Category: Currently Watching:

Hanebado! – 02/03 [Meat’s the Best After a Workout!/ She Was Perfect]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hanebado!

When people thinks about Hanebado, they tend to regard the excellent animation as its strongest point. While I partly agree on that, for me it’s the small character acting that makes this show sticks out for me. I do have a KyoAni vibe watching those relationships play out, especially in second episode with the recurring theme of Yu, the blonde girl, eating sausage after practice. There she meets the dropout senpai, she meets Nagisa in one of her rampant, and in the end she meets the senpai girls again with a newfound perspective. It’s the slow moments like this that Hanebado allows the settings and the characters sink in to our mind, and I much prefer this more than drama that relies on “shout until it works” moments.

In addition, both episodes follow a tricky formula. They flesh out the main characters through the perspective of side-casts. It works, for the most part, resulting that we have a feeling we learn about many characters within this badminton club. And for a show that is just in a beginning phase, it’s a remarkable feat. I have a reason to care for those characters, to support them from behind. This focus, however, has its shortcoming. Tachibana the male coach is a good character in his own right, but so far the show doesn’t know how to flesh him out to full potential. The reason being Hanebado wants these main characters to develop on their own, but at the same time wants him to have a positive influence for the team. Being stuck between two roles result in the unclear angle the show wants to develop him.

Although the last two episodes give a much-needed space to develop our main girls, I find those developments through the point of view of these side girls add up magnificently. It adds another emotional layer to these relationships. Take Yu, she’s in an inbetween phase of the club; as one of the few “survivors” after Nagisa lashed out because she loves the sport. We can also sees her having a crush (but subtly so) to one of the club member. Likewise, Elena’s observant is possibly the best element of episode 3. Not only it informs us about the trouble her friend Ayano is currently experienced, it tells us about their own relationship. Transforming from just a supportive no-face girl into a much more complex role, we see a whole whirlwind of her own feeling regarding her best friend, many contradicting emotions: from caring about her, wanted her friend to rely on her (in a very tasteful way using the dialogue from the movie she watched), to jealousy that her friend can devote herself into something she love. Ultimately, she’s the best friend if there’s ever one, simply because despite all the contradicting feelings, she comes out for all the better. She cares deeply for her friend and that will always remain true.

Nagisa’s development in episode 2 is more straightforward but not necessary less effective. She’s in a performance slump, and her slash-out attitude is sometimes unbearable. In one of the stand-out animation sequence (in a show with many stand-out animated pieces), we see her as a kid in a chalk-line art struggling with the way everyone regards her as “having advantage for being tall”. She works harder than anyone else but they fail to recognise that. Her performance stumbles when she’s too conscious of placing the shot right without follow through her smash. It’s more of a psychological issue more than anything else, because once Tachibana puts her struggling into words, once she regains her confidence, she manages to smash her way through. It’s a release from all the feeling bottomed up inside her since when she loses to Ayano that day.

As for Ayano, after 2 episodes I’m a bit worried that her passive, withdrawn personality can’t carry the show, but thankfully, when we get to her flashback this week it’s easy to see why she acts the way she is now. She’s a natural talent kid. And I’m not talking about her physical talent, but more about her love for badminton (on that note, Tachibana keeps pointing out that being lefty makes her some sort of a talent, in which I say NO, no way. Lefty is not that rare anymore and it doesn’t automatically qualifies anyone as better than the other. In fact, when you get to certain level there’s no real difference between a right-handed and left-handed players). Her Mom was a legendary badminton player and she transfers that love to her kid. She was her Mom’s golden choice until one day, after losing her Mom left and raised other kid into stardom instead. Okay, get pass the absurdity of it all, ‘cause we know there’s more than meet the eye here, what get me the most in her flashback is how Ayano’s determined to win her Mom attention back by keep on winning at all cost. You can see in her eyes that it becomes something as an obsession more than a joy to play. It takes its toll after she learns that all she was doing would amount for nothing. Like how Elena points out, her love for badminton and her mommy issues are two separate matters, she can pretty much enjoy playing badminton without caring about her Mom. Based on the OP, it’s going to be her issues all the way and I’d love to see Hanebado address it again in the tournament stage.

Not that every character in Hanebado is a success. That twintails pink hair girl is an eyesore both for her larger than life personality (“I love myself!!!!”), but her role so far is squarely Ayano’s destined rival and boys, these types stand out in a bad way. For a show that relies greatly on subtle personal development like this, having an eccentric, loud character like her doesn’t add any flavor to this story. It’s like a spicy chili ice-cream that can’t help but stick out too much.

Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro – 02 [Bloody Butterfly Effect / Manana and Ootoro and I / Bump of Slave]

by SuperMario, posted in Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro, Currently Watching:

The misadventures of Chio-chan on her way to school continues with some extra flavour. As of now, Chio-chan splits its segments neatly in two halves, the first deals with Chio encounters the absurd events on her way to school, and the latter details her relationship with her friends. One highlights the adventure spirits of this title, the other provides more heart and depth. I don’t mind at all with this formula, since it’s done right so far, but I figure Chio-chan will eventually mix things up a bit in future episodes. The key that ties both segment together, is Chio herself. So far, she’s super relatable character, both due to her commitment to do her best not to stand out, but always find herself standing out in more ways than one, and due to her social anxiety that makes her both charming and real. The best weapon is her monologue, helped by her wild imagination (I say games help her much in that department), and it’s fun to see her stream of thought runs in free form and how she eventually makes her head-stretching decision. Being said that, the bit that I have mixed feeling about is Chio-chan’s OP, which play up the fan-service I normally avoid: jiggling boobs for one, long tongue for another, even nudist!!?

In the first segment, our Chio finds herself in a bind, quite literally, between herself, the blonde yakuza dude (he’s voiced by the seiyuu who voiced Nitta last season. Coincidence? I think not), his motorbike and a random bald salaryman. This is the motorbiker with an unzip pant in the OP (he zipped this time, I checked), but from the bike alone you can pretty tell that… he’s a delightfully weird dude. Pink motorcycle? And that weird seat? The situation where that salaryman and Chio have to walk quietly on the side is both hilarious and relatable, but there’s one nippick regarding that. Chio-chan gave an accurate explanation of the exhaust pipe, but it leaves more than a mark and a scream out of it. I’ve experienced it before and I’m pretty sure kids growing up in a motorbike culture experienced at least one in their lives. It’s second-degree burn for Christ sake so having Chio acts like nothing happened with her leg afterward is a huge slip of reality.

If I would point out a theme for this segment, it’s that these characters carry the persona that don’t match their appearances. That “salaryman” turns out just a guy who is about to interview for part-time job (haha), and Chio, especially, embraces her “Bloody Butterfly” persona so effectively she fools the blonde biker. That persona might be a fake, but her reasons are strangely convincing (it has to do with the games she plays, but well…). While yes, it’s hilarious all the way to see how she manages to change the yakuza’s mind and STILL manages to stand out in front of her peers despite trying best to be “a normal high school girl”, I feel that the way she does it isn’t that convincing. Like, does she knock the guy out of consciousness by that swing? It might be a part of the absurdist but I’d love for a more crazy version than this.

The second half though is where Chio-chan totally grabs me again. If there’s a variation of supporting characters that I enjoy, it’s a normal girl who use her meanie acts as a mean to justify her own frustration AKA a true brat (last season we have Mami from Hinamatsuri, this season we have the entire cast in Asobe Asobase). Manana fits this bill like a glove. The mutual understanding between her and Chio (that they consider each other a trash, yet they deserve each other) is surprisingly solid. And throughout this episode we can see how (small-minded) devilish this girl can become to step up her social ladder. We see her spreading rumors behind people’s back, we see her snipping around spying on people, we see her telling lies to get other’s approval… this is delicious, I tell ya. Especially when her own efforts to get close to Hosokawa fallen into pieces when it turns out the guy she was just bad-mouthing is Hosokawa’s running buddy, and a president if some company to boost. Right then, she feels the distance between her and Hosokawa just like the distance she leaves Chio behind.

My favorite part of the whole episode, however, is when Chio and Manana spy on Hosokawa in hope for witnessing something lewd, but it backfires and they find themselves near-kiss each other instead (or is it officially their first kiss? They denied so, though). Both their reactions are pitch perfect (Manana ‘s blush, slowly touches her lip – Chio: snap out of that yuri-tone, Manana). It’s those off kilter moments like this that makes following Chio and her friends around such an amusing watch. They are equally mean, in addition, to point out that the guy’s a fake in front of Hosokawa. But it doesn’t matter, since the love for running is there. Based on the OP I would say that Hosokawa will have something more than her “perfect girl” status later on. Being both absurd and grounded, Chio-chan so far is going strong.

Note: I’m using Chio when I refer to the character and Chio-chan when I refer to the show. Hope you can recognize the distinction.

