Category: Kaleidoscope

Sacred Seven – 11
Ah whatever. With this, at least this series entertained me like it should have done at the beginning. Finally this show just said “screw it”, and realized that it wasn’t going anywhere. Don’t get me wrong, this was bad. It pulled all sorts of ridiculous twists out of its ass and all, but for once it was action packed, like it should have been from the beginning. The main villain also reached the “so bad he’s good” territory here. His performance was ridiculously hammy, but that was far better compared to how ludicrously boring he was throughout the rest of the series.
Rating: * (Good)

Dantalian no Shoka – 09
Awesome! Three episodes in one week are experimenting with a new style, visual and direction. What a timing! This episode looked amazing, with its washed out colours, and it had a great premise behind it. Probably one of the best episodes so far. And the best thing is that we’re not even done yet. Keep an eye out for episode eleven: Osamu Kobayashi is going to return again. That should be completely awesome!
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Blade – 11
Yeah, Makoto is the best female companion out of all of the marvel series. She was much more than just a token female, and she actually got something out of Blade, and made him a different person. There was no attempt to make her as obnoxious as possible, nor was there any attempt to try to get her hog fall of the screen-time in favour of the main cast. This was balance. Now, as for the final episode, I really wonder how it’s going to fare. Iron Man’s ending was abysmal, and the ending of the X-Men significantly lowered my opinion of it, while Wolverine’s ending did about the opposite. Where oh where will Blade place itself?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Sket Dance – 23
Anime needs to be more experimental and we need to see more episodes that toy with their animation style. Because of that, this week really delivered here. First we had Penguin Drum, but also Sket dance actually tried to shade their characters smoothly, plus throwing in all sorts of interesting visuals in the background. It was a bit of a silly episode, but it worked surprisingly well. It in any case was much better than the first kid episode, which was a bit annoying. Bossun’s frenetic energy worked well here though.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Appleseed XIII – 02
This episode was actually surprisingly interesting. It was based around an interesting premise, and the dialogue of most of the characters was well written. The dogfights in the air were also quite interesting to watch, and the background music turned out to be excellent. It’s got its flaws, though. First of all, with a huge plane being jacked, the only people who are sent in to take care of it are two people on a holiday. That’s some serious understaffing if you ask me. Also, most of the cast is well acted, but Deunan is trying too hard. At this point I can’t blame it on her period anymore.
Rating: * (Good)

Kamisama Dolls – 10
You know, the thing about insane characters is that you can always try too hard. That made the first half of this episode amongst the most cringe-worthy parts I’ve seen of this series. The second half however got back on track thankfully. Overall I like how just the introduction of two characters answers a ton of questions that have been lingering since the first episode, and at the very least the creators did well and immediately got it on with that psycho girl’s background. It redeemed her a lot. The animation was also gorgeous, although it’s a bit of a pity of the CG.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Okay, so I’m finally starting to feel a bit better. Due to that cold of mine I just had enough enerty to keep up with the series that I’m blogging, although even there I probably said quite a number of tactless things. In any case the result of that, combined with how busy I’ve been lately left me with a huge backlog of different series that I still have to get through.

Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji – 48
Like expected, the creators really wrap up the tension here and this was an incredibly nerve-wrecking episode, but god dammit, they’re still not done yet?! There still are four episodes of this thing left before either that ball goes in or Kaiji loses? Holy crap!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Blade – 10
Holy crap! This actually was by far the best episode out of all of the Marvel series combined (and yes, I’ve seen all of them). Out of nowhere, the series came with even more background: that of Deacon Frost, and it was actually really good! With this, it definitely has the best villain out of all the Marvel series, and the last part of this episode also showed that it has the best female sidekick out of them. Heck, just about the only parts where this doesn’t overshadow the others at this point is the animation (X-Men did that better) and the action itself (which was done better in Wolverine and the X-Men again). Aside from that though…. I’m really impressed here. It even turned its cheesy acting into a charm.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Kamisama Dolls – 09
Solid build-up, but this also showed me (someone who hasn’t read the manga) that the creators don’t intend to close this off at all. The length really is the big problem of this season, with just too many series that are too short. In any case, this episode had fun getting the characters to snark at each other and it was pretty interesting, but that new girl had better have a very good reason to turn Kyouhei into a harem lead!
Rating: * (Good)

