Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

Mouretsu Pirates – 21

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

So… in this one episode this show did what I thought would take up the rest of the series. What the?

And don’t get me wrong here: this was really well done. Suddenly the pacing of this episode increased two-fold, and that lead to an incredibly fun race with a ton of action and intrigue and suspense. It was chaotic in a good way and there was a lot going on here and this pretty much stands among the best episodes of Mouretsu Pirates. I really was totally immersed here and I love how despite the slow pacing the creators chose, they are also flexible enough to once in a while just go all out. This brings a wonderful balance between action and slice of life.

Also, with the graphics in this episode you could really see that this comes from the director of Stellvia of the Universe. For the people who haven’t seen that yet: the CG scenes looked really ugly and made no attempt whatsoever to blend in. The dinghies really look like the space ships that they used in Stelliva. Now, this episode took that mentality, and handed it over to Satelight’s CG department, who are known for their eye candy. The result looked very artistic.

I also feel like the end of the episode with Ai was a great shout-out to Stellvia. In that series the pilots didn’t even get to see outside and were forced to navigate though these very abstract and convoluted interfaces. Here though, the opportunity was given to her to fly around without any screens or electronics, and she took it. Although I do wonder how that all would have worked in terms of aerodynamics.

Overall, Mouretsu Pirates turned into a great example of a series that spends a lot of time building up. In the early episodes there were enough hints that his show knew what it was doing: great acting, real character performances and a good amount of creativity and imagination put into the premises. This was enough to keep me confident and interested in this series. And really: it paid off. I’m glad to have kept up with this show.

The show hasn’t ended yet so I can’t say this for certain yet, but I get more and more convinced that Mouretsu Pirates will end up as the best non-sequel series of the shows that premiered in Winter 2012.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Fate/Zero – 21

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

The second half of this episode took some huge risks. This series has been very composed in terms of acting; with some exceptions, the acting in this series was subdued and even during the over the top parts, the characters knew exactly how to act with just enough restraint whilst still giving off great performances. This episode drops that and descends into overblown melodrama. Not just to show how a character feels, but also vital to the story.

These are the moments when a character completely loses it. They’re not meant to be pretty, they just are about characters completely breaking down and looking very ugly in the process. This is incredibly hard to act right because it’s just all too easy to scream at the top of your lungs and do the most outrageous thing out there. Another key to this is willing suspension disbelief: as a viewer we really need to get the idea that these characters have broken down. Which is why I’m a bit puzzled that the creators chose to do this with the master who has gotten the least amount of airtime to get fleshed out so far. To be honest, that breakdown scene… it didn’t really hit me and looked more silly due to how little we actually know of these two people. It also felt like there was just too little build-up and aftermath for it. Tohsaka killed the woman, walked away and immediately we switch to Archer and Kirei sitting back and having some wine celebrating. It… doesn’t flow well.

Also, an observation that I made before this all happened: in the first season, Rider really was the stand-out character: his charisma and monologues were wonderful and it brought a lot of spark to the series. In the second season… this just doesn’t apply at all. He has been weakened and beaten pretty often, with in this episode him losing his chariot, in favor of characters as Kotomine Kirei and Kiritsugu. This can be quite interesting build-up if the final episodes know how to handle it.
Rating: * (Good)

Tsuritama – 07

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

I had this entry all typed up, but I’ve got plans and am quite busy today and I wanted to also get Eureka Seven’s entry out before I have to leave again. So I decided to first watch Eureka Seven’s episode, publishing both entries afterwards at the same time. It’s more efficient that way. And ah? What could happen?

And then my laptop crashed. Right as I finished typing up my thoughts of Eureka Seven. That’s two entries lost when I’m under time pressure. I’m not going to retype both, but here are the gists of my thoughts:
– Tsuritama had a slow start again after last episode which worried me a bit.
– Ending made up for it, and the dynamic between the cast was fun.
– Something went wrong with the outsourcing.
– That ending had better be awesome!
strong>Rating: *+ (Great)

Mouretsu Pirates – 20

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

So, there will be a race on dinghies (special types of spaceships), Marika’s school has been some sort of demon in the past for this race, and Marika will be in danger from her competing pirate colleagues as soon as she graduates high school. These will be the three main ingredients for the finale of Mouretsu Pirates. This episode did all of the preparation work, all that’s left now is to mix them, put them in the oven and let’s see whether the result works.

