Short Synopsis: Cosette and Jean arrive in Paris. There, Cosette recalls memories of her mother.
Good: SUCH a sweet song.
Bad: The episode was a tad slow at times, when compared to the previous ones.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
This episode spends again most of its time building up. Paris is reached, and Jean moves into a house, somewhere in the suburbs. Cosette now has her own room, and she’s surprised to see the city in which she spent the first three years of her life again. Obviously, she’d only remember the happy times, and she didn’t care much about the poverty in the city.
This episode was one of the quieter episodes of the series, but that song still made it well worth watching. I suddenly realize why Cosette started singing when she found out that her mother died, as it’s the same song she used to sing when Cosette was still small. I was surprised that she just yelled at Jean when she tried to find the same tree where her mother used to measure her size with.
Javell, meanwhile, went to the commander of the police in Paris, who offered his help in catching Jean, so that Javell could return to Montreul-sur-Mer. I suspect that the landowner who went to spy on Jean’s stuff also is going to have a role in this. If I had to guess, then she’ll report this to the police and Jean’s and Cosette’s hiding place will be discovered.
It’ll also be interesting to see when Jean’s money will run out. No doubt it is a lot, but it’s not an endless amount. I wonder what kind of job he’ll find.]]>
Author: psgels
Bokura no – 03
Short Synopsis: This episode features the children returning to their home, and attend Takashi’s funeral.
Good: Only now, Takashi’s death really sinks in.
Bad: I couldn’t understand the people who talked about his autopsy.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Remember a random anime in which lots of buildings get destroyed? Chances are that during the aftermath, you won’t see anything that hinted about this. This definitely is different in Bokurano, as we still see the damages that Zearth caused. I’ll call it Zearth for now, as I have no idea whether Jiaasu really is a Japanese word, or a horrible katakanification of the word Zearth.
This is probably the first time for an anime to actually kill of its main character, especially so early in the show. Takashi does leave his traces, as the children are now beginning to realize that this game can really be able to kill them. In the current episode, we also get to meet the parents and the homes of the now fourteen children.
Masaru’s father is what you’d expect of him: cold and uncaring. With a father like that, I can imagine how he picked up that personality trait. I wonder what happened to his mother, as his father picking him up that his mother wasn’t able to (otherwise he wouldn’t have taken the initiative). He’s going to be the next one to pilot Zearth, which makes me really anticipate the next episode, as it’ll probably cause more and more conflicts.
Moji’s are shown only briefly, they seem to work at some kind of restaurant. I wonder what will happen once he gets to be the pilot. Takashi wanted to pilot Zearth because it’s new to him, and Masaru will probably not care about life or death at this point, but what will happen when someone who doesn’t actually want to pilot gets to pilot it?
Isao’s mother likes to scold him, but that’s only natural, as I can imagine him getting in more sorts of trouble. He doesn’t have that big of a role, but right after Zearth has disappeared, he did release his frustrations by yelling at everyone. I don’t think he’ll really be an antagonist. He’s just a bit too playful and likes to speak his mind.
Daiichi didn’t have a big role this time. We do see a bit of his father, but that’s everything. So far, he doesn’t seem to have any problems with his parents, but we’ve yet to see where he lives.
Kanji took things surprisingly well. Even after Takashi died, he still was able to still lie to the police without a worry on his face. He seems to live in the same building as Jun and Kana, and this episode showed that he’s got a “don’t worry too much”-personality. I wonder how long that lasts.
Jun doesn’t seem to have any parents, they’re either dead or they’re away for a long while. I’m not sure which of the two it is, but if I had to guess, then it’s the second. He spends the episode thinking about Takashi. He and Kana live in a really strange apartment, by the way. Even the beds are piled up strangely.
Yosuki also doesn’t have a big role. The only time we see a bit of him individually is during the interrogations, where he has trouble speaking, and when his mother comes to pick him up, from which the only new thing we get to see is his way too large backpack.
Mako gets a bit more screentime than last episode, but it still isn’t much. It appears that she’s more of a shy girl, like Yosuki perhaps. But unlike Yosuki, she doesn’t try to be more talkative.
Aiko has it the most difficult in this episode. She clearly is the most shocked by Takashi’s death, and she shows it when she starts crying, and avoiding her favourite chair when she gets home. I really wonder how her character will evolve, as she may be the first one to freak out, this also may cause her to be the first one to calm down again.
