Short Synopsis: Not only are there lots of spirits in the school, they also devour each other. Creepy.
Good: Great tension! New ED! Lots of potential!
Bad: Why doesn’t Mai tell anyone about how Sakauchi was fond of ghosts and occult?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10
Now that’s more like it! The pacing is much higher than in the third arc, which makes for some very nice scenes. In contrast with the fourth arc, which was comedic and the fifth arc, which was more touching, we’re really back to the usual arcs with Ghost Hunt, as they continue to develop Mai’s strange ability. You’d wonder why Naru-chan hired her. Because she looked cute, or because he knew that she had special powers.
Regarding the bad points, it’s very strange that she doesn’t tell Naru, as the fact that Sakauchi was a huge fan of ghost stories and stuff is actually the key to the events which happened. We see Naru-chan wonder how so many spirits managed to gather from just amateurs. It’s because Takeuchi wasn’t an amateur. He probably had some experience in calling spirits, and he used Kokkuri-san to strengthen the effects of his summons. He probably wanted to call a really nasty spirit for the teachers to cope with, but something went wrong and he ended up committing suicide. After that happened, he went to the spirit world, and saw the spirits he called forth. Because of this, he just couldn’t resist to stay at the school, and wait to see what happens. Then the biggest spirit came, which had been devouring the other ones, and it ate him just like a midnight snack.
The ending of the episode was pretty nice, but there’s something I noticed. It’s always the same people who end up fainting. Masako holds the number 1-title. Mai also knows how to collapse quite well, and Naru-chan also went down a few times. Bou-san, John, Lin, and Matsuzaki, however, have never had this.]]>
Author: psgels
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 05
Short Synopsis: Lots of things grow this episode: Eponine’s hatred towards Cosette, Zephine’s suspicions of Cosette’s mother and Javell’s suspicions of Jean.
Good: This anime really remains consistently good so far. Even though this episode mostly built up, I loved it.
Bad: It’s been one month and still no subs?! What the hell?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
I’m actually suspecting that Javell has known Jean’s identity all along. He just needs to get enough evidence for him, as you don’t suddenly arrest the major of a town without any proof for it. It seems that he was the main guard for Valjean, probably also one of the main reasons that got him locked up. Right now, he keeps dropping hints towards Jean, hoping for him to turn himself in, while he collects information about the guy. Jean, meanwhile, shows this episode how his character changed incredibly from his younger version. He’s become really dedicated not to let others follow the same path he did.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the entire factory knows that Fantine (that was her name, right?) has a daughter somewhere. I reckon that she won’t be able to work in the factory anymore, but will that be everything? There’s probably something else about to happen.
Oh, and Eponine was wonderful this time. With this, she really became a person, instead of a 1-dimensional stereotype. Toron(?) may not have been very interesting in the previous episode, he makes sure of some interesting events when he starts ignoring Eponine for Cosette. It’s strange, normally I don’t like love triangles due to them being overused as hell and their predictability, though I’m actually beginning to like this.
This definitely is another one of those anime who doesn’t deserve to get this neglected. I’m hoping for the subs to arrive soon, so that more people can get to see this little gem.]]>
Red Garden – 14
Short Synopsis: Rose’s training pays off; Hervé reveals more things to Kate; Interesting plot twist from Paula; Claire’s car breaks
Good: Hervé was brilliant as usual, I also loved Paula.
Bad: It’s already episode 14, and still no awesome episodes. When will they come?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10
A large focus of this episode was training, and increasing your strength. Rose finally starts to become more than just a strange bystander when she too manages to leap into the air, and Kate even manages to master this power. Claire, meanwhile, works out during her job and Rachel also seems to be training, as her muscles have been getting into good shape lately.
While this episode was mostly about Rose, my favourite moments had to do with Kate. First of all, she finds out that Hervé lied to her when she drives past the restaurant he mentioned, which seems to be down for maintenance. Because of this, Hervé is forced to either tell another lie, or tell the truth, with certain parts omitted, of course. He chooses for the second, putting Kate in a very interesting situation. Right now, she still is fine during the fights. But I can’t wait to find out how she’ll react when she finds out that the people she’s been fighting are actually Hervé’s comrades.
