Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019) – 08/09 [VS The Imaginator 5/6]

by SuperMario, posted in Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019), Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense

Boogiepop never makes things easy huh? Just at the end of this Imaginator arc we immediately receive the whole 4-episode OVA of the next one. Before we get into the next arc (which I will cover in its entirety in the next post), this Imaginator arc reaches its conclusion. I remain half-half on how I perceive this arc as a whole. On one hand, it ends conclusively. Everything falls neatly into its place and every characters have their own significance to the story. One the other hand, the art of telling nonlinear puzzle-like structure like this one is that it adds up at the end, both emotionally and thematically, in which I can only consider Boogiepop mildy succeed at (in cinema world, Atom Egoyan is the master of this approach). Maybe part of that is because I wasn’t that invested to Masaki – Orihata dynamic, and another part is that the main characters don’t really involved into the narrative. Sure, Boogiepop pops in and steals the spotlight in the climax, but it has more to do with her being afraid that her friend Suema would get involved. That bit alone is essential, however. Despite her claims that she’s mostly a watcher, Boogiepop does care for her friends and will actively bang in if there’s any risk included.

Jin Asukai takes up the main narrative in episode 8 where he mostly reveals his own cards. When get confronted by Suema (about Kinukawa’s feeling), he talks about his ambition, pretentiously so, of changing the world. He does have something in mind as he meets Spooky E and totally outclasses him. It’s interesting to note that they have the same kind of power: Spooky E for brain-washing, and Jin for heart-altering (or whatever that is, you could say breast-touching and I’m not going to argue against), but what differentiate their power is the mean: Spooky E uses it purely for manipulation, whereas Jin’s method is something more substantial. It remains unclear to me, however, how does he know about Orihata’s perfect rose? I might miss some details but does he know Orihata in the first place, or is she just someone he coincidentally meet. It remains clear within the last two episodes that he’s much more dangerous and harder to deal with than Spooky E. One thing he does right, however, is when he finally addresses his thought to his cousin Kinukawa, and by rejecting her wholeheartedly she snaps out of her current brainwash.

As for Masaki, although being manipulated by Orihata of becoming a fake Boogiepop to lure out the real one, when it comes to his feeling to Orihata he’s never two-minded about that. As the story goes, he is being ambushed by brainwashed Kinukawa and nearlygive her a finishing blow, if not by the intervention of his sister Nagi. Eventually, the real Boogiepop meets him and tells him the truth, and one I considered as the main theme of Boogiepop the series so far. Masaki knows that he’s being brainwashed and manipulated this whole time, so that explains his fixtation to Orihata because he’s brainwashed to do so. Now with this knowledge, what does his heart really want? The ending works well on that end, but one that I find a little predictable.

As for the Master Gardener, he thinks he’s in control but he makes one grave mistake, that the perfect flower he saw in Orihata is a fake, because Orihata isn’t human. With this reveal, I honestly don’t feel the need for Boogiepop to appear at all. Yes, she assures that she maintains the order, and that she will destroy anything that destruct the structure, but it feels a bit off to me where the arc starts with her against the true Imaginator and ends with her beating Jin, an Imaginator manipulator, and the inclusion of both Suema and Nagi feel superfluous at best. Well, at least things work out in the end.

Kemurikusa – 06/07

by SuperMario, posted in Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Kemurikusa

Welp, I’m back to the normal schedule now so my blogging will be back to normal from now on. My apology for those who waited for my weekly blogs for the last few weeks. For Kemurikusa, episode 6 was a slow one, even slower than its standard (and that says a lot), but the latest episode kicks things up a notch nicely. Before I get into the plot details, let me just mention the CG of Kemurikusa. It helps that the show doesn’t have that much of action scenes and they did a decent when it comes to these action sequences. The issues amongst its CG, however, can be seen clearly in episode 7 when Kemurikusa depicts falling objects but it feels as if they are floating instead. The gravity of the models feel off most of the time, and normally our characters get away with it given their non-human nature. When it comes to depicting something falling, however, the issues become obvious. As a whole, do I enjoy Kemurikusa? My answer is: pretty much. It’s slow burn and it has tons of issues but it still remains intriguing, and one of the joy of following this is we have no idea about the scope of the plot. Will it go down to epic path or will it finish small? I have no clue, but I’m game for more.

