Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Psycho Pass – 08

by psgels, posted in Psycho Pass

Urobuchi Gen likes gore. Fate/Zero showed this, and this arc of Psycho Pass showed that yet again, and especially. This episode was just brutal as it shows the conclusion of the latest arc. It was meant to get Kougami in the spotlights again amd show his ability to deduct and his connections. His bizarre connections involving a guy who took turning his body into art to the extreme.

As for the themes of the current arc, this episode showed the flaws in the past murders: the lack of creativity or message behind it. The culprit just wanted to carry on her father’s tradition, rather than kill with a statement like her father did. It’s a very morbid way to look at art like this.

Psycho Pass also has a very interesting view on its references. Usually when a show quotes another work, it’s kept with a brief reference: just one shot and nothing more. Here, they quote entire paragraphs. Last week played a lot of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. This series really attempted to make its symbolism have this slow impact. And it worked really well.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

From the New World – 09

by psgels, posted in From the New World

So this definitely is a week of plot twists. The thing that this episode implied though definitely took the cake. They made Shun look like such an important character, central to the plot of this series. He grew up to be brilliant, so there seemed no doubt that he was supposed to be a very big player in the upcoming story arc. And then the creators actually did THAT with him.

So, he’s either dead, or an animal. Knowing this show, it will actually go through with it: Shun’s gone, or at least he’s an animal now that’s not going to return back. The intrigue is just getting better and better with this show.

The whole air of mystery around this series and the stuff that the adults try to hide from the children is awesome. The characters really seem on the verge of stepping into something huge, that can so easily ruin the lives of so many people that the children have to be kept constantly unknowing. This story of a bunch of curious children that happened to find out about the truth about all that. It can only go bad ways because those rules weren’t set up for nothing…
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Robotics;Notes – 07

by psgels, posted in Robotics;Notes

What I love about this show: the slow build-up. Every episode it slowly builds up tension and raises the stakes in the midst of all the slice of life. You could really see this in Steins;Gate as well, even though the characters there turned it into a completely different anime. It’s pretty much how a slow pacing should be done: this series feels slow because it’s building up, not because i’ts padding for time.

This episode brought in a lot of mystery by also involving a murder plot involving an anime production staff, in which Fraukojiro’s mother was the main suspect. The whole episode being overlaid with that children’s song that is very often used to create a creepy atmosphere. It worked really well at the climax of this episode. It’s also not like the tension of each cliff-hanger is completely useless: it carries on over the next episode, as shown with how much Subaru changed here now that his father got into the picture.

The dialogues in this show by the way are quite down to earth, and I like that a lot about it: it fleshes them out really well. This episode was just one string of dialogues between different people, and it was actually quite well balanced: it didn’t go on and on around one particular couple, and yet the dialogues were long enough to give some extra character to the ones involved.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Psycho Pass – 07

by psgels, posted in Psycho Pass

I have been waiting for this kind of series for so long. Especially this episode, which just leaves the action for what it is, and instead creates tension through both art and dialogue. This episode was nothing but long dialogues between people about the current case of dismembered schoolgirls in a disturbed Maria-Sama ga Miteru setting.

This is a kind of storytelling style that I really love, but doesn’t happen often. It’s hard to balance because there is so much dialogue, making it hard to add in other stuff, but this episode balanced it out wonderfully in the way that it turned these murders in this weird kind of art, while at the same time exploring what goes through the mind of its creators, from the perspectives of different people.

On top of that, the way in which this case is loosely connected to Kogari’s reasons for becoming an enforcer is quite interesting, especially the backdrop of this series in which his friend was the victim of this deranged artist. Also for this friend to be a complete womanizer that he dfound interesting, rather than some perfect human being.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

Psycho Pass – 06

by psgels, posted in Psycho Pass

This episode ties everything together, and I like it. What psycho pass has basically been doing is gather tropes, and taking a look at them through the mind of a psychopath. Last arc this was about online communities, this time we have this series’ rendition of Maria-Sama ga Miteru. What would happen if one of the characters there was a psychopath, and given the opportunity to commit murder?

This episode really tried to give a strange sense of beauty and aesthetics to murder, taking the elegance of what you’d usually expect in a catholic all-girl high school, and using this in its story really well (also making this the second show this season to quote shakespeare). In this episode I also really could spot some hints of Naoyoshi Shiotani. I can’t exactly put my finger to why, but the style of direction in this episode reminded me of Tokyo Marble Chocolate. Still, I’d say that he’s quite a bit more restrained compared to the episodes and OPs that he has directed in the past. But that I guess is to be expected, considering how much more people are involved in the making of just one series, compared to a single episode or opening for which you have much more freedom (which is probably also why Sayo Yamamoto keeps doing the direction for OPs like what she did for this series as well).

Also, alcohol. Love seeing it used again. Not just for the sake of alcohol, but rather that it can show totally new sides of the characters. Also, it’s good to see the female lead not get instantly drunk. There are very few female leads I’ve seen doing that. And I’d say that this episode was particularly good at fleshing out the cast, on top of telling its story, and I liked the small scene where the female lead still tried to keep up with her friends, and where we revisited one of the culprits of one of the previous episodes.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Robotics;Notes – 06

by psgels, posted in Robotics;Notes

This episode had some interesting developments: it’s turned into a bit of a murder mystery which I really liked. There are so many unanswered questions about this Kou Kimijima, about the things he created and left behind. His story is getting more complex and intertwined with the characters with every episode.

