Category: Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama

Kuchuu Buranko – 09

by psgels, posted in Kuchuu Buranko



At this point, it’s pretty clear what the general message is that this series wants to convey: nobody is perfect, not even your role models. So instead of trying to be perfect, you should try to live with who and what you are. Overall, these past nine episodes did a good job in showing the ins and outs of this: from the more extreme to the less extreme ones: you should just accept what you have to live with your entire life. overall, pretty well done, if I say so myself.

The general message that I got out of this particular episode however, is something completely different: Japanese TV-shows are weird. To think that people are actually willing to put morons on the screen who do nothing but smile cheesily over and over. And I thought Dutch TV was bad…

I’m surprised how little crossovers this episode had, though. Where the previous episodes threw references with heaps at the time, I don’t think that I spotted any reference to a past episode in this episode other than the usual bucket of syringes. I think that because of that, and how I had absolutely no interest in the subject material this time (child stars and variety-shows… *yuch*) that it disappointed a bit compared to the previous ones.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Konnichiwa Anne – 37

by psgels, posted in Konnichiwa Anne



Well, there’s no denying that this episode had cheese, but it’s of the good kind. After all of the badly written episodes in this series, it’s at least good to see a heart-warming bitchfight between Anne and Edna that works reasonably well as long as you suspend your disbelief. Thank god Edna wasn’t another one of those stereotypical side-characters, but instead got a bit of depth to her. Even though her mother is the umpth mother who suffers from the “useless and sick mother”-syndrome.

Thinking back, it’s definitely been interesting to blog such a flawed series as this, mostly because while there were plenty of cringe-worthy moments, it never derailed completely: there always was something interesting going on that gave me plenty of inspiration to write about, compared to other rather one-sided shows as 07-Ghost, Valkyria Chronicles and some of the other shows that were a pain to blog for me. It’s really been a joy to blog Konnichiwa Anne throughout the past three seasons, despite it’s large share of problems. In the end, where this series truly shined was right after Henderson left, up to the point where Anne arrived at the Hammonds: these episodes were absolutely amazing, and the rest of the show really was hit or miss. I’d really say: crew Anne, Bert is the best character in this series. It’s not like Anne is the Anne of Anne of Green Gables anyway. Try saying that three times.

But yeah: there still is that matter of the two final episodes. The final episode will be fine. I’m not worrying about that one. My biggest worry is about the next one: the Amy Thompson episode. The creators have been hinting towards her quite a while now, but she never had her own episode yet, so there’s no doubt what next episode’s going to be about and that has me worried a lot. This show has a really nasty tendency to ruin perfectly fine characters with one-sided and shallow development.
Rating: * (Good)

Kemono no Souja Erin – 48

by psgels, posted in Kemono no Souja Erin



This is really why long series rock: they can really take their time in building up and give their characters enough time to prepare themselves for the upcoming climaxes. The key in these sorts of things is making the build-up count, and that’s something that this series has become really good at: the past three episodes were in no way inferior to the more fast-paced and plot-twist heavy episodes so far and they formed a very good build-up for the upcoming climax while keeping its atmosphere.

The big question now of course is: will the creators be able to pull off a good ending? There have been many great shows like this one with a great pre-ending build-up, but with just a rushed or dull ending. It’s a shame, but Damya still is just a stereotypical evil villain. I was really hoping that the creators would delve more into his character, but all they did throughout the series was make him more and more evil, rather than dynamic. This could pose a very serious problem for these final two episodes.

What I want is an ending that doesn’t just resolve the major themes of the series, but also progresses them in some way. It’s one way to just have the final two episodes full of pointless battles that eventually end up killing Damya and bringing peace back to the country, but that’s just lazy storytelling. Since the novels progress after this point, this is going to require input from the creators of the anime themselves. They NEED to have put some serious thoughts into how to let this end in the best way possible. If they can do that, then congratulations. This episode really was excellent in its atmosphere. This series really has put forth some great themes, characters and settings. It DESERVES a good ending to accompany them!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Konnichiwa Anne – 36

by psgels, posted in Konnichiwa Anne



Yes! Yes! The creators actually got Edna right! Oh, all signs pointed towards her getting the same treatment as all other secondary characters in this series in a lame and shallow episode that rewrites characters through cheesy dialogue instead of developing them. But they actually got that bitchiness of her right, while adding a bit of extra depth to her at the same time!

