Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

ID-0 – 02, 03, 04

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Id-0

Like I mentioned in my Sakura Quest’s post, I just feel underwhelmed by the recent development of that show, and in truth this little bastard here just keeps growing on me, couple with the fact that ID-0 is hardly covered anywhere else; so I hope that my posts will help the show getting more attention it deserves. I blame Netflix for this unfortunate, as the way I see it, anime shows need to be more accessible instead of exclusively available by certain viewers. The recent development of music industry, for example, has bands release/share their albums for free online in order to gain solid fanbase before aiming to get profits back by live shows or physical CDs. In that same vein, anime shows need to be watched in order to gain worth-of-mouth and increase sells (do you really watch shows that nobody talking about? Like, have even you heard of ID-0 yet?) and I witnessed the restriction hurt the chance of Re:Life last year and now seems to bring Little Witch Academia down that ship and I personally think it’s dumb, dumb idea. But enough about that and let’s talk about ID-0, an original CG show about a bunch of space pirates by Sanzigen, the company responsible for Bubuki/Buranki last year.

Episode 2, 3, 4 focused mainly on the crew members of Escavate Company, a band of misfits that steals Orichalt chunks in space (I don’t even know what they’re worth of, energy, maybe?). Many of its members don’t have their physical form, which mean, their consciousness lies within an I-Machine permanently, most of them due to unfortunate consequences. Ido is a prime example, having lost his physical body, his memory taken away and his ID erased, (his ID is 0 hence the name Ido), he doesn’t know who he was but he’s skilled and ruthless and because he has nothing to lose, he’s determined to go all the way to his death in every mission. The other casts have great, easy interactions to each other, and moreover each of them fit their roles very well. Rick (the red I-Machines) has an outgoing personality but I found at no time he’s annoying. The captain Grayman with his well-built body often in command to protect the crews, but sometimes his childish side still gets through and you always feel the responsibility he has for the safety of his crew.

Maya is our protagonist though, and so far, she’s quite refreshing to watch. Still inexperience outside of her skills, she acts innocently most of the time, but by no mean she’s boring. While in action, she has a quick decision-making that comes more of her nature and never feel too geeky or too forced. I really appreciate that ID-0 never pushes up its fanservice from these girls. Well, they could easily fill up with fanservice scenes but they haven’t gotten around to it, which I’m glad. Episode 4 introduces a new crew member, Amanza. She’s in an interesting position as she’s a policer whose main mission is to catch the Escavate crew, but she got sucked by the Miguel Jump (they jump through dimensions) and thus has to live amongst our crew. Moreover, she fits right in with the rest of cast, making their interactions a joy to watch. I know these fellas aren’t the deepest bunch around but their nuances and their easy chemistry more than made up for that.

About the world building, so far I like the concept of these guys stealing the Orichalt chunks in space and there seems to be an overarching plot of the men in power who aim to steal the Orichalt chunks for whatever reasons, and honestly, for now those scenes revolving the man in mask are a dead weight. They tend to over-analyze the concepts which drag on too much and their intentions are so vague it’s hard to take them seriously. Episode 3 also introduces an abnormality, a loli girl who lives in the Orichalt that seems to have a strange power that affected satellites. Whatever her real power is, getting to know who she really is and what role she has in the big picture will be one of the overarching plot of ID-0. As for the CG part of the show, the action part is mostly done well and I enjoy majority of the animation sequences. Sometimes we can see the stiffness in character’s movements but because they’re robots, it’s rather appropriate, right? The character’s designs are attractive so visually, really I have no complain so far. It might take sometimes to get used to the visual but it’s a treat once you are up to it.

I know most of you readers don’t watch this show (either because of streaming rights or the CG or you just don’t aware about this show), but that is one of the reason why I really want to cover this show: to get more people know about this show. I have a blast time watching it so far, so I hope you guys give this show a chance. It deserves much more attention.

