Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Ultraviolet: Code 044 – 09

by psgels, posted in Ultraviolet: Code 044



Short Synopsis: Zakusa and Daxus’ armies face off against each other.
Highlights: An action-packed episode that works.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
Excellent episode. The building-up of the past few episodes really paid off with a very exciting episode. I’m glad that despite the negative reactions, I kept watching this series, because even though it’s nothing deep, complex or special, I’ve been enjoying every minute of it. Osamu Dezaki rocks!

There’s of course nothing much to say about such an action-episode, apart of course from Zakusa’s death, and how he still helped 044 and Garcia escape when his army finally got defeated. In the end, it turns out that he was also in the debt of Luka’s boss, the cult leader. These guys obviously have enough tricks up their sleeve for escape, since they’ve managed to stay hidden for that long. This also answers the question of “how the heck is Luka going to track down 04?”

This episode also showed that Daxus II is a very proud and cocky person, and he likes to gloat over his victims when he knows that they’re not a threat. That’s of course going to be the thing that’ll kill him in the end: my prediction is that he and 044 somehow face off together, after which her superior skills end up killing him. The question is of course how they get to that point, what Luka and Garcia can bring in and how the creators are planning to fill up those final three episodes.

Blade of the Immortal – 04

by psgels, posted in Blade of the Immortal



Short Synopsis: Rin visits an old teacher of her to request assistance.
Highlights: Bee-Train hasn’t forgotten how to make great action-scenes at all, despite this series’ limited budget.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
Well, so it really seems that this series is going to air every two weeks, instead of the weekly schedule of 99% of all other anime. Ah well, it may take a long time to wait for the next consecutive episode, but this does allow the creators to take their time, and produce a very solid series, rather than trying to rush it. Blade of the Immortal has been consistently awesome for me so far, so I don’t mind waiting an extra week for each episode. It’s much better than those random unexpected hiatuses that come from nowhere that plagued gems as Kaiba, Saiunkoku Monogatari and Dennou Coil.

I just love the style of this series, and this episode was the most enjoyable so far. It may not catch the specific style of the manga, but the creators nevertheless have enough ideas to make the action-scenes more than just a few slashes of blades. Sure, the budget is very limited in this series, but to make up for it the fight coordination is really enjoyable, and it almost turns the fight scenes here into a work of art. The fight in this series made excellent use of the characters’ various traits and personalities. It’s really something I kept missing at Soul Eater: the fights were there, but they never were anything special. But then again, this comes from the guy who loved the fight scenes in Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino, so it may just be my strange taste. ^^;

The flashback of Rin’s parents getting killed is also typical Bee-Train: every episode so far has seen that shot, and you see the same technique in many of their best series: Noir, .Hack//Sign and El Cazador. At first sight, it doesn’t make any sense: repetition in storytelling can very easily get annoying. At first sight, it seems rather uninspired. However, it does make sense: Rin’s parents were killed in front of her eyes. Of course this made a huge impact on her, and she’ll very often recall that moment. Those flashbacks merely try to mimic what’s happening in Rin’s mind. They don’t seem to add anything to the story, but they’re excellent for fleshing out characters.

It’s strange, but Blade of the Immortal is shaping up to be my favourite series of the season, along with Natsume Yuujin-chou. It definitely doesn’t shine in terms of realism, but it’s so much fun to watch the series and characters, and this is just after episode 4, with a second season already in the works.

Nijuu Mensou no Musume – 18

by psgels, posted in Nijuu Mensou no Musume



Short Synopsis: The old scientist shows what he’s been doing for the past decades.
Highlights: Lots of depth for Nijuu Mensou.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
So in the end, the energy from water-arc wasn’t as good as the doll-arc, but this episode was still pretty awesome. While it first looked like this arc was just a copy of the previous one, this episode showed that the purpose of this arc was very different from the Doll arc. This episode was really meant to show some different sides of Nijuu Mensou. Even though the minions from that scientist individually weren’t as strong as the doll-woman, they proved to be much more trouble, since Nijuu Mensou and Chiko were in the minority: they were too busy to fight these one-on-one, giving the scientist the time he needed to fire his energy-beam. I do wonder, though: why did he need Chiko in order to fire it? I failed to pick that one up.

