Author: psgels

Ultraviolet – Code 044 – 02

by psgels, posted in Ultraviolet: Code 044



Short Synopsis: 044 continues her hunt for the mob boss.
Highlights: The subtle characterizations.
Overall Enjoyment Value:8/10
While I’m waiting for Mission-E to appear (seriously, what the heck happened to it?) I might as well watch this one. Since the past Spring season featured a lot of good 13-episode series, and relatively few good 26-episode series, I can blog lots of series this season. If I end up dropping Soul Eater (which seems pretty likely at this point) and Kaiba doesn’t go into yet another hiatus, I’ll be able to blog seven new series. There are lots of promising series this season, and one of them is Ultraviolet.

When I watched the first episode, the character-designs looked familiar somehow, and one look at the staff-list made me understand why: they’re done by the same guy who did the character-designs for Osamu Tezuka’s adaptations, such as Hi no Tori and Black Jack, but he also seems to be Osamu Dezaki’s standard character-designer. The result is pretty interesting, as it brings some of Tezuka’s innocence to such a dark and gritty setting.

I must say that Osamu Dezaki knows how to spice up his fights a bit, even when his budget isn’t unlimited. The screen, split in three is indeed something you’ll either love or hate, but I personally quite like it. It’s got an interesting effect.

In any case, the reason why I’m going to blog this series is that it’s definitely something different, as it tries to look into the mind of a killing machine. Much like Elfen Lied, in a way, but without the gore and the naked children. The thing I was waiting for in this episode is some more development for 044, and not just another action-scene, and that’s exactly what I got. We still don’t know what that strange voice is, but in this episode, it makes 044 save one of her original victims who fell in the ocean.

On a side-note, this series is quite a bitch to try and understand. Tuesday really seems to be the day of complex dialogue: Real Drive, Himitsu and Ultraviolet all have very complex dialogue that really takes a while to understand. In this episode, I’m still not sure what the Mob boss’ story about the vampires was all about.

This series does have its flaws, 044 could have been more subtle in trying to hide her own presence, but I suppose that as an almighty killing machine, she might not have any worries to hide. This indeed doesn’t seem to be a series about a main character, trying to complete her mission, but instead it’s much more about 044 herself.

Obviously, this series isn’t for everybody, and it sure has gotten a lot of bad reviews since it aired. I like it, though. It seems like another solid series from Madhouse, and I’m willing to stay with it for 10 more episodes.

Porfy no Nagai Tabi – 27

by psgels, posted in Porfy no Nagai Tabi



Short Synopsis: In this episode, Jack attempts to propose to the girl he loves.
Highlights: Fun episode, though André’s character-development could have been more subtle.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
After the previous episode, I remember doubting what kind of new element this arc could bring to this series. This episode answered these doubts: humour. Porfy no Nagai Tabi has never been a comedy, but this has definitely been its funniest episode, where you’re meant to laugh at and with the characters.

Jack, Porfy and Michael drive to Monica’s house at night, where Jack reveals that he used to work in the army during the final parts of the war. Andre meanwhile is still sulking about Jack’s actions of the previous episode. As it turns out, the biggest reason why he hates the guy is because he’s American, and the Americans killed his father (an Italian) during WWII. Monica tries to talk him out of it, and how Jack didn’t have anything to do with the pilot who shot down their father. André has been drinking, so obviously he doesn’t listen.

We then switch to Porfy, Michael and Jack, who stand next to Monica’s window, trying to get her attention without notifying André. Apollo provides the solution by softly pecking on her window. When she opens it, Jack ruins everything by yelling at the top of his lungs about how he loves Monica. André’s reaction was priceless, and thankfully Jack (or should I say, Porfy, Michael and a love-struck Jack) manages to get away before André catches him.

n the next day, Jack and Michael help Porfy to search for Mina, but nobody has seen her, but Sicily is just way too big. Michael then gets the idea to check during the next church meeting, because lots of people will be there (including Monica). The next day, the pastor agrees to help Porfy (and Jack) execute their plans for that day.

When Monica and André arrive at the church, Andre goes to a local bar to drink, while Monica heads for the confession booth (or however that’s called). To her surprise, it’s not the pastor sitting at the other side of the booth, but Jack, who’s hiding from André. Porfy and Michael are meanwhile hiding, to avoid being spotted by André, but they then see a suspicious pair of legs, coming from under André’s car and Porfy decides to check it out. The guy quickly runs away when he discovers being spotted, but as a result, André’s bodyguards suddenly turn up and start chasing them. Things get from bad to worse when they also run into André, who captures them and realizes that Jack must also be in the church.

