Category: Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense

Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou – 12

by psgels, posted in Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou



Well, it had it coming, but I’m still really glad that it actually happened: this was pretty much the best ending out of all of the unfinished series that have ended this month, and I also doubt that it will be surpassed like anymore. The big flaw of this season really is the length, and this showed in a ton of series: No.6, Kamisama Dolls, Ao no Exorcist, Kaiji (though in the opposite way)… aside from Natsume Yuujinchou (which is the only one of the bunch who actually got a second season), there are just four shows who avoided this: Usagi Drop, Croisee, Dantalian, and this one.

And I know that this show had it easy by being episodic, but still: the creators did pick a great arc to finish on, and they executed it right. With this, there is only one major problem with this series: its wasted potential. This series can become so much more with 12 extra episodes. The iffy episodes at the beginning… they don’t matter anymore. The fanservice disappeared completely in the second half, and Narumi really grew up. He started out as yet another Touma, but the use of Ayaka in this episode really matured him beyond just that role.

Ignore the length, and I’m very happy with how this series turned out. Heck, this pretty much was the best JC Staff series since Aoi Hana.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mawaru Penguin Drum – 11

by psgels, posted in Mawaru Penguin Drum




I love this show! Before, it already was really well executed, dynamic, fresh and heaps of fun to watch. Now, it also throws in character development. And this character development is the kind that hits hard. This episode was awesome in the way in which it evolved Ringo’s storyline. And it just kept on going!

I mean, the love potion working was already hilarious and an excellent plot twist: Ringo’s story really was at the point where it had gotten enough time to build up, but the way in which things were, there was no way in which she’d really get further with Tabuki. The love potion was a great little twist that gave meaning to Ringo’s earlier attempts to hit on him, and it also made her finally reach her goal, and finally able to look past that. My one point of complaint is that she indeed did end up falling in love with Shouma, but then again: just about every episode had been building up for that.

And heck, I’m intrigued by the end of this episode: how could a birth have killed someone? This show is very sneaky: you’d think that we knew just as much about the plot as the main characters. Instead, everyone keeps just talking about this thing that happened 16 years ago, which caused Ringo’s sister to die, Natsume to bear a huge grudge while being just a baby. “One word changes everything”? How does that all tie together?

The artistic direction in this series also still rocks because of everything that’s going on in the background. The penguins are of course one thing (the microwave in particular was hilarious) , but also how this show makes its backgrounds dynamic is very interesting. That tiger head at the beginning of the episode for example was very nicely placed.

What’s more about Penguin Drum is how different its two halves are: Kanba’s arc is completely different from Shouma’s arc, even though they seem to have more and more in common. Natsume’s arc is dark, while Ringo’s arc is much more whimsical. Now that this series has started to mesh the two together, this works quite well.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou – 11

by psgels, posted in Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou



Oh, thank god! After No.6 and Kamisama Dolls suddenly took a turn for the worst, I’m really glad that this series continued its consistent run. With this, it stands above both these shows, as even though there is a ton of wasted potential here, it actually looks to close off really solidly.

This episode was solid build-up, but what struck me in particular is how the main cast grew even closer to each other. What happened to Ayaka was perfect for that. And in the meantime we got a great mystery story, looking for exactly how it happened. The cast definitely grew on me even more this episode, especially with the addition of the hopelessly broken brother of Ayaka.

Still, this case does seem awfully simple now that the creators hinted at the big boss drugging Ayaka and getting her to drop off that cliff. Still, even considering that there are things that still don’t make sense: why did she choose the school building of all places?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mawaru Penguin Drum – 10

by psgels, posted in Mawaru Penguin Drum



That boy!! I should have known!

This episode played some delicious mind game son Kanba (or Kamba… I’m not sure whether that’s his official spelling or the creators wanted to show that a certain character is a bad speller…). The second half of this episode rocked in particular because of how well it used all of the build-up in the first half. Things that just seemed completely random actually got a whole deeper meaning as the episode went on. It all came together in a greatly addictive climax.

