Category: Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 31

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou



Hmm, I don’t see what’s so particularly bad about this episode. Sure, it indeed wasn’t as good as last week, but it still was a very interesting story with a ton of character development for Natsume and two of his friends, alongside some pretty good background on one of their families.

I do agree that the pacing was a bit more jumpy than usual, and this episode indeed wasn’t of the soothing kind that we’ve gotten used to. Instead, this episode was full of character. Taki’s grandfather’s story was particularly interesting, in the way that he unknowingly set up a bunch of random things and seals, and it also explains how Taki got that seal that shows Youkai.

I also really liked the ending of this episode: with these two, Natsume has finally met two people who understand him, and in this episode he definitely got closer to them, up to the point where he can actually tell them about the youkai he encountered. I mean, he’s still very shy: the scene in which they were just randomly sitting around the table chatting: we get the big impression that Natsume was mostly sitting there and the other two were mostly talking about random classmates. This is like, the fifth episode in a row that contributes in some way to Natsume’s development.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 18

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



An interesting, albeit very annoying episode.

So, I asked for a Nako episode, and I got one. This episode dealt with her shyness, and unfortunately in order to do that it had to have her act like a bit of an idiot The entire episode was about her trying to change herself, with the result that she did a ton of things that she wouldn’t do. It definitely wasn’t bad… but she did get rather on my nerves. The only real criticism I have right now is the random guys who popped up in this episode (they were really annoying in the bad ways…) and that Nako probably is the first who begged her employer not to give her a raise…

This definitely was an episode for the long term of this series: what the next episodes need to do is show how she changed. She really didn’t appear much during the past months, so the shyness also suddenly returned from having been gone for like, what? 10 episodes?

Interestingly though, this episode also secretly fleshed out the rest of the cast when the four girls went shopping and we got to see some unexpected sides of them that we had not seen before. Ohana’s grandmother’s part in this episode was also very strong: the main theme of this series is working, and the end of this episode really delivered on that again.

This probably won’t happen, but what I’d like to see the most out of this series at this point, is a significant time-skip: show these characters as they’ve grown up. What has become of them? How did their character development during the past few episodes change them?
Rating: * (Good)

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée – 05

by psgels, posted in Ikoku Meiro no Croisée



This was quite the interesting episode. For one, Alice made no appearance whatsoever, so the creators aren’t trying to overuse her, but this episode also went another step further in its analysis of the cultural differences between France and Japan. Previously it discussed things like different foods and climate,but this time it really looked at the people: how they act towards each other and strangers.

Beyond that, Yune also had the bad luck to get lost in the middle of a rainy day where everyone would be rather pissed off, but I’m actually surprised at how she thought that talking to strangers with a smile will catch their attention: my impression of Japan (and do correct me if I’m wrong here) was that it’s very difficult to talk to strangers, in an “everyone’s minding their own business”-kind of way, even more than what’s common in Europe.

The shop scene pretty much nailed it though: I was also really surprised when I first found out that Japanese shop keepers tend to really flock to you and try to assist you in every way. Beyond that, this episode also addressed the poverty in the area quite subtly as an introduction: we’ve seen that young boy before, and only now he just makes his move, actually taking advantage of Yune’s niceness.

Oh, and in the meantime this show is also doing quite a good job in fleshing out its characters. The Aria-esque parts where Claude explains how important his grandfather is to him also really worked here, and this episode pretty much did that with the rest of the cast as well
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hyouge Mono – 17

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono



Oh god. We’ve reached the point now where Sasuke has become a Daimyou. A Japanese feudal Lord. He got his own area to govern over. An area he chose because its name sounded like “Olive” (the color, not the food). So now, he’s the Lord of Olive. If this guy isn’t eccentric, then I don’t know anymore. I can only imagine what he’s planning to do with it. Mind you: we’re not even at the halfway point of this series. There’s still so much that still has to happen (39 episodes for the win!).

Seriously though: some very interesting things have happened since the death of Oda Nobunaga: Sasuke has gradually been climbing up the ranks under the influence of Hashiba Hideyoshi. Under Oda Nobunaga he was just a messenger on the front lines, but with Hideyoshi things are completely different and he was able to grab much more influence by playing his cards right.