With this, it also becomes clear that the creators are putting one of the main roles in the hands of that one girl with the short brown hair, I believe her name was Ai. I already found it a bit strange how much airtime she was given, but this explains it: she will be the star of the “race” part of the finale, while Marika and the others work behind the scenes in order to focus on the other two. Yes, this means that the main character actually does not stand in the spotlights. That’s not something you see often.

And then this episode also spent some time on some weird training techniques. The windsurf race in particular was a bit weird, as driving those things… I don’t think that that’s quite the same as piloting a vehicle that looks like it. But then again: this is school and this is supposed to focus on being fun, not trying to squeeze out the biggest winning chances. Kane in any case was having a great time.
Rating: *+ (Great)

Fate/Zero – 20

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

The previous two episodes really were an intermezzo: they were completely standalone compared to the rest of the linear storyline. In theory, they could have been shown at any point in the series. The place the creators ended up choosing is interesting. The effect is that this episode immediately started with the aftermath of what happened three, four and five weeks ago, only to follow with one heck of a climax as well.

I get the feeling that there would have no point in the second season where the past arc would really have fitted in: there are four different storylines going on at the same time and the build-up and aftermaths of all are so intertwined that it’s impossible to find one clear point where everything has quieted down. the first season had these moments, but it seems the creators were really saving that arc for the second half of the show. This is all a good thing, by the way. It’s a sign that the storytelling is great if there is always something going on like that.

The interesting thing is that this episode contained even more background, but this time it was much more weaved into the narrative. These really were the remaining bits of background that were still missing, like who the black-haired woman was, and why Irie devoted herself to the Grail War (her loyalty towards Kiritusgu did not turn out to be the only reason; that surprised me”).

And then there was Rider. First of all I really liked that this episode showed some of the things that went on in his mind during his monologues in the first season of Fate/Zero, but at the end of this episode he really showed a different side of his. The first person he actually killed, the black haired woman. After so much heroic talk, he finally shows that like Kiritsugu, he isn’t going to take it easy on his opponents. There was no chivalry in it whatsoever, which is a great point against Saber.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Tsuritama – 06

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

Tsuritama’s true colours have finally come to the surface. After all of the build-up, it definitely was great for the stakes to be raised, things to change, and that legendary water dragon to come into play. And I love the way in which it did so.

The big reason why I was a bit apprehensive about Tsuritama’s direction was balance. Putting a lot of time into build-up is nice. However when you don’t get to the point that you’re actually building up to then all that buildup is for naught. This episode showed that the creators definitely have things in store for the second half. The question is how far they’re willing to go.

Nevertheless, the change felt very natural because of all of the build-up: we got to see Yuki learning to fish, the characters getting to know each other, and now that they’re sufficiently advanced they start heading into the parts of the waters that house that water dragon. The change was made even better with how that dragon also loved to use brainwashing. It’s here where the direction really shined again. The past episodes didn’t really take advantage of Kenji Nakamura’s talents as a director, but this episode really made up for that with the vibrant colours, great camera angles and creative action. The Enoshima dance indeed was wonderful.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mouretsu Pirates – 19

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

Yeah, this was without a doubt the best episode inbetween the major arcs for Mouretsu Pirates yet. I’m not sure why, but there is something inherently enjoyable about just watching Marika do random but necessary chores like cleaning, moving stuff and simple maintenance while the rest of the crew still is locked away in that bloody hospital. This is the kind of slice of life that I really enjoy. Mariko being tired also was really well acted.

And yet at the same time this show uses these really weird coincidences to keep its cat together. This time the plot device it used was Marika’s ring, of all things. Marika lost it, Gruiviere picked it up and that gave the members of the yacht club an excuse to meet the crew of the Bentenmaru. At first this seemed really weird, but then again we know this series by now. There is no way that the creators are not going to use that in the final arc. The final arc will really be a smörgåsbord of different characters.