Satsuriku no Tenshi – 02[Your grave is not here]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Satsuriku no Tenshi

This is a very strange show. I may regret choosing to blog this but with the second episode I still find it quite fascinating and I really want to see just where this leads. I will however say that it isn’t because of excellence that this show has caught my attention for at the moment it’s very much on a level of half working. Now the first episode very much portrays this to be a horror anime with a focus on a surreal environment but this episode flips that on it’s head as we are rather suddenly met with the introduction of comedy. Zack has gone from being a hammy villain to as goofball ally and I rather like this change. Before he was a villain that just felt like the author was trying too hard to make intimidating but with this episode fleshes him out a bit by revealing that Zack literally was trying too hard. Zack is like some edgy teenager chuunibyou who wants to be seen as the next Jack the Ripper but thanks to Rachel losing the will to live and actually being able to interact with Zack we can see that he’s not actually insane and has at least some degrees of humanity to him. Of course he is still an actual serial killer who has killed quite a number of people from the looks of it but it remains rather amusing to see him try to play up the insane serial killer angle only for it to fall apart due to his own stupidity.

Rachel has also made a radical shift from the first episode, one which may not be as positive as Zacks for in the first episode she was more like an ordinary girl but since losing the will to live has now become completely deadpan. On one hand this does make her an excellent foil to Zack as he doesn’t want to kill someone who actually wants it so it makes the interactions between the two quite amusing as Zack tries to pull some humanity out of her so that he can enjoy killing her while Rachel tries to find some way to convince Zack to kill her. However this change does make her character rather one note as her responses are either deadpan snarking or monotone statements. So in order for Rachel to die she needs to regain the will to live, but if she regains the will to live then she will no longer want to die. It’s the immovable object vs the unstoppable force paradox which pushes these two to work together to get out of this strange dimension and I adore the dynamic. But it isn’t this aspect which makes this anime so strange but rather the world these characters are in for the anime has chosen to keep the game aspects of this RPG maker game which shows our characters solving puzzles to progress through the world. In this aspect it just makes the surrounding ethereal and otherworldly for this place runs on its own logic. Nothing is realistic and the characters themselves don’t question it but rather just accept it as normal. Almost like a dream where you just don’t think about what is happening around you but rather just follow the flow, in retrospect the way which this series cuts around our protagonists traveling to other areas is just as disjointed as dreams themselves.

Do take heed that this is still very much early thoughts on this series and that I may just be letting preconceptions cloud and bias my thoughts. This series has problems and can very easily slip up and become something bad. Yet I find it’s kooky weirdness endearing and I feel it has massive potential. For when I start a series I often as least have another anime series which I can use as a point of reference to get across a general “feel” of the series. As an example if I was to say this show was like Evangelion they you can at least make a connection of “Okay, so this series has mecha battles with psychological elements topped off with heavy handed symbolism and dark themes.” I admit that is very much a weak method of conveying what a show feels like but for those familiar with the series I reference it makes for convenient shorthand. When it comes to Satsuriku no Tenshi, I have no comparisons for quite frankly I cannot think of a single anime which this show is like. It is it’s own beast and in that regard could very well birth an entirely new genre of anime. But again that’s very much reaching as it assumes this show will reach a level of excellence that would make it noteworthy to imitate which is very much an unlikely possibility.

Darling in the Franxx – 24[Never Let Me Go]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Darling in the Franxx

And it’s time for Darling in the sorry I just can’t bring myself to care anymore Franxx. Well once again my previous assertions of what this episode was to be turned out half true and half false. For one they actually did show the final confrontation against VIRM and it was just as disappointing as I could have expected. This episode really was is just a hodgepodge of moments that just felt really familiar for you have seen this plenty of times before. Even the final revelation of Hiro and Zero two being reincarnated just feels so bloody token. The final confrontation basically boils down to Zero Two floating about the place for years and finally finding the VIRM home planet. VIRM then doing something to Hiro to try to prove to be a credible threat and our heroes overcoming things with the power of friendship which didn’t seem to be happening in a moment, so VIRM once again had Zero Two at their mercy for days and still managed to do diddly squat. Seriously why don’t we just head back to earth, it would likely take VIRM a couple of centuries to throw together a new plan and even then they wouldn’t be a

threat. So power of friendship, impregnating a planet with a bomb and the home planet is destroyed along with Hiro and Zero Two. Only for VIRM to show right the back up and state that they would get those pesky humans next time. So fantastic, that heroic sacrifice our heroes did was completely pointless besides buying a bit more time, which they already kinda had cause VIRM got their asses kicked already and likely wouldn’t return for a couple of centuries regardless. This was all just routine, VIRM were a crappy version of anti-spirals and never posed a significant threat and even the battle itself wasn’t even hype cause Strelizia prime can’t do anything fancy. It really did feel like this show wanted to get it over with which makes me wonder why they bothered showing the VIRM battle in the first place.