Throughout the majority of the episode, I feared the worst though. The point where Anne saw Edna sneak into the shed and talk to her imaginary friend was truly facepalm-worthy. This episode just kept throwing hints that it was going to give Amy Thompson and Edna cheesy one-line backstory, Anne gladly recapped the entire series through cheesy morals and even when the series did begin to look better (the letter from the Cuthberts arrived!), there was Tessa with her endless whining who ruined it. Sure I of course don’t mind a bit of sadness, but the way that Tessa kept bawling was just a case of hopelessly overacting.

But then that final scene. I’m not sure what happened, but we actually saw Edna putting up a very cheesy act that any adult would have seen through, yet Anne in her childish gullibleness believes (which, let’s face it, any kid her age would do). At the same time, it also looks like the creators put their best artist on the job of animating these scenes: the art is powerful and very expressive, and probably the best animated scene in this series.

The thing that separates good WMT-series from average WMT-series is among others, their sense of morality; nobody is purely good. Cosette was weak, hardly did anything and dependant, Marius was a one-minded revolutionary and Jean has had his past issues. Porfy was naive and often picked fights, Anne of Green Gables (not this Anne) pulled quite a few hi-jinks as a little kid. The Anne in this series however is always morally on the right path. Her weaknesses are all meant to be charming and are actually hidden strengths. This was actually one of the first times in which one of Anne’s weaknesses was actually exploited against her.

Now the question of course is going to be: can the final three episodes finish the job? The thing is that the creators aren’t done with Edna yet. It’s obvious that her plan is going to fail, and I definitely hope that the creators aren’t going to make her jump the shark after all. That’s another point at which this series differs from good WMT: in the WMT, you know things are going to happen, you just don’t know why. In the good series, this in no way lessens the impact of these scenes. In the lesser WMT-series, they become pretty dull spoilers that make the story even more predictable than it already was.

However, the thing that worries me even more is the following: why hasn’t the next WMT been announced yet? We’re about to dive into 2010. We can assume that Nippon Animation might be planning to keep the next one at 39 episodes as well, but even then there’s nothing certain yet. Oh, I really hope that they’re not planning to abandon this franchise again.
Rating: * (Good)

Kemono no Souja Erin – 47

by psgels, posted in Kemono no Souja Erin



Very interesting. While you would expect an action-packed finale, the creators instead decided to end this series through words and dialogue. The past two episodes were far less dramatic than some of the other moments in this series, and yet they used these moments very well in developing the plot solely through dialogue.

This was another very focused episode, in which Erin attempts to convince the new queen to stop listening to Damya. Erin had the luck that the new queen is still young and naive, so she easily believed her words, but nevertheless this was a pretty powerful episode. Even an idiot doesn’t believe any random Joe who claims that one of his closest relatives has been betraying him. Erin built up her story very well, up to the eventual revelations that the country was about to head into a disastrous path.

My prediction is that the final three episodes will be a lot more action-packed than this, although I do suspect that it’s going to be more than “Seimiya’s Troops versus Damya’s troops”. Still, Damya is pretty much guaranteed to die or something similar in the final episode. With that though, I’ll be content with how this series ends, despite that only half of the novels were adapted. Throughout the past fifty episodes, this show was able to show what it wanted to show, and for me this is now a well rounded series. There are plenty of other anime who deserve a sequel more than this one (Guin Saga!? Tytania!?).

