual gender of the main character, and even with the shortened episode length, it still includes a few fillers. I think that this was done in an attempt to make the WMT-franchise more mainstream, which obviously failed.

Nevertheless, despite this the show has an awesome cast of characters, which stay true to themselves no matter what gets thrown at them. Remi may have changed into a girl, but she’s a really strong character, who is able to carry the weight of the series easily. There are still plenty of slice of life moments, which really try to flesh out the different characters. Despite the fillers feeling rather random when you watch them, each of them has its own purpose of foreshadowing later plot-twists.

Where this series falls behind in comparison to the other WMT-series is that it wants drama a little too badly. With this, I mean that no matter where Remi arrives through the series, you’ll know that something bad is going to happen to her. Be it a robbery, stolen item, or whatever, and especially the way in which Remi meets her real family feels really strange. Compare that to Porfy no Nagai Tabi, where you’ll never know if a person Porfy meets is going to have gentle or ill intentions, and yes, it does fall flat in that aspect. There’s also a bit of romance that pops up near the end of the series. On one hand, it’s incredibly heart-warming, though it can also be way too soppy at times.

But what impressed me the most about this series is that even though it usually has a warm but naive idealistic nature, there are times where the cold, hard feeling of reality crashes down on the characters, and at those times it really spares nobody. It may fool you at times, but this series is typical WMT in the sense that it can be incredibly dark for a children’s series. We’re talking about brutal child abuse here. The contrast between these dark and cold parts and the heart-warming mood is what really made this series something special.

So yeah, while overall flawed this nevertheless is a very capable series. What it lacks mostly is polishing. If the creators could have spent some attention to make the drama less soppy, the different coincidences less apparent and added 26 more episodes, then I can imagine how the Osamu Dezaki version could easily be one of the best anime of the seventies.

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

ef – a tale of melodies Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


2008 has been a bad year for Shaft. While I can’t speak for Hidamari Sketch, their only two other series this year were simply sequels for series that didn’t really need one, and both of them featured a drastic decrease in quality. While ef – a tale of melodies didn’t decrease in quality as much as Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, it still is rather underwhelming and a disappointment if you’re a fan of the great first season.

Like the first season, a tale of melodies is also split up in two parts, and tells the story about two different couples. They’re the side-characters of the first season. The story about Kuze is pretty good. Even though it has a few humps and bumps in the middle and isn’t as impressive as the stories of a tale of memories, it nevertheless comes together in the end with a pretty nice conclusion.

My real problem with this series was the story between Yu and Yuuko. While on paper, it may seem worthwhile to finally learn who the mysterious guy with white hair from a tale of memories is, the creators handled it really in the wrong way. It seemed to me that the creators never really knew what they wanted to do with this story. They keep throwing one plot twist after the other but forget to make the viewer accustomed to the characters. They’re hardly fleshed out, unlike the stories in the first season.

The characters, although they change through the series, feel more like cardboard cut-outs than real people because of this. It was a nice idea full of ambition, really, but the creators simply tried to stuff too much in such a short timeframe. The conclusion to this story becomes downright ludicrous because of this, and we’re not even answered the simple question: why did Chihiro end up with Yu in the end?

My issue is also with the themes of creative expression that were so prevalent in the first season, because they play a much smaller role in the second season. Sure, there’s a character who plays a violin, another one sketches, another one paints, but the creators never actually use it. They’re no longer the central themes of the series, and the new themes of this series (taking distance from someone you love) feel superficial and not fleshed out enough.

Thankfully, there’s one definite bright spot of this series: the graphics. While the animation isn’t of any particularly high quality, the creators throw an even bigger amount of special effects at the viewers than even in a tale of memories. There are lots of cool shots and filters, and there’s lots of eye-candy in this series. The background music is also of the same high quality as the first season, so at least that part didn’t suffer.

It’s a shame that I can’t say the same for the rest of the series, and I can only hope that 2009 will be a better year for Shaft. They’re a great and unique animation studio and all, but at times they seem to get lost in their style, forgetting that they’re also supposed to have substance. ef – a tale of memories was a great example of a series with an excellent combination of both style and substance. ef – a tale of melodies, unfortunately isn’t.

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