Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense Archives - Page 96 of 106

Death Note – 05 – “Shinigami only eat apples”

November 3, 2006 by psgels, posted in Death Note

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Death Note’s huge power comes from the power of surprises. This anime really is one of the best anime out there when you look at that aspect. But, at the same time, while this is a huge strength, it’s also a huge weakness: because it’s so focused on surprises, it has almost no rewatch value. I’m seeing this from lots of sides. People who’ve read the manga really can’t seem to enjoy this anime, which is perfectly understandable. This is one of these anime you do NOT want to get spoiled on.

There was one thing I didn’t like in this episode: Ray Penbar’s girlfriend. She’s a former FBI-agent, but after she met Ray, he forced her to quit her job and work as a housewife. Emancipation, anyone? Ah well, it seems that she’ll become the next antagonist to cross Light’s paths, so I think we can expect a bit of background from her, which will hopefully explain why she chose to leave the FBI. Another thing I didn’t like about this episode was that L secretly hoped that Light was connected to one of the remaining police officers. It just remains too coincidental that Kira’s father just happens to be the police investigator who’s in charge of his investigation. That’s a chance of about one out of one million (or whatever the amount of people is who live in the Kantou-region and could have a child of Light’s age is).

Okay, those were the things I didn’t like. Now for the things I did like. 🙂 First of all, Light’s actions at the first half of the episode really surprised me, in a very good way. You would suspect that he’d try not to be seen, though he actually reveals to Ray Penbar that he’s Kira, without showing his face, and makes him kill all the FBI-agents who were sent to Japan to investigate on Kira. Never thought that he’d actually attempt to do such a reckless task. It just shows how much research Light is putting into his plans.

Another thing I really liked about this episode was the police. Lights father offers every agent on Kira’s case the chance to resign, as it seems that everyone who stands in Kira’s way dies. This only leaves a total of six people on Kira’s case. And suddenly, the police officers all get their own personality. Something which couldn’t be done with such a huge number of people on the case. I’m hoping that each of these officers will turn into someone significant, later in the story, as they’re really interesting characters. L’s decision to reveal his face also was great to see.

And, of course, a number of small details:
– Ryuk not knowing that you can write the cause of death first, only to write the name of the victim later and the Death Note will still work, and especially his reaction when he found out about this.
– “L, do you know shinigami only eat apples?” A very creative way to tease L. (^^;)

This series is pacing forward really fast. You’d wonder how Light’s struggle versus L can keep up for 32 more episodes. Some strange things really have to happen in order to make this happen. I’m very interested to find out how this story will be continuing.

Night Head Genesis – 14 – Mikuriya-sensei

November 1, 2006 by psgels, posted in Night Head Genesis

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And with this, the second half of Night Head Genesis has begun. And it’s an appropriate start, as it introduces three new antagonists, gives some background about both Naoto and Naoya as Mikuriya and Misaki. It’s a really interesting episode. I really liked it, it’s a very nice contrast with the rather fastly-paced episodes that preceded this one.

I especially loved Mikuriya-sensei. So far, he didn’t really have background, but this episode really looked at him through multiple dimensions. We both see the current him, as the him from fifteen years ago. And finally, changes between his two versions appear. I just loved how natural he changed, especially after what happened with the research institute burning down and all. Naoya also looked scarier than ever when he was freaked out when he touched Mikuriya’s assistant.

Now, the question remains, why did Mikuriya have to be locked up? It’s clear why the research institute was targeted: it’s located in a place where a lot of energy gathers. Because of this, Misaki could synchronize with it, and he was able to erect a large barrier. Right now, the three new antagonists are trying to do the same, but they’re failing. Still, they’re keeping Mikuriya in this hut, right next to the former building. Why is this important? Another interesting fact is that Misaki released Sonezaki, right after he took Naoto and Naoya in. Afterwards, Sonezaki joined up with the main antagonist of this anime. If Misaki knew this, then why did he release Sonezaki in the first place?

