Category: Finished Series: Action

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu – 12 [Battle of Hakodate]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Action, Katsugeki Touken Ranbu

Welcome to the penultimate episode of Ranbu! Unable to end with a small, personal story, Ranbu prepares for the largest battle yet! Lets jump in.

Ranbu opens up right were last week left off. Kane’s sword falling, to strike Horikawa. Instead, it cuts into the dirt at his feet, moved aside at the final moments. I mentioned last week that I would be disappointed if this ended with Horikawa surviving. If some magical power of friendship caused him to return to the Citadel. However, I failed to consider another option, where it was Kane who faltered. Unable to kill his partner, he fails his duty and lets Horikawa walk away, and I can accept that. For Horikawa to survive, one of the two had to fail/betray their beliefs. Horikawa would have had to leave Hijikata to his fate and Kane had to let a clear threat to history leave unchallenged. All in all, a good way to open the episode.

With the arrival of their Master Saniwa however, everything starts to go down hill. Saniwa teleports in right next to them and starts one of the dullest scenes in the series. In this scene, Kane and Mutsunokami explain what has happened and Saniwa simply… accepts it. He says, why not do both? Why not protect the innocents and history, as if it was that simple. Does this mean he just didn’t care before? The only thing I gathered from this conversation is what I suspected weeks ago. That Saniwa has no personality and is purely a springboard for plot/explanation.

As it is, that is exactly what Saniwa does. After their chat he teleports them to the battle of Hakodate, 3 years in the future-past. This isn’t made clear however, as they simply teleport and the battle is suddenly underway, without any indication that time had passed. What this means however is that Horikawa has been here, waiting for time to pass normally, for 3 years. Whether or not this has had an effect on him, I cant wait to see. This also means though that Tonbokiri, Tsurumaru and Yagen were left to watch-over Ryoma, so our 2nd Unit must fight without them.

After a quick explanation of what is going at the Battle of Hakodate, Saniwa deduces that the Retrograde will no doubt be here. As he finishes, supposedly 50 Retrograde solders are teleporting in, causing Mutsunokami to question if they are trying to change the course of the whole battle. I doubt 50 soldiers could accomplish that in a battle of thousands, but we will leave that alone for now. Kane and Mutsunokami quickly cut down some stragglers before meeting the full force. Knowing they cant do it alone however, Saniwa summons in some reinforcements. In a pretty, sakura flower effect, the 1st Unit arrive and they make short work of the group of 50.

During this whole segment, the character moments aren’t worth mentioning, but the combat itself is quite good. We get a number of quick blade exchanges with actual choreography. Clearly they were saving it all for this grand finale, as we soon learn that the Retrograde are sending in a staggering 1000 soldiers. What confuses me about this, is that the Retrograde has never done this before. Do they have limitless soldiers? If so, why not over run any other time period instead of sending groups of 10-20? This inconsistency in tactics and numbers makes this whole event feel like the typical Shounen bump in the stakes of the fight. Like most, Ranbu fails to realize that the best Shounen arcs tend to be those with the more personal stakes. The ones that don’t require ridiculously strong or large number of enemies. But I am getting sidetracked here.

After leaving the First Unit, Kane splits up with Mutsunokami so that he can track down Horikawa. He runs through the fields towards the Shinsengumi encampment and manages to sneak inside. Curious what their guard situation is like for him to do this, but once again we will ignore it. Kane arrives at Hijikata’s personal room, the room we saw in the flashback. He examines the map with the armies laid out, the sword that both sits on the desk and at his waist. While doing so, Kane hears a voice and footsteps approaching. He quickly hides out of sight, seeing Hijikata enter the room. No doubt this is the scene we saw before, where Hijikata gives the sword to the young man, to return to his family.

However, instead of the young entering the room, its Horikawa! During his 3 years stuck in this time, it would appear that Horikawa has taken the young soldiers place. Its  clever reveal, as I had not considered Horikawa taking his place, yet when the flashback was first showed I thought they looked similar. Now the only question is, what is Horikawa’s endgame? Does he plan to return to the battlefield, giving Hijikata the sword, so that Kane can participate in the battle? Will he try to kidnap Hijikata and remove him from the field? Perhaps he spent the last 3 years attempting to talk to him, get him to change his mind. What about the ridiculous, 1000 Retrograde soldiers?

Regardless, it all comes to a head in next weeks final episode of Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu. Talk to you then folks!

