Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Tsuritama – 11

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

Again: Sakamichi no Apollon may have stole the show in its first half, right now I really consider Tsuritama to be the better of the timeslot. This episode was just so much fun, and the build-up just continues to increase and the more I watch, the more I get convinced that the slow build-up at the beginning was totally worth it.

This episode perhaps wasn’t as creative as other episodes of Tsuritama, but everything just came together. I loved how this episode revealed small details that I didn’t even notice yet, Haru’s fixation with red things standing out the most. I also loved the climax of this episode. Usually episodes like this are all about defeating mid-bosses. This episode however saw the cast completely failing in their last-ditch effort to catch JFX, right at the point where the typhoon hits.

This series really understands its own hype: everything about JFX is still filled with mystery: both what he is or what he looks like, along with the absolute doom scenario of what would happen when the typhooon hits Enoshima at its center. That’s all going to be in the final episode. Seriously, the two endings I’m looking forward to the most in the upcoming week are Lupin and Tsuritama, just because of how much they spent on carefully building them up.

Really, I’m trying to think of the last Noitamina series that understood the one-season Noitamina-format as well as Tsuritama. Un-Go overall was better than this (after all, it delivered immediately), but it still was a bit rushed, same for Ano Hana, which brings me back all the way to Yojou-han Shinwa Taikei. Speaking of which, Masaaki Yuasa should show a bit of himself again.
Rating: **+ (Excellent)

Fate/Zero – 24

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

After nearly finishing this series, one thing that surprised me is that Kotomine Kirei didn’t really turn into such a psychotic villain. In fact for me he’s one of the most interesting characters in this second season in the way he’s searching for something to fill his doubts with. I’d much rather label Kiritsugu as the psychopath, especially after what happened in this episode.

But that definitely was a great cliff-hanger at the end of this episode. Although that does leave me to wonder: Tohsaka Tokiomi wanted a wish that would require to rewrite the laws of reality right? If such a wish is possible, then why can’t Kiritsugu’s wish of wanting to save everyone come true? To take the boats example: why not use magic to fix both holes? I get what this episode was going for in that Kiritsugu’s wish was way too naive, but if you’ve already gone over nine thousand multiple times, then this seems a pretty strange place to stop. Also, why did the grail appear, even though there were still some people fighting over it?

In any case, the action scenes were all great here, although the fight between Saber and Berserker felt a bit underwhelming, considering most of happened off-screen, and we still don’t really know why he became Berserker. Kiritsugu vs Kotomine was very well directed though, and I liked a lot how professional both were.
Rating: *+ (Great)

Mouretsu Pirates – 24

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

So, how does Mouretsu Pirates decide to fill in its penultimate episode? Plot twists. Or should I say, character twists. This episode was full of twists about characters that went into completely different directions than what was hinted about them. So to summarize:

– Coolie is actually hot when she takes off her coat and glasses.
– The legendary chef had five sons, who all opened up their own places.
– Luca has been kidnapped and switched with an android.
– Kane has a body double with a spike of very twitchy hair.
– Ririka has been captured by that very theatrical pirate of last episode.
– Chiaki has apparently spoken some very praising words about Marika to her father.

I mean, for this show to pull all of this in one episode, let alone the penultimate. I really like their guts and it’s a great way to build up to the finale, especially considering how it has never done anything like this before. If anything, Mouretsu Pirates is a really varied series: every arc is different and yet it comes together so wonderfully.

Now, the big danger with all these plot twist is the classic “rushed ending”. Putting in too many plot threads for the final episode to actually resolve. With this, it’s clear that Mouretsu Pirates is going for a fast-paced ending, and these kinds of endings can vary greatly, from being really good to being really bad.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Tsuritama – 10

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

You know what? I’m actually enjoying Tsuritama more than Apollon at this point. This episode was all the fun that I hoped it to be, and it was a really creative calm before the storm episode. Just about everyone here made this episode exciting and I love the work that was done on the screenplay.

I have to say that Yuki’s little trip to Nagoya was a really creative way to get him out of the picture for a while, so that this show could focus on all of the side-characters instead. Yuki himself racing back to Enoshima also was really fun to watch. On top of that, the great thing about Duck is that even though they look silly, they were actually quite competent. They just had the bad luck that their target was absurdly powerful in the water. And they had a couple of very gullible goons, okay, but there is nothing wrong with their thoroughness.