Heck, we see very little main characters like him, who actually end up having so much influence, unless we’re talking about nobles, royalty or other stuff that allows you to inherit everything you need from your parents or stuff like that. And most characters who do meet these criteria often try to keep it a mystery of how they made it to the point they are. Sasuke may be from an influential family, but the past 17 episodes really showed in detail that the biggest reason why he is at the place he is now thanks to his own abilities, connections and effort. His family only plays a relatively minor role, and his genes aren’t even hinted at.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 30

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou



I glanced at some comments in the shoutbox that this episode was supposed to be amazing. Now that I watched this episode, I agree. The episodes of the third season have been continuously one-upping each other. And we’re only at episode four.

My memory could be wrong, but I think that this was the first episode where Natsume didn’t play the part of main character. Instead, we got to see everything from the point of view of a Youkai he once met as a child. And the way in which it did this was just sublime. It was full of those small encounters, and it really seemed to come from the mind of a youkai whose sense of time is different from ordinary humans.

The way in which the creators portrayed this youkai was just brilliant. Due to the nature of this episode, consisting out of a ton of small encounters, they were really able to nail her development and make her change gradually over time. Her inner monologues were also delightful to watch. It was nothing short of adorable.

It also seems that the creators are shuffling around chapters this time. That’s also the reason why I was so ecstatic when I learned who was going to be behind the series composition of this series: Sadayuki Murai. He pretty much was the best guy that they could have possibly gotten in terms of adaptations. For those too lazy to click the link: this is the guy who adapted the story for Boogiepop Phantom, Kino’s Journey and Mouryou no Hako, on top of writing the scripts for Millennium Actress and Perfect Blue. This guy is a GOD amongst scriptwriters. Natsume Yuujinchou San still is one of the most normal things he’s done, but even here it’s great to see how well the chapters to be animated have been chosen so far. This episode once again delivers a ton of development for Natsume and it falls perfectly in line with the previous three episodes. Heck, this episode’s message about Natsume growing up, changing and appreciating the things that he once found scary was really strong here. I’m really interested in what he can do with the rest of this series.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée – 04

by psgels, posted in Ikoku Meiro no Croisée



Ah, Alice. This episode showed an episode fully dedicated to her… and I guess that she got better. It’s not like she’s an entirely typical spoiled brat, because she actually has a bit of a character beyond being conceited and all, but she still feels rather out of place. So I have to admit that I have no clue how the bourgeosie acted back in those days, but I really often feel like anime misses the mark while portraying really rich characters: they’re either perfectly flawless or conceited bastards with no middle ground. That lack of middle ground really is a problem.

This episode again was really adorable. For once we have a “running into bathing”-scene that actually makes sense and feels different from pure fanservice. Claude also is the first protagonist since ages who actually looked away as soon as he realized what happened instead of just gazing like an idiot. It’s a good way to show the differences in bathing. For more cultural differences, this episode also showed Yune introducing some Japanese food to Claude, after the previous episode’s onslaught of French cuisine.

And I guess that Alice does spice up this series a bit. As long as she doesn’t take over the series it’ll probably be fine. This, because I do wonder what this series has planned for the long run: how does it want to end? How far will the characters develop? Alice did do a bunch of great things to flesh out the main cast, and without her the whole picture of this series would be incomplete. Really the only problem with her that I have is the way she acts, not how she is.
Rating: * (Good)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 17

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



Ah, I knew it. It was all too good to be true. Despite that though, this episode still surprised me with the direction it took. The whole movie subplot was wrapped up really subtle. In fact, we don’t even fully know the repercussions yet. For this episode, life continued as usual for nearly the entire cast, except for Ohana’s uncle and grandmother.

That uncle who received a ton of depth, by the way. In a way, it’s a shame that the promotional material just contains the cute girls of the series. He shows that the males have just as much right to be there. What this episode did to Ohana’s uncle was excellent: it completed establishing what kind of character he is, and developed him further by introducing romance. This is the kind of change that I was talking about during the last episode.

Now, I also want to see those repercussions. Again, that could very well be the change that I was hoping for. This episode gave away enough hints that something big is going to happen. The most logical thing would be for people to be laid off in order to compensate for the losses that were made, and you can really get some good drama out of that when played right.

