Category: Finished Series: Action

Rinne no Lagrange – 16

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

This was a strange turn of events. The first half of this episode was great: I complain about how Lan’s brother needs more attention, and there the creators go: they put him in the spotlights. On top of that, this episode was about a talk between him and Vilagulio: they actually tried to talk things out, and that’s what makes this series so good: the characters don’t immediately turn to the “let’s beat stuff until problems go away”-solution.

And then that mysterious girl who has been showing up here and there arrived, and showed her true colors: amnesia, the mind of a 9-year-old and Vilagulio’s real sister. Will that really work for this series? The one thing I noticed in this episode was that she took away all reason: Vilagulio broke off the talks, and she seems to harbor a different personality that does the necessary magical stuff, because she sure as hell doesn’t remember strangling Madoka anymore.

Madoka and the others didn\t have much to do, but to make up for it they were quite funny, both with their disguises as when they were watching the talk between Lan’s brother and Vilagulio.
Rating: 4.5/8 (Nice)

Eureka Seven Ao – 15

by psgels, posted in Eureka Seven Ao

Plot build-up! And it’s the good kind of build-up that has enough interesting things to do while the chess pieces are all set right. This episode was necessary to confirm a few things: the secrets indeed have been different from what was assumed. This episode confirmed this by revealing that these things are sentient, and that the Japanese government has managed to collect a living example of this.

The characters instead were the ones who made this episode interesting, using Ao’s complete change after meeting with his mother as a catalyst to show different sides of a lot of different cast-members. Ao in particular has really changed in how he views his responsibilities, as shown by how he tried t get these sleeping pills. In this episode it went to the point of taking this too far, where he desperately wanted to live up to what he thinks are his mother’s expectations.

Also I’ve probably mentioned this before, but Fleur’s father has to be inspired by Ikari Gendou from Evangelion. He’s not as extreme, and there have been points in which he has been fleshed out quite nicely as a father figure, but in this episode he revealed where exactly he has been taking the Quartz that he has harvested. What I find interesting is how, even after the revelation that the Secret aren’t exactly evil as long as you don’t get in their way, he still is more intent on destroying them, rather than the actual scab coral.
Rating: (Excellent)

AKB0048 Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in AKB0048, Anime Reviews



So, AKB was a series that not many people seemed to like, so with this review I’ll try my hardest to explain why it managed to win me over. And let me get one thing straight: it’s not like I’m some sort of idol fanboy. In fact, I hate the idol business. I really dislike J-Pop as a music genre. And I’m really not a fan of abusing moe and cute girls to pander to an audience. So yes: how on earth did this show manage to win me over?

For the people who aren’t familiar at all with AKB0048: AKB48 is an idol group, consisting out of a huge amount of teenaged girls who sing songs and do other cute things. This series is meant to promote them: the main characters are all played by various members, most of whom have no voice acting experience, and the plot is about a world in which music has been outlawed and the girls run around and perform guerilla concerts as a sort of resistance. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? Yeah, but here is the thing: the two main creators, the chief director and the main writer, are two of the biggest trolls around in the anime business: Shoji Kawamori and Mari Okada. And they were given a lot of freedom. I still don’t know who found that a good idea, but bless this person.

Now, to fully appreciate this series, you’re going to have to need to read inbetween the lines a bit. It’s indeed true that we have a bunch of idols who sing and fight evil enemy soldiers at the same time. But at the same time this series does some really surprising things as a show that’s meant to be a promotion of an idol group. I mean, usually these things are incredibly cheap and superfluous: cartoonified members of the group go on random adventures and try to be as cute or cool as possible. AKB0048 however, completely throws these conventions out of the window and starts to focus on the uglier sides of being an idol; how unfair the business can be sometimes, how hard it forces teenaged girls to work and how it forces some dangerous mindsets on them. This series, on one half is indeed cute girls doing cute things, but that other half is really dark to balance all of that out, with some really cynical messages at times.

Beyond that, this show also is just very well executed. The thing with this show is that nearly all voice actresses are completely new, so they don’t have a stereotype that they all try to fit in like what you’d have if people like Kugimiya Rie were cast and all. There are a lot of characters in this show, but none are unlikable or try to force their cuteness down the viewer’s throats. They’re all well-developed and all have engaging issues that actually differ quite a bit. Beyond that there is excellent animation and musical numbers: the performances in this series really work and its use of music is really excellent.

Having said all that though, the overall storyline of this show IS completely silly. The people who outlawed entertainment are nothing more than shallow villains, and somehow they keep getting beaten by a bunch of little girls despite being in armored tanks and mechas. For as much attention this series gives to entertainment and idols, so little it spends on the actual bad guys of this series. That really is the biggest weakness of this series: at times it will be really, really hard to maintain your suspense of disbelief. The sign whether you’ll like this show or not is probably at episode number two: if at that point the characters don’t interest you, then you’ll have a very hard time with this. That episode however does have the power to really capture its audience though, so if you’re interested in this series, do give it a chance and don’t be put off by the whole premise… too much.

