Category: Finished Series: Action

Deadman Wonderland Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Deadman Wonderland




Suspense of disbelief is this tricky thing. It’s because of that that it’s hard to recommend, but if you’re not bothered by the fact that this series show doesn’t make any sense at times, it has a lot to deliver in return.

The thing with Deadman Wonderland is that it has a completely insane setting. The creators really tried to create a prison that would be the equivalent to hell on earth. There is so much morally wrong with this series and just about every episode is filled with practices and protocols that would cause a complete outrage normally. The way in which the prisoners are treated in this series is reallly imaginative, but also completely dark and twisted.

Now, just throwing in some dark and twisted stuff is nice and all, but those alone don’t make a good series. What makes Deadman Wonderland so interesting is that it’s got a very likable and diverse main cast where everyone has his or her own purpose. There’s a lot of overacting, but that is to be expected in this kind of setting. There is a nice amount of character development for 12 episodes, and the pacing of the story hardly ever leaves a dull moment.

As for not making any sense, this series does need to pull a few things here and there to make sure that its main character doesn’t just immediately… die. He’s a fourteen year old kid and while a decent lead for his age, a number of deus ex machina need to be pulled in order to keep it that way. The show is rushed, so it doesn’t have time to explain every single detail while also devoting enough time to its characters and the few quiet moments here and there.

So yeah, this series has cheese, deus ex machina, overacting and a rushed plot. On the other hand it has amazing action scenes, excellent characters, an engaging and imaginative setting and a great plot. It’s really going to be a matter of balancing the flaws and stenghts here, but personally, for me it really worked and I enjoyed ths show a lot.

Oh, but this show does cut off a the end with a huge cliff-hanger with no hint to a sequel in sight. That sucks.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Uses Deus ex Machina, but makes up for it with a grat plot and an intense style.
Characters: 8/10 – The acting isn’t the betst at times and there is some cheese, but it makes up for this by great characterization, character development and a diverse and likable cast.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Not up to Manglobe’s standards and it becomes clear that the earthquake left its mark here as well, but makes up for it with gorgeous money shots and very fluid animation.
Setting: 9/10 – Imaginative beyond belief, and the creators really succeeeded in delivering a second hell on earth.

Suggestions:
– Blassreiter
– Blue Gender
– Jyu Oh Sei

Deadman Wonderland – 12

by psgels, posted in Deadman Wonderland



Well, this episode did stretch the suspense of disbelief again, but I liked it. There is of course a problem with Owl mowing down a small army in an instant, only to take a minute to punch Ganta, but heck: if it’s established that the Deadmen have superhuman healing powers… I guess it could have been worse. It’s a cheesy episode in any case with this episode relying a lot on the vaguely defined rules of insanity, but in the end the characters were good enough to make up for it. As a final episode though, this one left a lot to be desired.

To the people who are hoping for a second season, just based on that final scene: I’d like to introduce you Yumekiu Merry, Kuragehime, High School of the Dead, Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu, Sekirei Pure Engagement, Uragiri, Durarara, Darker than Black, Aoi Hana, Umineko, 07-Ghost, Guin Saga, Pandora Hearts, Tytania, Skip Beat, Blade of the Immortal, Amatsuki, Shigurui, Mushiuta and Zombie Loan: all ended with a huge cliff-hanger, all ended with the promise of another season, and all of them didn’t deliver. It’s probably all going to depend on the DVD-sales, but I’ve yet to find any data on that. Will the sponsors be able to give enough money for the sequel to actually be animated? Those are going to be important questions.

In any case, when a second season DOES come out, I’ll definitely blog it because I enjoyed this first season a lot.
Rating: * (Good)

Ao no Exorcist – 11

by psgels, posted in Ao no Exorcist



Just… what?

So it was clear that we were getting a filler episode in this episode, and a beach episode at that. Obviously I wasn’t looking forward to it. But what was that? Who the hell wrote this? There was so much wrong with this episode, but I have no idea whether it was in a bad way. In either case it was completely stupid. And next week we’re going to an amusement park?!

Rather than a filler, this feels like we’re in a completely different series. The beach part doesn’t even matter anymore. From out of nowhere the creators suddenly introduce a young boy who acts like he’s been part of the main cast for ages. The show does the same with a guy who obviously looks like he’s cross-dressing in his spare time and then it suddenly comes with a giant squid story. The subsequent fight establishes the squid as the dumbest monster alive, only followed by a completely bizarre anti-climax.

T=Here’s the thing: as stupid as this episode was, I enjoyed it. The creators actually tried to do something different, and I admit that that climax had me in stitches and the episode overall was a unique experience that was definitely creative…

But it also completely destroyed the credibility of this series…
Rating: @!# (???)

