Author: SuperMario

ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. – 11 [Furawau’s Flowers Smell of Malice]

by SuperMario, posted in ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept., Currently Watching:

Really ACCA? Only one episode left and you’re still in set-up stage, with the coup is lingering in the air, but never comes in real form. In fact, ACCA is a series about setting up. Its deliberate pacing can really test the viewer’s’ patience, and I totally understand if most of you have fallen out with it; but really, ACCA’s getting better by each passing episode. Many plot threads start to come together, and this week we have a major plot development: Jean decided to go along with the Lilium’s plan, which is the worst decision ever. Lilium, in a very definition of true villain archetype, already behaves in a victory-mode for a successful coup, although there isn’t any coup yet (sorry honey, I have to see it first to know if it exists) and starts mapping out his evil plan OUT LOUD for the one person who is capable of changing the situation. I guess this is more of overconfident issue but boy, when you do that I know immediately that the plan is going to fail, hard. And does he really think he can control and manipulate Jean, of all people? Bull. I don’t even think Jean will take the reign. Heck, I don’t even think the coup is going to happen at all. But I do think he plans to put certain someone to the spot instead of himself. He raises that argument when he meets up with Lilium, saying that as long as the next throne isn’t the Prince, he doesn’t really interested to take control the kingdom. So logically, who is the person that Jean would place his bet on knowing that the person can take good care for both ACCA, the people and the kingdom? Of course, it’s Grossular.

But Grossular still has some issues with Lilium. I still wonder why Lilium holds much control over Grossular. I still think Lilium holds a certain secret that Grossular doesn’t want to spread out, but what secret would that be? How is this centenary going to play out next week? I originally thought Qualms the Privy Council President is involved, but based on how limited time he had (if at all), I think the main players for this centenary is going to be Jean, Lilium and the Prince. But then, how’s about Abend? Will he has any role at all in the end? Damn ACCA, you better tie up all loose ends next week.

Nino is finally back and is immediately got shot down, literally. But this is where I find the plot pretty much implausible, for you see it would be much easier (and less dramatic) to just follow those assassins and knock them down before they were going to shoot. Why following them and then run all the way to Jean to shield the bullets? And really, the way the show handles the thriller part is very uneven. Apart from that, I really enjoyed the chemistry between Jean and Nino and I could feel Jean’s emotion stirring up when he talks about Nino’s objective in life. He deeply cares for his friend Nino. Another interesting fact is that Nino’s supervisor doesn’t allow Nino to come to Furawau, and for now my guess is that the supervisor doesn’t want Nino to pry into Lilium’s family, maybe for the sake of Jean and Lotte’s safety. (or just simply because he doesn’t want Nino to catch hay fever. A nasty sickness).

It’s otherwise great to see all the ACC representatives from each district come all over in one place. We saw all of them but many of them don’t have much screentime or that memorable before, but you can sense a very natural easy-going chemistry between them (they obviously know each other well before) and how they can still carry the characteristics of the district they’re currently in. I don’t get why the show spend so much time for Eider’s romance but it’s certainly fun to watch. One thing I find the most interesting was the two ACCA representatives from 2 poorest districts, Warbler and Rocksterra (from Suitsu and Pranetta, respectively) are the ones who actually sense something wrong about following up the coup. They come from the poorest and hardest districts, meaning that they, of all people, should be happy for a wind of change. But quite the contrary, they know that each district has their own voices, and they see far greater benefits under the Dowa Kingdom; even the Prince will be unlikely to break much rules, and those are all valid arguments but they must be very dissatisfied with the Prince (or current Royal system) to the extent that all the 13 districts vote for Jean. Jean did mention that everything need a final push now, what would that be? With only a finale of 20 minutes left and plenty of possibilities next week, I really hope the show can wrap things up in a most satisfying way. You won’t disappoint me, will you, ACCA?

3-gatsu no Lion – 22 [New School Term – Fighter]

by SuperMario, posted in 3-gatsu no Lion, Currently Watching:

We get to an end of 3-gatsu run but it feels more like a new beginning. Like what I feared last week the last episode doesn’t really have a conclusive ending, instead offers us the new semester of Rei and his childhood and his shogi, which in all fairness are the weaker parts of 3-gatsu. In part I understand it’s tricky to make a conclusive ending point when you’re in the middle of the story, especially for a slice-of-life drama like this one, and the series does attempt to bring some out of order material to shows us how Rei has maturing up to that point. Fortunate for us, they greenlighted the second season which will air in this Fall season (I will be there blogging) so I’m not that dread over this “ending”; but they totally could turn last-week episode into the final episode and I’d be completely content with it. Okay, I’m done rambling now so let see what this episode has offered us.

