Author: psgels

Fun With Trailers

by psgels, posted in Special Articles

I was in a certain mood to check out as much trailers as possible. These are the results. I won’t be providing any links, if you want the trailer, then you can just use Google or YouTube. They were easy to find, so I don’t think that providing links is really nessecary.

Flag

I’m really getting exited about this series. The trailer only strengthened this. The character design will probably look very interesting, and the mecha-design and action scenes also looked very impressive. And that’s coming from a guy who isn’t too much into the mecha genre. The anime will indeed be action-packed. That’s certain. Though the thing to set this anime apart is the fact that the main characters have got nothing to do with these mechas. They’re just a bunch of photographers, set out to collect information. The music also sounded of very high quality.

Binbou Shimai Monogatari

I may be wrong, but I think the title means something along the lines of “Tales of a Poor Family”. It’ll be a slice of life-show. It doesn’t look too impressive, and it’ll probably revolve around the main characters, trying to make a living whilst living under poor circumstances. The trailer had some very cute moments, so I’ll at least check this one out, even though I dislike most of those slice of life-shows.

Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls

I’m still wondering whether this anime will become a total succes, or a big failure. Still, the trailer gave a lot of hints. Apparently, the personalities of the girls will be changed. Blossom will be more of a fangirl and shopping-freak, instead of the bossy person focused on strategies in the cartoon. Bubbles will be miss-popular and have a very cool personality, instead of her crybaby version in the cartoon. Buttercup will be more ambitious, instead of her tough character from the cartoon. I have no idea about the professor, though he seems to have some kind of assistant. The major seems to have gotten some brains, and Mojo Jojo seems to be playing for villain. I’m hoping that we do get to see the gang-green-gang, though. Still, I’m a bit worried about the personalities of our three main characters, as they don’t seem interesting at all, and they remind me too much of certain american cartoons. The original series had some good points, but also some incredibly bad points. It’s up to the creators to remove these incredibly bad points.

Zero no Tsukaima

Alas, I was wrong. This won’t be the next Magikano. It’ll be worse. It’ll be the next Shakugan no Shana. I can’t believe that we have to witness such a horrible mess yet again. Not another Tsundere for this season! We’ve got enough of these already! The trailer just took away all of the enthusiasm I had for this Shana-clone. I can already see people going crazy about this. The katana probably gets turned into a magic wand and melon-pan gets turned into whatever favourite food of the main character. It’ll probably get its own SOS-fansite as well, including its own set of fan-made towels and t-shirts. I just know it! I’m so hoping for the side-characters to be able to save this anime.

Gedo Senki

This is the Ghibli-movie which is coming up in July. It’s promising to look awesome. I like the character designs, especially those of the main characters (which is a rare thing). A lot seems to be happening, and the graphics promise to look just amazing. It’ll probably take till january till it gets finally subbed (if it goes through the same process as Tsubasa and xxxHolic), though this is something to be watching out for.

Project Blue Earth SOS

After seeing the trailer, my anticipation for this anime has downed a bit. The art stopped looking amazing, it’s just above average. The two main characters are also exceptionally talented persons. At least, they behave like that. I hoped them to be just some ordinary high-school students who got involved against their will. Though I’m fearing more and more that they’ve got some elite goverment positions. In any case, aliens attack, and they’ve got flashy beams that destroy anything that hits them. Exiting. Not.

Coyote Ragtime Show

This was a trailer which made me extremely enthusiastic. The characters look amazing and unique, not to mention the music. It’s also got an interesting plot to back it up. This’ll definately be on my top list to watch.

Night Head Genesis

You know, this show might actually be interesting. At first, I wrote it down because of the horrible site, but the trailer showed some nice things. I especially like the look on each of the characters, and the girl on the moon also suggests at some mystery being thrown in. Who knows? The show might become very entertaining. In any case, if the creators make the little boy an important character, I’ll keep watching.

Le Chevalier d’Eon

The other good trailers really made me exited about the shows. That’s indeed what a good trailer’s supposed to do. This trailer, however, did not make me exited at all. That either means that it’s a bad trailer, or it’s a bad show. I’m hoping the former, as I like the setting. Still, the art didn’t look impressive at all, the animation was a bit buggy and none of the characters really grabbed me.

Makai Senki Disgaea – 11 – Awesomeness

by psgels, posted in Makai Senki Disgaea



The thing with Disgaea is, it’s either incredibly good, or incredibly bad. At least, that was the fact, until the ninth episode arrived. After that, the bad part completely disappeared. In fact, this episode was the best yet. As the story now takes its focus towards the main characters of the show, some things about Laharl were revealed. This made for a totally incredible episode.