Storytelling: 7,5/10 – An excellent animated musical, but the action scenes make no sense!
Characters: 8,5/10 – Large cast with actually likable characters, rather than characters who put too much emphasis on moe stereotypes. They actually got a balance here.
Production-Values: 8,5/10 – Eye candy! Great use of music and songs.
Setting: 8,5/10 – A very cynical and interesting look at idols that you would not expect from a show that’s meant to promote idols.

Suggestions:
– Aquarion Evol
– Macross Frontier
– Nerima Daikon Brothers

AKB0048 – 13

by psgels, posted in AKB0048

Okay. That was awesome.

With this final episode, AKB0048 managed to surpass itself. It was a really cheesy episode, and yet everything just worked. With this, I really understand

why Shoji Kawamori was assigned to oversee this project: he really knows how to create an animated musical. I mean, I have a lot of problems with Macross Frontier, but it really was one of the few series to have nailed the animated musical (other examples of this done right are the Nerima Daikon Brothers and Beck). This was a wonderful climax that had his name all over it.

And meanwhile, I guess that the plot of it all makes sense here: apparently Lancastar is this special planet that these fairy-things really like. That’s why the current generation of AKB is so special: there are a lot of people from Lancastar on it. At this point this remains a mcguffin, of course, but it’s good to have some sort of reason behind everything right now.

AND OMG YES< SECOND SEASON! It'll probably be very different from the first season, and my guess is that there are two ways it can go: more light-hearted and away from the criticism, or completely insane. The thing is, that both can work, because at this point, the cast is more than strong enough to carry this series. Every character right now is likable and engaging to watch. The idol commentary was great to watch, and I'd love it if the creators would carry this further in the second season, but I also won't mind it if they will focus on something completely different there. This series doesn't just have potential, it has potential for many different possible directions. Rating: (Awesome)

Rinne no Lagrange – 15

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

So, the progress of the second season is again slow but steady. This was the kind of episode that just built up to one climax, and like the first season it put a lot of emphasis on random events (this time the alien trio tried to run a haunted house). The plot is definitely going somewhere though.

So, the Vos, when it tries to enter Rinne, has the power to destroy planets. This is quite a convenient solution to Dizelmine’s problem of the impending two planets that are going to be destroyed, and the main point of this series will be to prevent the war, while also solving the problems of these planets. Because of that, the characters are finally starting to research what the powers of the Vox actually entail to. So yeah, in this episode the characters actually start to experiment with world-destroying powers.

It was all quite intense. The episode started out with finally some good fanservice jokes again (which was definitely needed after those eels of last season), followed by a complete mood-switch when that giant red blob appeared. I liked this a lot, and this also shows that there is some kind of brain in that gate of Rinne, hinting at that it’s much more than just something really powerful.
Rating: (Great)

Eureka Seven Ao – 14

by psgels, posted in Eureka Seven Ao

At this point, I think I’m pretty sure of the big difference between Eureka Seven and Eureka Seven Ao in terms of series structure: consistency. Based on the past fourteen episodes, I can say that Eureka Seven’s stand-out moments were much more shocking and much better delivered than Eureka Seven Ao’s. On the other hand, Eureka Seven Ao just had a streak of awesome episodes that doesn’t seem to end anytime soon. Compare that to Eureka Seven’s season of build-up. Which one’s the best? I’d say that Eureka Seven still edges it for its world development and these mind-blowing standout moments. But seriously: I love its sequel as well.

This episode also had an awesome plot twist to add to this show’s vast array. And really, these are the kinds of plot twists that make me wtf out loud. They toy with your expectations, and strike when you’d least expect it (I really thought that Eureka immediately knew that Ao was her son, but holy crap Ao has a sister!), and yet they feel part of the plot, instead of just shoved in for the sake of having plot twists.

The rest of the small plot twists were also very fun and interesting to watch, but there is one in particular that caught my attention: Ao hating his father. I originally thought that there was some deep reason behind that. I mean, this series likes to withhold certain pieces of information from the viewer, even when it’s about the main character (which is great, by the way: it shows that said main character had a life before the start of the series), but in the end, he just blamed him for being there with his mother. Which, you know, is pretty reasonable for a kid his age.

