oh boy, this was a disaster. It was an episode that was doomed to fail, simply because of the decision of the creators to include the new girl into the cast of major characters. I mean… what exactly do they hope to get out of someone with such a terrible backstory? This episode could at least have been enjoyable if it wasn’t for her utterly contrived reason to fall in love with the lead character. I mean, is she supposed to be another parody or something?
This pretty much was an episode that contained nothig but character building, oly to come with some drama at the final minute. So, after having to sit through some completely generic dating scenes, what do we get? The lead female gets kidnapped. Ooh, we’re original now. Seriously, what happened? The drama in this show used to be so good. Cliches like these could be excused in the introduction of a series, to get the plot started. Not when you’re nearly done!
The only enjoyment in this episode was in the small details, like surprisingly smooth animation, the hilariously named “Mask Donalds”, good poses and facil expressions and the surprisingly good food jokes ehre, even though cooking girls usually are beating the same dead horse over and over again. Like I said: it could have been an interesting episode, but when the creators have such a terrible premise for an episode, what can really be done with it?
Rating: – (Disappointing)
>The drama in this show used to be so good.
WHERE?!? It’s all about overclichees fanservice based jokes and sometimes some actually nice parody like last ep santas’ … where did you find drama? In the smoke maybe?
Well, Hellscythe’s background, for example.
I agree completely with this, every word! I did think it was cute that Ayumu is reluctant about being dragged into marriage when the very beginning of the episode proves how unwilling he is to settle on any one female.
Side note: many words in the review got misspelled somehow — looks like a case of missing letters for the most part, strangely enough. Maybe enabling “Check spelling” in Firefox when you type these up would address the increasing rate of typos? I dunno, I’m sorry. I know you’re short on time and it’s easy enough to read anyway, so I can shut up now.
@Solaris: THE DRAMA, man. Yes, it’s in the smoke. It’s mostly in the relationship between Yuu and Kusomushi (or really anytime Yuu plays a central role in the series).
Huh… Yeah
WTF is going on, Zombie was awesome until 2 episodes ago, and now this new character got introduced and is singlehandedly ruining the show
Good fucking job whoever thought it was a good idea… I couldnt even sit through this episode, I just dropped it 5 minutes in and deleted it, thats how bad it was
Did you really find those puny 5 minutes back in episode 4 worth of being called dramatic? Shouldn’t we call it cheap cheese maybe?
Cause that’s all i could stretch and call dramatic in whole 2/3 of the serie. Is there more i’d fail to notice?
The last 2 episodes are mediocre. the next episode will probably get things back on the right track.
Everything kinda went crazy after Yuki came.
I’d add Korezombi showed all of those clichees you fiercely hated in other shows, but then, tell me why is it ok here but are those such a letdown in Star Driver or Yumekui merry as example? What if they put a beach episode here too? Should you go and say it’s carbage for the sake of coherence or rather would you just excuse it the same way you did when they showed haruna’s fanservice before?
I agree with Solaris, the drama in this show was never really all that good. The premise behind Hellscythe and her drama could actually have been very successful, but I found the delivery weak and unconvincing. But then, everything about this anime is pretty weak except some of the premises and arguably the male lead.
The show’s just meandering it’s way into oblivion now, instead of using what little character development it managed to build up. Like you say, psgels, this simply isn’t the time for them to be screwing around.. especially since they such so much at screwing around.
I think some of you are looking for this show to be something it’s not. Its a fanservice comedy, that’s it. Drama and plot are just ways to introduce the cliches and tropes that the crowd it’s aiming at loves. And if you read 2ch- they really do love it. Just enjoy the show for what it is and stop lookng for something deeper.
It’s not about depth, it’s about even meeting its own expectations. We know this show is capable of more, and at this point what it has managed to pull off should come together, not languish in tepid uninspired frivolity.
