psgels, Author at Star Crossed Anime

The Third – 21 – Let the finale begin. ^_^

October 22, 2006 by psgels, posted in The Third

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Whoa… this seems to be the final arc after all. O_o

When this arc started, I definitely didn’t see that one coming. I think it’s even better for the final arc to be so lengthy, as this way, it has more time to build up, and so far, things have been as amazing as usual. This definitely was the best episode of the arc so far, and if the creators still have enough material to last three episodes, things are promising to become awesome (remember that Ikus hasn’t played his trumps yet).

It’s a nice trick by the creators. At the end of each episode, the feeling is given that there’s only one more episode left, but every time, new problems are introduced and new events force the arc to become one episode longer. That’s been very cleverly written. Rona Fauna attacking Honoka, at the end of the episode also was really well built up. I really didn’t see that one coming. And is Joganki really dead? O_o Or was it just a false threat by Rona Fauna? But why did Paife cry?

I also love how Ikus has been a complete mystery up till now. We really don’t know anything about him, except for the fact that he’s an alien. Only during the previous episode, we learned that he can’t be shot, and I’ve got a feeling that that’s only a small part of his mysteries. Honoka’s fight also was as awesome as usual. The narrator really helped in this, when he told about Honoka’s doubts. I’m really liking Honoka’s ideals. ^_^

There also was a nice contrast between Honoka, Blue Breaker, Rona Fauna and Joganki and Paife and Bogie. While tensions are high inside of Rona Fauna’s hideout, Paife heads back to Bogie, and the two just wait for things to happen. Because they’re both realist, the mood between the two of them is really different when you compare it to the other actors.

One final nice touch is that the creators showed one shot of Rona Fauna, when she was alone in her room. It’s totally different than what you see in most shows. Most bad guys smile in an evil way, but because Rona doesn’t have to live anyway, that short moments showed how she prepared for her final trick before she would die. But at the same time, it made me suspect that she gave up on her ways.

I love this show. ^_^

Otogi Juushi Akazukin – 17 – Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

October 21, 2006 by psgels, posted in Otogi Juushi Akazukin

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Okay, that was an excellent episode. It’s not centred around a character this time, but it’s meant to explain a few things about the overall story, namely the mirrors we’ve been seeing. I always took them for granted, but now it seems that they’ve got a huge back-story behind them, and are actually vital for Cendrion to carry out her plan.

The setting for this episode is a rather gloomy town. At first, I thought that it was a snow town, but it seems that the village lies next to a volcano, which is constantly dropping its ash on top of the village. That’s why the entire city has a grey colour.

In here, Akazukin and the others meet up with a talking parrot, who takes them to some kind of mansion. There’s a fairytale about this mansion, and Souta is more than eager to hear it. Once upon a time, when the volcano was still inactive, there was a girl, who was in love with a certain boy. Then, the volcano started to erupt, and the boy told the girl that god is angry, and that he’s punishing them. Because of that, he went inside a mirror, telling the girl that he needed to go to the other world. The mansion seemed to be the place where the girl lived.

Ringo, while cleaning up the mansion a bit, suddenly receives tons of phone-messages from her friends. She finds a broken mirror, and realizes that the shards of the mirror are actually able to send the telephone signals through from the human world. When the mirror is reassembled, Souta actually disappears into the mirror. In there, he sees the same girl from the fairytale, speaking to a mirror which displays a bit of the human world.

So the mirrors are actually links between worlds. There also seems to be some kind of dimension between Erde and Fandavale, and that’s where Cendrion has her main base. In there, there’s probably a special mirror, linked to a sealed dimension, and that’s where Cendrion is located. The reason Gretel and Randagio were able to transport so easily from Erde to Fandavale also was because of this dimension. I think this also means that if Souta would have touched the mirror, being held by the girl, he’d be able to travel back to Erde.

