Category: Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – 02

by psgels, posted in Tokyo Magnitude 8.0



You know, I previously kept saying that Aoi Hana was my favourite summer show and all. But that was before I watched this episode. After this episode, I’m going to take that statement back entirely: Tokyo Magnitude is without a doubt the best show this season. This episode was utterly amazing and exceeded all my expectations. Even for Noitamina, this episode stood out as one of the best.

What baffles me the most is that it’s only been two episodes: this series only needed one episode of build-up and character-introduction, and after that it was able to put down such a sad and depressing episode around Mirai, who saw her entire world crumbled. What made the most impact on me was how she was separated from her brother at the time of the earthquake, and so she had no idea whether he was alive or not. She was all alone amidst tons of people who also struck with the same fate.

And the thing is, that if she listened to Mari it might have taken ages before her brother was found and he might have died of smoke. Only because she kept looking for him was she able to figure out that he went to the toy store afterwards, and got trapped underneath the shelves. The first episode really put her down as your average whiny teenager, but this episode most definitely made her human, and just a weak little girl.

And yeah, this episode also did a fantastic job of not just showing Mirai, but also how just about everyone else in the area is suffering because of the earthquake, all in their own ways. This is one of these series in which every random bystander is a character, rather than a paper bag who is just there to fill air.

This obviously isn’t a series for you if you hate depressing series, but damn. I really hope that the creators can keep this up. I’m going to be a bit careful expecting the rest of this series to be amazing after Eden of the East dulled in a bit after its introduction, but with this series, all the creators have to do is logically progress the story, throw in lots of realism and keep up with their realistic characterization. I really hope that the creators are going to be able to pull it off, because this episode was just too good to just waste on a mediocre series.
Rating: **** (Fantastic)

Some quick first Impressions: Sora no Manimani, Spice and Wolf II and Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Sora no Manimani

Short Synopsis: Our lead character joins the local astronomy club and falls in love.
Chance of me Blogging: 0% (Nope)
Ah, dammit. Just when I thought that this Summer Season did so well in avoiding the biggest cliché in the book (the childhood friend), Sora no Manimani comes around, in which the lead character moves to his new high school and runs into the girl he hung out with when he was six, and the two of them nearly instantly fall in love again. So this episode definitely had its boring moments since I’ve seen so many first episodes with the EXACT SAME premise, but thankfully there are a bunch of twists here: for once the male is the tsundere, instead of the female, while the female has ADHD and feels a lot like Haruhi Suzumiya without the tsundere part. This episode had its amusing parts, but it lacked proper build-up: the crying scenes really came from out of nowhere and felt forced and with such an excellent season, I really doubt that I’m going to continue with this one.

Spice and Wolf II

Short Synopsis: Our lead character looks for his next dal to make him some money.
Chance of me Blogging: 10% (Too many great shows this season!)
Ah, it’s nice to see this one back. Spice and Wolf was the big surprise in the season in which it originally aired, because it came from absolutely nowhere, it had the most incompetent staff imaginable and yet it turned out to be such a solid series. What I’m expecting from the second season is much of the same subtle charms that made the first season so enjoyable. My big fear is that it’s going to let its success go too much to its head, go too much in the mainstream direction and become an unsubtle romantic comedy and moe fest. Ah well, we’ll see in which direction it’s going to go, and this episode was enjoyable as one that set up the upcoming arc. It was nothing special, but the first season also started out rather underwhelming, so it’s nothing to be surprised of. My one complaint of this episode is that even though it’s got a much more superior animation company (Brains Base, of all things), the animation cut a lot more corners: there were lots of pointless flashbacks just to recycle some of the used animation of the first season, so I do hope that the creators have saved the rest of the budget for later episodes.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Short Synopsis: Our lead character ends up in the middle of an earthquake.
Chance of me Blogging: 100% (Sounds very promising)
And so the next Noitamina series appears. It’s pretty similar to Eden of the East, actually: it’s set in the current day, it’s very realistic, it too criticizes Japanese society subtly and it too has high production-values. Both series have something that’s very rare in anime nowadays: a storyline that’s based on actual topics of today’s society. Production IG already did such a series with Real Drive, but for Bones it’s something totally new. Or should I say, for Studio Kinema Citrus, as they seem to be the main ones responsible for this series, much like Trans-Arts who like to slap the Production IG label on their work. In any case, this first episode was very promising. It’s easy to think that you’re never going to get hit by such a disaster, but what if it does happen? It doesn’t just go for Tokyo, but what if New York was suddenly flooded (which did happen in the past), or what if the oceans continue to rise, and half of The Netherlands ends up drowning? Great food for thought, and the creators chose a likable lead female to center this story around. Usually Noitamina is about adults, but in these days in which teenagers are growing up more and more spoiled by technology and conveniences, she is indeed more suited. I’ll stop rambling now, otherwise this entry is going to get too big.