Wait, did I just say frivolity? As in frivolousness? In KZD? Yes, but it has to be said. This show made a name for itself in its UNCONVENTIONAL and WITTY use of frivolity. Now it’s fallen into the cliched, trope-laden wasteland of mediocrity, destroyed by the very premise it made out to subvert.
WOW! Are #3 and #10 even the same person? Cause that’d be some amazing change of opinion after 2 more people popped your ‘drama’ delusion.
This show proved to be anything unconventional and witty, except that very good first episodes that fired our expectations too high. The real problem with this show is that id does try too much to be what it shouldn’t be. It’s a fanservice party and it shouldn’t try to add drama where it’s not really needed, cause the result is just cheese.
I really liked the last two episodes. Needs more Kyoko though.
@Solaris: I beg to differ there. IMO, Korezom is much better when it balanced out Drama and ridiculousness perfectly. Eps 1-3 played ridiculousness out well, and eps 4-6 played the Drama portion well.
That was what made the show great in the first place.
The problem with the past 2 episodes is that it was too ridiculous, I mean honestly, how many of you was expected that weird-ass device at the end of ep 6 to be used to power Megalos or create them?
Instead, they changed it to a Megalo-killing ramen maker, see how overly ridiculous and almost wasted that seemed?
Personally, the only good things about the past 2 eps were:
– The Horse and Jellyfish Megalo
– The girl that gave Ayumu the glasses.
– The demon santa thing
– The Mask Donald ‘Shut Up’ Dude
Still, it seems that KoreZom is starting to enter Drama mode again from the ending. And I pray to god the final boss-fight would be as epic as the Kyoko fight in eps 5 and 6
Also, agreed that it needs more Kyoko.
Solaris: I liked parts of the drama. Not just hellscythe’s past, but also some of those smaller scenes and expositions. Why am I suddenly delusional for having a different taste than yours?
Also, I don’t fault this series at all for trying to be more than a fanservice series. It’s the reason why I started blogging this thing in the first place. Obviously your mileage may vary with this.
Fanservices/Cliches does not define whether the anime is good or bad.
Those 2 things are usually unavoidable to begin with
Apart that the delusion thing was directed at Houit, my problem with you is, PSgels, is not about tastes.
My own problem with everyone is i’m quite harsh explaining my point of view, so i beg pardon for that, but it’s my trademark. Just live with that please.
My problem with you, psgels is rather something regarding comment #7. Why the differences in evaluating similar aspects in different shows? Why so many mistakes in your reviews? Why overlooking so many details in your judgenment? Tastes are important, but what about objectivity? You anwered questions i made you before with the lamest reason ever: “because I like it, so what’s the problem?”. The problem, you say? That’s the problem, dammit! You had the habit to evaluate shows entirely and based your judgement on reason but NEVER tastes alone! I am missing that from you. Your advanced reasoning.
Solaris: ah, now that’s an interesting comment.
I’m not sure whether I fully get what you mean, but interestingly, I started putting much more focus on what I liked in individual episodes because people were telling me that I kept talking too much about the big picture and too little about what actually went on in the episodes. Seems like I hit the other end of that extreme now.
Also, regarding overlooking so many details: I never claim to be complete. Focusing on every single detail would just take too much time. If I don’t mention it, it just means that I don’t have much to say about it without having to repeat myself too much.
indeed it is interesting. Even I can somehow agree.
I’ve gotta say here that I prefer subjectivity and focus on individual things in an anime blog. Trying to judge entertainment objectively seems a little silly to me; one series could be masterfully made and yet not be entertaining to anyone, while another might have production issues but be far more fun to watch. Honestly, I’d say the second show is the better one – after all, it’s entertainment, and there’s really no way to judge the quality of a show apart from a collection of subjective opinions. If people are saying ‘because I like it’ about a show, then, well, there’s obviously something about that show to make them like it.
ZoboCamel’s opinion is honest, but beware that the ‘i like it’ way is mostly superficial to begin with.
