Category: Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense

Supernatural The Animation – 04

by psgels, posted in Supernatural The Animation



So, this is supposed to be the first of the original episodes for this series? Well, I’m impressed. It was a random story like all the previous episodes, but it did fit into them very nicely. There was a story about two brothers that nicely allowed us to relate this back to the lead characters, we learned something new about Dean (his car obsession) and the characters of this story were also quite good and inspired.

The story was quite interesting with the ghost of an innocent police victim, and the police officers’ attempts to cover it up, and how they’re still haunted by it after years. It’s quite straightforward, but worked out quite well.

The climax was the weakest one so far, mostly due to the CG cars that just didn’t look as good as the previous three episodes. Also, in terms of the continuity, I would have preferred to have seen Dean cleaning his car from the paint that Sam put on it, along with him getting angry over the damage that that climax caused.
Rating: * (Good)

Supernatural The Animation – 03

by psgels, posted in Supernatural The Animation




Great to see that the third episode already tells about the background of the two lead characters. I mean, a dead mother is nothing new here, but usually when anime do that, they wait until very long before they come with the story that explained what happened to them. Doing this in the third episode really allows the series to go beyond that and use it in later episodes to its advantage.

And again: this episode mostly progressed like a normal ghost story, only for the climax to really get interesting. It’s a sign of great build-up, and if the creators are able to do this consistently shows that they know what they’re doing. Even when most of the episode is a standard ghost story, when you watch the episode back you can see the hints here and there that are all building up towards that climax.

This episode also showed the mysterious father of Dean and Sam for the first time. As a background, it’s definitely interesting. At this point it’s clear that something happened to that guy while his wife died. This episode seemed to suggest that she died by a mere poltergeist, but there’s probably more to it than just that. Oh, and I also liked that fortune teller.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Supernatural The Animation – 02

by psgels, posted in Supernatural The Animation



Okay, so here I’m going to try and do the arduous task of trying to blog 22 episodes in a month and a half. Do expect some delays on some posts though, but I really want to try and blog this thing. It’s not perfect (the acting could have been better), but I still have a lot to like on this one. So far, it’s got terrific atmosphere, great build-up, gorgeous artwork and excellent climaxes.

We do seem to be dealing with an episodic series here, But the first two episodes have been quite well written. The stories have enough depth to them to make the episodic format work. I especially like how this series likes to present its story as fairly straightforward in the beginning, only to come up with a twist that gives a completely different meaning to the characters involved. Now this is how you should use build-up well!

For most of the first half I found this episode rather confusing. The two lead brothers kept talking about a lot of stuff that they seemed to have discovered off-screen. Especially when we suddenly got the information that they knew about the whereabouts of her husband all along, plus it was also rather strange that she was able to stay in the water for so long without… you know.. drowning. The twist that she had been dead for fifteen years though, it was an excellent one that really put things into perspective. On top of that, the creators also used their red herrings of the ghost couple quite well.

But yeah, the big flaw of this show so far is the stiff acting at times. It’s what you get when you have character-designs like this and try to animate them, without trying to make it look natural. The characters’ faces, whenever they move, move rather stiff and unnatural. At the same time though, the animation does make up for it during the climaxes, due to some really great shots and artwork.

This version I found of episode 2 had English voices on it, instead of the Japanese. Overall they did quite a decent job, with a few exceptions. Grealy’s wife for example was really hammy.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Some Quick First Impressions: Supernatural The Animation

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions, Supernatural The Animation

