Hah, no need for quick first impressions here, simply because I know I’m going to blog this anyway, and it would take to long till the next show starts to air. Dennou Coil was THE show for me to look out to this season, and when I have to compare it with the other first episodes that have aired during this series, then it’s safe to say that Dennou Coil so far has featured the most unique and imaginative first episode of the entire season.
Still, when you were expecting a show with high-budgetted graphics, then Dennou Coil will probably disappoint you. The graphics are kept very simple on purpose. The animation looks great, though. The backgrounds are brighter than normal, and they give off a strange feeling. Still, I love it so far. 🙂
The story: Yuuko comes to move in to a strange city, along with her younger sister Kyouko and pet dog Densuke. Her parents apparently moved to that place before, and now the two of them arrive in the city as well. So far, so good.
But now the concept: Dennou Coil plays in the future. I’m not sure exactly what year, but one major invention is virtual reality. At the point of the anime, this has become more and more integrated with real life, up to the point that you can have cyber-pets which only appear if you put on special kinds of glasses. Densuke is indeed one of these virtual pets. The strange thing is that you can actually hug him, even though he doesn’t exist for real, but when you drop a bag on it, it falls through him.
Naturally, every character in this anime wears glasses. ^^; They provide some handy features, such as a mobile phone, a gps, and a people-tracker. Also, once you have a pet, any type of glasses can see it, creating a real cyber world. I love it so far. Things get even weirder when there are even places in the virtual world that don’t exist in the real one. Special types of UFOs have been employed to destroy these places, and things that shouldn’t be in the virtual world.
One of these things is a mysterious dark speck, which hangs around in the neighbourhood, doing random things. Densuke ends up chasing it, even when it goes to a space that exists only in the virtual world, and ends up getting lost. Cue another main character: Fumie. She knows quite a lot about the cyber-world, and actually hunts for lost cyber-pets in her free time. Thanks to her, I’ve lost track of what’s real and what’s cyber. For example, she carries a pouch where anything can fit in, including a strange, wobbly creature she uses to track Densuke in the virtual world.
Two other characters introduced in this episode, but not much time has been devoted to them. One of them is a girl who probably knows even more about the cyber-world than Fumie does. She seemed to be either after the black speck, or cyber-cat that we see Fumie hunting later on. The other is a boy who seems to be either Fumie’s friend, or her rival.
Dennou Coil has been created by one man: Mitsuo Iso, and I have to praise the guy’s creativity. There are so many original ideas in this anime, I feel like the future episodes have something very interesting in stall for us. ^_^
EDIT: okay, never mind me saying that everything in this anime is brighter than usual. That was just the video-file that I downloaded. ^^;]]>
Category: Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense
Death Note – 30
You know, one major change between the current Light and the eighteen-year-old Light is that he’s much more reckless now. He’s taking a lot more risks, and his plans are no longer as careful as possible. His previous plans left nothing to the coincidence, but this episode made him reveal his identity to Near, even though he wasn’t fully sure that Near was the real culprit. I mean, what if the guy has some way to escape underground? Or comes out, wearing a mask?
Still, the part of the episode that made the biggest impression on me was the one shown at the beginning, where we see random scenes of the people who’ve gotten used to Kira, and are actually threatening each other with death. Especially the phrase “Lord Kira, please kill them”, followed by the scene of a woman crying made a lot of impact. This episode was definitely meant to illustrate this.
Also, only now do we see how large the impact of Shidoh’s visit was. Even though he himself wasn’t really doing much, the fact that some of the rules on the death note were fake has now been spread to all of the major characters in this anime. Still, I do wonder how Near found out about these fake rules in the first place. All of L’s data was supposed to be erased when Watari died, so he had to start all over. If Near had access to L’s data, he would have been easily able to figure out about Light.
One of the things I also liked was how this caused the people inside the investigation-team to start thinking about Light’s credibility. Finally they’re getting some brains of their own again. Especially Aizawa is going to have a major role in the future episodes.
