Category: Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama

Hyouge Mono – 07

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono



As opposed to the previous episodes, this episode was much less “out there”, and instead was quiet build up. It again had surprisingly little of Sasuke, even though he’s the main character, and again a lot of time here was spent on the side characters and the setting. For this series a build-up episode like this isn’t nearly as bad as with most other series because a) it has already caught my attention and b) it has more than enough time to get it to pay off.

This episode was well spent in any case as it showed that Sasuke was still young (oh, the irony; in any other anime he’d be of retirement age), but I’m still curious whether or not this series will delve into the “takes forever to go somewhere” syndrome. It avoided this pretty well so far, though: every episode so far has been slow, but incredibly fun. What makes this series fun is its combination of its dialogue and its acting. This episode just had a tad too much dialogue and it’s up to the next episodes to balance this out, because this kind of build-up deserves to be used well.

In either case, this episode especially solidified Akechi Mitsuhide as a character (it’s interesting by the way how this character has shown up in three different series during the past year: Sengoku Basara and Otome are set in the same time, although I still cringe at how poorly Sengoku Otome treated these characters).

Oh, abut I did love that scene at the end where Sasuke gazes upon the wondrous pineapple. It’s a nice reference to the cultural differences at the time, and I can only imagine how a pineapple looks to an aesthete like him.
Rating: * (Good)

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai. – 06

by psgels, posted in Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai



I absolutely love how this show delves into the minds of its characters. This episode yet again had me teared up, and again it’s not just because of one character, but a whole bunch of them. I mean, most series pick one or two characters do develop each episode: this show does this with nearly every character for nearly every episode. Even Yukiatsu and Chiriko, who had a relatively small role in this episode, were great. I especially love how honest Yukiatsu has become.

The real meat of the episode though was about Jinta finally going to school, Naruko suffering through endless gossips about what happened in the previous episode and Menma only worrying about others. With all these, this show has a nice habit of not just showing characters, but it also keeps showing characters telling how they feel about other characters. Whether right or wrong, it’s actually a great way to flesh them out by showing how they seem in the eyes of someone else.

As for Menma, this episode could have given a really big hint as to why Menma is staying behind as a ghost. Running away is a huge concept of this series. The most apparent is of course Jinta, but the rest of the cast also tends to have this. Menma keeps avoiding talking about herself. I mean, did Jinta ever apologize for what he said to her, right before she died? It’s of course not going to be this simple, but I do think that something in that direction is her wish.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Showa Monogatari – 06

by psgels, posted in Showa Monogatari



Okay, so as it turns out episode four did not take forever to show up as a raw. It was just on a hiatus for a week. Then, the fifth episode that aired a week ago was one of the four preview episodes and now we finally can get to some more new content with episode six. Seriously, I have never seen a show with such a complicated airing schedule since the time where one of our Dutch television stations suddenly decided to air the final episode of Medabots’ Second season in the middle of its run…

In any case, half of this episode was about Kouhei destroying windows while playing baseball. Aside from being about Kouhei, it was also one of those “been there done that”-scenarios. The only fresh thing is that he just kept on going even after things went wrong two times. It’s typical and I can understand the nostalgic reasons for putting this in, but I was already bored by the “broken window-plot” when I was a kid myself. It’s probably because I couldn’t relate to it at all (I grew up in a small village, so there always was enough room to play and not bother adults).

The rest of this episode was really good though. This time it was about the business of Kouhei’s father taking a nasty hit when they get conned. They lost a lot of money with it and therefore really needed to put in effort in order to prevent to not fall down into debts, and at the same time it was nothing major: it’s a thing that could have happened to anyone; both today and back in those days. It’s also here where Kouhei’s antics made the most impact (heck, he’d been destroying windows at such a stressful time).

I think that Kouhei is at his best when he’s in the background, pretty much like what his sister was in this episode. She had this nice subplot about reading a sad novel ad popped up twice or trice, was nice to see, got fleshed out a bit, and then disappeared a bit. Kouhei also had these kinds of episodes for him, and that’s where he really works as this nice annoying brat. The stories around him though… they just don’t feel as interesting as the rest of the cast.
Rating: * (Good)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 07

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



So, this was a silly episode. Still, I enjoyed it. Considering what this series is doing at the moment (building up for its second half), this was an episode well spent.