This episode showed that Nijuu Mensou never really was happy about the research he conducted, and it finally showed his past from his own perspective. It seems that it’s especially his research on the energy from water that caused his change of heart. It just wouldn’t work, even though he captured the basics. That got him thinking about the ethical issues (especially since he nearly destroyed his laboratory in a failed experiment). It’s there when he decided to stop his research and burn his evidence, though (as we already know by now) that left many people unhappy.

With a bit of luck, Haruka will mature a bit after this episode. She wasn’t hurt in this episode, but hopefully she realizes that Chiko’s life is nothing like the life she imagined, and that there a lot of nasty sides under Nijuu Mensou’s appearance. Nijuu Mensou has also been hurt at the end of the episode, so he finally can’t run away from Chiko anymore. The next episode should prove to be fun.

It also turns out that the woman we saw with Ken is the woman back from episode eight, with a bit of a changed appearance. Again, it would prove to be interesting when she meets with Chiko, now that Nijuu Mensou can’t run away anymore. There are four episodes left, so there’s probably one major climax coming up. Something tells me that that woman is going to play a big role in it. And what about that washed-up cleaner that we saw, nine episodes ago?

Ultraviolet: Code 044 – 08

by psgels, posted in Ultraviolet: Code 044



Short Synopsis: The scale is upped as 724 reveals an army’s worth of allies.
Highlights: Mostly building up… and still no Luka?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Ooh, it really looks like this series is planning to go all out for its finale. This is the second building-up episode in a row, with just four episodes remaining. In this episode, 724 reveals that much more clones and numbers have followed him to that distant planet, and that he’s regarded as their hero. This episode also gave some more background to Daxus II, and if I say so myself, it was an episode well spent.

724 is really a person who attracts others. He not only did that with his clone comrades, but also the people who work in his mine greatly look up to him, to the point where they were actually willing to fight to the death. It was interesting how didn’t even give them the chance to bury their comrades. 044 didn’t do much in this episode (this episode was really meant to flesh out the side-characters), but that one fight scene of hers was pretty impressive; she actually wants to be stopped.

Also, I really wonder when Luka’s going to pop up. It’s surprising that there hasn’t been any sign of him for the past two episodes. He’s probably frantically looking for Ultraviolet, but as long as there’s no news about her, he obviously can’t do much. It would perhaps have been better to show a bit of footage of him, looking for 044, but on the other hand, this does add to the mystery of it all.

Nijuu Mensou no Musume – 17

by psgels, posted in Nijuu Mensou no Musume



Short Synopsis: The old guy reveals his connections with Nijuu Mensou
Highlights: Deja vu?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
This episode started out excellent: Chiko is being accompanied by Nijuu Mensou’s former research professor, and Ken gets attacked by one of his minions when he tries to follow her. One thing I love about this series is how brutal the fight scenes are. There are supernatural elements, but it knows full well that superpowers alone don’t make a good fight. The animation is subtle, but it knows where to be detailed. I’d much rather watch a fight scene of Nijuu Mensou than one of Soul Eater, for example. These are fights between people that can get wounded very easily, and don’t have some sort of plot-device that automatically heals their wounds/makes them able to block a sword with their bare hands.

But as the episode went on and the focus got back to Chiko, I got a strange feeling… didn’t this already happen before? Someone from Nijuu Mensou’s past? Check. Grudge against Nijuu Mensou’s betrayal? Check. Hostage? Check. Nijuu Mensou appears from out of nowhere? Check. Everything just sounds awfully familiar to the doll-arc, apart from how the scientist doesn’t have any powers and so has to use two cyborgs. What exactly is this arc planning to add?