I also am surprised to say that for the first time, Near actually became the most annoying character of the episode. Mello has definitely changed after the previous episode, with a huge scar on his face as a nice present. If I’m not mistaken, his voice also turned a lot lower since we last heard him.]]>
Bokura no – 05
The total amount of episodes for Bokurano hasn’t been announced yet, has it? If I had to estimate, then I’d say 39 episodes. The current format of the show is intro-death-intro-death-intro. It’s a solid format, and definitely makes sure for enough development. Fifteen children means 15 x 2 = 30 episodes, where I can imagine that some of the arcs will be three episodes, instead of two. In any case, I do hope so, as this anime deserves not to get rushed.
I’m also very surprised. I expected the impulsive characters to last at least till the end, because they’d make sure for some great conflict later on. But now it seems that the three most impulsive characters of the bunch are actually killed off the first. I really fear for Maki now, as she’s right now the most likely person to be the fourth pilot.
Also, regarding my spelling of the title for this anime, I realize that most other people are using “Bokurano”, instead of “Bokura no”. Since the original title is in Japanese, which doesn’t use spaces, it’s always a question how to spell something like this right in romanji. Still, I decided to keep “Bokura no”, simply because:
1. I’ve grown to like it.
2. I keep mispronouncing Bokurano. With Bokura no, I at least know where the right emphasises on the words are.
Anyway, about the episode, a lot of time was dedicated to Isao, the next pilot. He already freaks out even before he realizes it. The guy likes to speak his mind, even when he’s angry, so he starts to yell at everyone. At home, he tears up his entire room and actually hurts his own mother. His sister doesn’t have such a good relationship with him, obviously, while his mother is extremely worried. I assume that the one who picked him up in episode 2 also was his sister, not his mother, like I originally thought. In the end, he runs away from home, only to realize he’s going to be the next pilot.
Chizuru Honda also had a major role. I’m not sure if Isao fancied her before everything started, but he does fancy her the most out of the characters. When he’s desperate like that, he’s obviously going to run to her. Chizuru, however, is cold and realistic again. We do get a bit of information about her, though. She’s actually like Isao, in a way. She too tries to run to the person she trusts the most, in order to find comfort. For Chizuru, this person is some kind of teacher for her, though he or she isn’t at home.
I feel like I’m really going to like Mako when she’s going to get a bit of decent development. So far, we’ve only seen bits and pieces of her, though these were very interesting so far. She’s incredibly shy, but at the same time she likes to please everyone. Think of a combination of Takami and Yosuki.
We also get a bit more information about Jun. When Kana was born, his mother died out of exhaustion. It’s quite possible for Jun to hate her because of this. Kana turned very silent because of this. I think that she figured that it’d just be best to not speak at all, so that she doesn’t anger her brother too much.
Moji is another person who is high on the “next pilot”-list. He’s been having quite a bit of development in the past few episodes. This episode, he only explained a few things, but it definitely showed that he’s also got a lot of charisma. Aiko is the third person on this list, when we see her act very delighted that there might be a feint chance for her to be saved.
If I had to guess, then Yosuki is going to have a big role in the next episode. Simply because Isao just continues to bully him. This episode he again kept kicking him in order to relieve stress.
It’s also interesting, as we see Koemushi either have a conversation with himself, or Zearth, in which the second party questions whether Koemushi isn’t going too far in his insults. I also was surprised when the army actually got the permission to investigate on Zearth. Their commander seems to be on good terms with Kana, though we’re not yet shown exactly how.]]>
Death Note – 29
I don’t understand why people actually claim that the second half of Death Note sucks. This episode was great, and L’s absence didn’t really hurt it. In fact, the Yotsuba-arc was far more annoying than the current one.