Trans Arts… yeah. I’ve had a lot to complain about them. They’re another production company that is lead by one particular director, but this guy really is very inflexible. His original stories (Sisters of Wellber) are just too cheesy, his adaptations (Library Wars, Chocolate Underground) try to do way too much in way too little time. This series however was a great opportunity for him to really take his time and carefully adapt a well written story, and with this you can see that he really knows how to direct a series. I think that his main problem is that while he’s good at writing and directing single scenes and episodes, he doesn’t know how to look at the big picture. I hope that this series provided him with some valuable lessons as to what he’s good at and what he’s bad at. Because really: I like this guy’s creativity. In this day and age in which a majority of the anime try to rip off each other, he comes with interesting ideas and creative concepts, and finally with Kemono no Souja Erin, he actually managed to adapt one of these concepts right.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Kuchuu Buranko – 08

by psgels, posted in Kuchuu Buranko



Remember that episode in which that kid stood amongst a crowd that was looking at some sort of fight going on? Yeah, this episode explains the reason behind it: a reporter with an out of control obsessive compulsive disorder was attacking a homeless guy for groping school girls. Makes sense. 😛

But yeah, this episode showed yet again that the psychology is just a vehicle to this show’s real purpose: entertainment. This really turned out to be a show that makes fun of obsessive compulsive disorders, but it does it in such a way that it also becomes a bit relatable. And really, this series works great as a comedy: that chase scene was really hilarious in its over-the-topness.

And yet, this episode actually had quite an interesting message as well, the fact that not every psychological ailment can be cured. Here we have a guy who can do his research, and thinks that for every ailment there’s a sure-fire cure. In the end though, he just ends up living with his ailment. I think that this was actually one of the more powerful endings that we’ve seen in this series yet.

I’m actually pretty curious to what this show has in store for its final episode. With the way that it keeps referencing previous episodes, there is a possibility for it to take this to a next level at the end.

At this point, I’m pretty sure of how I’d rank this year’s Noitamina-series:
4) Eden of the East
3) Kuchuu Buranko
2) Genji Monogatari Sennenki
1) Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

It’s overall been a great year for this timeslot, full of daring concepts and creative ideas. Sure, some series didn’t go as well as planned (Eden of the East… I still believe that it was poorly balanced), but you can see that a lot of time an effort has been put in every single one of them.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Kuchuu Buranko – 07

by psgels, posted in Kuchuu Buranko



Apologies for the lateness of this post; the very slow subs really threw me off. In any case, this yet again was an episode that was more than worth it. I really like how this series continues to get more daring with every passing episode, it has a very nice effect of something spiralling out of control. This episode was hilarious, and while not the deepest one it still had a fun and interesting protagonist to work with: a yakuza who can’t stand pointy objects.

At this point, you can also see that the creators have loads of fun with the cross-references to past episodes. Bando returns, and heck: we even saw this episode’s protagonist in one of the previous episodes if I’m not mistaken. This explains that the ski glasses wasn’t just a random stylistic choice, but the guy actually had a reason for it: experimenting whether or not that would help him cure his fears.

This show is over the top, but in a good way. The fun in this series comes from the characters, and not necessarily the psychology: it merely fits a supporting purpose in this series. I only didn’t like that eventual part in which the rival yakuza guy turns out to also have an OCD. It’s just cheesy.

We also learn that most of Irabu’s appearances next to his patients are in fact in a flashback, and he doesn’t always accompany his clients like what was previously suggested. Only in the scenes in which he directly interacted with other people are the parts in which he went out of his office. At other times, he’s simply inside the client’s story, commenting on what happened.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Konnichiwa Anne – 35

by psgels, posted in Konnichiwa Anne



Ack! This is just what I feared. They decided to fill one of the last episodes of this series with this? Oh lord…

This episode… it really showed how the creators aren’t the best at telling a story. Out of all the possible uses this episode could have had to develop the characters, they chose such a far-fetched one that’s solely meant to make Anne look good and attempt (note to attempt) to develop only one single character: Tessa.