Princess Principal – 11 [Case 23 Humble Double]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Princess Principal

Hmmm, something doesn’t ring true here. As this episode ends, we can assume that the Princess and Ange have a big break-up, Princess plays the role of Ange under the Princess’s disguise, and Ange has gone to Casablanca to live in a casa blanca for good. To be frank, I never really buy all that. I have no doubt that Ange can escape the airship with ease (she has the map that clearly shows the emergency exits), or better yet, I’m thinking that it was Ange who appear in front of the enemy. So, the real-Princess playing the real-Ange playing the Princess playing the fake Ange playing the fake Princess now. Seriously Princess Principal, how much more layers can you get? Thus, the next logical step would be Ange intends to be discovered as the Princess pretending to be Ange. This development would fit what Ange vowed to the Princess when they met again (to deceive everyone, even herself and the Princess to reach the goal), but if that’s the case then the rift between those two at the end of this episode will feel incredibly cheap.

Back to where it starts, this episode is obviously the lowest point for our team, with the Princess is isolated for the rest of the team, and slowly one by one is dropped out of the mission. Dorothy is discharged, Chise is transferred and Ange is tailed by the guards and spies from her own team. The Principal adds up to 8 members, with the exclusion of our core members. It comes as a surprise for me that the Princess takes no caution regarding this change. Usually as soon as someone like Zelda (or Z. as opposite to A – Ange) shows up and declares to be her personal guard, she would fell strange that Ange didn’t contact her as well, so I really think that the Princess knows all about it beforehand and either she plays the role to not let others think she knows, or Ange and Princess have swapped roles since then.

But I might just give Ange and the Princess too much credits.

At the same time, the coup has raised against the Royal, mostly from colonial soldiers who are unhappy with the Kingdom. Well, this new development appears way too abruptly and quickly, as we never even heard of it prior to this episode. But for its credits, abruptly and quickly are the very quality of a coup, and it connects to the main plot line as the coup determines to kill the Queen and replace her with the fake Princess. Sound very reckless and bold but if they play the right cards, with the support from the Control and the Commonwealth’s military, they could really take over the Queen. Wonder who’s the mastermind behind the coup? Certain Duke? But based on what he discussed with his favorite spy, he seems to have no idea who is behind it either. Or maybe it’s Ange’s idea all along.

Of course, I have given Ange far too much credits.

Our other girls don’t have much screen time this week, Dorothy squeezes the best out of little time she got however, as she clearly states that she won’t kill the Princess because she has grown attachment to her. Chise doesn’t leave much emotional attachment to the farewell scene, so it’s a bit disappointing. While the animation and the visual are still on par with the course of Princess Principal, this might be the first time that I find the presentation uninspiring (well, except maybe for the grand clockwork Christmas tree). I can’t really say whether this episode serves its purpose or not until I see how it all plays out, so I’ll reserve my comment until then. This is the time where our girls are the farthest to reach their goals, but I have no doubt that they will raise again, strike back with a big bang.

The Reflection – 8 [Beef or Fish]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Action, The Reflection

This week, The Reflection opens on a young girl with black hair, running through a ruined town. She clutches food to her breast and hides in a broken down car in some rubble. From the picture of her family to the trash lying around, we can assume this is her home. Later she walks through the bleak streets, everything around her sad and forlorn. As she looks to the sky, asking for help, we finally see her face and the scene cuts to last weeks end card. Elen and Steel Ruler, same skin and hair color as the little girl, stand apart on a street. It would seem we are going to start getting some backstory on our villains.

After the OP, we see a Reflected biker gang claiming some turf from a rival. As expected, super powers go a long way against normal people. As the conflict ends, a car approaches and I-Guy hops out. Wearing all black armor, Ian has transformed from Tony Stark to Batman between the two episodes. Still upset about his team, Ian has no time for these fools. Hes breaking bones and running people into the pavement, looking for Wraith. Nice to see there was real effect on him, but sadly this is all we get of him this episode. Instead, most of this week focuses on Elen and her relationships with those around here.

After Ian’s only scene, we cut back to Elen and Steel Ruler. A short chase scene ensues, with Elen using her ability to teleport and run away. Eventually, after some interesting metal bending scenes with Steel Ruler, Elen finds herself on-top of her opponent. Apparently, Steel Ruler is unable to kill Elen, as Wraith wants/needs her for something.

Throughout this whole thing, ham-fisted dialogue is being thrown back and forth, awkward pauses still occasionally there. During on of these exchanges, we get a flashback of Steel Ruler before the Reflection, after she had been mugged. Dying in the street, the black smoke falls on her and saves her, giving her the power she has today. Naturally, the first thing she does it kill the guy who knifed her. Once this is over, we get the core of why she is here. Wraith wants a trade, Elen for the swamp hostages.