The focus of this episode was Light’s family. His sister may not have been physically hurt by the shots, fired at her, it did destroy her mentally. Because of this, Light’s father especially is put in deep thoughts. When Light then comes with the plan of revealing himself as Kira, after having found out Mello’s location, and give the police a second Death Note, so that they can make the eye-deal and kill Mello by only having to look at his face, he just feels obliged to be the one to do it. He really had to find a way to become useful, and this was the perfect way, even though he’d die himself. It’s quite interesting how he turned out.
His death alone wasn’t really spectacular, but everything around it was. Yet again was Light incredibly close to killing off his opponent, but just like Misa got caught before Light could reach her, Light’s father went to depend on his morals, and tried to arrest Mello, instead of killing him. Because of this, Mello could act back and kill the guy. Light wasn’t happy at that point.
On his death-bed, Light also lost his cool for probably the first time in the entire series in front of others. I’m not sure whether this was because he just was angry that he missed an important chance of murdering a threat, or that there was a tiny bit of sentiment in this.
It’s quite interesting, Near is now left with only two assistants, while Mello, or Mihael Keehl is all alone now, now that his former companions are either dead or arrested. I assume, though, that he’ll get them out of jail soon enough. I mean, if he can take over a plane, busting into a prison would be nothing for him. It’ll be interesting for Light now, this quite possibly is the first time that he actually knows a name, but not a face. Apparently, the drawing of the guy isn’t enough for this.
Meanwhile, we’ve still got Near as well. This means that if Light does kill Mihael at one point, he has to do this very carefully, or Near will find out that Light could have been the only one to do this. But then again, it’s quite possible that while he did know that L possessed a death note at one point, he probably never heard that Light was the main suspect of being Kira.
Also, what was up with Shidoh? He really surprised me. Don’t get me wrong, I loved his part in this episode, but I really expected him to have a really dark role in the future episodes, in which he would help Mello get even closer to Light, but in the end, he only had two roles: remove one Death Note from the game-board (this just leaves Ryuk’s original Death Note, still with Ryuk, Rem’s Death Note, now with the police and Misa’s Death Note, who now continuously touches Light in order to prevent him from forgetting everything), and the second role is to inform Mello that Kira has actually messed with the Death Note and added two fake rules. This will probably be used in the future.]]>
Bokura no – 04
Short Synopsis: It’s Masaru’s father, and only now the concept of Bokura no really becomes clear.
Good: Wow… just wow…
Bad: Certain characters didn’t get any lines at all.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10
Oh boy… I may have misunderstood this part, so correct me if I’m wrong, but in this episode, it becomes clear that whoever pilots Zearth, will definitely die. Seriously, I knew that characters would die quite often, but I never expected it to be an actual RULE to this game. That’s why Kokopeli never appeared again, he wasn’t controlling everything from behind the scenes at all, he just died after he demonstrated how to pilot Zearth! The reason Takashi died also was because of this, and Jun had to take the blame.
This time, it’s Masaru’s turn. And really, his case was so good. His brother (whom I previously mistook for his father) hates his father, but Masaru loves him. It’s a typical case in which a parent favours one of his children above the others. Usually in anime, the focus is on the neglected one, but this time, it’s the total opposite. The reason Masaru has turned so cold was because of his father, who doesn’t seem to have any mercy as well. It seems that the only one he’s nice to is Masaru himself, who in turn loves him as well. Notice the chair he uses in Zearth isn’t his own chair, but his father’s.
During his turn in piloting, he indeed demonstrates that he’s rather merciless, when he doesn’t care what kinds of homes he’ll destroy or people he’ll kill. Because of this, he accidentally kills his own father when he falls down, due to carelessness. He goes berserk after that, which ends up killing the enemy mecha, and himself as well.
This definitely was a Masaru-episode. The others didn’t get much development, aside from knowing that they’re all going to die. Because of this, I’m looking forward to the next episode a LOT. Especially the one who’s going to pilot next time will be interesting, now that he or she knows that fighting means dying.]]>
Death Note – 28
Short Synopsis: Melo carries out his plan, and what does Light do? Well, nothing.
Good: Not sure how to describe it. See below.
