Author: psgels

Crystal Blaze – 10

by psgels, posted in Crystal Blaze


Now that’s an aftermath! I’ve lately noticed that a lot of aftermaths in anime after a big climax are relatively boring, where characters do nothing but angst and try to let the events of said climax sink in. It may be because I’ve seen things like these for too many times, but they’re often disappointing and break a bit of flow.

Crystal Blaze does things right, though. It may be an aftermath, but it wastes no time to not only let the characters catch a breath, but it also wraps up the involved parties and sets up the interesting stage for the next episodes. It was really fun to see all the different parties do their own thing throughout the episode, but that’s just a personal preference of mine.

And of course it was obvious that Manami and Ayaka would screw up and get captured. She still has her attitude of wanting to do something important, and in her worries for the wounded Akira, she forgot to pay attention to hide herself. There was nobody there to stop them, so it’s in any case much better than Shinkurou returning home in Kurenai. What surprised me was how sensei swapped sides so easily. Could this be a trick to fool the enemy, or is he genuinely interested in Kitoh’s research?

I’m curious, though. There are two episodes left, and with a plot this fast, there’s got to be more than “Ayaka and Manami are saved, Kitoh is dead”, especially with the pacing of this series. It would be a shame for the pacing to die down at this point.

Hataraki Man Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Hataraki Man joins Omoide Poro Poro on the very short list of anime with a female main character who’s older than 25. It’s another series to have aired in the famed Noitamina-timeslot. It’s an anime about a workaholic. I originally dropped this series because I didn’t think that such a concept wouldn’t be worth exploring. So I was wrong.

Hataraki Man is a series that’s always critical of itself and its characters. Throughout only eleven episodes, it shows how the female lead (Hiroko) and her colleagues deal with their jobs, how they manage their stress, why they work the way they do and what goes on inside their minds. Every episode focuses at a different side-character, along with Hiroko. What we have here is a well-written series with characters you can connect to. Some episodes also refer to events that happened in past episodes, creating a series that feels whole, instead of a bunch of random episodes.

It’s almost a shame when the final three episode take the focus more away from the side characters, onto Hiroko. Don’t get me wrong: it’s here where the series manages to deliver some powerful climaxes, but somehow it feels a bit out of place in this series. Because of the extra attention to Hiroko, several side-characters end up left behind without development, even though they had enough potential to be put under the magnifying glass. The final three episodes also try to stuff a bit too much bad luck for Hiroko in too little time, and the result feels sort-of soap-opera like.

Nevertheless, we’ve got ourselves a very fine example of Noitamina here. It’s got energy, a good rocky soundtrack, OP and ED, the setting is very original for an anime, and I feel like anyone who’s dealing with stress. Although the animators do need to pay attention to their romanji a bit. ^^;

RD Sennou Chousashitsu – 10

by psgels, posted in RD Sennou Chousashitsu

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Yet again I notice that strange effect with this series, where every episode just feels like it’s just ten minutes long instead of the actual twenty. This episode goes back to the diving, as a computer with a highly advanced AI named Eliza is discovered on the bottom of the sea-floor, and it kidnaps Haru.

I’m not sure how to explain it, but this episode combined the first few episodes of this series, where Haru would dive and Minamo would guide him, with the mystery-roots of the following episodes, which were more focused at exploring one particular issue in the metal. Minamo this time ends up diving in the metal inside a special suit, to go after Haru, although you can see the disadvantages of not being “cyber-ified”, because her body is struggling heavily to get through it. This episode was both meant to strengthen the bond between Minamo and Haru and to show a bit more about the capabilities of AI.

The question also remains: why was Haru the only one whose consciousness was taken away, even though Eliza seemed to talk with many different people? This too can be related to the accident Haru had in the past. I’m looking forward to the next episode, because according to the preview, it’ll deal with Matsuda. I’ve been dying to see some background on the guy.

Soul Eater – 10

by psgels, posted in Soul Eater

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First, I’d like to thank everyone for voting for Star Crossed at the Anime Blog Awards. While it was indeed obvious that Random Curiosity would dominate the category for “Best Episodic Blog”, I’m glad to see that I managed to walk away with the bronze award.

Anyway, about Soul Eater: this episode was another one o those building-up episodes. Tsubaki’s brother seems to be causing trouble, possessing his victims and forcing them to go on a killing-spree, so Tsubaki goes after him. The next episode should tell us more about why the heck he’s ended up doing things like that.

But really, is it me or is Black Star a bit too similar to Naruto? Sad past? Check. Shunned for things that aren’t his fault? Check. Acting highly energetic because of this? Check. Stupid haircut/outfit? Check. It’s good thing that he’s not involved in any rivalry, and his relationship with Tsubaki has done a lot to make up for this. I especially liked how he doesn’t seem to care whether Tsubaki uses him for her own goals or not. I’m still not impressed by the fights in this series, but the special bonds between the weapons meisters and their weapons have been getting better and better.

