Category: Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense

Some quick first Impressions: Zetsuen no Tempest, Busou Shinki and Hayate the Combat Butler – I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, Zetsuen no Tempest

Zetsuen no Tempest

Short Synopsis: Our lead character has this terrible sense of hairstyles.
Holy crap! I didn’t think it was possible, but something actually matched From the New World’s first episode! Seriously, that’s three amazing episodes this season already. Zetsuen no Tempest has a great premise, great characters, a very sharp and interesting dialogue, terrific action and really good animation. That’s the base for a very solid show, but it goes further. There were a few things that really amazed me. First of all: the soundtrack. Oh my god, that was haunting! I mean seriously, this is a very strong contender for the best soundtrack of the year. It’s not just really complex and keeps changing, but there is so much emotion put into it. Beyond that though, this episode had something. I’m not sure whether it is actually true or not and I need more episodes to really confirm this, but this show might have the X-Factor. That really hard to describe feeling that happens when everything just comes together. Yeah, this is another one to keep your eyes out for.
ED: Typical Bones Engrish J-Rock song.
Potential: 95%

Busou Shinki

Short Synopsis: Our lead character lives together with four cute girls.
Oh boy, this one turned out shameless. Remember the young boy that appeared in the OVA one year ago? Well, he grew up into the same high school lead you see in every harem. The small figurine he met? Well, she turns out to be a complete moron. This entire episode was just fantasy wish fulfillment: “Oh master”, “Let me serve you master”, “Let me wake you up master”, “Let me trip and fall over and get covered in this sperm-like substance master”, “Let me put on a maid costume master”, “Let me keep this precious love letter of yours save master”, “Let me clean the house like a good servant should master”. I mean, this isn’t even the first time in which we saw a first episode about a girl cleaning the house while the male is away, only to make an even bigger mess. How oddly specific is that? And this show has four of those girls, all as mind-numbingly stupid as the other. Yeah, this pretty much was the worst episode of the season so far.
OP: Generic J-Pop.
ED: Random CG walking ED with a bad song.
Potential: 0%

Hayate the Combat Butler – I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is the butler of a cute girl.
Well, time to check if I missed something with Hayate the Combat Butler. And I have to be honest here: I just didn’t find this episode funny. I chuckled maybe once… during the juice joke. Apart from that the comedic attempts were… inoffensive. It’s not like there were many bad or forced jokes, but nothing to make me want to keep watching. Unlike the other episodes I watched (the first episodes of the first and second season respectively), there actually seems to be some sort of plot line to keep everything together beyond the premise of Hayate being a combat butler. The thing with going to Vegas, and Nagi’s father… has some slight potential I guess. But still it moves slow and the creators feel the need to pad things out with this really stupid kidnapping that even the characters are getting tired of. Kigimiya Rie also doesn’t really help, and on top of that: this episode seemed to indicate that this was the first time in which Nagi told about her father. Keep in mind that this is after like, 75 episodes. What have they been doing in that time?
ED: Some random side character with what I have to admit is a nice artistic direction.
Potential: 60%

Un-Go – Inga-Ron

by psgels, posted in Un-Go

Fr4anchise based movies have always been this interesting beast and I’ve noticed myself that it’s always difficult to rate them. I’m not sure why, but the format of a movie is rather difficult to correctly mesh with the format of a movie; that’s how different these two formats are. And on top of that, there are so many different ways in which to execute these movies: sequel, prequel, side-story, filler, completely new story, background movie, recap story, done in the same style, with a completely different style or a style that’s similar, but not quite the same, or just going for an entirely different alternate retelling. All these options have had their examples that worked really well and that didn’t work at all. Un-Go went with a prequel movie that’s done in the exact same style as the TV-series. And it delivers.

This movie is set to answer some of the questions that are left behind by the TV-series. Not all of them, unfortunately. We get to see a lot of details and new information on the two leads, along with Bettenou, and it subtly answers a few questions about the final arc of the TV-series. Characters like that one prisoner however never make an appearance. For me though, this series did answer as many of the most lingering questions without forcing things in and I’m overall very happy with the result. Shinjirou, Inga and Bettenou definitely emerged as better characters out of it.

Now, the reason why I’m not going to rate this movie is because it really is just another episode of Un-Go. It fits right in with the series, unlike for example the Eden of the East Movies. If you’d package this as a 13-episode series, you wouldn’t notice the difference. This movie blends in perfectly, it rocks for the same reasons as the TV-series, and if you’ve liked the TV-series, then there is no reason to not watch it.

