Author: SuperMario

Sakura Quest – 07 [The Mansion in Purgatory]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Sakura Quest

This week in Sakura Quest, we have core members lashing out at each other, and some more nice interactions between other members – which in fairness is all I could hope for. You know a cast is well developed when you can pick any two main characters and they still have their unique chemistry together. This week is a second half of a double episode about filming production and as far as “second half of double episode” entails, it does its job magnificently. Not only Sakura Quest manages to detail the activities of assisting the shootings from the girls and make it fun, they also flesh out the core casts. Maki’s material in particular is one of the strongest development they’ve succeed so far. What I’m not confident about is the larger narrative, which I guess we have to see how it will turn out next week.

Turn out the main reason for Shiori’s hesitation at the idea of burning that old house is because she spent her childhood memories in that house. She’s used to play around a lot as a kid with the owner of the house, now seeing that place is about to burnt down make her feel nostalgic. That flashback swells me up with emotions with the remains of forgotten memories: several marks of her height charts as a kid, the once-cozy house now empty and worn out. I always have a soft spot for ruins and empty houses (you can feel those places are immune from the passage of time) so I’m totally on Shiori side in this matter. That argument between Yoshino and Shiori is great, and I would love it if the show can continue pushing characters arguing with each other. No fight no glory as they say. Yoshino makes a jerky move by pointing out that Shiori was selfish- reluctant to burn this house but “don’t say a thing” when the crew mentioning other houses. Well, let see how Yoshino REACTS if this was the house she grew up with for Peter sake. I feel that sacrificing your own feeling in service of the shooting is way too easy for the filming crew. First, they don’t aware how difficult it is for the locals to follow their demands (even emotionally) and second, that house wasn’t originally planned to burn down to begin with. Maybe no one like to ask for more trouble, given that the relatives already give it a go but if I were Shiori then they can burn that house down over my dead body.

Maki is given a motivation push over what she wants with her acting job. While last week was all about her self-doubts towards her career, this week is Maki’s journey to find the love for acting all over again; all through tutoring a complete amateur about acting, find the passionate young versions in every corner of the town, and realize that she has the supports from others over pursuing what she loved, even if the supports are often subtle and low-key. I particularly love the sequences of her remembering her childhood, with lovely insert music and very great visual that highlighting the sad truth between her now and her passionate young self before. Again, her whisper ”It’s got to be something you like, or you won’t get far, kid” hits a bit too close to home. I appreciate the mature theme of Sakura Quest here, about the very real struggles that now, as someone who also in his 20s, have to deal with. Maki soon picks up her spirit, playing double for Moe in an overdramatic burning house scene (which was a crap decision by the movie crew for me, burning the house for just one take in such dangerous scene? There’s a high chance that she fails and what’s ever going to happen if that is the case? Burn another house down?), but she succeeds beautiful and moreover she enjoys herself to act again.

This episode also deepens the chemistry of our cast, especially between Maki and Ririko, my two favorite characters. What Maki says to Ririko ta calm her nervousness is great, but their easy atmosphere when they talk to each other about their old school and The Snow White’s tradition plays are what really sold me on their relationships. Not only give the core cast some internal conflicts to work with like in Yoshino and Shiori’s case, Sakura Quest also give the cast an opportunity to improve each other by using one character’s strength to help out the others. Ririko also has another cute scene when she was slowly moving sideways with her hands covering her butt. You have to see it for yourself but it was a solid joke for me (didn’t I mention I like the humor of this show?).

While last week I was a little frustrated with the direction of this show, Sakura Quest, at its core, still pull many moving and honest treatments to young adult’s insecurities and struggles with their life, something that anime medium don’t tend to do too well. If there is a movie on top of my head that resembles this show in terms of tone and the theme about the insecureness of twenty-something characters, it has to be Garden State. Moreover, while the plot does feel force at times (the crew guy talking to Shiori about Yoshino’s request is incredibly forced for example), it’s those quiet moments that help carry the emotional weight. Scenes like Maki seeing her childhood as I mentioned above, Yoshino glances over Shiori during the burning house shooting, or Shiori quietly watching the ashes, speaks more volume than any word can convey. Sakura has its charms and I will stick with it for a while longer, at least until the end of this season.

ID-0 – 06 [The Observer]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Id-0

With this episode we start to learn more about Ido’s true identity but the reveal feel far-fetched at best. I know he’s supposed to be someone special, but “an enemy of mankind”? Seriously? That trope again? So he was a Titan or some kind of disease that destroy the human kind? Oh since he’s in space he might as well be Frieza or Darth Vader for all I care. That cliché aside, this reveal opens more questions of whether his past self was truly evil, or he was anti-hero of some sort. Although based on his current skills and knowledge I can safely say that he was dangerous either way. I find the development will have some potentials as doesn’t matter if Ido’s past self was evil, this current version of him is his own individual. It’s interesting to see the conflicts of multiple selves of sort. Although I must say I don’t prefer this passionate, newfound-hope mode of his (he laughs and then embraces a loli girl – such image gives me a creep). The collected Ido we know previously is always the best.