Rei starts a new semester and again he finds himself unable to make new friends. Hayashida-sensei (becoming my favorite teacher that is) suggests him to form a shogi club, so that Rei can make new friends and he can still be Rei’s adviser. In all honesty, I would love to see his shogi club instead of the “shogi science club” and I find that students have zero interest in the old game kind of stretching it a bit (I’d join myself, especially if I know a professional player is the club president). But the merging of the club make sense narratively: if you want result, you need to take action. Rei still wants to go back to study because he wants the feeling of not running away, and lately he actually enjoys himself a bit more so I’m sure joining with those guys will be a great experience for him. Also, Noguchi’s moustache is great.

While this first half is generally light-hearted, the second half delves into Rei’s personal problems from way back: the feeling of a lone wolf that doesn’t feel belong to anywhere and scare that the sit next to him will forever be empty. That little trip in his childhood underlines his loneliness. He hides himself from everyone and eating bento all alone, looking at the ants and reading shogi all by himself. There’s also a sad feeling concerning his childhood, so he devotes himself to shogi. With him, shogi is not only the place to belong, but also the place that offers him his companions, offers him the seat where he knows for sure would be taken by his opponents. Then we have a metaphor of he’s riding a train of shogi, with all the shogi players tagging along into the great shiny shogi paradise. But here lies an interesting bit, the show has constantly showed us that the path of shogi is a path that people keeps wandering ahead in the wasteland-like, lonely and suffered; here we have the totally opposite visual metaphor. I guess it just depends on perspective, on how you choose to look at it huh?

In the end, I still have plenty of good time with this episode but it isn’t among its great ones, let alone be worthy enough to be a final episode of this season. I mean, there’s no three sisters, no Kyouko, even no shogi match this week. Normally I would give the show a proper full review, but since it’s confirmed that we will have a second season, plus the fact that I believe with this kind of story we’re better reviewing it as a complete story, I will hold off my full review for now. Overall, I still believe Shaft did a great job of adapting it, and while the shows still have some tonal issues and problems of adapting too faithfully to the source material, the show really shines whenever it digs deep to the characters and fleshes out their relationships. Rarely a show can write characters that deep and heartfelt so I feel overall pleased that we have the next season to look for. Until then.

Some notable Animated Music Videos of 2016- part 1

by SuperMario, posted in World Animation

[slideshow_deploy id=’21012′]

Welcome to the special edition of World Animation where this time I will dig into the doomed child of animation market: the animated music videos. If you have never really give much thoughts about those animated music videos, you’re not alone. It’s the section that hardly get discussed both in the anime fanbase and in the cartoon market, and my guess is that apart from a niche audience who follow music video and the professionals: animators and the bands alike, no one hardly know anything about it.

Animated music videos of course have a totally different approach to animation compare to short films or series, in which not only you have to make the video compelling on its own, but the animation has to support and elevate the song. That mean, you can’t pull off something like this (in which the song is clearly about being there for someone you love, even if she is “beauty queen of only 18”, but the video was about the love affair between the guy and his girlfriend’s mom. Yuck. AND IT WAS A FREAKING HIT). But here’s where it gets interesting: Animated music videos usually carry a strong artistic expressions than other media. The whole process of animating a music video (at least for indie scene) is that the band sends the director/ animator their song and some ideas on the concept of what they want in the video, then they basically leave the rest to the director. That process results in the creators have their full artistic control most of the time, thus the outcome usually one of the more striking piece of animation than the rest of animation medium.

In fact, while compiling this list, I came to a rather surprising realization: I had no setlist as a point of reference at all. There were some sites that recommend some animated videos, but the videos were all over the place; and there was no “best of list” or whatever; as a result I had to come up with the most traditional way: watching all the videos I could get my hands on to do this list. Yup, it means watching 40+ of those videos until all of them just blended and melted in my brains. But I have to say, except from the time consuming and the fatigue it caused me, it was actually a very rewarding process. Then the list I was compiling just kept getting bigger the more I watched, to the point I had made a line somewhere (otherwise I would recommend everything).

So ladies and gents, here are my 15 favorite videos out of last year from multiple music genres, with multiple animated techniques where I will address about their core concept, the style of animation they use, and how they are stand out from the rest. Really, if you have 20 minutes of break, why don’t you listen to some cool music and watch some stunning animation and gain some insights about them in the process? It’s just an episode worth of time anyways, and many of the videos just clock in at 1 minute. So watch them guys and comment which videos you like the best, or even if you like to see this kind of content every now and then; I’m fully aware this is an anime blog so it’s your call. Enjoy!