My big problem with the previous episodes was not that they suddenly turned into slice of life. Instead, I got the impression that they just didn’t have any inspiration to fill their time. The drama was forced, the new characters, and the scenarios and settings that were used to spice up these episodes actually just backfired. The soldiers in this episode was as flat as a pancake, but for the first time in ages I got the feeling that the characters were genuine again.

By far the most annoying part about this series is the innuendo, which really feels out of place. What have the creators already done to Ohana at this point? Tied her up? Put her in a china dress? Having middle aged guys peep on her? This is the kind of fanservice that I dislike: it’s not about how explicit it is or not, but it’s just consistently out of place and consistently breaks down the mood.

The most important thing though, is that this episode showed a nicely different side to many of the characters: beyond the silliness it actually did a great job in fleshing out the cast without making them go out of character. It’s not just Tomoe: the rest of the cast also got these tiny scenes that revealed more about their characters, and this time the episode actually made good use of it. This show seemed to have struggled a lot with keeping its characters enjoyable and interesting to watch, and this episode was well spent, despite the very stereotypical guest characters.
Rating: * (Good)

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai. – 05

by psgels, posted in Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai



That was yet again amazing. Again, every character played a major role in this episode and nobody was left out. This series really never fails to pull at my heartstrings.

I love how the creators actually made Yukiatsu work as a character despite his cross-dressing antics. The way he composes himself right after his little break down makes him much more than just another insane character, and this series brilliantly combined these crazy plot twists with the down to earth setting here. I also loved how he acknowledged how cliche it was that he saved Naruko from being taken advantage to, even though the way in which he did it wasn’t cliched at all.

And heck, this episode did touch upon a very important issue in this series: why did Menma appear in front of Jinta? I mean, okay she was in love with him and all, but it probably isn’t this shallow: throughout the series we kept seeing how she wanted to be together with everyone; her crush on Jinta seems completely gone now.

By the way, I really have to say that, leaving the episodes she wrote of Simoun and Red Garden aside, that this is the best original screenplay that Mari Okada has written so far. There is just so much emotion put into it and everything is just so incredibly balanced. And that while she’s working on two other series this season as well!
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Hyouge Mono – 06

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono



I can’t believe that this series has been going on for six episodes now and it’s still completely rock-solid. Where most series are struggling to remain interesting while they build up their story and characters, this series does that like it’s nothing. It uses its dialogue and direction brilliantly in order to flesh out its huge cast, while at the same time Sasuke more than makes sure that this show remains enjoyable from start to finish.

I just love this series’ wit. It’s either really subtle, or hilariously overblown. This episode was especially good at getting Sasuke to comine his love for beautiful things with his duty as a messenger. His facial expressions in the second half were priceless again. The first half meanwhile, mostly build-up was interesting because of how detailed and authentic everything felt.

Having said that though… women have a very strange role in this show (sex). I mean, it’s bizarre: we have tons and tons of fanservice series airing, and they almost never touch upon sex. And here this season comes with two shows that hardly have any fanservice whatsoever, and yet these don’t pretend that sex doesn’t exist (the other is Azazel-san, by the way; even the Hen Zemi series is surprisingly shy around the matter). I mean, I’m not against fanservice; I’m against cheaply used fanservice. When it’s functional nude like in this series I’ve got no problems with it. I do want to say that I want some more variety in this, though.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 06

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



So, this show is really seems to be going with the “first half random stories, second half plot”-format. This episode was once again a standalone story. With this though, I also realized what I’ve been missing through the past four episodes:

There are two keys to a great first half for such a format: it needs to have strong individual stories and it needs to use those stories to build upon the main setting and characters. This series has the latter covered: the second half of this show has a ton of potential considering the amount of build up that the past number of episodes have been putting into it. That’s fine. It’s just that I don’t really find the stories of the individual episodes that interesting.

So yeah, in this episode the characters got to dress up in fetish outfits: first there were the china dresses and then there were the maid-ish outfits. The whole story around trying to innovate the bathhouse wasn’t really interesting because of how it just limited itself to random outfit changes. It never bothered to look at the big picture. It’s obviously building up to something, but this episode in itself didn’t really stand out. It was too mundane.