Dantalian no Shoka – 08
The characters that Dalian and Huey meet in this episode were… pretty much the least interesting ones so far. For one they remind me too much of the idiots of Gosick, but also the reasoning in their stories is just… strange. Usually in Dantalian no Shoka, it’s the phantom book’s effects that are far-fetched. This time it’s the characters actions that are.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Sacred Seven – 10
Well, that was corny. Was Ruri’s backstory really worth it spending an entire episode about? It felt like it came from a soap opera. Seriously, the thing with this series is that it’s trying to be something that it isn’t. It thinks it has depth and so tries to act like it takes itself seriously, while the story and characters are completely shallow. For god’s sake, I can understand that you want to keep your series simple but effective and all, but at the very least make it effective. Do something that catches the viewer’s attention! Anything!
Rating: – (Disappointing)

Blade – 09
This is bizarre. Blade just used one of Wolverine’s side characters better than how Wolverine used them. Seriously, I don’t know if there are any other people who are still watching this series, but I’m currently having a blast with it. This episode once again was a really entertaining action episode that is gonna make the perfect conclusion for the Marvel Series. We’re going to Cambodia next? Awesome! Also, you have to give props to the soundtrack guy here: this guy pretty much made four kickass soundtracks without any apparent weaknesses whatsoever, all with their distinct and incredibly engaging tracks.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Sket Dance – 22
Thankfully this show has recovered from its string of weaker episodes. The first half of this episode was quite hilarious in which they raped the legend of Momotaro (the guy that’s born from a peach), and the second half was simple but heart-warming. It perhaps wasn’t the show’s best episode, but it was fun.
Rating: * (Good)

Nurarihyon no Mago – 35
Here is my question for the rest of this arc: the creators did a good job of making Hagoromo Gitsune incredibly powerful, even up to the point where she can easily take control of Kyoto’s best Omnyouji like it’s nothing. So how the hell is Rikuo gonna be able to make a difference without introducing some serious power level inconsistencies?
Rating: * (Good)

Dantalian no Shoka – 07
A surprisingly charming episode about scents. Its effects still are rather far-fetched, but that’s the entire nature of the phantom books. This episode was well told and had a great conclusion, although Dalian still needs work. Oh, and this show also makes pretty good use of its music. Gainax, start doing 26-episode series again!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Nurarihyon no Mago – 34
Okay, so that training arc was rather boring, but what really caught my attention in this episode was the surprisingly addictive direction of Hagoromo Gitsune’s quest to conquer Kyoto. Especially the use of that skeleton she dug up in this episode worked well. Also, I’m not sure what it is but in this new season the awesome character designs stand out much more than in the first.
Rating: * (Good)

Usagi Drop – 09
Entire episode dedicated to Kouki, and it just shows the differences between raising a boy and a girl. Although I do think that this series idealizes girls a bit too much. They too have their quirks that are unfortunately a bit glossed over.
Rating: * (Good)

Just a note here: I’m going to be really busy for the upcoming weekend again, so expect some delays. This Saturday I’ll be at Abunai Con, one of the biggest anime conventions in the Netherlands. If you happen to go as well, let me know. 😉

