Category: Finished Series: Action

AKB0048 – 17

by psgels, posted in AKB0048

Now this was a tear-fest! An entire episode dedicated to the general elections. There were just so many heightened emotions as everyone got announced and had to make an acceptance speech. The creators stuffed in as much emotion as possible here. That’s the advantage of having a big cast: you really can pull off episodes like this and make it very interesting to watch. With a main cast of five people this would never have been possible.

Chieri was probably the only one who went a little over the top. It’s okay with being over the top, and I know that she was very emotionally distressed there, but to have her make the speech as if she were having an orgasm… that’s not really the right way to do it. The point that the creators wanted to make with her: that she accepted her own position for the sake of standing in the spotlights despite feeling bad about it. It would have worked so much better with a bit more subtlety on it.

Beyond that though, this really had the amount of happiness and emotion. The main characters who really were glad to have made it rocked (number one and number two, after all of the build up together worked really well). But also the small scenes with some of the minor characters worked. Characters who may in the past have had only a few moments were developed here. Everyone acted so differently here, a great way to flesh them out.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 16

by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Shounen series on average have more female fanservice than male, particularly the blatant one. And here you have this series, in which a bunch of oiled up muscular men climb a giant pillar by using only their fingers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a shounen series with so many yaoi-references…

Anyway, the training arc. Jojo had 33 days to train, at the end of this episode there are only 7 of them left. This was not the best Jojo episode, but as far as training episodes go it again was crazy compared to its peers. Most training arcs start of slow, only to find a major challenge at the end. This episode already threw the characters into a giant death trap. At least it doesn’t take its time as usual, although the end of the episode did not conclude this training arc…

Particularly intersting in this episode was everything that this show did with liquids. Especially that blast of oil was really creative, however what this episode failed to explain was why on earth it was all important. Again, what would have worked was a simple training episode. It rather braks up the momentum for this series to have it last longer.
Rating: 4.5/8 (Good)

AKB0048 – 16

by psgels, posted in AKB0048

I hate, hate, hate CG dance sequences. Every single time they’re done, they look incredibly fake and out of place. But even that I can’t fault AKB0048, becaus its CG dance sequences are the best I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong, they still stand out. But they’re kept short and concise, and the dance choreography is actually worth something.

Setting that aside, I still have no clue why this show manages to move me so. I mean, I am a fan of this series and all, but still I loved the end of the episode even thoughit was just the general election for the characters, preceeded by another performance for the idols.

Also, as for the walking boob joke. I have no idea whehter the creators heard me or something, but she showed a totally different and actually quite inspiring side of her in this episode. Heck, I really loved the climax when it was her who got to stand in the spotlights, instead of Chieri or Nagisa. In fact, both of them really had interesting roles in this episode: Nagisa still is in her underdog position, with no signs yet of moving out of it. Chieri meanwhile got to find out first-hand what it feels like to become popular, just because you’ve got influential connections. They’re still there: the subtle bites at the fans of the idols.

By the way, this series also sees its EDs as an extension of the series. The ending of this episode was wonderful because of how the ED extended the big surprise that preceeded it, instead of continuing with the usual ED. This is something that is easy to do, yet most series are too rigid for it. It’s a sign of good production and people using their heads there.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 15

by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

This episode poked fun at so many shounen cliches, before many of them even existed. Remember Dragonball Z? How it had the longest five minutes ever? This episode also had one minute that was much longer than usual, only for the characters to debunk this later because the character in question got distracted.

Or the part when Jojo bluffed himself out of his own death. In most shounen series this would feel like a complete cop-out because there are so many fights that end with just parties retreating without resolving anything. In this case it manages to pull it off though: before in the series nobody other than Dio retreated, and if Jojo didn’t bluff his way out, he would have died without question.

And then there was that incredibly silly part where Jojo played fake, like a child. It was so ridiculous, yet hilarious that it ended up working. In fact, all of Joseph’s ideas were just crazy in this episode, from grabbing a bunch of steel balls to attack with (oh, the symbolism….), to trying to use freaking dynamite again (not to mention how that dynamite was just shrugged off by that other guy). Also, did Jojo just get engaged to both of them?

