Soukou no Strain is a science-fiction mecha series. There are two types of mechas in this story. Gambits and Strains. Strains are superior to Gambits in every single way, but suitable pilots are rather rare, since in order to pilot a Strain, you need to possess a unique device called a MIMIC. This has been linked with you since your birth. If the MIMIC breaks, you’ll lose the ability to fly a Strain. The story centres around one of these Strain-pilots: Sara Werec, sister of the famous talent, Ralph Werec.
Soukou no Strain has been a series with its ups and downs, but it definitely turned out as one of the better ones of this kind. The fact, however, does remain that the first episodes introduce a rather significant amount of strange plot-points, or unexplainable events. Some events also are way too coincidental for their own sake, and you’d certainly want to avoid episode 7, which is basically one huge incoherent fanservice-fest.
Still, in comparison to countless mediocre anime, this one manages to rise above them. This is because at the moments when it has to, Soukou no Strain really delivers. It isn’t afraid to kill off a number of characters, and through the course of 13 episodes, it actually manages to develop Sara and her companions into very interesting and likable characters. Some of the dramatic scenes are amazing, and especially the final episodes lack any sort of incoherent storytelling that was plaguing the first number of episodes. Add a few very interesting plot twists along the way, and you’ve got yourselves a great anime.
In terms of OST, this anime definitely delivers. It comes accompanied by a few very strong stringed-instrument-tracks, perfect for the setting. I wish I could be as enthusiastic about the graphics, though. The CG looks nice, but the character designs are not far from horrible. One bright point, though: the final episode fixes this nasty bug, and it finishes the series with some great animation qualities. I just wish I could say the same about the other episodes.
Overall, I’m recommending this if you don’t mind the action. Okay, the show has its flaws, but something says to me that it doesn’t care about these, and that it would rather ignore them so that it has more time to focus on the really important things. After all, it had to stuff quite a large story in only 13 episodes, something which is never an easy task. Still, it succeeded, in my opinion. It’s a great series, I had my initial doubts, though these were removed on the way by some very strong episodes and plot twists.]]>
Author: psgels
Soukou no Strain – 13
Short Synopsis: And Soukou no Strain has finished, with the big battle between Sara and Ralph.
Good: Whoa, some actual good animation this time; Suddenly, the entire ED makes sense.
Bad: Like most endings, even though exciting, the ending was predictable.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
And I’ve finally finished this rather interesting series. I’m glad I watched it, as it had some really good points. But more on that at my actual review of the show. One thing that immediately stroke my eye for this episode was the huge animation quality. Or rather the huge sudden rise in animation quality. It seems that the animators went all out to give this series a great ending. I just wish this show did the same for the rest of the series, but it’s a great addition nonetheless. ^^;
Regarding the actual ending, it was surprisingly focused. Series can go three ways with their endings:
– The main characters and side-characters all finish their own story at the same time. This most often happens when the main characters have different goals than the side-characters. Usually, I tend to like this sort of ending more than the others as it has a degree of unpredictability that the next two don’t have. This usually means the most rushed of the three options.
– The main characters and side-characters all work together to accomplish their final goal. This usually makes for more of the cheesy endings, where everybody suddenly sees the light and does the exact same thing.
– The side-characters take a step back, so that the main characters can focus on their problem. This usually is the most predictable of the three options.
Soukou no Strain went with the third option. While it definitely was predictable, it could have been far worse. Sara is striked by Ralph during her fight at the beginning of the episode, which means that she has to be brought back to the space-ship in order to get her Strain fixed while Ralph floats into space due to another one of his heart attacks (or something that looks like it). Because of that, it allowed for one more quiet moment with Lotti. Surprisingly the argument between Sara and Lotti was completely over, and this scene was entirely used to create a moment of rest before Sara went to confront Ralph. Usually, before the final fight in a similar situation, we have characters going all emo. It’s nice seeing a twist like this. It prepared nicely for the scene that was to follow.