On Zero Two and Hiro’s sacrifice I must admit to something and that is that these two certainly became very boring didn’t they? I mean Hiro was never anything special but flashbacks showed that once upon a time he had at least a more interesting and bold character which could have resurfaced but instead we are stuck with a wet paper towel for the rest of the series. But the greatest sacrifice is Zero Two because at the beginning of this series this girl did have character but by series end? What happened to you girl? I remember it feeling jarring when Zero Two did a sudden character shift but I at least was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt as it seemed there were some semblance of it going somewhere. Such as that small nightmare sequence she had with all the pilots she killed from years of piloting a Franxx haunting her.(Funny how we danced over that particular plot point isn’t it? Zero Two has killed a lot of people and she was very much about to do the same to Hiro too if he didn’t remember.) But that lead nowhere, it was never brought up again. Instead we are left with a dull boring Zero Two whose personality boils down to “Loves Hiro” and that’s it.

As for the group on earth we just get time skip after time skip with little emotional weight. Klax bring back greenery to the earth so the whole harsh survival aspect is pretty much thrown out the window so that whole episode painting dark tidings of the planet being too far gone to support life is rendered a big pile of pointless. Oh and Ikuno fixed everyone’s life expectancy so they get to live full lives. Well except her own of course because the future has no need for lesbains that ain’t making babies. Ah yes that’s another thing we need to talk about isn’t it? I have stated before that I normally don’t look very deep for sexism or discrimination with character roles in media as it normally is something where no clear line is defined and must come down to the perspective of the viewer themselves. But there are cases where such aspects are so apparent that even I must find it questionable and Ikuno’s fate is something that really rubs me the wrong way. The reasoning behind her shortened lifespan is arbitrary and asinine and when you see all the other characters getting married and having children, then see Ikuno lying in a hospital bed dying and you can’t help but feel it’s hateful undertone.

Well it’s over and I see people pointing the finger at A-1 pictures for the decline of this series from the halfway point. I personally though don’t as this was one main guys passion project so if anything the blame falls on him but I also see a trend in this that could very well be the downfall of trigger. In the past few trigger works there has been a certain reliance on fan pandering. More and more they seem to be relying on past glory to heighten their new series and that is very much the downfall of Franxx as it abandoned what it’s identity was and became a knockoff of Gurren Lagann. Even Little Witch Academia has the same problem as Franxx in abandoning potentially great story threads for the safer route. I may be off base here but I think I see signs which could indicate Trigger no longer being hailed as the savior of anime.

Hisone to Masotan – 12 [We Are Unstoppable]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hisone to Masotan

And we come to a close of this Dragon Pilot show and I’m still indifferent on how this anime wraps up. It’s not a bad ending per se, it has a good emotional payoff and it does somewhat wrap up the story. The more it gets into the conclusion, however,  the more I see inconsistencies in its world building that just throw me off even more. Hisone, as we suspected last week, after learning about the sacrifice, decides to defy the ritual and save the girl instead. She then, in her Hisone mood, sacrifices herself to put the dragon to sleep. But Masotan saves her at the end. It’s all fine and mighty, although I would be much more appreciate if HisoMaso explains me about the “stabbing” beforehand. It just feels as if they create that step to raise the conflict. Indeed a lot of “conflicts” in HisoMaso is designed that way. I know I’m mainly disappointed by the inconsistencies of its world building but it’s the first and foremost factor to sell me on the story as a whole. Failing that and it pampers my personal investment to the show and it makes me question the credibility of every plot’s progression.

At the end though, it saddens me to say that I don’t learn that much from the cast. Except for Hoshino and Sada who have a bit of development, all the side characters are under-written in general. The dragons are cute but again they are just that, cute. I do like the way they’re all confident that Hisone and Masotan will come back somehow in the end. The visual is still a wonder, which pains me even more that it can’t save the show from going downhill because of the weak writing.

