This will be the first show I’ll be blogging from the Winter-season. I’m still pending about the others. Master of Epic will also probably get blogged, perhaps even Venus Versus Virus, and Deltora Quest and Himawari!! depend on whether I can find enough inspiration to write about their second episodes, which were excellent by the way.
First, before I start, I might want to put up a small disclaimer. I’ve never seen, read or heard anything about the original work. This is the first time I’ll be experiencing the story. Therefore, you won’t hear things like “the book was better at X”, “the anime omitted Y” or “the anime omitted Z”. Feel free to comment about this, though.
Well then, about the episode. I was surprised about how Cosette evolved, only from the first episode, same with Ebonie and Azele (I think their names are spelled that way, not sure though). At the end of the previous episode, Cosette really looked like a helpless girl, now that her mother had left her and she was put in the care of that evil woman. But this episode, she really showed that she can be strong if she wants to. I like how she doesn’t care about the things that are done to her. It’s probably because she’s clinging to the hope that her mother will come back to her some day. Ebonie and Azele also were quite interesting. Where they wanted to play with Cosette in the first episode, this episode makes them resemble to the two evil stepsisters from Cinderella.
Jean Valjean continues to play with Aran in this episode, by playing in on his conscience. He asks him to deliver a bit of cash to the local hospital. I’m not sure what his motives are. He might have done it in order to prevent him from going into the wrong direction, it may have been because he needed a loyal assistant, or it may have been because he could relate to him. I think it’s for a personal reason, though, as he goes all out of the way to hint about his own past to Aran.
It seems that Jean committed a sin at a time (stealing bread, if I recall correctly), after which he fled, and kept running for nineteen(?) years. In the end, he got caught, but the one he stole from forgave him, and gave him two silver chandeliers (that part was a bit vague on me). We aren’t told what happened after that, but I can guess that these chandeliers helped Jean get the position of major he’s currently at.
I also liked how the twosome of Ebonie and Azele also get what they deserve at times. The two of them get some cakes, and pretend that Cosette stole them from them, in order to get even more cakes the next day. If it weren’t for Gavroche (okay, I know I spelled that one wrong), who overheard the two of them, and took the cakes back. ^^ Still, this also means that they are going to take revenge, and they’re going to do something even worse. Should be interesting.
I’m also not sure what to find of Gavroche yet. It may be his lack of development, but of all the main characters, I like him the least. I’d love to see how he and Cosette got acquainted in the first place. Apart from him, I really like this series so far. I’m really hoping that the huge length of this anime won’t ruin it, seeing as there’s lots of potential in this one, which doesn’t deserve to be ruined.]]>
Author: psgels
Some quick first impressions: Nodame Cantabile, Venus Versus Virus and Getsumen to Heiki Mina
Nodame Cantabile
This is another one of those anime that was highly anticipated. It didn’t really impress me, though. Okay, it’s a nice series, though it didn’t really grab my attention like shows as Deltora Quest and Master of Epic did. It’s basically a love story between two polar opposites. At certain points, it had some nice comedy, though most of this first episode felt annoying to me. Still, I’m going to watch at least a few more episodes before I dismiss this, seeing as it does have potential.
Venus Versus Virus
Ooh, this one turned out quite interesting. I was expecting another one of these standard shounen-fighting anime, though this anime added quite a few bunch of interesting elements. I really like the main character, especially her alter ego. I’m also glad to see that the fights actually revolve around strategy, and not just on who is the strongest. It could have been better indeed, though for now I’m happy. I’m also quite interested when the yuri-elements in will show up. The two main characters make a good couple. I also loved how Shimire tried to lure out the virus by poking a random tree with a small stick. ^^
Getsumen to Heiki Mina
It’s indeed as I though, this show is full of fanservice. Still, I’m glad that this show has a good sense of humour. That really managed to save it. This show has absolutely nothing new, but it’s fairly well executed. Still, it’s far too early to call this one amazing, and I think this will always remain “just an enjoyable show”. It’s basically a mahou shoujo, featuring a high-school girl who can transform into a bunny-girl with a bunch of carrots sticking out of her ***. I’m also not too happy about how her powers are introduced. While most mahou shoujo have learned from the older ones and give their main character at least a good reason to start working as a mahou shoujo, what Getsumen to Heiki Mina basically does is: Random cute pet: “Yeah, hello, we’ve got a giant monster here, destroying a bunch of things. Here’s a bit of power and a cute suit, now go whack it up.” Mina: “Okay!”]]>
Death Note – 13
I began to get a bit afraid that after Death Note’s lisencing, the subs would stop appearing as well. Being Dutch and all, I couldn’t care less whether or not some random American company acquired the licence. Luckily, there are people who feel the same, with one fansub appearing just a few hours ago, as well as a softsub. For more info on the softsub, go visit Wakaranai.