To help Elen make a decision, Steel Ruler hands her a USB stick, said to have information on X-On. After some more back and forth, about how Elen can actually save people this time, they agree to meet again at dawn. Elen is quickly found by the government woman from episode 1, who has apparently been spying on them. During this Elen sticks the USB into a government computer, with absolutely no one trying to stop her, and opens it up. Inside are files detailing a laboratory explosion, with one survivor, presumably X-On. With this little tidbit though, we cut to our favorite idol group.

Really, these idols are doing nothing. We only have 10 second clips of them and no character development, we don’t even know their names. I have no idea how The Reflection is going to introduce them and make us care about them in the time remaining. Who even knows when they will finally meet our main team! All these little cuts do is distract us from the actual things happening to our main cast. If I cared about any of them besides Ian, it would infuriate me.

The pop idol group aside, soon Elen confronts X-On, who once again refuses to say anything. We know that the lab event couldn’t have caused the Reflection, as it happened 20 years ago, yet there isn’t much else to go on. Their little tiff over, X-On returns to their motel to talk about what has happened with the government woman and his detective friend. While they are talking, we pan over and see little Lisa wide awake, hearing everything. We cut one last time to the Idols, before seeing Elen step into the plaza with Steel Ruler. Cut to ED.

As it currently stands, there are few things to like about The Reflection. The story has its moments for sure and is clearly building to something, but the majority of the characters simply are not likable or very engaging. The few that are, such as Ian/I-Guy, get little screen time and the random cuts to the Idol group isn’t helping. With Elen joining the bad guys in exchange for the hostages, maybe we will get some more time with them. An opportunity to learn why they are doing what they do and to finally learn who Wraith is. Should that happen, The Reflection might end on an upswing. We shall see.

See you next week folks!

 

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu – 11 [Iron Law]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Action, Katsugeki Touken Ranbu

This week in Ranbu, we are treated to a pleasant surprise. Not some great, flashy final combat arc but a continuation of the smaller character focused pieces. Lets talk about it.

Ranbu opens up the episode by letting us know the consequences of what has happened last week. It appears that after his argument with Kane, Horikawa has disappeared! Clearly this is in relation to Ryoma, Mutsunokami’s master, and Hijikata, Kane and Horikawa’s master. This is a good choice of final arc, as it makes use of the last few character focused episodes and side-steps the need for a final villain. Its not often in a shounen anime like Ranbu that we get character focused finales. Assuming they stick with it, Ranbu is looking to close strong.

Unable to decide what to do about Horikawa, Kane gathers the team and informs them of his disappearance. Multiple ideas are thrown out, from Horikawa falling to the Retrograde, to maybe an attack on Ryoma to save Hijikata in the future. As it turns out, history has changed with Ryoma leaving the Satsuma residence early for some reason. Lucky stroke for him, as we will learn later. Eventually though the group splits up, 3 guarding Ryoma and 3 heading off to find Horikawa. It removes characters that we didn’t need, focusing in on Kane, Horikawa and Mutsunokami. Its good that we are getting time with the most developed of our leads.

Once away from the others, Mutsunokami decides to have a heart to heart with Kane. He states that Hijikata, even if he survived the battle he died in, wouldn’t have a good life. That Hijikata was a warrior, whose time was ending. That there can be no good life for Kane’s old master and he has a point. During this conversation we are shown a flashback of Hijikata before he died. He sends Kane, as a sword, away to his brother-in-law, turning Kane into a memento. This explains why Horikawa is much more focused on their old master, because he was with Hijikata until his death. Meanwhile Kane’s time with him ended when he got sent away. It does the job of reinforcing the difference in mindset between Kane and Horikawa, no doubt for the upcoming finale.

Their conversation is interrupted however when another fire breaks out, this time at the Satsuma residence, where Ryoma was staying. Its a very pretty sequence, though the sword fights are more flash than substance at this point. The fire, the collapsing buildings, everything is rendered beautifully. While standing amidst this inferno however, Kane is approached by non other than Horikawa, a child in his arms. Didnt think he would appear until next episode, but lets see where this goes.

Horikawa starts with some small talk, how he could only save a single child and how he knew Kane would be here. He uses that though to jump into his main shpeal. That were they really protecting history? All these people dead, the child in his arms barely alive, yet they protected history? Does nothing change, do these people even matter? So begins a long discussion of ideals and what it means to protect. Seeing it going nowhere, Horikawa finally poses the question, asking if Kane will join him in his quest to save Hijikata. Kane, loving his old master but being the loyal man he his, of course refuses, placing them at an impasse.

