Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Guin Saga – 17

by psgels, posted in Guin Saga



Well, I didn’t see this one coming. Here I thought that this episode would show us the next ordeals that Guin and the others had to face with the new ship they sailed into, but instead none of them even appear in a single scene this episode. We aren’t even shown what they’re doing, the story simply puts its attention to something completely different. I like it; there aren’t many series that have the guts to ignore all of their main characters like this in favour of the side-characters.

So yeah, this episode is all about the wedding between Ardnaris and Amnelis, and the ones around them. Marius had originally the mission of killing off Amnelis’ younger brother (I’m assuming that he’s the oldest male heir to the throne, or something similar), but gets too attached to him and refuses to do his job, and so instead he creates some story in which he doesn’t need to kill the guy, because of how close they’ve gotten Marius has him under control.

Meanwhile, Amnelis has completely changed ever since she fell in love with Naris, and doesn’t even seem to notice how he’s trying to use her. Speaking of which… what was he doing with that Naris-lookalike at that strange city? Who was that man anyway? I guess that that will become clear once the two get married in the next episode. And yet there seem to be enough people aware of his plans, who seem to be people who want Remus to take the throne, instead of Ardnaris, and seem to be planning to use the guy as their pawn (probably still assuming that he’s the same weakling as ever). It should become very interesting if this guy would actually return to the throne, and try to take over the world. At least, if the anime actually gets to the point of animating those chapters…
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Strange Dawn Review – 95/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Strange Dawn



There are some anime out there awesome… and then there are the series that go one step beyond. These are the series that just somehow go against all boundaries and expectations I could have had for it, and have something nearly impossible to describe. When I take a look at the series that I managed to rate at 95/100 and 94/100 through the nearly four years that I’ve been blogging, I keep getting surprised at how little of them look like the masterpieces that they are from the outside. I guess that such a list of personal favourites is incredibly personal, and different for everyone, but every time one of these appears, they truly remind me why I’m still blogging.

As for Strange Dawn, it too doesn’t look like anything special from the outside, however, I was completely proven wrong when I started watching it, about two years ago. Unfortunately, it was nearly unfindable for neither subs nor raws, but I finally managed to find a bunch of French subs for the entire series. It completely blew me away; Junichi Sato (who directed also Kaleido Star, Aria, Magic Users Club and Umi Monogatari) has done an absolutely fantastic job on this series.

Anyway, about Strange Dawn. Its basic premise has been done many times before: high-schoolers end up in some kind of parallel dimension and have some adventures. What sets itself apart from the others is a terrific execution. For starters, it breaks tons of stereotypes that these series have. Usually when a lead character crosses into a new world, he turns out to conveniently acquire some new superpower or something: either he becomes incredibly good at swordfighting, or has the magical Deus ex Machina beam, turns out to be royalty or gets saved by some sort of royalty. Yuko and Eri instead stay exactly the same. Instead, their importance to the story comes from the fact that they ended up in a country full of midgets, hence their natural strength when compared to all of these small people, and that becomes the major driving force of the story.

And there are more of these things: the creators take nothing for granted here, they explain the problems the two girls face when they have to deal with the strange world they ended up in; from eating and taking care of their clothes to sleeping and going to the bathroom (especially the latter is a running plot thread). In fact, the entire series has an incredible sense of detail: during the quiet parts in the series, whenever characters aren’t fighting or in the midst of dramatic climaxes, you can see them taking care of their own food, sharpening their weapons, caring for their horses (okay, flying snails), and doing all sorts of things that most anime nowadays take for granted or only show one or two scenes of.

The same amount of detail you can see in the animation: characters move realistically and relatively few corners are cut in comparison to your average anime. When characters move, they hardly ever look out of place and they’re always doing something meaningful that might not impact the story, but brings SO MUCH life to the setting and the world that the story plays in. For the past few years I’ve been a real advocate of series that manage to make the setting that they’re played in come alive, and this series really is the school example of how to do this right.

And as for the plot, we’ve got ourselves another case of wrong advertising here. The promo art might make you suspect that this is a fun and light-hearted fantasy adventure, mainly aimed at kids. It is not. In fact, don’t even dare to try and watch this series for the lighter parts, because Strange Dawn is dark. It’s not just dark in its atmosphere, but also in its themes. When people get cut up, blood appears without any hints of censorship; themes of war and death play a HUGE role in this series and heck, a certain episode even what can be qualified as an attempted rape in it. The amount of drama throughout the entire series is immense, but at the same time it consistently stays away from emo and melodrama, and stays genuine and never drags on.