By the way, I love the narrator in how incredibly cheesy he was in this episode. And this was to the point that he became awesome again: he just felt so sincere in his 80s cheese straight from an old cartoon, only taken even more over the top. Especially when he tried to comment on how Jojo was trying to run away while playing dead.

So next up will be the training arc. Be wise, Jojo: turn it into something interesting. Make the characters more powerful while also being as fun as you’ve ever been. Don’t get lost in your own exposition like this.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 14

by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

How big is the soundtrack of this series anyway? This episode added italian flavours, and better middle eastern flavours than what Magi has been dealing to us. And in the meantime I just keep hearing more tracks I haven’t heard before. Also, is it just me or did this episode bring in yet another ED? Seriously, the producers from David Production… I love these guys.

Anyway, this epiode was meant to introduce a whole bunch of characters: the main antagonists (for real this time…. right?) and we finally get to see the guy who has been appearing all over the promotional material in this series: Zeppeli’s grandson. The latter especially was done with that great sense of humour, and I loved how it used the ripple for all kinds of bizarre effects, from slinging spaghetti to putting a dove in a woman’s mouth. Especially the latter…. how do you think of it?

And yeah, the creators did a good job of making the three new villains even worse than the previous one, making them look like a walk in the park in comparison. The trick will now be to keep up the momentum. My biggest fear is that they lack the humour that some of the other characters in this series have, because of how crazy the jokes here… it’s a large part of why this show is so incredibly entertaining now. They need to be more than just another stronger version of the same bad guys.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

AKB0048 – 15

by psgels, posted in AKB0048

Now that we’ve got the obligatory string of first episodes out of the way, it’s time to focus on what really matters this season. I still say that the Winter of 2013 sucks, because in terms of original content there is very little that stands out, not to mention the lack of variety. In the end, for anime to move forward, this is the most important for a season overall, otherwise we’ll just get stuck in a string of endless sequels.

Nevertheless, there is a lot of great stuff in store the upcoming three months: the amount of sequels and continuing series that will all stand out on their own way is amazing here. It’s been a while since I’ve seen so many of them at the same time that managed to impress me like this. And this is series that all deserve their length they need to become even better, rather than being just some corporate sell-out. That’s the theme between the 10 series I’m blogging this season anyway: no pointless padding!

Anyway, AKB. This time we’re introduced to the the absolute horror. The thing that’s even worse than watching a bunch of idols: VARIETY TV! I really hate those kinds of shows. In the Netherlands they are already utter crap, but I can only imagine how boring they must be with Japan’s standards. So yeah, when this show started to poke fun at them inbetween the lines, it did make my day. First the characters being utter crap at it, and afterwards them succeeding by doing what? Having fun at dodgeball and losing their clothes? Speaking of which, Mimori has turned even more into a walking boob joke. Go fix that in the upcoming episodes.

Inbetween the promotional activities, there also was this plot going on. Most important twists here revolved around Chieri, and how she suddenly became incredibly popular after last week. And yeah, the reason behind this was pretty much her backstory: she made the news, on top of being a famous daugher. Because of that she caught the attention of a lot of people. Her speech did the rest. The question now is what her father is planning: he’s obviously trying to use her popularity now, but what for?
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 13

by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Holy crap man. The fights in this series just keep getting better. I mean, holy crap. This makes all other shounen battles just pale in comparison. How on earth does this series manage to be so epic in every single episode, and we’re talking about a shounen jump adaptation for goodness’ sake. Aren’t these things supposed to drag on forever before they get anywere!?

The fight between that Ultimate Life Form and Jojo and von Stroheim was amazing. It just kept surpassing itself: just when you think that things are done, it just gets even crazier. Now, Dragonball Z did this in a bad way: just when you thought things were over, it just kept finding new ways to drag on. The difference here is that it all happened in one episode. It just kept building up adrenaline and left no second wasted. This is the type of build-up that I love.