Sket Dance – 21
What a surprise: I was getting tired of this series at this point, and here it comes with one of its best episodes so far. The creators pretty much removed one of the stereotypes from this series. Giving the goth emo girl a make over isn’t anything new, but even before that makeover, this episode treated her as a character who could just hold a normal conversation, instead of overplaying her own stereotype. On top of that, it was rather fun to just see the main cast hanging out. And to have a boy and a girl go out without turning it into a romance. It even toys with that very effectively. The drama during the previous episodes of Sket Dance was rather cheesy, but this worked really well. Just… what was that shiritori thing at the end of it?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Usagi Drop – 08
I have one criticism for the episodes of Usagi Drop so far: Compared to other slice of life series my emotional investment is not as big as it could have been. This show is undeniably well executed, but the emotional connection with the characters could have been done better for me. Cue this episode, which was packed with tons of subtle emotions. Rin’s mother was great when she finally saw her daughter again, Rin was great when she learned about grandpa’s flowers, and Daikichi was gtreat standing in the middle of it. This episode was very good at portraying the feelings of the different characters.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Kamisama Dolls – 08
Interestingly enough this episode included some nice jabs at the usual fanservice cliches. Beach episode? Haha! Typhoon! Is the restaurant owner going to let his daughter and a young girl dress up in weird outfits? Of course not! There unfortunately was some fanservice that was used straight, but none of it was solely for the sake of fanservice. The second half of this episode once again was excellent, and I especially love the way in which this series is turning the female lead into more than a pair of boobs who stand on the side-lines or get kid-napped. The best part though is that I can still see this one closing off well! The episode ended with everyone back in Tokyo. Five episodes should be enough to give all of them a good climax and to wrap up all of the main plot lines. The thing I’m anticipating the most is Kyouhei’s background. The thing is: the previous episode was excellent, but I really feel like Kyouhei only told part of the truth: it in no way explained why Aki hates him so badly, nor does it explain the very first scene of the first episode.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Sacred Seven – 08
What the hell, man? What the hell? Sacred Seven, you had an awesome OP. Why did you switch it out for something cheesy like that? Beyond that, this series did so many things wrong. It could have been so much, and yet it’s completely boring. As much as the trolls would like to convince you, the reason for that isn’t Arama. He’s pretty good, he just plays his part. He has a decent backstory and he’s interesting to watch as this tall awkward guy. The big problem is that every single other character is completely boring. I actually can’t think of any sort of exception unless you start looking at the characters who just appear for one minute. This episode was without a doubt the worst. Why did the creators find it a good idea to turn this into a dating sim? Ruri completely degraded what character she had left.
Rating: – (Disappointing)

Blade – 08
Okay. That was one mid-boss that I didn’t see coming. With this, I’m sure: on top of having the best characters out of the Marvel-series, Blade also has the best story.

Sket Dance – 20
I’m… not sure what to think of this episode. You see, my opinion of this series has gone down during the second half; it just isn’t as funny as it used to be, and more and more jokes fall flat or just don’t work. And here this episode comes… and it’s entirely devoted to bad jokes. I don’t mean the jokes that are so corny that you’re forced to laugh. No, this episode was entirely about either jokes that fall flat, or jokes that are so ridiculously obscure that on a few people who know the context will get it. The subbers also completely missed the point of this episode by trying to explain them. But yeah: listening to jokes falling flat over and over remains annoying, whether they’re tongue in the cheek or not doesn’t matter here.
Rating: * (Good, but very annoying))

Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji – 46
And this is the point where this show is starting to drag on again for me. This really reminds me of the first season again, in the arc where Kaiji’s ears were on the line and things took absolutely forever to move on. This episode… did not really know what it should talk about while waiting for Kaiji to run out of nearly all of his balls (so that it can really ramp up the tension next episode) and just started to repeat the same thing over and over again. Especially that narrator was guilty of that. The background on Ichijou was nice, but didn’t really fit well at this stage. Oh, and the creators are trying too hard with the old guy. Being insane is nice and all, but those antics serve no purpose and distract from what’s really important here: defeating that damn bog.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Dantalian no Shoka – 06
This episode was… strange. Not only did the main characters make no appearance whatsoever, they were replaced by a priest like figure and a girl with the worst fashion sense imaginable. Normally I just use that as an insult against shows who give their characters overly complicated outfits, but this girl actually walks around in a straitjacket. In any case, what I like about Dantalian is how its mysteries are always incredibly far-fetched, yet imaginative. This episode was no exception and it came together really nicely at the end. The town it all placed in also was really well designed, and I don’t just mean the live action-like buildings that were used: the entire scenery and city lay-out just looked unique.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Usagi Drop – 07
This episode started a bit out of place when it was suddenly revealed that Haruko has relationship problems and ran away from home, and for about four minutes this suddenly turns into a romantic comedy. Daikichi’s acting also felt a bit unnatural and overall it felt a bit weird. And then this episode just made up for it with a terrific analysis of Haruka’s character. This show is about raising a child as a single parent, and this time it took a look at the cases where being a single parent is just impossible: housewifes. Haruka really feels like she made the wrong decisions during her twenties, even though she kept looking to the future. The thing however remains that the creators used Haruka’s character to prove a point they wanted to make, instead of doing it the other way around. Because this show is so realistic, this does stand out.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

