And here ends the second and final half of Takano’s background. Like expected, it was a bit bland, and not that interesting, but it was necessary to give Takano some kind of background. I’m just a bit disappointed that we still don’t know why she’s doing everything. I mean, professor Takano never talked about using the Hinamizawa-syndrome as a biological weapon. What caused Takano to create that vision? Did she stumble on it on her research? I also didn’t like the head of the orphanage. The guy was just pure evil without any reasons at all, and seriously lacked development. It’s hard to take him seriously when you hardly know anything about him. Also, where did he get so many henchmen from? Didn’t they find the things he did to the children strange? It would also have been interesting to see a bit more about what happened to the other children who ran away. If I understood things correctly, at least one of them got caught back, but did they really all die? Still, I’m looking forward to the next episode, and how Keiichi and the others will try to outsmart Takano. One thing I did like about the past two episodes is how they showed that Takano has an iron will. That is the reason why everything turned out the same way for every arc, apart from the second and the fifth, perhaps. The strange thing is that even though Rika died, Rena and Keiichi were still fine. I think that this is because Takano really needed to create some kind of fear within the residents, and I think that at that point, Keiichi and Rena unconsciously trusted each other, and didn’t hold any harsh feelings against Shion and the things she did. It would have been interesting to see Takano’s reaction to this.]]>
Category: Finished Series: Horror
Some quick first impressions: Shion no Ou, Koharu Biyori and Ghost Hound
Shion no Ou Okay, so here’s one that’ll never get licensed: the creators assumed that the viewers know the basic rules of Shougi, which isn’t really the case for most western viewers, now is it? Still, this series rocks, despite this, and it actually motivated me enough to learn more about the game in order to understand it better. I’ve said this before, but I really like Studio Deen, in the way that they’ve got an eye for great concepts, and there is a chance they’ve struck gold here. The murders only turned out to be a very small part of all the mysteries surrounding this series, and I’m so going to watch this. Koharu Biyori The OVA-format can be great for those stories that are too short for their own series, yet have the potential to turn into excellent stories. And then came Koharu Biyori where a perverted teenager buys himself a maid-robot and puts her in different dresses. Seriously, this is just one big excuse for fanservice; it’s especially obvious when a big octopus appears from out of nowhere. I admit, there were some funny moments here and there, like the selfish-joke, but that’s nowhere near enough to make up for the shallow plot, bad writing and nature to milk money out of the perverted otaku. Ghost Hound For me, this was the big title for the fall-season for me, and so far it doesn’t disappoint. It’s nothing amazing yet, though, but that’s because this clearly was an introduction-episode, with the purpose of giving the viewer a small taste of the different characters and the setting. One of the interesting things about this episode is how the creators managed to make a male main character of about fourteen years old who actually doesn’t feel annoying. I also like how his sister died, when both of them were kidnapped when they were young: it shows great promise for the future episodes. The graphics also look awesome, but what else do you expect when the character-designer of Jigoku Shoujo and Production-IG team up together? The voice-acting is also quite good and realistic; this is going to be a major series once the plot really gets fired off.]]>
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 40
And this episode finally gives Takano her background. I was able to tolerate her evil cackling of the previous episodes because I knew that the current arc would develop her, and this episode makes a good start, showing how she came to her position. Now all that’s left is why she’s doing everything, which I think will be answered in the next episode. This episode could have been done better, though. My biggest problem was with the owner of the orphanage Takano ended up in. What the creators basically did was make an underdeveloped character developed while using yet another underdeveloped character. Seriously, the guy just beats up the orphans in his orphanage for no apparent reason: just to be evil, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be getting any more screen-time, since Takano managed to run away at the end of the episode. To be honest, I expected more of Higurashi at this point. Still, I’ve got hopes. Higurashi’s highlights never were in its first episodes, apart from the first arc, perhaps. This also promises to be the longest arc yet, so there has to happen more than just that.]]>
Mononoke Review – 86/100