And Paula, dammit. Lula has connections to the headmistress of Kate’s high school. The headmistress is Paula’s aunt, who seems to have told Paula about what happened to Kate, and told her to look after her. And suddenly lots of things fall into place. The question then still remains, why only Kate? Is she special because she’s in Grace?]]>
Strange Dawn – 01
Short Synopsis: Two normal schoolgirls find themselves in a strange fantasy world. The twist: they don’t get any new powers to fight with.
Good: Extremely likable characters; A great twist to a concept which has been used in many, many anime.
Bad: Even though it’s not a real bad point, the chibi-characters may be a turn-off for most people.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Okay, I’ve fallen in love with another concept. Now that Ayatsuri Sakon’s novelty is wearing off, and the subs for Popolocrois have been stalled for ages I’ve been looking for another old anime to blog about. I’m really hoping that the subbers continue releasing this project till the end, as I’ve been searching for this series for ages, and it deserves to be watched. That’s another reason I decided to blog this: the hope that more people will try to give this wonderful concept a chance.
The concept behind this anime is simple, but brilliant. Two schoolgirls are transported to another world for reason X. In normal situations, they’d meet up, act a bit bewildered, get in danger, and get ahold of some strange amounts of powers with which they save the world. Not this time, though. They ended up in a world full of small people, who are just as scared of them, as they are scared. Finally, two people are labelled as the “great protectors” for a good reason. After all, if you’d saw two giants in the middle of a war, you’d see them as special, wouldn’t you? ^^
The two main characters are also extremely interesting. One of them is just lazy and easily annoyed. The other is a goodie-two-shoe. She always abides by the rules, tries to please everyone, but in the end, she’s extremely annoying. Together, they form a great team. Eri obviously wants to help, since she doesn’t understand anything, though Yuki has no intention to help. This holds Eri back as well, as she doesn’t want to upset Yuki. When the enemy-soldiers attack in the end, however, and the two princesses of the tribe which took them in are in danger, Eri manages to scare them away by yelling, screaming and running to their place, Yuki follows her in this. I loved how Eri laughed when everything was over. You don’t expect that from a shy and reserved person at all.
Despite the chibi-characters, this is one serious show. It’s got comedy, but that takes a step back for what’s really important in this anime: the tribe’s struggles with their enemies, and the relationship with Eri and Yuki. The fights actually involve strategy, and this isn’t such a kiddie-show in which nobody gets hurt either. In fact, Yuki already got hit by an arrow in the first episode. She managed to use the element of surprise this time to scare the enemy away, but I’m really looking forward to seeing the enemy coming up with strategies to defeat the two of them. It shouldn’t be too hard, as they can be easily defeated if you send enough men at them, and keep hitting them. I wonder what the two of them will do against it.
For more information about this series and its subbers, you can go here (it also offers direct downloads, if you can’t use bittorrent for some reason):
http://z10.invisionfree.com/Church_of_Berserk/index.php?showforum=49
One final note: the background music has a great feel to this. It makes use of highly atmospheric tunes, which fit the style and story perfectly.]]>
Some quick first impressions: Reideen, Yes! PreCure 5 and Moonlight Mile
Reideen
Oh my. This is interesting. Very interesting, actually. I originally dismissed this because I watched the first episode of Chouja Reideen, probably another remake of the 1980s classic, which was horrible in every single way. Thank goodness, Reideen managed to fix a lot of this, and comes with a believable, touching and big-budgetted mecha anime. I originally never expected anything from this, but if the other episodes are as excellent as this one, It’s going to be quite the series. The character animation is wonderful, and for one of the first times, we have mechas who actually fight slow, instead of the incredibly fast and unrealistic ones we usually see (after all, how the heck to those huge giant robots move their limbs so fast?). The male main character actually is interesting, and he’s actually unique, compared to other shounen-series with their copy-and-paste male main character. I’m pretty enthusiastic about this one. Perhaps, if both this series and Giant Robo turn out really good, I’m going to blog the two of them. 🙂
Yes! PreCure 5
There’s one thing that this series did: it made me appreciate the greatness of other Mahou Shoujo. Not because this show is so incredibly good, it’s actually pretty bad. Whereas most Mahou Shoujo have learned to be a bit original, this one is just full of clichés. First of all, the heroine doesn’t even know why she’s fighting. She’s the legendary PreCure who is destined to save the world. Come on, please, at least give her a goal or something. Sakura got her powers because she actually let all the Clow-cards escape. Sasami was born with her powers. Rain and Fine got their powers in order to save the sun’s blessing which was deteriorating. And to make matters worse, our main characters are the only people in the entire friggin school with obscure hair colours, and they fit all the stereotypes. Ignorant, talkative impulsive main heroine? Check. Best sports athlete of the entire school? Check. Pop-idol? Check. Main librarian? Check. Student president? Freakin Check. Seriously, couldn’t they really think of something more original? Please, if you’re looking for a mahou shoujo, go and check out a show like Card Captor Sakura, Futago Hime or Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club, and stay far away from this one.
