Category: Currently Watching:

Young BlackJack – 09

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Young Blackjack

I think the outcome of this episode was thoroughly spoiled by the opening, where we have Blackjack and this Hyakki facing each other as arch enemies. But I didn’t expect that the man’s character would be so interesting. The episodes beginning broke the fourth wall by referring the original Mangaka’s works and how is man is based on Tezuka’s other work. I was fully expecting a villain of the level of zaki from episode two and got instead a sympathetic ambitious man who had most of his limbs lost in a car accident. As well as a doctor who saw Blackjacks recovery and the surgery that made him who he is. He’s a really respectable guy seeing as he lost all his limbs and yet uses his disability to help design better prosthetics and even having a fiancé willing to stay with him regardless if he’s limbless or not.

So it seems that revenge is in order and while the show will likely go the route of how revenge is never right, I can’t help but feel it’s justified in this case. From the looks of things these doctors cut the brakes on his car and fully intended to kill him in order to remove him from the medical world. I don’t see how responding in kind is particularly evil. Still one thing I find odd about how these doctors prevented him from operating again by informing the patient that he would be using prosthetic limbs. Wouldn’t that be par for the course to inform the patient on just who is doing the operation? I mean what would have happened if after the operation he went to see the patient and the patient got furious that he was operated on by a quadraplegic?

A common point that is brought up again and again is that if Blackjack continues to carry out these illegal procedures that he will never be allowed to become a true doctor. Seeing as we already know that he will lose his license and become a back alley surgeon these reminders that Blackjack will lose his license seem to provoke the question “I this the operation that gets him removed from the professional medical world?” So far he’s managed to avoid that outcome but with Hyakki going rogue there’s a chance he might let slip that Blackjack was the one who gave him the ability to operate. These two look to become enemies next episode but just how will they combat each other in a show about medical operations?

Subete ga F ni Naru – 08

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Subete ga F ni Naru

At this point the theory of Magata being pregnant before she was locked down on the Island is looking very likely as during Souhei’s revelation of the answer to everything, we get a brief glimpse of a pregnant woman. But lord only knows what the Ostriches are supposed to symbolize. What I really wonder is just how Souhei came to any conclusion at all with the lacking amount of information he was given. In particular if he does come to the conclusion that Magata was pregnant going in then I just have to question how he could possibly know that when her relationship to the director was made privy only to us, the viewers. Naturally however Souhei doesn’t share his miraculous insight as Moe cuts him off saying she will figure it out on her own. We do have three more episodes to go after all.

While Moe says she will figure it out I feel her earlier words captured my feelings on this mystery. Namely when she said, “I stopped caring about the case” and that is my exact mindset. I don’t like giving up on a puzzle but I feel the show is not handing us all the pieces needed to solve it. Two murders have happened, one inside a locked room and another on the rooftop. However we have no idea on the layout of the faculty, or the character of the facility personnel or the timeframe of the murders. The how of this mystery is missing far too much information to come to any conclusions about what happened, whereas the Who of this mystery seems blatantly obvious. I truly cannot see anyone else other than Magata being the murderer for no one else had screentime significant enough to make being the culprit justifiable. Some are saying Magata’s kid is the culprit but I find that lacking when it comes to motive and the big question of how she is able to move about the facility like a ninja despite spending her entire life in a locked small area.

No, my suspect remains Magata and from what this episode is suggesting, Magatas older sister is Magata herself. The two big hints to this is Magata comparing herself to the loneliness of seven and her sister being featured in Souhei’s revelation. What adds to this is that she is not present in any of Magata’s flashbacks and the camera’s reluctance to show Magata’s face when in the sealed area. So my current theory is this, Magata had a child in the sealed area secretly and raised her up to take on her role and impersonate her. Then under the guise of being “Magata’s older Sister” she left the island with the director. Hence why Magata has always retained a youthful appearance. The director killed the child and when he brought Magata to the island she killed him. There are numerous holes in this theory such as how did she get the things need. To raise a child without tipping off the guards or what would have happened if she had a boy or if her daughter didn’t look like her? And namely just how did the director manage to kill the girl inside a locked room? But like I said, I have past the point of caring. Subete has been a rather big disappointment and while its reveal might save it somewhat, the series would remain a slow show that plays its cards too early and then drags its feet to the finish.