Every character in this show has his or her flaws: Himari’s we got to see last week, Shouma is way too damn nice, the penguins are just complete scum bags and Ringo is an obsessive stalker, but the most interesting is the womanizer Kanba, simply because we hardly ever get to see characters like that in a main role. The last time we had a major character of his caliber was with White Album. The women in this series are obsessive, but this guy also deserves points in the asshole department by not caring at all about his past dates. And again the reasoning behind it seems deep. That speech of Kanba about the things he hates to get from a female sounded very deep seated. Something happened between the two of them…

Also, watching the penguins in the background was as hilarious as ever.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Steins;Gate Review – 87,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Steins;Gate




There is one thing at which Steins;Gate is unrivaled at compared to anything else that aired this year: its plot. If it’s originality, creative twists and multi layers that you want, then this is a must-watch. This has a bit of a slow start, but as the series goes on its intricately woven plot about time travel shines like no other and this show is masterful at combining seemingly insignificant hooks into gripping plot twist. This definitely stood out as one of the most solid shows of the past half year.

Helping with that is a unique style of this series. The entire series is animated with dull and washed out colours, the animation is simple and only becomes really smooth when it really needs to (with great effects, by the way),and a lot of time in this series is spent on characters just talking to each other while the plot slowly progresses. It’s slow, but each episode has its purpose, even though this only may become apparent later on. The lead characters’ monologues in particular are well written, but on top of that this is a series that really did its research into time travel. It may not present the most logical way that time travel might be possible (I mean, there are still parts where you’re going to have to suspend your disbelief), but it’s very well researched.

The weakest part of this series is its cast of characters. Obviously they’re not bad, but they do have a few quirks that didn’t make them as interesting to follow as some of their counterparts. In particular, the acting of the main cast leaves things to be desired, in which they’re trying too hard to fit themselves into certain stereotypes. Daru, Kurisu and Mayuri are the biggest examples of this, which often makes them annoying to watch. The main character Okabe meanwhile just tries too hard: during the dramatic parts he tends to act too dramatic, and during the light-hearted parts he tends to act too over the top (which becomes rather repetitive after a bunch of episodes).

That’s pretty much what held this show back for me. Do not let that discourage you however, because there have been plenty of people who experienced the characters in a completely different way. Heck, at the beginning of this season I did not expect another series this year to come close to the amount of acclaim that Madoka Magica got. I personally did have these beefs with the characters, but even there there are still plenty of good parts about the cast of characters, in particular their development.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Really knows how to deliver stunning plot twists. Has a unique and down to earth style and uses it really well.
Characters: 8/10 – Some annoying and forced acting was probably the thing that bugged me the most about this series.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Very smooth animation is wonderful to see, though there also are many inconsistencies during the quiet scenes.
Setting: 10/10 – A truly excellent story about time travel and all of its intricacies. It’s creative and boldly written together.

Suggestions:
– Noein
– Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
– Bokura no

Steins;Gate – 24

by psgels, posted in Steins;Gate



And here we really see the advantage of adapting a medium that has already finished: it’s so much easier to plan in a great conclusion. This episode really impressed me by how it did exactly what it needed to close this thing off. I do have one question about the plot, though. Did I miss this somewhere by not paying attention?

When Okabe traveled back in time with his time machine, shouldn’t he have seen his version of the previous episode together with him? I mean, I was really looking forward to seeing Okabe stop not just Kurisu’s father, but also his own blunder of killing Kurisu last episode. He didn’t use any D-Mails to undo that, right?

Either way though: the rest of this episode rocked. The metal Upa thing took a while to hit home, but again I have to praise this series for putting so many huge consequences on such a tiny little thing. The finale was over the top, but it was wonderfully animated. This series has definitely found a unique style of animation, and even though it only had the budget to show this once every three or four episodes, it really made huge additions to this series. This episode was also where that came together wonderfully.

Oh and yeah: a movie just got announced. This episode closed off nicely, while still leaving a number of key questions unanswered. There are things like Suzuha’s mother, but the biggest is probably: why didn’t Kurisu start to work for Cern? In fact, that whole subplot is still pretty unexplored, because she only became like that in the Mayuri-death-timelines: where she met Okabe. Something happened there that killed Okabe and Daru, caused such an unlikely scenario to happen. I hope that the movie is going to focus on that.