As noted above, it’s fairly possible that this episode introduced the third part of this anime. The first part was fairly episodic, introducing a lot of cases to build up the story, combined with lots of angst and drama. Then, when Naoto and Naoya reached Shoko’s place, the second part started, the cases focused more to Naoto and Naoya, and their secrets and mysteries. The drama and heavy scenes made way for mystery and manipulative scenes. It makes you wonder what the current part will focus at. It all depends on the powers of the new antagonists, I think.

Jigoku Shoujo – 28 – An umbrella, a food stand and a trunk

October 30, 2006 by psgels, posted in Jigoku Shoujo

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When the first season started, there wasn’t really a main character in this series. We just had Ai, her dolls and the main character of the case. Then, when Hajime and Tsugumi appeared, they sortof became main characters, as a lot of the series was followed through their eyes. Now that the second season has started, and Hajime and Tsugumi have disappeared, the focus suddenly shifts towards Ai’s dolls: Hone Onna, Ichimoku Ren and the other guy (what was his name again?). A nice focus, and with a bit of luck, we’ll be able to find out about their backgrounds a bit.

This episode deals with the relatives of someone who’s been kidnapped, raped, killed, thrown in a trunk and thrown at the bottom of the lake. A great touch of realism, as cases like these occasionally happen in real life as well. The focus entirely stands at the victim’s older sister, and I think the creators decided to dedicate the time they had on this girl, and not on the culprit. I wonder if the episode would be too fastly paced if his background was explained. Ah well, it’s the creators’ decision, and the results remain awesome.

Because we only follow the victim’s sister, we can really follow and try to understand how she feels after something like that happened to her, not knowing what really went on. Sumire(her sister)’s spirit tries to tell her this, and in the end gets the message through. I especially loved the ending. The bastard has been sent to hell, she knows that Sumire’s death, but she still continues to search for people who might’ve seen or heard something about her.

Red Garden – 03 – Seeing your friend get killed isn’t ‘fun’

October 27, 2006 by psgels, posted in Red Garden

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Great episode, this series stays at the high level of quality it’s been displaying for the past few episode. The mood also was very gloomy, and I loved it. (^^)

The episode starts with Lisa’s funeral. The blonde woman also gives the foursome a red gem, which will make everything about the strange night in which they were supposedly killed clear when it is buried in the soil. Now, the question remains whether to bury it, and a small fight starts. And that’s when I realized another one of the great points of Red Garden: at times, it featured people just talking right through each other. Dialogues like these move extremely fast, but due to the heavy attention to detail, they take quite a while. Quite an interesting and most definitely enjoyable effect.

Okay, in the end, they bury it. It seems that each of the four girls knew Lisa in some way, and there’s a good reason for this. Lisa seemed to have had a new boyfriend, and she invited the girls to show him to them. In there, however, they found Lisa killed in a bathtub, and some strange guys came and stabbed each of the four girls. The blonde woman then came, and revived all five of them, using borrowed life’s. Lisa, however, was kidnapped, it was the same scene we saw in the first episode. This means that she was the only one who didn’t revive. Still, I think that this is only the tip of the iceberg regarding the mysteries of this show.

Another thing I love about this series is that it shows how everybody’s everyday life changed because of the things that happened. Not before long, other people will start to involve themselves with the girls, as each and every one of them has been acting strange and down.

Death Note – 04 – Meaningless Symbols and Dying Messages

October 27, 2006 by psgels, posted in Death Note

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Haha! He actually didn’t accept the deal. He’s more human than I thought he was. Still, the deal can be made any time. Could it be that at some point in the anime, the deal will be made after all? Anyway, this episode had some extremely creative ideas. I loved them. ^^

First of all, the police are notified of another six deaths, though three of them contain something weird. One cut off his finger, wrote a pentagram and then died of a heart attack, one wrote a dying message before dying and one escaped to the toilet, only to get a heart attack afterwards. What really happened was Light, who carried out a few tests about the details of death on six person, from which three of these failed. One was written to die in front of the Eiffel Tower in France, for one, he wrote “draws a perfect likeness of L’s face on prison wall” and for the last, he was supposed to write on the wall that the know that L is doubting the Japanese police. Am I sadistic if I actually found that funny? (^^;) In any case, these results showed that you can make people harm themselves and draw symbols, but you can’t draw things you’ve never seen before, you can make people go to places they can reach, but you can’t make them go to places they can’t reach, you can make people write things they know or think, but you can’t make them write things they don’t know or think. I loved how each of these tests come in pairs.