Full review will come later but here’s some dot points of what get on my nerve in this finale:

-Grandma pilot Sada with her back story: if she feels that devastated how the hell she didn’t cause anastomosis to Masotan then?

-How comes all the back-and-forth exchanges between a girl who wants to save another girl is all about some other guy? It’s a under-representation of women role. Even with Bechdel test it fails fails fails miserably.

-Okonogi doesn’t fare any better. His childhood friend is on a verge of death and all he thinks of is Hisone

-At the end, even Natsume is more fleshed out than Kinutsugai and Hitomi, and I hardly regard her character as flesh out.

This show just disappoints me to no end.

Darling in the Franxx – 23[DARLING in the FRANXX]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Darling in the Franxx

The longer this series goes on, the faster my goodwill disappears as this episode was terrible on many fronts. At this point I think we can admit that this series has been on a downward spiral since episode 19 and has only worsened with each subsequent episode. Part of the problem was 19 spilling all the beans on the world which it had kept relatively close to heart and the thing which truly sunk the ship was the introduction of VIRM. As I have thought over the events of the last few episodes, i have found that VIRM don’t really make much sense and as antagonists there goals and actions are just too vague and indistinct. Let us examine things by looking at their objective which is to pull all races into some sort of collective being and the question I have to that effect is…what is stopping them exactly? I mean I believe they just absorbed all the adults no bother and it doesn’t really seem like consent is an issue considering that the upper brass were not willing yet were absorbed regardless. So then, why can’t they absorb the children, nay why couldn’t they absorb the Klax when they first landed instead of asking for permission first and then going to war with them? What would winning a war even accomplish?

The second objective seems to be destroying Strelizia prime but again the only reason Prime exists is because they went to war with the Klax! I guess we could reason that in order to be absorbed they first need to get the race to enter those happiness machines they made but again if that was the case then why didn’t they take the same approach as they did humanity and infiltrate society to introduce the machines. I highly doubt that the Klax were the first to rebel against their intent. We spent the majority of the series with APE acting as the antagonists and they too were not great due to being faceless with vague motivations. However they still have a presence and mean something to the characters of the story. VIRM on the other hand is an unknown, faceless entity with a boring motivation that means nothing to the characters. As a villain they are literally nothing more than a plot device and they seem to hold no real threat having being beaten by the Klax and now being obliterated again with little effort. I just can’t see these guys as a legitimate threat, I mean they had Strelizia at their mercy for months and at best they only managed to scratch it. Our villains ladies and gentlemen, couldn’t even hurt an unarmed enemy for months on end.

But enough of that, what actually happened in this episode? Well this felt like three episodes all crushed into one as we had many a climatic development with none of it felt earned. We start the episode with the squad all playing around in Franxx in space..wait a minute.. how did they modify Franxx to fight in space without doctor Franxx? Oh I see Nana and Hachi (Wait a second, why the hell are you guys here? Aren’t you supposed to be on earth guiding all the children?) confirm that the Klax made it for them..wait…why would the Klax make space equipment for their enemies? No I don’t buy that bull about them somehow thinking that humanity would rise up and preparing equipment for that time. The Klax were fully committed to sorting this stuff themselves, the Klax queen made that very damn clear. Also they prepared a ship which is set to autopilot to Strezla prime(Then again, why are you here Nana and Hachi? If you aren’t driving the ship then what’s the point of being there? Moral support? To exposit that poor piece of justification for the space suits?)

Anyway the leader of the nines is acting as Hiro’s partner now to get him to Zero Two and oh no he sacrifices himself talking about how Hiro and the gang teaching them how to live…um sorry, when did that happen? Last I remember you were all throwing a hissy fit in the medical bay before you decide to go on this mission. Are you talking about those points you berated them for living like that? Wait Kokoro and Mitsuri suddenly love each other again? Zero Two pushed away Hiro and went off on her own despite being completely unable to move prime? Wait Zero Two’s body turned to stone? Wait Prime now is literally a giant Zero Two? Alright the mech science hasn’t being realistic for the whole series but at least it was consistent but this is just pure magic and makes no sense whatsoever. Wait you are planning a suicide attack on the alien homeworld by going through some gateway out of nowhere while using the Klax ship as a bomb? Can’t you launch it through the gate? Considering VIRM couldn’t make a dent in Prime I figure this won’t be much of a final battle. Oh no Hiro and Zero Two may never return and…again sorry I feel like I skipped to an emotional climax without any of the buildup.

