Category: Finished Series: Action

Aquarion Evol – 14

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

I was surprised how this episode started out as a very dark aftermath. It was very different from the previous episodes of this series, and a lot of time in the first half was dedicated to making Jin’s death sink in. I’m not used to that from Shoji Kawamori, especially when it happens so early in the series. Then the second half arrived. Yup, that’s him allright. No mistake about it. And Mari Okada’s influences make it even weirder.

The moment where the headmaster suddenly announced everyone to bury themselves, this show just got surreal. I’m not sure what kind of symbolism it is to have the cast sleep right next to the dead while they’re mourning for a falen friend, but it was glorious anyway. The way in which Mikage suddenly appeared as well was an awesome cliff-hanger.

Zessica by the way is heading into a wrong direction. She’s now at the point where her entire character is “I like Amano”. The rest of the cast here is great, and this episode used Mikono’s uselessness well, but Zessica is just the same old third wheel without any chance that you see everywhere.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Some Quick First Impressions: Zetman, Kimi to Boku 2 and Accel World

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, Zetman

Zetman

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has superpowers.
Whoa, I really love the visuals in this series. The animation during the fight scenes in particular was just amazing. Most first episodes are very crisply produced with a lot of inbetween frames. The animation here however put in something extra. The animation was wild and vivid, and sometimes quite messy, which lead to some awesome camera angles. The character designs also work much better than what I first expected based on the promo art. The faces of these characters have depth, so to speak. My big fear for this series was that the script would move too fast, but that too turned out surprisingly well. The first parts of this episode moved very fast, but the points where it mattered, this episode really took its time to tell its story. This is pacing that’s actually well balanced, rather than all over the place.
ED: Catchy, but a bit too much synth. Why the hell are you spoiling a twists that’s coming up, though?
Potential: 90%

Kimi to Boku 2

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are a bunch of teenaged boys.
AS much as Chizuru gets on my nerves… I yet again have to admit that this episode was excellent slice of life. In fact, this was one of the better episodes of Kimit o Boku due to how incredibly natural the dialogue was. In particular the second half was really well written, even though it was just characters talking to each other. It’s the kind of slice of life where nothing happens, yet things happen. Instead of a forced moral at the end, the episode just ended with the cast doing something random they felt like. Again, Chizuru still is really annoying, and the random cats still are pretty pointless, but this was a typical episode of Kimi to Boku, which somehow at the end of every episode uses its annoyances to do something interesting with the characters. If you can stand the obnoxious characters, you’ll like it. Otherwise: don’t bother.
OP: Either my laptop couldn’t follow the frame-rate, or the visual effects were rather cheesy this time.
ED: Why that cat?
Potential: 80%

Accel World

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a creepy stalker.
I had no time to also watch the second episode that came out, but based on just the first episode, I really fear that this show will be… annoying to watch. It’s a shame though, because there is some definite potential in the setting for some good science fiction. I actually liked the way in which this series combined the real world with its fictional virtual world on top of it. So why on earth did they have to settle for a harem around such a wimpy protagonist. I like how for once the main character is overweight (although he literally is the only character in this show who is like that), but he was really annoying to watch with his annoying whining throughout the entire episode. This episode already introduced two potential love interests who take interest in him for very flimsy reasons, which really isn’t a good sign for the romance in this show. The rest of the cast also was pretty bland, with the worst being the worst portrayal of bullies I’ve seen in a while with three guys who are constantly bothered by constipation or something and just randomly assault their victims, even in the midst of dozens of people. I’m at this point really doubting whether or not to continue watching this: there definitely are a few good things here; the animation is also very good, but I just know that the cast will get on my nerves a lot.
Potential: 50%

Aquarion Evol – 13

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

Now this was just entertaining as hell. Really, all of the three big sci-fi shows this season really delivered excellent episodes to close off their first halves and they really surpassed themselves with it. Mouretsu went the politics route, Rinne no Lagrange toyed with the scenario, and Aquarion was the one who just went all out with its action. This was really an episode full of adrenaline, and very entertaining to watch as it yet again made excellent use of its romances.

.. with perhaps one exception. This is something that has annoyed me about other anime as well. I mean, on average, women are physically weaker than men. Having a really physically weak girl in the cast, makes sense. However, for the love of god: quit having women faint so often. I mean, not only does this just get pulled way too often, but it also pretty much puts the girl in question out of the picture for as long as she’s unconscious.

But I digress, when she woke up, the doll girl and her romance with the spy guy definitely made up to that. Then there was that bizarre part where Mikono got.. abducted and hold like a trophy, only to be rescued again (thankfully), followed by what can only be described as an orgy as six pilots fused together. I really was entertained throughout the entire episode.