One of the main event in episode 6 is that Wakaba meets another Kemurikusa sister, Riku. Riku is a good addition to the cast since her personality is distinct and even her power (that she could use all types of Kemurikusa power – a nod for her exceptional “touching” sense) and she leaves a lasting impression in the first half of episode 6. She teaches Wakaba how to use certain types of Kemurikusa, and conveniently reveals more information about the worldbuilding. Two things of note is that it appears that both her and Ryoku are still safe and sound, but for some unknown reasons they prefer to stay away from their sisters. “We are supposed to be death”, says Riku. My take on it is that they are currently carrying another mission in Island 6 that they don’t want the remaining sisters to be involved, because we can clearly see how fond Riku is when she talks about Rin, Rina and Ritsu.

After the fateful encounter, Wakaba learns how to use the kemurikusa to make it as a shield, and with the Yellow one he can function it like a memory Ipad. All these letters written there are assumedly made by Ryoku, the kemurikusa scholar. The bit that remains the most interesting is the letters written in different characters that mentioned about the original self who has the memory leaf. There are two theories behind this written text. At first, my initial reaction is that the text was written by the original Rina before she splits into six. If you notice you’d see one standout Rina who sleeps/ closes her eyes all the times. My hunch is that she is the original Rina and she has the memory of other Rinas before the split. My second take on it, however, is on the grander scheme. It could be that it was the First Person who splits herself into multiple different Kemurikusa girls, each of them carry different personality and is exceptional of one distinct sense: Rin has a great vision and Ritsu can listen to other sounds by using the Midori for example.

Another important turn of event happens at the end of episode 6 where they found another water source: the giant tree with a lake the runs beneath. There’s heaps of interesting factions going on here: there’s this thick Blue Wall that separate the tree with the rest and it’s function like an Ipad Kemurikusa. There are Blue Bugs which attack the girls, but for me it’s more like they are protecting the Blue Wall themselves. My favorite moment of episode 7 is the brief moment of happiness from the girls when they find a safe place that has water and no Red Bugs to fight. We could really feel how the weight has (momentarily) taken off their shoulders. But like any good fiction, it’s too good to be all true. Wakaba and Rin find out that in the other side of the Blue Wall, Red Bug and Red Mist run amok and on its way to destroy everything. It’s a nice turn of events in general. I give the credits for the show’s confident control of its pacing. Other normie shows would rush to this high-stake part to provide “drama”, Kemurikusa instead makes all the little happy moments sink in first, then reveal this massive conflict. By doing so, we have all the reasons to feel their stake, root for them and look forward to this battle.

Paranoia Agent – 5 [The Holy Warrior] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Paranoia Agent, Throwback Thursday

Welcome to another week of Paranoia Agent! This week Kon explores different generations, Shounen Bat gets caught and the Old Lady becomes relevant. Lets dive in!

After the bumpy reception I had towards last week’s episode, Paranoia Agent bounced back to wow me this week. Production wise, it was incredibly expressive this week. With the character animation exaggerating to go with the fantasy backdrops. The chief especially, with his expressive face and body language, really made a lot of its scenes. Bringing a lot of situational comedy without detracting from the story, as it fit his character well. The backgrounds were also varied and unique. Making every scene stand out, compared to the otherwise standard cityscape backdrops we normally get. Combine this with Kon’s directorial style, and Paranoia Agent was a treat to watch this week. With visuals out of the way, now let’s get into the story itself. Remember, spoilers after the break!

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 18 [And Then, Morning]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Welcome to the big one, the start, the opening moments of Kaze Fui’s Hakone Ekiden! This week Fujioka drops some wisdom, the team learns their sections and Yuki gets some time with Kurahara. Lets jump in!