Overall, the past Spring had four shows that stood head and shoulders above the others: Ano Hana, Tiger & Bunny, Hyouge Mono and this one. Overall, I think that I do like Anohana better. As for second place though, that’s really going to be a tough one: Tiger & Bunny had much better characters, while at the same time it had a less impressive plot, and the settings of both all were incredibly well constructed, while Hyouge Mono has better acting, while its plot will entirely depend on what it has planned for its final 13 episodes. All in all though, it was one heck of a ride, and definitely set a standard for the other endings this season.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou – 10

by psgels, posted in Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou



Oh heck. It may not be the Alice arc, but once again this was really good. Ayaka’s brother’s introduction gave a completely different light on her character and I have no doubt that the creators can make something nice out of it. Especially that ending: at first I thought it was some sort of flashback. Then I accidentally caught a glimpse of next week’s preview (I always really try to avoid those). Yeah. This will be an awesome finale.

Now, I do want to hi-jack this post for a bit for some general observations of this entire summer season, especially considering that this series has a pretty big part in this. I remember noting at the start of this season that this might be the best summer season so far. Now, the season of course hasn’t ended yet, so anything can still happen, but I do not think that it will end up like this. My favourite Summer Seasons so far are the ones of 2006 and 2007, and I do not think that this season overall can beat them.

And the biggest reason for that is in my opinion the trio of No.6, Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou and Kamisama Dolls. I mean, Penguin Drum and Natsume Yuujinchou are both doing fantastic. They are more than enough to make this season awesome at this point. Blood-C although it is not as great as it could have been still looks to be rock-solid, while the slice of life series of Ikoku Meiro no Croisee and Usagi Drop are also doing really well. Meanwhile there is the big surprise of Blade, and Dantalian no Shoka is also very charming. The Kamisama series and No.6 should have been the icing on the cake, and while they are really good series: they could have been pure gold if they were longer. It’s by far the biggest weakness of this season.

Compare that to 2006, which had four 2-cour series which made brilliant use of their length (Bokura ga Ita, Chevalier, Night Head Genesis and NHK ni Youkoso), some rock-solid 1-cour series who knew exactly how long they were (Flag, Kemonozume and Honey and Clover), added to some awesome light-hearted shows (Akazukin & Power Puff Z).This season unfortunately wasn’t enough to really match that and it still stands as my favourite Summer Season ever. As for 2007, it is slightly more difficult. The thing with that season is that it had five absolutely amazing and ground-breaking series (Baccano, Higurashi Kai, Shigurui, Mononoke, Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei), but hardly anything memorable aside from that. This season has definitely beaten it in terms of quantity and it has many more series worth watching, but unfortunately only Penguin Drum really matches up to these best series, with perhaps also Natsume Yuujin-Chou San if the ending is really good. If Kamisama no Memo-Chou, Kamisama Dolls and No.6 were longer however, they actually would have stood a chance to also stand in that tier. In that case this season would have also blown Summer of 2007 out of the water.

As for third place though: I’m pretty confident that this season will take that. 2008 had some really good series with Xamdou, Ultraviolet, Blade of the Immortal, Natsu no Sora and Natsume Yuujinchou I, but that just doesn’t match up to the huge array of excellent series that are aired right now. 2009 meanwhile had a select number of classics (2009 had Tokyo Magnitude, Aoi Hana, Spice and Wolf II, GA and Umineko, but in the end this season is just richer, has more variety consistency. 2010’s only noteworthy series meanwhile were Shiki, Kuroshitsuji II and Occult Academy, with perhaps also Denyuuden added. That also just doesn’t match up.

However, I am very happy with this season. The thing is that 2006 and 2007 were near godly years for anime, in which so much stuff happened at the same time. This was the summer season that came closes to those years, and who knows. This upward trend might be continuing. At the very least, the next season is one that isn’t bothered at all by short series lengths. I’m quite hopeful for the future.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mawaru Penguin Drum – 09

by psgels, posted in Mawaru Penguin Drum



I loved this episode! It’s the kind of episode that goes for something completely different, and I really love these gimmicky episodes like this. It’s been a huge while since one appeared, especially in series that have a continuous plot. Those complaining that Himari was a mary sue? Hah, this episode is there to prove you wrong. In 20 minutes this show gave a heap of depth to her, after strangely ignoring her for so many episodes.