Chizuru Honda actually turns out a little sadistic. She also doesn’t seem to care too much about Takashi’s death, and talks a bit freaky. When her mother tries to comfort her, she just pushes her away.
I’m quite surprised that Takami actually told the police and her parents about Zearth. Obviously, nobody believed her, but this does show that she likes to be the goodie two-shoe. I wonder what will happen once the others find out that she tried to give away their secrets.
Maki’s father is just as energetic as she is. She had a small role in this episode, though. Not much news apart from this was given about her.
I’m still wondering about Yoko. Yet again did she have nearly no screentime for this episode. She only got one line for the entire episode. The only thing I figured out was that she likes to take care of Kana.
Speaking of Kana, I really like her, with a brother like that. She hardly ever talks, so it’s very hard to understand how she actually sees her brother. Does she hate him? Does she care for him? Does she find him annoying? Is it also me, or has she never spoken during this entire anime?
Anyway, this episode was really nice. The action-junkies will probably not find it that exciting, but the different characters were very interesting to see. :)]]>
Deltora Quest – 09
Short Synopsis: It’s now clear why the shopkeeper warned Lief not to take that road, it leads to the city of a very strange and strict religious civilization.
Good: If you’re looking for a fantasy-adventure anime: go for Deltora Quest.
Bad: Rather bad animation this time, but that can also be because of sloppy encoding or fansubbers.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
It’s interesting. The new season brought us a lot of goodness, but none have been able to beat Deltora Quest on the fantasy-adventure part so far. I may have said this before, but I love how much thought has been put behind the different cases of the anime. This time, after having fallen off their “horses”, Lief, Barda and Jasmine are taken in by the Yurunai, who throw in a number of Kino no Tabi-vibes. They’re the perfect example of people clinging way too much to their religion. They believe everything should be clean, they abhor animals (bad news for Jasmine), and they keep repeating the same rituals over and over again. Especially the first part of the episode moves very slow, as they keep repeating “clean yurunai” over and over again.
This has been a regular pattern for Deltora quest. The first half of he case shows how the people behave, without showing any kind of bias, except from the different characters. That’s another thing I like about this anime. Even though you know who are going to be the good guys and the bad guys, the director doesn’t choose sides, unlike other anime, in which you can see a bad guy with an evil grin when nobody’s looking. Now that I mention it, I’ve always found such a plot event a bit lazy. It’s better than to give no sign of this at all, but when you see a character with such an evil smile, most often than not it’s included because it has to be included, and not because it fits in the storyline. Deltora Quest does a perfectly good job of merging these events with the storyline, so that it doesn’t need to send off lazy hints.
And another thing: chocolate. I was surprised to find out that the creators even added such a detail to this storyline. I never thought about it, but it does make sense that Lief has never had chocolate before in his life. Barda recognized it, because he once was in the palace, where it would have been perfectly possible to get the chance to eat some. It’s details like these that make this anime even better.]]>
Toward the Terra – 03
Short Synopsis: Jomie returns to his house, only to find that it’s been emptied. He can’t return to his former home.
Good: It’s been a long time since I saw an anime play with its characters’ mind like this.
Bad: The question, of course, remains: will this anime give a reason why Jomie is a Myu?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
In situations where a main character has to join a certain group, or fight in a specific way out of the blue, there are roughly two ways an anime can go: accept, or decline at first, get second thoughts and accept later. The first can either be done well (Bokura no), or bad (insert shounen title X). The second also doesn’t have many options, as there wouldn’t be much of an anime if the main character doesn’t even get involved in the anime.
Mai in Mai Hime, for example, first is very reluctant, but then she realizes she has to protect her brother so she fights. Mai in Ghost Hunt complains because she’s been rather forced in helping Naru, but she stays because she’s attracted to Naru. These reasons all look like each other, and Toward the Terra also had to deal with it, and I have to say that it could have gone a lot worse.
One thing I dislike about usual anime is how it displays Japanese as the good guys. Overall, most Japanese are extremely xenophobic, and in some anime it shows. Code Geass, Gigantic Formula are the best examples of this, and let’s not forget the countless number of anime situated in some kind of Japanese school. That’s why I love the more international anime (although some samurai stories are also appreciated), and the kind of anime who try to break the stereotypes around xenophobia, as Toward the Terra demonstrated in this episode.