Porfy no Nagai Tabi – 23

by psgels, posted in Porfy no Nagai Tabi


Today, an interesting look at a different angle at the usual anime-love triangle. All the ingredients are present: three childhood friends, two of them fall in love, the third one (who was in love as well) in turn breaks down and comes to hate the other two. This episode obviously had this predictability working against it, but the execution remains flawless.

The episode starts with Porfy waking up, enjoying the most luxury he’s ever witnessed in his life. He’s already very friendly with the dogs. Maximilian is away at the moment, as he’s visiting his mother. Porfy then hears the sound of goats, and is immediately interested in them, as it was his job of taking care of the goats when he was still in Simitra. Porfy shows off his skills to Iralia’s father, but this does make him think of Mina again.

During breakfast, Maximilian suggest Porfy to stay at their place a little longer, since he and the others know a ot of people who might have seen Mina. Porfy decides to stay a little longer, and he’ll work on the farm as a means of thanks. That afternoon, Iralia goes to the city to shop, and Porfy goes along with her. They stop by the castle of the previous episode to look at the great view from there, and Iralia notes that her parents proposed at that place. Porfy then asks whether she’s going to propose to Maximilian as well, though she bluntly says that she’ll never marry him.

Then, near the mansion of the previous episode, the car breaks down. Porfy can fix it, but he doesn’t have his tools. He suggests to check at the mansion to see whether they’ve got a driver, but Iralia yet again bluntly refuses, and runs back home to get help. Porfy then realizes that he also needs a spanner, so he does go inside the mansion. The woman who lives there has apparently been spying on the two of them, because she locks Porfy up inside an old room because she suspect that he may have been planning against her with Iralia.

Porfy escaps through a well-hidden window, and then finds out that this woman used to be really close to Iralia. He tries to tell her to become friends again, though she yells at him to leave, and take the tools he needs. When Iralia gets back, she indeed reveals how the woman hated her for taking away the one she loved, and ever since they’ve both been avoiding each other. It’s because of this that Iralia refuses to marry Maximilian.

Maxmilian had no idea of this, and the episode ends as Porfy forces him and Iralia to go back and make up. I’m interested, because after the abandoned city, I know that not everything in this series is as it looks, especially if it needs a cliff-hanger.

Nijuu Mensou no Musume – 08

by psgels, posted in Nijuu Mensou no Musume


Boy, how well this series turned out. To think that even at episode eight, Chiko still hasn’t grown up to the version of her we keep seeing in the OP. Every part of this series suggests that the creators are continuously building up, and this building up is already starting to pay off.

The robot turns out to be a humanoid weapon, thereby introducing a supernatural element in this series rather forcefully. If I understood correctly, then the country Chiko lives in (I assume Japan) tried to develop humanoid weapons, though they were never able to be used in the war, because it ended before this technology could be perfected. The woman and robot we saw in the previous episode turn out to be the leftovers from this research: they’ve got superhuman powers but at the same time they seem to be suffering. I’m not sure what kind of torture their bodies go through.

But such a huge and lumpy robot was of course a perfect opponent for Chiko to handle on her own, since she herself was small and light. It forced her to take advantage of this. At one point, the animation style also changed completely, in a really messy kind. It’s interesting to consider how this isn’t the first anime to use this technique, and the fact that they’re used for major fight scenes (take for example the last episode of Macross Frontier, or the final episodes of Shion no Ou). But I do want to urge the creators to be consistent with this style, and not just have one such scene in the entire series. The reason why this worked so well in Shion no Ou was because the animation was building up for it.

Chiko’s future side-kick also surprised me. She’s further away from the spoiled brat than I imagined. As it turns out, she’s incredibly rich, and has to live with the future prospect of marrying at her eighteenth and living a boring life without having to do anything. As she’s really tomboyish, she seems to have convinced herself to live her life to the fullest while she still can, and so she came to overglorify anything that resembles cool adventures. Now I also understand why she’ll easily make friends with Chiko.

DNA² Review – 81/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


There aren’t many shounen romantic comedies that I’ve actually liked. Most of them end up dull, stereotypical, clichéd, uninspired, too much focused on moe, et cetera, et cetera. Though once in a while, one comes along that’s actually worth it. Examples of this are Magikano, Umisho and of course Mahou Tsukai Tai. Thankfully, DNA² managed to join this list.

Really, how often do you run into a harem where it’s at least made plausible that every single female falls in love with the loser male lead. Him being shot by a bullet that turns him into a mega-playboy may sound a bit far-fetched, but it works surprisingly well in this series. It makes sure for a couple of hilarious situations, and the love-triangles that emerge from it are actually worth it. There are no fillers, and the creators know exactly how to use their time and keep things interesting, with a plot that continues to get pushed forward.

Unfortunately, there’s a rather large downside to DNA²… The comedy is hilarious, the romance is rock-solid, but the action downright sucks. These action-scenes have a nasty tendency of getting in the way of what’s really important in this series, and the characters turn into super-saiyan wannabes with way too exaggerated power-ups. This anime especially falls flat on its face during the OVA that concludes this series. The comedy is entirely taken out, in favour of a more epic plot, but at the same time it also degrades into a boring cheese-fest, and the actual climax is downright disastrous. I could have tried to sugar-coat this, but you know when the creators are having a bad day when they’re reaching out to use the power of love as a plot device.