Another thing to note is that whenever a Nightmarian gets beaten, a mirror gets destroyed. Could it be that Nightmarians and mirrors are of the same essence? After all, the first episodes seemed to suggest that the mirrors in Cendrion’s base were able to see through the Nightmarian’s eyes.

The question also remains: who was this boy from the fairy-tale? Right now, the only one who fits the criteria is Souta’s father. It’s quite possible that he travelled to the human world, got stuck there or refused to come back, met Souta’s mother and that’s how Souta was born. It does explain why Souta is so special: he’s the only child between a person from Erde and Fandavale. Still, if this were true, Souta’s Father’s hair colour must’ve changed somehow from blond to brown.

These really are some very interesting theories. Thanks to this episode, I’m loving this series more and more. ^_^

Next episode, the City Musicians of Bremen will return. Yay!

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – 03 – An Attempt to List The Characters’ Names

October 21, 2006 by psgels, posted in Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Ooh, that was another great episode. But first: a few names, taken from the official website. I knew that learning Hiragana would come in handy some day.

Akizuki Youjirou: he’s the main character of this story. Has a strong sense of justice, and seems to have some kind of mission to stop some kind of mission, planned by the bad guys which involves supernatural beings.

Yuyama Kakunojou: she’s the main female character. She’s a member of the theatre group. When she was young, the guy from the previous episode killed her father, a wealthy merchant and her mother. She then fled along with either her brother or best friend and the old guy. She appears in this anime in two forms: a normal form, and a performing form, in which she wears a wig. I can imagine that more people would have trouble recognizing her.

Ibaragi Soutetsu, otherwise known as “Sensei”. He’s probably the one who founded the theatre group, and he handles the management, writes the scripts, and seems to be a very talented swordsman as well.

Shiranui Kozou (I could have sworn I heard this name before… must be my imagination): he’s probably one of the main actors in the theatre group. It seems that he takes the lead in their missions as well, due to his large amount of charisma.

Ebisu no Zukin: He either was Yuyama’s brother or best friend when they were young. He used to be very protective of her, what ended in him getting buried under a pile of burning woodblocks. His face was ruined, that’s why he always conceals his face. Because of that, his personality turned from protective to rather scary and to-the-point. His parts mainly are the one of the side-characters or villains.

Kakashi no Keishin: he forms the muscles behind the theatre group. He moves the heavy pieces of theatre equipment across and under the stage, and we saw him even work as a temporary personal elevator for Akazuki in the first episode.

Zagashira: he’s the old man who used to be very close to both Emusu and Yuyama. He took care of them when Yuyama’s parents died, and finally he came in contact with Ibaraza, and the three joined his theatre group, looking for revenge.

Benimaru: he’s the young boy who’s with the theatre group. He, along with who is most probably his sister, takes care of the small jobs who have to be done, as getting visitors into the theatre, handing out pamphlets, playing as extras and handling the small pieces of decor.

Kobako: most probably Benimara’s older sister. Quite cheerful, as well as her younger brother.

Nakaiya Juubei: probably the main bad guy for now. He has some kind of affinity with spirits, and some kind of history with Akizuki.

Hario Genba: he’s the guy with the scarred face who was killed in the previous episode. At one time, he lead some kind of army and killed Yuyama’s parents. When Emusu tried to struggle against him, he made a careless mistake and his face ended up being halfly burned. It seems that he either worked for Nakaiya, who became sick of him and sought a way to kill him, or he was working for someone who got in the way of Nakaiya, thus forcing the latter to kill him.

Kawai Tsuginosuke: I had to think for a while before I found out who this guy is. He was the samurai who was sitting right next to Nakaiya Juubei, wasn’t he?

Kotoha: a newly introduced character this episode. Her role will probably come later in the anime, and she seems to be connected to the person below. Looking at her clothing and way of talking would suggest that she works at some kind of brothel, though I could be wrong in this. The end of the episode also shows that she knows the theatre group.