In his anger, he runs right into the confession-booth, and thinks that Jack was hiding at the other side of it, throwing all kinds of curses at the pastor, who obviously gets rather angry and starts chasing him with a cross. When things have settled a bit, Porfy tells him about the strange guy who was messing with his car. It turns out to have been some kind of bomb, set to detonate when the engine starts. Nobody knows how to detonate such a bomb, so the solution that comes up is to push the car into the ocean (which is quite far away, though).

Jack helps André and his bodyguards, and the two forget their differences a bit. This was the only part of the episode that felt a bit fake, as André’s development was a bit too sudden. In any case, Monica, Porfy and Michael follow the car in their own, as Jack and André reach the coast and push the car in. André finds it a pity, because he liked that car, but Monica suggests him to just buy a new one. André then leaves, with the message that he won’t object to Jack’s marriage to Monica.

Next episode should prove to be interesting, as the focus should shift back to Porfy, trying to Mina. This episode may have been fun, but I can’t help but think that this is the weakest part of Porfy no Nagai Tabi. Since it’s a travelling anime, it doesn’t have the advantage of keeping its characters, and it must continue to introduce new ones. The abandoned city was the best example of this, but now that Porfy’s development seems to have stalled a bit, this series needs something new to be introduced fast now. But then again, knowing this series, it’s probably building up for something.

Nijuu Mensou no Musume – 12

by psgels, posted in Nijuu Mensou no Musume



Short Synopsis: Lots of things happen, among which is Akine’s backstory.
Highlights: Hard to talk about without spoilers.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10

Oh my god… this episode is exactly why I’m watching this series. One episode might seem to suggest that this series goes nowhere, and then episodes like this one come and the entire plot makes a complete 180 degree turn. If you’ve yet to see this episode, you’d best not look at the rest of this entry. ^^;

I’ve forgotten the name of the glasses-guy, the one that gave Chiko the hint that Nijuu Mensou was still alive and who gave her his treasure. With this episode, it’s obvious why the guy would have all this, because this episode reveals him to be Nijuu Mensou himself. It’s quite sneaky: the attempts at foreshadowing this plot-twist are deliberately done a bit too obvious to take seriously. Both Chiko and Ken note how the guy resembles Nijuu Mensou, so through reverse psychology, there has to be more to the guy than just that. Well, no.

This episode continues to pull tricks like that throughout the episode. The doll-person also shatters the head of a tome-statue in this episode. Obviously, Tome didn’t die, but she was inside this statue, below the head, nonetheless. At the end of the episode, the puppet-woman (yes, woman) also makes a controlled Chiko stab Nijuu Mensou in the back. Thanks to Ken’s smokescreen, we may have to wait five more episodes before we find out how Nijuu Mensou survived that blow.

But really, I’m still surprised at how this series holds no punches at all when it gets serious. Heck, on top of all of that, Chiko ends up kidnapped at the end of the episode, and the puppet woman turns out to have been some sort of part of Nijuu Mensou in the past, suggesting that he abandoned his crew more often in the past. This does explain why all of these supernatural people are suddenly after Chiko: they’re probably all things that Nijuu Mensou left behind and was too lazy to clean up.

Also, what was this about Akine? Why did he use two different names for Chiko: Chiko and Chizuko? Up till now, I just saw him as a rather unlikable lazy guy, but as it turns out, his bond with Chiko (or at least the younger Chiko) turns out to be deeper than suspected. If I understood correctly (and correct me if I’m wrong) during the war, Akine once took Chiko to a foreign country and then lost track of her. Nijuu Mensou then was responsible of bringing her back. If this is true, then Nijuu Mensou did more than just pick a random talented girl off the street…

Takane no Jitensha Review – 70/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


This one can just be considered as both a first impression as a review, since there’s only one episode of Takane no Jitensha anyway. It can easily be considered as the brother-anime of Yume da Maya Kidan: both are only twenty minutes long, both are down-to-earth with supernatural elements, both have produced on a short budget, both are about accepting your younger sibling and both aren’t bad by any means, though they’re not really something special.