At first sight, you can consider Jomie an arrogant brat, but on the other hand, what would you do if people tell you over and over that the Myo are bad, and that there’s nothing good about them. Especially when these very Myu ruin the entire future you had planned for yourself, obviously you’d be mad, and not open to suggestions.
This episode really wanted to go into the mind of Jomie. I only noticed this now, but this episode has probably the first time I’ve seen mind games in anime since Ergo Proxy. I quite liked this, to be honest. And if we already get to see scenes like these in the third episode, I really wonder what the rest of this anime will be about.
Well, for starters, by looking at the OP, there’s a lot that still has to happen. Jomie’s friends don’t have a detailed character-design for no reason, as it seems that they’ll play some kind of role in the rest of this anime as well. If I had to guess, then they do end up growing up, and get enlisted for the military. There’s also another guy who appears in the OP that we haven’t seen yet, I suspect that he’ll be the major antagonist.
Two final things I liked about this episode: Leo and the music. Even though Jomie said horrible things at him, he still supports the guy. And holy god… he’d better not have died at only episode three!]]>
Kaze no Shoujo Emily – 03
Short Synopsis: And the foursome is complete when Teddy gets introduced at the end of the episode. Emily, meanwhile, gets herself in quite a number of fights.
Good: Characters that are far, far away from stereotypes.
Bad: Some annoying moments.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
One thing I like about Kaze no Shoujo is that Emily really is a unique character. She’s especially different from all shoujo heroines, in the fact that she just keeps involving herself in fights. She’s new at her school, she tries to make friends, but she just can’t keep quiet when the different students try to pull jokes on her. This started the previous episode with Ilse, and this episode shows that first impressions aren’t always right. It’s surprisingly realistic, as I can imagine that especially children have problems with judging people and are often naive.
Ilse turns out to be a very similar girl to Emily, in the fact that she just likes to get into fights, but while Emily doesn’t forget or forgive people, she just doesn’t care that much, and actually acts nice just half an hour later. Obviously, the two of them become friends quickly. ^^;
I suspect that the next episode will be the introduction of Teddy, so that the fifth episode can really set this anime off, and introduce the different stories and backgrounds of the four children. I’ll be waiting for that, as they’re definitely interesting. The past few episodes have already showed that the tension in this anime can become pretty dense, especially in the fight between Emily and Ilse, and when Emily found out that her classmates have been deceiving her. There is no way for the later episodes to just stop getting interesting. :)]]>
Seirei no Moribito – 03
Short Synopsis: The first big battle in the series ends with both sides getting hurt. A lot.
Good: Excellent fight, even better aftermath.
Bad: Nope. No bad points.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
This episode convinced me. Seirei no Moribito is going to be a real treat. That fight was just excellent, both in its tension and choreography. I loved how Barsa actually managed to take on four elite fighters, if it only weren’t for her spear, breaking down, causing a nasty wound to her, and forcing her to retreat in a nearby forest. Chaggumu also showed that he isn’t an annoying brat at all. Thank goodness for that. I found myself really liking him this episode.
Another thing I loved: the fact that these guards have actual personalities, and aren’t just clones of each other, like you see in so many other anime. My favourite is the guy who offered to take Chaggumu, after he had been captured, to a certain place (not sure exactly what place that was, though), as it seems that the prince, when he was still young, made a huge impression to this guy.
But things really got interesting when Barsa appeared again. We never really see her after she ran into the forest, but we just know that she isn’t going to keep still. It seems that she first temporarily mended her wounds, to go after Chaggumu afterwards. The only problem: the point of her spear was gone, and the wound was too deep to just magically fix itself. When Chaggumu wakes up, she sends him to a number of acquaintances of her. If I’m not mistaken, it’s the place she grew up in, as they’re all using the same kind of spear that she uses. I really like how Chaggumu isn’t your average spoiled brat.
In the end, help arrived just after Barsa passed out. Obviously, she’ll live, otherwise it wouldn’t be much of an anime, but I do find myself really caring about the two main characters of Seirei no Moribito, and that already at the third episode. I just wonder… why did these two guys end up fighting each other right next to an immobilized Barsa? And what was with that wolf? Something tells me that that’s not an ordinary wolf…]]>
Death Note – 27
Short Synopsis: The final part of Death Note will feature Light vs Near vs Melo. N and M seem to hate each other.
