I’m still surprised at how short the different arcs have become now. There are only three or four episodes for each one. Ah well, not that I’m complaining. It’s refreshing when compared to the thickly atmosphered first half of the second season, where the pacing was really slow. This episode marks the end of what I’d call the Seiga-arc, because it indeed turns out that he was using Shuurei all along.
The episode was as good as usual, and I really enjoyed it, but it also was one of these episodes with a lot of complicated talking, which led to me, not understanding 50% of it. If only the subs for this series weren’t coming out so slow…
Anyway, from what I understood, Tantan went to his mother, and Shuurei now has a job with Ki Kouki, and most of the other low-ranked officials that were with her found a position with Reishin, it seems. Kouki was quite a bastard, by the way. He called Shuurei all kinds of nasty stuff before offering her a job. The other things that went on at Tantan’s mother’s home were beyond me, though. I’m still not sure what Seiga was after, and what Tantan’s role was in it.
The end of the episode also shows some very interesting developments with Ryuuki, as small Riou appears right in front of him in the throne room. We also learn the identity of the guy who was behind the counterfeiting and the salt: it’s the noble we saw a number of episodes back, and complained about how the nobles are getting more and more insignificant.]]>
Author: psgels
Shugo Chara – 06
Last episode featured a character related to Kuukai, this week it’s Yaya’s turn. This time, however, the character in question is much more talented to Yaya. The episode was enjoyable, and her case was built up well. But seriously, someone do something about the extreme predictability of this series. The script itself is nicely written, but whenever time gets spent on the storyline, this series provides nothing original. Random kid gets down-hearted, meets the teacher, hatches a batsu-chara, with Amu conveniently being in the neighbourhood, the character in question then utters how everything is impossible, only for Amu to shout “NO, you’re wrong!” and beam the batsu-chara back into its egg and the character has magically learned from his or her mistakes and has stopped being evil and down-hearted.
I have no idea how this could have happened. The director did some episodes of Noein and Boogiepop Phantom for god’s sake, two series which didn’t suffer from this problem at all. If I had to guess, then he’s being held back by the original premise of the manga and the guy behind the series composition. Even though the latter may have been behind the fantastic Kaze no Shoujo Emily, the other series he’s worked on are rather mediocre and often even notorious (Koi Suru Tenchi Angelique, Nanatsuiro Drops (which also sucked at its storyline attempts) and Ie Naki Ko Remi (the final old World Masterpiece Theatre Series after which this went down for ten years)). It’s a shame, the story has so much potential, but I feel like there’s too much holding this potential back.
Thankfully, the script was fun to watch. The story about ballet was nicely done, even though the animators couldn’t take it at times. ^^; I liked the focus on Yaya, and how she turned into more than a cheerful crybaby. I’m just a bit annoyed at how her chara-change turned her into a crybaby who can’t do anything. The “weapon” she threw had no affect on the Batsu-chara, so that Amu would be the only one to take her out.]]>
Ghost Hound – 04
I think that this episode marks the end of the introduction for this series, and next episode should really start this series off. I’m also glad to see that Ghost Hound has been getting better and better with every episode, and I loved the things that happened in the current one. The horror-elements really work.
The one who surprised me the most was Masayuki. Due to the phobia-exposure, all three of the main characters have an out-of-body experience, and you could see how Oogami and Tarou were used to it, while the experience was entirely new for Masayuki, and this showed. Once he loses his control over the situation, he freaks out and doesn’t know what to do, but follow the others. His personality seemed to have developed in quite an unstable way, though this could also be because he suffered from his trauma only a few months before, instead o Oogami and Tarou, who’ve had their horrible experiences since childhood, and have learned to live with their fears a bit.
There were a few moments in the animation where the animators took a bit more than they could chew. The breathing-scenes may have looked god on paper, they looked kind-of fake to me. The rest of the animation for this episode was nice and crisp, though, but perhaps the CG was a bit intrusive here and there.
I also wonder why Masayuki was so scared to get his hair cut off, at the end of the episode as a cleansing ritual. He could be just scared of all the things that happened to him, or is there something to his background that has yet to be revealed? I loved Miyako at that moment, though, when she scolded the guy. Her role can become quite interesting for the future episodes. She also reminds me of Jigoku Shoujo: not Enma Ai, but Tsugumi. The only difference between the two of them would be that she’s way more serious and less playful. Apart from that, though: she lacks a mother, has out-of-body-experiences and knows what happens at locations, miles away from hers, while she does, she freaks out and gets comforted by her father, and the two do have similar character-designs as well.]]>
My Neighbours the Yamadas Review – 73/100
This may be me, who hasn’t looked in the right places, but one thing I’ve noticed after checking out various anime movies is that there are nearly no good comedies among them. Most of them are dramas or thrillers, but I’ve yet to see a truly funny movie, despite how the movie-format seems perfect for this, as there’s less chance that the creators will run out of jokes to use when compared to tv-series.
