So far, I’ve complained more about this arc of MHA than any other in the past. I wasn’t sold on the departure from the school setting, and I’ve bemoaned my favorite characters not getting screen time.
I was wrong.
These last two episodes have silenced any complaints. These were two superb episodes: top 10 for the entire series easily.
Continue reading “My Hero Academia – 76/77 [Infinite 100%/Bright Future]”
Welcome to Jeweler Richard, one of the two shows that Amun and me are going to take turn to blog each week. For me, I find it interesting to see the varied opinions between me and him on the same shows. This episode, in particular, divides us. Amun hates it but I find it decent – not on par with the premiere, but still very decent. Granted, I can see some issues this week, most notably the case that has little to do with Richard’s appraisal skills. The jewelry in question this week is the pigeon-blood ruby, known for its namesake color. Mami the client wants to know whether or not the ruby had been heated, but it’s increasingly clear that there’s something else that she wants. In terms of the progression regarding that ruby case, it is all over the place at best. Suddenly out of nowhere, her fiancee appears to info-dump about Mami’s backstory – and the thing was he’a never that important a role to begin with. She uses a fake name whose we soon find out is the name of her past’s flame. On the positive notes, Jeweler Richard the show has this fascinating view about women’s lives – Seigi’s grandma last week and Mami this week show how these women struggling with the roles they were expected to perform and their real desires. For that I’m willing to look aside all its shaky elements for now.
Continue reading “The Case Files of Jeweler Richard – 02 [The Ruby’s Truth]”
Magia Record sure has a pretty big hurdle to pass: for everything it does there will be a comparison to its original – which for me is both fair and unfair at the same time. Every product should be judged on its own merits, but Magia Record gains its attention for being a Madoka’s spinoff (or else no one would be willing to watch it), so that it’s a show’s responsibility to justify why it needs to be here in the first place. As far as the first three episodes concern, they (mostly) manage to stand on its own terms. It keeps the spirits of the original – the sense of there is something wrong in this world is clear, and several mysteries remain in support for that uneasy feeling. What is the deal with this Kamihama city, for example? The magical girls there are more powerful than the rest, the witches don’t have Greed seed (which implies that they might not be witches in the first place), and Kyubei can’t enter the area. Then we have the mystery regarding Iroha’s little sister Ui, as she dreams of her sisters’ best friends while she was living in the hospital. What did she wish for that single handedly wipe out Ui’s existence from everyone’s memory, Kyubei included? I’m sure that wish is not for the faint of heart.
I am certainly late with this post but my excuses are christmas and just having more important things to do. But we come to the end of the second season of Legend of the Galactic Heroes and with this end comes the end of the two rebellions within the stories societies. The parallel remains for both with the two main character winning a bittersweet victory. Reinhard got what he wanted but lost something truly irreplaceable while Yang restored order only for the corrupt democracy to take charge and begin plotting against him. The death of the National Salvation Military Council was truly poetic as they set out to stop corruption, fell to it themselves and then tore itself apart when it was discovered that they truly were nothing but a pawn for the enemy. The final testament to their mistaken actions being the remaining soldiers still believing that they did nothing wrong. Meanwhile the Lippstadt alliance falling apart from their own arrogance as they rush into a defeat seeking glorious death only to find that no one wants to entertain such a notion and with some even shot and killed by their own soldiers on the ship who were not too keen on following the glorious death of some brat. The death of Braunschweig is a thing of beautiful dramatic irony with him being force fed poisoned wine, drowning in his own decadence. Beforehand you even wished that for once, just once, he could conduct himself with dignity now that his death was decided but alas when the time came to bite the bullet he went out like the manchild he always was. The thing I must ask though is despite knowing of Braunschweig’s character, his subordinate still went through with fulfilling his last request. Maybe like Merkatz he was just a man sworn to duty even when that duty pushes him to serve the selfish and greedy but it just seems like such weak modivation for a suicide attack. It certainly wasn’t to uphold a promise as Braunschweig broke his end of the deal hereby making anything he swore invaild. Perhaps at the end of this foolish journey he saw no real way out and just decided to follow through on his role to the very end.
Continue reading “Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These – 21-24”
First of all – apologies for my tardiness on MHA. Due to vacation and sickness, I haven’t been able to write about everyone’s favorite high school heroes. Fear not, as I will make up for lost time as MHA heads into their finale with….some rather uneven episodes, honestly.
Continue reading “My Hero Academia – 72-75”
The finale of Psycho-Pass 3 feels more of a setup episode than a proper ending to the third season and it bores well in delivering an exciting future for the franchise overall. It does nothing to bring closure to the overarching plot, has a couple twists and just an utterly chilling ending. Continue reading “Psycho-Pass 3 – 08 [Cubism]”
Welcome to a battle of two families: Vulcan vs Lisa and Shinra vs Sho. These two episodes pair nicely and feature quality fights befitting of a late season shounen. While not big on emotional payoff, Fire Force delivers clues as to the world’s mystery…and a nice hair cut!
Continue reading “Fire Force 21/22 – Those Connected/Brother’s Determination”
This episode was the exciting climax of the season as all the pieces of the current case snap together but leaves a few loose ends for the final episode to hopefully close out.
Continue reading “Psycho-Pass 3 – 07 [Don’t Take God’s Name in Vain]”
MHA is one of my favorite shows. But I have to admit that the pacing this season has felt odd. I think what’s disconcerting is Season Four feels like an introductory season…despite having 3 prior (and a movie). We have had several backstory episodes and a couple first day of work/setting introductions – not normal fare four seasons in. Someone could start watching from Season 4 and feel like the story is just starting off – granted, they would be incorrect, but that’s the impression I’ve had so far.
Continue reading “My Hero Academia – 70/71 [ GO!!/Suneater ]”
Episodes 19 and 20 of Fire Force are a tale of Two Anime. One is a fan-service filled mess, with uneven gags mixed in among mismatched action sequences. The other is an epic, and I mean EPIC, Fire Sniper Duel. Okay, so Episode 20 wasn’t actually all that bad, but it sounded more dramatic when I said it that way. In case you need more convincing…how often do you get to see a cute little nun straight up merc someone with a pipe?
Continue reading “Fire Force – 19/20 [ Nether/Wearing Pride ]”