Katsu Awa-no-kami Kaishuu (Katsu Kaishuu): another newly introduced character, he’s got his own troubles, as he needs a bodyguard around him. Because of this, he’ll probably get involved with Akizuki and the others.

Saigou Kichinosuke Takamori (Saigo Takamori): the sniper who was partially responsible for killing off Hariwa Genba. He’s hired by Nakaiya, and during this episode, we see him attempting to kill Yuyama. This means that Nakaiya has some kind of grudge against the theatre group, which hints at some kind of history between the two parties as well.

Sadly, even more characters were introduced this episode, but the creators didn’t find them important enough to give them a place on the website. Thankfully, their names did appear on the screen as they were introduced. At least. For some of them. -_-

Koma no Shouten-sama: a very old person, probably a master in martial arts. That, or he is very knowledgeable. The fact that Akizuki refers to him with “sama” and not “sensei” makes me suspect the latter. I suspect that Akizuki served under him at some point.

The name of Shouten-sama’s assistant/bodyguard shall forever remain a mystery, though. If I had to guess, it’d be Shinza, though that was just a random word Shouten-sama used when he looked at him. Anyway, Shinza seems to be looking over Shouten-sama. It’s clear that he’s an old man, and quite respected as well. This indeed suggests that he hired some kind of help or bodyguard.

Katsu gets a visitor during this episode. His name also is displayed, but in kanji and katakana combined. He seems to be a foreigner, named H. S. Parkes. He comes to deliver Katsu a bodyguard, as apparently, he’s in danger. Whether this is because of Nakaiya or another person, I don’t really know.

The name of this bodyguard is never known, even though his role in this anime will probably be rather large, as he’s quite skilled. His character also seems interesting, with the one eye missing at all.

Then, during one explanation, another person gets shown: Saigoukichi no Suketakamori. He either sent the bodyguard to Katsu, or he forms some kind of threat. (Yes, I’m watching this anime without understanding any word of the dialogue. Nice, isn’t it? ^^;)

A thing I liked in this episode was the way the bodyguard was introduced. Firstly, H. S. Packs appeared on the screen, and only when the bodyguard appeared, the background music took a turn towards a very serious, suspenseful tune. It’s also a nice touch to see the enemy sniper actually practicing his aim at the sea. This would suggest that one of his future missions involves sniping people from a boat. At least, if he somehow manages to escape from the cliff-hanger. Things looked pretty hopeless when he was surrounded by both Akizuki and the theatre group.

Anyhow, it’s great to see that finally people other than myself are starting to blog about this series. I really began to find things strange when I appeared to be the only one to talk about such a high-quality series for more than a week. Ah well, once the first subs start appearing, I’ll believe that this series will be gaining popularity fast. But still, this series doesn’t deserve to be carried in such low-quality raws. It’s very ironic: the show with the best production values of the season gets to be packaged in the lowest quality video files. (^^;)

Ayatsuri Sakon – 14 – Egyptian Legends This Time

October 20, 2006 by psgels, posted in Ayatsuri Sakon

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Seriously, I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies on Ayatsuri Sakon already, but the director in this one must have been the bloodiest so far. Okay, perhaps along with the beheading of the first episode. But that’s what you get when you stab a person with an Egyptian sword and hang her upside down.

Anyway, the actors:

Yuuki Mari. She’s the director of a museum with lots of Egyptian artefacts. She got killed at the beginning of the episode. It seems that she made a lot of enemies when she was still alive, which could give anyone a motive. An exciting murder. The current arc promises to be great. 🙂

Isshiki Seiji. He’s the assistant director. At one time, he was Yuuki Mari’s boss, but that changed when she became director of the museum. He likes to annoy and scare others, though despite his confidence, he makes a lot of errors. Sakon, of course, discovers these errors (for example, him confusing the Egyptian Sphinx with the Greek one, the Egyptian is just a huge stone statue, the Greek was the one who had a nice dinner whenever his victims couldn’t solve his riddles). The murder was committed at 8:00. At 8:45, he got phoned because Yuuki didn’t show up. To get from his house to the museum, you need one hour and 30 minutes, but he was the only one, except for Yuuki herself, who holds the key to the room in which she was killed. That means that either he did it, went somewhere apart from his house, received the call on his cell phone and planned to arrive 90 minutes after he was phoned, or someone found a creative way to lock the door.