My Neighbours The Yamadas is probably one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in anime, but still the comedic value is nowhere near that of series like Gintama, Excel Saga and Pani Poni Dash, to just name a few examples. Basically, it follows the everyday life of the Yamada-family, portrayed in a quirky way. Isao Takahata is the director, and indeed there’s lots of realism in this movie, and just like Only Yesterday, you’ll be able to find lots of scenes to identify to.
Unfortunately, this movie may have the good elements of a Takahata-movie, it also has the bad ones. Yet again, it goes on for too long, and yet again, I’ve seen no reason to emotionally connect with the characters. For some reason, I just couldn’t get myself to care about the characters. Those who saw Only Yesterday might recall ten minutes, being devoted to a character eating a pineapple; My Neighbours the Yamada’s does this with a banana. It’s realistic, I know; but I just can’t call it exciting.
One thing that also immediately falls to your attention when you look at the screenshots is the unusual art style. It might be a bit awkward at first, but it does work well enough. The animation is better than you’d think, and what you’d expect from a movie. There are also a few Miyazaki-influences here and there, where the surrealistic undertones start to take over and the characters get carried away in their imagination. The music isn’t anything special, though. It’s just simple, and what you can hear on an average tv-series as well.
I know I’ve been encouraging realism a lot in my latest reviews, but realism alone doesn’t make a good movie. Seirei no Moribito understood this, and it created an excellent atmosphere that sparkled with realism and yet had more than enough tension to make you care about the characters. Random antics of a family are fun and al, but the lack of a point becomes more obtrusive as I think about it. Studio Ghibli may have created a lot of memorable gems, for me, this isn’t one of them. If you want to see the antics of ordinary families, a better choice would be to check out Rumiko Takahashi’s Rumic Theatre.]]>
Anime 2 Manga's Blog Master of 2007 Award
I can still hardly believe it, but it seems that Star Crossed has finally won itself an award. The people from Anime 2 Manga have turned one year old today, and with that they gave out an award for the “Blogging Master of 2007”. I must say, congratulations on turning one year old, and thanks for the award. 🙂 I also love the banner, by the way, and how it consists out of some of the screenshots I made in the past. Some of them are actually quite old, and I’m surprised that Darren (who I assume photoshopped it) managed to dig it up. I especially like how the teddy-bear from Master of Epic was included. ^_^]]>
Suteki Tantei Labyrinth – 06
The stories for the different episodes haven’t impressed me so far. They’re a bit one-sided and uninspired, and series like El Cazador and Night Head Genesis were much better at them. Thankfully, the detective-aspect and the main story of this series did turn out worthwhile so far. I like how Mayuki ad the others figured out what happened inside the train, and the cause of the disappearance of Shichiro.
It seems that Byakko used her hacking-skills to switch the final cabins of the train, where Shichiro happened to be in. While the story of the businessmen who want to stop the guy from winning his case in court is rather standard and unimaginative, I like how much detail has been put into Byakko’s plans. We also get some more information about the main storyline. It seems that the two women we saw in the first episode are nothing more than Mayuki’s two maids. Mayuki also finally confirmed that he’s not a normal boy, when he lighted up and all.
But please… that final scene of the episode was just too annoying. Creators, please develop this a bit more. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand 20 more episodes of both Minori and Yaya feeding cakes to an embarrassed Mayuki. Okay, I know he’s cute, but you don’t have to rub it in. I’ve also been wondering… wasn’t Shichiro accompanied by two other guys? What happened to them? Surely they wouldn’t abandon the guy for no reason at all?]]>
Gundam 00 – 05
Wow… talk about a difference with the previous episodes. While the first four episodes of Gundam were about politics and clearly motivated purposes, this episode had one person going berserk and another one went off on his own. I guess the major characters in this series remain teenagers after all, which is in a way a pity. Especially the berserking young girl came from nowhere.
Another thing that was really bad about this episode was how Setsuna made a hole in the clouds, just by swinging the arms of his Gundam a bit. And here I thought that the creators put a lot of effort in creating their setting and physics. Blowing a hole in the clouds is just getting a tad too ridiculous. What I also didn’t like was the immense amount of time that was spent on the dull couple of Saji and Louise. WE DON’T NEED YET ANOTHER DATING-SIM THIS SEASON.