This episode was mostly about Flonne, trying to understand Laharl better, backed up with some amazing events. Etna tells her about Laharl’s mother, which is the first time that she’s been mentioned. She died, giving her life to Laharl. The Prinnies also get their secret revealed, which totally explains their acting in the previous episodes. They appear to be the souls of criminals, who have to repent for the sins they commited. Once they’ve done that, their souls are taken back, and are reincarnated again, in the hope of them, leading a better life. The pink Prinny also returns, and she appears to be (SHOCK) Laharl’s mother! The scene at which mother and son managed to see each other for such a short time was just so incredibly sad. Kudos to the creators.

Earlier, I said that Disgaea doesn’t work when it doesn’t focus on comedy, though I entirely take that back now. This was just drama, perfectly executed. People really need to forget about the game, and remember that this is the Anime called Disgaea, and not the game. The two of them can’t be compared that easily.

I also loved Mid-Boss. He already was great in his three-second long appearances throughout the anime, but whenever he appeared, something funny happened. You could count on it that he was about to make some kind of fool out of himself, and disappear as fast as he showed up. Even though these scenes were greatly amusing, what do you think happens when the guy begins acting serious? That’s right. The huge contrast between his serious side and his wacky side had an incredible effect. That’s something that a small selection of comedy-anime understands: create a character who is on one side incredibly hyperactive/silly/whatever, and then force this person into a situation in which he or she gets an active story, and has to act serious. A lot of anime mess this up, though (Magikano, anyone?), but other anime get it right (Jubei, Siberian Yagyuu and Excel Saga, for example). It’s all about creating the impact, and Disgaea managed to do it.

You also can’t come with the argument that Disgaea just bears one-dimensional characters, without any development at all. This show is filled with it. Remember the Flonne from the beginning of the anime? At this moment, she wants to know what’s going on, compared to her rather impulsive, short-minded version at the beginning of the episode. Etna also got more relaxed after episode six and Laharl begins to listen to Flonne more and more (her ramblings on the meaning of love and peace remains hilarious, even after this many episodes).

Still, the highlight of the show remains the short reunion of mother and son. Laharl appears to have some human genes, though these made him get extremely cold when his mother passed away. I loved it when I saw that his mother didn’t want to so say goodbye for a second time. Although he said nothing at that moment, it did hit Laharl at an important spot. And that’s what matters.

Overall, this episode was amazing. Drama at its best. I’d like to see how the ones who turned Disgaea down would react when they see this episode.

Interesting detail: Flonne recognizing that Laharl and Mid-Boss look a lot alike, based on their air of exitement. ^^;

xxxHolic – 11 – Mokona’s So Cool!

by psgels, posted in xxxHolic



This episode continued the awesomeness that xxxHolic managed to start in the previous episodes. Both in terms of comedy as in terms of stories. I just love seeing Yuuko, Maru, Moro and Mokona getting giddly over just about everything, and this episode was no exception. The scenes which happened in the air treated the viewer with some great choreography. Especially when Watanuki fell from the sky, I really noticed how great that scene looked.

It’s great to see that characters are actually returning. In fact, it seems that the sprites will be playing some kind of role, later in the anime. The fact that the rain sprite appears in two episodes, and gets mentioned in another one has to say something. Especially if you include the fact that both this episode as the seventh one were the only ones who got featured in the OP.

Mokona was just utter coolness. Just try to compare such a cute and fluffy animal with the enormous bird it was riding. I also just love it when the Watanuki and Mokona are alone on some kind of mission. Mokona’s playful character really helps Watanuki get through trials like these. Even though he doesn’t like it. ^^;

The Vestal Sprite was too cute, by the way. At first, it’s obvious that she doesn’t want to talk to Watanuki. Though as the episode progresses, I really believed that she wasn’t interested in neither Watanuki or Doumeki. That made the end of the episode turn into a small surprise after all. I really liked her character art, especially if you combine it with these firefly-esque lighty thingies.

We also get to see the five unidentified flying objects which were haunting around the OP. I kept wondering what they were. Well, they appear to be Karasu Tengu, or bird-like servants of the Vestal Sprite. And rather short tempered ones as well. I just loved their squeaky little voice-acting and the way they yelled towards Watanuki. i loved them even more at the end of the episode, when they were chased by Mokana in the background. It’s a little detail, but I can really appreciate such subtle details. Especially when Mokona just kept chasing those guys until Watanuki told him (her?) to stop. ^^;

You can say that Watanuki’s relationship with Himawari is annoying. And yes, at times it is. Though Doumeki manages to play for an adequate rival in order to spice up this relationship a bit. That’s again something that this episode displays, as Doumeki manages to steal the lunch that Watanuki had prepared for Himawari. ^^; I also loved the fact that Himawari actually sent a letter to Yuuko, in order for her to give it to Watanuki. Did she have any specific reason to do that?

Overall, xxxHolic is just a great anime. Ranging from Yuuko, Maru, Moro and Mokona trying to get on Watanuki’s nerves as much as possible to Doumeki’s sarcastical comments to the very interesting stories told at each episode, along with the themes and characters that come with it. I don’t care if the art is low-quality. It looks great, and that’s what matters, no?