One Punch Man – 08

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, One Punch Man

I wish I knew just what that girl at the beginning was parodying as she’s clearly been overdrawn in a completely different style. My closest guess would be the poster girls of creature features in the 60s and 70s as she wouldn’t look out of place if pasted into a movie poster. I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing Geno’s act like a housewife, just seeing him dry plates with his hand jets makes me smile. This week put quite a lot of spotlight on a hero previously shown, Licenceless rider.(Yes the Subtitles call him Mumen rider but frankly his English name is better.) A guy who looked to be a one note joke actually might end up being one of the more upstanding heroes in the show seeing as when all other C class heroes are just giving up, he’s rushing ahead to fight the Sea King and protect the citizens in the shelter. It’s just such a pity that he doesn’t stand even the slightest of a chance against the Sea King but well Saitama’s close by so at least he will be avenged. This episode has something I like to call “the Alucard effect”. Put simply when the main character of a series is so ridiculously powerful that nothing poses a challenge then that main character will be removed from the fight as long as possible in order to build up the villain as a credible threat. For we all know that the minute Saitama shows up this Sea King is doomed.

As a result of this the episode was mainly about other heroes dealing with the threat and minimizing damage. The standout was the fights of Sonic and Piri Piri Prisoner. I could go and say Prisoner is an offensive stereotype but quite frankly he’s such a ridiculously purposefully over the top stereotype that it’s hilarious. So I think we can put down the pitchforks and agree that in no way shape or form would anyone use Piri Piri Prisoner as a representation of homosexuals or prisoners in general. That would be akin to using Mario as a representation of the Italian. Best of all was Sonic’s reaction to Prisoners “Angel Mode” which without a doubt mirrored the thoughts of every person watching. Despite being a one sided slaughter fest, the fights were pretty well animated with a lot of force behind the blows. Props to Rikiya Koyama, another big name attached to one time villains, for putting in a perfect performance as the Sea King. The soundtrack is also great with electric guitars and drums coming in just at the right moment to elevate what’s on screen. If it’s one thing I could complain about it’s that this episode ended on a cliffhanger and seeing as what happens next is one of my favorite moments in the series that was a real let down. Granted it’s coming next episode and Madhouse is certain to do it justice but the wait is so long.

Young BlackJack – 08

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Young Blackjack

While I find the level of risk in this two part arc to be inconsequential, I must admit that I like how it all turned out. For this is the first time in this series that Blackjack failed. While he was able to discern the cause of Johnny’s lack of pain, he was unable to treat it with Dr Risenberg coming in to fix Johnny’s problem himself. So for the first time Blackjack was not in control of the situation and proven that he isn’t invincible. Dr Risenberg is a nice example of knowing too much about those you respect. I think that the internet, in particular Twitter, has given us far too much insight into our idols. This is an issue because people aren’t perfect and we all have our issues and demons. In many ways it’s better to keep that untarnished vision of those you admire than to look too deeply and find they are just as human as you are. In this case, our dear doctor was involved with the experiments done on Jewish people in concentration camps. From the sound of things his thirst for medical knowledge lead him to human experimentation and now he even fears that Blackjack walks down the same path as he did.

So his efforts in this episode were less to give Johnny a normal life but rather to save Blackjack from getting erased by the American military so they could keep their experiments secret. This episode looks like it was dealing with people’s inner demons as we have a sufferer of PTSD, Tommy around to help Blackjack out. And if I am not mistaken it seems that Tommy will end up being another future adversary to Blackjack. Again I must bring up Blackjacks over exaggerated method of presentation, as I truly haven’t come to a conclusion whether it is holding the show back or keeping it from falling flat on it’s face. Blackjack always deals with serious issues but the nature of the show is highly in your face which gives it dramatic punch while sacrificing the credibility of taking it seriously. I am reminded of the Phoenix wright games which make use of a similar method to make what would be rather dull courtroom proceedings in ridiculously theatrical displays that can pull any player in with it’s energy. But those games are often comical and lighthearted as a result despite dealing with murder most of the time. So I wonder if Blackjack was presented in a manner that was more serious would that be a benefit or would it drain the colour out of what has be a really good show so far?