Tiger & Bunny – 13

by psgels, posted in Tiger & Bunny



And wit this we conclude the first half of Tiger & Bunny. This episode was… interesting, because it wasn’t exactly the best episode of the TV-series. Because the previous episodes built it up so meticulously this episode pretty much did everything you’d expected, without much surprises aside from Kotetsu using his head again. It’s good build-up though: Barnaby and Tiger will receive a lot of development from this episode.

The thing with Tiger & Bunny is that it’s really entertaining when building up, and it looks like the random episodes will continue again after this arc, so this is definitely promising to become even better. It’s there where this series can really start using its build-up of the first half. I expect the second half of this series to continue with a similar pattern as the first half, with it ending with a climax that focuses both on Lunatic and the fact that the entire city looks like the Ouroboros logo.

What I do hope is that that final arc will use its characters more. That’s the only thing that really bothered me in this episode: in the end everyone aside from Kotetsu and Barnaby was pretty useless and the only parts where they actually helped to solve things were just… cut out. I want to see the creators come up with a story that doesn’t just require the powers of everyone, I want them to come up with a scenario that puts all of them in the spotlights. They’re all great characters, they deserve that.
Rating: * (Good)

Deadman Wonderland – 11

by psgels, posted in Deadman Wonderland




Holy crap! Now that’s some awesome animation worthy of the label of Manglobe. This episode was really well produced, the camera angles were strong and the animation for once was dynamic throughout the entire episode, instead of leaving that just to the money shots. That really was the kind of animation that brings something extra to the characters.

And this entire episode was just wonderful. It had neat ideas, and even though Ganta’s new powers made no physical sense whatsoever they were damn well animated, and I like that the creators used his anemia to just prevent him from going all out. This should have been used better by other characters though, like how does the Branches of Sin armor work? that also looks like it drains a lot of blood there.

But… unfortunately we’re nearly at the end. The problem with this episode was that it asked some really intriguing questions that it’s never going to be able to answer in just one episode, even if they go with an original ending. There are like, what? nine villains left at this point who all still need to be wrapped up? Yeah, that ending isn’t going to be pretty. Not to mention that little girl, who I just realized has a father in the ED that looks a bit too much like one of the members of the resistance.

What especially intrigued me abut this episode, aside from the obvious excellent direction and characterization, is the scars on both Mockingbird and Shiro. What happened to them? How are they still fine after the crazy kinds of operations that this show likes to perform on its prisoners?

Oh, and take that, Sailor Moon!
Rating: *** (Awesome)

X-Men Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, X-Men




Overall, the past season has turned out to be excellent, but there is one interesting are where it is below average: the animation. Unfortunately, the earthquake’s mark on the anime industry shows up the clearest here. And so we got quite an interesting series to walk away with the award for the best animation of the season: this one.

This series doesn’t look as good as Madhouse’s best looking series, but it still is a wild and vivid looking series. the colours are really varied, the animation is bold and strong and the character designs are completely unlike any other anime out there, even considering that this is based on an American franchise.

If you’re also looking for good action, then this show has it, and buckets of it. It’s a really well directed show in technical terms: the action is plentiful and always moving, making sure to alternate enough between characters to keep everything dynamic. Couple this with the gorgeous animation and you’ve got a very entertaining series to watch.

Now, where this show falls down a bit is the plot. It’s not bad like Iron Man or anything, but it made a number of core design decisions that prevented the story from fully delivering. The creators unfortunately tried to do two things at the same time: first of all they wanted to make an epic and action-packed action series, and on the other hand they wanted to create a serious drama about mutants and teenagers with powers and the people around them. These don’t really blend well together.

The result is an action-packed series that tries to be deep, yet doesn’t have the time to actually flesh out its characters. It has like five different villains who all are tied together, and yet it has nowhere near enough time to focus on all of them, leaving some key villains as dull and uninteresting. On the side of the good guys meanwhile, the creators introduce a rather annoying new character. You want to see the X-Men kick ass? Well, there’s a Mary Sue amongst them who keeps stealing their spotlights. This reduces Storm in particular to someone who doesn’t just do anything, but the rest of the cast also particularly near the end is ignored in the favour of some random whining teenagers. Essentially the entire final conflict is nothing more but dictated by Teenaged angst and emo. This doesn’t work with characters who aren’t well fleshed out!