This week was Kaze Fui’s big setup, along with some drops on Haiji’s background. Before we get to either of those though, how did Kaze Fui do on the production department? Like always, the backgrounds were beautiful. The shot near the end of Mt.Fuji was simply stunning, similarly with Haiji and Fujioka’s walking rice fields. We didn’t get to see much animation this week sadly, but with the Ekiden starting next week, hopefully it will show up in full force. That isn’t to say it was non-existent though. During Fujioka’s flashback there was some great running/shoe animation near the end, and I quite enjoyed the character acting we got during the sections explanation. However, unlike Mob Psycho, animation isn’t one of Kaze Fui’s focal point’s. That dubious honor goes to the story and characters, and my goodness, is what good as always.

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Dororo – 7 [The story of the Jorogumo silk spider]

by Lenlo, posted in Dororo

Hello and welcome to what is, I believe, an anime original week of Dororo! This time we have a sympathetic ghoul, Hyakki dealing with his emotions and a continually worse feudal landscape. Lets jump in!

Dororo was a rather disappointing one after last week, to be frank. Story wise there were some interesting ideas and it got its message across, as we will talk about. But visually Dororo fell very short. There were lots of dull stills, choppy or lazy animation and questionable transitions. Take the opening for instance, as Ohagi runs away after her first encounter with Hyakkimaru. The walk/run animation there is basically a loop as she slides across the screen. Or Hyakki and Dororo’s “search” as just the background fades and changes. Simply put, visually, I would not blame someone if they checked out while watching this episode. As much as the story does it’s job, it simply isn’t engaging compared to last weeks arc finale. It felt like filler, almost, which considering all the plot threads currently available and in the air isn’t really acceptable. Now, spoilers after the break!

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Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 7 [Cornered ~True Identity~]

by Lenlo, posted in Mob Psycho 100 II

Hello and welcome to the halfway point of Mob Psycho Season 2! This week continues Reigen’s story as he rises high, falls low and comes to an epiphany. Lets jump in!

Starting off, Mob Psycho once again looks fantastic. Say what you want about the story or characters, the quality of the animation is undeniable. In an episode with no big fights or villains, just character moments, Mob Psycho was more expressively animated than most series finales. Everything from Reigen’s exorcism and incredible reactions to the continuous ending shot of the floating camera. Mob Psycho impressed me this week, in a very different way from episode 5. We also got to see more examples of unusual animation, with the paint on glass effect appearing again. I will admit, this effect is a personal favorite of mine. Seeing the individual brush strokes takes me back to the backgrounds of cell animated series of old. Yet it has a modern polish that makes also crisp and clean. Enough about animation though, as always, spoilers below the break.

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Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai – 06

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai

The treasurer of the student council, Ishigami Yuu, finally got a proper introduction this week. I’d say this episode was his time to shine, but it’s actually the opposite – he’s so preoccupied with Kaguya’s apparent hatred of him (as well as his own social faux pas) that it was actually his time to mope. His design screams “introverted nerd”: dark hair and eye color, long bangs covering one eye, and headphones around his neck, ready to block out the world at a moment’s notice. Throw in the running gag about wanting to ditch school due to Stockholm Syndrome or a desire to kill himself, and you have a totally ReLaTaBLe character with whom all the sad dorks out there can identify. I don’t want to come down too hard on the guy just after his introduction, but I do have an issue with the series’ decision to create a character with his function (that being his detection of Kaguya’s more cunning personality). Kaguya-sama already does a great job of balancing her two selves through the use of internal monologue, narration, and quieter moments alone or with Hayasaka, where we see Kaguya as she truly exists. She’s already a well-rounded character, about whom we get plenty of different perspectives through the president, secretary, and admiring student body. I don’t feel as though an additional set of eyes, particularly not one that interprets things in such an exaggerated fashion, adds much to the proceedings.

