Category: Finished Series: Action

Bonen no Xamdou – 02

by psgels, posted in Bonen no Xamdou



Short Synopsis: Akiyuki tries to make sense of his new body as the assault causes many casualties.
Highlights: Shows all the basics of good storytelling.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
I can imagine that if there ever was something like a “Basic Guide-Book to Telling A Good Story”, it would use Bonen no Xamdou as a major source of inspiration, or in any case the first two episodes. Everything so far has been done exactly by the books, and although this makes these two episodes predictable, it also makes them very solid. The setting for Bonen no Xamdou is huge, and so far we’ve seen the characters introduced and properly defined (and some of them already have evolved a bit), all the major parties have had their introductions, and yet the pacing has been frantic in order to keep the viewer interested.

I also really like the use of budget in this series. Bonen no Xamdou has a huge budget, but interestingly this isn’t used to create stunning backgrounds, like Porfy no Nagai Tabi or Macross Frontier, and instead it makes sure for a lot of detailed motions on the foreground. Very nice to see that for a change, especially in a series that’s as busy as this one.

And with this episode, I know for sure: it’s a pet peeves of the director to pay homage to some of the classics of anime. We saw this first in Eureka7, where Eureka’s three children were based off of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, and here you can spot it too: Nakiami’s outfit is very obviously inspired by the costumes in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke. On an interesting side-note: the children seem to return for Bonen no Xamdou as well, though this time there’re just two of them. Let’s see how these brats ended up on such an international war-ship.

Macross Frontier – 16

by psgels, posted in Macross Frontier



Short Synopsis: Grace uses Ranka’s abilities as Sheryl gets more and more jealous.
Highlights: Best soundtracks of the series yet.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Ah, of course. The reason why Grace went after singers like Ranka and Sheryl was for their deculture-ability, in an attempt to get rid of the Vajra. Apparently, the deculture didn’t work with Sheryl, so she tried Ranka instead, and this episode proved to be a success, as Ranka’s song created a fairly easy victory in a battle against the Vajra.

I must say that the soundtrack for this series is as huge as its animation-budget. This episode introduced even more new songs and tunes, and strangely they felt like they were the best tracks of this show’s OST I’ve heard so far. Especially Ranka’s song with a new instrumental track added to it, it’s amazing what a few different instruments can do to the tone of a song. It finally gave a sort of sci-fi feel that I’ve been missing in this series. But then again, this is just the opinion of a guy who isn’t a fan of j-pop. ^^;

The love-triangles are also getting heated up more than ever. While I find it hard to imagine that Brera would be going after his sister, the guy does create an awful lot of jealousy for Alto, in the same way that Sheryl’s jealousy continues to grow. It’s good to see that they’re both starting to realize that they’d better get serious if they want to prevent from losing.

Birdy the Mighty Decode – 03

by psgels, posted in Birdy the Mighty Decode



Short Synopsis: The death-count of this series keeps rising as Giga launches an attack at Birdy.
Highlights: A few overused plot-devices here and there, but the plot has turned out to be very fast-paced so far.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
It seems that Giga was indeed just an introduction-villain for this series. Now that he’s gone, this series seems to be starting for real. I must say that I didn’t expect the creators to kill off Tuto so early, considering how he was one of the major characters of the first three episodes. I admire the guts of the creators, making this a Anyone Can Die-show, á la Souko no Strain.

And of course, I should have seen those hints at romance between Nakasugi and Senkawa. It’s a typical plot-device, especially since Senkawa isn’t interested in his child-hood friend. I do hope that she’ll become more than just a damsel in distress… I’m interested whether the creators can make these schoolgirls develop a bit by the end of the series, considering the huge cast that they seem to be planning to work with. It’s been subtle, but the first three episodes have continued to slip in introductions to a huge cast of characters: we have the rival who stands on a rooftop, that idol, those press-figures, Giga’s friend, the teacher, the scary old woman, and judging by the preview, the next episode is going to introduce even more of these guys.

In any case, the most important thing that this series needs to do is to properly develop the understanding between Birdy and Senkawa. The two have been and will be going through a lot, and this series will get boring fast if they just stay the same. The creators made a good start, though. This episode too had the two of them arguing a lot. First, Senkawa was still being upset about all the things that happened to him, but very soon when Birdy got into a fight with Tuto, Birdy suddenly became the complaining one.

Bonen no Xamdou – 01

by psgels, posted in Bonen no Xamdou



Short Synopsis: Our lead character unknowingly gets involved in a large war between two countries.
Highlights: Very solid storytelling and animation.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Ah, why not, I’m going to blog this. This episode was just too good to ignore. I don’t have a PS3, so I have no idea how the new episodes will come out, but I’m going to be covering the new episodes as soon as I find a non-out-of-synch version of them. I’m going to drop blogging Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~ Natsu no Sora (though obviously I have no intention to stop watching that one).