 

Porter Robinson & Madeon “Shelter” by A-1 Pictures

“I knew I wanted to do an anime, animated produced video in Japan. I wrote the story that happened to connect pretty brilliantly to the lyrics of Shelter. To me the Shelter video is also a story of familial love mixed with some of my own fantasies and sensibilities… There’s a significance that can be derived—passing yourself onto a new generation.” – Porter Robinson

Many of you sure have heard about this one. An original anime music isn’t something new, but for a American DJ artist who specifically requested his song to be anime-style, you know you’re in something special. As a matter of fact, the staffs of A1-Pictures had noted that the most special aspect of the production was to witness the enthusiasm of Porter Robinson about the project. For the records, I have watched Porter Robinson other videos and yup, this guy knows how to tell a good visual storytelling. Moreover, for a medium that focus prominently on mood-building and work mainly as a visual companion for the song, it’s a treat to see some video that actually attempt to tell a complete story (as you will see below, most of the time they don’t bother to try); but Shelter also pulled off an emotional ride, with awe inspiring world building and impressive animation to boost (A1 Pictures did an excellent job). This is clearly a passion project and passion project is always a winner in my heart.

 

Radiohead “Burn the Witch” by Chris Hopewell

“The band wanted the video to raise awareness about Europe’s refugee crisis and the “blaming of different people… the blaming of Muslims and the negativity” currently engulfing European politics”- Virpi Kettu (the video animator)

Paying homage to The Wicked Man in terms of plot and the 1960s British children’s TV programme Camberwick Green in term of its visual, the video’s stop motions character designs and settings are seemingly the most simple and brightest video out there, but the music and the subject matter make it a very unsettling atmosphere (the band purposely want the video to be lighter to what they play to “wake people up”). The topic at hand is about burning the witch after all. Radiohead is no stranger when it comes to building a paranoia mood, and this video helps raising that comfortableness to a new level. Like in Lynch movies, there’s always a sense of something hideous, decay, something really wrong right underneath the normal happy rural life. The video serves as a response against authoritarianism, some even go so far to say it as an attack against Trump’s right-wing policies. And with that paranoia mood they evoked, I believe the song pretty much nailed it.

Continue reading “Some notable Animated Music Videos of 2016- part 1” →

Scum’s Wish – 10 [Fragile and Empty]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Scum's Wish

This week the main spotlight is heading back to our beloved Akane and two of her relationships preys, Mugi and Narumi. Although I really like the way the show addresses each of those tainted relationships until finally we’d get to the bare bone of Mugi and Hanabi’s core relationship, this episode for me is just so-so in the way they handle the situations regarding Akame. It’s a bit of a shame because Akame is the most interesting character to talk about. This week, she takes us back to her first sexual experience and notifies us how she becomes the way she is now. But guess what? All of these details we already know about her. She’s enjoying sexual desires from men and jealousy from girls are nothing new. Even the visual trick the shows use concerning Akame doesn’t really give much sense. I can understand when Hanabi (or even Moca) faces off her younger self because she has lose the innocent part of herself in a process by her dark thoughts, but with Akame, she’s basically the same person as her younger self. She’s born that way so for what purpose of putting the two versions face to face in that labyrinth of roses entail? I do think this visual trick has turned into a gimmick this time.

But still, even in her flashback, she realizes that she keeps pushing on that way because it’s the only way she know how. You can’t fault a scorpion for stinging others, it’s just in its nature. She receives all the love from men and give nothing back, doesn’t love anyone but herself. But both Mugi and Narumi end up being the kind of relationships that she never encounter before, thus might be unequipped to deal with. With Mugi, he knows about her true self but he’s the only one to want to really go beyond sex and push forward his love. As of now, Mugi is controlled totally by Akame, even when replying her he has to think first to not upset Akame because he scares that he’d be hated by Akame. And although Akame clearly doesn’t love Mugi, his genuine actions still surprise her because from I understand, nobody have ever approached her that way. Others, they want sex, they have it, end of story. Mugi, he wants to engage in more serious relationship despite knowing he is no match for her. It’s nice to see a bit of development from Mugi, instead of running away like he used to, he actually tries to pursuit his crush for once.

Furthermore, because she’s always at the top of her seducing game, she can never get the reason why Narumi doesn’t feel attracted sexually to her. They had sex on their first date, but afterwards they date like normal couples without love hotel involved and that frustrated Akame (normally in real life when a guy does that it means that he is insecure about his sex performance, but well we’re talking about Saint Four-Eyes sensei here) . She feels like she’s pursuing him and doesn’t let him go; which maybe that’s right after all. Someone like her, who bathed herself into the lust of men and the hatred of girls, need someone who clearly in the other side of her world as Narumi. Someone loves her for her inside, not for her body. Well, that’s a theoretical talk anyways because I still pretty much in doubt if Narumi really loves Akame from the inside or not. First, he’s clearly knows nothing about her, and just learn about her bitchy side like seconds before still holding on to her. Second, the show really doesn’t help us at all to show what the heck this guy is thinking inside his head except that he falls in love with Akame for her long hair that reminded him of his mother in a first place. Meaning that he might fall for her for some goddamn unreal affection. Lastly, he talks like, 3 lines when he grabs her back and those are vague and pretentious as it gets and somehow Akane falls for it. Well, I think his role is good this week but overall he’s still very weak as a character. In fact, the show doesn’t write male characters really well, except for Mugi all the others are really under-written and serve as an obvious plot exposition: just look at that guy Takuya this week. Saying all the stupid, obvious details in a bitchy voice with a lousy attitude while standing with other girl, then running away like a 6 year-old kid? Excuse me but only terrible writing has that kind of laughable characters.