This is going to be a difficult review, simply because I want to praise this series, but at the same time it suffers from being a continuation of the third story of the anime Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror: Bake Neko. In there, a Medicine Seller exorcises the ghost of a cat that haunts a local family in feudal Japan, and it was one of the best short stories I’ve ever seen in anime. Mononoke sees the same premise, where we see five stories in which the Medicine Seller track down Mononoke (spirits) that are summoned to earth due to some grudge or regret. Obviously, it had a lot to live up to. If you were expecting the same as Bake Neko, you’ll be disappointed. The thing that made Ayakashi ~ Japanese Classic Horror so great was its element of surprise: you never knew what was going to happen. With Mononoke, you do: Medicine Seller is going to exorcise a spirit. The amount of horror has also been toned down. Sure, it’s still there, but it’s no longer a central theme, like it was in Bake Neko. Instead, Mononoke decided to put more attention to the thought-provoking elements of its stories. And yes, it does deliver there. All five stories are more than just ordinary ones, and a lot of attention has been put into them. The lines of good and bad are blurred in an effective way. The episodes also don’t answer every question, but assume that the viewer fills in the rest with his own common sense, and it works quite well. Especially the third and fourth story shine in this. Another major plus in this series is that the characters are realistic, and don’t care to be moe or GAR or anything similar. Sure, there are a bunch of young girls, but by far most of the characters are all sorts of adults; quite refreshing amongst other anime, which rarely seem to have important characters above the age of 25. The dialogue is also nice and creative, and you can hear that a lot of effort has been put into it as well. So the creators failed to trump Bake Neko. That doesn’t mean that Mononoke isn’t worth giving a look, and it’s great to see that people are still willing to go beyond the mainstream and experiment with original and different styles. Mononoke is an excellent recommendation for anyone who likes the Japanese-styled horror or similar forms of storytelling.]]>
Mononoke – 12
I’m not sure what roastedpekingduck meant when he said that the creators ran out of budget for this episode. Sure, the build-up wasn’t as good as the first Bake Neko, but this episode provided a satisfying if not a bit predictable ending. It’s not the best episode of this series, I’ll admit, though I didn’t sense any lack of budget. So, in the end, the reporter was the culprit, with the Mayor being the mastermind behind everything. The others were just bystanders. The waitress often hung out with the victim, so I think that the cat wanted her to know what happened. The boy and the woman were actual witnesses, and I think that they refused to talk about what they saw because it had a major impact on them. After all, if you just saw a human body getting crushed under a train, in all graphic violence, while being alone, there’s a very good chance that you just don’t want to talk about it. Ah well, even though it turned into something entirely different from what I expected, Mononoke made excellent use of the Noitamina-timeslot. I still like the initiative, and it’s good to see that among the countless high-school-anime, there still are people who welcome change and different ideas for series. Its current series, Moyashimon, also sparks with freshness.]]>
Mononoke – 11
Whoa… so everyone was hiding something! This story is probably the most horror-focused arc of the series with the arrival of yet another Bake Neko. I have no idea what the heck the Kotowari is supposed to be, and why the train-driver turned out to be the key-figure for this mystery, nor do I want to try and guess it. All I know is that I’m going to anticipate the final episode of this exciting arc. This is what I’ve been expecting from this series, and it’s going to be interesting whether this arc will be able to be as exciting as the original Bake Neko.]]>
Mononoke – 10
Whoa! Time-skip! The final arc of this series, consisting out of three episodes has finally started, and I’m pleasantly surprised by the setting: we see another Bake Neko, and the setting of the series has suddenly skipped about hundred years, to the industrial age. The medicine seller however remains in the same shape as ever. Is he a Mononoke himself as well? Something tells me that this series is never going to answer that question, and leave it up to the viewer’s imagination. Anyway, this arc has the potential to be the best one yet because of this. It all revolved around one suicide of a young woman. Somehow, her anger created the Bake Neko, who transported all important people to this mystery in the cabin of a train, who just departed from a newly built station, with lots of festivities. – We first have a waitress who works at a restaurant where the woman often used to visit. – Then there’s the conductor who ran over the woman, after she fell off the bridge above the train tracks. – We also have the detective who investigated her case. – There was also a young boy who witnessed the woman jump, along with her cat. – And there’s her employer: a journalist. – There’s also the mayor of the town, who gets eaten by the Bake Neko before he can tell the others what his role is. – And to close off, there’s a mysterious widow, whose part in this isn’t quite clear yet, apart from the fact that it’s absolutely vital. Apparently, the woman couldn’t forgive the widow. And the journalist is hiding something: he’s contradicted himself in this episode. At one time, he says that he often writes on the train, which explains how he doesn’t get sick while doing it (apparently trains back then were quite shaky), but later he claims to often work behind a desk, though he was at the station because the company he works for was short on staff. Why would he lie about something like that? I think that he, the mayor and the widow are the vital ones that need to be watched, the others sound more like unlucky bystanders who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.]]>