The final fighting scene must have been a great treat for the ones into action. It was pretty intense, though like mentioned before, it also was predictable. Still, I actually enjoyed the ending, mainly due to the atmosphere in the end, and one very clever idea by the creators. It seems that the ED, which I always took for granted actually showed the scene of Sara and Emily, walking on a beach, after having defeated Ralph and landed on earth. I was wondering why nobody showed up, but that explains everything. It’s a nice touch.
Finally, one final nice touch was Ralph’s necklace. It seems that he never actually took it off. (not sure if we saw this on previous episodes, though) I loved it when Sara finally acknowledges Ralph as her brother again. Sayonara Soukou no Strain. You’ve had your ups and downs, but I’m sad to see you go.]]>
Red Garden – 16
Short Synopsis: Randy is just barely alive, Claire yells at her father, Rose finds her father, Luke breaks up with Rachel, Hervé finally reveals the goals of the endless fighting, Lula finally does something for herself, Hervé nearly kills Kate, he finds out that the headmistress is the leader of his enemies and somebody actually dies.
Good: Finally Lula actually does something; the climax of the episode was grand; Claire’s fight with her father.
Bad: Why does Rachel keep quiet about her reason to be with Nick?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10
Finally this anime is getting steamed. The past two episodes have been amazingly good. We finally see some results of the building-up of the first season. It already starts out great when Claire has a fight with her father.
Red Garden is unique in the way it portrays two characters yelling at each other. It’s interesting, most anime go from a close-up of one character to a close-up of the other character, with usually an increase of tension. The character says something and the camera switches back to the first one. Red Garden, however, has people talking right through each other’s speeches. Because of this, there’s no room for a small break between two statements. Because it doesn’t focus on just one character yelling, the scene just doesn’t give room to relax a bit. It’s a great way to turn up the intensity of that scene. Especially when such a scene takes so long.
The middle of the episode was filled with a number of random scenes, dedicated to develop the characters a bit more. Kate’s sister gets on another date with Emilio, Claire didn’t regret the things she said about her father, Luke finally has had enough about Rachel, and his patience finally ran out, because she just doesn’t dare to tell what’s on her mind. That’s why he breaks up on her. Jessica becomes quite interesting when she actually starts to worry about Kate, based on the things she overheard Paula say. It’s interesting, I rather disliked her previously, but with this, she also shows actual signs of character development. Hervé meanwhile gives Kate a suspicious call. Anna’s condition is getting worse, while Rose finally managed to track down his father. It seems that he left his family because he got caught in some heavy debts. He didn’t want to trouble his family, so he left. He isn’t planning to return, as his troubles still aren’t over. But then he finds out that Rose’s mother has been hospitalized. It’ll be interesting to see what he does in the next episode. The police officer is getting closer to the bottom of the mystery when he actually gets a clear suspicion that the missing girls have been reincarnated from death. Hervé meanwhile calls Emilio to inform him that he’s going to see Kate. Lula, the headmistress and the others meanwhile hurry to Kate. It seems that they found out about his plan…
Phew. That’s another thing I like about Red Garden: so many things happen in one episode. And everyone is just different. Everyone has their own problems and twists.
The climax was the best thing of the entire episode. First of all, Hervé tells Kate the truth. Kate and the others have been fighting in order to recover one of the Cursed Tomes. Whichever side collects both of them, wins. If Hervé’s side wins, Kate and the others will die. If Lula’s side wins, Kate will lose her memories. The question remains whether he told the truth or not, but I’m suspecting that he actually did. At least, I’m hoping so. Things will turn out very interesting if that indeed is the truth. 🙂
But then things get even more interesting when Kate and the others take a step back, to show a fight between Emilio and Hervé and Lula and the rest of the school staff. In the end, this comes down to a fight between Lula and Hervé. He’s about to finish her off, though JC jumps before her, losing his life. And surprise: they’re actually siblings! And finally Lula shows a bit more of herself!
The next episode will obviously be an aftermath, but it’s interesting to wonder how this series will continue. I think that JC’s death marked the end of the first half of Red Garden, and that now the second half is about to begin.]]>
Otogi Juushi Akazukin – 32
Short Synopsis: My prayers have been heard: A Randagio-episode!!! Bremen-tachi also return.