Its interesting to see the two bring their differing experiences with Hijikata to bear. Each interpreted his actions differently and each was there for moments the other wasn’t. Yet at the end of the day, they are two different people. Now Horikawa must decide, will he fight Kane and escape, or submit and forgo his desire to save Hijikata? Choosing a sort of in between, Horikawa cites how Hijikata used to ‘break’ his soldiers during punishment. Kane knows what he means, and clearly doesn’t like it, but knows something must be done. Horikawa approaches, asking one last time if Kane will join him. In silent response, as Mutsunokami runs to try and stop him, the blade falls and we cut to the ED.

All in all, a pretty good episode. For those that like action they got some quick Retrograde fights and burning buildings. For those that prefer story and character writing, they got an interesting final arc, and everyone got to enjoy the art. So long as the final episode doesn’t negate everything that happened this week, Ranbu can finish the season strong. However if Horikawa comes out of this unscathed and with no repercussions, there will be a reckoning.

See you next week for the exciting conclusion of Ranbu!

Princess Principal – 10 [Case 22 Comfort Comrade]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Princess Principal

Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Remember what did Ange vow to the Princess when the two decided to go ahead with the Operation: Changeling? She will deceive everyone, including the Princess and herself to reach that goal. I was expecting how Princess Principal going to pull that feat off. And now we have an answer: Dorothy and Ange are ordered to kill the Princess. If there’s anything we know for sure, Ange would never kill the Princess (well, she has gotten soft, as noticed by Prefect this week). This is a development I was hoping for the climax and I am excited to see how Ange going to deceive the whole wide world. Another thing is, L from the Control “has been transferred”, which significant that he’s either punished by his own incompetence, or the higher up wanted some direct control over… Control and the Principal. Judge by how the new-addition General wants the Princess dead right off the bat, I have no doubt that the Duke of Normandy is the man behind all this. He has always hated the Princess and I’m glad at least he uses Ange for this mission. It could’ve been worse (I did suspect him figuring out the real identity of the Princess, which is much more sinister, though it isn’t the case here).

But back to this episode, Princess Principal again pulled another bittersweet tale about happiness, friendship and betrayal on a Christmas eve. Prefect is a solid one-off addition for this episode, having the same high-level skill sets as Ange, but much more attentive to details. The mission this week, to retrieve some important paperwork with the help of Prefect, turns out to be just a façade for a real mission: figuring out if Prefect is in fact a double agent. Only in this one episode, Prefect already form a very solid chemistry with both Ange and Dorothy. It’s understandable since they have a history together, as they are the “sole survivors” of the Farming (which remind me immediately to the Farm of the Promised Neverland manga – a great manga by the way). Ange is her rival, but when working together they are like a two-headed monster, each working seamlessly with the other without much instruction; and by their exchanges we could see how they understand and respect the quality of one another. With Dorothy, however, it’s all about feeling. The only time Prefect smiled, the only happiness she ever received in her doomed past was when they played at the Funfair during the Christmas exam (young Dorothy is cute by the way) and it was Dorothy’s carefree attitude that the more she’s stuck in her current situation, the more she wants to break free like her friend.

The sadder feeling when you eventually learn that Prefect is addicted to the purple drug provided by the enemy and now completely dependent on it (guess what is the only thing that she brings when she flees?). It’s a goddamn contrived plot but it works in this case because it adds context to the reason she shoot herself as a way to free herself. Someone suggests it’s a Cavorite’s drug but I can’t be too sure since her eyes react differently with the one who suffered Cavorite poisoning in episode 1. The best part of this episode, is when both Ange and Prefect, in their own ways, pull the triggers so that they can save Dorothy from pulling her trigger: shooting her best friend. Out of the five girls, Dorothy has always been the most “humane” girl, the one who actually shows her weak, vulnerable side; which totally makes her a bad spy but I think Princess Principal nails it when they focus the emotion beats on Dorothy. This episode finds Princess Principal back to its action-pack mission-heavy again, while tell a satisfying self-contained story and prepare us for the final showdown between the girls vs. the Duke and possibly vs. themselves. I sure hope for a bombastic climax.