Sigh. This episode was a mess. It feels unplanned and unjustified with all these nonsense story developments and sudden changes in tone to try and pull at your heartstrings. It’s feels like the writer wrote himself into a corner by introducing VIRM and now must work to resolve something that would take more than the last few episodes to resolve. Truthfully I question just how much of this story is planned for the episodes of the full series do play out haphazard and without strong continuity with an inconsistent level of quality. This last arc is mainly like a satire or homage to many other famous Mecha shows with none of the finality and with characters replaced with the Franxx cast. I just wonder what the point of it really was for I previously mentioned that Franxx could end in one of two ways, with the gang raising a new humanity or a final confrontation with VIRM. It was though they were going for a mixture but looks like they are going to cut out the final confrontation with VIRM after all and go right back to the setting up of new humanity. Franxx would need to pull out something real special to make all this worth it but considering the tend of these episodes, my expectations are certainly low.

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory – 10[Onward, Onward]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory

Oh no. Well I suppose this was coming with all the news of this series troubles but it is disheartening to see it come to worst case scenario with the quality of this episode. This is the episode that announces without a doubt that this team is at the breaking point. Characters go off model several times, the animation get to levels of absurd with Sousuke running an obstacle course and his animation missing frames, audio errors like Sousuke kicking away a canister for it to make no noise whatsoever from the sound of the sergeants pockets being patted despite his hand currently lighting a cigar. Tessa eating a sandwich without even opening her mouth. Boy of boy, I don’t know if this episode was outsourced or what but you can just see the tremendous drop in quality. I don’t blame the animation team as it does feel like they were going above and beyond for this series and that finally broke them. I previously wished for a second cour but at this rate I should consider it lucky if we get to the end of this cour with respectable quality. Well after this episode there will be a three week break until the next one so I hope that would remedy some of the problems with production.

Despite this the story still holds up as we have Sousuke manage to fend off an attacker, Tessa dealing with insomnia and guilt of over the the stress and guilt of the situation and Chidori finding out Sousuke is still searching for her and finding herself wishing to disappear due to the trouble she’s causing others. Not to mention Kalinin revealing that he was a traitor to Mythril and a Amalgam spy. If this last revela felt a bit out of nowhere that would be because it was supposed to be revealed at the end of the Dancing very Merry Christmas volume which was skipped over by this adaption. So indeed the reveal here feels rather abrupt due to the fact that the audience should already know about it at this point but I kinda wish they gave the reveal a bit more gravitas. He wasn’t a major character but he did play an important role in the series, not to mention being a mentor for Sousuke so him being a traitor is sort of a big deal. Still they set him up well as a villain here what with him shooting a man and telling him that he will die in 30 minutes if not given first aid. Remarkably cold that upon being refused he just left him there to bleed out, not even asking him to reconsider.

It is rather funny that the fanservice moments of this episode were downplayed by the situation what with Tessa stripping down to rest only to be unable to eat, sleep and being racked with guilt all the while lying to her officers and pretending she’s fine. She’s still a teenager after all so no doubt this hits her hard and when Kalinin’s betrayal is revealed to her that’s gonna be devastating. Chidoris situation by contrast isn’t quite as dire and her scene felt a little more gratuitous with her jumping into a pool and swimming lengths in her underwear. Which gave her motivation because…hmm…I don’t quite remember her being on the swim team. I guess cause it reminded her of swimming class at school or that she just felt she needed to do something? Truth be told I don’t quite grasp the logic but whatever it was got her pumped to do something at least. I just hope her little angst moments are few and far between. Other than that we got some good comedy with Sousuke’s old sergeant who was drilling in a personal philosophy of being a soldier into him only fr Sousuke to literally get knocked out and the sergeant goes “Well I guess that happens” Also saying shit in Japanese is fine yet saying fucking in English needs to be beeped out? These censors need some fucking guts. Well we won’t be getting the next episodes for another three weeks so it will be quite the wait till I can close this one off. I am still waiting on SHaft to get those final Fate/Extra episodes out as well come to think of it. Hopefully they don’t all hit during a bad time.