In any case, the first thing that this series reminded me of is “Eureka7 meets Overman King Gainer”. It’s quite an interesting combination between the dark mood of the former and the bright and light mood of the latter. This was a typical example of a first episode, meant to kick off the series with a fast-paced start. Lots of things happen at the same time, and it’ll probably take a few more episodes until things start making sense.

Of course, a young male who suddenly becomes the most powerful warrior through sheer luck (at least that’s what it pretty much looks like) is a very overused plot-device, but what interests me the most in this series is the world it created. I’m a big fan of series that create their own cultures and customs, and one of the great things of anime in general in my opinion is all the different cultures and settings that they explore.

Macross Frontier – 15

by psgels, posted in Macross Frontier



Short Synopsis: This episode closes off the first half and introduces the second half of Macross Frontier. Oh, and in order to fill up time, it stuffs in a bunch of recaps.
Highlights: Thankfully tries to be more than a recap.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
Like expected, the previous episode marked the end of the first half of Macross Frontier. So indeed, what better place would there be for a recap than at this point? Still, I’m surprised at how much new content did make it into this series. We get introduced to two strange voices inside a strange ship (which my limited Japanese couldn’t understand, unfortunately), Grace returns in a new body, and she and Brera recruit Ranka for their next job.

Alto meets an old Zentradi, who likes mode trains and apparently is connected to him, and at the same time the love-triangle also progresses a bit. Te recap-parts were also much less boring than expected, since the creators stuffed the best-animated scenes all together, making it a visual feast and the best tracks of the series were also played. This is indeed what a recap should be: more than just repeating what happened before in the series.

Birdy the Mighty Decode – 02

by psgels, posted in Birdy the Mighty Decode



Short Synopsis: Obligatory introduction episode.
Highlights: Nice fight-scene, though.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
As for the series I’m not going to blog:
– Antique Bakery is hilarious, and knows exactly when to take itself seriously, but I feel that I won’t have much to write about it.
– Okay, I’m willing to give Sekirei a chance and watch it till the end, but in no way am I going to blog it.
– I’m not a slayers-fanboy yet, and even though it’s cute, it hasn’t sold me yet.

About Birdy the Mighty, this episode obviously had to pull back the pacing a bit, and explain things for those who haven’t read the premise of this series yet. Still, I’m going to blog this series. The series that aired in the summer-season aren’t as deep as in the previous season, but a common theme is that they’re nearly all fun to watch.

The director of this series is the genius behind Noein and Escaflowne: two of my three favourite series. How could I let this chance go by? A short series like this one has no chance of creating the same success as the two above, who had both 24 and 26 episodes, but overall I’m expecting a fun short series with great fight scenes.

This episode was of course a step back when compared to the first episode, but that’s to be expected. It did a good job of introducing a lot of new characters, and I appreciate how it did manage to be more than just countless expositions and Senkawa’s first days at school, while trying to hide his secret. What caught my interest was how Senkawa managed to stop Birdy from going after a bad guy due to a possible victim that might have ended up dead. It shows the beginning of how they try to understand each other.

Macross Frontier – 14

by psgels, posted in Macross Frontier



Short Synopsis: Romances bloom as the Vajra unleash another attack on the Macross fleet.
Highlights: Action-packed climax to the first half of Macross Frontier.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
I think that this episode marks the end of the first half of Macross Frontier, but I guess that for that to be certain, we need to watch episode 15. I’m very interested into what sort of series the second half will evolve, and where its story will be going from now on. In any case, this episode did its job pretty nicely and delivered a very enjoyable episode.

For a moment, I was afraid that Ranka would turn into a dull damsel in distress, but there was a very good reason for her kidnapping, it seems. There’s more to her than just being Brera’s brother, as she shares some sort of hidden connection with the Vajra that Brera doesn’t. It’s almost as if she unknowingly stands on the side of the Vajra.

This episode also sparked a bunch of cute romances between the side-characters. The captain turns out to have an admirer, and Luca and Nanase also seem to fancy each other. I’m a fan of these quick romances between the side-characters somehow. Probably because when compared to romances between lea characters, they’re much less inclined to get in the way of what’s really important, and they hardly ever feel annoying or forced for some strange reason.

Also, who was that woman that Ranka met, while inside her trance in the Vajra’s ship? Is it someone that was already introduced in an earlier macros-series, or is her identity still unknown?