A small household note: upcoming Friday, Saturday and Sunday I’ll be completely busy, both due to real life appointments, and two certain posts that take up a lot of time to fully write, so I won’t have the time to blog shows as Usagi Drop and Dantalian no Shoka even if I wanted to, so again I’ll mostly cover the series that air early in the week or some of the stuff that I couldn’t watch on Sundays. Apologies for picking these shows a bit repetitively.

Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji – 45
Now, to be honest I did find the method for beating the pinchers a bit far-fetched. It assumed that there were no spare parts, that Kaiji could get his hands on some custom pinchers within a very tight time-limit, that they’d fail right at the exact moment, and that nobody noticed anything about the strange weight distribution of those things (hiding a chemical bomb in them is bound to feel differently from usual wood). Tilting the entire building with 20 tons of water though, was just awesome. It’s deceptively simple and yet completely unintuitive. Although I do wonder what Kaiji meant with that they wouldn’t be found out on the daily level check on the roulettes? I mean, if a level check was used, wouldn’t it reveal his entire plan? The device that they showed is meant to check whether something is level, not whether something tilts very fast. Unless of course a gimmick of the casino is that ALL of the roulettes are tilted… Also, I’m still baffled with that there are still at least five episodes left. The pacing so far has been pretty much what I expected, and yet they’re still nowhere near done yet?
Rating: ** (Excellent; gets promoted to Awesome as soon as I can find a good explanation against the level checks)

Kamisama Dolls – 06
Okay, so aside from that really out of place fanservice scene, this was a really good episode. There’s quite a bit of character development, the sibling subplot is turning out quite interesting, now that Utao wants to make up with her twin brother. There was a ton of background in this episode, the creators explained how the flying dolls work, we got to see the families of the lead characters, and overall the characters and the setting got a nice amount of depth. The series is halfway over, and you still could have fooled me with that it’s going to wrap itself up within six episodes. So far we’ve got a well told series that alternates between comedy, action and drama really well with only the fanservice feeling out of place. The lead character is bland at first, yet he does have some interesting flaws to his character. Everyone’s well acted, it’s funny, and it knows how to build up. Now it’s up to the second half to use this. And solve the problem of having an ongoing manga…
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Nurarihyon no Mago – 31
This episode introduced all kinds of potentially interesting characters. Too bad that they’re just used for a training arc. So far, I’m not really that impressed by it. Nura learned the technique a little too easily, but most importantly there doesn’t really seem to be much depth to his technique. Overall, Nura’s reason to go to Kyoto seems kinda weak at the moment: his classmates suggested to go to Kyoto and then he suddenly remembered that the killer of his father lives there. I do hope that this will grow into more than just a simple tale of revenge. Nurarihyon kicked ass, though.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Sacred Seven – 06
Ack, it’s a shame that this will only be a 1-cour series. That pretty much changes everything. Of course there is the slight possibility that the creators have a second season planned, but I’ve seen too many series that promised the same thing to really be able to buy that. Because of that, we’re already halfway through the series… so what has it accomplished? Is it building up to an interesting plot? No, Knight is a very boring and emo villain. Its atmosphere? Nope, that also seems rather random and disjointed, more aimed at silly comic relief than consistency. Characters? They’re still emo, their acting is still flat, and in this episode Ruri went pretty far out of character in the quiet scenes. Setting? It’s a school and people have superpowers: nothing really interesting. In the end I can only praise this show for its action scenes: those are really good, and this episode was no exception. The solution?? Why didn’t you just make a 6-episode OVA with a compilation of the best action scenes?
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Sacred Seven – 05
You know what? I liked this episode a lot. It’s not that the characters suddenly gained a ton of depth, but rather what impressed me was the vast array of stuff that the creators throw at the main characters. That giant living pyramid: I love it, and it also was really well animated. It reminded me a lot of the series Betterman: there the focus also lied in trying to not die, while waiting for the superpower to arrive to take care of everything. If this ends up going beyond 13 episodes, it still has a chance, because the protagonist HAS potential: he’s this tall goofy guy and actually quite different from your usual protagonist if he wasn’t so damn emo. Because of that I’m willing to wait for his development. Oh, and I just discovered that Sayo Yamamoto was the one who directed the OP, which really does explain why it works so wel amongst Yuki Kajiura’s song and all. But seriously, she should direct another series. Seeing these awesome storyboarded OPs is nice and all, but she’s way too good a director for just that.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Kamisama Dolls – 05
I may not be blogging this series, but I still love this show. This isn’t necessarily because of its story, but rather its storytelling: the way in which it presents its storyline, the way in which the action is written, the episodes are balanced, the atmosphere is created. That is done really well with this series. Seriously: it’s really rare for the most prolific company during a season to deliver in every single show that they’re producing, but Kamisama Dolls is an excellent action thriller show. Every episode so far has been full of emotions and covered a wide variety of moods, without feeling jumpy or unbalanced. This episode continued that trend and only solidified it. The village back-story finally got a lot more depth, the sunglasses guy revealed himself to be quite an interesting character and not the antagonist he once seemed to be, and the chemistry between Kyouhei and Utao: the tension between those two is just great and I have to praise how well they’re acted. Now all that’s left is some development.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Blade – 06
Here’s one surprise. This episode actually seriously made me consider the plot of Blade to be the best amongst the Marvel-series. The reason for that is its underlying themes: Iron Man was about really corny morals, Wolverine was about determination, and the X-Men tried to be about peaceful coexistence, although all of them didn’t really spend too much time on them. With Blade though, it really explores the vampires, and what it means to have them kill a loved one, and having to kill a loved one because they turned into one of them. And here this episode suddenly comes and hints at a possibility that humans can be prevented from turning into vampires with the right care. What does this mean for all of the vampires that Blade has killed? The episode ended tragically, but it still is an interesting thought experiment here.