Then there is the amazing voice acting cast. Especially the two lead characters are magnificently voiced, but the rest of the cast also shines throughout the series. They perfectly manage to capture the emotions of their characters, making the entire series an emotional roller-coaster along the way. And speaking of the audio, I also have to mention the amazing soundtrack that was compiled for this series. The tracks fit the atmosphere perfectly, and are a joy to listen to throughout the series.

Overall, there wasn’t one episode that didn’t have me clutched to the screen in near-tears, but the thing that blew me away the most was the ending. For the sake of spoilers I won’t say anything more, but the final episode was the single most emotional episode I have watched this year. Do not get fooled by the childish exterior, because inside Strange Dawn is a mature and intense roller-coaster ride. There are probably a lot of people who disagree with me on this, considering the abysmally low ratings on sites as Anidb, but I loved every minute of it.

Storytelling: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Production-Values: 9/10
Setting: 9/10

Canaan – 04

by psgels, posted in Canaan



I can somewhat understand the criticisms against Canaan. It’s in no way the best show of the season, the comedy isn’t the funniest around, and the characters themselves pale in comparison to some of the other shows this season. The plot isn’t the most interesting out there either. And yet as entertainment, it works for me. The reason I’m watching this series is not the characters or plot, but rather the direction, and that one has really been excellent so far. The creators really know how to create gripping action-scenes, and PA Works are definitely establishing themselves as a high-quality animation studio.

In this episode, we delve a bit into the past of Canaan, and are shown how she was rescued by her caretaker, and trained in the art of gunslinging, only for her caretaker to be killed off by Alphard. I assume that this show is going to be a thriller, aiming to kill said assassin. I really didn’t like how she suffers from the “I’m about to kill you but I won’t because that will spoil the fun”-syndrome, but I have to say that that gunfight between her and Canaan was the best this series has shown since the first episode.

At this point, I have no idea whether or not the creators are going to be able to top that first episode. At least the characters seem to be coming together, but I really don’t know whether this is the kind of series that attempts to have a very well animated first episode, only for the budget to continuously drop throughout the rest of the series, or the kind of series that has a bit of budget saved for an awesomely animated finale. Usually I just assume the former, but we are talking about PA Works here, not some sort of mediocre Zexcs or ACGT here. Especially the fight this episode showed that the animation budget has in no way run out yet, if only the pacing would increase to allow for a more creative gunfight.

The reason I’m a big fan of anime is the way it combines visuals, audio, storytelling and characters into one. I’m a big fan of multimedia that manage to combine all into one. And it’s also not like the story and characters are so bad that they make the rest of the series dull either: while they’re not the best, they’re definitely good enough for this series to work with. I’m enjoying this series a lot, because of this.
Rating: * (Good)

Phantom – 17

by psgels, posted in Phantom



Like expected, this was the episode where all hell breaks lose, and it indeed was one awesome episode full of awesome plot twists and awesome soundtracks. If this is going to be the standard for the rest of this series, then we’re in for something amazing. The build-up for the Cal arc was already interesting, but I feel like the climax is going to be even more awesome.

So in the end, it becomes clear that Claudia was the one who ordered the attack, half a year before. Scythe has been orchestrating his revenge against her, and that plan seems to be coming to fruition.

In this episode, Reiji finally gets the chance to talk to Ein again, and it seems that she hasn’t been mind-wiped or something: she still remembers Reiji, and instead is acting of her own will it seems. However, we’re still not given a look into her mind as to what caused her to go back to Scythe. I suspect that she never really cared about Reiji, and feared him more than she was willing to go with him, but let’s see whether or not that turns out to be true.

In the meantime, Reiji’s apartment has gotten blown up as well. Obviously Cal wasn’t inside when it happened because we’re only shown one side of the story, but I still really wonder what the heck happened inside there, and what caused her to escape. With this, she’s fully involved with the main storyline though, so that should prove to be awesome.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Pandora Hearts – 17

by psgels, posted in Pandora Hearts



Okay, so this episode was basically an aftermath and introduction. In the first part of the episode, Sharon’s kidnapping is wrapped up, while the rest of the episode shows us a familiar character returning: Ada, Oz’s sister. Both were excellent opportunities to see different sides of some characters. What I liked most about this episode was how we come to see Break and Sharon in a totally different light.