Takane no Jitensha offers a small look at the live of a boy called Takane, and the sort of problems that any boy of his age has: getting a new bike (jitensha = bike) because his current one is old and his friends keep beating him. The things here strike especially close at home. The other half of the airtime adds in a bit more excitement. The realism disappears a bit, unfortunately, but it remains an enjoyable story.

This review is short, because there’s hardly anything interesting to say about this series, but if you’ve got twenty minutes to waste, you might as well give this one or Yume da Maya Kidan a try. In terms of slice of life, Takane no Jitensha is better, while Yume da Maya Kidan is better with the supernatural stuff (especially the Tanuki in Takane no Jitensha came from nowhere and delivered one heck of a deus ex machina).

Storytelling: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Production-Values: 6/10
Setting: 7/10

Some quick first impressions: Strike Witches, Birdy the Mighty Decode and Yakushiji Ryouko no Kaiki Jikenbo

by psgels, posted in Birdy the Mighty Decode, Some Quick First Impressions

Strike Witches

Short Synopsis: Our lead character becomes a witch that fights against alien forces.
Highlights: Lacks the style of the OVA.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6,5/10
It’s a shame that the style of the OVA was abandoned for the tv-series. Still, overall Strike Witches did its job, I guess. Ironically, at the moment this seems to be the perfect series for Gonzo to get some of their funds back, because stuff like this definitely sells. There’s lots of fanservice indeed, but it’s nothing when comparing it to Sekirei. This episode was nothing special at all, but it did serve as a good enough introduction, although I wonder whether trucks can violently explode like that. There are lots of characters, which is going to be either this series’ saving grace or doom, whether or not the creators can develop them sufficiently within 12 episodes. I personally doubt it, but I’ve been surprised by such a series more than once.

Birdy the Mighty Decode

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets killed and ends up sharing his body with a female alien cop.
Highlights: Great style, awesome action, fun characters
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
This has been my most anticipated series of the season, and probably the weirdest most anticipated series I’ve ever had for a season. It doesn’t disappoint at all, though. What we have here is a fun action-series, sharing a deep contrast with the other action-series this season (Ultraviolet), which is much darker and melancholic. Birdy the Mighty is sortof like (and it rather disturbed me when I found this out) To Love-Ru done right. We’ve got an alien in a space-ship, but instead of the predictable princess, being chased, she’s a cop, after a bunch of bad guys. When she meets our lead character, she doesn’t instantly fall in love with him without any reason, but instead she accidentally kills him and feels sorry for her own mistake. She also has a dress-up robot, but he dresses up as a strange transsexual. Overall, it feels like much more imagination went into creating this anime, and it’s amazing what a bit of imagination can do to my opinion of a series. And of course, this is being done by the director of Noein, so of course: the fight scenes are bloody amazing. What surprised me the most during the summer previews is the bad reputation this series seemed to be getting, simply because of its name. I mean, what’s so bad about calling your series Birdy the Mighty?

Yakushiju Ryouko no Kaiki Jikenbo

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a policewoman, who gets assigned to supernatural cases.
Highlights: Glamorous look at the way of a detective, but at least the characters are interesting; good luck at explaining that plot-hole at the end of the episode, though.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Well, this one turned out to be different from expected. What I expected was a supernatural mystery-series, but what I got was a thriller: it’s pretty clear what the enemies are, and they need to be stopped. I may not work with the police or anything, but I do think that the depiction of inspector Ryouko could have been more realistic: she spends the entire episode buying bras, swimming and in fancy clothes, while doing her investigation that’s in no way systematic. That’s why her assistant is the interesting character in this series: he has to put up with her eccentric character, while trying to do his own job as well. I’d really wish for the bad guys to get some more depth in the next episode, because they were rather boring in this one. Ah well, at least this series is backed up by nice enough graphics and an interesting soundtrack that combines techno with eerie sounds.

Telepathy Shoujo Ran – 03

by psgels, posted in Telepathy Shoujo Ran



Short Synopsis: The villain turns out to be… a teacher. More importantly: Ran and Midori become friends.
Highlights: Excellent banter, though the evil teacher was way too evil.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
I’m probably going to end up comparing this series a lot to Night Head Genesis, the in my opinion best series about psychics. There are a few things that Telepathy Shoujo Ran could have learned from it, and I especially mean how the lead characters grew up. Naoto and Naoya’s parents clearly loved them, but in the end they were taken away because Naoto kept causing trouble with his powers and quick temper. Telepathy Shoujo Ran’s reasoning turns out to be much less subtle: Midori and the teacher became hateful because they’re hated, Ran became cheerful because she has a caring family.