Anyway, about the episode, it started off a bit buggy. It may have been because of the quality of the softsubs, though it also was more of the same. It also felt a bit rushed. But when Misa actually found out Kira’s identity and went to his house, things really went from decent to amazing. Especially because I was so anxious to see how Light would react after the things Misa told him. Especially since he kept asking her cold questions.
Misa herself also was extremely touching to see. She definitely had some good reasons to go after Kira. It also quite surprised me. I knew she wanted to meet him, though I never realized that she was that dedicated to him. You also have to love Light’s smirk at the end of the episode. It’ll be interesting to see how the two of them will do after this episode.]]>
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – 14
And so, the second half of Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto starts. And as usual, I had a great deal of trouble understanding it. As expected, we’ve got another aftermath here, after the huge events of the previous episode. We first see Ebisu’s funeral, while Akizuki starts getting really mad at Soutetsu, seeing as he failed to stop the lord’s head yet again.
For the largest part, this episode focused on Kanna, who’s become the leader of the four Englishmen we saw in the previous episode. This was after a conversation he had with Parkes, which I didn’t understand too well. But it did reveal some interesting things about Kanna’s past. It seems that he spent a part of his childhood in Japan, in which children kept picking on him. I’m suspecting that he originally was English, and he came to Japan as a child, along with his mother. The children didn’t exactly like outsiders, so they picked on him, probably with his mother as his only comfort. Then, at a certain time, some bastard took her away from him, and he ended up with Parkes.
The biggest mystery of this episode, though, was what Enomoto was up to. It seems that he ordered some kind of battle to be executed, but what does France have to do with this? Seeing as they sailed away on French ships at the end of the episode. In any case, it’s something that Soutetsu is after. Also, why did Kanna and his chess pieces raid the French ship, near the end of the episode?
There also were some interesting developments in the troupe. Juubei is dead once again, so they’re posed to the same question as episode 9. This time, however, Kakunojou does something interesting: she leaves the troupe and goes to Akizuki. I’m not sure of the exact reason, but I think she wants to be with him. When she’s left, the rest of the troupe gets an interesting message from Soutetsu. Unfortunately, we have to wait for the contents of that message till next week. 😉
Judging by the rules set by this anime, the next episode should be another great one, after this episode. Sounds interesting. :)]]>
Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club Review – 85/100
Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club is another one of those highly neglected anime which doesn’t deserve that kind of lack of attention. To give a small indication, even the RAWS stopped appearing at a certain point. When you compare this to series like Zaizen Jotaro, you have to wonder whether something’s wrong. In any case, like the title suggests, it’s a mahou shoujo, focusing on Sasami, better known from the Tenchi Muyo series. Luckily, it has absolutely no harem-elements.
This series definitely shines in its middle part. Episodes 5 till 19 are filled with some awesome character studies, a couple of very successful chaotic episodes and some extremely funny moments, all extremely well balanced into the episodes. It’s at these points where the characters become extremely touching. The first four episodes serve as an introduction. Nice and all, but nothing special, that’s not really a major flaw, though. The main problem is that this series starts to loose a bit of its flame after episode 19. It becomes more predictable, and characters aren’t as touching as they were before. Luckily, the final two episodes become worthwhile again.