Stroheim indeed redeemed himself at the end here when he got his leg cut off in such an incredibly overblown fashion. He then proceeded to blow himself up, only for Joseph to finish things by throwing himself at the well at exactly the right time. That’s sortof like what happened in the third episode when Jonathan and Dio fell down in that burning building. And the soundtrack! it was perfect through all of this.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

Some Quick First Impressions: Minami-Ke Tadaima, Haitai Nanafa and AKB0048 Next Stage

by psgels, posted in AKB0048, Some Quick First Impressions

Minami-Ke Tadaima

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are three sisters living together.
I watch Minami-ke really if I have nothing better to do: it’s not bad or anything, but the pacing is a bit too slow for me to actively watch it if I have other stuff to do. Having said that though, this episode did make me laugh. It’s got the type of humour that tries to be funny by being annoying: the entire episode was basically Kana (one of the three sister) being an ass towards everyone. And that did lead to some funny moments. There were other parts that were formulaic, though. For example, for some reason the creators found it a good idea to have these chibi-shorts in between the different sketches here that are just unfunny and just serve to turn the characters into caricatures of themselves. We’ll see. It’s not like there’s much competition this season.
OP: Dull and generic.
ED: Again dull and generic
Potential: 60%

Haitai Nanafa

Short Synopsis: Our lead character finds a magical girl from a tree.
Three minute moe shows again! Alert! This is even a remnant of past seasons that took forever to get released. I have no idea why. Out of all the 3-minute moe shows though, this one is the best, because it actually impressed me with something: it’s got eye candy! I really did not expect that, but this show’s art design looks really good actually, something that I really did not expect. The rest though…. it’s about a bunch of magical girls. This was just the introduction but its comedic timing felt flawed (bad build-up). It was nothing special, but heck: people actually spent some effort into this one so I guess it’s at least something and I guess it was charming… enough.
ED: Way too long, but again quite pretty.
Potential: 60%

AKB0048 Next Stage

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are idols who fight in guerrilla concert against an evil government.
Hell yeah, one of the two bright lights of this season has finally aired. The gorgeous visuals along with the well produced songs are as addictive as ever, making this a really enjoyable animated musical. The characters themselves set themselves apart by being so energetic and expressive, so that even the pointless fanservice felt charming, rather than annoying. This episode served as the set-up for the second season, really: it gave a face to some parties that were previously just mentioned and it changed the way in which the idols are selected from some random force to viewer-based voting. I wonder how far it will go with this, actually: there are so many dodgy sides about this, and I hope that the creators get the freedom again to address this. This episode already started by hinting at how competitive it can be, but it needs to do more. But there are plenty of episodes left to do this. The villains, the people from DES, remain a bunch of idiots, though.
ED: Visually boring (recap), but a good song, and well used with the climax of the episode.
Potential: 85%

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 12

by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Seriously, this show is awesome!

I mean, it keeps finding new ways to stand out while being over the top. I thought that this was impossible. This one did it with nazis. Last episode kept emphasizing how they are everything that is evil. This episode took the nazi stereotypes so over the top that it became hilarious. The people here really did justice to the evil organization by making one that looked completely unlike the others in over the topness: these guys have an actual personality other than “I listen and do stuff like a mindless robot”.

Also, I did not expect the powers that that stone guy turned out to have: the ability to completely manipulate his body and absorb others. And he really used it in a brilliant way when he traveled through the ventilation shafts. The build-up of it all, especially in the beginning was great.

Oh, and I nearly fell off my chair with Joseph in this episode. That dress.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 11

by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Normally I dislike using memes and all, but this is just one of those shows where OVER 9000! is entirely fitting. I mean, holy crap, this show just has gotten more crazy in just two episodes compared to the first arc. Joseph Joestar’s sense of fighting is just completely crazy. This show still has this habit of using tiny details and making an incredibly big deal out of them, but Joseph takes that, and adds tommy guns and hand grenades to the mix from out of nowhere.

And then there is the introduction of the villain for this arc. Now, there is being evil, and trying everything in your damn mind to try to be as evil as humanly possible. That’s that guy. He didn’t end up as a baby eater, but it really would have been close. I mean, Dio was evil and all, but he did not go through such lengths.

And is it also just me, or did the animation improve? I mean, I could be wrong, but there were even less still frames than usual in this episode. That makes it even more amazing by the way: the character designs in this show just are very complicated and hard to animate. And yet the creators did it. I could not have expected that.

Also, the new OP rocks.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)