And for a show that consistently pull off many raw emotions week after week, this week is surprisingly light in heart-wrenching moments. My reaction to this episode is rather lukewarm. The show is still pretty solid and progresses strongly so far, but I’m a bit afraid that after we get this far, the end result just can’t pack the emotional punch it has built up for an entire season.

ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. – 10 [Starfall in a City Without a Sky]

by SuperMario, posted in ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept., Currently Watching:

So suddenly, the King gets serious health issues huh? I’m sure Qualms has something to do with it too. But now I do feel the storm’s coming right in front of me (no, not that sandstorm), as many important events keep piling up: the last audition of Jean in Furawau (flower) district, which “happened” to be the homebase of Lilium, our current biggest threats. Now I can see that Lilium is a sneaky guy, using home advantage to pursue Jean to lead the coup. His whole ground for starting the coup is for the unity and order of the kingdom, but this episode slips it up that he might not think that way at all. He wants his district Furawau, and his family in charge of course, getting the power, possibly become a new capital city. Well, with the glimpse on what we see from the district, they are wealthy, like a Dubai city with skyscraper and mosque-like buildings; so they’re more than capable of becoming one. Things fall according his plan as well, except for the two obvious obstacles:

First, it’s Grossular. As we see throughout the episode, Lilium clearly controls and manipulates Grossular from behind, but I never once think Grossular is that stupid. He must knows what going on behind Lilium’s head, and if it wasn’t Lilium taking advantages of Grossular’s weakness like I assumed last week, Grossular would never fall into his scheme for just “unifying the nation”. I believe this guy still has something up his sleeves, but for some reasons he’s still waiting for Jean to make a move first. He’s pretty much in a stand-by mode for now. Muave, likewise, pretty much stands by his side because she trusts him (and to be frank, maintaining orders for the kingdom, plus her favorite Jean might take the throne are too good to refuse). They might play as an assistant role for Jean later on whenever he decides on which road he takes, only that…

…Jean still hasn’t make a goddamn move except for carrying his audits like usual. The later districts have been really opened about his royal blood and their opinions/ the cigarettes as well. Lithium might come from a wealthy district, but the last district that Jean visited in his current round, Pranetta (Planet) is the totally opposite and for my money this is one of the most interesting district that we have witnessed. The district is dirt poor, swallowed by a vast desert and holed themselves under the ground. The district remains with an extremely limited resource, without the sunlight for daily necessity and only have TV as the one entertainment source, an extreme opposite to casino-filled Yakkara last week (and I did notice based on the Dowa Kingdom map, Yakkara is located within Pranetta, interesting). But the residents there have a dream of mining, of one day finding something invaluable and they keep following the dream and being happy despite their harsh environment. They don’t care much about the coming coup, because they know it doesn’t make much different for them whoever take the throne (no wonder with that attitude, Jean feels himself really comfortable here). They simply don’t have anything to keep, or anything to even offer. That little scene between Jean and the branch chief, where the old man asks Jean’s cigar for a smoke, but then offers him the cigar back as an upvote really sums up the spirit of residents of Pranetta. Cigarettes are even something so luxury that out of their reach, but he trusts Jean (not the coup) to make a rightful decision.

And that is precisely why that perfect scheme of Lilium is going to be broken apart. Putting Jean as a mediator, a person who represents both ACCA and the rightful heir is a smart move. But by giving him time to explore every single districts, Jean gets to see the kingdom in multiple perspectives, from the riches to the poors, from the allies to the extremists, from what works and what fails and thus he no longer has the same outlooks with the men in power here, moreover he holds the key (his royal blood) to make it different, now it’s just the timing. For instance, Lilium would never get the appeal of Pranetta district. It might not be the class between ACCA and the royal, but the fight between the rich and the poor here.