Review Index – Alphabetical – (# – G)

by psgels, posted in Alphabetical - (# - G)

.Hack//GU Trilogy – (Movie) – 77/100
.Hack//Roots – (TV) – 74/100
.Hack//The Movie – (Movie) – 80/100
07-Ghost – (TV) – 75/100
100 Stories – (TV) – 76/100
11Eyes – (TV) – 80/100
3×3 Eyes – (OVA) – 71/100
A Chinese Ghost Story – (Movie) – 81/100
A Letter to Momo – (Movie) – 86/100
A Tree of Palme – (Movie) – 80/100
Aachi wa Ssipak – (Movie) – 70/100
Adolescence of Utena – (Movie) – 87/100
Afro Samurai – (TV) – 47/100
Aim for the Top: Diebuster – (OVA) – 80/100
Aim for the Top: Gunbuster – (OVA) – 80/100
Air – (TV) – 90/100
Air The Motion Picture – (Movie) – 85/100
AKB0048 – (TV) – 82,5/100
AKB0048 Second Season – (TV) – 80/100
Akira – (Movie) – 76/100
Alexander Senki – Reign the Conqueror – (TV) – 83/100
Alien Nine – (OVA) – 86/100
Amatsuki – (TV) – 90/100
Amnesia – (TV) – 64/100
Andersen Monogatari – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Angel Beats – (TV) – 82.5/100
Angelic Layer – (TV) – 82,5/100
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai. – (TV) – 92,5/100
Ano Natsu de Matteru – (TV) – 81/100
Anne of Green Gables – (TV) – 87,5/100
Anne no Nikki – The Diary of Anne Frank – (Movie) – 90/100
Another – (TV) – 84/100
Antique Bakery – (TV) – 85/100
Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzoo – (TV) – 80/100
Aoi Blink – (TV) – 77,5/100
Aoi Bungaku – (TV) – 92,5/100
Aoi Hana – (TV) – 87,5/100
Ao no Exorcist – (TV) – 75/100
Appleseed 2004 – (Movie) – 70/100
Appleseed Ex Machina – (Movie) – 75/100
Aquarion Evol – (TV) – 82,5/100
Arakawa Under the Bridge X Bridge – (TV) – 70/100
Arashi no Yoru ni – (Movie) – 75/100
Area 88 – (OVA) – 87/100
Area 88 (2004) – (TV) – 75/100
Arete Hime – (Movie) – 89/100
Argento Soma – (TV) – 80/100
Aria The Animation – (TV) – 80/100
Aria the Natural – (TV) – 82,5/100
Aria The Origination – (TV) – 85/100
Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – (TV) – 92,5/100
Armored Trooper Votoms – (TV) – 87,5/100
Armored Trooper Votoms – Big Battle – (OVA) – 50/100
Armored Trooper Votoms – The Brilliant Heretic – (TV) – 77,5/100
Armored Trooper Votoms – Case;Irvine – (Movie) – 60/100
Armored Trooper Votoms – The Last Red Shoulder – (OVA) – 80/100
Armored Trooper Votoms – Pailsen Files – (OVA) – 85/100
Armored Trooper Votoms – Roots of Ambition – (OVA) – 80/100
Arusu the Adventure – (OVA) – 86/100
Asagiri no Miko – (TV) – 77/100
Asatte no Houkou – (TV) – 93/100
Ashita no Nadja – (TV) – 90/100
Asobi ni Iku Yo – (TV) – 70/100
Avatar – The Legend of Korra – (TV) – 81/100
Avenger – (TV) – 80/100
Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror – (TV) – 87/100
Ayatsuri Sakon – (TV) – 85/100
Baccano! – (TV) – 93/100
Bakemonogatari – (TV) – 72,5/100
Bakuman – (TV) – 80/100
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – (TV) – 89/100
Bakuretsu Hunters – (TV) – 72,5/100
Bamboo Blade – (TV) – 71/100
Barefoot Gen – (Movie) – 77,5/100
Barefoot Gen 2 – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Bartender – (TV) – 85/100
Basquash! – (TV) – 80/100
Batman – Gotham Knight – (Movie) – 77,5/100
Battle Programmer Shirase – (TV) – 72,5/100
Beck – Mongolian Chop Squad – (TV) – 85/100
Ben-To – (TV) – 85/100
Berserk – (TV) – 87,5/100
Berserk – Golden Age Chapter I – The Egg of the High King Review
Betterman – (TV) – 77,5/100
B Gata H Kei – (TV) – 82,5/100
The Big O – (TV) – 87,5/100
Binbou Shimai Monogatari – (TV) – 63/100
Birdy the Mighty – (OVA) – 75/100
Birdy the Mighty Decode – (TV) – 82,5/100
Birdy the Mighty Decode 2 – (TV) – 95/100
Black Heaven – (TV) – 80/100
Black Jack – The Two Doctors of Darkness – (Movie) – 81/100