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 39
Seriously, this could very well be the one of the best episodes of Higurashi yet. There were a few continuity issues, but apart from that, the Minagoroshi-hen has ended perfectly, even though it was very straightforward. It basically focuses on Rika and everyone else, escaping from the Yamainu and Takano, carrying out her plan. The Yamainu could have been a bit better, though. The fourth arc clearly showed that these guys are professionals, and now they’re beaten by a bunch of kids. Not really the most believable turn of events. The different deaths were magnificent, though. It also seems that for the next arc, the other main characters will remember what happened in the previous ones as well, which can turn out to be pretty interesting. Then there’s the question of what Takano did after the Hinamizawa-disaster. I mean, years afterwards, Akisaka couldn’t find anything about her. She desires to become the next Oyashiro-sama, but what exactly does that mean? And why does she want it? I’m counting on the Matsuribayashi for the answers to this. With eleven episodes left, it’s promising to become one awesome ride. I wonder who the next main characters will be. Will Rika still take up this role, or is there going to be a different character?]]>
Mononoke – 09
Apologies for the delay. One thing I realized after I started to watch raws is how easy you can plan to watch them, compared to the subs, which get released at an unknown time. Anyway, about the episode: I liked this one a lot, and the subs make this series definitely more enjoyable. It seems that the three guys who came to propose were actually already dead, and Ruri never existed in the first place. It seems that she was a form of the Mononoke Nue, who kept luring in men in order for them to acknowledge it as something more than the piece of wood it actually was. There were a few questions left open, though. The samurai killed the fourth guy in the end, but did he really kill him or were they already dead at that point? The guy with the nose-cone seems to confirm that they were indeed really dead, as he seems to have killed Ruri, while being dead. The fact that the blood they were covered in just disappears after the killing seems to symbolize this as well: even though the two of them killed, they weren’t aware what they did back there. Then there’s the third one. While he never killed anyone, he actually went on with a game where five scents had to be smelled, among which one of them is poisonous. Would a normal person really say the same? Then there’s the strange dog. I originally thought that that was the Mononoke, though it was just a random bystander. It also seems that the Mononoke’s existence caused the colours in the house to dull out.]]>
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 38
And with this episode, a lot of the questions asked have been answered. The Hinamizawa-disease indeed produces hallucinations and makes the victim go paranoid, and every inhabitant of Hinamizawa suffers from it. The thing that keeps their disease quiet is surprisingly Rika herself. Once somebody distances him or herself from Rika, it starts to activate. Satoko killed her parents that way, and Rena smashed the windows of her school that way (I nearly forgot about that one). Luckily, Irie was able to save both of them before the disease became fatal. The death of Irie was planned all along by Takano, and Shion and Rena both freaked out because they left the village. I’m not sure what happened to Keiichi in the first arc, though. I mean, he wasn’t a resident of the village to begin with, was he? He just moved. How did he get the disease? The reason Oishi died in the third arc was probably how he ran into the Yamainu as they were trying to hack into the send-mast. As shown, they show no mercy to anyone. Probably because they know that an onslaught is about to happen anyway, so a few extra corpses never worry anyone. I’m suspecting that the ones who removed the corpse in that arc were also the Yamainu, to prevent Keiichi getting arrested and telling about Takano and how she gave him a ride. Satoshi probably went berserk himself, killing himself and his aunt in the process when he went away from the village at one time. (hence the money he saved, he was planning to leave the village all along and when he left, the disease took over). There are still a few questions left, though: – Why did Rika’s parents die? Did Rika become te queen carrier once her mother died? – Why is the send-mast necessary for Takano? I mean, she could just kill Rika and the disease activates. – What did Keiichi write on his note in the first arc and why was it so important that it had to be removed? – How did Keiichi get the disease? But the most important question left is: why did people survive? I originally thought that being isolated and unconscious was enough to be cured, but now that the existence of Rika is necessary to keep the disease at bay, then I do wonder how Keiichi, Rena and Satoko survived. The answer to this question will be crucial to escape the fate of dying over and over again. It’s a shame that the mystery and chaos of the first season is gone now, though fortunately this series made up for it with some powerful characters. I’m excited for the Matsuribayashi. It’s supposed to be the longest arc yet, and I’m really interested in how the creators were planning to end this.]]>