Legends of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These – 8-12

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These

Well this is rather embarrassing. Believe me when I say I fully intended to cover every episode of this series but life finds a way of ruining your plans. So rather than waste a post just talking about what happened in these past four episodes, I would think it better to just give my thoughts on the series as a whole and follow it with a review. Even then i don’t think it would take too long to summarize the bare bones of what happened here as it was basically the FPA deciding to invade the Empire despite literally not being able to sustain one all because the top brass wanted to scrape a win to improve their chances of reelection. An idea so dumb that even Truniht the snake that he is, saw it as doomed. The army gets dragged into this dumbass plan, the flaws in the plan become apparent immediately from the start and Reinhard shows up with his army to give the FPA a whooping they ain’t gonna forget. In some ways it’s painful just seeing this whole plan get pushed forward despite everyone and their mother seeing it as a terrible idea and when looking at the series it does seem that incompetent people in high positions is abundantly a common factor here. Aside from the main character it honestly seems like any side character is just a bumbling idiot which could be a flaw of this series…if it wasn’t a rather accurate portrayal. More than once in recent times we had top officials pushing for plans which everyone clearly saw as bad ideas, yet were pushed through regardless. It is funny seeing someone like Folk who is basically a high commander and main originator of this stupid plan be someone so ill suited to his position that he has a mental condition that literally means he will go into seizures if things don’t pander to his ego.

As far as adaption goes this is a very good adaption. Of course loyalists to the OVA will find flaws with it and even I feel the OVA had the time to focus on the small details like that one episode that showed things from the ground view of that whole revolt due to Reinhard’s scorched earth tactics. A particular moment that stands out to me is the FPA preaching to the people of the first planet they took from the empire of how in democracy they have freedom and the response being “Well that’s great and everything but we would prefer if we could have food and water.” Indeed it didn’t matter who was in charge or what platatues they offered as people will ultimately be concerned with their own survival over idealism. As well as pointing out that Rienard may be a genius tactician but his methods certainly are morally questionable as well as his ruthlessness in killing an army who are only following the orders of idiots. But back on adaption this is indeed a pretty version of LOGH that seems to be loyal to the books and in that regard makes for an excellent introduction of the series to a modern audience. The themes and messages of LOGH are just as relevant today as they were thirty years ago, maybe even more so. To the anime community LOGH is very much a white whale of a series for as acclaimed as it is, it is about as appealing to a newer anime fan as vegetables are to a lion. Not to slight newer anime fans as the artstyle of the OVA is rather outdated, the animation is bare and a 110 episode series is a huge time investment. In that regard the new LOGH of twelve episodes and a more polished presentation makes for a far more digestible offering, at least to the level that people could give it a chance.

But indeed, this is just a small portion of the story which brings me to what is undeniably the greatest flaw of this series. People give Re:Zero grief for being a “Prologue” of the story but I have always said that while it does set up things for future story arcs, the arcs in the anime itself do have conclusions. LOGH on the other hand is a story far too big for a twelve episode series and when this series reaches its final episode the story doesn’t end, it just stops. Now there is word that movies are going to be made to continue the story but that is also something I find concerning as this story was too big for a one cour series so having a continuation be in a even smaller format is unsuitable. Let me put it this way, the original OVA took nine years to reach its conclusion so how long will we have to wait to see the new series reach the same end? Wouldn’t it just be as inaccessible as before if the series is chopped up into movies and anime cours? The benefit of this is higher production values but the minus is a story that no matter how good, could lose people due to time between releases. Sure one could go to the OVA if they get impatient but I feel this series would only be worth getting into once the entirely of the story has been covered. But will the entire story be covered? Well who knows really.

Golden Kamuy – 12 [Trickster Fox]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Golden Kamuy

Before I start, I just want to bring up the news that indeed, Golden Kamuy will have second cour, airing in this Fall season. For now I can’t say for sure if I’m up to cover the second cour, it’ll have to depend on the crop of Fall season. As a result, this final episode doesn’t even attempt to have any kind of closure. New character again get introduced, and again, this new blood is awesome. Western genre in general doesn’t have a good track when it comes to female character, and so far I wouldn’t say Inkarmat a great character, but hell does she leave an impression. Although everyone save Shiraishi make it pretty clear that they think fortune-telling is rubbish, she knows more than what she lets on here. For now I can’t say for sure if she’s an ally or a foe, but based on my impression she will be the one who chip in at unexpected time to help Asirpa and Sugimoto on their quest.

This week, we also get another unlikely setting that you don’t see often in anime that era: horse-racing; and in turns we have more screen time from Kiroranke. I still don’t trust him that much to be honest, and the events led to him become a temporary jockey isn’t subtle at all, but we still learn a bit about this guy’s own character. He’s the man who has his own justice and doesn’t afraid to do what he likes. Regarding his influence to the gold chase plot, I have a feeling he’s in for the gold for something not for his own gain. He has a special bond to Asirpa’s father so it might be the main reason he’s involved in all this.