Black Jack The Movie – (Movie) – 80/100
Black Jack OVA – (TV) – 90/100
Black Jack Special – (OVA) – 69/100
Black Lagoon – (TV) – 78/100
Black Magic M66 – (Movie) – 75/100
Black Rock Shooter – (TV) – 77,5/100
Blade – (TV) – 82,5/100
Blade of the Immortal – (TV) – 85/100
Blassreiter – (TV) – 85/100
Blood+ – (TV) – 82/100
Blood-C – (TV) – 85/100
Blue Drop – (TV) – 83/100
Blue Gender – (TV) – 87,5/100
Blue Submarine No.6 – (OVA) – 84/100
Bobby’s in Deep – (Movie) – 85/100
Bokura ga Ita – (TV) – 87,5/100
Bokura no – (TV) – 95/100
Bonen no Xamdou – (TV) – 87,5/100
Boogiepop Phantom – (TV) – 87/100
Break Blade I – (Movie) – 72,5/100
Break Blade II – (Movie) – 75/100
Break Blade III – (Movie) – 77,5/100
Break Blade IV – (Movie) – 77,5/100
Brigadoon Marin to Melan – (TV) – 85/100
Btoooom! – 81/100 – (TV)
Bungaku Shoujo – (OVA) – 70/100
Bungaku Shoujo – (Movie) – 80/100
Bus Gamer – (OVA) – 75/100
[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control – (TV) – 85/100
Canaan – (TV) – 80/100
Card Captor Sakura – The Sealed Card – (Movie) – 84/100
Casshern Sins – (TV) – 90/100
Catblue Dynamite – (Movie) – 70/100
Cencoroll – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Chaos;Head – (TV) – 77,5/100
Chihayafuru – (TV) – 87,5/100
Chihayafuru Second Season – (TV) – 89/100
Chirin no Suzu – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Chi’s Sweet Home – (TV) – 82,5/100
Chi’s New Address – (TV) – 72,5/100
Chocchan’s Story – (Movie) – 85/100
Chocolate Underground – (TV) – 37,5/100
Clannad – (TV) – 85/100
Clannad After Story – (TV) – 90/100
Clannad the Motion Picture – (Movie) – 85/100
Claymore – (TV) – 82/100
Cobra The Animation – 77,5/100
Cobra The Animation – Time Drive – (OVA) – 80/100
Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion – (TV) – 72,5/100
Code-E – (TV) – 84/100
Colorful – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Comedy – (Movie) – 89/100
Cowboy Bebop – (TV) – 90/100
Cowboy Bebop – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – (Movie) – 85/100
Cromartie High School – (TV) – 80/100
Cross Game – (TV) – 87,5/100
Crystal Blaze – (TV) – 89/100
D.N.Angel – (TV) – 82/100
Daddy Long Legs – (TV) – 75/100
Dai Guard – (TV) – 77,5/100
Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou – (TV) – 81/100
Dantalian no Shoka – (TV) – 82,5/100
Darker than Black – (TV) – 87/100
Darker than Black – Ryuusei no Gemini – (TV) – 87,5/100
Dead Leaves – (Movie) – 71/100
Deadman Wonderland – (TV) – 82,5/100
Death Note – (TV) – 84/100
Demashitaa! Power Puff Girls Z – (TV) – 88/100
Dennou Coil – A Circle of Children – (TV) – 93/100
Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu – (TV) – 82,5/100
Detroit Metal City – (OVA) – 77,5/100
Digimon Movie 1 – (TV) – 82,5/100
Digimon Movie 2 – Bokura no War Game – (Movie) – 80/100
Digimon Movie 3 – The Golden Digimentals – (Movie) – 82,5/100
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya – (Movie) – 85/100
DOGS: Bullets and Carnage – (OVA) – 37,5/100]
Dororon Enma-kun Meerameera – (TV) – 85/100
Dragonaut – The Resonance – (TV) – 62/100
Dragon Crisis – (TV) – 55/100
Druaga no Tou ~The Aegis of Uruk~ – (TV) – 86/100
Druaga no Tou ~The Sword of Uruk~ – (TV) – 80/100
DT Eightron – (TV) – 85/100
Durarara – (TV) – 82,5/100
Earth Girl Arjuna – (TV) – 72/100
Eden of the East – (TV) – 82,5/100
Eden of the East I – The King of Eden – (Movie) – 85/100
Eden of the East 2 – Paradise Lost – (Movie) – 82,5/100
ef – a tale of melodies – (TV) – 77,5/100
ef – a tale of memories – (TV) – 86/100
El Cazador de la Bruja – (TV) – 89/100
Ergo Proxy – (TV) – 87/100
Escaflowne – A Girl in Gaea – (Movie) – 74/100
Eternal Family – (Movie) – 91/100