Continuing from last week, the Orichalt satellite comes in full force and tries to crush down the team. Quite a persistent bunch. Those satellites proved to be very dangerous, as they have their own intelligent and they nearly succeed to damage our team. But then our members are saved from another force by the warping weapons. Now, this is some powerful arms. Imagine you just shoot and send your enemies to the other side of outer space. Save you the trouble of cleaning up the bodies. This episode ID-0 also introduces a new force that run entirely independent from the Military force: the Observer -who presented by the guy named Sam Tailor- overseeing the operations of ins and outs spaceships. They appear to know everything, from Maya’s false accusation to Amanza’s deserter situation and they suggest the entire ship to cooperate with them for a testimony, with the promise of coming clean all the illegal activities the ship has done. Such a nice bait I must say, although that request received mixed reactions from our team. I love how they voice their opinions and the overall reception is so all over the place.

Notice how Amanza doesn’t really have a say in that matter, which echoing later by Tailor that without her social status she would be nothing. Even now when she’s in this group her situation is rather intriguing: not really a Prisoner of War, not exactly an ally. In fact, her reason for escaping this dire situation makes sense: just toss Alice aside and the Police, the Observer and the Satelites will stop bothering them. She becomes the voice of reason for the ship and it makes sense because she thinks about the issues as a soldier. Follow the instruction, not your dream. The group quickly shot her idea down though because they view each other as a member of a family, so when Ido shows some motivation of keeping Alice and tracing down his past, they all agree to do it. Now, she’s still some steps away from being a true member of our group, but how she eventually gets there will be interesting to watch. But please stop doing that standing pose, it’s starting to get on my nerves.

However, as soon as Grayman and his ship decides to turn the offer down, they realize that Alice was kidnaped by Tailor. Didn’t I tell you that the Observer knows everything? Our team thinks they hold a secret triumph card here, but the truth is that it was their plan all along to capture Alice. What’s all the deal with all the crazy attention to this Alice-girl? As soon as Ido faced Tailor, however, that observer recognizes him. Then of course he was crushed down before he had a chance to spill it up. I don’t really like the way Maya behaves in this latter half as it feels more like it was for the plot’s advance but I let it pass for now. Half way through, ID-0 still performs well, and with its overarching act is beginning to form, I am confident that it will get even more awesome later on. You guys, pick it up! ID-0 isn’t the show that scream “Best of the season” but it has its own respectable quality. On final note, the episode came earlier than expected as the fan subs seemed to be picked up sooner. Whoever you are who have been doing the fan-sub for ID-0, you have my gratitude.

Uchoten Kazoku 2 – 06 [Arima Hell]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Uchoten Kazoku

Hell, this episode of Eccentric Family sure is surreal. While this show has always been your very definition of magical realism series, the latter half of this episode leans far away from the “realism” spectrum with the most ridiculous catch ever: Yasaburou found himself inside the Painting of Hell, being pushed by none other than his uncle Soun. But true to Eccentric Family’s universe, this version of hell is glorious and bright, with Oni who as cool as a cucumber (off track but why the cats so afraid of cucumber by the way?). Really, what an episode! The sequence in Hell totally won me over for its rich background details, stylized world of industrial ruins in hell. And then we have Oni girl commenting on hair fashion. And then we witness Oni demons doing wrestling matches. And then tanuki flies off the sky. My mind’s blowing with such goofiness. This season of The Eccentric Family just getting better and better and now with the main antagonist starts to appear (in this case, reappear), the plot is rolling much faster now.

This first half continues to give more screen time to the recurring characters as Yasaburou visits them along the way. First, Yodogawa-sensei gets kicked out of his teaching because of the influence of the Fellow Fridays (the show makes it like it’s no big deal at all but it’s scary when you think about his situation applied in real life), as a result he has to retreat to the rural forest whose wild boars are all around. But the interesting bit lies in his assistant, Suzuki, whose has the same hair color and the same eyes with Benten (her real name is Satomi Suzuki). Indeed, it wouldn’t be far-fetched if he turns out to be her brother. Heck, I’m quite amazed the way The Eccentric Family just throw new characters in the scene without any proper introduction or exposition, and then by the little information we gather and by the way they behave, we have to work out who they are and how they’re related to the big picture. The best thing of all is that those new characters, even without proper introduction, fit right in with this universe. Prepare for some sibling reunion (and maybe tissue-grabbing moments) later down the road.