Overall, I think that aside from Iron Man, the biggest problem with the Marvel series isn’t what they are, but what they aren’t. They’re all pretty good series, but this isn’t the best that Madhouse can do. In fact, the last time we really saw them at their best was more than a year ago, with Yojou-han shinwa Taikei (no offence to Kaiji: it is good, but again nowhere near their best work). Compare that to 2009, which had Aoi Bungaku and to a lesser extent Hajime no Ippo, Kobato and Ride-Back, 2008, in which they completely dominated the entire year with Kaiba, Mouryou no Hako, Himitsu, Casshern Sins and Ultraviolet, 2007 with Shigurui, Dennuo Coil and Ooedo Rocket, 2006 with Death Note, Kemonozume, Black Lagoon and Nana and 2004 with Beck, Monster, Paranoia Agent and Jubee-Chan. What happened to that Madhouse?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Nurarihyon no Mago – 31
Nurarihyon no Mago has one really big advantage over every show aside from Penguin Drum this season: it won’t be over in two months! It’s a bloody shame that the first season didn’t make use of it, because the length is without a doubt the biggest problem with the current summer season. There’s also the other side of the coin: taking your length for granted and dragging on. The director confirmed that the new season will animate up to the end of the Kyoto-arc, which makes me wonder how large that arc must be to dedicate 23 entire episodes to it. What do the creators have in store to prevent it from dragging on? In any case, at least, the past two episodes had solid background, though in terms of storytelling they did end a bit anti-climactic: the most interesting part of this episode was the Omnyouji at the end, and the actual fight with Hagoromo Gitsune felt a bit uninspired for who was supposed to be the previous lord of the pandemonium. I blame Nurarihyon, who did nothing but just try to act cool and take hits without even flinching. I mean, especially at the end they could at least have shown someone freak out at the huge and gaping hole inside Nurarihyon’s chest I also believe that “I’ve put up this barrier which will keep all youkai out for the next 400 years” could have been done a bit more subtle.
Rating: * (Good)

Okay. I know what I’m going to do this season: another Kaleidoscope, though in a different format from the previous times I’ve done one. There’s just too much interesting stuff this season, it’s unbelievable. Instead, I’m going to be writing short blurbs and impressions about all (or most) of the episodes that interest me. It’s an experiment. I have no idea whether it’s going to work, but this seems like the perfect season to try it out, with so many great series.