The storytelling really packs the same punch that made the TV-series so good, combining interesting characters with a fast-paced dialogue and throwing in many twists along the way that lead into very satisfying conclusions. Again it succeeds in fleshing out quite a few new characters in a minimal amount of time; something that very few other series can boast. It’s all-around enjoyable and had me consistently fired up.

Mirai Nikki Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Mirai Nikki



Mirai Nikki: grab a bunch of psychopaths, hand each of them a diary that predicts the future, make them kill each other and you’ve got yourself the germ of an entertaining story.

This is a show for those looking for some over the top entertainment. It has action and suspense, but unfortunately also plotholes and a lead character who is a wimp for a good first portion of the series. In the end the pros do make up for the cons in this series, but it takes patience.

The bigggest problem with this series is that the characterization takes a really long while to get going. At the beginning of the series, Yukiteru (tha male lead) is a typical coward who once in a while does something heroic. The side-characters are all pretty dull and one-sided, and it doesn’t really feel like any of them comes to his or her right. The only one who really stands out is the lead female: Yuno. The biggest selling point of this series and the mother of all yandere. But even she takes a while to really get going, and is for most of the first half of this series a deranged psychopath without much depth either. The interesting stuff only starts when the characters start to develop and change over the course of the series. This is where the cast gets depth, Yukiteru grows balls, and the characters come together more and this is where the series gets really fun to watch.

Something also needs to be said about the plot: it can get quite creative in the plot twists it delivers to the viewer. It however is not as clever for this premise to really work, and as a consequence it’s full of plotholes. When you stat to watch this series, you really need to realize this, because there are way too many leaps in logic and weird coincidences that would instantly break any normal suspense of disbelief. It’s the kind of series where you need go go along with the flow, no matter how ridiculous it may get t times.

Because in the end, this does reward, even though it takes a while to get there. Mirai Nikki’s biggest problem is that it stumbles on for a good 10 episodes in uninteresting fights, challenges and characters, and it’s not even for the sake of build-up either. At one point it just decides to make its character arcs longer and actually use some character development effecitvely, and that’s where it becomes quite an entertaining ride. The ending is a bit weird, but heck, this show at least doesn’t skimp on entertainment value.

Just one thing: try to avoid getting spoiled about this series. It’s the kind of series that is hard to rewatch, because a lot of the fun is in its surprises that it pulls you.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Very entertaining plot twists, but is a bit annoying in its first halves.
Characters: 8/10 – The side-cast in particular really needs a long while to get going, but in the end the character development is pretty good all around.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Good soundtrack, animation that’s nothing special, but does what it needs to do.
Setting: 8/10 – The setting is just insane, but that’s part o this series’ charms.

Suggestions:
– Ben-To
– Ga-Rei Zero\
– Shikabane Hime

Mirai Nikki – 26

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

So with this we’ve gotten all of the endings of the past season. And it’s pretty weird indeed. At the very least, I’ve got to praise the creators for delivering a solid and climactic ending. This episde was fun, and also had a ton of character development. It was a bit cheesy when Yuno stabbed herself, but heck: she’s crazy, and this episode had far bigger question-marks.

First of all, I’m not sure whether I missed this or not, but the way in which Eleventh changed everyone’s future, was an explanation given of why he knew now that he Mirai Nikki project would fail? There’s also the question of Murmur’s intentions: was it ever revealed what she wanted anyway? I mean, she had captured the Murmur of the world anyway and eventually would have continued to e the assistant of the new God.

The strangest part however, was the sequel hook. I mean, I knew beforehand that Mirai Nikki isn’t going to end here and that some sort of sequel got announced at the end of this episode. However, what the heck did Yukiteru turn into anyway? He couldn’t get over Yuno… for 10000 years? It pretty much sounds like he reverted back to his old self and has been sulking for an eternity.

Still, I enjoyed this episode a lot. This series definitely had its issues, and being spoiled along the way also didn’t help, but it did come together quite nicely.
Rating: *+ (Great)

Mirai Nikki – 25

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

Whoa. Mindscrew!

This episode was a lot of fun to watch, and perfect for the penultimate climactic battle. It was completely over the top, but worked really well. It’s a bit of a strange decision to go on for three weeks longer than every other show of the past season, but it really worked out. I have to praise the producers of this series for taking the time for that. It’s a shame that to fill up the lost time, we were treated to those boring skits at the end of each episode, but heck: they can be skipped. I complained about them, but in the end they are a neat trick to get rid of that nasty limitation where episodes all need to be 20 minutes long.