Princess Principal – 09 [Case 11 Pell-mell Duel]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Princess Principal

Now I can forgive the show for taking too long to introduce Chise; because we have a Chise-focus this week and I’m glad that episode 9 of Princess Principal does everything just right. This episode serves as a glaring proof of how Princess Principal does non-chronological order the right way. Technically, this Case11 happens when Chise just joined the team; still feel insecure about her position within the spy group (Something we learned already in Case9). But the little story this week also addresses the social class issues among the noble kids (this is a Royal School after all) towards Chise – a country bumpkin girl from a forsaken country named Nippon. This issue earns a deeper layer now, since we already know the story of The Princess and the Pickpocket last week (which chronologically happen way forward in Case20) and understand how social order can be quickly flipped around like a flash. This, I can argue, is the strength of non-linear order, you can gain context on certain themes, on certain character developments that otherwise would be insignificant in a linear way (Like how insignificant Haruhi season 2 was. Anticlimactic)

Secondly, “Pell-mell Duel” does a bang up job of fleshing out Chise and gives a much-needed dynamic between her with the rest of the cast, especially with the Princess. Prior to this episode, most of the team’s chemistry has always revolved around Ange, but for my humble opinion, Chise is always a more fascinating character (best girl!!!). Follow the story through her eccentric point of view serve to be this week’s greatest tricks. Chise has amusing perspective to the new life around her, she carries a wide range of emotions and every single one of them brightens the scene. The way she “struggles” to fit in with this Western world, I must note, isn’t come from her culture shock but more because of her never-back-down attitude. It’s endearing to hear her thoughts about other members, her challenging to a duel, even her insecureness on the “weapon that she has yet to acquire” and finally, her warming up on the Princess and other girls. As a result, this episode is entertaining basically from start to finish.

Another thing the episode does right is the fact that the entire episode is mostly set in their school; something that has been nothing more than a decoration in earlier episodes. Usually school setting is a sign for disaster but in this case, it breathes some fresh air to Princess Principal. Not only by doing so the show lets us witness how Chise fitting herself in with the new environment; it allows us to learn the hour details of their study (and how Chise constantly “tops” herself in every subject), introduce us to new character (Lily, turns out to be one of Duke Normandy’s spy) and give that social class tension a necessary conflict for the climax. Talking about that duel, I know it’s just me but I always find the old British duel kind of dull. It feels more like a test of courage of trying to act calm where the gun pointed at you, and usually the one who get to shoot first have a higher chance to win. I know the show mentions that it isn’t easy to hit the target on the first try, but when the rule explicitly says, “the first one down loose” it gives the first person who shoot a clear advantage. Not that the rich kid deserves to win either; because unlike British rule, Anime rule says that when you cheat, you get your ass kicked. Thus, even if her method of shooting bullet is a bit… beyond the rule; justice has been served.

Plot-wise, there are two important developments in this week. First, that new girl Lily serves as a spy to report the Duke of Normandy about the Princess’s activities in case the bodyguards can’t fulfill that job (guess all of them failed miserably as the Princess comes and goes and changes to spy suits and does spy works as she’s please ever since we met her). Lily has some roles in this episode but I can’t help but think she’s a one-off and this development further confirm that the Duke of Normandy will be the biggest obstacle the girls have to face. Second, Chise and the Princess shares some solid chemistry here. The Princess herself supports Chise on arranging the challenge, and that sumo celebration at the end is heartwarming. Chise holds the position of evaluate the two nations and while she’s not sure if Princess will succeed, she genuinely wants her to. I have nothing to complain on this excellent episode, both entertaining (and I admit that I took more than dozen screenshots of Chise’s various facial expressions), and fleshing out beautifully the dynamic between the core cast. Two third of the way, Princess Principal is still running strong; let’s hope that its final arc will be rewarding.

Note: it just hits me that almost all our girls have Daddy issues – not sure about the real Princess – Ange’s father but other girls had fathers that outright abuse them: Beatrice: father experimented on her – Dorothy: father hit her – Chise: let’s just say father betrayed her – Ange: father turn her into pickpocketing machine… I don’t think this Daddy issues will have anything to do with the climax and it doesn’t even fit to the themes Princess Principal established so far. So, I just leave it here as a note, for now.

The Reflection – 7 [Team I-Guy]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Action, The Reflection

For the first time this season, while watching The Reflection, time just flew by and the ending arrived with my noticing. This week, The Reflection stepped up its game. Lets jump into it.

Reflection opens up right where last week left off, with I-Guy bursting in through the ceiling. A short exchange of dialogue, and then the fight begins! There are multiple battles spread through this first half of the episode. I-Guy versus Dead Wing, X-On versus the Fire Witch and Lisa versus Steel Ruler. All in all some good stuff. Aside from some curious still frames when Elen is teleporting, this was the best animated episode yet. The fire during X-On’s clash. The metal from Steel Ruler when she was flinging cars around. It all looked very nice with the flat color style. Well done Reflection, though the projects from I-Guy looked rather out of place.