Bad: Please, someone, kill Misa.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
You know what, my opinion of Death Note wasn’t that high after the previous episode, and I expected it to fall apart any minute now during this episode. Still, this episode turned surprisingly good, but not in the way that we’ve come to know Death Note. This episode definitely was different from all other episodes yet, perhaps the Naomi-arc has been the closest. For so many episodes, the main reason why I liked Death Note was to see Light trump his opponents over and over. At only two times, Light was the one being trumped: by Naomi and in the second episode, when L first showed himself. Yes, it’s a bit strange, but apart from that, L never really was that big of a threat to him. Okay, his move at the university did make Light angry, but it didn’t really bring him closer to catching Light.
This episode was really meant to bash Light in the ground, over and over. Remember what L liked to say early in the series? Kira hates to lose. I expected this episode to be really annoying, and indeed, certain parts in this episode really got on my nerves. But for some reason, the episode itself left me with a really good feeling.
The thing is, Light shines when he can prepare. This time, he really had no chance of preparing. It’ll be interesting to see what Light can do when he’s got a proper plan prepared to get rid of Melo. Still, Melo know has a Death Note, and he’s not afraid to use it. I do wonder how he found out about Light’s father, being part of the investigation-team, or the different members of Near’s investigation-team.
Also, I demand to see some scenes of L’s childhood. The current amount of background on both Near and Melo is just way too little, I want to know what kind of influence L had on the two of them, how they met him, and why they don’t even know each other’s names. The shinigami are also going to play some kind of role in the coming episodes. They’re promising to be interesting, but will nine episodes be enough to develop them well?]]>
Bokura no – 03
Short Synopsis: This episode features the children returning to their home, and attend Takashi’s funeral.
Good: Only now, Takashi’s death really sinks in.
Bad: I couldn’t understand the people who talked about his autopsy.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Remember a random anime in which lots of buildings get destroyed? Chances are that during the aftermath, you won’t see anything that hinted about this. This definitely is different in Bokurano, as we still see the damages that Zearth caused. I’ll call it Zearth for now, as I have no idea whether Jiaasu really is a Japanese word, or a horrible katakanification of the word Zearth.
This is probably the first time for an anime to actually kill of its main character, especially so early in the show. Takashi does leave his traces, as the children are now beginning to realize that this game can really be able to kill them. In the current episode, we also get to meet the parents and the homes of the now fourteen children.
Masaru’s father is what you’d expect of him: cold and uncaring. With a father like that, I can imagine how he picked up that personality trait. I wonder what happened to his mother, as his father picking him up that his mother wasn’t able to (otherwise he wouldn’t have taken the initiative). He’s going to be the next one to pilot Zearth, which makes me really anticipate the next episode, as it’ll probably cause more and more conflicts.
Moji’s are shown only briefly, they seem to work at some kind of restaurant. I wonder what will happen once he gets to be the pilot. Takashi wanted to pilot Zearth because it’s new to him, and Masaru will probably not care about life or death at this point, but what will happen when someone who doesn’t actually want to pilot gets to pilot it?
Isao’s mother likes to scold him, but that’s only natural, as I can imagine him getting in more sorts of trouble. He doesn’t have that big of a role, but right after Zearth has disappeared, he did release his frustrations by yelling at everyone. I don’t think he’ll really be an antagonist. He’s just a bit too playful and likes to speak his mind.
Daiichi didn’t have a big role this time. We do see a bit of his father, but that’s everything. So far, he doesn’t seem to have any problems with his parents, but we’ve yet to see where he lives.
Kanji took things surprisingly well. Even after Takashi died, he still was able to still lie to the police without a worry on his face. He seems to live in the same building as Jun and Kana, and this episode showed that he’s got a “don’t worry too much”-personality. I wonder how long that lasts.
Jun doesn’t seem to have any parents, they’re either dead or they’re away for a long while. I’m not sure which of the two it is, but if I had to guess, then it’s the second. He spends the episode thinking about Takashi. He and Kana live in a really strange apartment, by the way. Even the beds are piled up strangely.