Takahashi Yoshie was Yuuki’s former secretary, and she now still works in that same spot. Rumours are floating around that Yuuki took away her boyfriend, though they’re just rumours made up by people, scared to become the major suspect.

Kisaragi is the manager of the museum. He had a lot of arguments with Yuuki, as she had a nasty tendency to remove all valuable objects which didn’t get any attention from the display. Kisaragi also used to be a teacher of Sakon. When Sakon was young, he used to get bullied often. In a way, that’s logical as he’s a boy who’s carrying around puppets. You’d wonder why he changed from being a teacher to being the manager of a museum.

Hamada is one of the few staff members who managed to escape Yuuki’s enthusiastic firing policy. He may have lost a few good friends because of this.

Tadokoro is the security Chief. He got injured when Yuuki tried to move a heavy artefact in a rather aggressive way. Still, he says that he’s still loyal to her, as she agreed to cover all expenses of the accident.

One thing I dislike about Ayatsuri Sakon is the silhouette of the murderer which is shown before the arcs start. If I recall correctly, the first three arcs didn’t have this, but both arc four and arc five had this. It’s too bad, as they sortof ruin the fun a bit. I’ll try to ignore them for now. So far, I’m loving this arc. I’m really interested in how it’ll continue.

Asatte no Houkou – 03 – Small Shoko is so Cute. ^_^

October 20, 2006 by psgels, posted in Asatte no Houkou

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

The episode starts out surprisingly light, when compared with the previous one. It features Karada and Shoko shopping for the things they need. Shoko needs a new pair of glasses, and both of them need new clothes, as their sizes aren’t the same to wear each other’s clothes without any problems. Especially Shoko was so CUTE in this. ^_^

Karada may have wished to become an adult, at heart, she’s still a child. She does have to cope with responsibility, and she must learn to do things on her own. It proves to be harder than she thought, and so, Shoko has to help her in this. Both of them have huge difficulties in playing their parts. Still, Karada isn’t as hopeless as in the previous episode. It seems that she managed to stuff her feelings inside of her, and she actually makes food for Shoko.

While the previous episode was focused on Karada, this episode focuses on Shoko. The result is a totally different episode than the previous one. It’s still full of emotions, but totally different ones. Shoko may have been an adult, she still is bothered by the fact that she changed. Especially when she runs into Hiro, and he doesn’t recognize her. In the end, she lies that she’s Shoko’s little sister.

Because of this, the climax of the show was exceptionally good. Shoko gets a bit sick of Hiro who doesn’t recognize her, so she runs away. In the end, she confesses to him, and brings him back to her apartment, in which she reveals that Karada has grown up. How Karada will react to this, we’ll see in the next episode.

We also get a bit of background information, regarding what happened to Shoko, Hiro and Karada before this anime started. Karada actually isn’t Hiro’s real sister. That, or they didn’t live together at a certain time. When their parents died, Hiro was asked to come over to America, where Karada was living, in order to take care of her. Because of this, Hiro spent all his free time with Karada, and ignored Shoko. She, eventually left the town, only to come back a number of years later. It’s interesting, as it shows why Hiro was so devoted to his sister. He never knew her, and he probably didn’t want her to have any more lonely memories. If the two were siblings who already lived together during the death of their parents, I can imagine that things would have gotten resolved in a totally different way, seeing as how the two already knew each other, so that they knew what would be best for the other.