Eureka 7 – (TV) – 91/100
Eureka 7 – Pocket Full of Rainbows – (Movie) – 70/100
Eve no Jikan – (OVA) – 80/100
Fafner in the Azure – (TV) – 85/100
Fafner in the Azure – Heaven and Earth – (Movie) – 85/100
Fancy Lala – (TV) – 85/100
Fantastic Adventures of Unico – (Movie) – 66/100
Fate/Zero – (TV) – 85/100
Fate Zero Season 2 – (TV) – 86/100
Five Star Stories – (Movie) – 67,5/100
Figure 17 – Tsubasa and Hikaru – (TV) – 94/100
Fireball – (TV) – 80/100
Fireball Charming – (TV) – 82,5/100
First Squad – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Flag – (TV) – 90/100
Fortune Arterial – (TV) – 77,5/100
Fractale – (TV) – 77,5/100
Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor – (Movie) – 80/100
FREEDOM – (OVA) – 85/100
From the New World – (TV) – 90/100
Fruits Basket – (TV) – 73/100
Full Metal Alchemist – The Conqueror of Shamballa – (Movie) – 50/100
Full Metal Alchemist – (TV) – 85/100
Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (TV) – 92,5/100
Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – The Sacred Star of Milos – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Full Metal Panic! – (TV) – 82,5/100
Full Metal Panic! – The Second Raid – (TV) – 80/100
Full Moon wa Sagashite – (TV) – 83/100
Furusato Japan – (Movie) – 85/100
Futakoi Alternative – (TV) – 77,5/100
G-9 – (OVA) – 75/100
Gad Guard – (TV) – 82,5/100
GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class – (TV) – 87,5/100
Gad Guard – (TV) – 82,5/100
Gag Manga Biyori – (TV) – 82,5/100
Gag Manga Biyori+ – (TV) – 85/100
Gakkou no Kaidan – (TV) – 82,5/100
Gakuen Senki Muryou – (TV) – 87,5/100
Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight – (TV) – 81/100
Galaxy Railways – (TV) – 77,5/100
Gankutsuou – (TV) – 95/100
Ga-Rei Zero – (TV) – 85/100
Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet – (TV) – 81/100
Garzey’s Wing – (OVA) – 40/100
Gasaraki – (TV) – 87,5/100
Gauche the Cellist – (Movie) – 81/100
Gedo Senki – (Movie) – 78/100
Geneshaft – (TV) – 80/100
Genius Party – 01 – Genius Party – (Movie) – 75/100
Genius Party – 02 – Shanghai Dragon – (Movie) – 80/100
Genius Party – 03 – Deathtic 4 – (Movie) – 77,5/100
Genius Party – 04 – Doorbell – (Movie) – 75/100
Genius Party – 06 – Happy Machine – (Movie) – 80/100
Genius Party – 07 – Baby Blue – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Genius Party – 08 – Gala – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Genius Party – 09 – Moondrive – (Movie) – 80/100
Genius Party – 10 – Wanwa the Doggy – (Movie) – 77,5/100
Genius Party – 11 – Toujin Kit – (Movie) – 82,5/100
Genius Party – 12 – Dimension Bomb – (Movie) – 85/100
Genji Monogatari Sennenki – (TV) – 85/100
Ghost Hound – (TV) – 92/100
Ghost Hunt – (TV) – 74/100
Ghost in the Shell – (Movie) – 74/100
Giant Killing – (TV) – 90/100
Giant Robo – (OVA) – 80/100
Gilgamesh – (TV) – 87/100
Ginga Densetsu Weed – (TV) – 77/100
Gin-Iro no Kami no Agito – (Movie) – 45/100
Gintama Episodes 1-100 – (TV) – 90/100
Gintama The Movie – Benizakura-Hen – (Movie) – 65/100
Glass Mask – (TV) – 45/100
Glass Mask (2005) – (TV) – 90/100
Glass no Kantai – (TV) – 75/100
Glass no Usagi – (Movie) – 72,5/100
Golden Boy – (OVA) – 75/100
Good Witch of the West – Astraea Testament – (TV) – 81/100
Gosenzosama Banbanzai – (OVA) – 87,5/100
Gosick – (TV) – 82,5/100
Grave of the Fireflies – (Movie) – 85/100
Great Teacher Onizuka – (TV) – 87,5/100
Guilty Crown – (TV) – 62,5/100
Guin Saga – (TV) – 87,5/100
Gungrave – (TV) – 87,5/100
Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino – (TV) – 90/100
Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji – Hakairoku-Hen – (TV) – 75/100