Still, there’s one thing that’s consistently good over the entire anime: the graphics. Especially the use of CG is brilliant in this anime. The art of the different characters also is extremely cute. Not what you’d expect from the promo-art. The music also offers an excellent selection, though this anime makes the mistake of overusing one or two tracks a bit too much.
Overall, Sasami has been a very good example why I love neglected shows so much. They either turn out very good or very bad. In this case, it’s the former. It’s a pity. While anime like Haruhi Suzumiya get hyped to death, shows like this one get left in the shadows.]]>
Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club – 26
Ah, and so ends Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club. Seeing as it’s the final episode, it’s time to get critical again, as I’ve seen lots of awesome anime who rather screwed up with their ending. Let me first start with some things I really liked about this episode:
– Sasami as a little child. Seriously, the episode started with such an immensely KAWAII shot of her young version, playing and discovering her own powers, and that for the first time in the series.
– Sasami and Ami-chan at the first half of the episode. The two of them are just not involved in the fighting at all, they’re just with the two of them. Surprisingly touching.
– Washuu. I’m glad that she’s back to her chaotic self, seeing her hysterical screaming was as hilarious as always. I wish she had a bigger role in the Misao-arc. It would have made them a great deal better. She really is a brilliant character when she’s in her element. ^_^
– The CG. It was of the same high quality as always.
There was one thing I didn’t like: the five girls from the magical world. It felt like the creators couldn’t find a good role for them for the final episodes, so they just sent them after Misao and the others. A short fight follows, and they let them go without any problems. The only time we see them back is at the end of the episode, as normal schoolgirls.
But what about the ending itself? Well, it was decent. I liked how Sasami never really fought, even though she’s the main character, and the strongest out of everyone. Ami-chan’s way to sacrifice himself was decent, just was the fact that he didn’t wake up. The moment right before Sasami made her speech also was interesting. Though ultimately, the ending itself didn’t capture my interest. After the main climax, Ami-chan makes a short trip, in which everyone is happy and smiling, and in the end, nothing really remains of Keura.
Overall, it’s been a fun show. I hope someone’s going to sub this. Still, there are better cute mahou shoujo around. It didn’t manage to beat Akazukin in the end, and now that I’ve seen a number of episodes of Futago Hime, I also have to say that that’s a better show. Still, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it. Especially the middle part was awesome.]]>
Some quick first impressions: Shuffle! Memories, Manabi Straight and Hidamari Sketch
Shuffle! Memories
For all the Shuffle-fans who were looking forward to this episode, don’t get your hopes up too high. This first episode was basically a recap episode, in which Rin introduced the different characters yet again. We see fragments of everything which didn’t have anything to do with the main story from the first season, with your occasional fanservice. Seriously, I almost fell asleep while watching this. To this day, I still wonder why I managed to watch Shuffle! till the end. Okay, the latter half was decent, though the first half was just pure garbage. Really, if the next episode doesn’t have anything decent, I’m never going to touch it, no matter how good the rest of the series might end up being.
Manabi Straight
Whoa, this anime definitely has energy. It takes place in an all-girl-school, and it focuses on five girls who probably are going to bring some kind of revolution with the almost limitless amount of energy they have. Especially the main character. So far, it’s been quite fun, though it has its flaws. I’m especially getting a bit worried when the first episode already starts off with a pool-episode. Also, this anime is supposed to play in 2035, but apart from the flying skateboard, I didn’t see any differences with 2007. Still, those are just minor details. I think I’m going to keep watching this, as long as it doesn’t degrade into a pure slice-of-life series (I want to see some challenges for Manabi). The graphics are also quite interesting. It seems that this show has been granted with a considerable budget in this department, and it fully utilizes that. The animation looks great, and the creators also decided to try out some new things in the graphical department. So far, these really work, apart from one detail. The cat-like mouth of one of the characters just doesn’t work. Also, one final point, the insert song was more annoying than it was interesting. Unlike a show as Red Garden, it hurt the show more than it contributed.