In any case, Tsuritama is a series that is really built around its finale. Every part of it is meant to built up to these episodes, and this has its advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is that the first half tends to be rather boring. I don’t mind build-up as long as it satisfies two conditions:
– This build-up actually pays off and gets used.
– It is actually building up, and not dragging out and delaying the inevitable.

Tsuritama at this point satisfies both. The whole first half of the series really took its time to flesh out the characters and show a bit of drama around them, while it gave Yuki a crash course in fishing so that he would be able to take on JFX in the upcoming final episode. I don’t feel like it has rushed or dragged on at all, and these episodes all played out very naturally. Because of this these past episodes have been so believable and engaging. With this, I can really see that the creators put in a lott of time to make sure that the pacing of this series works, and I congratulate them for that.

The reason I wasn’t optimistic during the build-up part is because I have been disappointed a little too often by series that promised to build up… only to fail to deliver, or ending on some rushed finale. This didn’t just happen in manga adaptations, but also anime original series like Tsuritama. If the finale also ends up delivering however, then Tsuritama really is a great example of a series that got things right.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Mouretsu Pirates – 23

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

Yeah. I guess that this was the perfect episode to show that pirates have their sense of theatrics. That hologram is one thing, but for a ship to bring its own sound effects in order to circumvent the “no sound in space”-problem, I have to give it to the creators: that was very creative. Being a pirate before was made to look like a very bureaucratic job, but amidst all of the rules that they need to follow in order to survive, they did build in this very nostalgic coded signal in the form of a bunch of old-school pirates singing.

Aso, Ririka only appeared in one scene, but that scene alone was enough to shut down any theories that she’s going to play any significant role in this series. It’s a pretty awesome anti-climax in a way: we’ve seen scenes of her wanting to do stuff she likes to do, so with her absence during the past arc you’d think that she took pirating back up or something. But no, she just started traveling, which is actually a much more logical explanation. I believe that she finally saw that Marika could take care for herself now, and started to make use of her new free time.

I really like this: on one hand you have the stakes being higher than before, but at the same time this series also has gotten more playful than ever, and that’s not something you usually see. I really have to praise the character-development in this series: it’s subtle, but it’s there, and what makes this final arc so much fun to watch is watching how much the cast has grown together. Now all that’s left is a good finale.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Fate/Zero – 23

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

If I had to give Fate/Zero’s second season one criticism, then it’s the convenience of some of the noble phantasms. I don’t mean all of them; Rider’s noble phantasm was great and Assassin’s and Berserker’s were also well used. But for some of the others: first there was Lancer, whose noble phantasm conveniently nullifies Saber’s powers. Things then got worse when Caster needed to be taken care of and Saber’s noble phantasm just so happened to be perfect for that. And now Archer reveals this giant delete button of his which conveniently ends up being the perfect thing to take away Rider’s trump card. My memory isn’t perfect, so it could be that they built up to this and I just don’t remember it, but if they didn’t: pulling this thing three times is a bit much, guys.

In any case though: there was one thing for which this episode was really clearly building up to. With this episode, it became really apparent, but the entire second season has carefully been leading up to this moment: Rider’s fall. It started with him wasting too much of his energy on taking care of Caster, and ever since he lost that air of invincibility around him. That moment in which Rider charges Archer by himself is where all of this came together.

Also, I am not sure who was behind the visuals of Rider’s noble phantasm, but once again the scenes that took place in there looked gorgeous. Especially the point where it all started to fall apart had a lot of visual talent behind it.

Also, Berserker… I now understand why they kept his identity hidden for so long.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Tsuritama – 09

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

Yes! This definitely is a start here! Best episode of Tsuritama so far!

This episode kept the light-hearted nature, added the epic “the world is doomed”-effect, increased the pacing, used the build-up of the rest of the series, and really got fun and exciting. The balance between comedy and drama especially was brilliant.