Little Witch Academia – 18[Sky War Stanship]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Little Witch Academia

Did you know that the animation team that worked on this previously worked on Gurren Lagann? Of course you did but I say anyone clueless would have caught onto it just by this episode alone. So Constanze finally gets her time to shine and she’s just as lovable as I remember. Akko was a little annoying at the beginning of this episode with her constant screwups but that went away when she actually started helping Constanze instead of just pulling a Dexter and Dede routine. Seeing Constanze warm up to her was nice and the Gainax mecha anime references at the end of the episode really made it. We got Evangelion, Gunbuster, Gurren Lagann and even Akko doing the classic Gainax pose. The wild hunt itself seems to be a callout to eSports but I don’t think we got an explanation on why it takes place besides entertainment. There were a number of noticeable still frames this week so I wonder if that was to account for the mecha action scene or are things getting a bit tight at Studio trigger? Just how they can bring the bring guns for the rest of the season. All and all, I got my Constanze episode so I am pretty happy with that.

Still questioning just why Ursula continues to do absolutely nothing about Croix but at least this episode she went to call her out on her wrong doing. From what can be gathered from their talk, it seems her goal in these random experiments is to collect emotion. In this case she stirred up trouble to collect emotion from the crowd. Her endgame isn’t clear but from the sound of it this isn’t going to be good. I admit some of my old frustration with this series has come back as once again the plot looks to be at a standstill. I am having fun, no doubt. But I notice that not much has actually been accomplished these past two episodes besides giving Amanda and Constanze some spotlight. The two certainly deserve their moment to shine however when I notice that this episode could essentially be removed from the series and nothing would be affected, I can’t help but feel a little miffed. Not to mention that it’s more than a little late to start developing these characters, not to mention pointless if they aren’t going to be more than background decoration. This has always been the aspect of saturday morning cartoons that I never quite liked. An adventure happens but the characters in question end up in the same place they were when the episode began, all experiences and lessons learnt sent to the void. Little Witch Academia isn’t quite guilty of that as I think from now one Constanze will be considerably warmer towards Akko though all things considered this is likely the most screentime she’s going to get. Perhaps that machine broom she built for Akko might come into play later though I still think the shooting star that’s soaring around the world is going to come back in some fashion. Likely during the finale.

A thought has occurred to me while watching this season. I originally thought that this will be the one and only season of Little Witch Academia. Triggers Original works after all aren’t known for leaving room for sequels. However Little Witch Academia was their first work and it is possible they may wish to make more than a single season for this series, though that is admittedly unlikely. The one thing about this is that I thought this series would end with a conclusive, decisive ending but if they do plan to continue Akko’s adventures that won’t be the case. Sure the trouble with Croix will be resolved but there may be quite a few loose ends left behind. The thought of this leaves me with mixed feelings as another season would certainly be welcome but I do also prefer a realised end over a “To be continued.” Next week looks to be a Diana episode so we will finally see just what that comment in the last episode was about. Considering that the latest word of Arturus has to do with tradition I think helping Diana will lead to unlocking the word.

Seikaisuru Kado – 05[Nanoka]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Seikaisuru Kado

Looks to be the tread this week for unexpected reveals and rather uneventful episodes. This week’s episode mainly dealt with zaShunina hiring that annoying Scientist girl Shinawa to figure out how his Wam work. Not sure why he couldn’t just tell them how it worked but I guess but his logic he figured humanity wouldn’t accept an answer that didn’t come from a human. Or simply zaShunina is simply playing around with humanity to see if they can come to their own answers. His talk with the prime minister looked to be for two reasons. One was to convince him to go along with his plan and the other seems to be to affirm if he was correct in presenting humans with Wam. It up for debate if zaShunina was right or wrong in this matter as we are still oblivious to his true intent. The prime minister absolved him of guilt by saying that regardless of what is done with Wam, it would be the fault of the user and not the one who gifted it. I counter that be saying if the gifts intent was to cause chaos then the giver does hold responsibility. You can’t give a loaded gun to a child and then say it’s his own fault if he manages to shoot himself. I despair that this annoying creature must remain present in the series but I guess someone had to fill the role of genius Scientist. To be fair her antics are less aggravating besides her attempt to eat zaShunina’s hand for some odd reason. I am willing to put up with her considering that her actions in this episode essentially ended up being one giant “Fuck you” to the UN.