Moonlight Mile
This actually turned out pretty good! Okay, i didn’t understand 50% of the dialogue, but I really like what I saw of this. It’s a science-fiction show, which somehow manages to combine mountain-climbing with astronauts. The character designs may be a bit awkward, but the CG is gorgeous. It’s got a great atmosphere so far, and the music definitely sounds interesting. I wish I could say something about the story, but I’m going to watch the subs first before I’ll actually get a good picture out of it.]]>
Master of Epic – 05
Short Synopsis: Angelica falls in love with a male Elmony; Chuu is being cute again; Deep in a dungeon, two brave*cough* adventurers struggle for their lives.
Good: Hilarious, probably the funniest episode I’ve seen this year; even more characters are returning; the two adventurers were SO INCREDIBLY CUTE; Actually good animation!
Bad: Some Gonzo-advertising managed to slip in at the video-file I watched (from Saiyaman). Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem, but please chose some better series than Garasu no Kantai and Witchblade.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10
First of all, I finally found out a few more names of the characters in this show. Very handy, especially in this show, which has the nasty tendency to recycle most of its characters into other ones with different hair-colours and outfits (but what else did you expect? This IS an mmorpg-based anime, after all ^^). A quick rundown:
– Angelica: she’s the blonde Newtar in a pink school uniform. It seems to be quite a popular costume. ^^; Anyway, I’m glad to see her return. It’s better to see recurring characters than new ones at this point.
– Karen seems to be the Warage Green clone with Warage Pink uniform. I’m not sure why she keeps following Angelica, though. They’re probably two very good friends.
– Fuu-chan is the monster that keeps accompanying Karen. I’m not sure if this Fuu-chan is the same monster that’s accompanying Chuu when she’s in Warage Pink-mode.
– The Pandemos in traveller’s clothes we always see with Chuu appears to be named Pukotsu.
– The white-haired Cognite seems to be called Phillipe, though that’s his chibi-form. I’m not sure whether Philippe also plays the role of the other white-haired Cognites we’ve seen.
– Philippe’s Newtar companion gets called by Syozo (I bet that’s spelled differently).
On a whole different note, I loved this episode! First of all, it finally has a bit of decent animation. People move fluently, there are lots of close-ups and we see a few high-quality drawings, and some actual CG is used with the submarines to simulate the particles in the “ocean”. It definitely makes the characters look a lot better. I also appreciated that the unimportant bystanders actually had some original character designs this time, instead of being recycled versions of main characters. I knew this anime could do well if it tried.