Dantalian no Shoka – 02
Ah, you can see that this show too is in need of more time: this episode felt a bit rushed, and yet it did retain its atmosphere. Overall this seems to be much more about atmosphere than its mysteries compared to its sister-series of Gosick and Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou, and I guess that that’s where this fast pacing works. Now, this episode was flawed (“You may have thought that you stabbed me, but I was saved by this book that I conveniently carried in my pocket at exactly the right place!” – that is one twist you should not pull!), plus the transformation sequence was significantly less interesting when we saw it for the second time (especially in contrast with Penguin Drum), but I really like the experimental animation, the banter is quite nice, the male lead is no pansy and isn’t the idiot that Kujou was. Oh, and another plus is that Dalian so far has been the only teenager in the series. That helps too.
Rating: * (Good)

Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji – 42
It’s really hard to imagine what the rest of this arc is going to look like. I mean, normal conventions would say that the next episode would focus on breaking the second barrier, the episode after that on the third layer, leaving a final climax to wrap everything up. This thing however still has a whopping eight episodes left. At the very least. Seriously, this already is an intense thriller and I really like the mind games so far: is it just going to drag on over and over, or is there really such an awesome climax waiting?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Sacred Seven – 03
The main problem with this show so far is not that it’s generic. That’s just something that doesn’t really help. Instead, this show is too one-sided and does a poor job at fleshing out its characters: there are way too many dark and brooding emo characters with very little other traits to their character. Seriously, the main couple is emo, the newly introduced villain is emo, the main side-kick is emo, half of the side characters are emo. That’s not the most interesting combination to work with! The one exception was the action scene of episode two. More of that, please!
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Usagi Drop – 03
Usually when a series addresses workaholics, it’s done quite one-sidedly: parents who fell in love with their jobs and forget about spending time with their children. Even with that, you can get some good drama out of it (the most recent example of this is Showa Monogatari). Usagi Drop however rocks because of how well it takes a look at this topic, how the main character is trying to balance his life as a typical salaryman while suddenly having to raise a child. This third episode made things even better by showing other cases of this with Daikichi’s mother and a coworker of his. I don’t have a child myself, but a lot of my coworkers are in that stage of their life, so this series hits surprisingly close to home for me right now.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Blade – 04
I’m still not sure whether Blade is going to work or not. On one hand, the writing can get incredibly cheesy at times (though thankfully still nowhere near Iron Man levels), and the facial animations also leaves a lot to be desired. And yet this series abandons Japan and goes to the Philippines instead, and out of all of the Marvel-series so far, it has by far devoted the most time to the past of the main character and is by far the most character-oriented of the four series. A main theme of this series is also for Blade to be saved from his really, really dark childhood, which also provides a good reason for the female lead to be there (so likely no more Hisako-esque debacles). Nevertheless though: Madhouse. Please try to spend more time in how to correctly animate facial expressions. It’s really getting silly now.
Rating: * (Good)

Kamisama Dolls – 03
A killer is on the loose, so what does the village responsible for him send to get him back? A little girl. Okay, so this third episode takes care of that by introducing more different characters, and spicing things up quite nicely. The second half of the episode had great chemistry, acting and the dark atmosphere that also made the first episode really good. As for the first half… at least it was funny. Having a comedy director on this thing really helps to get the delivery right. But what’s this about the Kamisama Dolls manga not being finished? I mean, here we have the perfect set-up for an action-packed 13 episode series. Is the story really large enough to warrant more time than that? On one hand, this is a good series to create an anime original ending for. On the other hand: Makoto Uezu is adapting this series. You do not want to give him freedom, because that just screws everything up into a boring fanservice-fest.
Rating: ** (Excellent)