Overall, I am very happy with how Mouretsu Pirates ended up handling its huge cast. I personally really like series where the amount of important characters can’t be counted on all your hands and toes, provided that it’s well done. With this series, the only characters who I just get mixed up are some of the members of the yacht club, and even they get more defined as individual characters with every episode since we headed into the second half of this series. The key here is good acting. It’s not like all of these people are well developed, but it still feels you know these people. Well done, Mouretsu.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Fate/Zero – 19

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

A message to the commenters who have already read the Fate/Zero light novels: please do care to avoid spoilers here. This is not a blog about the Fate franchise, but rather this a place to discuss the Fate/Zero anime. If you’re going to spoil that Natalia dies it rather diminishes the impact of that twist, especially since that was the entire thing that this episode was leading up to. This is the one thing I dislike about adaptations of very popular works: it’s really hard not to get spoiled about things.

In any case though, the way in which Natalia did die… was pretty creative. It also tied in very much with Kiritsugu killing a few in order to save a lot, and the plane being taken over by an extreme version of killer bees: it showed another layer of what can be done with the magic in this series. It’s also interesting how professional the characters operated. It’s not often that you see professionalism to such a degree in anime. Although I do wonder who Natalia was able to smuggle guns on a plane. Is that something that magic can do as well?

Overall, I’m surprised that we get two whole episodes of Kiritsugu’s background so relatively late in the series. With this though we can understand his actions in trying to eliminate Lancer, and how his views are the total opposite of Saber’s Chivalry. And I guess that some sort of intermission was needed before the showdown between the four remaining pairs.
Rating: *+ (Great)

Tsuritama – 05

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

I still have no bloody clue about what exactly this series is building up for, but I did enjoy this episode strangely enough. The series is still in its “crash cource fishing”-stage, and this time we head into the ocean in order to show the next step in fishing. On paper it again was a very standard episode with not much happening.

Still, the character development is starting to kick in now. Whereas the character development in Apollon is very forceful, Tsuritama is the complete opposite and the characters evolve more gradually. With this episode, the characters again have warmed up to each other more and they’re a lot warmer towards each other, and the chemistry between them has also increased. This kind of praise is about the complete opposite that I imagined I’d give for a Kenji Nakamura-series, though.

The one thing that really caught my attention is how absent his typical style of direction is in this series. The only part of this series that really reminds me of him is the dreams that Yuki has, and that film roll flashes across the screen. That is something that’s typical of his style, with that heavy emphasis on sound effects.

In any case, it’s great to see how well the characters in this series are fleshed out, but this show isn’t there yet. Something memorable has to happen now. It’s a waste to have good characters, and yet not use them well beyond that. This is something that Kenji Nakamura is particularly good at, and I’m really wondering what he has in store for the second half of this series. But at the same time at this pacing it’s also entirely possible that this series will keep its unambitious tone for the entire rest of the series.
Rating: *+ (Great)

Mouretsu Pirates – 18

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

This show is very shrewd. There are some parts that feel so real, especially with the characters. and then it keeps pulling some weird over the top plot twists from out of nowhere. This arc once again ends with a wonderful anti-climax that I did not see coming.

The build-up for this episode was fairly straightforward with the electronic warfare and the spaceship battles. And then the revelation of Jenny’s fiance’s over the top performance as some sort of hitler-like figure felt so out of place that it became hilarious, especially when Chiaki immediately followed it by one of her best performances as a pirate so far.

And at the same time, I also feel like ths is something that the final arc is going to use in some way: the anti-government sentiments. This episode did show that there are quite a few people who are looking to organize some sort of revolution. I can very much imagine the Bentenmaru getting involved in this somehow, and it woud make a very interesting climax. Speaking of which, I do wonder whether the creators also plan an anti-climax like in this episode for the ending of this series. It would be awesome if they did that.
Rating: ** (Excellent)