As the fights wind down Nina and Margaret, the old woman from Texas and her daughter, are caught by the unnamed man who can slide through objects. While being taken, Nina is teleported away by some unknown force and Margaret… dies. Unexpected to say the least. There is some quick dialogue between Elen and Steel Ruler before the former flees the scene, their job done. Meanwhile I-Guy is on his way back and arrives to have a chat with our heroes.

As it turns out, X-On is not happy. I-Guys performance turned the whole event into a mess and X-On calls him a lighthouse rather than a hero. This hurts I-Guy, the man who know only wants an audience. The whole thing spirals down into a quick fistfight between the two and what a fight it is. Short, only a few seconds long, but the animation here was great. X-Ons duck, I-Guys lazer, and then the burst of fire. The subsequent throw. It was easily the best animated shot Reflection has had this whole season. With Reflections artstyle, it looked great in motion. Now just give us that for a whole 30 seconds.

Animation aside, this punch shows us things are starting to crack among our heroes. I-Guy flies away pissed and we see later on Elen is getting fed up with X-Ons attitude. Both head off to spend some time on their own. Elen wanders a bit, but I-Guy, also known as Ian, heads on home. X-Ons words clearly struck him, as he grabs his guitar and heads out to perform on the street abit. We see once again his need for attention and recognition. We see some flashbacks of his career. His first demo, the success of his song, and let me say real quick here: I want all 3 versions of this song. During his time on the street though, Ian is confronted by a very mysterious figure, Wraith.

Wraith shows up and simply dumps money into his case, congratulating Ian on a job well done. She calls him a lighthouse, a fool, a “Hollow King”, parroting X-On a lot. Pointing out that he’s nothing without his team. She drives his inadequacies home, before disappearing. Ian runs back to his home after this, only to find something terribly wrong. His entire team, lay dead in their control room. This was completely unexpected. I wasn’t expecting anyone to die this season, yet not only did they kill Margaret, but I-Guy’s team as well. The red light flashes, tinting the entire scene, harsh black lines over everything. The art is used well here, it really works. Ian is the best-written character so far, and this is exactly the impetus he needs to better himself. The Reflection is giving us a hero’s journey for Ian and he isn’t even the main character!

All in all, a solid episode. I am excited for what is to come. Elen looks to be considering other options, Ian is preparing to go Punisher with a new suit and renewed drive and X-On is lost with nowhere to go.

Last week I mentioned how The Reflection was starting to feel empty with its episodes, but I can see now it was still working on setting itself up. It took awhile to do so and it wasn’t perfect, but we have a compelling story ladies and gentleman! See you next week!

Katsugeki Touken Ranbu – 10 [Where Loyalty Leads]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Action, Katsugeki Touken Ranbu

This week Ranbu treats us to another character focused episode, with quiet moments but little lasting material. Lets jump in.

Ranbu starts the episode off right where the last episode ended. The sun is rising and our party has just said goodbye to Ryoma. Very quickly we see who the focus this week is, as Horikawa begins to question some of their orders. Turns out, meeting Mutsunokami’s old master has raised some flags for him. He tries to work this out by talking to Mutsunokami, but he doesnt have any good answers for Horikawa. It looks like he might have to talk to the Commander about this, but as it turns out they cant leave just yet. They must stay in this time, for an as of yet undisclosed reason. As a fire that never occurred in history breaks out, we cut to the OP.

Returning from the OP, it looks like quite alot is happening. People are dieing and fires are starting that never should have. History is off. Apparently, some Retrograde are laying low after the last mission, still intent on capturing Ryoma. Kane quickly decides that watching over Ryoma should be their first priority. During this time, Horikawa continues to ask questions. If Ryoma is successful, will that not harm their old master Hijikata, of the Shinsengumi? Are they working against their old master? Kane, as the captain, is alot more stoic about this, but I would wager hes simply trying not to think about it.

As it turns out, Kane and Horikawa’s old master Hijikata is also in this city. All this does is rile Horikawa up, as he argues against why he cant meet Hijikata. Its rather ham fisted at times, but its a contast to last episode with Mutsunokami. During this, Ryoma slipped out of the Satsuma residence to go look at plum trees. Can you guess whats going to happen? Hijikata also happens to be in that area, and this turns into a game of keep away, even if neither side really knows it. While watching over Ryoma however, Horikawa begins to have some pretty dark thoughts. If he killed Ryoma, would it not make his old masters life better? Does he still have a duty to Hijikata?

Its an interesting line to go down, but simply knowing Horikawa’s character weakened it. Ranbu hasn’t done anything daring yet. Its played everything safe. That’s fine, shows can do that and still be good. It just makes them predictable. Which is why Horikawa doing nothing here came as no surprise. Continuing on, after this internal debate, the Retrograde attack! Everyone in the park hears the tree fall setting everyone into motion. Ryoma is sent away and once again Tonbokiri decides it’s smart to stand alone. The man needs to learn to work with a team.