Also, for a minute I was fearing that the series just cheaply pushed the reset button, but the creators really did some interesting things with it, especially with how the different timelines started to intertwine. Especially Yuno stabbing her own father was a bit surreal, especially how we saw a completely different side of him now.

Then this episode also used a classic twist that a lot of penultimate episodes like to pull: the illusion where characters just live their lives without any problem. It was with a little twist, though: Yukki knew what he was going into, and what Yuno was doing, but he was slowly drawn into it.

Oh, when Murmur went berserk, things really got crazy. It also was really well animated. Probably the best animation of the entire series and Asread definitely brought in a talented animator for that scene.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Mirai Nikki – 24

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

Okay… so now this show just pulled stuff out of its ass to push its plot further. The result was weird and kindof interesting, don’t get me wrong, but where did Ninth’s resurrection suddenly come from, and why does she suddenly have flying, time travel and teleportation powers. Overall this episode was a bit too much convenient storytelling.

Still, I have to admit: this episode did something new to the resurrecting and time-travel tropes. I mean, for a minute I face-palmed when I found out that the creators were basically going to resurrect the cast again (so much for those death scenes, eh), but I actually really liked how this episode brought distinction in the people from different time-lines. It acknowledged that everyone Yukiteru knew is still dead, and it clearly labeled Yukiteru as an idiot for trying to save yet another Yuno. Time really got screwed over here, and that was a nice idea.

Oh, and this episode also explained why it was such a big deal that Yukiteru saw the corpses of Yuno’s family… only that it doesn’t… I mean, first of all they were terribly hidden. Yuno had plenty of time to clean things up, and she invited Yukiteru to her house, knowing that there was a really obvious room that anyone with a curiosity would want to check out. Second: wasn’t it Akise who found out Yuno’s identity? Didn’t he find out about that on his own?

Also, I keep finding it a bit morbid that the day that the creators chose for the world to end… happens to be my birthday. Are you trying to send me some sort of subtle message, Mirai Nikki?
Rating: *+ (Great)

Mirai Nikki – 23

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

I had already been spoiled for about half of the major twists in this episode (which also makes this a very bad show to want to rewatch by the way), but after finally seeing the complete picture in which everything is explained I definitely gained a new appreciation for this series. I think the only thing that’s left to be explained is what exactly Yuno’s diary means by “Happy end”. I mean, twice it obviously hinted at the two of them having sex and all, but it still makes no sense to see that as an actual “end”. I think that the best example of creative use of broadcasting schedules was with Michiko e Hatchin. It totaled 22 episodes, yet ran for two full cours and while it had a ton of random hiatuses, it also had random weeks in which it suddenly decided to air two episodes at once. We need more series like that.

As for Yukiteru, I think that this guy improved a lot. There indeed was a long while in this series where he had the bad main character syndrome, but in this episode he again was pretty interesting to watch.

Also for the record, Mirai Nikki has a very strange broadcasting schedule: with this there are still 3 episodes left, so this show will actually end on April 21st, a time when most of the spring series have already started (with the exception of Hyouka and that idol show, I believe). I like that. Screw the fact that you have to end at the final week of march. If this show wants to have 26 episodes, it can have them. It makes things a bit difficult to organize, but who cares?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mirai Nikki – 22

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

This episode was undoubtedly crazy.

The plot is finally coming together after all the seemingly unrelated arcs in the first half. Finally it becomes clear what Akise’s role is in this series and he finally got his episode to redeem himself. Also, there was Yukiteru who is well on his way to become one of the least inept main characters out there. Thankfully though, the creators are actually playing with this for once, rather than just copying the standard male lead over and over again. Oh don’t get me wrong: Yukiteru has elements of this guy written all over him, but being such a wimp to actually kill his friends like that in favor of his deranged girlfriend. I like that.

Overall, I do have to say that Mirai Nikki was by far the worst series for the past year to avoid spoilers on. Both from the different OPs and EDs, but also from the fans who kept giving away hints that the audience wasn’t supposed to know yet. Looking back, I think that that was for me unconsciously something that held my enjoyment of this series a lot, especially considering how focused this series is on its surprises and plot twists.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Nisemonogatari Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Monogatari Series



To start this review, here is where I was coming from when starting Nisemonogatari: I really did not like its predecessor, Bakemonogatari. I had a ton of problems with how Shaft executed that series; it was trying too hard, the tons of still frames, far-away shots and blank frames made it look more like a slide-show than an actual anime, the characters bored me, the subject material didn’t feel interesting. It was a chore to sit through. In the meantime though, Shaft changed a lot. It’s not like they stopped making boring shows (Arakawa’s second season was a pain to sit through…), but their successes have allowed them to get a budget to actually animate their series really well. Enter Nisemonogatari.