Second, let’s talk about our Kaisei. Finally she’s back and I enjoy every conversation between her and Yasaburou, even if the majority of their chat is about she’s being busy lately for some reasons unknown and her jealousy towards Yasaburou’s affection for Benten-sama. Later, that ninja tanuki teleports from one red post to another (not really!) to follow Yasaburou around is so endearing and whimsical to watch. Great chemistry there, although I would prefer she has some more development for herself. Last season she was special for her ability to appear in the right time at the right place (like how she transformed into the stair to help Yasaburou and Yodogawa-sensei last season), it has been sorely lacking this season as all she does for now is hanging around Yasaburou at her own pleasure (I hope you get the signs, Yasaburou) or disappearing into thin air.

But the biggest reveal of this week’s episode is the return of Soun. In truth, he has never been gone. He sneaks around that Arima onsen, and preparing himself to be the next candidate of the Friday Fellows, meaning providing a new tanuki hot stew and will eating it himself. CANNIBALISM. Kind of freak me out how inhumane (in-tanuki-ne) Soun has become, as he refuses himself to be a tanuki anymore – in a way just like Nidaime who refuses to be called tengu. But to tell you the truth, this is the most glaring issues that I have with The Eccentric Family back from the first season: Soun and the twins are just badly-written characters in otherwise a sincere character-heavy show. They’re the characters we love to hate, and Soun proves once again to be evil all the way. When you see it that way he resembles the villains in Disney movies: ruthless and evil.

And then we get to the second part. The Painting in Hell part. I’m not at all exaggerating when I say that this is one of the best sequence I’ve seen this year. Period. The sequence is so great that it’s compatible with another hell episode (Showa Rakugo) in terms of greatness. Prior to this episode, I had expected that the Painting in Hell would come up as a reference only, so seeing Yasaburou actually gets sucked into that world is eye-popping to say the least. Only in mere 10 minutes, that hellish world is well realized, both as nothing we’ve ever seen in this series, yet somehow never out of tone. Instead, it’s one of the brightest and most whimsical version of hell that I’ve witnessed so far. Then the Oni demons come and they turn out to be a very enjoyable bunch. For such a limited screen time, that Oni Girl already appears as adorable and trustworthy – not a small feat to pull off at all. And then the most absurd moment that no one would never have anticipated: Benten wrestling with the Oni demons; in order to collect their horns and exercise some muscles. She’s taken by surprised as well when she sees Yasaburou in this living hell, but her genuinely joyous moments are truly the best moments this show had to offered. Definitely the best episode The Eccentric Family so far, this episode highlights the show in its most magical sense. In fact, watching that Hell part making all the previous episodes somewhat improved in retrospect.

ID-0 – 05 [OFE with Free Will]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Id-0

Welcome to another instalment of space opera mechas, this time though the episode leans towards to Alien-inspired thriller as the story unfolds mostly inside the spaceship, but for my money this is the best episode Id-0 has pulled off so far. To even my surprise, this show just keeps getting better and this episode gives more insights about Ido and his (possible) connection to that loli tailed girl Alice (codename: Ore). Its success also has something to do with excluding the scenes involving the masked man and focus on the dynamic between the cast and most of all, give Maya a necessary development as a true protagonist.

Prior to this episode, she serves mainly as our perspective, our “lenses” towards getting accustom to the new cast and the new environment she ends up with. This episode, however, shows us how much she cares for Alice and how she stands up for herself to do what she feels necessary. In particular, she acts even before Grayman’s approval in order to save the girl when the communication was lost and her burst out when seeing Alice outside the space is just goddamn effective. There’s no hurt when the show giving us a lead worth caring for so I hope ID-0 continues to flesh her out even more.

Now to the main plot of this episode, the “Alien invasion” in question is the foggy space dust, itself a satellite that Alice summoned last episode, and now its main mission is to bring her back. The satellite can transform into various forms, from foggy form to hard solid and it proves to be a hard case to crack for the gang. At long last, our band succeeds in luring it out of the spaceship, but it grabs Alice outta space as well. But Alice freakily survives, as she’s encasing herself in an energy barrier and swims towards Ido (remember everyone said she’s special. Yes, she’s THAT special). Her presence again gives Ido some flashbacks of his long-forgotten past. He knew this girl all along and calling her “Alice”. Now who’s exactly is Alice? Who is the real Ido then?

Most people have guessed, and I tend to agree with that hypothesis for now that Ido was the masked man. It makes sense narratively that Ido had to face his past demon to really become his true self, you know, the fight with the enemy both from external and internal forces. About the reason the masked man abandoned him then? I think more along the line with cutting one of your personality to fully commit to power. But of course, all of this are just guessing game for now and I’m sure we will have a clearer picture in ID-0’s later episodes.