While Tonbokiri is off fighting Retrograde, Kane and Horikawa are running after Ryoma. In the best scene of the episode though, Hijikata passes right in from of Kane, running towards the sound of combat. It happened fast, and to Kane who had been fighting against seeing Hijikata this entire time. For a moment he shuts down, before we see Kane is crying. He was afraid of what his reaction would be seeing Hijikata again, yet this short glimpse was enough for him. He steels himself to preserve the future that he knows will lead to a horrible life for his former master. Because that is his duty.

After this moment of resolution, another Ootachi appears. As if to demonstrate their growth, internal and external, Mutsunokami and Kane manage to dispatch it quickly. Still weaker than the 1st Unit, but better than their last attempt. There’s a quick ending scene with Kane and Horikawa, talking about their former master afterwords. This scene, along with the ‘non-interference’ speeches earlier, would all have hit harder had they not already been undercut by the first episode. Remember back when Kane saved that girl from a fire in Episode 1, completely ignoring the non-interference rule? As I said it would, it’s undercut all of their future scenes on the topic. We have already been shown its a non-issue. But I digress.

Ranbu only has 2 episodes left. In this remaining time, they must establish a final arc and some sort of satisfying conclusion. I don’t see how they can do it. There’s no main villain, there is nothing really at stake and the Retrograde are faceless antagonists. As it is, I am expecting a flashy final fight with a hollow plot behind it. I would love to be proven wrong but I don’t think I will be.

As always though, we will find out next week. See you then!

The Reflection – 5&6 [Vy and Michael]/[San Antonio]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Action, The Reflection

Hello everyone, apologies for the joint Reflection review, but driving 1400 miles from Texas to DC made for a busy weekend. I ended up late on episode 5 and just decided to bunch it an 6 together. Shouldn’t happen again and with that said, let’s jump into it.

Alot happened during these 2 episodes, of varying levels of quality. First, lets talk about episode 5. We start with an introduction to some of those staying with Merchant and Trader. As suspected, they aren’t selling Reflected, but rather protecting them. Some of the scenes here are odd, with the lack of eyes and the silence, but I get its purpose. After this we jump to Lisa, searching New Orleans for Elen and real Jazz. Sadly, she doesn’t find much good Jazz. Eventually she finds a bar, where the child Elen saved is playing however! A bar fight ensues and the child manages to get Lisa out of there.

Little did either of them know however, Steel Ruler and the Racist Cop from earlier episodes are meeting on a balcony. Looks like the Cop does have much love for Merchant and Trader. As we see later on, this is all building to a final confrontation. We cut back to Merchant and Trader, who we now learn are named Vy and Michael. We are gifted with some nice backstory for the two, revealing their abilities and how Michael is blind. Loving the handicapped cast so far. We get some exposition with Elen about the types of Reflected, and some warm words towards Vy. Sadly not everyone is having a good time right now, as we jump back to Lisa.

Turns out, people are still after her and the child. A truck comes by and swipes them up, taking them who knows where. Taken to a construction site, it looks like they are being interrogated about Michael and Vys location. The child, of course, spills the beans and reveals their location in the swamp. With this info, the Cops gather a group and head out. They get on their boats and head towards the swamp, where they are intercepted by Vy, Michael and Elen. What follows is one of the more disappointing fights i’ve seen. Vy has her armor destroyed quickly, Michael is useless and Elen is the actually the most useful for once. As well, in the middle of the fight Vy is miraculously cured and able to control her powers!

All in all a disappointing episode, and Reflection doesn’t do much better in episode 6. We continue investigating the Allen family, finding more and more are kidnapped. Along with that, everyone in the mansion got taken behind their backs. How? No idea, but it happened. We do get to see more of the Japanese Idol group though, as we transition from one burger scene to another. Looks like they have been fighting their own battles and will soon be having a trip to America. Suppose they had to get involved in the plot somehow.

For the rest of the squad however, they next stop is San Antonio Texas! Nice place, but expensive to live in. Just as they arrive and track down some Allen’s, Steel Ruler and her group of evil Reflected arrive as well. Battles over the Allen family members occur, with our group losing each one and public perception going down. One amusing scene in all this is Lisa’s inexperience though. She pops her robot in the middle of a crowded shop, unable to move without destroying it. Love it when characters aren’t immediately competent.