Boy, was that glorious. Sure we will hand over the Wam in our possession but first let’s give the entire world a self help guide on how you can make a infinite energy source with a piece of paper. Certainly makes the government’s plight seem ridiculous in hindsight when it’s not the objects themselves that matter, but their form. Meaning you could make one of these out of cow dung and it would still work. So the government were getting antsy over what are essentially useless glass balls. Still there is the long term effects of just what this revelation could do to the world. Previously I said I was on the side of Saraka but in light of this episode’s development I have shifted my stance. It is true that humanity is not ready for infinite energy but just when would they be? When oil, fossil fuels and other resources run out? Likely not. I have trouble seeing a scenario where Wam are adopted and thing work just as intended as without doubt in the hands of the government there would be an attempt to monopolize the energy.

Honestly i don’t think humanity would ever be ready for Wam. So the approach of just throwing it out to the people and letting it all sort itself out is actually not a bad idea. Humans tend to adapt to anything and regardless if a strict policy was placed on the use of Wam then it was going to end up in the wrong hands regardless. When you think about something like the internet, it’s growth was spontaneous. It wasn’t controlled or planned to be become what it is today. It just morphed into what you see before you. This new revolution could lead to bloodshed and chaos but the benefits of what could come from this are uncountable. Still this could be the first move for zaShunina as he does not appear to be fond of the idea of countries. Much like others suspect, perhaps this is a plan to throw government into chaos and thus rewrite just how humanity governs itself. From what I hear next week’s episode of Kado will be a recap episode. Rather unfortunate considering the reveal it dropped.

Re:Creators – 05 [This Water is Coldest at the Bottom]

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Creators

Sometimes, what might look good on paper doesn’t translate well when it comes to reality and this rings true for the latest addition to Team Sota. Sandwiched between the whiny get-in-the-fucking-robot Shinji and the bratty attitude of Asuka is Rui Kanoya, the teenage pilot of the Gigas Machina robot. Over the course of the episode, he goes from throwing tantrums to committing to defending the creator’s world at the drop of a hat which is jarring to say the least. Consistent from him would be nice but I’m not holding my breath since his description is locked in by his creator. At least the giant robot is on the good guys side for now seeing how it can just shrug off anti-tank missiles.

Considering the amount of collateral damage done and the impossible powers being flung around the city, I’m glad that the Japanese government finally decided to step in with a massive show of force by their special forces team, TOW missiles and Cobra gunships. Too often in anime, the government is far too passive or inept when crazy shit hits the fan like the Fate/stay Night franchise where the biggest response was two F-15 Strike Eagles against Caster’s summoning of Cthulhu. The conference doesn’t do much more than reaffirm previous concepts but it does provides interesting background tidbits like the initial shuffle between Yuuya and Blitz or Meteora doing her Homura (Madoka Magica) impression as she steals very expensive military-grade weapons from the JSDF. The highlight, of course, is Meteora sheepishly asking for exemptions and write-offs for her antics. Keep in mind that she still has a FN Minimi(or M249) machine gun in her procession as well as frag grenades and that will probably use them later on. The question is what role will the government play from now on since they aggressively inserted themselves into the plot. Will they give out orders to our heroes and subject them to regulations or will they attempt the classic plot twist of betraying our protagonists and wipe them out?

Almost the all the big players have been introduced and the ending scene is at the cusp of revealing the big mysterious connection between Sota, Military Uniform Princess, and the death-by-train-suicide girl. Hopefully, we can get to some action since it’s been lacking in the last few weeks and we’re already five episodes into this grand adventure of anime, games and light novels coming to life.

Little Witch Academia – 17[Amanda O’Neill and the Holy Grail]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Little Witch Academia

It took seventeen episodes but we are finally doing something with the enchanted parade crew. Plot-wise I don’t think we got anywhere seeing as there turned out to be no word in the academy and this seems more about Croix performing some kind of experiment. As to what she hoped to accomplish is anyone’s guess. Regardless it is nice to see Amanda get her own episode seeing as she hasn’t played an active part since the dragon episode. So Amanda and Akko infiltrate a boys school in order to find the holy grail and i have to admit to being a little disappointed that there was no Fate/Stay night reference. Well at least the episode title looks to be a reference to Monty Python so I will settle for that.

