Category: Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense

Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 09 [Love Love Love Love Love Love You]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

If the MAL episode count is correct, we have four more episodes before the series goes on break as the second cour will air in January 2021. I swear that the wait between episodes currently is a grueling affair so to have that wait extended into a three month wait is something I dread. But the future is tomorrow and today is the present so one should thank the blessings given today rather than lament the blessing forsaken tomorrow. Besides, Crunchyroll has already begun dubbing the second Season of Re:Zero so I could rewatch the series in dub to tide myself over.Either way the string of truly excellent episodes continues with today’s episode being an engaging experience that I once again lost track of time. What has happened today between the waifu witches and Subaru? Dona tea and biscuits abound so start the kettle and let’s talk.
Continue reading “Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 09 [Love Love Love Love Love Love You]” →

Fugou Keiji – 7 [Money is the root of all evil]

by Lenlo, posted in Fugou Keiji: Balance: UNLIMITED

This week on Fugou Keiji we get flashbacks in flashbacks as Kiyomizu recounts the unsolved Kambe murder mystery! We have politics, intrigue, corruption and a dash of homicide. So without further ado, lets jump right in!

As far as the episode goes, it was rather weird. The whole first half was a flashback, complete with black bars and everything to make sure we knew. And while it was a good flashback, laying the groundwork for everything else, the 2nd half went off the rails a bit. We will talk about spoilers after the break but this is an example of Fugou Keiji’s identity issue rearing its head again. In the last few episodes it seemed that Fugou Keiji had decided what it wanted to be, a serious detective drama. However this episodes ending bit with the VR clashed with that. Except unlike previous instances of this, such as the old ladies and the boy-band, this one was actually used in a narratively important way. This wasn’t a throw-away absurd gag but rather a serious part of the narrative, and it broke it a little for me.

Continue reading “Fugou Keiji – 7 [Money is the root of all evil]” →

Gunslinger Girl – 10 [Amare (To Love)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

A day late on this weeks Gunslinger Girl, I know. Personally, I blame the pandemic because I have lost all sense of time, stuck at home all day. Enough about my excuses though, lets talk child assassins!

This weeks episode of Gunslinger Girl was a weird. Narratively it was all rather straight forward, and we will get to that in a bit. But in terms of direction I can’t help but think it was a mess. It felt like we were watching 3 separate timelines that were cut together without any real indication of which one we were currently watching. Is the Sicily trip the present? The murder investigation? Where does Henrietta getting a present fit into all of that, or Triela calling the investigators? All of these scenes look the same, so its impossible to tell when one occurs compared to the others chronologically. I get what they were going for, trying to run these threads in parallel so they can reveal information pertinent to another thread at the same time. But without any kind of indication, it just comes off as a mess.

Continue reading “Gunslinger Girl – 10 [Amare (To Love)] – Throwback Thursday” →

Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 08 [The Value of Life]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

Ah that’s right, this show has an opening doesn’t it? It’s very easy to forget when it’s barely used though that is by no means a complaint. More content trumps replaying the opening any day. So for today’s episode many are calling it Re:Zero’s best episode yet, even though it seems that every new episode is Re:Zero’s best episode to date. I do agree that this was a pretty great episode but I am not sure if I would put it on the level of previous greats. It may require a rewatch or perhaps my knowledge of the web novel dulled the impact it would have had but I feel it didn’t hit the same highs as previous standouts. Indeed I would even say that there were a couple of points during the forest scene that I found a bit jarring. The quick cut between the forest and Subaru being teleported to his previous place of confinement being a rather confusing shift. Though that may be intentional or the result of Nagatsuki shortening the length of arc 4 for the light novel adaption.
Continue reading “Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 08 [The Value of Life]” →

Great Pretender – 11-12 [Snow of London]

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Great Pretender

This is the year of Great Pretender. The first 14 episodes were recently made available worldwide on Netflix, and the back 9 will be released in Japan next month, at which point fansubbers can do their thing. The only downside to the whole thing airing in 2020 is that it can’t be AOTY twice in a row – but I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ve got to investigate its third case, Snow of London, to see whether the show is still on track to compete for that title. After two episodes, this arc is off to a strong start, so hit the jump for some unqualified praise for once.