Speaking of another ally, Shiraishi proves to be a guy you can’t fully trust. Not because he has any dark motive, but more because he’s prone for trouble and he just isn’t capable of making the best decision out of the situation. This week, we see him offering another way out, another way to get rich without risking his life. And in a way, he’s right. The prospect of gold is tempting, true, but if he can be rich through other means why the hell not? I’m really digging the way he sells out the tattooed skin, he does it to save his skin without harming his comrades. That’s a very Shiraishi thing to do. Sugimoto understands this, but he’s too deeply involved now. The quest isn’t only about him getting rich to pay for his friend’s wife hospital fee anymore, but also about accompany Asirpa and find out more about her father’s mystery. He would say time and time again that he’s immortal because he has nothing to lose, but now he does have something to protect. Asirpa. Whether that remains his strength or his weakness remains to be seen.

The first cour of this acclaimed manga adaptation has come to a close, and we’re nowhere to the finish line. Heck, I don’t even think the second cour gonna cover all of its material. The 3 month break is necessary, however, for Geno studio to improve the production aspect. The visual has been unfortunately quite bare-boned with limited animation and some certain unBEARable CG design. Hopefully the creators take note on these criticism to improve it better. For now, Sugimoto and Asirpa have established a strong chemistry all around, and while I think the plot wanders around too much, I can’t deny that meeting those twisted gruesome side villains have a charm of its own. This show has a huge pacing issue, humors can be a bit on a missed side for me, and I would prefer it much better without all these Ainu-centric cuisine, but I also know it’s part of Golden Kamuy’s identity so I guess I’ll just roll with it.

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory – 09[The Fallen Witch]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory

My hopes for a second cour of this series grow all the more fainter as I see the clear production issues that the animation studio are having. Bless them as this series is still provided to be excellent quality and a proud representative of the source despite all these woes but I really do wish they would continue for just one more cour. As one more cour would be enough to cover the last of the novels and after all these years it would really suck to leave Full Metal Panic unfinished yet again, perhaps at a worse ending point than second raid many years before. Which would be a great shame on many levels for I have seen many anime beginnings but very few true ends.

This episode was mainly focused on Tessa whom after the events of five episodes ago is left wandering the streets and brought into a hospital. She seems traumatised by the whole affair and puts forth a tale of the mithral staff turning against her in mutiny. It is rather interesting as we seen suggestions of mutiny before though those were given a cold reception. But when you aren’t getting your pay and supplies run short then loyalty can waver. Considering the dark turn this series has taken as of late this development actually fits which makes it pretty believable despite the fact that it was all a clever ruse. Got to say that if I didn’t know the story from the novels then i might have fell for this hook, line and sinker. Amalgam took the bait hard and proceeded to kidnap her though before that we had Tessa talking to a psychiatrist who took her talk of mythril as delusional ramblings. So it was immensely satisfying for Tessa to reveal it all a bluff to lure out amalgam and the ensuing action was pretty great as always. Also Tessa cursing like a sailor telling the man to pass on the message that she hates fucking pieces of shit like her brother, as well as mythrils reaction to hearing her, was pure gold.

Indeed this was another Tessa moment of badass that cements her status as best girl while Chidori makes omelettes. Speaking of her though she briefly shows up and seems to be treated well at Amalgam then certainly a lot colder than before. It’s nice to see she isn’t balling her eyes out and has enough backbone to give Leonard snide comments but it would certainly be a shame if this was the last position we see her in by series end. Sousukes still alive of course though it seems he suffered hard by his last encounter and now he’s in an even more dire situation as Amalgam are attacking the base and he can barely move. Lemon does show a bit more character her as he lets him know that he truly cared for Nami and even going as far to say that he might have loved her. He says he doesn’t hold a grudge but also says that the only reason they won’t torture him is because he wouldn’t survive it so perhaps there is some misgivings. But even he might be next up on the chopping block to join her if the end of this episode hints right. I am quite interested in seeing just how the hell Sousuke is going to defend himself with his body bedridden. One thing I haven’t really mentioned is that the anime is cutting out details a bit. For one the girl who was programing ALs core is in fact the girl sousuke rescued in episode 1, who I mistakenly thought died. But one detail I thought was a shame was that when Sousuke woke up he quoted the name of the painting on the wall in the book, which was “Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?” and Al quoted that exact same thing when he first woke up. Which is certainly an interesting connection these two have.