I say attempt, because this episode fell into the same trap as all of the other episodic episodes in this show. Way too one-sided and cheesy. I mean, this episode served no point or purpose whatsoever: Tessa already had enough depth. It’s the evil classmates that this series should be worrying about, and yet the creators hardly did anything to make them seem less one-sided than they already were. At this point, there are only four episodes left. This series really needed that time to flesh out the characters in the orphanage. Right now, the orphanage is one of the least interesting settings that this series has taken place in, after the school in Marysville.

And I also have to wonder: why is it that hard to find a subject for this episode? At times like these, I miss Porfy: it really made it seem so easy. It always had some inspiration for an episodic story with a wonderful feel to it. Konnichiwa Anne instead… throws in an abandoned baby. If it’s something that happens once in a while at the orphanage, okay. Then I can understand the need for the creators to address this problem. However, it was a totally unique case! It was just the story of one crazy father who abandoned his son. We never know anything about him. In the end, the creators threw in the baby, just to make Anne look good with her super baby-taking-care-of-skills. And not only that, it also made me aware of a rather nasty flaw of this series: its overglorified portrayal of babies. What happened to the screaming, yelling and whining that these kids keep doing that will even make grown adults pull out their hairs? In Anne of Green Gables, the way they showed that Anne was experienced in taking care of little kids.

Speaking of which… there are like, what? A few months left until the start of Anne of Green Gables? I had hopes for a while, but in the end, no. This girl IS NOT ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. In the end, she really is just a kid who looks like her. Anne has Tessa. There is no reason why she shouldn’t talk endlessly like usual to her. So why is she suddenly the quiet girl who doesn’t talk often?
Rating: – (Disappointing)

Kemono no Souja Erin – 46

by psgels, posted in Kemono no Souja Erin



This is why 50-episode series rock. They can easily take an episode and solely dedicate it to really show the effects of character-development. This episode would have been impossible in a 13-episode series: it would have broken the flow completely in a series that already has so little time.

So yeah, even for a calm before the storm, this episode was quiet. It was solely dedicated to Erin and Ialu, with perhaps a minute of Damya and Kirik. You can really see that this episode was solely meant to develop Ialu. This actually reminds me of another show from the director: Sisters of Wellber. While its pacing was definitely faster, that one also had these kinds of episodes that were just totally devoted to character-development. In theory, they were very nice ideas, but in the end the scriptwriting was just too cheesy and soap-operaish.

In that view, I’m glad to see that he’s learned a lot since then. Sure, it may have been done well in the book, but correctly portraying this in an animation doesn’t happen automatically. The slow pace of this episode formed a good build-up to finally Erin’s attempts to talk Ialu out of fighting.

This is now half the job. Now use this development well!
Rating: * (Good)

Konnichiwa Anne – 34

by psgels, posted in Konnichiwa Anne



Okay, so this was a mixed bag. It would have been a great episode actually, but some of the faces in this episode were drawn really weird. When Anne got back to Tessa, the look on their faces was just rushed and overly cheesy. That ruined what could have been a powerful moment.

Nevertheless though, apart from that I liked this episode a lot. The fire arc was solved very neatly, and enough time was given for both Anne and Tessa to sort out their thoughts and make them willing to talk. This episode did a great job in developing the two of them. It’s especially great to see that Anne is finally recovering from the shock she received from the death of Mr. Hammond and all of its implications. Especially the part in which she ran away on her own (Tessa eventually became too scared to go along with her).

I fear however for the next episodes. There are five episodes left. My prediction is that the next episode will focus on Amy Thompson (aka the headmistress). After that we’ll probably get two episodes focused on the evil classmates, while the final two episodes will wrap up the story and send Anne off to the Cuthberts.

I have great expectations for the final two episodes, but the other three are going to be the problems: they’re exactly the type of episodes that this show just ISN’T GOOD AT. The headmistress episode reminds me of the midwife episode: she started off so promising, but when she got her own episode her development was just cheesy. The same goes for the evil classmates: I really like how thus far, the only reason why they’re bullying Anne is because it was Anne who started fighting with them. However, who knows what kind of cheese they’re going to fall into as soon as they’re going to get developed?
Rating: * (Good)