The purpose of these tests was to unmask the guy who’s been following Light. Now that the results are in, it’s time for stage two: Light goes on a date, and boards a bus along with the woman who’s going out with him. A while later, a criminal enters the bus, and hijacks it. Light then drops a piece of the death note and makes the criminal touch it. Ryuk appears and makes the guy get out of the bus, only to get hit by a car afterwards. But not before Light discovers the name of Ray Penbar when he starts suspecting him of being an accomplice of the guy who hijacked the bus. I’m beginning to see Light’s strategy. For the normal cases, he just uses heart attacks, so that he can kill the ones who would raise suspicion by death in a more subtle way. A nice way to keep yourself hidden.

Another thing I like about this show is that both Light and L lack information, and therefore at times, they pull the wrong conclusions. L, for example, starts to think that there’s actually a message behind the random symbols and poems Light has been drawing, and he actually falls for Light’s trick. Light, on the other hand, starts suspecting the cop, who’s just doing a routine research which is carried out on every acquaintance of every member of the NPA.

Also, there’s that matter of Ryuk’s second Death Note. He does have another one. What does this mean? And what happens to Shinigami who lost their original Death Note. Do they get another one? And where did the Death Notes come from in the first place? And I’m also going to be anal again. Don’t you think it’s a bit suspicious that Light chose the date which would be the last day for the Ray Penbar to follow him?

Night Head Genesis – 13 – Sonezaki’s Background

October 27, 2006 by psgels, posted in Night Head Genesis

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Oh, my. That was an interestingly great episode. It’s another one of those in which nearly all things people do is talk, and episodes like these prove to be very enjoyable most of the time. This was no exception.

It seems that Sonezaki was behind the last episode after all. It seems that he’s acting on his own at the moment. For now, it seems that the reason for this is that he couldn’t bear to see Naoto and Naoya spending their efforts to the good, though I think there’s more behind this. I’m also wondering what Asano-kun’s role is in all this. Did he just come to observe things, or does his power work well with Sonezaki’s? In any case, he looked happy when Naoto unleashed his powers.

Also, the way Sonezaki’s background was shown really was creative. It really shows that Naoya’s power can become great at times. All the time, Sonezaki was manipulating Naoto and Naoya, he was entering their memories and confronting them with them. Because of this, he was the leader of the conversation. He strengthened this by bringing a number of random people along, who each proved the fact that being good has too many restrictions. For example, he manipulated a girl into hitting her boyfriend who’s been cheating on her for a long time. In any case, then when he really was in his element, Naoya read his mind as well, completely turning the table. A nice element of surprise. It seems that Sonezaki once was lockedin the research institute as well, before Naoto and Naoya arrived, it seems. That means that he’s quite old. You’d say he’s just in his thirties, but if this is true, he’s got to be at least forty. The question also remains how he managed to escape. Could it be that someone helped him escape, or he was let go?

Also, some more information is revealed on Naoto and Naoya’s power. They were the ones who made the woman from the previous episode commit suicide. Asano just made it look like the little boy was behind it. Naoto also unleashes a lot of his power at the end of the episode, this suggests that if this will get even bigger, things may get problematic. Also, you’d wonder whether the fire at the research institute, mentioned at the end of the episode also was Naoto and Naoya’s doing. After all, the circumstances were perfectly right: Naoto exploded and afterwards, Naoya got the vision of the burning research institute.

Then, at one point, the episode also takes a strange turn when Sonezaki actually starts singing a strange rap-song. I’m not sure what the exact meaning of this is, but it seems that it’s his style of acting that way. In any case, that song really reflected his ideals and ideas about this world. It was quite creepy, though a nice touch at the same time.