The other big difference here is that there was a huge emphasis on Chiko, thinking for herself. The doll clearly wanted revenge against both Chiko and Nijuu Mensou, but the professor (what was his name again?) wanted Chiko to side with him for his goals. Still, what could the creators be planning for that next episode. This series’ strength was how its plot often took 180-degree twists, but this turn it looks more like 360 degrees

Ultraviolet: Code 044 – 07

by psgels, posted in Ultraviolet: Code 044



Short Synopsis: Mainly a building-up episode where Daxus II searches 044’s location and 426’s past gets revealed.
Highlights: Garcia.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Ultraviolet is really one of those “anime as entertainment” series that does a wonderful job fulfilling its purpose. A lot of this is also thanks to Osamu Dezaki’s specific style of directing, and all the interesting camera-shots and angles and animation styles he throws at the viewer. This is exactly why I like anime that aren’t afraid to do something more with their graphics than just the necessary animation that matches their budget. I guess that that’s also one of my problems with 90% of all visual novel adaptations. It’s not just their premises that sound boring and formulaic, but nearly all of them (and their art/animation styles) just look the same, and hardly take any risks when it comes to animation, and instead they just go for the safest and laziest way (there are a number of notable exceptions, of course). I know that experimenting is much more financially risky than the tried and true formula (like this series showed), but a lot of my favourite series have experimental elements in them (the biggest of course being Mahou Shoujotai).

Okay, enough ranting for now, about the episode: 724’s little action of the previous episode indeed caught Daxus’s attention, and Garcia managed to accidentally get caught on camera when the incident was reported. Garcia, not knowing any of this and thinking that he’s safe, meanwhile goes to investigate on 724. I liked him in this episode, and how he seems to have himself devoted entirely to protect 044.

044 herself didn’t do much in this episode (Luka was also gone entirely; he doesn’t have a clue where 044 is, after all), but what was interesting is that she showed a more female side of her when her sickness that signals the end of her life popped up. I’m quite curious as to how the creators plan to end this series. There are five episodes left, and both Luka and Daxus II still need to do their thing, while at the same time 044 doesn’t have much time left anyway.

Blade of the Immortal – 03

by psgels, posted in Blade of the Immortal



Short Synopsis: Manji faces off against the masked guy.
Highlights: Those writers are… messed up…
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
I’m curious here: is there any fan of the manga who did enjoy the animated version? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who liked both the manga and the anime. 😛 I’ve never understood why people would want to watch the same story twice anyway. I mean, take the big plot twist in this episode for example: one of the reasons why this episode was so awesome was because that plot twist where the masked guy had the heads of his loved ones sewed on his shoulders. That’s just bloody sick, but just like Death Note, it’s not going to make the same impact if you’ve already watched this plot twist.

In any case, this episode confirmed that Bee-Train’s slow pacing is perfect for Japanese styled horror. The entire episode had me on the edge of my seat. What caught my attention is that the background music is either vivid and wild, or totally gone during the quiet parts, which does make for a great contrast. The animation was simple as usual, but then again, you don’t want to watch this series just for the fight scenes (are people still watching this series for the action? Hah!).

I really liked how this episode focused both at horror and characterizations, and it did a great job of establishing Asano’s character. She didn’t do much in this episode (but after all, she stood before a screwed up old guy who put her mother’s head on one of his shoulders, of course she’d be incredibly intimidated), but I can see that she’s going to grow a lot in this series. She really wants to have her revenge, she just can’t. The other bad guys also got their share of attention (including a flashback of when the old guy replaced his first shoulder), and with Bee-Train, we can be sure of some great character-growth.

Nijuu Mensou no Musume – 16

by psgels, posted in Nijuu Mensou no Musume



Short Synopsis: The “detective girls” go after a rumour about two teachers that seem to fancy each other.
Highlights: The French was nice and all… but NOT with a Japanese accent!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
This episode convinced me that the “detective girls” only exist in Haruka’s head. The creators have no intention to just end the series with a bunch of random detective story arcs, because this episode set up the story and characters for the rest of the series. We get introduced to a bunch of new characters, and Nijuu Mensou’s past is revealed a bit more.

In the meantime, Chiko’s classmates have already started the fanfiction…

In any case, this episode introduces a former university professor who knew Nijuu Mensou when he was young (I wonder, do we ever get to hear what his real name is?). I didn’t quite catch what he told Chiko exactly, but it seems to come down to that he was once a brilliant scientist when the war started, and so he ended up developing all those supernatural weapons for killing. Since his motto was “look and think for yourself”, at one point he abandoned his research, and now that everything comes to try and bite back at him, he’s had no choice than to use Chiko as a decoy.