This episode does set up nicely what direction ID-0 is heading for the rest of the series. Plot-wise, there will be an ongoing conflict between this Pirate gang and the police authority. There are men who seems like to control the Orichalt for themselves. Then we have Maya growing as a valuable member of the team, and the secrets surrounding Ido and loli-girl Alice. They hold quite a trump card here (Alice), the question now is how they will treat her? As a member of a family or as a captive for negotiation?

Tsuki ga Kirei – 06 [Run, Melos!]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Tsuki ga Kirei

This week our duo Akane and Kotarou experience their first taste of hardship, also known as the hard truth about their dreams. Both determine to do their best after the pinky promise (which give me chill every time because it reminds me of an episode of xxxHolic about a girl who always breaks promise – an example of how a single quirk from anime can affect your real-life perception), Kotarou had to meet the publisher and Akane for her track competition on the same sunny Sunday. And they both failed, in their own ways. Fortunately enough, their hardships comes from their own struggling to reach their dreams, not from their relationship itself. They spend some quality this week in the corner of the library, when they mostly share their own progress to the other. Those quiet scenes are excellent all around. The duo keeps having a space between them but you can feel the warm atmosphere hanging around. Two sequences of them in the library, the first filled with hope and quietly excitement, the second is saturated by disappointment, both connected by the pinky promise. Such intimate and affecting moments for the two lovebirds. Also, the shorts this week from Tsuki ga Kirei are solid too, now I’m a fan of Miu and Inaba couple because they’re soooo relatable. And cute. While I’m not much a fan of Roman and sensei gags, this one goes reasonably smooth enough. But Sakura’s fantasies short is my favorite short this week.

For Kotarou, the publisher flat out comments that Kotarou isn’t suitable for serious writing, instead he persuades him to try his hands on Light Novel. Looking by his effortless and calm manner when talking these things to Kotarou, he must have done it from time to time: crushing other young aspiring writers’ dreams into pieces. But hear me out, before everyone gets mad at him for being a senseless a**hole, I approve with what he did here. In fact, I’d feel much more angry if the guy keeps selling other’s dreams when he knows they couldn’t make it far. It would be very painful to see a person who isn’t talented enough just keep pushing their head against thick wall. His Mom, as well, clearly disapproves him of becoming a writer. That doesn’t mean he can’t become a writer, it’s just that he has to try harder than before. Likewise, Akane’s situation doesn’t improve at all. I’m glad that she has a courage to tell her best friend that they’re dating, but when Chinatsu confirmed that she knew all along, it confuses Akane to the point of losing her concentration for the competition. Or maybe her sister was right when she said that dating, studying, and running at the same time might be too much for her that she ends up failing every single one of them. Worst of all, she loses the race to Chinatsu, and Takumi is clearly let down by her under-performed records. I love the reactions of Akane’s parents when hearing their sweet daughter is dating (especially Papa – his girls are slowly taken away from him by annoying brats that he knows nothing about. Of course he’s worried), and Akane’s reactions when her sister “exposed” her secrets are really endearing.

Now, Chinatsu. Frankly, it’s hard to read her motivations since we don’t know much what she been thinking, but let’s try to break her actions down a little. Apart from seeing Akane as her best friend, Chinatsu also regards Akane as a worthy rival, both from running track to that love interest. In running, she’s determined to give more efforts and in the guy she likes, she basically declares a “warning note” to Akane (I notice the word “notice” she was using here). As a friend level, her actions could potentially damage the friendship she and Akane have, and I think most of us will say that her pushing for confession to Kotarou to “have a proper closure” is way over the line. You don’t mess romantically with person who already in the relationship, missy. That’s a rule. But saying that, I know Chinatsu is a type of person that when receiving a proper rejection, she’d just smile and move on. On top of that she would never betrays her own feeling, doesn’t matter how others will react to that. In short, Chinatsu confessing her love to Kotarou is just purely Chinatsu being herself, and I certainly don’t blame her for that; I just wish she’d come to understand that she’s being unfair to Akane and most of the time when that happen they become too hard to be friend again. I guess we will have a proper resolution next week. For one thing that Tsuki ga Kirei does absolutely right so far, the conflict never drags out for too long, usually an episode or two in length. Tsuki ga Kirei maintains its beat throughout this episode, fleshing out our characters not by their romance, but by their own struggles with the adult world. And that’s swell because we need to root for them as well-formed individuals before cheering for them as a couple. Keep them going Tsuki ga Kirei.