And it’s freaking time now. The plot will get busy next week, now that the first princess second-attempts to murder Jean and Lotta, the King is dying; Jean visiting his final audit; the centennial ceremony is approaching and Nino still wanders somewhere, I know we will have a busy week with heaps of fun next week. Speaking of Nino, Lotta sure really fonds of him and the sequence when they’re talking about Nino and their “secret” feel so warm. But damn Nino, you missed your chance of becoming a prince Charming. Rejecting a princess even when she proposed to you? No wonder why he’s spirited away now.

ps: I’m tempted to spend some time to pick out the uniforms of each district, now that we encounter every single one of them. The show really knows how to scratch my itch. Diversity rules!

3-gatsu no Lion – 21 [When the Cherry Blossoms Bloom – Small Murmur]

by SuperMario, posted in 3-gatsu no Lion, Currently Watching:

I have a serious recall on the first episode while watching this episode. Like that premiere, this episode is divided sharply into two half, one focuses on Rei with his shogi life, the other pays attention to three sisters and Rei; and also like that premiere, each half is compelling on its own and brings out the feels that make the whole episode so rewarding. I could go so far to say that this episode IS the warmest episode of 3-gatsu we have encountered yet, to the point that this episode’s warm-heartedness might be the best way to end this season (but then again, we still have 1 more episode). Almost every character has a happy, joyful times. Well, they pretty much deserve to have a rose-color moments once in awhile, especially after weeks after weeks of depressions from Rei and then Shimada.

Coming back to Shimada’s hometown for a shogi festival, which many fun events like Human Shogi or 100 Move events, Shimada can’t help but feeling that he let people in his town down. He expects the old folks would cheer him up, tell him it’s alright despite him losing straight matches, and that make him feel even more guilty. What he doesn’t expect is that the old people in the town don’t even really mind about that title match. They love him and support him in different ways, not by the mere win – loss that Shimada always pushes himself to. The last part when the old men tell him to not rush forward make him realize that he has been pushing himself a little too much. The support from his hometown is always meant to give him strength, not as a pressure that he needs to achieve. It’s great if he can succeed on the road he choose, but either way they will always love him all the same, because simply he means much more to them than the shogi master title. And it’s so warming to hear the extend he goes to provide his old folks a community that they can share time together, playing shogi, eating food and getting daily necessities back home.

Seeing Shimada have a moment of relaxation and smiling with his folks are rewarding on its own, but Rei again is pretty in sync with the place as well. “I felt connected to it”, this might be one of those rare times that Rei really feels like he belong to somewhere, and it’s great to see him passionately talk about Shimada in front of the reporter. Although threatened by the “unexpected” rain, the Shogi festival turns out to be a lot of fun. Harunobu fits this festival so well and you can really see the pride of all people emerge themselves to this events. Every Human Shogi player has their face high up, every person in the 100 Move event waits excitingly, yet patiently to play with the professionals. This might be strictly my own preference but this kind of events I prefer much better than the professional shogi tournaments. This is the kind of events where fun is FUNdamental, where everyone just need to enjoy themselves to the fullest and worry about nothing else.

And I’m glad the Kawamoto sisters are back. I missed them so much to the point that I wouldn’t really mind if the entire second half just focus on them and their own little cute problems, be it their struggle over the new sweet creation, or their bigger struggle of staying away from sweet cake; but then it ties with Rei in the end so well that it brings the most heartfelt moments in this already-solid episode. In this episode, they recalled the sisters’ mom again with such achingly fond memory, and that tender moment really tugs my heartstring. The comedy in the second half mostly works well, Momo again steals the scene and Hina still shines with her directness persona, and I swear if they selling that Puffy Daruma I will be the first in line to try it. In the end, I get out of this episode feeling wholly satisfied and warm, something that I never expect the show could achieve so flawlessly. Now if only the last episode could give me that satisfaction. And a conclusive ending point (with the next chapter named “The New Semester” though, I do have my worry).

Scum’s Wish – 09 [Butterfly Swimmer]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Scum's Wish

Wah, a clean cut breakup of a messy relationship, somethings I didn’t expect Scum’s Wish could ever address, let alone pulled it off. At this point, the show starts to untie its knots, one at a time (actually this episode does that with 2 relationships. Killing 2 birds in one stone as they say). Following the rejection last week from her crush Narumi, and that Mugi never showed up to the meeting place like he promised (is there any feeling that worse than being rejected? Hell yeah, it’s the feeling of being cheated on), so it’s very natural of Hanabi to escape from her terrible emotional state for a little trip with Ecchan alone, except they AREN’T alone. Ecchan’s cousin Atsuya shows up out of nowhere to keep an eye on Ecchan, which of course pissed Ecchan off. She wants to take this opportunity to make Hanabi her and her alone.