Supernatural The Animation

Short Synopsis: Our lead characters are a bunch of detectives.
So, finally the first episode of the Supernatural Animation has popped up. A very badly encoded version, so I wouldn’t recommend it, but nevertheless this was quite good. The visual style of the designs and the animation all look wonderful, and especially the animation in the action-scenes is stunning and imaginative. As for the story, this episode started off with a random case, which was a fairly straight-forward thriller until it started to get quite creative with its climax. Overall, I’m very interested in this show at this point. The characters are pretty interesting as well, though my one point of criticism is that the acting (especially the way in which the characters are animated) feels a bit stiff. A typical Madhouse problem. There is also this point where one of the lead characters gets hurt, only to completely heal again only hours later. Right after his co-lead specifically points out that that’s impossible. Continuity, guys.
ED: English with a bit of an accent, instead of the usual Engrish. It’s still a bit of a boring ballad, though.
Potential: 80%

Senkou no Night Raid – 14

by psgels, posted in Senkou no Night Raid



Most DVD episodes are random side-stories that if they’re lucky, have something to do with the main story. This one is different though: it shows a vital conclusion to this series. The story is over now, but it tells what happened to the characters after the events of the TV-series: what happened to them, and how they changed.

It was mostly centred around Kazura, as this episode hints that he died in a rebellion, started by his former classmates. Before that happens he’s able to meet Aoi (who recovered and is now travelling with Shizune) and Yukina, who has been handling Natsume’s death. Again, they really did justice to the setting: they didn’t choose a cheap way out. Even Aoi helping Kazura from out of nowhere didn’t really have an effect, and he made the conscious decision to help his former classmates.

It was also wonderfully told. This had none of the acting problems of the TV-series, and the actors probably put out some of the most believable performances of the entire series. Obviously the story being less epic really helped there, but even compared to the other DVD special, the pacing and atmosphere felt very natural here. I also really like how the creators used that story of the escaped panther to subtly spice up this episode. If you liked the TV-series, then this episode is a must watch.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Shinrei Tantei Yakumo




Bee-Train’s installment for 2010 is called Shinrei Tantei Yakumo, a 13 episode series about a psychic detective who can see ghosts. Lacking their usual director, Koichi Mashimo, the characterization is not as good as we’ve come to expect from them, but there still is a lot to like about this series.

Let me first put a few disclaimers here though, because this isn’t the most accessible series. First of all, despite the “Tantei”-part of the title (tantei = detective), don’t expect this to be a murder mystery: it isn’t. The culprits are often immediately revealed without really giving the audience the time to speculate wht happened. The mystery of this series instead mostly lies in its overall story.

Second of all, adapations whose stories don’t exactly fit within either 13 or 26 episodes nowadays often have slow paced beginnings and rushed endings. Yakumo is completely the opposite: it rushes through its first chapters, just so that it can take its time with the final two arcs of the story in which everything comes together.

So the first half of this series basically consists out of random stories for every episode. The pacing is really fast and some things are rather rushed in order to get everything to actually fit within twenty minutes, but overall these stories work surprisingly well. They’re especially good a using their own build-up and almost all of them end with a neat and interesting conclusion.

The main story that pops up in the second half is actually very interesting. The show boasts a number of very interesting characters (another plus point is that this is one of the very few series of the past season that isn’t about teenagers and actually make suse of it), with some badass characters that are very likable to watch. The show can also boast a neat cast of major villains here, who really are built up as a menacing bunch with a very interesting backstory. The voice actors meanwhile are good, yet composed, so there is none of the usual annoying overacting. There however are a few characters that can get on people’s nerves. Most notably Haruka, the romantic interest, but she’s far from the worst of her kind.

With 13 episodes, the characters aren’t as deep as your usual Bee-Train series, but they are great nonetheless. I especially loved the way in which the second half interweaves all of their stories together, and there is quite a bit of good development in this series, both for the main characters and the side characters.

The music this time is compoed by the relatively unknown RON, who deliver a great little soundtrack that is surprisingly varied. There are a ton of great tracks that the creators use really well, and this show just continues to introduce new ones. The character designs are simple, but the inbetween animation is quite good.

Overall, Yakumo is another series that went a bit under the radar this season (despite the HUGE hype leading up to it) but this is quite a good series to watch, even for some people who usually don’t like Bee-Train’s really slow sense of storytelling, because the pacing of this series is much faster than their usual series. Just be aware of some sloppy and rushed storytelling here and there.