ID-0 – 02, 03, 04

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Id-0

Like I mentioned in my Sakura Quest’s post, I just feel underwhelmed by the recent development of that show, and in truth this little bastard here just keeps growing on me, couple with the fact that ID-0 is hardly covered anywhere else; so I hope that my posts will help the show getting more attention it deserves. I blame Netflix for this unfortunate, as the way I see it, anime shows need to be more accessible instead of exclusively available by certain viewers. The recent development of music industry, for example, has bands release/share their albums for free online in order to gain solid fanbase before aiming to get profits back by live shows or physical CDs. In that same vein, anime shows need to be watched in order to gain worth-of-mouth and increase sells (do you really watch shows that nobody talking about? Like, have even you heard of ID-0 yet?) and I witnessed the restriction hurt the chance of Re:Life last year and now seems to bring Little Witch Academia down that ship and I personally think it’s dumb, dumb idea. But enough about that and let’s talk about ID-0, an original CG show about a bunch of space pirates by Sanzigen, the company responsible for Bubuki/Buranki last year.

Episode 2, 3, 4 focused mainly on the crew members of Escavate Company, a band of misfits that steals Orichalt chunks in space (I don’t even know what they’re worth of, energy, maybe?). Many of its members don’t have their physical form, which mean, their consciousness lies within an I-Machine permanently, most of them due to unfortunate consequences. Ido is a prime example, having lost his physical body, his memory taken away and his ID erased, (his ID is 0 hence the name Ido), he doesn’t know who he was but he’s skilled and ruthless and because he has nothing to lose, he’s determined to go all the way to his death in every mission. The other casts have great, easy interactions to each other, and moreover each of them fit their roles very well. Rick (the red I-Machines) has an outgoing personality but I found at no time he’s annoying. The captain Grayman with his well-built body often in command to protect the crews, but sometimes his childish side still gets through and you always feel the responsibility he has for the safety of his crew.

Maya is our protagonist though, and so far, she’s quite refreshing to watch. Still inexperience outside of her skills, she acts innocently most of the time, but by no mean she’s boring. While in action, she has a quick decision-making that comes more of her nature and never feel too geeky or too forced. I really appreciate that ID-0 never pushes up its fanservice from these girls. Well, they could easily fill up with fanservice scenes but they haven’t gotten around to it, which I’m glad. Episode 4 introduces a new crew member, Amanza. She’s in an interesting position as she’s a policer whose main mission is to catch the Escavate crew, but she got sucked by the Miguel Jump (they jump through dimensions) and thus has to live amongst our crew. Moreover, she fits right in with the rest of cast, making their interactions a joy to watch. I know these fellas aren’t the deepest bunch around but their nuances and their easy chemistry more than made up for that.

About the world building, so far I like the concept of these guys stealing the Orichalt chunks in space and there seems to be an overarching plot of the men in power who aim to steal the Orichalt chunks for whatever reasons, and honestly, for now those scenes revolving the man in mask are a dead weight. They tend to over-analyze the concepts which drag on too much and their intentions are so vague it’s hard to take them seriously. Episode 3 also introduces an abnormality, a loli girl who lives in the Orichalt that seems to have a strange power that affected satellites. Whatever her real power is, getting to know who she really is and what role she has in the big picture will be one of the overarching plot of ID-0. As for the CG part of the show, the action part is mostly done well and I enjoy majority of the animation sequences. Sometimes we can see the stiffness in character’s movements but because they’re robots, it’s rather appropriate, right? The character’s designs are attractive so visually, really I have no complain so far. It might take sometimes to get used to the visual but it’s a treat once you are up to it.

I know most of you readers don’t watch this show (either because of streaming rights or the CG or you just don’t aware about this show), but that is one of the reason why I really want to cover this show: to get more people know about this show. I have a blast time watching it so far, so I hope you guys give this show a chance. It deserves much more attention.

Sakura Quest – 06 [The Rural Masquerade]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Sakura Quest

This episode of Sakura Quest… Did I just miss an episode or two in between? Remind me again when exactly did all those movie productions come from? The show just drops its woodcarving storyline to this film production storyline and that switch is jarring. Now Sakura Quest heads into one of direction that I’m quite nervous about: a sitcom anime – a type that don’t need much continuity. On top of that I can’t say I’m fond with this film production scenario. I don’t get the idea of the movie they’re making either: A slice of life story set in Manoyama (see self-reference here) that… have a blue-faced zombie outbreak? How’s that supposed to be a slice of life then? Okay, now to what we have this week, we have our girls run along with the film crew, trying to find good locations, calling up extras and finding old houses to blow up. It’s good to see the functions of small film productions in action, and the old man Kadota and oba-san Chitose provide many good laughs on screen (the comedy in this show remains very good). I love Kadota’s commitment to the role he played, and just by few scenes both Chitose and the tsun café girl Erika’s unpredictable reactions really tell us the person they are (oh, and Ririko’s cute little victory). Lovely character works all around. The director is a bit of a douchebag though, I can see him piss a lot of local people off by the next episode.