Good: I can’t believe I cried during this episode! That was SO incredibly sad!
Bad: What can ever be bad about this episode?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 9/10
Seriously!
Oh my GOD. When I thought that episode 30 was awesome. This one is possibly even better! I really can’t believe I cried during this episode. Not just once, but for nearly a quarter of the episode! But this proofs that Randagio can be SO awesome when he gets serious. I never expected such a sad episode to come from a show like Otogi Juushi Akazukin.
Over the past few episodes we’ve come to know Randagio as the cute little idiot you just can’t stay angry about. Twice, he got accompanied by his fellow brothers, Esel, Cane and Alektor. He’s been mostly used as comic relief and small challenges. I think that the reason Cendrion hasn’t kicked him out yet is the fact that he does provide useful information at times, and he’s a nice person to order around. Still, with that, you don’t become the perfect employee, and right now, Randagion is in quite some trouble with Cendrion. It seems that Nightmarians are actually made, from special Mazoku who have enough dark energy. That’s why Randagio always came up with animal-like Nightmarians. They were just ordinary Mazoku, or talking animals to put it more bluntly, who have been converted. I’d like to meet the snake-men, though. ^^;
Anyway, because Randagio and his companions have been so adorable lately, this episode turned out so incredible. I just couldn’t help but care about them. Esel, Cane and Alektor finally realized in how much trouble Randagio has landed, and they decide to turn themselves into a Nightmarian. Because they don’t know how the flower who does the magic works, they all end up being turned into one Nightmarian. Randagio turned amazing when he learned that the only friends he probably ever had went to such lengths to help him out, without an even 100% chance of certainty.
The rest of the episode was SO sad. It definitely proved that quirky characters can be incredibly touching as well. This anime has built up perfectly for this episode. Obviously, the combination of Esel, Cane and Alektor wasn’t enough to turn them into Nightmarians, so they start having problems in the midst of fighting Akazukin and the others. Because of this, Randagio is about to lose a number of loved ones.
Seeing that this anime is aimed at children, you would expect a cure for them to be found, no? Well, that’s half of the story. Shirayuki indeed knows a spell, but it does blow away all of their memories. Because of this, they’ve got no reason anymore to remember Randagio or work for Cendrion. Seriously, this episode was awesome, awesome, and even more awesome. It’s a perfect example of an unpopular series which doesn’t deserve so little people talking about it.
Sayonara, Bremen-tachi. Things have been fun.]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 06
Short Synopsis: It’s Cosette’s birthday. The majority of the episode focuses on a present Fantine made for her.
Good: I love this show, and this episode only strengthened this opinion; omg @ Eponine.
Bad: Episode six, and still no real bad points, whoa. I am SO hoping that 52 episodes is going to be the right format for this story.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10
You could call this episode a Fantine-episode, as she played a role in most parts. During the first half, we see her get her secret exposed, which makes her lose her job. On top of that, she finds out that Cosette has become sick. At least, that’s one of Thenardier’s plans to suck even more money out of her. Thankfully, she manages to find another job at the shop of an old lady. This one actually doesn’t mind that she has a daughter. Later, we see her work on a birthday present for Cosette: an odour of some blue flowers Cosette used to really like (I forgot their names, sorry). She finishes and sends it to Cosette.
The second half of the episode focuses at this present, as you didn’t expect Thenardier to just give it to Cosette, did you? Instead, she finds it a nice present for Eponine. She should NOT have done that, even though the results of this turned out amazing. Eponine just couldn’t resist showing this present to Toron, who peeks inside and finds a note of “happy birthday, Cosette”, which obviously reveals that this isn’t Eponine’s, and it does suggest that she stole it from Cosette, while she didn’t know anything when she received it. With this, her hate for Cosette is only going to turn worse. That really was so sad.