Storytelling: 9/10 – A bit rushed and lacks attention to detail in the beginning, but makes up for it in the way that it manages to weave its different stories together and how well it uses its own build-up.
Characters: 9/10 – Great and diverse cast of well developed characters, there are plenty of strong and likable characters around. And a few that are hard to like, though.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Great soundtrack, decent animation, unremarkable art.
Setting: 8/10 – Seeing spirits is nothing new, but this series does give a fresh spin to it.

Suggestions:
– Madlax
– Soultaker
– Matantei Loki Ragnarok

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo – 13

by psgels, posted in Shinrei Tantei Yakumo



That turned out to be a very nice little ending. It’s far less exciting than I expected, but it formed a very good conclusion to the series. Unlike the rest of this series, nothing was rushed about this episode at all.

So the plot of the bad guys was indeed to try and get the ghost of Yakumo’s father a real body. For that, they needed him in despair and that’s why all of his family members were killed. Miyuki Nanase indeed shot Gotou, as the final straw. The way in which things eventually got solved is a bit weird, yet interesting. It’s not like some deus ex machina suddenly makes the villains incompetent or stupid: their plan just failed. The reasons why exactly are a bit vague, but Yakumo simply refused to give into his despair.

In the end, the villains probably waited for too long to inhabit Yakumo’s body: it would have been much easier to drive him to despair while he was still a teenager (but then again, I think that Yakumo’s father was too much focused on acquiring an actually good vessel, and not a teen-aged one which I can somewhat understand). They tried to make him into a broken character, but in the end Gotou, Isshin and Haruka pulled him out of it. It’s cheesy, but this is one story where the power of friendship is actually quite acceptable to be the final twist. It could have been better, but it also definitely could have been worse.

I also really like that the creators really took their time for the epilogue. I’m not sure how Gotou wasn’t hit at a vital spot, but at least he does spend quite a bit of time at a hospital. Isshin however… actually died. It’s a great idea to base the epilogue of this series around his funeral, it’s a perfect way to close off the series.

Overall, Bee-Train’s series usually last for two seasons: that really gave them the opportunity to come with some really great plots and characters. With just 13 episodes however, Yakumo actually gave a very good attempt. It’s nowhere near Bee-Train’s best, I really noticed that while watching Madlax, but it’s still very good. I’m really thrilled for 2011: not only will Koichi Mashimo return, but he’s actually going to do a series of 39 episodes. I’m really glad that after 2010 that had so few series that dared to be long, 2011 finally is showing series again that go beyond 26 episodes.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Angel Beats – 14

by psgels, posted in Angel Beats



It was a long time a mystery what the Angel Beats OVA would focus on. I mean, the ending was pretty conclusive and left hardly any room for expansion. As it turns out, this is the “Bad End” version of Angel Beats. Yes, that comes directly from this episode and no, it’s unlike anything you imagine with such a title.

In the end, this pretty much is an episode in which this show takes the piss out of itself. The entire episode is based around the premise of Yurippe coming up with a plan that required everyone to confuse Tenshi with high tension. What follows is an entire freaking episode with non-stop yelling, screaming and people overacting. It’s a complete and utter chaos in which half the cast acts out of character in order to keep the tension as high as possible.

I liked Angel Beats, but I always thought that the director was a bit of a mis-cast. This episode however screams his style all over. It’s ridiculously high in energy without any subtlety whatsoever. The episode itself was completely stupid, but I laughed quite a bit. There’s also this constant tension level-meter that makes things even more hilarious.