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 11 – Shiurei’s Popular

by psgels, posted in Saiunkoku Monogatari



This episode was another intermezzo. In the meanwhile, a few months have passed, and it’s in the middle of the winter. I didn’t understand every part of the episode, but the parts that I did understand were great to see.

Apparently, Shiurei has to wait a bit more before she gets to take the exam, as nothing is shown about this issue. We start with Shiurei chasing one of the children she teaches (Ryuuji). Apparently, he wanted to play, but this goes too far and Shiurei winds up falling in a river. That is not good in such cold weather, and she indeed ends up with a cold in bed.

Seiran then decides to stay near Shiurei’s bed. Shiurei apologizes for being a bother, though Seiran tells her not to worry. We then get to see a flashback from when Shiurei was a very small child, and her mother was still alive. Apparently, she was sick at that time too, and Shiurei being sick reminds him of that time. Small Shiurei looks too cute, by the way.

Then Shouka arrives at home. He’s startled that Shiurei’s sick, and he carries some weird items. A bit later, the two of them try to take care of Shiurei. Do I still have to tell you what happens when Shouka offers to make Shiurei some food ^^;

A flashback later, and Seiran managed to view the battlefield that Shouka left behind. Then Ran and Kouyuu, who apparently heard that Shiurei was sick, pay a visit. They’re startled as well by Shouka’s actions. ^^; Seiran quickly sends Shouka to some other duty.

Seiran, Ran and Kouyuu then talk a bit about some thing I didn’t understand, and the two of them get a bit annoyed. Shiurei gets even more guests when Reishin and Kijin decide to pay a visit, for god knows what reason. Reishin gets a bit startled by his big brother. It really seems that he looks up to him. The two of them also enter through the window. I have no idea why, but it looked funny 😀

The two of them seemed to have brought some medicine. The three of them (Shouka, Kijin and Reishin) pay Shiurei a small visit, and then they run into Seiran, Ran and Kouyuu, who are all quite startled. Especially Kouyuu. Then Ryuuji’s father pays a visit, in order to tell Shouka that Ryuuji’s gone missing. Seiran, Kouyuu and Ran go to look for him. Reishin refuses for some reason, and he gets slapped by Shouka. The interesting thing is that, even though it looked like Shouka gently slapped him, Reishin really looks hurt. Kouyuu, Ran and Seiran notice this, and begin to suspect something.

Shouka and Reishin then are alone and have a very long discussion. What the heck were they talking about? In any case, the guests don’t stop coming when even Ryuuki pays a visit to Shiurei. And he does something stupid again. ^^; He tries to take care of her, though when she asks for water, she won’t drink it. His solution to this made Shiurei quite angry when she found out. Haha. So funny. ^^;

Ryuuji is meanwhile found. He tried to make it up for Shiurei by picking one of her favourite flowers. (Any Fantastic Children-references, anyone?) The parties talk for a bit, Shiurei gets some rest and she does appreciate Ryuuki’s effords. Overall, this anime’s going pretty fast, just skipping from summer to winter like that. That could promise to become something great. Still, I have yet to see any subtle changes in Shiurei, or any of the characters. You never see that in anime, by the way, characters subtly aging. Only when three or more years have past, you can see the difference. The Law of Ueki attempted to do this, but never got farther than just letting Rinko’s hair grow, while keeping all of the other characters the same, and from what I’ve seen from screenshots on other blogs, I believe that Haruhi’s doing the same thing as well. But then again, I’d be surprised if she wasn’t the only one whose hair started growing.

Tsubasa Chronicle – 32 – Sumomo!

by psgels, posted in Tsubasa Chronicle



The past three episodes have really been messing up the overall pacing of Tsubasa Chronicle. What once was arc-filler-arc-filler-arc now got turned into arc-filler-filler-filler-possibly even more fillers-arc. The overall pacing of the second season now seems way faster than the first one, which took its time in telling the stories it had to tell. I hope that I’m not smelling budgeting problems.

There are shows at which fast pacing is the best option, for example Noein, Ergo Proxy, xxxHolic. There are also shows which benefit more from a slow pacing, like Mushishi, The Third, Saiunkoku Monogatari. And Tsubasa Chronicle. This show isn’t meant for arcs which only last one episode. It needs to build up a bit.

Anyway, about the episode, it was pretty interesting to see how Fye reacted. He got put in the same situation Kurogane was in the third episode and Syaoran in the fifth episode of the second season. Fye reacts better than Syaoran. Where Syaoran was heavily convinced of the fact that his father was his real father, Fye did understand that Chii wasn’t the same Chii as his Chii. Still, you do see that he’s having trouble remembering this. Still, I do believe that his Chii managed to transport her feelings to this Chii, in order to tell Fye that she wanted to go with him. He gets the message in the end, and then comforts this Chii, hoping that his words will reach his Chii.

It was also great to see all of the Chobits-cameos again. Especially Sumomo and her dances were awesome. I liked the way this world was designed, by the way. It’s an interesting goverment system at which at a certain night, once a year, everyone has a dream about who is to become the next king. This king will reign for a year, until his or her replacement comes. In order to ensure the king’s purity, his or her memory gets temporarily removed. Though indeed, at times, this can backfire when a totally incompetent king gets chosen. Logic is indeed missing from every possible direction, as people should be abl ot do great things with their given magic, though there are absolutely no signs of brilliant ideas, but whatever. Like I said: when you think about it, the show doesn’t make any sense. Solution: don’t think about it.