Out of all the main girls, it’s Shiori that I’m initially worried the most. For other girls, I can see how they develop their potential conflicts. Yoshino with her adaptation to the rural village, and her quest to gain more tourists for the town will serve as the main driving force for the story. For Sanae, we already had her being insecure about running away, and the potential love-triangle with the wood-carvers. For Maki, it’s her job insecurity and her conflict with papa. Ririko will have to deal with the difficult oba-chan and maybe her love for video-recording. But as for Shiori, there’s not much to develop. She’s a stable character with a stable job and a stable family, and so far, she serves mainly as the supporting voice for Yoshino and the girls. Prior to this episode, the only development angle I could imagine for Shiori is her closeness to Ririko, which whenever Ririko has an issue, she’d be the closest to help out her friend – But that, as well, is a supporting role. Thanks Sakura Quest for given her something to work with this episode without distracting the main storyline. It’s obvious that she feels connected to the abandoned, worn-out house and for now, my guess is that she was close with the person who used to live in that house. Her close friend maybe. Whatever the case, it’s good to see that she takes a main stage once in a while, and I really hope that Sakura Quest gives her something of an arc to develop her further in later events.

But the main beef in this episode is all about developing Maki. Aside from Ririko, Maki is my favorite girl and this episode both flesh out her current situation with her family, as well with her acting career. When she remarks that “Loving (the job) is also exactly what makes it so hard” and “Your twenties are a special time, and I wasted them”; I feel the sensations. Her underclasswomen appeared as a main female lead just puts the salt in that open wound, made she feel frustrated. But Maki, remember that Moe’s getting more acting roles ain’t because of eating cicadas, and besides, cicada isn’t that bad (take my word for it). Sanae seems to knock some sense out of Maki and all eyes now are looking for her to take the acting part. I know she’d be exceptional there. These concerns about adult-insecurities are really relatable and grounded and those character’s moments are what raise this show above the bar of your average anime.

But I finished this episode feeling unsatisfied. While, like I said, the characters’ works and the comedy are the show’s greatest strengths; the main storyline feel abrupted, unbalanced that feel more like a wasted opportunity. This episode, judging as a whole, is a solid episode, but that is precisely why I have a feeling that the series will be just sitcom-y like this from now on. At this moment, my interest in continuing cover this show has dropped dramatically; I will give this show another episode to see if it can redeem itself. Sakura Quest is not bad per se. I just feel underwhelmed by the potential it could’ve had and the actual presentation right now. Otherwise, with 2 other shows that I find myself more invested in, I would just pick one and cover instead.

Uchoten Kazoku 2 – 05 [Daimonji Leisure Cruiser Battle – Continued]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Uchoten Kazoku

Who would’ve thought that the chaise will be a declaration of war in that universe? For the record, their head-to-head battle: Nidaime:2 Benten:0

If last week was all about romance – which now looking back the Eccentric Family had never actually focused on this aspect before – this week we have dispute as a main theme – tanuki and tengu disputes, such fool and prideful creatures; another reflection of their idiot bloods. This week manages to be one of the best episode of all season, offering both the magical sensation this show is famous for, and further deepens the conflicts and most of all just full of beautiful, heartfelt moments. I’ve realized that reviewing Eccentric Family is getting harder and harder since I’m embracing the show so much that instead of critique I’m just babbling about my favorite moments. But damn it, let’s do it anyway.

The first half we have a continuing of our tanuki love from last week. Turn out Gyokuran, Yaichirou and Yasaburou were sucked into his father’s secret shogi room, which in turn is the place where 1) it linked directly to Akadama-sensei room and 2) their parents were trap by none other than that old cranky tengu and then their love blossomed. Such lovely details. Eccentric Family don’t usually go sweet, but they handle that romance with such heartfelt. I guess Akadama-sensei is actually useful for once (in truth, he looks like a mighty, proper professor this episode), bringing the courage between two individuals who too shy/stubborn to admit their love – and what they say to each other is rather simple, TO THE POINT (other anime takes note, cut out all the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo bullshit and the romance is strengthened). And that lovely story from Tousen seriously melted my heart. The storytelling of Eccentric Family is as strong and effective as ever, even the comedy really hit home as well. I have a good laugh when Yaichirou gets dokidoki he bumped his head to Gyokuran, roleplayed by Yasaburou. This first half is up there as one of the most magical moments in the whole Eccentric Family, hands down.