Star Crossed was ever great because of Psgels’ attitude to pierce through what’s objectionable and subjective and go straight to the point adding a whole layer of deep analysis. And that was unseen everywhere else in the Internet. Would he subtract from that and Star Crossed will slowly change into one of many other generic blogs out there: Worthless.
I can see the starting point. Once upon a time Psgels had no problem to find material to blog. He’d find rare gems and pick them readily for everybody to enjoy as if he had a kind of third eye to spot quality in the raw. Stuff that generic people didn’t even care to consider, so far from generic standards, and even ugly to look at first sight, but that somehow had something worthwhile. Psgels saw them at instant and blogged it.
What’s with all of that uneasiness now? At last two season start it was embarrassing to see all of that pick-up and drop-down wheel play. Stuff like Mitsudomoe and Korezombi, to name the latests, would have never win the right to be blogged before, even if he’d actually love them to death. Because it’s canon there is a big difference between raw taste and actual quality. Recognizing that wasn’t an issue before, but rather that third eye is closed now. Sleeping, maybe? I want to wake it up now!
Solaris: I think I know what you mean and I agree with it mostly, and I’m going to try to put some more depth into my posts again. A few comments, though:
– I don’t agree that I used to be objective. Every time I analyzed a show, it was all based on what I find important in a series. For other people, that can be completely different.
– As for the reason why I’m no longer picking out the underrated gems: this season doesn’t really have many of those. Only Level E perhaps fits that bill.
Dammit Psgels: That excessive humble side of yours sometimes irks me :/
>I never claim to be complete
>I don’t agree that I used to be objective.
You say that, but how is it you were always able to spot on the important features, keypoints and fine details in the shows with no effort?
Let’s call it talent, or rather that’s the natural expression of your rational side.
It’d be nice to know why you decided to change your method so heavily at last. Were you unsatisfied with it?
PS: This is a very big OT I made. I wonder if it would be possible to move this to the forum instead, and go on there?
This was an episode aimed solely at otaku who enjoy intricate deconstruction of moe anime tropes. Taking it from that point of view, it was technically proficient and creative in the way it went through even some of the more obscure tropes and tried to recombine them in the most unlikely ways possible. It was a “pure” episode devoted to the main theme of the series.
It isn’t even parodying gap moe directly, but rather the complex efforts that creators make to generate gap moe, and the often strange results. The shojo-style school wife x magical girlfriend x kyuuketsu ninja superpower x harem exercise all show a deep familiarity with the tropes (including sly references to a number of previous shows).
Of course, it does has no relationship to what little plot the show has, and the characters themselves are just empty vessels for this exercise, something Ayumu in typical fashion complains about directly.
And it is not particularly funny unless you are so pre-tuned to previous series using gap moe that the juxtaposition hits intuitively, without consciously having to think about what you just saw. I am not at that “level” compared to a some 2ch vippers who were entranced, but can at least see why they were. But primarily it comes across as very technical at best. . .
In a sense, this was a pretty brave move on the creator’s part, since they know they could be alienating all but this hard-core. I doubt they will try anywhere near this extreme it for future episodes. However, a mandatory “trope-mincing” episode would be an improvement over staple character role change/sad back story or misunderstood love confession episodes (except when the plot actually needs it), much less beach episodes.
Of course, the main characters are just empty vehicles for this exercise, something they
Yeah, same person. Change in opinion? …Not so much. The reason I commented twice is because each addressed a fundamentally different aspect of the anime — the cuteness of Ayumu’s “wife” situation and a tongue-in-cheek reference to whatever “drama” I happened to observe. I wasn’t commending it or anything, and a bit of cuteness certainly cannot pretend to save the series from its [apparent] downward spiral.
Heheh, as for psgel’s reviews, I think they hit the mark. He seems to use a global “big-picture” standpoint when called for and and episode-specific one when relevant. His reviews don’t seem to exhibit the inconsistencies or double standards of which you repeatedly and passionately speak.