The most interesting aspect of this relationship is the yuri sex how both of them feeling guilty about using the other party for their own benefits, which in a way they’re both right. Ecchan loves Hanabi but understands deep down that the girl doesn’t love her back, so she uses every means necessary to grasp as much as she could. Hanabi, on the other hand, feels that she’s using her best friend to escape from her own pains, using someone’s love and attention for her gains. Both of them know it won’t end well. Both of them don’t want it to end though because they still need each other. Their first days on the trip, especially their night spent together and the next day’s shopping together, are their relationship in its most flourish. We could see all the brightest aspects of their bonding: honestly clinging to each other without being afraid of others, sharing physical intimacy together (which, on a serious note I think it’s important for every love relationship), and most of all having fun together (Hanabi even noticed it’s one of the rare times she sees Ecchan enjoying herself).

But all *good* things come to an end, naturally. Atsuya is the man of reason both for Ecchan and for Hanabi (no, still think his role is way too forceful). He questions Hanabi on what she truly feels about Ecchan, in which she hesitates to answer. That is the core issues of why this relationship will never work out: Hanabi still sees Ecchan as a dear friend, and Ecchan clearly doesn’t want to be back as friend again with her. There’s a line you mustn’t cross as friends because once you did, it’s extremely hard to revert back and it’s all pain in the process. Ecchan now ascertains that Hanabi would never love her back, so she decides to make one hell of a decision: to cut Hanabi loose by herself. The show handles their biggest emotional standoff with steady execution, splitting it up into two emotionally-heavy back-to-back sequences: Ecchan letting Hanabi go in a house and they letting their emotions all out in the rain. Hanabi tells her exactly how she feels (which is important, the cast of Scum’s Wish have a great sense of self-awareness but never be able to say it aloud) and wish that they could become friends again, be it as long as it takes. That’s hardly ideal for Ecchan, but she settles for it because it’s the most optimistic outcome they could ever reached.

While I did say that Scum’s Wish handled those two sequences quite emotionally honest and effectively, judging those sequences as a whole, it doesn’t work out well. The abrupted transition between two scenes is jarring, and because they don’t carry the same pace (quiet from the first to outburst from the second), it takes you right out of the scene. Moreover, from what I understand about those characters and the messy situations they’re currently in, the end of this relationship still seems very easy for me. Yup, they know they’re in a destructive relationship already, but with this kind of relationship, it would take a huge catalyst in order to break them off. This trip just isn’t big enough to actually change their current status, and as I said earlier Atsuya is very awkward in this whole situation, making not only Hanabi and Ecchan, but us feeling awkward as well. Ecchan told him she might try trusting him, but remember he’s also an one-side dreamy lover who just wish to obtain the love that he can’t possibly have? I honestly don’t know how to feel about this guy and I have my doubts that the creator knows exactly how to feel about him either.

Lastly, Moca surprisingly steals her scene in a little time she got this episode. Putting off her princess persona that she had always carried, we see Moca literally woofing down the bread (and her expression is awesome) and be much more expressive and honest than her past self. She meets Hanabi again but this time, it’s Moca who brushes the other girl off and walks confidently ahead. After all, she’s the least involved in this mess, hence she’s the quickest to actually learn her lesson and move on. Moca, unlike Atsuya, is a well-written character for this show. Now, as Hanabi’s love thread is over, it’s time for us to move on to the other love affair next week, starting with the teacher home visit – without the parents of course, what show do you think we get in for?

Zaregoto Series OVA – 04 [Day 4 (2) The 0.14 Tragedy]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, OVAs and Movies:, Zaregoto Series

Zaregoto is back to its intriguing premise. This episode brings out many of the show’s best strengths. While still follow the investigation, it shifts its main focus on the characters, especially fleshing out again the relationship between Il-chan and Tomoe (to be more exact, what Il-chan thinks about his relationship with Tomoe), and the visual presentations are in overall impressive across the board. Overall this episode is a clear step up from its previous episode.

Let first start with the locked room mystery. In this episode the majority of our cast have already figured out that bit, many of them intend to hide that they know to keep the situation things from escalating. The mystery turns out to be quite simple, in that the murderer made a river of paints AFTER the earthquake, which leave all guests and host and servants a possible suspects. One other interesting development is that Akane and Kanami had met before 6 months ago. And then Akane bring up the topic of letting someone kill yourself, which make me wonder if this Kanami case is the same. So far, there is actually no motive from the cast (and by the look of it I don’t think any of them have any real motive whatsoever, maybe except for Sasaki), so what if this is some plan carried by Nanami and the killer to kill her, but for exactly what reasons? Is it because of Sasaki? Then, why capturing the head?