Hidamari Sketch
Ah, a slice-of-life series. Not exactly my favourite genre, and indeed, the first episode wasn’t bad or anything, but it really bored me to tears. If this were a comedy, it would have been a great one, though instead of that, the show keeps a slow pacing and at times it inserts a small joke, which in the end, isn’t that funny. Miyo could have been an interesting character, but this show is just too slow to bring out the full potential of the character. It tries being cute and funny at a very small pacing, which just doesn’t work for me. It’s ironic that the OP was the best thing of the entire anime. Unless you’re a slice-of-life fan, I wouldn’t recommend this one.]]>
Soukou no Strain – 10
And finally, Soukou no Strain continues after its new years break. This episode was all about Ralph and Emily. It explains why Ralph did what he did, and the secret behind Emily. Ralph also did something incredibly reckless. Especially Ralph and Emily’s backgrounds were very interesting to see.
Again, with this being the raw version, I didn’t manage to pick up everything. What I think happened was that there once was an alien race, aka Emily. It consisted out of a number of girls which were exactly alike, and basically, they were all linked with each other. (As in, when one feels pain, the others do as well). This explains why Emily felt the same as Emily.
Anyway, the Emilies were quite advanced, as they had the technology to build spaceships. Then, at one point, they were discovered by the humans. Since humanity is evil, it realized the potential of the Emilies, and started to experiment with them. If I’m not mistaken, it’s because of them that people were able to build Mimics. In the end, the Emilies were totally controlled, and used to power certain variations of Strains. I’m not sure why this ended up to be Ralphs enemy, but the fact remains that he was sent on a mission to defeat an enemy base, full of these sorts of Strain-like things. Obvioulsy, he knew nothing about it, and when he found out, the shock drove him crazy.
It seems that all of the Emilies were there, killed by Ralph, except for two of them. One Emily was being stored in the school we found Sara in during the first episode. The second one had her mind transferred in a mimic, to later become the doll Emily. Her purpose was forgotten, and she was discarded as a useless Mimic. For some reason, she ended up on the same spaceship Sara was in. When Ralph killed the last one of the alternative Strains, it broke and revealed the girl. She begged him to save one of their remaining sisters, aka the Emily on earth. I’m not sure what he did after that, but it made him end up with Deague. If I had to guess, it was to get his hands on a special type of Strain which would make it possible to attack the place where Emily was kept. What Deague gained from it still beats me.
In any case, Ralph went to rescue Emily, with perhaps a bit extreme methods. He had been so emotionally wrecked that he stopped caring for human life, other than that of Emily. We see that during this episode as well, when he’s even starting to get problems not killing Emily herself. Still, I’m not yet sure what was behind his attacks in the third and fourth episode. Based on the later episodes, he didn’t know that Emily was so special, otherwise he would have just taken her in episode 8. Also, what are these goals he’s been after that required such intricate planning? Is he planning to destroy humanity because of the things they did to Emily? (I hope not, by the way)
In any case, in this episode, something similar happens when Melchisidec starts experimenting on the Mimic-Emily. Of course, this would evoke bad emotions with Ralph’s Emily, so she starts begging for him to save her. In the end, he kills off the entire crew of Deague. Quite reckless indeed. He’ll be screwed if some technical failures suddenly turn up.]]>
Amazing Nuts!
Ah, finally Studio 4C releases something again. This time, it’s a collection of four music videos, Global Astroliner, Glass Eye, Kung-Fu Love and Joe and Marilyn, all combined in one package of Amazing Nuts! After watching this, I really have to say that the people behind this were simply brilliant. If these were actually anime, they would have been awesome. It’s such a huge pity, seeing as Studio 4C is an amazing studio, though they spent most of their time on music videos, instead of a compelling anime series.
Global Astroliner has a real urban feeling. It features pointy and shady-looking character designs, and portrays the relationships between corrupt officials and people from the street. It’s the only video which doesn’t feature a love-interest of some sort. I’m quite fond of the art-style here, think Tokyo Tribe meets Gorillaz with a high amount of imagination. All characters look quite unique this way. I wish more anime would follow this example. ^^;
Then comes Glass Eye, with a totally different focus. We see a girl who’s probably suffering from an overdose of some kind of drug, in the middle of a street. While Global Astroliner was more stylish and funky, this is more sad and touching. This girl then meets a boy, all surrounded by some great CG and animation. The characters themselves also look to be completely made out of CG, but not as crappy as the usual 3D series you see. This actually looks very good. Glass Eye really had a dreamy mood, when you combine the great CG, character designs and background art with each other.