Continue reading “Great Pretender – 11-12 [Snow of London]” →

Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 07 [Friend]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

While Re:Zero has had a slow start, once it’s got going it hasn’t stopped. I again feel that same anticipation upon starting and the dejection upon finishing an episode because I know I need to wait another week for a continuation. This episode was when I felt that level of immersion that this 26 minute episode felt like five minutes and when the credits rolled I was in disbelief that it was over already. In that regard I may not have much to say about this week’s episode as there were only about three critical events. The talk with Beatrix, Subaru’s imprisonment and the eventual rescue. So I guess we should start with the first.

Continue reading “Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 07 [Friend]” →

Fugou Keiji – 6 [Ill Got, Ill Spent]

by Lenlo, posted in Fugou Keiji: Balance: UNLIMITED

Come one, come all, to the week of Fugou Keiji’s metamorphosis! This week we have intrigue, mystery and a dash of murder. So without further ado, lets dive in.

Starting off, this week completes Fugou Keiji’s transformation from a comedic parody of rich superheroes to a legitimate detective series. Where once the money-based gags were front and center, they have since become the moments of levity between harrowing intrigue. And I am loving it. I said in prior posts that I preferred Fugou Keiji when it was a parody. At the time that was true. I wasn’t convinced at that point that the series could pull off a serious detective story. Daisuke was to ridiculous and the presentation to comedic. Which is I want to think its incredible just how well Fugou Keiji managed this slow tonal shift. Over the course of 3 episodes it toned down the comedy and dialed up the drama bit by bit. Until we got to where we are today, all without ever giving away the game until Daisuke blows up a car.

Continue reading “Fugou Keiji – 6 [Ill Got, Ill Spent]” →

Gunslinger Girl – 9 [Lycoris Radiata Herb (Cluster Amaryllis)] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

You all know the drill at this point, its another episode of Gunslinger Girl! We got guns, we got depression, and both are delivered by this weeks new girl Elsa. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Starting off, quick call out as Gunslinger Girl brought back its animation chops this week. Elsa’s opening firefight in the hotel was chef kiss, great. I will always love how fluid the series can be with the girls movements or the bullet casings falling to the ground. It makes the rest of the series seem stilted in comparison at times. Moving on though, this episode introduces us to another sort of “bad” Handler/Assassin relationship. Until now the primary example of that was Jean and Rico, with a very “Tool/Master” relationship. It was very professional in nature, with Rico knowing and being completely OK with this arrangement. Here though with Elsa and Lauro, we are shown a relationship of extremes. One of obsession and utter disinterest, both taking elements of prior relationships to terrible extremes. To be frank? It’s pretty damn interesting.

Continue reading “Gunslinger Girl – 9 [Lycoris Radiata Herb (Cluster Amaryllis)] – Throwback Thursday” →

Fugou Keiji – 5 [If Money be not thy Servant, it will be thy Master]

by Lenlo, posted in Fugou Keiji: Balance: UNLIMITED

Let’s cut right to the chase, because this was a big week for Fugou Keiji. Not because of any great narrative events, though we are seeing the beginning of something greater. Rather because Fugou Keiji seems to have decided what it wants to be. Until now it has been struggling with an identity crisis. Is it a comedic and ridiculous romp, riffing on rich superheroes like Tony Start and Bruce Wayne? Or is it a serious detective story with a touch of the fantastical in Daisuke? This week Fugou Keiji seems to have decided on the latter. There was very little levity and the series seems to be setting up some rather serious and impactful arcs to come. Some jokes were still there of course, but almost all of them were worked into the story. Were tinged with something more serious. So with that in mind, lets talk detective stories.

Continue reading “Fugou Keiji – 5 [If Money be not thy Servant, it will be thy Master]” →

Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 06 [The Maiden’s Gospel]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

It’s been six episodes and Re:Zero has yet to have an episode that doesn’t go beyond industry standard episode length, on top of excluding the opening and ending just to have more content. I love that these episodes end when they want them to end and if it requires extra work then they are putting it in. Tappei Nagatsuki should be thanking his lucky stars that he has an animation team that cares this much about his work and with hope they might care to adapt the entire story. All the more considering how much current circumstances have affected the animation industry. Frankly, I think we should give this animation team a hand for pumping out another great episode..
Continue reading “Re:Zero Starting Life in Another World 2 – 06 [The Maiden’s Gospel]” →