Even though during the episodes, not a lot of things happen, I’m loving this series. I like the way that this series really takes its time in telling its story. Not to mention the cuteness of Shoko. (^_^)

Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club – 16 – Surprisingly Dark Story

October 20, 2006 by psgels, posted in Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Okay, this story just keeps getting more and more interesting. And remember that we’re only at episode 3 of 13, which means that there’s still a lot that has to happen. This was another episode with difficult dialogue, so I didn’t pick up everything. Especially the plans of the magic people are still a mystery to me, though by the looks of it, they plan to actually use Sasami and the others for their goals.

We start the episode with Sasami’s father revealing that he actually does come from the magic world, or that he can at least use magic. He definitely wants to save Sasami and the others, and comes up with a plan. We then switch to Sasami and the others, along with Itoki and the others. There’s its demonstrated what the power of the members of the mahou shoujo club combined can actually manage. Quite an explosion follows.

Misao, also, is changing. More than anyone else. For one of the first times, she actually has people who care for her, and give her attention. She’s also been progressing more than any other because of this. This issue definitely will get worse as the anime progresses. Last episode also showed that she’s growing way from Sasami more and more. Her broken ring, which breaks during this episode, is only more proof of this.

Sasami’s father’s plan: Washuu and Daimon go and rescue the girls, while he himself goe to check up on Amitabu. I’m not sure what his link is in this, didn’t manage to pick that one up. Meanwhile, it’s become evening, and Sasami hears Amitabu’s harp again, so she heads out. Ryouki meanwhile acts as bait, while Washuu and Daimon sneak into the dormitories. They wake up the four remaining girls, and urge them to leave the magical world, not stating their reasons. Misao refuses in the beginning, seeing as everyone has been treating her so kindly. In the end, Washuu pushes her to go anyway.

We then switch to Sasami’s father, who arrives at a huge tree. In this tree, a second Amitabu has been captured in thorns. That means that there are two of them, one who’s been dancing with Sasami and who met Sasami’s father at the beach, and the one who’s been caught in thorns. Just what is the meaning of this. Has it already been revealed, or is it supposed to be a mystery? (*kicks lack of Japanese*)

Sasami, meanwhile, runs into the other Amitabu, playing on his harp again. The meeting started very cute, but took a surprising twist when Amitabu learned of Sasami’s father. (Apparently, he’s named Ginji). He suddenly turns serious, grabs her and flies off.

After this, Washuu really came in her element, when she guided Tsukasa, Anri, Misao and Makoto back to the entrance of the human world. She looked almost freaky in her desires to keep the girls safe. She meets up with Ginji, who discovers that Sasami’s gone. The latter then goes to look for her and sees Amitabu fly through the sky with Sasami in his arms. Sasami, however, isn’t scared at all. She’s after all, still in love with him, and actually falls asleep in his arms.

I think that in the past, Ginji and Amitabu had some kind of history, in which they were close friends. Ginji then did something along the lines of abandoning Amitabu. That’s what made him so happy when he saw him again, though I think that Amitabu still has a grudge against him. But what does this have to do with the bridge from the magical world to the human world? And what role do the demons have in this picture?

I absolutely loved the following scene. Washuu and the others have to jump off a considerably high cliff in order to flee to the human world. Washuu tries to act all brave, though when she attempts to catch the jumping Tsukasa, she most probably made some miscalculations. Whent hey almost reached the gate, the other witches arrive. Ginji, meanwhile, caught up with Amitabu, who confirms even more that he was left alone. But for some reason, this Amitabu speaks in third person.

Washuu, meanwile, uses a strange grenade which creates another link to the human world. Ginji, Amitabu and Sasami arrive as well. The head witch tries to stop them, though for some reason, she doesn’t want to go against either Ginji or Amitabu. Washuu, Daimon, Ginji and the girls then head to the human world, and Sasami says goodbye to Amitabu, who flies off afterwards.

We end the episode at some kind of witch council. It’s surrounded by white trees, and a strange voice sounds. He keeps calling certain persons traitors. He also says something completely inaudible.

