Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino – 10

by psgels, posted in Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino


Ah, of course. Triela and Hirsher were the only ones who still weren’t fleshed out enough, and this episode takes care of that. Now all that’s left is for the three final episodes to conclude the story, now that the cast is fully developed. It’s interesting how Triela gets to be the final character that gets her background, even though the entire Pinocchio-arc is centred on her. Usually anime would give characters like her some extra development, when compared to the others, but the creators for Gunslinger Girl made sure that each of the characters received an equal amount of development and background. I’m not sure about others, but I always like it when a series does this. It just shows that the show doesn’t just revolve around its main characters. Call it a personal preference.

In any case, it turns out that Hirsher is a false name. His real name is Heartman, and he apparently worked at a detective agency, and this episode among others tells the story of how he met Triela, and ended up along with her as a Fratello. It turns out that Triela was a victim of human trade, and who knows what kinds of experiments were performed on her. Hirsher and a female colleague of his tried to rescue her, and they just barely were able to save her life.

At the same time, the episode shows how Triela meets the daughter of one of the people that Triela saved one day. it seems that he needs Triela and Hirsher’s help once more. In any case, this daughter (Mimi) and Triela form an interesting couple. They both like to collect teddy-bears, and yet Mimi is a normal girl, who has a boyfriend and likes to play soccer. She really succeeds into lifting Triela’s mood a bit, because she’s still feeling down from Pinocchio.

I also like how the captain of the regular soldiers was able to teach Triela a bit about what went wrong in her fight against Pinocchio, and how she isn’t as invincible as she believed she was.

In any case, the creators have done a wonderful job so far. Let’s hope they won’t screw up for the ending.

Arusu the Adventure – 04

by psgels, posted in Arusu The Adventure, Mahou Shoujotai


A small announcement, in case you will be wondering: the next episode of Shigofumi and Shion no Ou will be delayed for about a day, as I’ll be too busy for anime tomorrow and some share-users decided to upload fake raw-versions again…

In any case, this was definitely the best episode yet, because for once, everything felt right. The current episode yet again comes with a different art-style, as it takes us back to the younger years of Grand Master, and the other two older members of the Witches’ Council. To think that Grand Master used to have a younger sister at one point.

I think I already did this, but I must thank Arusu the Adventure for reminding me why Mahou Shoujotai ended up being my favourite anime ever. Looking back, there is no other series where I can find so much to praise as this with this one. Terrific art-style, great music, engaging characters, perfectly paced, an outstanding storyline, experimental in every single way, an imaginative setting, full of creativity, terrific storytelling, and I could go on and on like this. This is really the series that showed me the amazing things you can do with anime, and what happens if you let go of all boundaries.

I’m still wishing for an anime like this to appear some day. A series that doesn’t care about conventions (just like how Alice tried to go against the witches’ traditions in the original series). I admit that I often get annoying during the seasonal spring-season previews, where people dismiss a show, only because the character-designs aren’t mainstream. More often than not, it’s these series that really end up outstanding.

I guess that that’s why I like what Gonzo is currently doing. They too are trying to go in their own way, even though this isn’t always the right one (Dragonaut), and they often get lazy (Romeo x Juliet). Amidst all the dross, they did manage to pull off Bokura no, a series that also tried out lots of different things, and wasn’t afraid of going away from the mainstream. In fact, the simplistic character-designs still strike me as the best of 2007, and Gonzo managed to combine this with a terrific premise and storyline.

Okay, so basically the post of the fourth episode of Arusu the Adventure turned into some kind of mini-rant. These are of course just my own opinions, and they’re what I find really important in an anime. Sure, there are other ways to become an excellent series (I fell in love with the third, mainly because Honoka is just an amazing character), but this OVA reminded me that outstanding anime are basically created by letting your imagination run free. Of course, this doesn’t work for slice-of-life series, as they usually take place in a normal world without anything mundane happening, but it’s a good guideline nonetheless.

Saiunkoku Monogatari Review – 90/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Saiunkoku Monogatari


I can sort-of understand why people often are reluctant to check out very lengthy series. After all, they’re a huge commitment and it’s very hard to tell whether it will turn out worthwhile or not if you have to sit through more than sixty episodes. Series like Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball Z and Inuyasha went on and on, amidst pointless fillers, and just could have gotten so much better if they were just 1/4th of their original length.