A good chunk of time was dedicated to explore Il-chan and Tomoe intrigued chemistry, and I believe this is where the show shines the best. One constant theme that NisiOisin keep addressing throughout his writing career is the conflicts by the main lead between two opposing thoughts of “better left alone” and “rely on others’ support”. His protagonists are always a lone-wolf, with the belief that they have to deal with their own issues in order to grow, and having friends will carry an unnecessary burden that weighed them down (a statement in which Koyomi Araragi clearly expressed in his Monogatari series). In this case though, il -chan takes care of Tomoe not out of love or kindness, but with destruction in mind. He wants her to choose him and him alone, the feeling that he’s actually special to someone. For now it’s hard to say if it’s pure dark intention from our main lead to the blue-hair girl, as we still don’t know about their relationship previously and even what Tomoe truly thinks about Il-chan but man, I’m digging this kind of ambiguous relationship.

And for me another highlight of this episode was the surreal settings right in front of Akame’s room. Shaft sure takes a lot of liberty here with its dark background, the only lights were the colorful reflection of window’s glass, and red butterflies hovering around. While I enjoy most of the conversion between our MC with Akame, and with Maki the fortune teller (she clearly knows more than what she spilled here, and her enjoyment out of tormenting Il-chan is priceless), but sadly the other genius, Yayoi the cook is really plain and ordinary right now. I would love it if the show can flesh out her more in next episode. And finally, oops, apparently our main leads don’t know about Ilia’s curse before heading to this island, so expect them to get it in the next events as well. As of now, although the show is getting better, I suspect that the monthly release really killed off the vibe it has and it’s hard to get excited for something that you have to wait too long (and then delay, really Shaft??) you just better forget it all together. For people still hanging around with it like myself, well, at least those posts will be your companions. For others, I strongly suggest you to wait for all of this come out and then watch them all at once. Will be a much more engaging experience.

And I still think the issue with the painting is his watch.

ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept. – 09 [A Graceful Black Adder Bears It’s Fangs]

by SuperMario, posted in ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept., Currently Watching:

We have another solid slow-burning episode this week, which is… Goddamnit ACCA, you just can’t do that at this late in the game, especially when the last two episodes had raised the stakes extremely well. This is the stage where the climax starts to kick in, but instead we still stuck in the building-up stage of Jean continuing to audit other districts and the coming coup is… well, still coming. It feels like you’re having a second course dish and then revert back to have an entree again. No, I’m not settled for only this. The main development of this episode is of course the (near) assassination of Lotta, which actually pull lots of supporting characters into the motion now, and all of them shine in their own ways. First, Prince Schwan proves everyone (including us) that he’s far more ruthless and calculated than us credit him for. He actually manipulated the first princess to send assassins to kill the siblings without touching his hands in any of this. Quite impressive I must say. But Magie, in even more-awesome move, decides to seek help from his sandwich bread buddy (further demonstrate that friends who share the same enthusiasm will go a long way, in this case, bread and blonde girl).

Rail, takes this rare chance to be with Lotta and acts like her bodyguard, which failed miserably. But never mind. Not only he’s able to share many heart-throbbing moments with Lotta (those moments to die for), but also now they share a secret together. Lotta, in the meantime, being wide eyes from the entirety of the chase and still wondering what the hell is going on (what big eyes she got), but when she hears the secret, she takes the news surprisingly well just like her brother (must run in their blood, huh?). I am completely taken aback by how incompetent bunch the assassins are, not only they spilled cheap “exposition”, which they have no right to know to begin with; they made the chase as obvious to the public eyes as ever; and moreover couldn’t do their goddamn job right. But this strange turn of events of Chief Owl suddenly appear to save Lotta a day further reaffirm my suspicion of him being Abend (like hell he just happened to run into that car). Put aside the practical fact that his age suited Abend’s actual age the most, his position as chief of ACCA allow him to be close enough to watch over Jean and Lotta, and his conditions that make him just stay in one place is so convenient for both him to stay within the shadow, and for Jean to go by himself to the districts for auditing. Now, he’s gotten more active roles into this story so it’s interesting to see if he’s truly the one pulling Nino from behind the scene.

And talking about pulling behind the scene, we got a twist that none of us see coming, which change the tides of the situation considerably. Yep, I’m talking about Grossular is being manipulated Lilium, which my guess for now it has to do with the train wreck that killed Jean’s parents. Before that though, Grossular put his cards on the table in his 5 ACCA chiefs meeting- he created the rumors, put Jean into the middle of it to see the reactions of each district towards the creating the coup and now deciding that it’s time for the freaking coup. Now we have an idea of the significance of the cigarettes Jean received from each district, it’s the unofficial “vote” to support Jean as the coup leader. But how much of what he said is true? The direction Lilium and Grossular want the others to head in is the battle between ACCA and the coming royal authority (after all the Prince make himself crystal clear to destroy ACCA as soon as he’s in charge). Those conflicts really put Jean into an interesting position now. He knows exactly the situation he’s currently in; but which ship will he be on and what decision will he make remain a fascinating question. Will he be a leader of the expected coup and take the reign? Will he put behind all the nonsense to do his own thing? Where will Mauve fit in in this big picture? One thing we know for sure though, no matter which road he make, it will be a game-changer.