Jean, meanwhile, gets a bit of development, and we see a bit more of his history. It seems that when he arrived in the town, he immediately gave himself a good reputation by saving two children from a burning house. I’m assuming that after this, he continued to do these kinds of things, until people started to find him suitable for the position of Major. Aran, meanwhile, has been noticing that he’s been feeling unwell at times, and tries to do something about this. I wonder how this’ll turn out.
It’s interesting. The spring-season has only just begun, and I’ve already fallen in love with two of its anime. That’s entirely different from the Fall-season, which featured a bunch of good series with a few flaws. Master of Epic and especially Les Miserables have caught my interest immediately. Especially Les Miserables has been consistently good so far, and it has chosen the perfect bland of drama and build-up.]]>
Hanoka Review – 74/100
Hanoka is a unique anime. It’s the first anime which has been entirely made out of vector-graphics in flash. The result is quite interesting. It’s also one of the shortest tv-series ever. It’s got 12 episodes with a length of 5 minutes. If you deduct 90 seconds for the OP, and 30 more seconds for a recap of the previous episode, then all this anime has is 3×12 = 36 minutes of airtime.
For the story, the creators must’ve been put in front of quite a challenge. Not only did they have to think of a story to fit inside those 36 minutes, it also had to comply with the episode length of 3 minutes, and it still had to give enough opportunities to show the capabilities of flash-graphics. For that, it chose a story about a war being fought, between humans and large machines, owned by strange creatures called the citizens of the stars. The story is extremely basic, but still the creators managed to add romance, betrayal, a bit of background, and a fairly consistent story.
The creators could have done so much worse with this. The story was nothing special, but because the episodes were so short and the creators threw in enough interesting plot elements due to a fast pacing, this anime never really felt boring or annoying. The only really bad point is the ending, where the creators suddenly introduce another villain for no possible reason, even though it already had the material to make a good ending. Instead of focusing on this, this anime preferred to focus on that final antagonist, who didn’t really add anything to the story.
The graphics in flash are a hit or miss. Because they’re made in flash, don’t expect the drawings to be of an extreme or realistic quality. Personally, I quite liked the style though. Animation in vector-graphics is quite different from the animation in normal anime, so it was really refreshing to look at it. Others, however, might get too bothered by the unusual look.
Overall, it’s been a cute, short show. I rather enjoyed watching, even though this is nothing really special. Still, I’m suspecting that by far the largest part of the anime-community will never touch this show. It’s been made in a style that you have to like. If you’re into experimental anime, then you could check this out. However, you won’t find much joy in this if all you can stomach is Kanon-styled graphics.]]>
Master of Epic – 06
Short Synopsis: The Waragetcha get their own Senshi-suits! Random sketches about the shopkeepers we all love! What the heck is up with the main character!?
Good: Whoa, an actual plotline; The first episode finally has been subbed.
Bad: Even though the first episode has been subbed, the number of people who noticed it is… not very big; What the heck is up with the main character!?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Two focuses for the episodes this time. The random sketches were all about player-started shops. You know, the ones you see in crowded places, where people try to sell the stuff they found while adventuring. You can make huge amounts of money this way, if you do it right. This episode, this becomes fatal for our green-haired male Elmony when it seems that he’s stuck so many gold coins in his pants that he’s become unable to move. ^^; Another guy uses this system to hit on a girl he noticed. A Pandemos, to be exact. While he was a bit annoying, I do admit that he was kindof cute when he tried to say something to her. 😛
The rest of the episode, with the exception of a very strange office lady who likes to turn into a dragon, was dedicated to Waragetcha. And believe it or not, this episode actually introduced a general plot line. Okay, I’m not sure what the creators were planning with this, but still. It’ll be interesting if this plot continues, and involves more and more characters along the way. Still, it also means that I’m going to have to pay attention again, otherwise I’ll miss some of the story parts.
Things start rather random again, when Warage Black seems to have found new uniforms for the Waragetcha. These transform them to some kind of strange Senshi-team. They spend most of their time then acting like a proper Senshi-team should behave: make lots of random poses at lots of random places. Then a giant robot appears in front of them, claiming to related to the producer or something. I didn’t quite catch that part. When it’s defeated, it returns to its base, and it appears that a male Pandemos has been piloting it (Bukotsu?). I’m not yet sure what this is all about, but who knows. It might become interesting.