Ayatsuri Sakon – 15 – Gum

October 24, 2006 by psgels, posted in Ayatsuri Sakon

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Hmm, this appears to be a case with just one murder. A bloodbath as heavy as in the first arc has yet to appear. This episode as more like an intermezzo between the first and third episode of this arc. It didn’t provide any clues, just a lot of background info and a few theories. Furthermore, we see Isshiki Seiji along with Takahashi and Hamada. If I had to guess, one of these three was the murderer. I don’t think Isshiki did it, though he did play a huge role in the murder.

I liked the use of background music this episode. Isshiki seems to have some kind of love for classical music, especially one specific track. When he’s listening to that track, and the scene changes to another person, it has a nice effect. I also like the way that Kisaragi has a lot of different sides.

Jigoku Shoujo – 27 – Finally, Jigoku Shoujo is Back. ^_^

October 22, 2006 by psgels, posted in Jigoku Shoujo

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Finally, I’ve been waiting for the second season of Jigoku Shoujo. And I’m glad to say that the first episode didn’t disappoint at all. The show immediately starts with an incredibly touching, though shocking first episode. If this series keeps up with the same quality, we’ll be in for something amazing. ^_^

The case: a girl is getting bullied, but she doesn’t know by who. The bully goes pretty far, caterpillars are put inside her pencil box, knits have been put through one of the sleeves of her jacket, her books are trashed and hateful things have been scribbled on her shoes. One of the teachers tries to help her, though in the end, the teacher appears to be the actual culprit.

The things I liked about this episode were the dramatic moment. Jigoku Shoujo features beautiful and very detailed character art, and knows how to use it. Especially during the climax, when the teacher grabbed the girl’s hair and tried to restrain her looked gorgeous. Also at the beginning of the episode when the case is introduced, we see the girl come in with ruined shoes and books, and in the background, there’s laughing. The property destruction and abuse is just one part of this girl’s sadness. I think the way her classmates reacted also is a huge factor in this story.

This also was the first time Hone Onna turned into the doll. Up till now, Wanyuudo played that role. I also noticed that Ai was more impatient than usual. It probably has to do with the fact that she changed a bit after she met up with Hajime and his daughter. The dolls realize this, and investigate for themselves. I like the fact that they actually discovered what really went on, though we don’t get to see the moment they realize this. I also liked the doll’s sarcasm when they were punishing the teacher. I think they somehow enjoy extracting revenge at times. ^^

As the fact remains that this episode actually had an open ending. There’s one girl who attempts to help the girl who’s being bullied, by giving her a hint that her teacher was the one behind the bullying. But at the end of the episode, we see the two of them together, and then the latter girl appears to use the same kind of knits as the ones who were used to edit the girl’s sweater. It may just have been that the teacher stole the knitting machine from the classmate, but why would she bother? I actually think that the classmate also did some of the bullying, but at one point, she got scared and backed off. Probably because she found the teacher was going way too far.

Also, this episode introduced another important character. She looks a bit like the younger version of Ai, but all we got was a small shot of her, smiling. I’m also glad to hear that the musical score for the second season has become even better since the first season.

Well then, there were a few flaws in this episode, though. The reason for the teacher is never really stated, but that’s normal in Jigoku Shoujo. It clearly chose to focus on the victims and not on the bad guy. And I also like this degree of mystery to the ones sent to hell. Also, things may have been a bit too dramatic to be normal. I mean, there is no way a person would go so far in real life. But that doesn’t matter. I love this show. ^^

Ayatsuri Sakon – 14 – Egyptian Legends This Time

October 20, 2006 by psgels, posted in Ayatsuri Sakon

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Seriously, I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies on Ayatsuri Sakon already, but the director in this one must have been the bloodiest so far. Okay, perhaps along with the beheading of the first episode. But that’s what you get when you stab a person with an Egyptian sword and hang her upside down.