To my surprise, I actually liked this series. I have a ton of problems with it, don’t get me wrong. But they actually get less in the way compared to Bakemnonogatari, and I was actually able to enjoy the good stuff inbetween these flaws.

Now, by far the biggest improvement and the biggest reason to watch this series is the visual presentation. Unlike Shaft’s early work, the characters in this series are actually animated, and they’re animated really well. Heck, Nisemonogatari was by far the best animated series of this Winter Season, and that is with a season that has a Shoji Kawamori series and a Brains Base series. There is a ton of creativity in the images without looking like it’s trying too hard with pretentious references or unnecessary convoluted detail. This show is a visual feast.

Bakemonogatari also really got on my nerves with its really poor storytelling. It had a ton of dialogue and all, but in the end its arcs never really seemed to amount to anything. To my surprise however, I actually really liked the way in which the both arcs that comprises this series resolved themselves. The dialogue was actually used well, and the growth tat the different characters go through is much more interesting. So yeah, I liked this show. but it really made it hard at times.

You might notice that Bakemonogatari had 15 episodes which combined to five different arcs, and even then it was dragged out. Nisemonogatari has 11 episodes… and consists out of only two arcs. It takes forever to get anywhere, and especially its first half drags on horribly. And ti does so with an ungodly amount of fanservice.

Seriously, this show randomly brings in characters, giving them a rather shallow reason to appear again and then proceeds to have them walk around naked, bathe with the male lead and all kinds of other stuff. At best it’s creative and clever, but at worst it’s realy distasteful. You’d think that at least the dialogue would make up for it, but even that grinds to a halt when the characters end up talking about nothing else but fanservice, over and over and over again.

This really ends up eating away at the majority of the series. The entire female cast needs to have had a long dragged out fanservice scene with the male lead that doesn’t go anywhere. It’s just way too much. Just as you think you’re done with one girl, the male lead moves on to the next and it starts all over again. The important lines that are tacked onto it that actually develop the characters and add more to them feel tacked more than anything. This show even jumps the implied incest bandwagon without really contributing anything to it. I don’t mind fanservice if it’s used well and all, but this was just way too much.

Thankfully, the points where it gets down to business, it really becomes good, and this series does really give some good insights into its lead cast. The dialogue whenever the fanservice isn’t involved is actually dedicated to fleshing out the characters and the wordplay is more put to the side-lines. Watch this if you want to see an arthouse flick, because it definitely is a well directed visual feast.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Great dialogue, way TOO MUCH fanservice.
Characters: 8/10 – Good development, interesting cast, well fleshed out characters for once.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Gorgeous and fluid animation with very creative shots and images. The music is nothing special, though.
Setting: 8/10 – Even though nobody seems to live in the world of Nisemonogatari outside of the main characters, the underlying themes make up for itwith some neat ideas and backstories.

Suggestions:
– Dororon Enma-Kun Meerameera
– High School of the Dead
– Michiko e Hatchin

Mirai Nikki – 21

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

Apologies for the delay. There are times when I’m just a bit lazy with my entries. In any case though, the second half of Mirai Nikki has proved to be much more entertaining than the rather boring first half, and especially the final quarter of the series is without a doubt the best part of it.

Ninth’s death was really sappy, but it worked pretty well when Ninth suddenly started to relate to Yukiteru and realized the similarities they had. Oh, and I also love how the saves in this series have a mind of their own: out of their own volition they close off to protect Yukiteru, they only grant access to the makers (including their daughter) and even if you’re similar to said daughter you can get in. Again I’ve unfortunately been spoiled about the reason why, but the death of Eleventh was still very satisfying.

What I do like about Mirai Nikki is that, while it’s not the best of the season, it actually will end well. It waited until the manga was finished and allocated enough episodes to do it. With three episodes left and what seemed like the major antagonist Eleventh gone, I’m pretty excited for the final three episodes.

I do wonder, though: why is Akise in favor of making Yukiteru the next god, when he still has Eighth? I mean, he said that Yukiteru had a valid reason for bringing back his parents and restoring things to normal… but can’t eighth do that as well? He seems to forget that Yukiteru also has the makings of a psychopath and is incredibly emotionally unstable. I’d rather trust eighth, to be honest.
Rating: ** (Excellent)