Then Kung-Fu Love comes, and this is the first time we have a bit of a descriptive title. It once again is entirely different from the previous one when it features a kung-fu girl, taking on various opponents, and eventually running into a boy she loves. Qute standard, though the thing I really loved in this one was the art and animation. This anime has a greatly colourful style. Perhaps the closest to Studio 4C’s original art style. Each of the characters look beautiful, especially the main character looks gorgeous. The only real disadvantage is the music in this one. While none of the songs really fit my taste, Global Astroliner and Glass eye managed to capture my interest with some very interesting songs, though Kung-Fu Love comes with a cheesy pop-song. Could have been much better.
Joe and Marylin was the worst of the four, though. This time, we have a ballad between two loved ones, one of them being a singer. And well, that’s basically what happens. It features some strange 3D-animation, which unfortunately doesn’t really work. Also, the attention to detail we saw in the previous three movies is also a bit lacking, apart from a beautiful cloudy background, perhaps. The music also didn’t really do anything to improve this, it tries to create a romantic feeling, though Glass Eye was far better in this.
Overall, if you’re bored, and looking for some eye-candy, this is definitely one to recommend. Though the fact remains that we’re just talking about a bunch of music videos here. They would have rocked if they were genuine anime-series, though right now, they’re all a bit lacking in the story and character development department. Still, this does prove that Studio 4C haven’t lost their touch. I’m therefore looking forward a lot to their upcoming releases of Tekkon Kinkreet and Genius Party. And with a bit of hope, they’ll start on another tv-series in the future. I’m really hoping for that to happen, as their talent is just too big to waste.]]>
Night Head Genesis Review – 86/100
Night Head Genesis is an excellent arc-based mystery-series. It focuses on paranormally gifted people, with as main characters to seemingly special ones: Naoto and Naoya. When they were children, they were been locked up inside a research laboratory. The researchers may have had good intentions, it still doesn’t feel good to be locked up, especially as a child, so Naoto and Naoya came to hate that place. So then, fifteen years later, they finally get a chance to escape. After that, they get involved with numerous psychic incidents.
This anime has some great points, but at the same time, it gets held back by a few potentially bad points, but first, let me say that it’s got an awesome soundtrack. Night Head Genesis comes accompanied by a highly atmospheric OST, which really contributes to the overall mood. Ranging from the OP to a couple of very sad but simple tunes, the background music is totally amazing.
Now that that’s out of the way, in order to be able to watch and enjoy Night Head Genesis, you must be aware that Naoto and Naoya are quite close as siblings. Especially the first half is filled with “Naoto!” “Naoya!” “Naoto?” “Naoya”. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing (I didn’t mind this myself), I’ve seen a lot of people who became too annoyed with this to continue the series. It’s a shame, as it turns bloody awesome in the end.
Well then, this anime is divided into three parts. The first part takes up the first 12 episodes, Naoto and Naoya get involved with a few rather heavily subjected cases, with themes such as suicide and child abuse. This part starts out amazing, though it gets a bit worse with each episode progressing, and especially the last few episodes in this part aren’t really that enjoyable to see. Then the second part starts, and the good stuff really begins when the cases start to involve both Naoto and Naoya’s history and background, and they start to reference back to previously dealt with cases.
But the really good part starts with the third part, which starts at around episode 18. In there, the show works towards its final goal, which gets accompanied by some amazing scenes. A few annoying moments here and there, a few unexplained moments there, but overall, these episodes were greatly developed and very enjoyable. This also is one of the few series with an actual good and interesting ending.
Overall, Night Head Genesis has been an amazing series, though be aware that it has quite a few moments which can and will get on your nerves. If you can sit through that, you’ll be rewarded with a great mystery-series.]]>