Still, let me say that for every lengthy series that screws up, you can always find a lengthy series that’s absolutely worth the commitment. Take Legend of Galactic Heroes, Gintama, or any of the World Masterpiece series. And of course Saiunkoku Monogatari. It’s set in a world, reminiscent of ancient China, and follows Shuurei, as she tries to be the first female govermnent official, in a male-dominated society.

Of course, there’s much more to the story than just that. The series starts out as an innocent shoujo love-drama, but soon enough this series shows its josei-roots and develops its huge cast of characters perfectly. Be sure to expect lots of politics. The different arcs are very different from each other, and they’re more than enough to keep this series interesting though its entire run. And of course, there’s quite a bit of romance as well, but don’t expect standard Shoujo-romance here. Quite often, you see two characters who are in love with each other, yet can never be together due to their social status, or the things they did in the past.

I do want to note, though, that some parts of this series are less interesting than others. Saiunkoku Monogatari has a couple of incredibly deep and well-developed characters, but it needs to build up a lot in order to achieve this. There will be a few arcs that aren’t that special, other than that they build up for some amazing scenes, later on in the series. It’s also a shame that the final quarter of the series builds up to a third season that’ll probably arrive in two or three years. The final few episodes also showcase some dramatic budget-problems, with three recap-episodes within twenty episodes, so that’s also something to take into account.

Still, despite the flaws, Saiunkoku remains a versatile and engaging series. If you liked The Twelve Kingdoms (I haven’t seen the series myself, but I hear from everywhere that that’s another excellent series), you’ll definitely like this series. Now all that’s left is to wait a few years for the third season to arrive!

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 78

by psgels, posted in Saiunkoku Monogatari


What a wonderful episode to close off the second series! This was hands down, the best episode ever since Shuurei got back from the Sa-clan. Thank you, Madhouse, for not leaving a bad taste at the end, while we have to wait who knows how many years for season three. The end of the episode closed off quite a few storylines, and yet it hinted that there’s still so much more to come. I really hope that the creators will realize this, and haven’t planned to end this series here.

But still, finally this series is over. For the past two years, it’s been my top-source of google-hits and out of all the series I’ve blogged, Saiunkoku Monogatari has received by far the most page-views, even comparing this to Death Note and Claymore. No other series also has as many posts as this one, although I guess that Jigoku Shoujo and Higurashi will come quite close when their third season finishes. Really, it’s sad to see this series gone now. I’ll put it on finished for now, until we get some real confirmations that a third season is under production.

It was also a delight to see Kouyuu and Shuuei back together. The two of them form such a great team with their banter. Suou also seems to have moved his family to the countryside, while he carries out some kind of mission for Kouki. We also learn that Anju is none other than Kouki’s ally. But the best part of the episode was of course seeing Ryuuki and Shuurei back together. It draws quite a parallel with episode 39 of the first season, which also ended with a similar series, but this time, Ryuuki’s development made that scene so different. Back then, he was just a weak little coward, screaming for Shuurei’s affection, but now he really seems to have accepted his task as an emperor. He’s now not just trying to become a good emperor because of Shuurei, and that’s what he realized when he was in the Ran-province.

Now, if you excuse me, I have to go write a review that does this series justice. ^^;

Wellber no Monogatari ~ Sisters of Wellber – 23

by psgels, posted in Wellber no Monogatari ~ Sisters of Wellber


Seriously, was there ANY way for this episode not to turn out awesome? This episode finally shows how Tina tries to get revenge on the guy who killed her parents, and it’s nothing short of amazing! The graphics also shined more than ever as well. There was a bit of a problem when characters started whistling (that’s always been tricky to do), but apart from that, I just loved this episode.

It’s indeed like I thought: Rita’s brother did kill back then, but right now he’s still being haunted by those days, and is extremely sorry of what happened. Tina meanwhile has her obvious problems that she’s trying to kill both a prince and the brother of her best friend. What’s interesting is how at the end of the episode, she does shoot him, but her body simply refuses to aim well. It’s a bit of a pity that she was interrupted by Sherry with the message that Sangatras was about to attack, but then again I guess that the creators still need to use Rita’s brother for the upcoming war that will take place in the final three episodes of this series.

One thing that I do hope for in the final episodes is to get some much-needed background for the bad guys. This episode introduced quite a few new people, and not only that, but the king of Greedam also killed off the king of Sangatras. There are three episodes left, so the final episodes are promising to become totally awesome, but I do hope that the creators will be able to get in the development for these people, like they did so well for every other major character.

Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino – 09

by psgels, posted in Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino


I’m not sure what it is – the animation-quality wasn’t really better than usual – but this was the most visually pleasing episode of Il Teatrino yet. Not only that, but it’s also quite possibly the best episode of the entire series so far. It really captured the essence of Gunslinger Girl, more than Madhouse could ever have done with the first season, just because they kept focusing on just the girls, whereas Artland so far has focused just as much on the adults around the girls.

This episode truly showed the difference between the girls’ innocence, and their ruthless brutality. One moment, they’re walking around happily in their new dresses and the other they’re blasting a rain of bullets on a car that’s driven by a bunch of terrorists. What really hit me was that one of these terrorists was an old acquaintance of Jose. In fact, they still kept contact, not knowing about each other’s professions.

I’m also really surprised at how balanced this episode was. So many characters got a bit of development. We have Jose and Jean, who turn out to have a sister. This sister was especially close to Jose, and ended up as a professional harp-player. The reason why she was so close with Jose was because Jean is far more impersonal than I could have imagined. I think that that’s why Jose chose to treat Henrietta so differently, because he had to be nice to his sister who didn’t get any attention from Jean. Jean really scared me when he didn’t even flinch when Rico brutally beat some terrorists.

Speaking of Rico: I can really understand now why her character was forced to change back to her cheery self, when compared to her stoic personality in the Madhouse version. Seeing the usual cheery Rico just mercilessly beat down one of these terrorists makes much more impact from when she was more serious. I’m also glad that Artland chose for a bigger role for Beatrice. According to totoum, she only got one line in the manga, and I’m glad to see that her role for the anime-version has become so much bigger. It shows that the creators aren’t just willing to adapt the anime, but also to improve it. And if the creators can do that, without making it seem like random filler, then that’s the sign of a good adaptation.

Apart from that, there were also a few scenes about Triela, Claes, Marco and Angelica. It also turns out that Marco used to know someone who liked opera (Patricia?).

Seriously, I’m so glad that I gave this series a chance, and looked beyond the bad fight-animation. The plot is just terrific, and this is definitely (apart from Porfy no Nagai Tabi, of course, but there is no series that can beat that behemoth in terms or realism) the best-written series of the shows that premiered in the winter-season.

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 77

by psgels, posted in Saiunkoku Monogatari


I’m not exactly sure why… this episode was a clear aftermath and yet I found it was one of the most enjoyable ones of the third arc so far. I originally thought that seeing Shuuei and Ryuuki develop would be the best thing about the final episodes of the second season, but seeing them actually use this development turned out much more interesting.

Overall, the Kouki-arc just didn’t match up to the Government-Official-arc and the Sa-Province-arc, but that’s only logical. I now see that this arc is far from over, and all that the episodes have been doing is building up. Even the past few mini-arcs were just meant to develop the cast, and to make them ready for the real meat of this arc. It’s just like the Sa-province arc. The first twenty-or-so episodes also were a bit disappointing at times, and Sakujun took a lot of episodes to become likable, but the second half of that arc, with the disease and all simply rocked.

I really hope that Madhouse will continue next year with the third season for Saiunkoku Monogatari. There are just too many interesting plot-points unresolved to not let it happen: there’s Ouki, who’ll be trying more and more to take over the throne, which will bring Kouki, Seiga, Shuurei and Suou more to the foreground as they will definitely be asked to investigate and prevent this takeover. Then there’s the Bara-hime storyline with the big Riou and of course the big mystery about Sakujun’s whereabouts. Furthermore, we still haven’t seen anything of the plans to marry Kouyuu out to Shuurei. Then there’s also Seiga, who majorly lacks in development, considering how important his character is. Overall, that’s more than enough to fill a third season and close this story off properly. Please, Madhouse, don’t abandon this series just yet!

On other news, I was pretty surprised that Shouka didn’t prepare any explanation whatsoever to Shuurei about what the heck he was doing when Ryuuki wandered off on his own. I doubt that he would never make such a mistake to anyone other than Shuurei and Bara-hime. I think that that’s one of the reasons why he originally fell in love with Bara-hime. Somehow, he just couldn’t get his assassin-act together in front of her. ^^;

Wellber no Monogatari ~ Sisters of Wellber – 22

by psgels, posted in Wellber no Monogatari ~ Sisters of Wellber


This episode was mostly unspectacular, and just built up for the finale of this series. Basically, Rita and Tina arrive back at the castle of Wellber and are greeted back by Rita’s family. Galahad formally requests a wedding with Rita, and later he settles an old score with the knight, back from episode one. All in all, the chess-pieces were set right for the final four episodes of this series.