This is a shame, because the parts about the X-Men themselves are quite good Wolverine in particular is a lovable character, but the tension between them is also healthy and interesting, and whenever the teenagers aren’t at the centre of the attention this show really kicks ass. It’s just a shame that the finale of this series, the place where everything was supposed to come together, gets completely dominated by teenagers who don’t know what they want to be. Compare that to the Wolverine series: it knew exactly what it was, it knew exactly what it wanted to do and all of the characters knew their roles and were fleshed out sufficiently, while at the same time the series delivered a lot of neat action. Its acting and production values may have been horrible, but this balance is something that unfortunately the X-Men lacked majorly, and that’s why they get the same rating.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Doesn’t know what it wants to be, and therefore doesn’t come together at the end leaving a bad taste. It’s really good at writing action scenes, though.
Characters: 8/10 – A bit of a mixed bag, but most of the characters are interesting enough to keep watching. The teenagers just aren’t.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Gorgeous animation and visuals and a strong soundtrack to boot.
Setting: 8/10 – The backstory behind the X-Men remains a fascinating one.

Suggestions:
– Wolverine
– Toward the Terra
– Read or Die OVA

X-Men – 12

by psgels, posted in X-Men



So, I guess that this is where the string of awesome endings ends then. This episode on its own was already pretty lukewarm, but I have to be harsh after having seen such a string of fantastic endings: this episode could have been much better.

First of all, the technical terms. This series had consistently the best animation of the entire season, so you’d expect the animators to really go all out this season. And instead they come with a finale where people mostly stand and talk about cheesy morals and values. Oh sure, there was eye candy, but everything suddenly happens in still frames. It still looks better than many other series this season, but it just didn’t live up to the standards this series set.

The production values weren’t necessarily the problem, but the dialogue was: it was dull. not well built up and wasn’t what this series had been building up to in the first place. Characters just stand helplessly after attacking… once, and they just talk about trying to convince Takeo not to emo. That’s just cheesy.

In the end, my biggest fear for this show turned out to be true: Hisako is a freaking Mary Sue. None of the regular characters did anything in this episode, just so that Hisako could take the spotlight. This series refuses its cast to shine just because of Hisako. Cyclops only got a few lines to get over Jean’s death while this episode just kept repeating Takeo over and over.

In the end, I’m unfortunately going to have to rate this as high as Wolverine. I still think that it’s better than Wolverine: its action and animation are just too superior for that, but the plot of the X-Men just turned out to be a disappointment. The only thing that I can really praise is the way in which Sasaki Yui was actually the villain, but even that was just glossed over in this episode thanks to Hisako’s “Sasaki is a good person!”-thing. The thing is that I really like a good action series, but this series ignored just too many chances to shine thanks to Hisako. Storm and Cyclops got reduced to mere side characters who never got to do anything. The direction of the series in the small scale is really good. In terms of the bigger picture though, it left a lot to be desired. Compare that to Wolverine: it knew what it was, it delivered on that and it made sure it was really entertaining in the process. The token female also knew who she was and what her part was, and it nicely made all its subplots come together and give all of them a nice conclusion in the end.

It’s a shame, because I saw the two big flaws of this series coming from very early on in the series. The way in which the series kept juggling around villains was bound to backfire: Sasaki Yui was the big exception because she tied the U-Men together, but when the focus suddenly turned to Takeo the show fell apart: we know just too little of him, and the cheesy messages to get him back in this episode had no meaning behind them whatsoever. It’s just the same cheesy morals that you see everywhere. We never really saw anything from Takeo to warrant this.

It’s the thing about enjoyment again: I really enjoyed the X-Men, but the flaws are big enough to leave a bad taste; especially this episode. Wolverine in comparison was consistently entertaining and left no bad taste whatsoever. The big problem with this series in the end was that it didn’t know what it wanted to be: on one hand it wanted to be an action series. That’s fine, but then don’t throw in Takeo or Hisako. On the other hand they wanted to focus on child mutants and their issues. If that’s the case, then drop the action or at the very least make it a much less significant part of the series, get a good voice actress for Hisako and focus more on their characters. This series tried to do both and got tied up.

And I now just realize that I typed up half of the review of the actual series. Um yeah. Expect a lot of repeats in the actual review…
Rating: – (Disappointing)

Tiger & Bunny – 12

by psgels, posted in Tiger & Bunny



This episode was depressing to watch. I mean, it was almost completely one-sided the way in which some of the best heroes were just pummeled down like it was nothing. This episode did make sure to not god-mode that villain, and an obvious turning point was built up for the next episode, but damn: this episode put a big dent into the glory of these superheroes, especially with Sky High beaten so easily.