Still, we got a few hints to grandmother’s past and uncle’s background. This episode did serve its job of delivering variety and fleshing out the characters. The only thing I didn’t like about that part was that we now indeed get confirmed that Tohru has a crush on Ohana. Love Triangles are really dangerous: they very easily can take over the entire series if the creators aren’t careful. Please, let them be careful.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Hyouge Mono – 05

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono



A new OP? Already? For a 39-episode series? The ED also got a make-over. That certainly was… random, and yet it gave a totally different feeling, even though the visuals stayed the same. Ah well, it probably has to do with some licensing issues surrounding the break-up of the band who sung the original opening theme. And I must say, for something that had to be done on such a short notice, it works surprisingly well.

This episode wasn’t mostly about Sasuke, but he still cracks me up whenever he appears. As someone obsessive over aesthetics, he first marvels over the beauty of a horse, only to later outright steal. I must say, it’s very subtle how he did it, but especially his face as he swapped the wooden stir thingies was priceless. Bee-Train have always been really focused on non-verbal communication, but this show is on a completely different level on that. It’s both really subtle, and straight at your face.

What this show is also excellent at is keeping up its atmosphere throughout these long conversations between two people. The music obviously really helps there, but it’s also the above-mentioned characterization that’s just excellent: characters aren’t just talking with words, but also with their expressions and gestures. That makes the talking in this series much more than just exposition for the sake of exposition.

Oh yeah, and I know that I just keep repeating this and all, but I just can’t get over it that someone actually had the balls to make this series. Beyond being really good, Hyouge Mono is also the most unique series that Bee-Train made since .Hack//Sign. It probably won’t turn this way, but I really hope that this series’ mindset catches on. And with that I don’t necessarily mean make more shows that are about old dudes talking, but rather the mentality to take risks: the mentality to just immediately plan out the full length of your series, or the mentality to try something completely different for a change.

My only criticism with this episode: recaps. What were they doing there, and more importantly: will they get annoying in the future?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai. – 04

by psgels, posted in Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai



What makes an amazing 11~13-episoded series is completely different from what makes an amazing 24~26 episoded series. The latter has time to build up and flesh out characters. The former however doesn’t need that luxury, and needs to deliver right from the start. And Anohana did that wonderfully: all four episodes so far have delivered, and all have been amazing so far.

The strength of this episode was that it took the heart-wrenching formula and added even more to it: a completely weird plot twist. When Hana-Saku Iroha did this with its third episode, it lost part of its charm, but this episode retained the tension and the emotional connection, while it also showed how Jinta isn’t the only guy member of the cast who completely lost it.

The awesome thing about this episode was that just about every character shined: Matsuyuki for insulting himself, Jintan for having the guts to actually try and talk to him, Chiriko for getting tired of him, Menma for consistently encouraging Jinta, Tetsudo for joining her and trying to keep the group together and Naruko for still trying to get Jinta to go out more. These characters all have their flaws, but this show always makes them play with these flaws.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Showa Monogatari – 04 – AGAIN

by psgels, posted in Showa Monogatari



Ah, finally this thing appeared. It’s about bloody time. Seriously, I have been blogging anime for a long time, but I’ve only encountered one show where the raws took even longer to show up (some of the episodes of Porfy no Nagai Tabi). This series is not a kiddie show! It actually has very good characters!

In any case, this episode mostly shed lights on what would happen to Kanako in later episodes. In terms of romance, it was actually pretty good here. I mean, in this episode she fails, but she does actively try to ask him out. It’s not like she’s in denial about her feelings. It’s refreshing to see a romance that is more about the question “when will he/she grab the courage to confess”, rather than “when will they realize they’re into each other”. It’s also interesting how in the future episodes, she still is struggling with her feelings later on with the series.

Also, in this episode Kouhei wanted to watch a show called 8 Man. Yeah, that 8 Man. Heh, I nearly forgot that this took place in the year after the debut of Astro Boy.

On a side-note: it’s ironic that Kouhei’s friends have better voice actors than him.
Rating: * (Good)