Subete ga F ni Naru – 07

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Subete ga F ni Naru

Oh those poor seiyūs that had to act in today’s episode. I can only imagine the horror when a Japanese speaking seiyū is told they need to have an entire conversation in English in a fairly dialogue heavy show. Japanese and English happen to be two of the hardest languages to learn so if they managed to find one seiyū who could fluently act well in both that would have been a miracle. To give credit they did work on producing it as best they could preventing it from being unintentionally hilarious but to do so they needed to sacrifice acting out any emotion in the scene. As a result you have a scene which looks like it was acted out by Microsoft Sam. What I find odd is how these two’s impressions of Magata counter my own. I was under the impression that Magata was something whom disliked the idea of being held down by anything, yet these two claim that’s exactly what she desired.

My attention on this show happens to be slipping and the reason for that I believe is in just how little information is learned in the last few episodes. In today’s episode we learned…that outside attack is impossible, that Magata was weird even to her sister, that when Moe’s parents died Souhei was with her and that Magata knew this was going to happen 15 years ago. Most of the information is worthless as it does not give new light to motives or how this happened. Moe’s revelation about realising Souhei was with her when her parents died doesn’t really add anything, rather it renders the strange connection Magata and Moe share to be rather superficial. We are more than halfway through the series and not even close to a solution here. As the series is drawing to a close I find my brainstorming getting walled off and boxed in. There are too many uncertainties, a lack of suspects and not enough information to work with.

At this point I can’t see anyone else other than Magata being the murderer and as to why that is, because out of the only characters with significant development she’s the only one that makes sense. The rest of the cast is far too underdeveloped to make a good murderer and our two main characters are the detectives is it wouldn’t make much sense for either one to remain to try and solve a murder they committed. That leaves Magata and the director, who are both presumably dead. The more we see of Magata, the more suspicious she becomes. It’s pretty clear that she knew that this would happen fifteen years ago and the only ways she could possibly know that would be if she was a precog or planned it. Moe’s dream sequence seems to hint that Magata in some way might have transferred her existence to a digital form which I think would be a bit too supernatural for this series. I will accept some truly outrageous technology(Even if it is essentially a high tech version of a sensory deprivation tank(AKA Isolation Tank).) But I think when we reach the levels of AI then things get a bit too fantasy for my liking.

One Punch Man – 07

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, One Punch Man

This episode mainly focused on a giant Meteor about to annihilate the city and the introduction if S class heroes, Metal Knight and Bang. Bang makes it a point to say how the top class heroes are hardly very heroic with most not showing up at all to stop a city’s total destruction. Even one of the two S class heroes that did show up only did so to test his new weapons. It’s seems that this show is making a point that there are few of these avengers out to do the greater good but more in it for more selfish reasons. So it is that out of the legion of heroes introduced, Saitama may be the closest thing to what a hero should be. Its is at this point where I must remark on the inconsistency of One Punch Man’s animation quality. At times it can be remarkably fluid and gorgeous but at other times it can be heavy amounts of animation saving techniques at work. What’s more concerning is that these random quality highs and lows can happen within close proximity. It really seems that any scene with Genos is given an animation overhaul but the scene with Saitama punching through the Meteor was a mixed with cheap and great animation. But that could be a clash of animation styles at work in one scene, as it certainly felt like the character animation and the explosion were done by two different people. The animators passion certainly shines through to save the scene but it could have had more impact with more movement and force behind the punch. However I must admit that complaining about animation in this show is much like complaining about a lack of sand in a desert. What’s been done has been done excellently, it’s more a minor complaint that I wish it had more consistency.

So Saitama manages to save the city but unfortunately fails to prevent the Meteor fragments from causing serious damage. Thus naturally for the human race, they blame everything on the man who saved all their hides. I have said before that Saitama’s greatest challenges come not from a fist fight but rather a more psychological approach. In this regard the Tank Top brothers actually picked a clever way of attacking him. By drawing in a crowd to berate Saitama for the destruction of the city. Nearly worked too, if they hadn’t tried to stage a publicity stunt of them taking him down in to boost their rank. It looks to be that Saitama’s deeds as a heroes are going to be mainly unsung and in the public eyes he’s an incompetent cheater of a hero. However at least he has Genos on his side who sees his true worth. Due to the differences in language there’s very few times I can judge a voice actor in a subbed show. After all what the subtitles say is merely an liberal interpretation using the closest english equivalent and I like the know how of the nuances of the Japanese language to truly judge the talent of Japanese voice actors. But I think we can all agree that even when lacking that knowledge it could be clearly seen that the actor didn’t handle that shouting scene right at all. From the manga it’s pretty clear his voice should be more angry and powerful but here the tone of his voice really didn’t match the mood of the scene. Quite frankly, it just didn’t sound right and really killed the scene for me. Next episode looks to be the beginning of the sea king attack which has been something I have been looking forward to since this adaptions announcement. However I wonder if they plan to make it a two partner or handle the seven chapter arc in one episode?