PopoloCrois Story 1998 – 14 – Gamigami’s Getting Greater Every Episode

by psgels, posted in Popolocrois Story 1998



At first, this episode seems a filler, though it’s everything but a filler, as both Pietoro as Narcia/Kai as Hyuu all got a healthy dose of character development. The episode also features one of the funniest scenes of Popolocrois yet. And that has to say something! I’m not going to spoil that one, but I have to say that when you really get to know brilliant characters like Gamigami, the way his inventions fail half of the time, his unique voice-acting and his personal taste in aesthetic design, the creators can really achieve some utterly brilliant scenes. I almost fell of my chair from laughter.

There’s also something that I noticed at that particular scene: the PopoloCrois OST Rocks! The dreamy tunes really set the mood perfectly, they’re wonderfully composed and the overall effect they have is amazing.

About the episode: as this was the first episode on PopoloCrois which had such an ugly character in it, who was supposed to be pretty and Pietoro looked like he fell in love with her, I kept fearing that this would be a disaster. Alas, I had no reason to fear at all, as the robot ends up pretending to blow herself up, which leaves Pietoro and Narcia together again. They were SO CUTE at the end of the episode! The list I made on my last post in .Hack//Roots gets another entry: Pietoro and Narcia. Kawaaiiii!

I am SO looking forward to the next couple of episodes. Mostly because of Hyuu. The last episode finally made her realize that she’s been wasting her time, and we close the episode with an image of her, flying to some unknown place. Where will she fly to? And what kind of impact will this have on the other characters?

I also just loved the fact that this humanoid-robot-girl had such an incredibly long name: “Gamigami The Great Tenter Shion Version 1.5” (do I still have to tell who gave this name to her? ^^;). As Pietoro was the only one who bothered to shorten her name, the results were just hilarious. Every time a bad guy tried to call her, he’d call ehr in her full name, when you combine this with tension, it works perfectly. ^^;

Some Quick First Impressions: Hime-Sama Goyoujin, Gun Doh Musashi and Spider Riders

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

And here’s another batch of the spring-season anime which were horribly ignored by the fansubbers. All of them are low-budget. They’re all incredibly cheesy. And when I say cheese, I really mean cheese. The OPs all are ridiculous, though catchy. Strangely enough, despite all this, I enjoyed watching them.

Hime-Sama Goyoujin

This certainly is a low-budget comedy anime. Was it funny? Yes, it was. I had some good laughs, which could easily compete with Ouran High School Host. The show knows how to use utter randomness, along with a couple of horribly wrong jokes. Still, this certainly won’t be one of the smart anime out there, as each member of the cast has the same intelligence of a dog, chasing its own tail. This show knows what it is: a comedy-anime and nothing more. Overall, I liked it. The jokes were funny, and I’ll be recommending this to anyone who’s in for a few good laughs.

Gun Doh Musashi

From now on, the term extremely corny samurai-show” gets to be the equivalent of Gun Doh Musashi. If I didn’t know that this show came out this spring, I would’t have guessed it at all. The show follows the life of Miyamoto Musashi. It’s based on history, though the creators made thankful use of artistical freedom. It’s also entirely directed at children. I mean, Musashi likes to use weapons that hurt, but don’t kill. He’s a brat who’s an expert swordsman and he’s able to take down entire armies if he wants to. Still, why am I so drawn to this incredibly cheesy show? Despite they look incredibly corny, the art of the main characters somehow looks very interesting, and the OP is just totally awesome, in a funny kind of way. No other show would attempt to include an OP like that. Overall, if you’re into cheesy japanese samurai-shows, I might recomment this. ^^;

Spider Riders

This show was so unknown that the dubs got out even sooner than the subs. Okay, this may be an extreme case in which an american company and a japanese company joined together to make it, but still. In any case, what we have here is a standard show for six-year-old boys. Think guy-gets-transported-to-other-world-and-gets-to-fight-alongside-giant-creatures-sort-of-plot. Still, the bad thing is the dubs. I totally agree with the people who say that english dubs don’t fit anime, and this show proves it. The voice-acting has experienced yet another horrible miss-cast, everything sounds horribly ugly, especially in american accents who show absolutely no signs of emotions. The jokes also fail 50% of the time because of this. Still, the show remains interesting. I think I’ll continue watching this when the subs get out, as it certainly beats shows like Kiba, Elemental Gerad and MAR, despite it being horribly cliché.

.Hack//Roots – 11 – Finally Some Awesomeness Again :)

by psgels, posted in .Hack//Roots



I think that people already know that I despise poorly executed romances. Especially between main characters. It’s so easy to just make two characters love each other. Though at the same time, it looks horribly fake. Nevertheless, I have to admit that I absolutely love the better executed romances. Firiel and Roux, for example. Yuu and Haruka. And starting from this episode: Haseo and Shino.