I do like that the villain of this particular story turned out to not be completely scum. I have often seen anime with antagonists like him who never show any sense of shame or regret. But after being saved by Amanda he owned up to the whole thing being his fault and I like that. Even the greatest pricks have some sense to know when they have taken things too far and rather than go the route of having him remain a complete one dimensional asshole, they actually gave him a little bit of redemption. However I do still think it doesn’t excuse his earlier acts as even if it was played up for laughs, he was trying to torture and kill Amanda beforehand.

Otherwise Trigger is really being standout with the fight animation so I thank the studio for what is likely sleepless nights of tiresome overwork. They still seem to be pushing a romantic angle between Akko and Andrew as they contrast her drive to go for her dreams over his resignation to taking the job his family is grooming him for. Ursula mentioned that the next word has to due with tradition and it was briefly mentioned that Diana’s family has run into some sort of trouble. I have a feeling that these two things are inadvertently linked. Though I think that won’t be getting screentime yet. Instead if my information is correct, another member of the enchanted parade group is getting her time to shine.

Seikaisuru Kado – 04[Rotowa]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Seikaisuru Kado

Well this went down as easy as I thought it would. United Nations are bullying Japan to give up all the Wam, Japan is naturally clueless over what to do with it and there are a whole host of people who find it too good to be true. So far the only negative effect aside from pure economic collapse is that Wam could lead to the problem of global warming. The specifics are a bit over my head but from what I can assume it appears that while Wam is a perfect power source, it is still being utilised by imperfect machines. Machines leave waste heat and introducing Wam to the world would result in the creation of more machines. Which in turn would lead to a far greater amount of waste heat which would contribute to global warming.  Though such an issue would take several hundreds of years to actually manifest.

The UN wants the Wam to be confiscated though by the UN that mainly refers to its five permanent members. Two of which(USA and Russia) serve to lose out the most of Wam are distributed. Thus the main conflict is finding a compromise which allows the Wam to be used while not throwing people under a bus. I find my opinion in agreement with Saraka who surmises that humanity is in no way ready for a gift such as Wam. Though regarding her I do find her to be far more suitable comic relief that the other girl as her general embarrassment over laughing on the negotiation table and frustration with Shindo is far more entertaining than a ditzy genius scientist that has no common sense

The prologue phase appears to be complete and now this show looks to be what I originally called it as. In that regard however i have come to accept that this will be one of those shows which isn’t really hyped up. Kado is slow paced and methodical with a focus on political situations that result out of this Alien shaking up the planet. Admittedly it’s not the type of show you can get on the edge of your seat for. More the type to enjoy with a cup of tea. Well za-Shunina appears to have chosen a representative who can be the key to the whole situation and…oh god no. It’s the scientist girl. I was dreading this but I somehow knew this girl was going to come into this somehow. No matter how much I didn’t want her to.

Re:Creators – 04 [That Time I Said Hello to Him]

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Creators

Another dialogue-heavy episode where Re:Creators takes its time in continuing to build up its foundation and finally have an inkling of stakes in the overarching story.

Meteora gets the short end of the creator stick with the news that her writer/producer is dead due to a fatal motorcycle accident but ends up opening up a different avenue into relationship of creation. Even though the two will never meet, the care and dedication poured into the making of Avalken of Reminisce is more than enough to cement their connection. I doubt that Selestia and Takashi sees each other in the same light but there is a chance for them grow into a parent/child relationship. That’s all fine and dandy but I just wished that Re:Creators didn’t frontload so much exposition in the first few episodes even though it was accomplished by slice-of-life montages. It would have probably been better if it spaced out its philosophic musings more instead of Meteora explaining everything in rapid succession.