Next episode should prove to be very interesting, because it’s here where the huge difference between Mari Okada and Shoji Kawamori comes into play: deaths. On one hand I have often been trolled by Kawamori’s deaths, and I often feel that these are a bit meaningless, if the characters turn out to be dead at all, where on the other hand Mari Okada loves making her deaths meaningful, and her scripts don’t use implied deaths at all. In this episode the death of two characters was implied, so next week will be a huge rope pulling match between these two. I really hope that Mari Okada wins, because I very much prefer how she handles death in her stories, but the two of them are both so over the top that it’s got to be a lot of fun to watch.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Rinne no Lagrange Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Rinne no Lagrange




By far the biggest problem of the past season was a lack of ambition. The series were all very solid, but but a lot had the “this could have been much better”-syndrome. If only the creators took more chances and came up with some more imaginative premises, this season would have been amazing, because in terms of execution there certainly was the potential for that. Rinne no Lagrange was one of the most apparent examples of this, where we have a fun, exciting and interesting series about a teenaged girl who has to protect her school from invading aliens inside a mecha with special powers.

Yeah, there probably aren’t a lot of people inclined to pick this up based on just that premise. But really, the exeucution definitely makes it worth watching and the creators definitely tried to bring something appealing to such an overused story. For starters, it smartly turns the invading aliens into more than just a horde of monsters intent to destroy the earth. They’re civilized, they actively try to sympathize with their opponents and some of them also try to oppose causing unnecessary bloodshed. This series also cares a lot about continuity: houses that get destroyed remain destroyed in the next episode and it also subtly shows that there are giant mechas fighting near innocent people who have never been in a war themselves.

Beyond that, this is a series that focuses on the relationship between its three main characters. In the character department, it’s this that really stands out. The characters alone aren’t really special. There are a lot of cliches, they’re a tad too perfect at times and this show has really awkward moments of fanservice, but together they play off each other wonderfully. This also goes for the side characters, by the way. They really manage to flesh each other out. Some very good direction and camera work helps with this, and makes this show quite witty and fun when it wants to.

So yeah, it’ s a shame that the subject material of this show is slightly dull. These creators could really have made an epic series, but in the end, too little just happens for it to warrant that. Instead it chooses to let its story and characters play out, and while that produces a solid series, it really would have been nice a little less cliches, a little less focus on schools, and a little more complex characters.

There will be a second season though, so who knows whether the creators are saving that for then.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Snappy direction, solid action, great atmosphere. A tad slow-paced, but fun.
Characters: 8/10 – Solid, great chemistry, but there are a few too many moe cliches, and the characters could have been more detailed.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Solid. Nothing special for this season’s standards, but the action is still very solid.
Setting: 8/10 – The continuity in this series is very well done. Beyond beyond that though, it does little more.

Suggestions:
– Mahou Shoujotai
– Gakuen Senki Muryou

Rinne no Lagrange – 12

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

You know what? This was my favorite ending of the season so far. Or in any case semi-ending, because we’ve still got the second season upcoming summer, and the big ones (Natsume, Chihayafuru) still haven’t ended yet. This episode featured a great climax, it was a great aftermath, and it included a bunch of very nice hooks for the second season.

Of course a straightforward climax can work really well if executed right, I always appreciate the endings that try something more than that. For this episode to start with the aftermath, right after last week’s cliff-hanger was a very good idea. For a minute I really wasn’t sure what was going on because Rin and Madoka were also acting a very cheesy romance for some of their school mates, but once the actual climax started, everything fell into place. I like that.

As for the hooks for the next season, it was a great idea to break up the group for a bit and have everyone go their own way for a moment. This makes it more than just a “see you in three months”-ending, but it’s a great moment in this show for a pause in the story. Yes, this is the great thing about 2-cour original stories. They really can be tailored to anime format.

Overall, this Winter Season played out very much like I thought it would. What seemed like the biggest problem really turned out to be true: this season had a lot of great staff, but the one thing it lacked was ambitious premises. This resulted in a lot of very solid stories that however could all have been amazing, if only they took more risks and displayed more interesting plots. Rinne was very fun and entertaining, and I really feel that if it had a more ambitious story, that didn’t revolve around yet another high school, it really could have been a classic.

At the moment, what I fear is going to be the biggest problem of the upcoming Spring Season: strange staff choices. Appolon has mediocre scriptwriters (one wrote the Stitch adaptation, the other was responsible for the horrible adaptation of Persona), Tsuritama will be written by the guy who outlined Suite Precure of all things, Uchuu Kyoudai will be adapted by Makoto Uezu (out of the 20 series this guy did the series composition for, I only liked four, two of which are the two Sunred seasons), Zetman will be adapted by a guy who is notorious for taking huge liberties with source material, and often very rushed stories, the guy who wrote Guilty Crown will be doing another series, and out of all things we have Shoji Kawamori and Mari Okada doing an idol show. On top of that Jormundgand also looks very intriguing, but it’s got a really bad director. These are a ton of shows who have a lot of potential, but what I’m most afraid of is that that one person at the wrong place will take away that potential. And that for so many series.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Aquarion Evol – 12

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

Finally, ti’s time for the developments to start hitting. This episode was full of twists to spice up this series, and it’s about time because the series was starting to stagnate a bit. Especially when Andy started this episode by organizing a slumber party. What could have been a dull filler instead really got the characters moving. In particular the invisible girl and the spy guy.