It’s really what this series needs: subtlety, because it’s bloody awesome in every other department: a terrific soundtrack, great graphics and especially an excellent sense of characterization. It just wants too much in too little time. Still, who knows where this series would end up once the characters start developing? This series is so much fun when something exciting isn’t happening, so I’m interested to see what this series can do once it has the time to build up and the characters have gained depth. For only that reason, I’m going to follow this series until the end.

The Kansai-ben was quite a surprise, I never expected Midori to come from Osaka, and this episode certainly changed the way you look at her character. I like how she’s witty, and doesn’t take everything for granted, although that Kansai-ben is a bitch to try and translate. I already have enough trouble with regular Japanese. It’s the same with Ghost Hound: the characters there too talked with weird accents. Ran’s brother also surprised me, in terms of the big role he had on Ran when she found out that Rui (Louie?) was missing.

Also… why were there sakura-petal on top of a school-building?

Junjo Romantica Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


2008 came with an interesting trend: actually good shounen-ai series…. what? At least I liked them…

Granted, there’s no denying that this series is aimed at fangirls. Nearly every episode features some gay sex scene that… will feel rather awkward for any straight male like myself. The characters are way too quick to jump into bed with each other and make some hot steamy love. But at the same time, this series can brag about some very good romance, that even teach a lot of straight love series a thing or two.

Because the characters are nearly all adults, which shows an interesting difference with all the teenage romances out there. This series’ outlook on love and relationships turns out to be quite realistic. It’s about understanding your partner, (obviously) how they deal with sex, the sacrifices you make for each other and what it means to be in love with someone. Sure, the characters in this series are gay and all, but this series wouldn’t have been that different if it talked about straight couples. Apart from the fear of breaking the taboo of loving a member of the same sex, perhaps.

Because this series deals with three different couples, it can really take an in-depth look at gay romances, despite how disturbing this may sound, as it can take a look at different scenarios and situations and develop them. What really sold me in this series is the fact that it’s critical of itself. There’s plenty of self-jokes in this series and the pieces of comedy here and there are hilarious, preventing this series from becoming too dramatic for its own sake.

The graphics could have used a bit more work, though. Obviously, the visuals aren’t the most important thing in this series, but the character are very hard to keep apart for the first few episodes, which is the sign that the character-designer needs to feel ashamed of himself. The music does the job, although I do want to give attention to the excellent OP that this series has.

Obviously, if you’re one of those people who hates gays with passion, you should stay far away from this one. However, if you’re looking for some quality romance, Junjo Romantica is a pretty good recommendation. It’s an interesting look at how three different romantic relationships form and develop. The dialogue is witty and to the point. It may be a bit too angsty at times, but in terms of romance, it delivers. There seems to be a second season somewhere in the future, and I’m scared to say that I’ll be looking forward to it…

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

Batman – Gotham Knight Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


For Batman – Gotham Knight, four of my favourite studios Studio 4°C, Production IG, Bee-Train and Madhouse came together and delivered a collection of six short movies about the comic book legend of Batman. Much like The Animatrix, all have different art styles, though unlike the Animatrix, they’re much more tied together. They’re all action somehow, and share the same dark tone.

First up is Studio 4°C, with the movie “Have I got a story for you”, which is probably the most down-to-earth and different of the six stories, and yet it’s typical Studio 4°C, as they show a Batman adventure, through the eyes of four street-kids. It’s a great introduction, that gives a bit of mysterious air to the concept of Batman, especially for those like me, who haven’t seen too much of the guy. The next movie, Crossfire by Production IG continues this trend, by only showing a very few scenes of him, and instead focusing on a couple of cops. It’s perhaps the movie that makes the least amount of sense, and the ending feels like a rather Deus ex Machina. It’s a nice idea, but there are too many plot-holes in this one.

The rest of the movies then shed the air of mystery, and start focusing on Batman himself. Two show a bit of his background, and the other two show how he takes care of a bunch of bad guys. Field Test by Bee-Train tries to explain the things that happen in Crossfire. In this, it fails, but it does build up Batman’s character into more than just a main character, with the characterization that Bee-Train has always been good at. Next up is In Darkness Dwells, which is excellent for those who want action. The villains are a bit dull for those unfamiliar to the Batman universe, but at least they make the action-scenes tense, and a feast for the senses.