Also, the set-up where two main characters have to work together despite their differences is quite a cliche. Often this starts off with tension, leading to them getting to know each other and becoming friends for the rest of the series. This episode toyed with that really well, as it showed that there still is no full trust between Kotetsu and Barnaby when Kotetsu screws up Barnaby’s plan, right after he was asked to trust him (even though Barnaby did the same to Tiger a few episodes ago, only Barnaby didn’t screw up).

This arc is the halfway point of this series. It’s a really unusual place to show how damn flawed the main character is. Previously, this series built him up as this heroic guy with the right ideas, powers and mindset, and yet he hasn’t done anything well here, even compared to the other heroes who also were outclassed. The only way in which he was useful is due to a mistake he made that exposed the bad guy’s weak spot.

Overall, with Tiger and Bunny, Sunrise have finally done what I’ve been hoping of them: return to their string of awesome science fiction series of ten years ago. For nearly ten years, they just kept coming with imaginative action shows that just kept coming with original ideas that were really well executed, and yet for some strange reason this trend stopped around 2005/2006. I’ve got really mixed feelings about their next series, Sacred Seven though. The big thing with that show is that it has the most amazing staff members behind it… and yet it looks completely generic. These are the people whose resume includes the direction of Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, the animation direction behind Berserk, the script of Zone of the Enders, the original concept behind Karas and Argento Soma… and they end up doing a high school battle series that looks just like all the other high school battle series out there. WHY!?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Ao no Exorcist – 10

by psgels, posted in Ao no Exorcist



So, with the season almost ending, it’s time for the short series to conclude and for the long series to raise the stakes for their halfway climax. Ao no Exorcist instead takes a detour into the story of a cat, with next week looking to be a beach episode. Okay, I did not expect that.

While I hold my breath for that beach episode though, this episode was really good. It was both something different, surprisingly heartfelt and found a very interesting way to focus on Rin, Yukio and their father again. It’s a simple and quiet episode that has a really small focus, but it really made things work.

Plus, that cat was just adorable. Its story is just that it’s sad that its master is gone, but relating this to Rin, added to some undeniable charm to it. It’s going to be interesting to see what it can do as Rin’s familiar.

Also, this episode had some of the best chemistry between Rin and Yukio so far. Compared to for example Soul Eater, the latter may have been funnier or more enjoyable in its first episodes, but it just had no content, and quickly got boring once the characters’ novelty wore off. With this, the creators are taking their time, but right now, it’s starting to pay off more and more.

However… beach episode. You’d better know what you’re doing!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Deadman Wonderland – 10

by psgels, posted in Deadman Wonderland



I’ve heard that the anime skipped a lot of content, so where exactly are we at this point? Have we reached the halfway point of the manga, or did this thing race so fast through the story that we’re already at the end?

I don’t read any manga, so I can not comment on how good that manga must have been, but at this point I consider Deadman Wonderland to be a good adaptation. I disagree that cutting out a lot of material makes it a bad adaptation: that’s just something that was unfortunately inevitable considering the difference in length of both mediums. Instead, I’m much more interested in whether the creators actually managed to tell a story, or whether or not they’re just randomly copying and pasting events without thinking of how they’d translate over to animation. What Manglobe is currently doing with TWGOK, for example, or the way in which Yumekui Merry tried to resolve itself last season, or an even better example: Togainu no Chi; those are what I consider to be adaptations who seriously missed the mark. They just don’t come together at all. I do admit that this series doesn’t show Manglobe at its best, though: they really need to make another original story again, because that’s what they really shine at.

Having said that though, this episode wasn’t as good as the previous ones due to Ganta being a bit too emo through its course. And angst on its own isn’t bad or anything, but it rather prevented him from doing anything. The beginning of the episode also created drama using failure in communications, which really aren’t my favourite. I can understand that it wasn’t obvious to everyone that the microchip was bugged: they clinged to it as their ticket out of the hellhole that is Deadman Wonderland, and with everything that was thrown at them, an extra explosion doesn’t sound weird. But why didn’t Shiro just say that the chip was bugged? There would have been much better ways to keep her out of the scene that followed it, although that bit of tension between her and Ganta was really good.

Also, surprisingly this episode did what I hoped: it brought life to the surviving members of the resistance. It didn’t show their background or anything, but in the aftermath scene this series surprisingly treated them not like disposable test dummies, but rather as actual characters. The kind of people you can have a nice chat with.

And really, apart from Ganta and perhaps that information leaking dude (who lost his mind a bit too much here), I enjoyed all of the characters here. For me, they’re a huge strength of this series, remaining genuine despite the madness that gets thrown at them.
Rating: * (Good)