As the title suggests, the leisure cruiser battle begins, again. I’ll be frank, this year’s battle just can’t compare to the one in last season; both in scope (last year the Shimogamo was an underdog; this year do we have any doubt they would lose to the stupid twins?), and in the excitement it evokes (they don’t even focus on the Daimonji festival for Christ sake. Such a waste). The only stand out moments were when Gyokuran loses her temper at the twins (she fits right in the Shimogamo family. No doubt). Seeing another vulnerable side of Gyokuran sure is great fun, but also witnessing the bus (Yajirou) landed right on top of the cruise that literally blew everyone out is the whole other experience together. It is a tradition for tanuki to enjoy themselves in a floaty house on the Daimonji festival, now adding the dispute between those tanukis as part of the tradition as well. While this sequence sure highlights the slapstick, silly nature of the show, it sadly is the weakest part of this episode, but I guess mostly due to the fact it was bookended by two stellar sequences.

Right after the chaos created by the tanuki, the tengu takes the stage. Nidaime comes to pick up his chaise, whom Benten took for her sightseeing. Now I am convinced that the reason Nidaime come back to visit his estranged father have something to do with her visit in Britain. For now, I guess that she triggers him in some ways, but her true intention is still for him to see his father (I’ve learned the roundabout logic of the tengu. So it seems). The final showdown between Nidaime and Benten comes as quickly and unexpectedly as none of us would guess. Indeed, blink and you might miss the outcome. It’s the first time we see the weak, helpless side of Bentei, when all her pride is strip down by the (foreshadowing) beaten. As Yasburou points out, there is something that hold her back? What is it then? I love the last part, as Yasaburou stays behind, looking at Akadama who solace Bentei. Now the ED sequence starts to make so much sense. We see Bentei visiting Britain, and later we see what likely is the continuing of that last scene. Akadama carries Bentei on the back, Yasaburou picks up her lost thong from behind. That is pure visual storytelling my friends, when two such simple shots can tell us much about the mood and the emotions of the scene. Likewise, what Bentei admits, that she’s frustrated, while sitting at the pond, is understated and just goddamn fantastic. I have never thought she’d be no match for Nidaime. But what are they even fighting for? Tengu dispute? From a human and a tengu turned English gentleman? Over the chaise then? That makes no damn sense.

But really,

I’ve truly missed Kaisei.

Tsuki ga Kirei – 05 [Kokoro]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Tsuki ga Kirei

This show is so unfair.

Like, after spending 5 episodes of cutely awkwardly topsy turvy Akane – Kotarou first love, how can we even root for poor Chinatsu? Even the show itself seems to know that too, as when Kotarou confessed to Akane few episodes back, we had beautiful full moon in bloom right in front of them (Tsuki ga Kirei!!). Poor Chinatsu, on the other hand, just “deserves” a reflection of a moon, lurking from afar from her and Kotarou. In addition, why add her as the most charming character of the show, whose have such a great, easy chemistry to everyone around her? I actually didn’t think she would fall for Kotarou considering she helps the two out last week, at least not yet. Our couple will have a bit of hardship now as Akane clearly feels insecure whenever Chinatsu’s around Kotarou (her voice changes!), simply because she can make a natural conversation with Kotarou in public while Akane can’t. To top all that Chinatsu and Kotarou will have plenty of time to be together, now that she’s going to the same cram school with him. Takumi, another external threat, is going to make his moves soon since he doesn’t have much time to be running alongside Akane. Not only those potential threats but the couple themselves don’t do too well too, Kotarou is slipping at his grades and Akane performs poorly at practice. There will be trials and tribulations for our duo’s romance but hey, what is love without pain.

Akane and Kotarou now officially become a couple, and this episode details exactly how two young people in their first stage of love would be like. This show never ceases to amaze me how sensitive and relatable they portrait their characters in those situations. They’re dating but they still can’t find a courage to talk to each other at school, so they seek advice from their most reliable sources, first of course, the internet (ask Mr. Google) and then the adults that closed to them. Again, the show excels on emphasizing visual cues from little gestures, facial expressions and their speech patterns instead of relying on obvious expositions. When you know a character enough you can tell his personalities just by the way he moves, and Tsuki ga Kirei is a masterclass regarding that. Kotarou is much more lively and relatable when he performing a traditional dance or exercising his excitement with sit-up and boxing in his room than any monologue could mutters. Akane’s subtle reactions while staying near Kotarou really inform us what she really feels. The show’s awareness for physical space is a highlight as well, just look at the last scene about the positions of the two where Akane seems to be further away from Kotarou. Great stuff.