This show did stagnate a bit when trying to get these two to catch up to the rest of the cast, but having these two elope, of all people, can prove to be quite interesting. There was some good tension between the two of them in this episode, and seeing as they’re both shy, the potential for character development on the both of them looks really good.

I however, do fear the direction in which the love polygon involving Mikono and Amato is heading. I mean, this episode pulled a lot of twists on them, but these twists include the abandoned child and pulling sudden yandere hints around Zessica. I mean, this had it coming and all, but I really wish that the creators would use Zessica for something more than just a pointless love triangle. And looking for porn the minute she enters a guy’s dormitory…

Here is the thing: Mikono, you’d better not turn into a damsel in distress in the second half of this show… I know that this is a Mari Okada series, but this also is a Shoji Kawamori series…
Rating: *+ (Great)

Rinne no Lagrange – 11

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

Talk about an interesting wake-up call here. For a while this episode played out like you’d think it would, with Madoka eventually heading into the battle again (I like however, how she actually waited until she was given permission to take off, and how she actually received careful instructions of the upgrades in her new machine), but I really like the darker twist at the end of this episode.

Before we’ve seen Madoka try and try to keep the damages that were caused by the fighting to a minimum. I thought that this would be just a good way to keep continuity in the series, but this episode really starts playing with it. The thing is that before, Madoka only had to fight a small amount of enemies. Now that they’re actually bringing in entire armies, it’s much more difficult to prevent stray bullets from hitting anything. The results was that people indeed got hurt as a defeated mecha fell into a field full of people.

The question is why these people weren’t evacuated. This episode showed some huge overconfidence issues in the good guys, as they probably didn’t expect the enemy to bring in an army like this. Either that, or they lack the authority to actually pull out a mass evacuation, these are the only reasons I can think of why they didn’t do that.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Aquarion Evol – 11

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

Amano, you idiot. Don’t you know that confessing in the middle of a series is like signing your own divorce letter? These things never go well! And indeed,the bad guys picked that exact moment to unleash that wench-obsessed beast–guy again and before you know it we’re in yet another cycle of “will they won’t they?” all over again. I really hope that the creators will end up avoiding this because nowadays those kinds of plots are incredibly boring.

It’s a shame, because most of the romances of this series have been very straight “they will” right from the beginning: everyone was very straight-forwardly developing feelings for each other. I liked that. I know romance isn’t that simple, but it’s just that the alternative anime usually finds for it sucks.

Apart from that though, I liked this episode; this was some good build-up. There was more focus than ever on the bad guys, who really needed that extra bit of development. The inner conflicts of interest between their two top guys will prove to be fun later on. And once again, the action scenes were really well done.
Rating: * (Good)

Rinne no Lagrange – 10

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

Aah, again that bloody school festival episode. It’s a good thing that this episode was good, because it gets harder and harder to do something interesting with them the more they get used. I know that they must be a very large part of Japanese culture and all, but when every show and its dog pulls one it gets a bit annoying.

What saved this episode was that it had a point. At this point, the school festival episodes that immediately bore me are the ones who are just there to fill time. The school festival as climax of the series also is starting to get very repetitive. This episode though pulled an interesting turn when they revealed that Madoka was getting jealous of Ran and Muginami making other friends. And unlike Black Rock Shooter, she knew that these feelings didn’t make any sense, making these feelings very genuine.

Also, this episode convinced me again: the villains of this series are really good. It’s hard to label them as the best of the season because that would mean comparing them to Another’s villain, who is fleshed out in the complete opposite manner, but what I really liked in this episode was that they really had their doubts about fighting. In any case they are the most down to earth villains of the season.

Another criticism I have about this episode is that I wonder what the point was of not having Madoka pilot. It’s indeed as I feared: the enemy arrives and she immediately ignores her resolution for not piloting Midori. Then what was the point of all that? That will be a tough question that the next episode will have to answer.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Aquarion Evol – 10

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

I’m reviewing this episode a day late, but still: there are two shows who, on the same day, decide to air an episode that feature an alien just arriving and goofing off while trying to make sense of this new world.

The big difference between the two is that the alien in question had never met a girl in his life, and therefore was constantly dazzled by all of the girls here. The creators also waste no time in creating another couple in this series, as the frog doll girl immediately starts hitting on him (and vice versa).

With this, it really seems that this show is going for the couple root. That leaves a few oddballs: Shrade, the fangirl, Mikono’s brother, and the green haired girl. I do not feel like looking up all of their names right now. Aside from the fangirl, there strangely hasn’t been any hint that they will hit it off somehow, but I can really see this series trying. Especially Shrade seems weird in a series like this that is so focused on romance. Mikono’s brother and the green-haired girl meanwhile are just pointless love triangle bait for the main characters. They should just hook up together and everything will be solved. (Well, maybe not everything, but you get the point).

What also surprised me here was the complete lack of action in this series. This is Satelight. I’d at least have figured that the creators would stuff in a random reason to show another overblown fight, but instead this was all character-building. It wasn’t exactly the most interesting or exciting episode of this series, but this show will be 2 cours long. I’m intrigued in how the build-up will pay off.
Rating: * (Good)