Studio 4°C then brings the fifth movie: Working Through Pain, which is probably the reason why this movie earned its PG-13 rating. It’s the most imaginative of the six movies, as they show how Batman deals with the concept of “pain”. The final movie is called Deadshot, which ends with a thriller. It’s the only one of the six where the main villain ends up actually interesting, and the extra bit attention to Batman’s character is also appreciated.

Overall, my personal favourites were Working Through Pain and Field Test, because they show something about the man behind the mask, and turn Gotham Knight into something beyond “just another action movie”, and they make the rest of the stories fun and interesting to watch. The movie isn’t perfect by far, and most of the villains are just one-dimensional, and uninteresting. The stories aren’t the most solid either, and sometimes they rely too much on the comic books, alienating those who haven’t read them. However, as a dark action-movie, it does deliver.

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

Macross Frontier – 13

by psgels, posted in Macross Frontier



Short Synopsis: Some sort of outside jamming crashed Ranka and Alto’s craft in the previous episode. In this episode, Ranka gets taken by the Varja.
Highlights: A couple of very intriguing plot-twists.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Now this is what I’ve been waiting for! Finally the plot is turning into something interesting. The Macross that was discovered in the previous episode turns out to be some kind of disguised Varja-spaceship, and Sheryl’s manager reveals herself as a party of the bad guys. It also makes me wonder why Ranka’s photos were in that space-ship, and what the relation is between the Varja and these bad guys.

There was also some sweet romance in this episode, and the love-triangle also got some interesting development. This episode seems to suggest that the second half is going to be much more interesting than the first one, which was exactly what I was hoping for when I first decided to keep watching this series.

Some quick first impressions: Someday’s Dreamers: Natsu no Sora, Hidamari Sketch x356 and Antique Bakery

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Someday’s Dreamers: Natsu no Sora

Short Synopsis: Our lead character who lives on the countryside gets accepted on a magic school in Tokyo.
Highlights: Awesome art direction; warm slice of life; is the first season as good as this?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Usually, I refer to the titles of anime in their romanized form, but in this case I’m going to make an exception, simply because it’s so damn long. In any case, as a fan of experimental anime, I just have to say that I LOVE the art direction in this series. The creators actually used live-action backgrounds, and pasted drawings on top of it. The effect looks great, and it’s a very effective way to save a bit of budget without coming across cheap. The character also looks excellent. This episode was mostly slice-of-life on the countryside, and the real meat of this series is probably going to take place somewhere entirely different (a magic school in Tokyo, it seems), but I think that we can expect some great things from this series. It’s already been episode one, and it already introduced a charming love-story between two side-characters.

Hidamari Sketch x356

Short Synopsis: Our lead character enlists on an art school and meets her new neighbours.
Highlights: Energy; better than what I saw of the first season.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
I only lasted for 3 episodes on the original Hidamari Sketch. It wasn’t bad; it just… didn’t catch my attention. I checked out this episode to test whether it had improved since the first season, and surprisingly, it has. For this episode at least. It feels more energetic than the first season, and I actually laughed a bit here and there. I do want to note, however, that Shinbou’s style of direction is getting a bit old. I first noticed this with Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, but his way of adding random nonsensical shots or texts does tend to distract from what’s really important. Especially in a series that’s supposed to be slice-of-life (ie, relaxing), this works rather distracting. It would be interesting if the guy would try to evolve his own style a bit.

Antique Bakery

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets employed by a gay baker.
Highlights: Cheese, but knows fully well that it’s cheese.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
I’ve been purposefully keeping my expectations for this series low, since it unites the godly Nippon Animation with the Noitamina-timeslot, so I just expected this series would turn into a gay bishie-series. The scary thing is that I turned out to be right, and yet laughed my ass off in this episode. It’s been a while since I watched some good cheese, and this one seems a darn fine example of it. The entire mood is so depressing, with organ-music, and yet the characters are discussing cakes. The only gay character in this series is also portrayed in a pretty realistic way for anime, and his banter with the straight characters was just priceless. Now let’s hope that the creators can keep this interesting for 11 more episodes.