Anyway, the actors:

Yuuki Mari. She’s the director of a museum with lots of Egyptian artefacts. She got killed at the beginning of the episode. It seems that she made a lot of enemies when she was still alive, which could give anyone a motive. An exciting murder. The current arc promises to be great. 🙂

Isshiki Seiji. He’s the assistant director. At one time, he was Yuuki Mari’s boss, but that changed when she became director of the museum. He likes to annoy and scare others, though despite his confidence, he makes a lot of errors. Sakon, of course, discovers these errors (for example, him confusing the Egyptian Sphinx with the Greek one, the Egyptian is just a huge stone statue, the Greek was the one who had a nice dinner whenever his victims couldn’t solve his riddles). The murder was committed at 8:00. At 8:45, he got phoned because Yuuki didn’t show up. To get from his house to the museum, you need one hour and 30 minutes, but he was the only one, except for Yuuki herself, who holds the key to the room in which she was killed. That means that either he did it, went somewhere apart from his house, received the call on his cell phone and planned to arrive 90 minutes after he was phoned, or someone found a creative way to lock the door.

Takahashi Yoshie was Yuuki’s former secretary, and she now still works in that same spot. Rumours are floating around that Yuuki took away her boyfriend, though they’re just rumours made up by people, scared to become the major suspect.

Kisaragi is the manager of the museum. He had a lot of arguments with Yuuki, as she had a nasty tendency to remove all valuable objects which didn’t get any attention from the display. Kisaragi also used to be a teacher of Sakon. When Sakon was young, he used to get bullied often. In a way, that’s logical as he’s a boy who’s carrying around puppets. You’d wonder why he changed from being a teacher to being the manager of a museum.

Hamada is one of the few staff members who managed to escape Yuuki’s enthusiastic firing policy. He may have lost a few good friends because of this.

Tadokoro is the security Chief. He got injured when Yuuki tried to move a heavy artefact in a rather aggressive way. Still, he says that he’s still loyal to her, as she agreed to cover all expenses of the accident.

One thing I dislike about Ayatsuri Sakon is the silhouette of the murderer which is shown before the arcs start. If I recall correctly, the first three arcs didn’t have this, but both arc four and arc five had this. It’s too bad, as they sortof ruin the fun a bit. I’ll try to ignore them for now. So far, I’m loving this arc. I’m really interested in how it’ll continue.

Death Note – 03 – Shinigami’s Eyes

October 20, 2006 by psgels, posted in Death Note

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An intermezzo. Both Light and L are preparing some plans, but no real conflicts happened. Light’s father happens to be the inspector of police, in charge of the search for Kira. I’ve got a few problems with this. I mean, isn’t it too much of a coincidence that out of all the millions of people who live in Kanto, his father is the one who is one more important people who are after him?

In any case, Light uses this convenience to his advantage when he makes clear to L that he’s got contact with the police. He figures that by doing this, the police and L will end up cooperating less and less because of doubts from the police’s side. They then probably investigate on L’s identity as well, after which Light snatches his life away. Still, I have a feeling that it won’t go this easily. L, meanwhile, has found out that Kira is most likely a student of some sort, due to the fact that the times all happened at times when normal students have a bit of free time. If you combine this with the fact that Kira has some kind of connection to the police, then I think his next step is to look for sons or daughters of police officers. It’s probably what the shady guy who’s been following Light at during the second half of the episode is up to.

Ryuk also makes a very interesting deal with Light. There are two major differences between shinigamis and humans who use the Death Note. The first is that whenever a shinigami writes a person’s name in the Death note, the remaining life-span of that person gets added to the life span of the shinigami. That means that you can’t kill a shinigami, unless they’re really lazy (I loved the parts in which Ryuk states the obvious(^^)). It makes you wonder, though. Why do shinigami exist? What’s their purpose? Do they just live to scribble names in their Death Note every ten years or something?

The second difference is that whenever a shinigami sees a person, the name of this person, along with his lifespan appear on top of this person. Well then, Ryuk is willing to trade his eyes, which make Light do his job more accurately, for the half of his remaining life-span. We all know that Light is going to say yes, but what’s up with the cliff-hanger at the end of the episode? Also, this brings up an interesting question. Something that also came in Night Head Genesis on the table: will these estimated life-spans be 100% accurate, outside of the Death Note? What if Light looks at himself in the mirror? Doesn’t that mean that he’ll know exactly when he’ll die? That’s indeed great for a strategic element.