It’s also here where it really shows how creative this show is, because once again this episode thrived on it, and it had a ton of these nice finds that made this episode really interesting to watch, ranging from the bizarre bunny suits that the members of Duck wore and their hilariously direct ways of taking control of Enoshima to the use of hot curry and Haru’s idea to send Yuki to Nagoya of all places. It’s a really neat idea to have the cast make the main character make a little side-trip.

What’s more: this episode flowed really well into each other. For one the members of Duck are hilarious, but they were also very effective in rounding up the city despite that. It’s here where you can really see the build-up paying off, because Enoshima really feels alive, especially now that it has changed so much because of the evacuations. All the events in this episode also flowed really well into each other, and nothing felt forced. Come on, Kenji Nakamura: you can do this. Continue this upward trend for two more episodes and we’ll actually have a really great series here.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Mouretsu Pirates – 22

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

That cliff-hanger…. was that guy seriously standing on a spaceship, in the middle of dead space, without some kind of helmet?

Putting that aside though: after all those 6-episode arcs, I did not expect that this series would close on an arc of only four episodes long. That suddenly explains the increased pacing of last week, but I really don’t mind this: this isn’t a last-minute rush job because the pacing was increased way in advanced, giving this a nice effect of a series that takes its pace in order to build up, only to switch up a gear near the finishing-line.

This episode immediately starts off a new arc, and there is minimal build-up before we already get to the center of the matter here: strange spaceships which have been hunting pirates. These final villains are so badass that even the laws of physics don’t matter to them. Joking aside though: they have potential. It’s a bit more orthodox compared to finishing things with that race arc, but still: this episode hinted that it’s going to explore what makes a pirate, and how things can change when every pirate starts working together. In order to explore those themes, then this set-up is quite good for it.

This episode also did its homework by looking at the future: we’re really going to get a life goes on ending, and Marika talking about getting a pilot’s license and wondering what she’ll do after graduating, it was all leading up to that.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Fate/Zero – 22

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

This show picked a really good use for its “calm before the storm”-episode: some last-minute character backgrounds that give a really different dimension to the characters involved. Waver and Irisviel had some very shocking plot twists here.

Waver had a surprisingly genuine moment with his grandfather, or the guy he used magic to turn into a grandfather. I’m not sure if it was revealed why he had to do this, but he probably used this as a guise to hide out from the other masters and servants. This was both an interesting revelation and a great way to flesh him out at the last minute, because you could really see that that talk made a huge impact on Waver.

And then there was Irisviel’s death, which eventually turned into that really trippy scene where ends up in the holy grail or something? Was she made specifically so that this would happen? And so how did she end up with Kiritsugu of all people? Did he make her, or was she created by somebody else, who left behind that huge pile of dead Irisviel’s bodies?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Tsuritama – 08

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

The explanation behind this series… actually turned out to be pretty simple: there is an alien who controls people using water. Haru and his sister are out to stop him. Duck investigates both of them. That’s it, and I’m impressed that the creators managed to make an entire series out of just that.

What this show did was very risky, but still: I like how it didn’t force anything here to put in extra tension. This episode pretty much explained what was going on. There will be one point of confrontation with that alien: the typhoon. The characters took a while to venture out to its location because in the first half of this series, they had no reason to, and they’re not going to go back again because they’re not stupid. This show is about fishing: being patient and letting things come naturally. The downside of this is that you also don’t know if you’re going to catch something.

And that’s the double edge of the series structure that this show picked of letting everything evolve naturally, compared to the series that start out action-packed: I’m not advocating action, but rather characters and storylines who show themselves off and bring up emotions. Having a slow pacing either works out really well because it allows us to really get a feel of the characters, or become completely boring because nothing happens. The trick I use in an attempt to guess how well a series will end up based on just the first few episodes is by looking at its potential: what is it building up to? Is the characterization good? How do the characters work together? And this is where Tsuritama scored really high.

all that’s left now is the pay-off: these final episodes have the daunting task of using all that build-up and delivering a very memorable finale. You can have amazing characters, but if they don’t do anything or don’t get pushed to their limits, then it’s a bit of a shame. The one thing I noticed in this episode was the impact that the scenes about the Bermuda thingy made to me: I got really excited there when the music started playing. Keep that up.

NB: holy crap Natsuki looks different now!
Rating: ** (Excellent)