This episode also made me realize what the creators were trying to do with him. I mean, the one thing that makes Ao stand out: he acts mature for his age. Why? Because he had a bad childhood. He never really got to be a child because of all that island and discrimination stuff going on. This is the biggest reason why he is so fundamentally different from Renton, who despite losing his parents (he did, right? My memory si fuzzy about that one), did grow up happily and he even had an idol to look up to. And that brings us back again to the main theme of this series: kids don’t belong in war. You could see that again when that one smirky officer was about to shoot Ao, and how many people jumped on him.
Rating: (Awesome)

Rinne no Lagrange – 15

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

This episode was really good, although I’m still clueless on what the rest of its plot will be about. I mean there is this obvious war and Ran’s brother who needs to be stopped, on top of those strange Vox powers, but beyond that I have no clue how the creators plan to spice things up. At first I thought that this would be Muginami and Ran who continue to fight over Madoka, but that was solved in this episode by something that a lot of other teenaged pilots should do: by talking things out. So what’s next?

What I mean by this is: Rinne no Lagrange still needs something to make it stand out in its second half. Aquarion had its bizarre fanservice, Mouretsu Pirates had its huge and addictive cast. With Rinne no Lagrange, the ingredients are all there to make an impact. It’s the type of series that puts a lot of emphasis on reaching out and prevention, rather than dumb action. Now, make use of this!

One thing that already changed a lot at this point is the powers of the Vox. I’m not sure what happened at the end of the first season when Midori produced that giant flower, but Madoka can now hear what’s in the minds of the other Vox powers, and that’s likely to only be the beginning.
Rating: Excellent

AKB0048 – 12

by psgels, posted in AKB0048

It still surprises me with how much this series can get away. I mean, this must have been originally intended as some sort of sell-out, and yet: the ED of this episode is purely instrumental. It was a really good ED, but it in no way promotes AKB48 as an idol group. Really: whoever was behind that idea: I really admire the balls it must have taken to go with this.

Add that to the different cast members openly criticizing the system for AKB0048, on top of this episode showing how this business can mentally break down these girls from the stress they face. These are some very surprising liberties, and with this, I really hope for a second season for this series. especially since this episode came with a bunch of twists that can only be good with some extra episodes.

In a 1-cour series, claiming on the 12th episode that you’re going to say goodbye means an aftermath. In a 2-cour series, it means character development end evolution. Same for that new pet thingy that appeared at the end of the episode.

Also, how many “hard work and guts”-tropes is Nagisa going to subvert anyway? I mean, they go on this heroic quest to save her father, but he doesn’t want to be rescued. She gets her chance to perform in the center of the stage, and breaks down. The motivational speech she gets in this episode about not giving up doesn’t change anything: she still lost, but it made her face the fact that she did rather than completely turning the tables. She still had to see everyone work extra hard to make up for her.

Does that make her a bad character? Here’s the thing: I usually hate characters who don’t do anything, because they’re completely pointless. Nagisa is different, though: her uselessness has a point, and she also has a character; I especially liked that she changed after meeting her father and decided to not inconvenience her mother.
Rating: Excellent

Eureka Seven Ao – 13

by psgels, posted in Eureka Seven Ao

This episode disappointing? Hah, Ao finally had the time to see his mother again and answer some of the big questions of the plot, and this worked out really well.

As expected, this is a time travel plot; everyone just labeled Eureka as an alien. Apparently Eureka traveled through time twice, this being the first one. Also, Renton got mentioned! This episode was all about relating back the things that Eureka did 10 years ago, which made for some very good character development for the ones involved. Also, why was Elena so upset?

Also, this episode showed even more that this is Eureka Seven with an Evangelion inspiration. First of all there was this one facial expression from Truth (who really kicked ass in this episode by the way), and then there was this remarkable Secret-design from Eureka’s past. Coincidence?
Rating: **+ (Excellent)

AKB0048 – 11

by psgels, posted in AKB0048

This episode made me realize: this series has a really passive main character, hasn’t it? I mean, so far Nagisa has just been… there. Most of the best moments in this series focused on the side-cast, and during the building up parts, it’s often the side characters who are much more talkative who take the center stage.

In this show, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. The problem with most passive leads is how annoying they are and how they’re forced in their roles of main characters, where they don’t belong at all. This episode however actually used that cliche in order to build further upon the show’s themes.

I mean, anime in general is so focused on celebrating hard work and talent. Nagisa has neither, or should I say: she doesn’t stand out at either. She can sing decently, and she does practice, but there are many more talented characters, and there are many characters who work harder than she does. In a weird change of fate, the word of God for the AKB group randomly picks her to play the center of a new song they composed for the first time in years, completely ignoring the experience, hard work and talent of all of the other members to go for one who hasn’t really stood out or proved herself in any way, without having any need to justify themselves. We’re all just supposed to “accept” that they had a good reason for it.

I think that the creators knew very well what they were doing here. I mean, even her attitude doesn’t stand out compared to how badly the others want a spot on the performing list. Nagisa on the other hand… doesn’t seem to know what she really wants.
Rating: ** (Excellent)