With all these losses, X-On decides to call in a favor to try and even the odds. He calls in Jim, a private investigator and a friend of his. In just a few seconds on his computer, he tracks down one last Allen. An old lady in a barber shop named Nina. Some old texan lady banter occurs, Nina refusing to budge, before eventually being taken anyways. Our heroes give Steel Ruler the slip and head off to California to find Nina’s daughter. Once they do however, they realize their mistake. Steel Ruler was using them to find this missing Allen and now wants her for herself. But whats that? Whats that song playing?! Its I-Guy, the best character in the show!

He smashes through the roof, challenges Steel Ruler, and we end on a cut of grimacing metal headpiece. Am I excited? Alittle. For the plot? Hardly. But I-Guy is back and we get some more great music and a better character.

All in all, some packed but ultimately empty episodes. There were many minor things I could have pointed out, but with 2 episodes in a single week and my tendency to write more than I should, I wanted to keep it short-ish.

Expect a single episode cover next week! Talk to ya later!

Princess Principal – 08 [Case 20 Ripper Dipper]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Princess Principal

We have a much-needed backstory of The Princess and the Pickpocket in the Black Lizard Planet this week. The actual case of week 8 was reduced into some minor scenes, but now I become more certain that the main boss the spy girls have to face in the end will be the Duke of Normandy; as once again his personal agent, Gazelle, was up to no good this time around, trying to trick Lord O’Reilly or whatever his name was, defecting to the Commonwealth to trap him. How the hell the girls figure out the whole evil scheme just by recognizing Gazelle is anyone’s guess (maybe because they’re… spy?), but no problem at all since the real juicy part of this episode lies in the Princess and Ange’s backstory and her interaction with the poor kid that remind Ange a lot of her childhood. Three weeks in a row Princess Principal slows down the pacing for more character developments and while the previous two added little to the main story, this one provides a backbone of Ange and Princess’s tragic “love” (see the heart-shaped door frame when the two girls playing piano together?) and with that story we can identify how the Princess has been struggling to become who she is today.

Alright. The juicy part first. Ange and Charlotte indeed swapped places when they were small – being around the same age with same features and same eye colors and everything (hey, they might as well be a twin). One from the royal and one from the dirt poor. The kinds you always see in fairy tale. But this isn’t your regular fairy tale, as the real Princess received a real hardship when she went out of her kingdom and then they got separated after all the high-spirited talks about becoming a real Queen, healing the world and what not. In a serious side though, the flashback gives us much more context about the relationship between Ange and the Princess now; and it’s rather heartwarming to finally learn that the very reason Princess wanted to become the Queen is because that was exactly what Ange wanted before the separation. All their conversations make sense now in retrospect. I also like the way that Ange not only appreciate the Princess for taking her role flawlessly, she also understands and admires her friend for all the hardship the Princess has gone through in order to survive – in order to act and behave like real Princess.

And for me, this part is where the episode truly shines. A certain conman, in the name of Kaiki Deishu from the Monogatari series, argues in Nisemonogatari – itself meaning Fake Story that (sorry for mild spoiler here: you don’t need to read the next sentence if you don’t want to be spoiled, for others, highlight the sentence) – the fake (like himself) has to spend much more effort to look like real and in a process become more real than the real thing.  It might sound like some twisted argument but it’s a kind of argument that I happen to agree with to a degree and here, it makes a whole lotta sense. The poor Pickpocket who suddenly becomes the Princess, who couldn’t write before or couldn’t read any single musical note, had to try harder and harder in order to match with the Princess’s image; along with a constant pressure that if she slips in any moment, she’d be uncover – and in a process, herself becomes the true Princess. The fact that she never regards herself as the real one, but tries hard to become perfecto make it all the more tragic. Chise realizes immediately (very great little moment there) that the Princess doesn’t enjoy all the hard trainings – those simply have become her duty. But when she said the same lines that Ange proposed long ago, it’s the talk of the real Princess – and to me at least, she becomes the REAL princess now.

It’s also nice to see Ange opens up to another little girl, Julie, who reminds her so much of her past. She goes such length to not only teach the girl how to pickpocket, but tell her the story of her life and comes to her factory to rescue the girl and advises her to stay in the orphanage. I don’t know if people notice but the painting that Ange finished (while spying) has Julie smiling in there. I also love the tiny little moments Princess Principal constantly place on other girls: how Chise wears warm clothes on the second night (wait, is she ninja or is she batgirl?), Ange has to dress up as the Princess and Beatrice gets angry at Dorothy because she brought booze to the mission and how the Princess’s hands were shaking while she was riding the horse. It’s a legit visual storytelling right there and I hope Princess Principal relies more on these little moments and sweet interactions than pulling the rug out under our feet with life-changing twists and turns.