And it may also have been great to see the main character on a date like this, but when will we actually get to see her in action? I mean, her pink version was someone else, wasn’t she? She’s also been in almost every episode, though all she did was act like a mere NPC. What are the creators planning to do with her? XD]]>
Ghost Hunt – 17
Short Synopsis: There are two possible options: let Matsuyama die, or send the curse back to the students who originally casted it, dividing its power.
Good: Mai was pretty touching.
Bad: Yet again, despite this arc being very good, it still doesn’t match up to the fifth episode.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6.5/10
This episode was all about Mai. Finding the solution the curse took a step back from what’s really important. The only way to save Matsuyama is to reflect the curse to the students who casted it. It may divide the power of the curse, their lives still are in danger. Mai didn’t agree with this, and she was determined to let the whole world know about it. She even labelled Naru-chan as a murderer, and she wouldn’t even acknowledge that Matsuyama, another human being, would die if the curse wasn’t reverted. The episode ends with a romance-element. It seems that Naru-chan and Mai are getting closer and closer.
Still, I’m getting more and more annoyed with this series. Like mentioned above, I’ve been waiting for something to equal the fifth episode. But so far, the best thing that happened was the ending of episode 13. That doesn’t mean that the previous arcs have been bad, it’s just that they all missed something. The question is: what? Could it be the fact that a high school is the wrong place for a setting for this? While it’s true that I dislike anime which spend too much time inside a high-school, I don’t think that’s all.
Come to think of it, I’m starting to believe that Mai’s the reason to blame. She was very interesting in the second arc. She did things herself, she took initiatives, she wasn’t scared to voice her opinion, and all in all, she acted really professional. But what did we get in the latest arcs? In arc 3, she kept whining and whining about how she feels that Kasai isn’t the real culprit. Apart from that, she walks around the school a bit, and that’s ALL she does. Oh, and she faints once, to get saved by Naru. To make matters worse, what did she really do in the sixth arc? She faints a few times, she walks around the school aimlessly YET AGAIN. She has a few visions, tells everybody about them. This episode, she kept whining about her own morals, and even got herself almost killed, ONLY TO BE SAVED by Bou-san.
I really don’t like what’s happening here. Mai is turning into the helpless Damsel in Distress, who can only whine, and tell others what to do. While I praised the second arc because of its professionalism, the current arcs have been focusing way too much on Mai’s feelings. Not only that, she was way less helpless back in episode five. It’s probably because of Ayami. Because this girl had been entrusted to Mai, she was actually forced to protect someone, instead of being protected. And THAT’s exactly where she shines, and fails miserably respectively.
I now totally understand why the end of the thirteenth episode was so good: Mai disappeared. Because of that, the show focused on factors other than herself.
Dammit, I hate it when a main character ruins an anime.]]>
Some quick second impressions: Fushigiboshi no Futago Hime – 1 – 26
Okay, I finally managed to finish the first 26 episodes, and I’ve come to the conclusion that this is a very, very fun show. I can really understand why Matthew fell in love with it. It’s a huge shame that no fansubber has ever attempted to translate more than the first five episodes of this. This really is everything a mahou shoujo should be.
One of the things I really liked was the excellent combination of comedy and drama. It knows EXACTLY when to be funny and when to take itself seriously. Because of this, it not only turned into an incredibly hilarious series, it’s also a series with some very interesting characters. Rain and Fine turned into two lovely characters, Pumo proved to be more than a mascot, while Bright and Eclipse formed a few nice twists.
The story is basically like this. In a strange world, there are seven countries. The Sun-country, the Moon-country, the Seed-country, the Windmill-Country, the Waterdrop-country, the Jewel-country and the Fire-country. Our two main characters are the princesses of the Sun-country. They’re given the power of prominence to save the power of the sun, which has been getting weaker and weaker. Soon, however, others start to go after their powers to claim them for their own.