On Gunpuku no Himegimi side, her own cast of characters are far more fractured in their overall goals and direction when compared to Souta’s growing harem. Either they are desperate and scared or mildly amused at the whole situation like the detective but they are certainly not following the military uniform princess’s desires to outright fundamentally changed the creator’s world. With Meteroa theory that the continual use of powers that is the means that world is to be destroyed, Re:Creators might go down the route where the real world must be sacrificed. Alicetelia’s disposition is certainly evidence of the kind of person that is willing to do anything to save her own fictional world. The way she aggressively forces her creator to rewrite her world is probably just the tip of her ideology of absolutes which makes her relationship with Mamika so interesting. Either we will see them soften up their ideals or have Mamika go down a dark path trailing behind Alicetelia.

Little Witch Academia – 16[The Trial of Pohjola]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Little Witch Academia

One of the weaker episodes of the show but still enjoyable. This week sees us visiting Lottes parents and Akko unlocking another of the words of Arcturus after sloving a disease outbreak. Thus getting closer to the grand triskelion and now learned the meaning of pathence. Except she didn’t learn the meaning of pathence. This episode was strange in that it clearly was geared towards teaching Akko the meaning of pathence. Much of the episode showed off Akko’s lack of pathence causing trouble and I was waiting for the “Ah Ha!” moment of realisation where she would demonstrate her new understanding of the word. However that didn’t actually happen as when Akko had her “Ah Ha!” moment when stiring the potion and then proceeded to stir it slower till Shiny rod finished the job for her. It feels like Akko only learned the meaning of the word when the Shiny rod just said “Close enough” and gave her a freebie. Which makes me wonder if the activation of these words just means you have to guess the meaning of them and not nessarily grow or learn from them.

This makes me question Akko’s character growth thoughout the series as there have been times that it felt like she made massive leaps in her character arc only to regress back in the next episode. It’s hard to really cheer on a chearacter when they don’t learn from thier mistakes and Akko was certainly testing me this episode. The whole ordeal with the Yeti was humorous enough until you realise that Akko’s friends were quite literally dying the whole time she was critising the Yeti. Speaking of which, despite the stakes being high the atmosfere of the episode was really too light hearted to get accross the actual agency of the problem. The ridiclous conditions for the desease, the comedic gathering of ingredients and a general lack of concern from both Akko and Sucy made the entire situation just feel like another day at the office. I did like the moment with her begining to doubt herself when walking through the snow but it was a small moment that was quickly brushed aside.

As for Criox, who knows what she’s up to. She’s discovered that the emotion of anger can draw out the most energy from magic but to me that’s just asking for trouble. Much like in Doom 2016 they thought that the prefect solution to an energy crisis would be to draw energy from Hell. It’s just a matter of when everything goes to hell if the source of your power is based around dark matter. My big question is why is Ursula just letting Criox do as she pleases and not warned Akko about her? She clearly sees the threat she poses and yet isn’t really trying to do anything to get in her way. Theres also the matter of the governer who has yet to do anything despite foreshadowing shutting down the witch academy. Seems he was shoved off stage rather fast and the same can be said of Amanda and friends. Despite having a spot on the opening I am rather surpised how under utilised they are. I was under the impression that after the second OVA that the three would be a regular part of Akko’s entourage but that appears to not have happened. Shame as their presense could have really brightened up the interactions in this episode. Sucy and Lotte are good but both are too quiet to really bounce off Akko. Even having just Amanda there would have been good for drilling in the point that Akko needs patence as she could have been another example of lacking it. I have lots of complaints but that is out of a geniune love for this series and a wish for it to excel. I wonder if anyone on the trigger team happens to notice these kinds of complaints as the Yeti getting trolled online certainly seemed like a metaphore for just such a thing.

Re:Creators Episode 3 – “Don’t worry about what others said. Just be yourself.”

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Creators

This week wasn’t a particular exciting episode as it went further into how the mechanics between the Creator and Created might or might not work.