Good: Thankfully, Light isn’t as annoying as I feared.
Bad: N and M, however, are.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
I can understand why people felt that N and M didn’t live up to L. The two of them just aren’t introduced properly. Not only that, but their quirks are even more annoying. N likes to play puzzles with inhumane precision, while M is obsessed with chocolate. What happened to the subtlety in which L added a dozen lumps of sugar in his tea?
Still, I do admit that things will get interesting once Light starts thinking. I really feared that he’d be way too obsessed with creating his perfect world, but somehow, being part of the investigation-team kept his head on earth. Still, I do fear that his cognitive abilities have declining, since he’s had it rather easy for the past three years.
Matsuda also was a surprise, as it seems that he’s turned into a much more important character now. That’s a definite improvement, as this won’t allow him to goof off too much. Misa, however, was horrible. In this episode, her only purpose was fanservice. Light’s father also remained interesting, due to the fact that he now has a more of a leader-like role, now that he doesn’t have to listen to L anymore. It’s also great to see Aizawa back.
Also, one final complaint: why the heck did N and M choose the exact same time to get into action?]]>
Ooedo Rocket – 03
Short Synopsis: Sora wants to get sent to the moon. Why? Well, she’s an alien!
Good: I never expected a complex story behind this one. Never.
Bad: That did take a bit of time to get used to.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
I remember saying that there was nothing really worth blogging about Ooedo Rocket. Boy, was I wrong. This episode really was good enough for me to blog it, as it featured a lot of surprises. The biggest being the fact that my first impressions about this were totally wrong.
First, let me say the following about Ooedo Rocket, for those who didn’t want to see it:
– Ooedo Rocket is not a kiddie-show.
– Ooedo Rocket is not a pure senseless comedy.
– Ooedo Rocket actually presents a complex story with a number of round characters, with a lot of comedy inserted into this storyline.
To give a small indication, in the current episode, 10% of the scenes were comedic, and 90% of the scenes were serious, and actually developed the storyline with quite an interesting pacing. The comedy also wasn’t random at all, but all storyline-related.
Also, regarding the main character and his annoyingness:
– The only annoying part about him is his character-design.
– He never got featured much in this episode anyway.
It’s surprising, but this episode was all about Ginjiro. But first, the episode reveals the identity of that white monster we’ve been seeing for the past two episodes, in quite an amusing way. It’s actually Sora! At the beginning of the episode, she asks if he didn’t get hurt when the white monster touched him. He answers no, but later he wonders how she knew that that happened in the first place. That does make you wonder, doesn’t it? ^^;
Anyway, now onto the serious stuff, these warriors we’ve been seeing are actually under the employment of the current magistrate: Torii-sama (Ayakashi Ayashi, anyone? ^^). He’s found a strange device, which I assume is some kind of space-ship Sora used to get to earth. This speculation may be totally wrong, though, as I didn’t get most of the dialogue. Also, where did the black monsters come from?
Ginjiro seems to be an expert lock-picker, and the episode suggests that he can use some kind of supernatural technique to strip the clothing off of people. Anyway, if I had to guess, then I’d say that Torii needs these skills on the UFO, as he can’t get it opened. The second half of this episode reveals the guy’s past, which was actually quite interesting and surprisingly detailed. He used to be a samurai, along with the woman that we sometimes see with him. This does explain why we see the two of them together so often. They used to work for a guy. I first believed that this was the young version of Torii, until he blew himself up. I’m not sure what exactly was up with that…
You know what? I sense something amazing inside this anime, so I’m going to do what I’m good at: promoting underdogs! It’s a shame that I’ve been the only one to blog about it, as this series definitely deserves more love. It’s a perfect example of totally wrong first impressions!]]>
Top 10 Anime
10: Fantastic Children
Fantastic children probably has one of the best plot twists ever, but that’s not the only great part of this anime. Its narrative style, great characters and deep plot made this an anime I won’t forget anytime soon.