While this is a show for children, some of the elements in the story are surprisingly dark. So far, the series has been focusing on three points. Firstly, it really took its time to introduce the different countries. Each country has gotten at least 2 episodes dedicated to itself, and a lot of different places in these countries have been shown. It’s not often in an anime when the main characters can travel freely from one world to another without a good reason, and this anime makes good use of it. Each country already has had a nice amount of development, and yet I only managed to finish one quarter of this anime.
The second focus are the relationships with the princesses of the other countries. Each five episodes, one of the even countries organizes a princess party, in order to strengthen the relationship between the different countries. During these episodes, the different princesses really get a healthy dose of development for their own.
The third, and darkest focus is the plot to steal the prominence (Rain and Fine’s special powers) from Rain and Fine. The advisor of the Moon-Country is planning to use it to rule over the entire world. A standard plan, but the characters involved are what makes this interesting. The prince of the Moon-Country has noticed this, and the effects this has on his sickly mother, so he disguises himself as Eclipse, in order to prevent the prominence from being taken away. He does act incredibly cold, though. That’s why Rain and Fine see him as the major antagonist in the beginning. I like how this show puts develops him and his counter-player: prince Bright of the jewel country. Eclipse starts out as an incredibly Shady character, but instead, he is a very caring person, while Bright starts out as the charming prince on the white horse, while he gradually develops a nervous breakdown.
Still, the story and characters may be nice. What really makes this anime fun to watch is its great sense of humour and cuteness. Rain and Fine are way too funny at times with their antics. You have to love the scenes in which they’re invisible. ^_^ Rain and Fine also have a strange tendency to at random times do a dance to reflect their moods. Not only when they’re happy, but mostly when they’re disappointed. These dances are awful, but they’re way too funny. ^^
I’m wondering what the creators have in store for the rest of the series. I’ve still got 72 episodes to go. The few glimpses I saw of Futago Hime Gyu seemed to suggest an introduction of a large amount of new characters, so that should prove to be no problem. But what will happen in the next 26 episodes? The climax at episode 26 was a pretty serious one, which can be concluded in two or three episodes. What kind of twist will the creators give this one?]]>
Red Garden – 15
Short Synopsis: Things go bad with Claire’s brother, Rose gets closer to finding her father, Hervé starts to use Kate to his advantage, Rachel gets spotted with her teacher and a sad thing will happen with relation to Mireille.
Good: A wonderful episode; Hervé gets better with every episode; great ending!
Bad: We still don’t really know why Rachel exactly chose to date her teacher.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10
That was amazing! Especially Hervé, he’s really turning into my favourite character for this series. The episode starts with Mireille being in a state of near-death, his sister is about to lose her best and only friend. I couldn’t help but sympathize with him, though later, we see him start to use Kate, and act coldly towards her. I’d almost start rooting for him. In the end, Mireille died, and she had to be beaten by tons of security guards because she turned into a monster (what, they don’t have any more civilized methods for this?). This definitely was a stimulant for Hervé, to find a solution as fast as possible. But how does he think of using Kate to cure his sister? I also nearly cried when he tried to strangle Lise. So sad.
Still, Hervé wasn’t the only one who was amazing. Claire also got caught up in some very interesting events: the death of her brother. Suicide, to be exact. His business was doomed to fail, so I wondered how he’d react when that happened. I never imagined suicide, though. Also, do we get to see Claire’s father after this? Anyway, because of this, Claire got a lot of airtime this episode. We saw her in lots of scenes, along with Kate, which were probably meant to build up to this. It’s definitely interesting to see how she’s going to react to this.
The next episode will probably be a big one for Rachel, since Luke found out that she’d rather hang out with her teacher than with her (seriously, what is it with girls falling in love with characters way older than them in this anime?). I’m still not sure why she’s doing that exactly. She obviously likes to be with him, but is it love? Rachel, in any case, does know that Luke already cheated on her.
Rose didn’t play a large role, but she was too cute when she tried to inquire information about her father in a crowded bar. ^_^ It does, however, seem that her father has been desperately going from one job to the other. He seems to quit them for some kind of reason. What could that reason be?]]>