There were some cheesy parts of the episode, like how the quiet girls like Yurippe and that ninja girl got the highest tension when they started yelling. It’s a complete filler, but it does fit within the series’ premise: this remains a series in which a bunch of confused spirits are just running around randomly and that’s exactly what this episode was.
Rating: * (Good)

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo – 12

by psgels, posted in Shinrei Tantei Yakumo



It’s the penultimate episode, and a series that once was so incredibly fast paced here really takes its time to deliver its story properly. The result is one of the quietest episodes of the entire series. It’s going to depend entirely on the final episode whether its time was well spent. The main event of this episode was that indeed it wasn’t Yakumo’s father who stabbed Ishii, but instead it was the father of that little girl he talked to. This guy really is quite the interesting villain, doing everything while dead and only able to talk and influence people. In terms of the side-characters, I especially liked Gotou. Throughout the entire series, his dialogue and voice acting has been consistently snarky and amusing.

Unfortunately, this episode ended with the infamous “let’s nearly kill someone right before the final episode”-cliffhanger. That’s a bit of a bad sign as most of the series that pull that twist only use it as a cheap gimmick instead of making it really part of the ending. Again, it’s all going to depend on that final episode and whether they can portray it well. The problem is that Nanase Miyuki has been built up as pretty much the strongest and most professional character of the entire series. If she manages to miss Haruka (or whoever she intended to shoot), it’s going to ruin her character.

In any case, Bee-Train have usually worked with famous composers, such as Yuki Kajiura, the ALI Project and Kou Outani. I really like that this time, they went with the relatively unknown RON, and pretty much allowed them to put all kinds of creativity in the soundtrack. This episode premiered a ton of new tracks, all of which worked wonderfully well. The only soundtrack they did previously was the Kurenai ED, which was generic J-Pop, so I’m really impressed by what they ended up delivering when they moved out of that genre.
Rating: * (Good)

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo – 11

by psgels, posted in Shinrei Tantei Yakumo



In a season in which so many adaptations are heading towards an incomplete ending, Yakumo feels incredibly refreshing. This is EXACTLY what I mean by proper build-up!

These are the kinds of stories that make perfect use of their build-up, rather than either doing the same thing over and over again, or just failing to do anything with it. Koichi Mashimo has always been terrific at this, but with this series, it’s awesome to see that more and more people are walking around in bee-Train who know the ins and outs of Bee-Train. That’s pretty much the thing that made me a Bee-Train fan, and why I don’t mind their slow pacing at all. Their music is of course amazing, but what really sold me on them is how well they manage to lay out their series in terms of the big picture. There are exceptions, of course, like Blade of the Immortal (way too short!) and .Hack//Roots (tried way too much and shot itself in the foot by that), but the vast majority of their series come together wonderfully in the end. While not a Bee-Train series, the anime that really showed me that was the Irresponsible Captain Tylor that I watched a week ago. With Yakumo too: instead of focusing for too long on the boring stuff of the manga, they really wanted to rush through that in order to do the great parts of the manga justice and that’s working wonderfully so far.

The “death right before the finale”-trope has been used often enough before, but I really like the effect that this had on both the characters and the plot. At first I thought that Yakumo’s uncle’s message that he’s going to die of cancer was just there to instill some sympathy. Instead, it caused him to just throw away his life in an attempt to try and talk to Yakumo’s father (who is turning into a more and more interesting villain, by the way). The result is that he’s now in a coma of which we won’t know whether he’ll wake up or not.

A lot of time really went into the repercussions of this, and especially the two people on which his coma made the biggest impact: Yakumo and Noa. Especially Noa was just amazing to watch, having her father in a coma at such a young age, and I loved how everyone tried to help her here. Yakumo meanwhile just sat at the same place. He’s no child anymore, but at the same time this is the second time at which he’s about to lose the most important person in his life.

At the same time, the plot also really moved forward here, with Nanase Miyuki suddenly getting attacked by Yakumo’s father, and more and more people finding out that he’s actually a ghost. This episode really showed many different scenes of different people together, and that gave it a very interesting dynamic here. There are two episodes left, and I can’t wait for this one to end.
Rating: *** (Awesome)