9: Shion no Ou
At first, I didn’t have that much hope for a series that was about a game I knew nothing of (Shougi), but Shion no Ou came and totally proved me wrong. With an amazing cast of characters and a terrific plot to back them up, Shion no Ou quickly dominated all the other shows in the season it aired in for me with its quality
8: Revolutionary Girl Utena
Ah, Utena. You’re probably one of the strangest, most eccentric anime out there, but also one of the best. Its first half never failed to entertain me, while especially the final episodes starting from episode 30 were insanely good. For the first and probably only time, recycled scenes actually helped to improve an anime, giving it a ritualistic feeling, which turned out perfectly.
7: The Third: Aoi Hitomi no Shoujo
I consider The Third as one of the best action-series, due to its incredibly versatile character of Honoka. She really is one of my favourite characters so far, and this show never failed to entertain me. It’s also one of the few shows with an actually great ending, which is a very rare thing in anime.
6: Bokura no
It may have turned down a lot of fans from the manga, but nonetheless I personally adored Bokura no. When it started, it got to work with one of the most promising premises I’ve seen, and it has definitely lived up to these expectations. The huge cast of characters has proven to be amazing as they move through the tragedy-filled story, without ever degrading into a pointless emo-fest.
5: .Hack//Sign
.Hack//Sign has a considerable sentimental value for me, as it was the first anime I managed to see from fansubs, and I still consider it as one of the best anime ever. Okay, it’s slow, but because it was so slow, it made sure to take its time to develop its characters, only to feature a brilliant second half, full of thought-provoking character-development. It really utilized some of the best aspects of MMORPGs.
4: Simoun
Ah, Simoun. This series has been an awesome character-study, featuring some of the saddest but also grandest scenes I’ve seen. Everything seemed to fit. It’s a true gem that doesn’t deserve its negligence.
3: Visions of Escaflowne
Up till episode twelve, I just thought this as a normal series. But then with the arrival of episode thirteen, Visions of Escaflowne stole my heart, with one of the most intense scenes I had ever seen. To make things even better, starting from that point, the quality of this anime never even once declined, making Escaflowne a truly memorable story.
2: Noein
At the end of the first episode, I knew that this series was going to be something special, but I never knew that it would turn out this awesome. Noein has been an amazing ride, featuring some of the best character-developments ever.
1: Mahou Shoujotai
I don’t think it comes as a surprise to see this one at the #1. Everyone has probably one series which stands miles above the others. If you haven’t yet seen such a series: keep searching, as it’s out there somewhere. For me, Mahou Shoujotai captivated me like no other, heck, it’s one of the reasons I started blogging in the first place. It’s got one of the best stories and settings I’ve ever seen, the themes are awesome, and it seems like every single episode featured a new plot twist. Add some thought-provoking themes, excellent storytelling, and I’m hooked.
I’ll continue updating this list as I finish anime who are good enough to take up a spot. Obviously, anime which I haven’t seen completely are left out of it, as you’ll never know when they might turn bad or disappointing.
Now that that’s said, I’d love to everyone else’s favourite series. Don’t be afraid to drop a comment. 🙂
(Last Updated on 3-5-2008)]]>
Claymore – 03
Short Synopsis: This episode shows a mission in which Claire gets bothered by a couple of guys who don’t know who they’re dealing with.
Good: Claire’s acting was quite interesting.
Bad: The episode was nothing really special, though.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
After the previous episode, Claire gets a normal mission: killing a youma who’s been haunting a holy city. As Claymore aren’t allowed in that city, she decides to go undercover. For that, she needs to change her eye-colour, which is done with a special medicine, which suppresses her youma-powers, including the ability to sense other youma. I was surprised to see her acting-abilities. We often see a cheerful girl turn serious, but you don’t often see a serious girl turn cheerful (the only other example I can think of was Sheila from Mahou Shoujotai. Obviously, she had a bigger impact than Claire did ^^;).
Even though this episode did introduce a few new things, it wasn’t as good as the previous two episodes. Ah well, this series needs to build up as well. I read somewhere that the first volume of the manga only contains missions like these, while things really kick off with the second volume. I’m willing to wait for that.
The episode also ended in a cliff-hanger. The medicine suppressed Claire’s youma-powers, she doesn’t have her claymore with her, the youma is exceptionally strong and furthermore Claire is getting bothered by a bunch of idiots who think they can slay youma. Overall, it’s nice, but a tad predictable as well.]]>