This was both in the obvious, and in the subtle ways. For example, amongst the books that she returned in the library, one was about learning to earn ten times more. Apart from that we never see this confirmed, but she too is well aware of the money problems that the siblings have. I have no idea why she was interested in “Sputnik Weirdo”, though.

The direction also was just fantastic. Even better than usual. This episode didn’t have any action whatsoever, but the camera angles and plot twists alone just completely made up for it. Everything just seemed to fit, not to mention the wonderful music. This series really can get me excited unlike any other series this season (even Steins;Gate), and this episode only increased this.

After a bit of research, I found out that this episode was storyboarded and directed (both the episode and animation direction) by just one guy: Nobuyuki Takeuchi, and I can see the influences. Probably his most notable works are as one of the chief animators of the Utena Movies, and as the visual director of Bakemonogatari and Moonphase. It’s especially amazing what he can do when working together with an actually good director (Kunihiko Ikura was the one who wrote this episode). This episode felt like everything that Shaft should have been: strong direction, no wasted time on random blabber, no repetition of the same scenarios over and over and gone is the poor build-up.

Also, I applaud the use of the two friends. That was very clever use of symbolism. I think everyone thought that the two girls at the ED were supposed to be female versions of the two lead brothers as some sort of weird joke. Instead it’s all about Himari and her two friends. And the subway signs. I’ve seen Utena, so I really should have known that there was more behind them than just that. On top of that the story of Himari’s past too was just wonderful. It gave her depth, flaws, personality, and I really like how the creators used the first episodes to show little of her on purpose, rather focusing Shouma. Saving the best for last, eh?

Also, I have to praise this show for using the pink-haired guy. The thing is that whenever series introduce characters halfway through, they almost always forget that they also appear in the OP, so they just start with these random shots that just show the characters, that don’t really say anything other than: “I’m about to appear”. This episode really pulled his introduction out of the blue. We know that he’s important due to that OP, and this episode made great use of that.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Steins;Gate – 23

by psgels, posted in Steins;Gate



OMG! WTF!

Right from the start I knew that this would be the point that I had been looking forward to the most: the explanation of what the heck happened during that first episode. And yeah. It pretty much was my favourite episode of Steins;Gate yet. But for the love of God, that plot twist in which Christina’s killer is revealed was awesome!

This episode really was amazing. Everything came together wonderfully. The twists that the plot took here were brilliant, and I even loved the characters. Okarin’s future self’s message was awesome in how well his past version understood what he had to do.

I really thought that Moeka, FB and CERN were the central villains: that they too were somehow involved with the third world war somehow. Instead though, they are just vital for Mayuri’s death, and they only come in action when they actually intercept that D-Mail. They probably participated in the arms race for building the time machine, but without Kurisu they actually didn’t get the upper hand.

And holy crap this thing only has 24 episodes. It’ll be over next week! Okabe is going to have to save Kurisu in one single episode. It actually is possible if the creators play their cards right. I’ve said many times before that an ending can make a huge difference on how I view a series, and out of all the series that are going to end this season, this one has the best papers for it. The most important thing: do not rush too much!

Also, who put the OP through a blender?
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou – 09

by psgels, posted in Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou



Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou what the heck do you think you’re doing you only have 13 episodes.

This is what I mean by this show acting like it’s twice its length: I mean this episode standalone was very good, but in the context of this series the creators pretty much wasted one valuable episode. I mean, Nemoto’s background was very good and all, but do the creators really want to focus on such a minor character when there’s enough gold buried underneath the main cast? The writing and mystery of this series really are great, so it’s very annoying when the creators keep dodging them…

But yeah, this episode. It was a bit bizarre, suddenly deciding to go with a baseball episode of all things, but it was fun to watch. Especially Alice showed a totally different side of her when she actually went out to the field to try batting. It obviously wasn’t meant to be believable at all, but it’s a good way to flesh out the main cast. It was fun. Heck, even the fanservice was nearly completely toned down. It’s just completely the wrong time for it.

What’s more: the previous episodes promised us some awesome backstory on Alice. And yet the final arc of this series seems to focus on Ayaka. Which is nice and all, but that does leave us with a main character with gaping holes in her back-story. I was really looking forward to that story of hers, so it’s a bloody shame that we won’t get to see it.
Rating: * (Good)