The first sketch: Angelica and Karen return, like mentioned above. In this episode, she finds a new obsession: making clothes for the boy she has a crush on. She yet again gets a bit carried away, scaring this boy in the process, when she manages to create a huge pile of different clothes for the two of them to wear. I really liked Karen’s role in this, as the bystander who watches and tells the story a bit. And who eventually gets chased because Fuu-chan ate Angelique’s wallet. ^^;
The second sketch: yet another adult in the real life acting funny. I think I finally know the meaning behind these scenes. They’re supposed to be real-life events, with a mmorpg-element added to them. This time, a shop. I loved it how the shop-menu was opened when the guy tried to buy something. ^^
The third sketch: Pukotsu and Chuu again. This time, his backpack is broken, and Chuu managed to find a new one for him. Obviously, it’s an extremely cute elephant rucksack, not fitting his character AT ALL. It would be funny if he’d be wearing the same backpack in the next episode as well. ^^:
The fourth sketch is about two male Elmony. I’m really not sure whether we’ve seen these two figures yet, seeing as their particular character design gets recycled in many, many other characters. The only difference is the outfit, hair colour and the colour of their cheeks. In any case, in this time, we see a red-haired Elmony do all kinds of cool stuff and blow up enemies, and there’s a green-haired one who wants to either copy him, or hit him with the same method that the red-haired one uses. Obviously, he fails. ^^
The fifth and last sketch is the funniest of the episode. And the cutest. We return to Philippe and Syoso in chibi-form. They’re inside a scary dungeon, trying to get to the centre. Obviously, they fail in a horribly cute way. They first have to beat the dangers of travelling underwater, which is followed by a highly amusing talk under water. This really makes for the funniest accent. XD Next up, they reach the lair of the boss of the dungeon, who’s been sealed in a very eerie place and who gives off some very strange voices. Obviously, Philippe and Syozo ignore him and go for some more challenging enemies: the ordinary bats. They’re quite fearsome, as they weren’t even hurt by Syozo’s Miner Burst, lv1! This calls for Philippe to put on his super invincible armour! It gives him unfathomable strength, but it has one major disadvantage: he’s unable to move. XD
I’m not sure whether someone who has never played an mmorpg would get some of the jokes, but for the people who do have played their share of them, this anime is pure gold. It’s so full of the most hilarious parodies. A definite recommend.]]>
Ghost Hunt – 14
Short Synopsis: A school is being haunted by lots and lots and lots of spirits.
Good: New OP! It’s even better than the first one; This case has lots of potential.
Bad: A bit too much comedy at times.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
The new OP looks SO cool. It’s definitely something else than the usual OPs in which you see characters running around, trying to be cool with a semi-smart look. This one just looks freaky. A great way to start the series.
Let’s first start with the bad part of the episode: the comedy. It’s not that I don’t really enjoy it or anything, this show is actually extremely funny. But these small moments of comedy do sortof ruin the overall atmosphere, not only in this episode, but also in the entire anime. Now that I think about it, episode five didn’t have that much comedy. That’s probably why it turned so great, it was nearly non-stop tension. The comedy may be great, what this show really excels in is its tension and mystery.
Anyway, now the good part. This arc is filled with lots of potential. We’ve got a really evil ghost this time, who’s been luring spirits inside the school. Some of these spirits have even taken up the form of a huge dog, attacking and actually hurting students. He’s the ghost of a boy who committed suicide, because the teachers in his school were extremely oppressive. Especially when students keep playing Kokkuri-san, this effect only gets strengthened.
Also, what role does Yasuhara have in this story. The fact that he’s being put in the spotlight must mean more than just him being eager to work. He must have had some relation to the guy who committed suicide. I suspect that they were in the same class, seeing that not everyone knows such detailed knowledge about him such as what he wrote down on his very first career assessment. I’m suspecting that Yasuhara had some kind of role in his suicide, he just doesn’t mention this.]]>
Death Note – 16
Short Synopsis: In order to avoid getting killed by Rem, Light must save Misa. In this episode, he executes his brilliant plan.
Good: Definitely a unique episode; I love it when my favourite anime start using memory loss as a plot device.
Bad: Didn’t Light write down the names of criminals for four weeks in advance in case he’d end up in the hospital for some reason? Did he stop doing that?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
Before I start, I’m sorry for the delays I’ve been having. My studies came with a pretty obnoxious deadline, so I haven’t been blogging as much as I’d like to. Right now, I’m going to try to catch up with my backlog, though I’m fearing that some shows are going to have to be dropped.
Anyway, about the episode, I loved it! Light’s plan: turn yourself in, pretend to be Kira subconsciously, and get locked up. Beforehand, bury the Death Note somewhere where nobody can go, and leave some hints that only you can understand, so that only you can find it back, also give Rem’s Death Note back. Once in prison, wait a few days, and then forfeit ownership of your own Death Note. Because of this, you’ll lose your memory and start blabbering nonsense because of the situation. Get released, find clues and get back your Death Note.