And then they’re holding hands. Boy, never in my experience (even my own) that such a simple holding-hands moment fills me with so much joy and excitement. I really like the way they tried out the library but failed (again, Chinatsu) and how the bookshop-owner sensei helps the two lovebirds out: give them some time alone together; ya know, just the two of us (what kind of book shop that have no customer by the way? Usually they would fill with patronize who read books free for hours). For the amount of time they been thinking about each other, it’s rather surprising to notice that they have very little real conversations to each other (boy do I look forward for more), and when they do talk, it’s sparkling. But that is so Tsuki ga Kirei: slow, mundane in twenty minutes and then hits you in the gut for the last few minutes. As this episode further demonstrates, sometimes you don’t need too many big plot twists and tear-jerking situations to win over the viewers, you just need one good resolution that hits hard.

ps: Want to mention it but can’t fit it anywhere in the post, but I do really enjoy the shorts this week. The shorts explore the teen-romance in much lighter tone and each story adds something hilarious to the table. Those shorts are not mere extras by any mean, but they help enriching the romance theme of the show. Tsuki ga Kirei, as boring as it might sound, is still going strong.

Sakura Quest – 05 [The Budding Yggdrasil]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Sakura Quest

And with this episode the main overarching plot starts to form, or so it seems (there’s still a big possibility that the town dismisses the whole idea but by the end it seems less and less likely). The main project these girls come up with this time is about making a palace full of sculptures that inspired by Sagrada Família, itself famously known for its still-under construction for over hundred years. Now, I had actually lived in Barcelona for almost 2 years; so I know one or two things about Sagrada Família. Many people, like the cast of Sakura Quest, admire it as the representation of multi-generation body of works, as a symbol of passing the torch and live on the spirits for generations. The thing is, the cathedral was never meant to be that way. They were simply out of fund. Yes, the death of Gaudi hurt the project too but it hadn’t finished for over hundred years because it couldn’t. We’re talking about the cathedral here which have both the approvals from the religious crowd as well as the artistic crowd, yet somehow the constructions have always been delayed and funded by private funds. Now flip back to Sakura Quest, do I think that ambitious project will see the light of day? Nope. The Sagrada Família is made out of the desire to make it the ultimate cathedral, the Sakura Pond Familia is made to attract people to the small town. Already a wrong approach, and that doesn’t take funding (how someone wants to put heaps of money for this) or the sheer implementation into consideration.

But that, I guess, is exciting in its own way just to see how the cast manages to deal with those issues. For this episode we see them making their own efforts to actually go out there and study about the woodcarving art: Yoshino goes to various houses to have a look at the mantra, Shiori and Ririko study about the history of the art in their hometown, Maki gets her hand on making one, and Sanea… well, she just wanders off alone but those are positive signs for fleshing out our characters; which is a clear step up from last week’s episode. I like the way there was no tension from the group when Sanae bailed out, because come on, we all know she will be back sooner or later. So the show frames her action as a necessary step back to know what she really wants. The decision to build a palace from Yoshino comes rather out of the blue but well, she’s a fool so it should be expected, and I mean it in a positive light. I’m not so sure how to feel about Sandal-chan character, he’s given a more active role in this episode and the sequence where he gets busted by the police was hitchhiking a police car certainly among my favorite moments this week. However, I still feel the guy’s so out of place with this Manoyama town and I have a feeling the show creates him as a vehicle for Vinay Murthy’s first voice acting, he’s himself an American actor (MASQUERADE). Seriously, I love the humors in Sakura Quest, they have a keen sense of comedic timing, witty dialogues and slapstick situations that bring joy and heart to the story.

At the same time, the other half of the episode focuses on Sanae and her little crisis, as she realized she has been half-hearted about the project. She has a brief talk with the woodcarver Tatsuo while staying alone in front of train station that inspired him to create a lovely wooden shoe. As much as my hesitation to the Sakura Pond Familia project, making wood-carved products to promote the industry is actually a very neat idea. It’s true that every industry needs to adapt as time changes, for wood-carving, it’s starting as Buddha statue, to the house’s plate, to the mantra… making wood-carves products and furniture seem like a natural progression for me. Yoshino gives Sanae a great view about Sanea’s issues: although it’s true that everyone, everything can be replaced, it’s each individual’s personal touch that distinct one person to another, and therefore everyone will always have different results. I also find Sanae’s idea of building the palace next to train station a solid idea, as from my own experience (especially towards Japan), the train station is where it gets the most crowded, insanely crowded. Hmm, I hope there won’t be a love triangle between Tatsuo and Kazuki and that IT girl because it’d be a one-way fight anyways since Kazuki cares for nothing but carving little piece of wood and Sanae is clearly drawn to that tsundere guy. At long last, the girls end the episode with their first taste of success, even if it’s only a modest one. But things look brightly ahead, now that the girls and the villagers are looking at the same direction for the big project (I guess exoskeletion suit will come very handy), and THAT is what really matters.