Young BlackJack – 07

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Young Blackjack

Racism is always a thorny topic to deal with. Regardless of intent there are just so many ways of messing it up, be it by using strawmen or one dimensional caricatures. It’s a topic that requires a delicate hand to prevent pushing it to its extreme all to make an obvious point of Racism being bad. So when I saw what was in store for this episode and knew that something as in your face as Blackjack was tackling a rather touchy subject I was rather worried. For good reason it seems, as we have two black men holding a girl hostage and beating up a guy just for the sole purpose of making a point that violence gets results. I never really looked at Blackjack as being historically accurate but I find the portions of the revolts being spilt between and nonviolent and Violent group to be suspect. Luckily this episode is not about that and instead just uses it as setup for Blackjacks next challenge.

As it turns out, Johnny the immortal is unable to feel pain. In a marvel universe that would equate to a superpower to which can be used to fight crime. In real life however it’s a serious issue that prevents the person from recognising just how damaged his body is. Pain may be agonizing but it alerts you to abnormalities within the body. Without it you could be walking around with a serious injury and never realize it till it was far too late. As our friend saw here when he didn’t even feel his twisted arm. For Johnny this is a double edged sword as it allows him to protest without being deterred by attacks, thus capturing his efforts on camera. But it also means his injuries become far more severe. The focus of this two part episodes looks to be just what is causing this abnormality though the preview of the next episode looks to have already given away the answer.

Young Blackjack remains a fun watch though this episode was one that a tuned out to more than the others. When compared to the intensity of the previous Vietnam episodes, the conflict here lacks weight. It isn’t this mans life at stake but rather something which is more of an inconvenience. The three day time limit just seems to be a attempt to add urgency to the problem but regardless of whether they fail or not this will not result in the man’s death. The conflict just is minor with more focus being on the moral dilemma of letting a man depend on a potentially life threatening defect.

Subete ga F ni Naru – 06

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Subete ga F ni Naru

I can’t say I enjoyed this episode of Subete too much, mainly because there was less investigating and more character building. That wouldn’t be a problem if the character building wasn’t so focused on our main leads. The leads are fine, what we need is to expand on the other characters present on the island otherwise who can we point our fingers at and say “There! They did it!” Out of our entire cast, four of them are rounded enough to be considered suspects. Two of those are the detectives and the other two are presumably dead. We still have a host of workers and support characters who have as much depth as a cardboard cutout and if this series does decide that one of these people is the murderer then it’s going to have to make it much more justifiable with its second half. I was rather frustrated to see this episode focus on our two lead arguing over leaving the island, explaining everything we already know to some people who seem irrelevant to the case and the going back to the facility. Admittedly it does establish a reason why this teacher would be given the authority to act as an investigator but it feels that’s all this episode really did. The conflict seemed just like unnecessary filler seeing as it all was pushed aside so easily.

What new information we did learn was minor. One is that when the body of Magata was exiting her room on the robot trolley, the elevator was called to the roof suggesting that someone was there during the time of the incident. The other was that Magata did indeed stab and kill her parents which has me confused. If she intended to do the deed herself then why did she present the knife to the director? Why kill them openly in front of the director and his wife? Her actions make it seem that she wanted to get caught which counter her desires to be unchained. Why did she tell Moe that a “doll” killed her parents? I guess just like our main characters, we just know far too little on these matters to make a judgement. It’s possible that now is when the real investigation starts but if that is the case then I hope we work in some red herrings and side character development. For if this series focuses far too much on the “how did it happen” then the reveal of “why it happened” could come off as cheap and lacking impact.

