Category: Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama

The soundtrack of this series so far has been unique. It’s still very clearly of a Bee-Train series, but Kou Otani really restrained himself this time. It had a wonderful effect, but it may have been a bit too restrained, to the point where it could really show off as much as it would have, for a Bee-Train series, whose trademark has always been absolutely fantastic soundtracks. This episode though, introduced a track that went into the right direction, though. It’s very interesting how the creators waited 27 episodes to reveal it, and especially considering the moment when it was played, it is a very interesting hint to the future of this series. All in all this was a wonderful episode dedicated to character development. Hashiba Hideyoshi was incredibly happy after the heir news, but again Sennou Soueki sole the show, when it turned out that his views actually changed after the previous episodes. During the past episodes, he really showed more emotions than ever (and again, the music really helped with it). What’s also surprising is that even Sasuke learned from his mistakes. He was really getting too silly during the past episodes, and he actually realized that. And we still have 12 episodes to go. Rating: *** (Awesome)]]>

And so ends the second third of this series. Yes, we still have 13 episodes to wrap everything up in what still is the must unique show of the year. The past ten or so episodes in particular, as they have completely forsaken warfare, in favor of diplomacy and esthetics. In this episode, Sennou Soueki stood out. I’m still watching this thing raw, and this show still has unforgivingly difficult dialogue, so I didn’t get this perfectly, but my impression of this episode was that Sennou Soueki went a bit too far in promoting his ideals. Because he’s so revered, there are countless of cheap attempts in showing beauty through poverty and simplicity that completely miss the point. People like Sasuke who completely miss the point of art, just for the sake of being ironic. Again, this seems ver much like a satire on postmodernism. Also, I didn’t expect the creators to show his younger version with actual hair. Beauty in the eye of the beholder was a theme that went throughout this episode as well, when it showed that weird frog painting and the weird expression statue, which elicited very different reactions from everyone. And then the second half of this episode came with that very vivid nightmare of Hashiba Hideyoshi, in which he was the one cut in half. I swear, something is going to happen to him, but this show just keeps stalling that fact. It’s not necessarily dragging on, because it has enough to do in the meantime, but seriously, seeing this smug guy actually cut up would lead to some really interesting situations. It’s also great to see that after 26 episodes, this show still is as detailed as it ever was. In particular that fire scene: the props were drawn with a ton of details within them, and you could really see how they were made. In fact, there have been many historical series before, but I can’t recall any that has this part nailed as well as this series. Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>

This series is starting to turn into a parody on post-modernism. Furuta Sasuke once again delivers a crazy set-up to hold a tea ceremony, dressing like a cavemen with people playing drums in the background. Indeed, here he took the beauty of poverty and simplicity way overboard, and it looked like a bad play or something (just as like how we nowadays like to dress up like historical figures and professions). Then there was the old man, Sennou Soueki’s brother. Seriously, who was that old hag who he brought with him? It was a hilarious scene, especially with how she had an implied crush on the tea master. The strange thing is that usually in anime, the oldies are meant to be the veterans, whose part is to step back and let the young ones stand in the spotlights. Here though, they’re completely dancing around and manipulating the main cast. Also, Sasuke’s son is actually growing up! Seriously, having a kid is already one thing, but this kid takes it much further than usual by being so normal. He has no importance to the plot, and seems to be quite a generic character who is too lazy to do something of his own at the moment. He really feels like this young brat who won’t listen to his father, without being a complete tsundere for it. Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>

This again was a pretty bizarre episodes, meant to extend the influence and fame of the main cast when Hashiba Hideyoshi opens what could be called an exhibit of all sorts of tea ceremony props. A museum was made with all kinds of ceramics that he collected over the series, and what seems like an entire village of tea ceremony houses. Buy far the strangest was of course Sasuke’s tree-house, which inevitably crumbled (though in quite an hilarious way), but also the strange old man made an interesting reappearance. What really sold me on this episode was how wonderfully Sasuke is enjoying all of the attention cast on him. At this point, he really is a famous character, even though he too still is in Sennou Soueki’s shadow. The acting was once again just wonderful: 24 episodes and it still hasn’t dulled in. The characters still are as sharp as they ever were. Also, who was that kabuki-player? Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>