Death Note – 03 – Shinigami’s Eyes

October 20, 2006 by psgels, posted in Death Note

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

An intermezzo. Both Light and L are preparing some plans, but no real conflicts happened. Light’s father happens to be the inspector of police, in charge of the search for Kira. I’ve got a few problems with this. I mean, isn’t it too much of a coincidence that out of all the millions of people who live in Kanto, his father is the one who is one more important people who are after him?

In any case, Light uses this convenience to his advantage when he makes clear to L that he’s got contact with the police. He figures that by doing this, the police and L will end up cooperating less and less because of doubts from the police’s side. They then probably investigate on L’s identity as well, after which Light snatches his life away. Still, I have a feeling that it won’t go this easily. L, meanwhile, has found out that Kira is most likely a student of some sort, due to the fact that the times all happened at times when normal students have a bit of free time. If you combine this with the fact that Kira has some kind of connection to the police, then I think his next step is to look for sons or daughters of police officers. It’s probably what the shady guy who’s been following Light at during the second half of the episode is up to.

Ryuk also makes a very interesting deal with Light. There are two major differences between shinigamis and humans who use the Death Note. The first is that whenever a shinigami writes a person’s name in the Death note, the remaining life-span of that person gets added to the life span of the shinigami. That means that you can’t kill a shinigami, unless they’re really lazy (I loved the parts in which Ryuk states the obvious(^^)). It makes you wonder, though. Why do shinigami exist? What’s their purpose? Do they just live to scribble names in their Death Note every ten years or something?

The second difference is that whenever a shinigami sees a person, the name of this person, along with his lifespan appear on top of this person. Well then, Ryuk is willing to trade his eyes, which make Light do his job more accurately, for the half of his remaining life-span. We all know that Light is going to say yes, but what’s up with the cliff-hanger at the end of the episode? Also, this brings up an interesting question. Something that also came in Night Head Genesis on the table: will these estimated life-spans be 100% accurate, outside of the Death Note? What if Light looks at himself in the mirror? Doesn’t that mean that he’ll know exactly when he’ll die? That’s indeed great for a strategic element.

Red Garden – 02 – I like the character designs. ^^

October 19, 2006 by psgels, posted in Red Garden

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

I am LOVING the direction this anime is going. In almost every other anime I’ve seen, whenever characters are put in front of unexpected danger, they’re surprisingly calm. They run away a bit, think quietly about the situation, drink a cup of tea, experiment a bit with their new-found powers and the enemy’s gone. Though in Red Garden, this is not the case. The girls really have to struggle for their lives, they’re scared, they shake. If this keeps up, Red Garden is going to be awesome. ^^

I love the diverse cast of characters. There’s only one girl who really has had experience in fights. The others clearly have never fought at all. Target tries to run away, though her courage fails her at times, especially when she’s the monster’s target, Kate tries to help others and ends up getting bitten and Rose is just plain hopeless with situations like these.

Another thing I really like was the singing scene. For what seems to be one of the first times ever, plain high school girls don’t suddenly have the same singing voice of a J-Pop idol. And their voices actually sound full of despair. It’s a great job done by the voice-actors. Still, a lot of people seem to be turned off by it. Is it that important to hear J-Pop idols sing all of the songs? Same with the graphics. The reason most people don’t check out this series is because the art is out of the ordinary. I find it beautiful, though I’ve read on a fair number of other blogs that the art was a major turnoff. Do characters really have to be the same style for every anime out there?

Especially the aftermath was great to see. Four normal girls are actually being forced to engage in life-threatening situations. They seem to have special powers, but they don’t have any experience at all. If they refuse, their lives get taken away for certain. The looks on their faces when they heard this was amazingly beautiful.

Still, I’m wondering how the series will be continuing. If I recall correctly, Red Garden will have 24 episodes. It’s clear that over time, the girls will get more and more experience, and learn to use their powers better. I’m wondering how the creators will manage to keep this anime interesting, as the girls will probably end up getting used to the fact that they’re being used.