We learn that Break too was alive 100 years ago, and involved in the time-warp that got hold of Gilbert and Vincent. He was then found by Sharon and her mother, and while he started off as a closed off brat, it was Sharon’s mother who turned him into the playful sadist he is today. As what happened to Sharon’s mother, we still don’t know. She could be dead, but this show has a tendency of keeping it a mystery of who survived and who died.

As for Oz’s sister, she overacted a bit in my opinion. I’m not too fond of how she turned into some sort of blond bimbo, but she definitely has potential if she gets fleshed out more. Oscar in the meantime was priceless in his worries over her. The school also seems to hold some mysteries that have to do with Alice, so I’m wondering what these kids can add to the story. I mean, if they’re at school, they were five years old when Oz was cast into the Abyss, so they can’t have something to do with the whole story, can they?
Rating: * (Good)

Shangri-La – 16

by psgels, posted in Shangri-La



Muaha! I just can’t help but love this series. This episode yet again was an awesome instalment for Shangri-La, mostly focused on a battle of wits between Ryouko and Mikuni, of all people, and it definitely delivered. The thing I love about Ryouko is that the creators remembered to give her the screen-time she deserves as a villain. This really made her into a dangerous character, and a serious threat to the lead characters instead of letting her be an incompetent idiot who never can seem to get anything right.

And really, this episode was yet again full of juicy plot twists. While they weren’t as big as “Kuniko’s Grandmother Founded Atlas!?!?!1!!11”, every single one was a nice touch, surprising and full of potential for the rest of this series (EDIT: on second thought, some of them really are big…). To give a small run-down:
– Kunihito decides to leave the military. Ryouko doesn’t seem to mind.
– Miiko doesn’t just get arrested, she becomes the next Hiruko!
– Mikuni has had it now that all of her loved ones are gone, and gathers all of her followers to forcefully take Miiko back.
– The new plants that showed up turn out to be called Daedalus. When left alone, they threaten to swallow up the entire forest.
– Momoko studied biology in her early days?!
– Ryouko finally stopped complaining about Shion’s work as her personal servant.
– Ryouko… can’t be hit by bullets?! wtf?
– Ryouko brings Mikuni to Miiko. Sayoko, who apparently had been hiding, shows herself, takes Hiruko Miiko hostage and runs away with Mikuni!
– Again, Ryouko doesn’t seem to mind because Hiruko seemed to be one of Tarsian’s plans.
– For some reason, the episode ends with Takehito putting a gun against Kuniko’s head.

I mean, seriously? How many plot twists can you include in one episode anyway, at the same time preventing the episode from feeling rushed, creating even more questions and potential plot twists for the future as well? On top of that, the characters were also at their best in this episode: Kuniko was awesome in how she managed to quickly recover from the disappointments of the previous episode. Mikuni rocked because she finally was able to do something for herself. Ryouko rocked for being so badass that even bullets can’t face her among others. Sayoko rocked for the lengths that she’s willing to go through to save Mikuni.

And really, this makes it even bigger of a puzzle of what the Digmas are. I always thought that Ryouko was meaning to collect them, but in this episode she doesn’t do anything to stop Digma 3 from leaving the military (calling him inferior to the other two Digmas), and she even seemed pleased when Sayoko took Mikuni away. What the hell was up with that?

And ON TOP OF THAT, this episode again rocked in terms of graphics. This episode had some utterly beautiful shots. Not in the way of episode 13, but the aesthetics were right in just about every shot. You could see nothing of the rushed animation that plagued the first bunch of episodes. The music also rocked beyond belief in this episode.

My only worry is that Daedalus is going to turn into your stereotypical evil plant that’s going to be the final boss, but hey: even the amazing Kaiba suffered from this. And the thing to wonder about: why was it introduced this early in the series, if there are still about eight episodes left for this series? Is Daedalus simply going to grow slowly, or did the creators realize this, and are planning a twist even there?
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Guin Saga – 16

by psgels, posted in Guin Saga



the more this series progresses, the more of a shame it becomes that there are only going to be 26 episodes. Sure, there can always be plans for a second season, but the chance for a second season to just be cancelled is just as big. That at the moment is sortof my problem with the trend that anime has followed for the past few years, to chop up their stories into different seasons. Sure, it’s nice and all for the popular series, but for the less popular series this always becomes a good excuse for the sponsors to drop a show. It happened with Amatsuki, Tytania, Narutaru and so many other awesome series that deserve a sequel so badly.