The next villain is someone who’ll be a big problem for Chiko to escape, as he’s basically just as small and light as Chiko, and the guy’s even stronger and faster. Ever since the train incident, Chiko has only had to fight people who were much bigger than her, so the guy might be one of her toughest enemies yet.

I also wonder how the creators are going to use the story of that washed-up cleaner, and when that super-powered woman of a number of episodes back is going to return. This episode showed that she’s indeed the product of Nijuu Mensou’s research, but is she going to play a bigger role than just a bit of background for the guy?

Ultraviolet: Code 044 – 06

by psgels, posted in Ultraviolet: Code 044



Short Synopsis: 044 and Garcia manage to flee to a mining planet as Luka returns to consciousness.
Highlights: Fillers? This series? Hah!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
Ah, screw popular opinion, this series rocks. I’m not sure what exactly it is, but it’s simple, yet effective. When looking at the plot in the big picture, it’s nothing special, nor anything pretentious, and yet the storyline keeps flowing smoothly throughout the episodes, with hardly any time to take a break. It’s the type of series you can just sit and watch, and at the same time it’s full of passion and manliness. The soundtrack is among the best of the season, I love Osamu Dezaki’s style of directing and the art style is a treat for any Osamu Tezuka fan, to see his style in a more serious and cyberpunk setting. In other words, I’m pretty much sold on this series.

This episode introduces a new character, another clone who seems to have returned to a mining planet that harvests a new sort of energy. The guy is quite an eccentric, but he seems to have chosen the side of 044, and I think that he’s had his problems with Daxus II as well, or else he probably wouldn’t have left him. He’s a bit stupid (beating up those goons will only make Daxus send stronger goons).

My favourite part of this episode was Luka’s bit, though. The guy has been unconscious for episodes, has no idea what went on and when he gets back to his comrades he gets accused of high treason because his biggest enemy turns out to have saved his life. I’m eager to see the moment where he sees 044 again: 044 should still be in love with him, and I have no doubts that the guy is curious as to why the heck he was saved.

Ultraviolet: Code 044 – 05

by psgels, posted in Ultraviolet: Code 044



Short Synopsis: 044 tries to get rid of 724 and his henchmen.
Highlights: Solid action that knows when to stop.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Here’s one thing I don’t get: why the heck is this series getting so much hate?! I mean, I can understand how people can dislike this series: the art style, dark mood and Osamu Dezaki’s direction style aren’t for everyone. But when I look at sites as AniDB and MyAnimeList, with their abysmally low rating for this series and read some of the comments about this series, I just can’t seem to understand where all this hate is coming from.

This isn’t the first time I’ve blogged (and enjoyed) a series that was hated by a large amount of people, but at least there I could understand why people were hating it: the lead characters of Night Head Genesis did whine an awful lot. It’s obvious that they’re going to get on the nerves of many people. El Cazador was all about its characters, so if you don’t like them, then there’s nothing much left of it. Blade of the Immortal has been based on a rumoured excellent manga, so of course people will be disappointed if a studio like Bee-Train gets the rights to animate it. For Ultraviolet, I just can’t imagine any reason why someone would really label this as the worst show of the season.

Granted, the only really bad thing of the first episode of this series was the huge amounts of fanservice, but that doesn’t really explain the low ratings. First of all, series with fanservice are often popular in the online crowd (as demonstrated by series as To Love-Ru, Kanokon, Sekirei and Code Geass), so why should this be any different? Second of all, the fanservice was nowhere near as bad or blatant as in series as the ones mentioned above. And third of all, the fanservice disappears nearly entirely after the second episode anyway.

So someone, enlighten me. Why the heck is this series so bad? Why has this series the most amount of “suckage” when compared to all other series that aired this Spring and Summer?

In any case, this episode was more action-packed, as 044 gets rid of 724, who turns out to have been jealous of her all along, as number two in the organization. At the same time, Mathilda and Garcia (who probably are also in trouble, seeing as how they helped their friend 044 kill off many of Daxus II’s subordinates) seem to be joining her, and reveal a bit more about her past.

There were a lot of fight-scenes in this episode, they were obviously not the best animated (probably due to lack of budget), but they were interesting to watch nonetheless. I’m interested to see where this series is going now: 044 is free now, and Daxus II can’t track her down anymore. 044 will probably go after Luka, but what’s going to happen after that?