(Edit: urgh… this will be another one of those horrible anime to screencap, as most of the interesting scenes seem to be playing at night… )

A few thoughts and rants about series who make almost no chance at all to get fully subbed

October 19, 2006 by psgels, posted in Special Articles

I don’t write that much articles, but I felt like I had to say something about this issue. Those who frequent my blog probably should know that I’ve been annoyed with this issue for a long time.

Yesterday, I saw the first episode of an anime called Rakugo Tennyo Oyui. Ever heard of it? Nope? That’s what I thought. I missed it as well. It’s a series which aired during this year’s winter season. I originally thought that the creators delayed it, and that it never aired in the first place. Guess what? It did air, it finished after 12 episodes and only one sub has come out so far. But as that one was entirely neglected, the fansubbers gave up after only one episode. Well then. Does Rakugo Tennyo Oyui deserve to be neglected so much? Is it really so bad that people don’t want to even touch it? Of course not. It’s a perfectly fine light-hearted mahou shoujo with comedy elements. There were only one or two annoying characters, apart from that, the rest of the characters were very interesting to see. Especially the way they interacted with each other.

Rakugo Tennyo Oyui isn’t the first anime to be so horribly neglected. I originally thought that Makai Senki Disgaea was ignored, but at least this series got all its episodes subbed. There are much worse cases of ignored anime. Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club, for example. It’s a truly excellent series, but almost nobody could find out, as only one episode has come out subbed. Himawari? An actually nice, inspiring slice-of-life series about a ninja academy. It’s few attempts at comedy also were very good and the series sparkles in character development.

Shoujo Yang Geum no Yume? great adventure series about a girl who loves cooking. This one also just got one sub. Kirarin Revolution? A semi-serious story about a girl chasing down her dreams to become a pop idol. Nothing wrong with that. Despite its annoying elements, I enjoyed watching the only two subs which came out. Hime-Sama Goyoujin? A perfectly fine comedy anime about idiots acting stupid. Great if you don’t want to think about anything. Yoshinaga-Chi no Gargoyle turned out to be hilarious, but because there were only two subs which came out, this series got horribly neglected as well.

My point is, that each of this series ranges from good to awesome. None of them deserves the treatment it’s got. Now, let’s take a look at the really bad series, shall we? Coyote Ragtime Show was fully subbed, almost right after it aired and id had three fansub groups working on it. It’s the same with Zero no Tsukaima. Yoake Mai Yori Ruri-Iro na got its first two episodes subbed right after they aired by two fansub groups. Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukifu wo also has two groups working on it. Shounen Onmyouji also got subbed in less than a week after it came out. Same with Tokimeki Memorial, Gift and Love Dol.

Now, let’s take a look at the popular series. Both Kanon and Death Note have a massive SIX fansub groups, working on them at the same time. It doesn’t matter whether they’re good shows or not good show, six fansub groups is way too much. Two would have been more than enough. And there are more series like this which get way more fansubbers working on them than is actually needed (Zero no Tsukaima, .Hack//Roots, Coyote Ragtime Show, etc).

Notice this trend? The popular shows get oversubbed and because of that, the ignored shows get no chance of being fully subbed, in order to get the attention they deserve. And the annoying thing is, that it’s very easy to actually solve this problem. Take Death Note, for example. Live-Evil and Toriyama World can just continue to bring out Death Note at a steady pace, so that C1 can tackle, for example, Himawari. Desuno can focus on Shoujo Yang Geum no Yume, SOY can work on Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club and Animanda can sub Kirarin Revolution. Same with Kanon. SS-Eclipse and Sprocket can continue with Kanon, so that Shinsen-Subs can work on a show like Jigoku Shoujo or Marginal Prince. A.F.K. can try to handle Rakugo Tennyo Oyui, AQS-Anime can try to sub Yoshinaga-chi no Gargoyle and AnimeU can give Hime-Sama Goyoujin a try. And voila, a lot of problems would be solved. This, of course, is just an example.