Nevertheless, DNA² is among the better shounen romantic comedies. Especially the first half is really worth watching, and many of its current counterparts can learn a lot from this series, for example comedic timing, proper build-up, the avoidance of stereotypes and a bit of wit.

Amatsuki – 10

by psgels, posted in Amatsuki


I remember noting somewhere how an average episode of Real Drive feels like it’s much shorter than it actually is. The opposite is the case with Amatsuki. Seriously, I can hardly believe that this episode was just twenty minutes long. I could have sworn that this episode was much longer. I think this has to do with the fact that Amatsuki never gives its audience a time to catch a breath. When it’s done with one scene, it immediately thunders onto the next one without any signs of taking a break. And I think that that’s one of the reasons why this series turned out so awesome.

I must be crazy to follow such a series that spends so much time on its dialogues raw, but this episode was so worth it. The banter between Toki and Kuchiha is getting more hilarious with every episode, and the characters keep being a delight to watch, even though most of the dialogues get lost on me.

So, what I picked up:
– The guy that was introduced in the previous episode turns out to be someone who an provide more information about the four gods in this world (or however Bonten, the princess, Teiten and the other one are called).
– In the end, this guy and Tsuruuno go to one place, while Toki and Kuchiha go to another place that could possibly be invested with Ayakashi. I’m assuming that they too are after the fox demon
– Bonten is meanwhile trying to figure out what happened to Tsuyukusa, as it seems that he’s got interest in the fox demon as well. The guy we saw him with in the last episode could know something about his whereabouts.
– In the end, Heihachi doesn’t turn out to be dead, just heavy beaten up. This series is very sneaky: for three episodes, it’s been suggesting this guy’s death: in this episode too, Bonten draws some kind of life-spirit out of him, and we can only guess what’s going to happen next.

Still, with this episode, I know for sure: my top-3 for this season consists out of Kaiba, Himitsu and Amatsuki. All three have a unique sense of storytelling and presentation that make them absolutely worth watching. But still, I need to remind myself to watch this episode subbed when it comes out.

Macross Frontier – 10

by psgels, posted in Macross Frontier


Definitely the best episode of Macross Frontier yet! While from the outside, this looked like a series with a huge story, the huge focus of Macross Frontier does remain its cast of characters, and of course this needs a bit of time to warm up. When such a character-focused series starts, you’ll also never know whether the creators will handle the character-development well, or fail to develop the series properly. It’s always a hit or miss with these kinds of series, but it seems like Macross Frontier is heading towards the hit.
Most episodes so far have been either mostly serious or mostly silly, but this is I think the first time that an attempt is made at a combination of both. The result works out really well. I think I’ve accepted by now that realism isn’t the strongest point of focus for this series, so the way Ranka eventually became famous is actually really well done. She saw her chance to play in a movie with some big names on it and grabbed it, cheered on by Alto who ended up playing the male lead due to his fame as a certain princess.

I do want to note, though, that the animation for this series is becoming a bit disappointing, considering its budget. And I don’t mean that this series doesn’t look gorgeous: the art is really pretty, but I keep having trouble taking screenshots, simply because the characters’ faces keep ending up distorted. Especially Ranka and Alto are guilty of this. Having a huge budget is okay, but that does not mean that the drawings are allowed to get sloppy. That’s the difference between the huge budget of Macross Frontier and Seirei no Moribito: Seirei no Moribito focused on solidness, while Macross Frontier is more aiming at creating a spectacle.

xxxHolic – 34

by psgels, posted in xxxHolic


After the previous episode destroyed my suspense of disbelief, I just have to wonder why Watanuki never thought about contacting some kind of child welfare agency. The media were also portrayed as a bunch of idiots who blatantly use their own opinion. Thankfully though, this episode was much better than the previous one, and after the introduction it focused more on the relationship between Kohane and her mother than it was about “feel sorry for this little girl!!”

Overall, it was a nice conclusion, even though I’d have liked to see a bit more about how Kohane and her mother changed, but I guess that that’s left up to the viewer’s imagination. What especially caught my attention was how strong Kohane actually was, and how easily Watanuki seemed to think that he could just take care of Kohane for the rest of her childhood.

Still, this has been the weakest arc of the second season of xxxHolic, unfortunately. I still can’t quite figure out the point it was trying to make. It never really introduced new stuff, nor was it as thought-provoking or fun as the other episodes of this series. Let’s hope that Himawari’s arc won’t disappoint, after all the hype it’s gotten.

Edit: I’ve read now that manga-readers are angry at this arc, because the creators completely changed it. I must say that the parts that were changed were ironically not the ones that disappointed me in this story, and in a way, it makes sense to portray Kohane as a strong girl, who just needed the courage to stand up to her mother, instead of making her go to Yuuko and just ask for help.