Then there was the end of this episode, that explained why Subaru has been acting strange over the series: his father. I feel that perhaps the creators could have just shown him, looking at the robot and taking Subaru away, rather than throwing that entire over the top tantrum, but perhaps it was the creators’ intention to make him into a psychopath like that.

Apart from that, lots of slice of life and people interacting with each other. Overall, I like these scenes as they show the cast getting to realize their dreams, although I do have to say that Kona is getting more annoying with every episode with her leet-speak.

Also, the supernatural is a bit unfair to the cast in this series. Kaito gets hit, and in return he gets powers that allow him to experience time really slowly, allowing him to be one of the best pilots in the world. Subaru gets powers… to faint. Mizuka… loses the ability to walk. That is some really unfair karma there…
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

From the New World – 08

by psgels, posted in From the New World

Okay. From the New World has surpassed itself yet again. I thought that as the start of a new arc would be quiet and moderately uneventful. However, the character development in this episode was already amazing, but what really impressed me were the things around it.

First of all, how this series expanded upon the setting. It was already hinted that the characters in this series would become sexually active, but the way in which they did it came with a bunch of big surprises. Most of all, how differently the society looks at homosexual relationships, to the point where all relationships are just between people of the same gender. And it’s not like straight romances are a complete taboo either: a few episodes ago we saw the beginnings of Saki and Satoru trying to mess with each other.

Also, the way in which these relationships were portrayed. Talk about different. Both in the small details (people looking at each other, subtle hints of people having huge crushes like buying the same necklace, trying to instill jealousy) to just cutting all the crap and just showing people, in a relationship, cuddling and playing with each other. Screw the awkward and forced fanservice you see everywhere. This was so much better.

And then there was the animation of this episode. As usual it did not shine though its consistency or fluidity, but there was this creativity in how the characers moved, and how they were drawn that really caught my attention. The way in which people moved their body, or changed their facial expressions was really imaginative. The creators were obviously on a tight budget this episode, and I’m quite impressed with how expressive they managed to make this episode look.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

From the New World – 07

by psgels, posted in From the New World

This episode ends the first major part of this series. Where last week left us off with a very bleak cliff-hanger, this time was not as bleak as allied reinforcements arrived. Instead this episode was chock full of hints of how badly things can go wrong. Since we’re only at episode seven, there is plenty of time for the creators to live up to that.

What really struck me in this episode was how Saki and Satoru had to keep trying to look like gods: if they gave up or showed signs of weakness, they’d immediately lose their advantage in the battle, causing them to get killed off really easily. Then there was the threat of the Hornet colony, which really made a presence of being dangerous this episode. Squealer in particular was really good at only enlarging this feeling with his fidgety acting, on top of nearly betraying them once. Something tells me that we’re going to see more of him.

And then there was that scene in which all those larvae were captured. I mean, there have been many series about war and all, but I can’t recall one showing such a bleak picture, in which basically thousands of babies were taken hostage ON SCREEN, pretty much doomed for slavery for their entire lives. There have been enough series that implied this. But has it ever been shown so clearly?
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Robotics;Notes – 05

by psgels, posted in Robotics;Notes

This episode really reminded me of Sword Art Online, and how much better the execution of this show is. The big difference is that Robotics Notes isn’t all about wish fulfillment: the male lead can normally interact with girls without romantic hints being dropped over and over. The AI that appears actually acts a bit believably as an AI, instead of having a ridiculously contribed backstory, and the girls do no revolve around the main guy at all. That alone made this episode very refreshing to watch.

But there is more: as a big mystery-fan, I loved the second half of this episode when it started focusing on this. Where did that AI come from? What makes her so special in a series that’s actually about robots? Who made that prediction, and why did he know the exact times when the solar storms would happen? Why did this Kimjima Kou know Mizuka?

Also, Steins;Gate turned Cern into an evil organization. This show seems to do that with NASA and JAXA. I also like that they used their real names this time. I like this back-story as an added intrigue. The pacing of this show is slow, but it does add in quite some significant new stuff with every episode.

What I also liked what this episode did, was how it focused on the world itself: with beached whales, and talking about the wheather around the world. They’re small details, but these bring life to this series.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Psycho Pass – 05

by psgels, posted in Psycho Pass

You know? Psycho Pass is very good at using its build-up. This arc was rather strange at times, but what I really liked was the climax of this episode in which the villain of this arc was apprehended. The directing there was really good, the music rocked, and everything came together. Of course it got quite surreal in a way that wasn’t for everyone, but I liked how creative it was (also, that use of alcohol rocked).

I also liked how this episode went much more in-depth into the existance of online idols. Last week we were introduced to the concepts, but this time showed much more details, and what it means to be an online celebrity. The scriptwriter also really liked to quote famous philosophers in this episode. It also made me wonder: if someone killed me, and still kept posting at the same rate that I do… would people notice?

This also showed a bit more about the world of Psycho Pass: the world here seems to have its own method of determining psychological coefficients, but not optimal search algorythms: people still need to search smartly if they want to find something, because there is so much information. On the other hand, Holograms have gotten to such an advance state that even a computer can’t tell the difference; that, or there are tricks to fool the visual sensors for the computers (which is why everything looked so trippy).
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)