I’m not trying to attack, flame or troll the fansubbers in any way. You’re all great people, who bring anime to the non-Japanese community. But I felt that I just had to say something about this. It’s been a trend for a while, and I’ve been getting more and more annoyed at it. Especially when the solution is so simple.

Popolocrois 2003 – 18 – Finally we have an actually great episode. :)

October 18, 2006 by psgels, posted in Popolocrois 2003

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Seriously. The previous episode was nice and all, but it was also rather boring and dull. It really ruined my mood for the show a bit, and I was about to give up hope…

Then this episode started. Seriously, it was the best episode so far! The creators were very sneaky in this. The first minutes start out mediocre again. The Moon drop has to be found, and it’s located on the altar of the moon, which only appears during the full moon. The Dakart arrives right at the moment of a full moon, so they’ve only got less than a day to find its location, or they have to wait for a full month. Basic and convenient.

Then, when Pinon and the others actually arrived in Popolocrois, this episode actually started to get funny when it seems that Paanya has a very convenient power: mimicry. He can even copy all of the powers of the person he copies. It’s great to finally see a bad guy who tries to actually use a strategy to get to his goals. Especially because Paanya’s just a big goofball, and he screws up easily. He demonstrates his powers with a little play between Pietoro and Narcia, as he’s just waiting in Popolocrois castle for Pinon and the others to return, and he’s really bored to death. XD

His plan is simple: hide Sabow and Lulu in a closet, and pretend to be Sabow, in order to find out the location of the moon drop. His plan was so obvious when you looked at things as a viewer. It was great to see him pretend to be Sabow, without being found out. The crew of the Dakart then goes to search the castle, with lots of references to events which happened earlier in the series. I especially loved it when Aina found a picture of Pietoro and Elena when they were young and started fangirling. (^^;)

Of course, it doesn’t take long till Paanya gets discovered and the location of the temple of the moon gets found. Paanya retreats, preparing his second plan. The Moon Drop is located on the small island behind the castle, the one with the dragon temple. When Pinon, Luna, Marco, Elena and Aina walk in the forest, Paanya executes his second plan: lure Marco away from the others and pretend to be him. This plan seems to work, and he does get hold of the Moon Drop, though then Marco catches up with them again, so he’s forced to drop it. He flees and prepares for his third plan, and boy, he works fast.

In the time it takes for Pinon and the others to get back to the castle, he overpowers the crew of the Dakart, moves all the statues away, stuffs them into a closet, ties the members of the Dakart to them, and prepares himself to pretend to play for Pietoro. By this time, things really get serious when Paanya pretends to be both Leona as Pietoro as Narcia. This really does something to both Pinon and Marco. Especially the former gets incredibly happy when he sees his mother alive. So cute. (^^) Still, Paanya acquires the Moon Drop, and flees.

Things get even worse when Zephys sends out a giant crab to set the Dakart to flames. Paanya then heads for the island of petrification, which is said to resolve the spell which binds Zephys. Pinon, Luna and Marco are after him, and they reach the beach. Until they’re attacked by the same crab who destroyed the Dakart. Pinon and Luna go after Paanya, who ends up cornered. He then uses his powers to try, confuse and beat the former.

Right before the climax, something very interesting happens. Zephys, in the form of Luna’s mother appears, and takes the lunar drop from Paanya. Luna finds out that her mother is in the complot, Elena finds out that her Dakart is destroyed and Zephys heads off to the island of petrification.

The great thing about this episode is its combination between comedy and drama. The drama just keeps building up. The episode starts with a few serious scenes, which increase in intensity during every climax. During the first three quarters of the episode, there’s also lots of comedy, despite the seriousness. When the comedy stops, and some awful facts get revealed (the lunar drop being stolen, Luna finding out about her mother and the Dakart being gone in this case) they work out greatly.

IF this show can keep up with THIS level, we’re IN for something AWESOME. 🙂