This is undoubtedly an unpopular train of thought, as Aidan mentioned in the comments of a previous review that Ishigami is /ourguy/ among the manga’s fanbase. I can understand why that is, but if he’s going to contribute to the show, I’d rather it be on his own terms. For example, in the final chapter from this week’s episode, he’s struck with embarrassment after Fujiwara calls him creepy for a remark about her new conditioner, and he excuses himself from school. If his arc will involve battling his depression and social awkwardness to become a new or improved version of himself, that’s cool. This is a rom-com, so I assume the story will eventually nudge him in the direction of a female character, which could be the catalyst for that change. As long as his screen time isn’t dominated by a fear of the vice president, I’m down to see where he’ll go in the future (apart from “home” midway through every segment).

All of that aside, my favorite story from this episode was probably the Fujiwara-led barrage of psychological tests. These things usually function as a way for lazy writers to let their characters speak directly to the audience, but in a series built around deception, they were just another opportunity for comedy. I think this is the second time Shirogane has defaulted to being a siscon to avoid his crush on Kaguya being detected, and while he escapes for the price of the girls’ scorn, Kaguya gets overwhelmed upon realizing the meaning of the flower test. The shot of the dump truck backing up and gently covering her in a pile of petals was the best of the week, for my money. It was nicely stretched to allow us to anticipate the moment when they would fall, and to feel Kaguya’s shock at their intended symbolism. This show continues to be very well-timed, with another case coming near the end of the third chapter, where Shirogane frantically pedals away from Kaguya after failing to compliment her nails. Just as he and his bike are about to disappear from sight over a hill, he freezes in midair for a moment, emphasizing the hunched position he uses to flee the scene. It adds to the comedy of the moment, but also the light pathos of being too afraid to compliment the girl you like. Good storyboarding is likely responsible for these small successes, so kudos are in order for whoever has handled that task so far. We’ve arrived at the midpoint of Kaguya-sama’s 12 episode run, so I hope this level of attention is maintained during the show’s back half.

Paranoia Agent – 4 [A Man’s Path] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Paranoia Agent, Throwback Thursday

This week, once again, Paranoia Agent takes another interesting turn. This time we follow the cop who caught Shounen Bat, see a bit into organized crime and watch a man fall apart at the seams. Lets go!

So in general, while this episode was interesting and explored some more aspects of society, I wasn’t big on it. The issue is, I can’t really tell you why either. It just didn’t… click with me? All of the pieces were there. Kon’s unique animation style, societal commentary, interesting direction. Maybe it was Hirukara as a character whom I did not enjoy? However I would find that to be odd, as all of his scenes succeeded at what they set out to do. I was incredibly nervous anytime he was onscreen in the latter half. Objectively, he succeeded at his role in the story. So why didn’t I enjoy it as much as the previous episodes? Well, let’s get into the details, and hopefully by the end I will have figured out an answer.

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Mid-Season Review of Kakegurui××

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Kakegurui

For all of you who are disappointed that we didn’t cover the sequel to the show that even Elon Musk watches, I felt that this season of Kakegurui would benefit more from an periodic overview rather than following it week from week. Kakegurui was never about the mechanics nor tense stakes as it relies on its orgasmic reactions, psychotic personalities and outlandish circumstances to appeal to the mainstream audience. It doesn’t hurt to have one of the most memorable OP of recent times. However, when it comes to the opening credits of this season, it was always going to be an uphill battle to match, much less surpass, the visually exciting and musically alluring predecessor. That being said, I think that the second opening is actually pretty good and I wouldn’t mind listening to it a couple times on repeat.

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 17 [Searching for the Answer]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Welcome to the feel good relaxation week of Kaze Fui! This time the Twins confront Haiji, they see the track and Sakaki continues to be a dick. Lets jump in!

Starting off, this episode was a very subdued one. Similar to Mob, Kaze Fui slowed down this week. Giving the characters room to breathe again and building up for its final arc. Once again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A good series knows when to slow down, to perform a falling action, and let the audience relax. If a series is 100% go from the beginning, not only do the narrative climaxes feel dull, but the audience gets apathetic. If everything is important, nothing is. So while I was not enraptured with this episode, it was necessary and I am glad it exists. For instance, Kaze Fui spent a lot of time with the twins this week. They have, before this point, gotten even less focus than Musa. So they really needed it. As for what their story is specifically? Well, lets chat about that.

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