Now that Ohana’s uncle received such good development, I can’t help but wonder: what about Nako and Tomoe? These two feel a bit out of it, compared to the rest of the cast. Nako at the moment is just “the best friend”. She always stands in Ohana’s shadow and never really gets to do something herself. Tomoe suffers the same fate: she’s been absent from pretty much all of the parts where this series really hit its stride and showed off how good it was. At the moment there’s not much more to her character than “Ohana’s boss”.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hyouge Mono – 16

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono



This was a fairly focused episode: most of it revolved around Furuta Sasuke visiting Tokugawa Ieyasu. This, after the pineapple incident when Oda Nobunaga was still alive. Once again it takes a unique approach to what would have been a political meeting by focusing more on the food that gets served and silly dances.

That silly dance was by far the biggest wtf-part of the episode. Silly dances are of course one thing, but in a series where the character designs are so much more detailed than usual, This episode was really a bit of a political game, and I also liked how Sasuke had huge troubles not following Tokugawa Ieyasu’s example with the pineapple and get into a fit of rage.

And again, this show handles deaths very well. This time, by not spending a lot of time to it, and just focus on the funeral of Sasuke’s brother. And again, to think that Sasuke already has two children. That’s another reason why the past season rocked: normally you never see an old protagonist, and yet here suddenly come two series with main characters who already have significantly old kids. Now the summer season brings in Usagi Drop, and I really wish that this is going to be the start of another trend.

But then again, I really doubt that Hyouge Mono will become a trendsetter. I mean, it’s got the ideas and all, but I doubt that it’s going to have the influence…
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 29

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou



This really was a wonderful episode. The best of the third season so far. It’s focused on Natsume’s past, interestingly, and on the kids who used to bully him. They changed too over the years, and this episode focuses on one who came in contact with a youkai.

Again things are much different from what they seem at first. The guy seems the same jerk at first, but gets much more rounded as the episode goes on, the youkai goes from a cute girl to a monster to a weak cute girl again. It’s great character development, not to mention how confronting this was for Natsume: throughout the entire series he has been trying to leave his past behind him, and here it comes back to him. For the first time we actually got to see Natsume really uncomfortable. The creators handled it really nicely.

Three episodes in, and I have to say that the creators really nailed the consistency so far. Right now, the third season is somewhere in between the first and the second season in terms of how much I like it. What it needs now, is the kinds of episodes that make it stand out: the really well written and heart-warming ones, like the Hotaru-episode. There still is plenty of time to do that, so I really hope that the creators are going to make use of that. In any case this season has the big advantage of character-development.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée – 03

by psgels, posted in Ikoku Meiro no Croisée



Ah, this was really good. This episode was once again chock full of the main characters exchanging some of the things they grew up with, and the contrasts between them. Yune and Claude grew up in completely different environments, and between that it’s Claude’s grandfather who connects the two. Seriously, this is a premise you don’t see every day here.

They talked about all sorts of different stuff, like naming conventions, language, paper, housing. Oh, and I now know that rain in Japan lasts really long, compared to just the short outbursts of rain that we have in Europe. I also really like how Claude’s father talked in this “you should have been there”-way to Claude, as if he was urging him on to also travel once in a while. It was all really hard to imagine for Claude, especially in such an age where different cultures were relatively far apart from each other.

Apart from that though, you also really feel these characters live their daily lives. Claude spends quite a bit of time working, Oscar meanwhile is enjoying his retirement to the fullest, while Yune also is quite cute when she runs around the house. The dialogue also feels really natural between them. this really is great. There’s just one big but here…

That rich girl… was by far the worst thing to appear in this series so far. I mean, she wasn’t exactly a carbon-copy of the “ojou-sama” you see everywhere, but she was really stereotypical nonetheless. I mean, Yune is great: she’s cute, but she’s not like the stereotypical moe girl who does nothing but whine and go after the main characters’ pants. Beyond being adorable, she’s polite, sharp and curious. She’s not annoying in the slightest. That rich girl really needs to shut up soon, though. Who found it a good idea to make her like that?
Rating: ** (Excellent)