Yosuki also doesn’t have a big role. The only time we see a bit of him individually is during the interrogations, where he has trouble speaking, and when his mother comes to pick him up, from which the only new thing we get to see is his way too large backpack.
Mako gets a bit more screentime than last episode, but it still isn’t much. It appears that she’s more of a shy girl, like Yosuki perhaps. But unlike Yosuki, she doesn’t try to be more talkative.
Aiko has it the most difficult in this episode. She clearly is the most shocked by Takashi’s death, and she shows it when she starts crying, and avoiding her favourite chair when she gets home. I really wonder how her character will evolve, as she may be the first one to freak out, this also may cause her to be the first one to calm down again.
Chizuru Honda actually turns out a little sadistic. She also doesn’t seem to care too much about Takashi’s death, and talks a bit freaky. When her mother tries to comfort her, she just pushes her away.
I’m quite surprised that Takami actually told the police and her parents about Zearth. Obviously, nobody believed her, but this does show that she likes to be the goodie two-shoe. I wonder what will happen once the others find out that she tried to give away their secrets.
Maki’s father is just as energetic as she is. She had a small role in this episode, though. Not much news apart from this was given about her.
I’m still wondering about Yoko. Yet again did she have nearly no screentime for this episode. She only got one line for the entire episode. The only thing I figured out was that she likes to take care of Kana.
Speaking of Kana, I really like her, with a brother like that. She hardly ever talks, so it’s very hard to understand how she actually sees her brother. Does she hate him? Does she care for him? Does she find him annoying? Is it also me, or has she never spoken during this entire anime?
Anyway, this episode was really nice. The action-junkies will probably not find it that exciting, but the different characters were very interesting to see. :)]]>
Death Note – 27
Short Synopsis: The final part of Death Note will feature Light vs Near vs Melo. N and M seem to hate each other.
Good: Thankfully, Light isn’t as annoying as I feared.
Bad: N and M, however, are.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
I can understand why people felt that N and M didn’t live up to L. The two of them just aren’t introduced properly. Not only that, but their quirks are even more annoying. N likes to play puzzles with inhumane precision, while M is obsessed with chocolate. What happened to the subtlety in which L added a dozen lumps of sugar in his tea?
Still, I do admit that things will get interesting once Light starts thinking. I really feared that he’d be way too obsessed with creating his perfect world, but somehow, being part of the investigation-team kept his head on earth. Still, I do fear that his cognitive abilities have declining, since he’s had it rather easy for the past three years.
Matsuda also was a surprise, as it seems that he’s turned into a much more important character now. That’s a definite improvement, as this won’t allow him to goof off too much. Misa, however, was horrible. In this episode, her only purpose was fanservice. Light’s father also remained interesting, due to the fact that he now has a more of a leader-like role, now that he doesn’t have to listen to L anymore. It’s also great to see Aizawa back.
Also, one final complaint: why the heck did N and M choose the exact same time to get into action?]]>
Bokura no – 02
Short Synopsis: The second episode centres around Takashi Wako, as he gets to be the first to play the game.
Good: Gosh…. that ending.
Bad: Still no real bad points.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
I never understood what people have against slow mechas. Okay, they’re less testosterone-inducing, but slow mechas are far more realistic than these fast ones. I mean, where do they get the energy to swing a sword of roughly 3000 kilogram along with the speed of 400 km/second?
Anyway, before I start with the episode, I think it’s best to make a small list of the characters, as I just know I’ll forget their names if I don’t, especially with such a huge cast.
Takashi Waku, he’s probably the most stereotypical character of the cast, but even he easily defied the clichés in the second episode. He’s impulsive, likes to say what he thinks, and he’s really good with football. He used to be in a top-team, though I think his father made him quit.
Masaru Kodaka will probably cause a lot of conflict in the future, as he likes to get into arguments with others. I believe he was the one who tried to burn the crab in the previous episode.