So, regarding the good parts… I guess that for this episode, it was Allelujah: the one who went out on his own with his Gundam, just because he wanted to protect a block of the orbital station that was blasted off. Not very professional, is it? Still, I like how the creators realize this as well, by the comments from whatshisname after the operation was finished.]]>
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 44
Okay, so Higurashi is still in checklist-mode, but it really has been getting better and better with every single episode. What I especially loved of this episode was how well-scripted the dialogue was. It was elaborate, detailed and yet meaningful, unlike you tend to see in other series, that basically sell off a lot of hot air when the characters start monologueing. Also, it seems like the Matsuribayashi will finally get started off for real in the next episode. Yay!
And it was of course great to see more and more members of the old cast back into focus, and see Takano take more of a background-role. It was nice to see how the creators also used this opportunity to show some more TIPS, back from the first season, like how Rena used to be called Reina, and Keiichi’s father, meeting Rika and Hanyuu. I still would have liked to see Keiichi’s shooting-incident, though.
Also, we finally see confirmed what happened to Satoshi. He killed his aunt, and then went berserk right in front of Irie. He was brought to the clinic, where he died and his body got taken care of by the Yamainu. Should have seen this one coming. What was cute was how he went berserk, only after buying the present for Satoko. It seems that Satoko never got the present, though.
The end of the episode also features a surprising conversation between Mion and her grandmother. I’m not sure whether this all happened in every arc, or that this is because the characters unconsciously get closer to each other with every successive arc, but it was an interesting twist, although it does work a bit anticlimactic for the fifth arc.]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 44
Oh, that was amazing. This episode concludes the fourth arc of the series. Gavroche unfortunately lives, but to make up for it, we get treated to an outstanding episode. Obviously, spoilers are going to follow.
The definite highlight was the face-down between Jean and Javert. Seriously, that’s what I call an antagonist! Takano from Higurashi just bleaks when compared to Javert and the excellent development the guy’s been having through the series. The way he convinced himself how Jean was pure evil, and how humans can’t change was magnificent, and it was awesome to see how Jean basically let the guy go, so was the entirely different side Javert showed of himself in the process.
And boy, I never expected ALL of Les Amis to friggin’ DIE at the end of the episode! The insert song may have been a tad wrong, but still… whoa. I also loved the conversation between Jean and Enjorlas (I gave up trying to spell his name correctly), and how they think about the future generation. While the current revolution failed, it’ll give inspiration for the future, where the next generation can pick up where Les Amis left and truly change the country. It was also an excellent scene where the drinking-guy (forgot his name! I don’t care!), after having been absent for so long, symbolically saved Enjorlas, before both of them got killed by the incoming policemen.
Jean and Marius are probably the only survivors, as they manage to escape through the sewers. The final arc is going to be a short one (only eight episodes!), but something tells me that the creators have saved a few ace for last: the Thenardiers! They’ve been quiet for the past climax, because none of them but Eponine had anything to do with the revolution, but the fact remains that Thenardier still holds a huge grudge against Jean. He’s going to do something to him… but what…?]]>
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 43
Hah! Finally Takano turns into more than that uberevil spawn of Satan that we’ve been seeing for the past few episodes. It really began to get quite tiring to keep seeing her in take-over-the-world-mode with her evil laugh and all. It’s good to see that she did have problems of her own, once Koizumi, the sponsor for her project dies, turning her project into a scapegoat for those who want to succeed him. It’s a bit of a pity that they had to introduce yet another underdeveloped villain for this, but for now I’m happy enough about Takano.
Also, the scenes that didn’t involve Takano were excellent as well. While I’d still wish that the creators would hurry up and start with the real meat of the Matsuribayashi (I miss Mion and Rena!), I do admit that both Satoko, Irie and Rika received some excellent development. I’m beginning to understand Satoshi a bit more. Especially the younger Satoko becomes a horrible person when she doesn’t like someone, probably helped by the disease. I think that she unconsciously realized this at one point, which is why her older version didn’t retaliate to her uncle. She really blames herself for it, and she’s probably afraid to lose Satoshi again if she creates a fuzz once again.
Rika, meanwhile held a quite touching speech in Oyashiro-mode in front of Irie, how she believed that being examined by Irie would save Satoko’s life. We also finally learn why her parents died: their patience with Takano ran out, so she killed them, blaming it on Oyashiro-sama. Irie, meanwhile also received some depth once he found out that Satoko killed her own parents, and asked Takano to make the Yamainu cover up for it. That’s why the guy likes Satoko so much in the later timelines.
Next episode, we’ll probably find out what happened to Satoshi. Still, it remains annoying how the creators are basically going through a checklist in order to fill up the remaining holes in the story. It seems that the original game did the same, but in this way, the viewer does get distanced from the series a bit.]]>