Some quick first impressions: Strike Witches, Birdy the Mighty Decode and Yakushiji Ryouko no Kaiki Jikenbo

by psgels, posted in Birdy the Mighty Decode, Some Quick First Impressions

Strike Witches

Short Synopsis: Our lead character becomes a witch that fights against alien forces.
Highlights: Lacks the style of the OVA.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6,5/10
It’s a shame that the style of the OVA was abandoned for the tv-series. Still, overall Strike Witches did its job, I guess. Ironically, at the moment this seems to be the perfect series for Gonzo to get some of their funds back, because stuff like this definitely sells. There’s lots of fanservice indeed, but it’s nothing when comparing it to Sekirei. This episode was nothing special at all, but it did serve as a good enough introduction, although I wonder whether trucks can violently explode like that. There are lots of characters, which is going to be either this series’ saving grace or doom, whether or not the creators can develop them sufficiently within 12 episodes. I personally doubt it, but I’ve been surprised by such a series more than once.

Birdy the Mighty Decode

Short Synopsis: Our lead character gets killed and ends up sharing his body with a female alien cop.
Highlights: Great style, awesome action, fun characters
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
This has been my most anticipated series of the season, and probably the weirdest most anticipated series I’ve ever had for a season. It doesn’t disappoint at all, though. What we have here is a fun action-series, sharing a deep contrast with the other action-series this season (Ultraviolet), which is much darker and melancholic. Birdy the Mighty is sortof like (and it rather disturbed me when I found this out) To Love-Ru done right. We’ve got an alien in a space-ship, but instead of the predictable princess, being chased, she’s a cop, after a bunch of bad guys. When she meets our lead character, she doesn’t instantly fall in love with him without any reason, but instead she accidentally kills him and feels sorry for her own mistake. She also has a dress-up robot, but he dresses up as a strange transsexual. Overall, it feels like much more imagination went into creating this anime, and it’s amazing what a bit of imagination can do to my opinion of a series. And of course, this is being done by the director of Noein, so of course: the fight scenes are bloody amazing. What surprised me the most during the summer previews is the bad reputation this series seemed to be getting, simply because of its name. I mean, what’s so bad about calling your series Birdy the Mighty?

Yakushiju Ryouko no Kaiki Jikenbo

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a policewoman, who gets assigned to supernatural cases.
Highlights: Glamorous look at the way of a detective, but at least the characters are interesting; good luck at explaining that plot-hole at the end of the episode, though.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Well, this one turned out to be different from expected. What I expected was a supernatural mystery-series, but what I got was a thriller: it’s pretty clear what the enemies are, and they need to be stopped. I may not work with the police or anything, but I do think that the depiction of inspector Ryouko could have been more realistic: she spends the entire episode buying bras, swimming and in fancy clothes, while doing her investigation that’s in no way systematic. That’s why her assistant is the interesting character in this series: he has to put up with her eccentric character, while trying to do his own job as well. I’d really wish for the bad guys to get some more depth in the next episode, because they were rather boring in this one. Ah well, at least this series is backed up by nice enough graphics and an interesting soundtrack that combines techno with eerie sounds.

Macross Frontier – 13

by psgels, posted in Macross Frontier



Short Synopsis: Some sort of outside jamming crashed Ranka and Alto’s craft in the previous episode. In this episode, Ranka gets taken by the Varja.
Highlights: A couple of very intriguing plot-twists.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Now this is what I’ve been waiting for! Finally the plot is turning into something interesting. The Macross that was discovered in the previous episode turns out to be some kind of disguised Varja-spaceship, and Sheryl’s manager reveals herself as a party of the bad guys. It also makes me wonder why Ranka’s photos were in that space-ship, and what the relation is between the Varja and these bad guys.

There was also some sweet romance in this episode, and the love-triangle also got some interesting development. This episode seems to suggest that the second half is going to be much more interesting than the first one, which was exactly what I was hoping for when I first decided to keep watching this series.

Macross Frontier – 12

by psgels, posted in Macross Frontier


Well… yeah… at least I never saw this coming… it’s not every day where you can see an idol who cancels her first concert, crosses a galaxy and tames hordes of huge bloodthirsty soldiers just by singing. The sudden serious nature of this episode really caught me by surprise, but the most baffling was of course the way that it went from seriousness to silliness when Ranka arrived.

I’m obviously not that big of a fan of those Zentradi who all forgot about fighting and dumped their weapons, just because Ranka showed up. In fact, I’m wondering how they’ve even heard of Ranka. I can understand how she’s known in the Frontier-fleet, but I think that the entire universe is a bit too early to think about when she hasn’t even done her first live concert. Either that, or I hardly know anything about the Japanese idol-scene. I suspect it’s the latter…

One interesting detail is that Sheryl finally seems to realize that she isn’t going to get Alto that easily. In the last episode, she knew the date of Ranka’s first live concert, and one of the reasons she invited him to come along was probably so that he would miss said concert. Now that that plan failed, she became sick and Ranka found a device that crosses time and space in an instant (that may have required a bit more build-up, but whatever), I can see some nice character-development coming for the second half of this series. 🙂

Also, here’s a question to those who saw the original Macross: the “Macross” that Alto and Ranka ran into at the end of the episode, is that some kind of mecha that appeared in an earlier series?