Kunihiko Moji is about the opposite, and he likes to be on the good side of everyone. He’s also one of the more mature members of the cast.
Isao Kako is playful like Wako, but less innocent. Wako never really insults others, though Kako doesn’t really care whether he does or not.
Daiichi Yamura is probably the most level-headed of the cast, I like him.
Kanji Yoshikawa is sortof like a combination of Waku and Yamura. He’s carefree, though slightly mature at the same time.
Jun Ushiro is your typical elitist, he regards himself above the others, and doesn’t talk much, and when he does, it’s without a lot of respect.
Yosuki Kirie is an interesting character. He’s overweight and incredibly shy. Especially Kako likes to yell at him a lot.
Now for the girls:
Mako Nakarai hasn’t had a lot of screentime, and my memory is a bit fuzzy about her. More about her later.
Aiko Tokosumi, the one with the blonde hair and the hat is one of the more talkative females. Probably one of the more normal ones as well, I like her somehow.
Chizuru Honda seems a bit like a shy girl; with her my memory is fuzzy as well. The second episode was more about the boys than the girls.
Takami Komoda has the most objections out of everyone. Judging from the OP, she has a really high status at school, and likes to play piano. I think she’s trying to keep her reputation the way it is.
Maki Ano is the more care-free of the girls. She’s playful, but unlike Wako, she doesn’t try to force others, and unlike Kako, she never really insults others as well.
Yoko Machi also didn’t really get much airtime in the second episode, but from what I remember, she’s also more level-headed, but she doesn’t like to be proven wrong.
Kana Ushiro has been involved with this totally against her will. She’s the little girl, and she was just transported along with everyone else. It also seems that she’s Jun’s sister.
Kokopeli was the reason the kids got involved with everything in the first place. I wonder if we’ll see him again, now that he disappeared.
Koemushi (spelling?) took over Kokopeli’s role in guiding the children. He’s, to put it bluntly, completely arrogant.
Chiasu is the mecha that’s been hiding in the sea, and that will be piloted by our characters.
About the episode, like I mentioned above, it’s all centred on Waku. The episode itself was quite good, but I really liked the ending, in which Ushiro just pushes Waku off of the top of Chiasu, through the use of a simple joke. I can’t believe the first character has already died. At least, I assume he did, as so far, he seemed to be the main character of this story. I also can’t believe he just slapped his sister afterwards. I believe that that’s just a preview of things to come.]]>
Death Note – 26
Short Synopsis: Now that L is gone, the second half of Death Note starts. But first: recap!
Good: Hmm…I guess the punishment-scene.
Bad: Obviously, the recap-part.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6.5/10
Ah, of course. The recap-episode. Thankfully the final part of the episode did show plot progression, the majority of the episode was just boring. I also noticed an inconsistency with the fansubbers, who suddenly shortened the fifty days that Light spent in confinement to a much more bearable fifteen. If you still haven’t seen this episode: skip to the second part, as there’s nothing new in the first one.
The second part of the episode closes L’s story, while it lightly introduces the second half of Death Note, considered by manga-fans as much weaker than we’ve seen up till now. If I had to guess, then the grown-up Light will have no personality at all, making him boring. And yes, I do hope that the five years that have been skipped did develop Light more than just making him more insane.
The next two “antagonists” also are introduced in this episode. Eleven episodes remain after this, which means that they’ll have less opportunity for fleshing out than in L’s case. They look interesting, though their voices are annoying, from what I’ve heard. I also have no idea why it took this long for them to get alerted about L’s death, and why Light never noticed that timer.
I’m also disappointed in one thing: that for five years, nobody ever got the idea of going after Kira. Someone who watched the tv-programs regarding Kira could easily have obtained quite a few clues about what went on. I mean, I was surprised that nobody tried to send him messages after this and to try and manipulate him. It’s also a wonder of heaven that Misa never once screwed up in all these five years. I dislike how the new antagonists just have to be L’s acquaintances. But we’ll see if these new guys can actually become interesting.]]>