One Punch Man – 06

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, One Punch Man

It is interesting that the challenges that Saitama faces that get him worried that truly the most mundane and ordinary. Saitama can punch a monster into oblivion but when it comes to essays or going to sales he’s powerless. Here we have him about to be kicked out of the hero association if he doesn’t catch a criminal in two days. For all of Saitama’s infinite power he can’t do a thing if there are no criminals to catch. Saitama’s greatest weakness is his own mentality but at least Speed of Sound, Sonic has bailed Saitama out of this jam. Though I must say the animation sure takes a hit whenever Sonic shows up.  Maybe someone less talented his handling his scenes or maybe they just aren’t given as much attention. None the less the scene still worked and despite some shortcomings there was some eye candy. Namely Saitama breaking Sonics sword with his teeth. We are also introduced to two new girls of the show, Fubuki and Tatsumaki, who will likely play a part in future events. Fubuki only had about two lines so not much can be said about her but Tatsumaki seems to be channeling the aura of a lolita tsundere. Her cocky unstable side holds some potential but I think I will need to see more to discern whether I like her character or not.

The second half of this episode was the weakest I have seen from One Punch Man so far. It was essentials a overlong joke that everyone knew the punchline to. We have two eccentric A class heroes taking on a powerful monster wandering around Saitama’s neighborhood. They get destroyed, Saitama comes along and punches the thing into lunch. The fight animation was great and I liked the nature of these heroes powers, but they were clearly here only for this episode. It had one good joke in how Genos sensed them dramatically only to dismiss them and go back to cleaning the toilet in a pink apron. However this segment really felt like filler despite it being in the manga. Perhaps because it was just a bonus chapter there. It’s the ending of the episode that brings something interesting to the table as it shows that Saitama’s neighbourhood is a ghost town because Saitama draws in powerful monsters who hear that there is a really powerful being that resides there. So Saitama is unaware that he’s made a name for himself among the monsters and is currently the source of a rumor of a dangerous monster residing in the neighbourhood. Oh Satama, popular with everyone in all the wrong ways.

Young BlackJack – 06

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Young Blackjack

There are times when Blackjacks over the top nature can be entertaining presentation wise and others when it can remove any sense of surprise. While I do like the things Blackjack explores, it is very clear cut on how it shows it. In this episode the man that Blackjack and the army Medic have been spending two episodes trying to save, dies when he wanders out of his room and trips a landmine. This scene was exhibited in such a way that I knew exactly what was going to happen before it did. The minute I saw Steve in that field, I knew he was going to die and he made that all the more certain as he started walking back with tears in his eyes, triggering so many death flags that the reaper himself couldn’t stand it any longer. Bob was quick to blame the Vietcong but I point my finger at the others. In particular I find it funny that Blackjack never thought of the state his patient would wake up in and worse still had no one watching over him. To be fair however, it’s not as if anyone would expect the guy to walk into a single landmine placed in a wide open field. Really, how is it that that single lone landmine managed to remain undetonated right up till this moment or who was the lazy soldier who figured a single solitary landmine in the middle of an open field near a Vietnam village was a perfect place to kill some Americans?

As I said, I don’t think the characters handled this very well, especially when it came to Bob. It doesn’t take a psychiatrist to figure out that Bob was in a very dangerous emotional state and yet the characters only seem to make it worse by antagonizing him. Blackjack and the Medic in particular really should have handled the situation better as it was clear to anyone with eyes that Bob was about to do something drastic. Which makes me even more surprised that he was left to his own devices. In all honestly, you guys have no one to blame but yourselves for the guy calling in an air strike. The episode finale is something I raise an eyebrow at, as Black and the others finish surgery on a Vietnam soldier, survive an air strike and carry the guy through a literal sea of fire in what looks to be very flammable material. This show can be silly and over dramatic but that was really pushing it.

The episode’s final reveal was unfortunately lost on me due to my ignorance of the source material. Upon the reveal of the army doctor’s name I was feeling left out as the way the reveal was staged made this seem like a very big deal, yet when I heard his name I had no idea to its significance. So one google search later, I got exactly who he is and it puts these past few episodes in new context. Put simply, this mystery Medic is Doctor Kiriko, Blackjacks future Arch-nemesis. Eventually this war twists his personality causing him to essentially become Blackjack’s evil counterpart so it is rather interesting that these two worked together once to save a life without even realizing it.