As speculated last week, Yuuya Mirokuji is a pretty fun character that takes his teleportation into the modern world in stride. His own fictional universe of the Tokyo underground isn’t all the different from the real world and it doesn’t come as a surprise that he sees this whole ordeal as a vacation with good food. It’s too bad that Alicetelia February entry into the show is only given a brief moment to extract Madoka Mamikia before Yuuya gets to steamroll her. Alicetelia’s description as a knight/lancer is within a fantasy setting is a little similar to Selesia’s own story but her noble upbringing is probably the difference that causes her to team up with the Military Uniform Princess.Hopefully, we’ll get to see more fights features multiple creations smashing each other’s faces at the same time.

The bulk of the episode is found in conducting the experiment on whether or not the creator could change their creation’s powers through their descriptions. Whereas most shows would have quickly covered this aspect in an scene or two, Re:Creators, with its extended runtime of twenty-two episodes, has the luxury of fleshing out its relationships and it does so with some humor. Finding out that Charon will eventually betrays Selesia and having her best friend die in the latest light novel is one way of achieving that while demonstrating the differences between the anime and light novel versions of herself. Perhaps the highlight of episode is when Selesia’s attempt at her new transformation that actually combine Sawano’s epic music for a comedic scene of hype and failure.

Seikaisuru Kado – 03[Wam]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Seikaisuru Kado

I admit this show moves at a pace that is rather slow but he concept it sets up is truly brilliant. Normally in alien invasion stories the threat is clear as the aliens blow up the white house and attack humanity. Other versions usually paint humans as the antagonist force attacking something they don’t understand. However in Kado, the Alien and humans understand their positions. Logic and reason are prevalent in the discussions at work here and thus the threat of an Alien comes in a new force. The thing that makes zaShunina such a devastating factor is not his potential for warfare but rather his gifts to help humanity’s advancement. Wam’s are his first gift and being an infinite energy source that looks to require no maintenance as well as easy to transport and make, he has effectively devastated the energy market. All major energy production companies are rendered utterly moot in face of this device which results in companies shutting down and thousands losing their jobs. Assuming of course they plan to go down quietly. Make no mistake, they will try to find something wrong with these wam’s and discourage their use. Even I think that what is promised is rather too good to be true.

That is only one of the problems with an even bigger problem being that Japan is now the holder of the greatest energy device known to man and the only present manufacturer. The preview does hint at discontent over Japan’s monopoly over the devices. So the question is, just why is zaShunina presenting these wams to Japan? We get somewhat of an explanation over just why he chose Japan though admittedly it’s a little sigh inducing. Apparently Japan has more “heart” than the rest of the world and thus seem more likely to share the gifts zaShunina presents. This logic is fairly flimsy and zaShunina does mention that heart is only a word that represents half the mention of the quality used to judge. Personally I prefer to think of it that Japan had the prefect dimensional parameters for the manifestation of Kado. Really both of these are just a flimsy excuses to make Japan the center of the story, much like Kyubei’s explanation about emotional energy in Madoka was a flimsy excuse to justify magical girls over magical boys. What’s important here is that Japan now has the solution to the energy crisis and zaShunina has left the distribution, use and handling of these devices completely within the hands of the Japanese government. Painting a giant target on Japan because with a device like this, someone is going to want to try weaponising it. Thus having it that anyone can grab one of these things opens up the dangers of them being greatly misused. Whereas withholding such a device from the world makes you public enemy number one.

The first episode makes it clear where this series is planning to take itself as it’s most likely up to Shindo to find a way of reaping the benefits of this fantastic device while preventing it from sparking World War III. This being only the first of zaShunina’s gifts as I am certain he has more groundbreaking items at hand. He has already shown that he can duplicate food which could end world hunger and is most likely capable of teleportation as well. Both equally as devastating to earth economy. Something that I think could really carry the series is the interaction between zaShunina and Shindo as the two do sometimes devolve into amusing bickering from time to time. The negotiator on the side of the Japanese government briefly broke character upon witnessing it though previously she did state that she was wary of Shindo. These three character show good potential for growth and i hope they do and that things are kept as far away from the weird science girl as much as possible. Comic relief characters are all well and good but when a show has such a mature serious atmosphere, having some hyper teenager who looks like she jumped out of a light novel adaption just kills the mood. With the stakes laid out and the setup pretty much done I hope this is the point this show really takes off.