Still, there still remain a few questions, which will have to wait till the next episode to get answered. How will Light get out of prison? The end of the episode showed a nice twist, but will it really be enough for L to release him? Also, why did he have to go through such huge lengths to save Misa? Why is him being confined necessary to free her?
Still, this plan may have been nice, the really good parts were the mind games the characters played with each other. This episode was one of the most emotional Death Note episodes yet, and it made great use of the memory loss to confuse the heck out of L, while L turned the Light without his memories crazy in his turn, by confining him for two weeks. Light’s father also was brilliant in his worries about his son.]]>
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – 17
Short Synopsis: Finally, all main actors are in the same area again and the story can go back where it left off.
Good: Finally this anime is heating up again; Soutetsu looked SO evil during the climax.
Bad: The episode took a while to get going
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
Before I start, two new characters are introduced this episode. they’ve got rather small roles, and I’m not really sure what kind of significant part in this story they’re going to play. They’re called Momata Kai and Souma Kazue. They seem to be working under Hijikata. If I had to guess their roles, they are probably going to play the same ones as the ones who got attacked by Soutetsu in the first episode. They’re going to be insignificant, but present, in order to give the soldiers who’re working under Hijikata a small personality.
I’m glad to see that this story is back to its main tracks now. Soutetsu, Kanna, the four English knights, Enomoto and some others who didn’t appear for the past two episodes finally return, while characters like Katsu and the troupe still remain vanished without a trace. Still, for most part, this episode was more of an introduction. It’s focused at a few major events.
First of all, Hijikata noticing Soutetsu. It seems that the former rather hates the latter, and after finding out that he’s with Enomoto, this feeling has only become worse. Speaking of Soutetsu, he’s been a complete mistery for this episode yet again. We see him at some kind of meeting which was probably meant to celebrate Hijikata’s return, along with the French commander. We later see Hijikata returning to him, and Soutetsu makes some kind of proposition for him. Hijikata must have something that Soutetsu’s after, since I think he’s trying to provoke him. But what?
The second major focus of the episode was the relationship between Akizuki and Kakunojou. Akizuki still remains as thick as ever, and he keeps getting more annoyed at Kakunojou. Probably because Enomoto is close-by. In any case, Kakunojou doesn’t give up so easily, and after being yelled at by Akizuki, she runs to the local inn they’re staying at, grabs her sword and challenges him to a duel. Obviously, she’s disarmed instantly, but I’ll eat my hat if that didn’t make any impact. 😉
Meanwhile, while Kakunojou and Akizuki and Soutetsu and Hijikata are busy with each other, the Englishmen launch an attack at Enomoto’s ship, though they’re forced to retreat when Enomoto appears to be a tad too dangerous when possessed by the lord’s head.]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 40
Short Synopsis: A Kikuri-episode. A former actor is determined to get revenge on his neighbours.
Good: Great killing scene; nice twist in the ending.
Bad: A bit of a boring antagonist this time
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Hmm, dammit. This time, it wasn’t the usual formula which was the worst thing about the episode, it’s the antagonist this time. He just lacks a bit of depth, comparing to the other ones we’ve seen so far. I never really understood his reason, even after reading Memento’s summary. Okay, he’s pretty evil, though he doesn’t grab me like the most other antagonists of Jigoku Shoujo did.
Still, that doesn’t mean that this episode didn’t have some very juicy bits. The background music was as good as ever, and Kikuri gets some development as well. I’m still not sure what the little brat is trying to do. And why does Ai approve of her so much? Could the spider have ordered her to take care of Kikuri during her missions? And what is Kikuri after? Does she want to take Ai’s place?
It’s also a good thing that in this episode, people actually died. You don’t get to see that often in Jigoku Shoujo. People either die outside of the episode, they get sent to hell, or they just end up living, though badly hurt. The deaths in this episode made quite the impact. Especially the one of the mother. The death of the father had an especially nice after-effect, seeing as the antagonist suddenly disappeared, leaving the main character, the son of the mother and the father, with the blame of the murder. I just would have liked to see a bit more of what happened after this, though. We see the boy in a police car, but that’s all.]]>