I finally realized .Hack//Roots brilliance: at certain points, it realize that characters don’t need to talk in order to make clear what they want to say. It finally realizes the importance of body language. Unfortunately, this does not happen often. Only the third episode managed so far. And the eleventh one! Haha!

Finally .Hack//Roots understands what an MMORPG is about: interacting with other people and fighting monsters. And that’s exactly what it does. The entire episode is an intermezzo, though I just loved it. Especially the fact that characters are actually disappearing, and quitting the game! Goad and the entire TaN-guild will be history! Talk about development!

At the same time, we get more and more hints about what is going to happen at the second half of the show, and thank god it’ll involve some supernatural stuff, instead of conflicts against players who somehow managed to buff themselves to admin-level. I have no idea what exactly it’ll be, but it will involve the Signs and the weird dude who looks like .Hack//Dusk’s main character.

And I haven’t even started talking about Sakisaka and Tabby! I mean, before, I always thought Tabby was a stupid, obnoxious little brat whose only purpose was to create some conflicts between other characters. But now it seems that she actually has a reason to be acting the way she does! I couldn’t imagine it when I first saw the last part of this episode but still, the creators suddenly removed one of the major flaws of the anime.

Still, the other major flaw remains. Even though it’s great to see TaN disbanded, why the heck did it get disbanded? And what happened to Ovan? I mean, the admins must’ve been the ones to disband TaN. Or did Naobi hide Ovan somewhere? And why did Naobi go through the trouble of contacting Phyllo. It’s probably because he knew how fast rumours would travel, which means that he wanted the Twillight Brigade to know about Ovan. And why did Phyllo get so shocked when he heard it?

I’m also having some problems with Ovan disappearing. Of course, it’s great that he’s gone, and I’m hoping for him not to return for a while, but at least show some subtle shots of him in the real world, collapsing. He has, of course, been data-drained. His mind is now trapped in the game, just like Tsukasa, otherwise he’d just log out. In fact, I just wish for any shots from the outside world to be shown right now. I’m curious about the real lives of all of the characters. I’m hoping that these’ll come later in the series, as they were one of the many things that made //Sign so great.

Tawaraya was also great once more. He also used the power of rumours to give the strange markings the name “Sign” (just like how “pwn” managed to get in existance). He managed to leave a nice signature before his departure. I wonder if any of the guys who left will ever get back.

Overall, .Hack//Roots is a strange series. Last week it had me ranting about the lack of quality on the show, but this week totally made up for it with a brilliant episode. I think that .Hack//Roots kindof loses itself in the large climaxes, which makes me a bit worried. Still, I feel that this episode made some very nice moves in order to prevent this.

Good Witch of the West – Astraea Testament – 08 – Interesting Developments

by psgels, posted in Good Witch of the West - Astraea Testament



Good Witch of the West remains brilliant, and the episodes yet to come suggest that it’ll become even better. Each of the main characters, Adale, Firiel, Roux and Eusis has his or her own conflict, and this just turns greater by the minute. There are still a couple of things that aren’t too well explained, though. Like, how is Adale related to the queen when it appears that Lady Margot is her mother? And how come, during this episode, Adale and Leandra were permitted hear to the Big Bird’s feather, though firiel wasn’t?

Speaking of the Big Bird’s feather, it was great to see Leandra and Adale trying to mock each other right before it happened. After all, Leandra has to battle against a pair of teens in terms of diplomacy. It’s very interesting to see that. Though I wonder why she hasn’t launched any dirty attacks on Firiel. She only appears to be interested in Roux, for some reason. This could suggest that she’s convinced herself that she can easily win from the two of them, and decided to play on safe for that matter. An interesting detail which I really appreciated was during the announcement of the Big Bird’s feather. Firiel is meanwhile waiting for Leandra and Adale outside, in deep thoughts. She gets awakened by Leandra, trying to mock Adale once more. For some reason, this scene felt very natural, and I loved it.

The highlight of the episode was by far Roux’ and Firiel’s conversation in the bedroom. It was just a greatly romantic scene, something that very few anime can accomplish. It really looks like the two of them are fated to be together, as they’ve been bickering with each other for as long as they can remember. This is great for the plot, as you just know that Firiel will be chasing after Roux after not too long. Speaking of which, where the heck did that guy go to? I also like the fact that the creators managed to introduce yet another character, who’s more mysterious than any other character yet. I’d love to find out what his role will be.

Adale will probably be the one to figure out what the Big Bird’s feather really means. In any case, she’ll probably be the one to be the next queen, as Firiel finally understood that she never belonged in the world of nobility at all. I’ve no idea how long she’ll remain with Adale. In any case, I did like the fact that she turned Eusis down. Thank god she’s not that naive. At times like these, she really can think for herself.