On last notes, the two districts Jean visited this time are again brimming with personalities and unique details. The port district Peshi was also responsible for the train accidents along with Rokkosu, and it was the place where Jean’s mother “supposedly” drowned here. Looking at the second princess statue that look over the port, I can really feel the sadness from Jean now that he knows the story behind it all. Yakkara, the most healthy district, is Las Vegas-inspired with casino in sight and neon-lighting and night life. I still wish the show have some time to explore more about each district. But to rub salt into the wound, the show temporarily abandoned many of its better variations in service for the plot. I mean, where the hell are the hot breads and desserts this week? Where the heck is Nino? I know he goes hiding from Jean but that doesn’t mean he needs to go hiding from us too. All the events move up quite steady and the big picture starts to form now, but I am still a bit disappointed, especially after the extravaganza from the last two weeks I won’t settle for this slow burn anymore.

3-gatsu no Lion – 20 [Kyoto part 2 – part 3]

by SuperMario, posted in 3-gatsu no Lion, Currently Watching:

With this episode we come to an end of Shimada’s title challenge matches against Souya, and somewhat close his arc down. Shimada time has been very effective and touching time and he proves to be a very worthy addition to the cast. In this episode we get to see his dream: the dream sequence depicted the life Shimada could have been had he given up on shogi. In that dream, he lives a normal, happy life in his village with all the smiling and warmness from his hometown people. While this sequence sure is bittersweet, I can’t help but feel it was a tad heavy-handed. Now, “heavy-handed” is a term that I don’t normally use for 3-gatsu, even I don’t mind those sequences about Rei’s depression, as it lays bare the emotions Rei has been struggling to live his life. But the reason I find this dream a bit forceful is because when you make a career out of something, anything really the feeling of burden and “just stay on your feet and keep walking slowly ahead” are bound to happen. Not just shogi. Here the show tried to paint us that it was the life he sacrificed for his shogi professional path. Well, it’s not like his girlfriend left him because he chose shogi for one thing; moving to the big city to make ends meet and trying to survive is the very struggle of majority of people out there, and shogi career isn’t that bad. It could’ve been much worse. My point is that his dream feels like a wishful dream, and maybe that is the show’s point. Just like any sweet dream, it’s just too bright and too perfect to be real. In this life though, the stomach pain he got represent the responsibility he been carry through from the people from his village. He has to carry that weight and that pain for the rest of his life; but like he acknowledges later on, he embraces that pain because the pain makes him feel alive.

The match between him and Souya ends up in another straight loss for Shimada. Boy, here I thought with all that build-up, the show would just make him win this match so that he could play in his hometown; guess I was underestimated the show’s writing. One interesting thing (and how true) I noticed is that doesn’t matter how Shimada tried his best to climb his way up slowly and steady; in public eyes, at least for now he will be remembered as “the challenger who loss straight matches”, “a loser whose skills ain’t that great to be in the title match”. It’s a shame though the way publicity works, sometimes you just see the ice tips on the surface and ignore the rest of the iceberg. And he comes this close to win that match without even realizing it. The same thing. “Almost winning” still doesn’t mean anything to others but maybe himself, Souya and Rei. All his efforts weren’t rewarded this time, but now he knows that he still has a potential to actually beat the master.

Rei, on the other hand, has become really active lately and I believe he has matured a lot in this trip. It’s great to see him actively feel concern for someone he cares, and moreover express his feeling towards Shimada in the final moments of the match, something that the timid Rei in the beginning of the series wouldn’t dare to do. Witnessing Shimada struggling through matches, his will to play, and finally that “last move” have given him a lot of valuable lessons as well. After he sees the weathered Shimada sleeping soundly on the train back home, he learns that what lies on the other side of the storm is just more furious and non-stop storms. Pretty deep stuff here. At the same time, it reaffirms that our Rei is, in fact, special (surprise surprise! He’s our protagonist after all) to find the final move that only Souya could see afterwards. Kidding aside, it draws the parallel between Souya and Rei, as in term of shogi, they pretty have the same style and the same instinct. The real difference is that while Souya is always portrayed as a perfect inhuman being (time stop around him, snow falls, he doesn’t age), it comes with a price too: he’s so far removed from the rest of the world. With Rei thought, he’s human, he’s imperfect and although he feels lonely at times he has others who actually care for him. They’re not the same in the least. With only 2 episodes left (meaning 4 more chapters), all I can really hope is for 3-gatsu to have a proper ending point. But I really doubt that, since like in real life; we, and life itself, just keep moving on.