This show has really become excellent now that the characters have started to develop. What surprised me the most about this episode was how well Remus and Guin are getting along, now that Istvan and Linda have become a couple. The two of them are strangely alike, and Remus proved that he’s much more than your average stereotypical crybaby turned badass. He has ambitions now, but at the same time he’s grown up, he’s level-headed and polite, despite being direct and to the point as well.

This episode yet again showed that weird light that has been messing with the protagonists for a while now. This time, it speaks to Linda, and warns her about the dangers of the island: a hideous monster turns out to live on it. And damn, that was some nice eye candy when Linda made that light split open an entire mountain.

Next up seems to be even more political intrigue, as yet another country is introduced: the country of Agraia. They neither seem to be allies nor enemies, so this could prove to be interesting to see how they end up dealing with Guin.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Canaan – 03

by psgels, posted in Canaan



Nice episode. It’s a good thing to see that the creators are delving into the past of the characters early in the series, especially if the series is only going to take up 13 episodes. This episode was all about the friendship between Canaan and Maria, with nice effects now that Maria has learned the darker side around Canaan, and having her actually see her killing someone.

It’s good that this series knows how to keep this series diverse. The first half of this episode was much lighter than the previous episode, the second was much darker. Since this is a series that seems to be going for the entertainment level, it’s good to see that this episode kept me thoroughly entertained this way.

I’m interested to see whether this series can pull off a good and well-rounded storyline this way. After the first episode, it’s definitely shown that it’s capable of directing great action scenes, but there are many potential pitfalls. Like, this series having blown most of its budget on just that episode. I can also see Minoru growing on my nerves if he doesn’t get some development or background. Right now, I’m the most curious for Alphard’s background: there’s too much mystery around her right now for her to be a successful villain.
Rating: * (Good)

Phantom – 16

by psgels, posted in Phantom



Ah, a calm before the storm. Something’s telling me that in the next episode, all hell is going to break loose and after the relatively light-hearted past few episodes, I’m very eager to see what kind of climax this arc is going to come up with. And this episode wasn’t wasted in any way either: it had a very quiet second half, but that really allowed the character-development between Cal and Reiji to show.

But this episode started out with me getting very surprised at how Claudia suddenly killed off Isaac in order to calm down the angry gang after Ein provoked them. Talk about hitting two flies in one blow, because with this the matter of Isaac’s betrayal is now also solved. But damn, that’s about the least thing I expected. There were no close-ups or dramatic build-up, no long death speeches nor any sorts of melodrama, nothing. Just that guy getting shot and falling down.

The thing is, that the matter of Cal’s revenge is also taken care of. The question now becomes “how to get Cal out of this mess”, but the matter get srather complicated when Cal has grown a bit too fond of Reiji, and is seriously trying to become an assassin herself, because it was the first time she felt appreciated. At the same time, Reiji is torn between leaving Cal and making sure that she doesn’t grow up to be a broken human like he is, and staying with her because of how she managed to mentally help him get over his past.

Okay, so the past few episodes weren’t as intense as the Ein Arc, but definitely awesome in their own way. Cal is an excellent character, and I really liked how the creators portrayed her influence on Reiji, and how the two of them gradually get to understand each other. Really well done.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Pandora Hearts – 16

by psgels, posted in Pandora Hearts



Okay, so in this episode we continue where the previous episode left off, at which Oz and Alice end up returning in the middle of one of the Pandora council meetings, of all things. It was definitely fun to see the chaos that erupted from such a weird scenario, and this also allowed the proper introduction of Oz to the rest of the people from Pandora when Jack took over his body. That does leave the question of what he actually is, and if that was the real Jack, then what the heck was he doing in Cheshire Cat’s dimension, of all things?

But my favourite part of this episode was that we finally get to see a really different Break, now that Vincent pretty much screwed up his plans of getting to know what really happened at the tragedy of Sabrie. His hate and annoyance for Vincent is strangely adorable. At the same time, we finally get a bit of insight into Vincent’s intentions. Or at least, some of them: he kidnapped Sharon to prevent information about him being behind the tragedy of Sabrie from leaking out, but something tells me that his ambitions are far bigger than that.

There’s also this revelation that the leader of the Baskervilles turns out to be still alive, which for some reason is something that onnly Jack knows. My guess is that that guy is hanging around somewhere in the Abyss as well, and Oz was targetted by them because they believed that his powers could end up bringing him back, though that failed.
Rating: * (Good)