But it does promise to be an awesome finale! In the next episode, we finally get to see the confrontation between Tina and Rita’s brother (because yes: it’s now officially confirmed that he was the one who killed her parents). At this point, I have no idea what she’ll do. Just keep quiet about it in front of Rita? Brainlessly attack the guy? Give subtle hints? Talk things out? It’s all possible.

My guess is then that the final three episodes will deal with the upcoming war between Wellber, Sangatras and Greedam, or to be more precise: preventing it. Here too I wonder what kind of direction the creators will go with. There are still quite a lot of interesting possibilities for the war to turn out in three episodes, but for now they must make sure to build it up well, just like they did with the characters.

Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino – 08

by psgels, posted in Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino


This is one episode that should have belonged in the first season, as it’s entirely devoted to Claes without any signs of the plot whatsoever. I’m not sure why it took her so long to get her own episode. Was this the actual sequence in the manga, or did Madhouse just omit her back-story when they made the first season? In any case, it’s definitely a good thing to finally see some attention to one of least-developed members of the cast, because first of all she really needed it and second of all: Claes is such a great character.

I assume that her partner is on some kind of mission, and left her behind? I couldn’t pick up that part precisely, but we never see him outside of a flashback, and it does explain why she never participates in any mission. What also surprised me in this episode was that there were more Gunslinger Girls than just Henrietta, Claes, Angelica, Triela and Rico.

I also must say that I really like the new OP animation and the new ED-tune. They fit the new feeling of second season perfectly, in my opinion.

Il Teatrino is just like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. That too went into a completely new direction when compared to the first season, offering a totally new dimension to the story. You’ll either love this, or hate how the second season didn’t continue with the style you liked about the first one.

Arusu the Adventure – 03

by psgels, posted in Arusu The Adventure, Mahou Shoujotai


Ah, now I understand. Just like Mahou Shoujotai, the episodes of Arusu the Adventure are directed by different people. Now everything makes sense: the major difference between Mahou Shoujotai and Arusu the Adventure is that there seems to be hardly any communication or cooperation between them. The bad point for this is that there’s now way to get a good continuous storyline out of it. The good point is that now, every director can go for something that he or she finds important. Episode 1 went for humour, while forsaking any storyline. Episode 2 went for flashy graphics and symbolism with rushed storytelling, and for the third episode, the storytelling and direction rocks, but the art style is all over the place.

It’s interesting: when you paste all these good points together, you get what I loved so much about Mahou Shoujotai, and I suspect that the final three episodes will only confirm this. It’s quite interesting how each episode had felt so incredibly different, and yet similar somehow, because of this. While the previous episode felt rushed, this episode knew exactly how to use its time. The two highly ranked witches run into a new kind of sprite that just hatched, though they can’t yet deliver it to the sprites-tower because it’s too young and it couldn’t be used for magical ingredients yet.

The sprite is a very delicate one, and needs careful attention if it needs to grow up, so the two witches decide to take care of it until it’s fully grown. This proved to be a more difficult task than they imagined, as they can’t get it to eat. They then heard of some rumours that Sheila once took care of the same sprite, and with that they get enough pointers to take care of it well. In the process, they get really attached to it.

As it turns out, when Sheila took care of her version of the sprite, it turned into a huge disaster. It turns out that she did transfer it to the sprites’ tower, and after that it became incredibly angry at her when they took away its horn, and went on a rampage. Because of this, Sheila’s superiors ordered her to take the sprite away as soon as it developed its horn.

Overall, this was a lovely episode, and you can really see that the director of this one really liked to experiment with his shots. There were some really creative shots there, and they’d even make the art direction in Hakaba Kitarou and Mononoke look uninspired. Seriously, I’d wish that more other series would adopt such a daring style of direction that’s all over the place. It’s another reason why I fell in love with the original series. Still, I think that the director took a few too many liberties with his messy art-style, as Arusu, Sheila and Eva look a tad too disproportionate at times. I now understand that it takes a while to see the real charm of this OVA, and after the disappointment of the previous episode, I’m hungry for more!