Hisone to Masotan – 04 [They Came to Gifu]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hisone to Masotan

With this episode the main plot thread of HisoMaso starts to emerge. Not only we have a new character this week, but all three of the remaining cast joined in in spectacular fashion. And befitting with the oddball personalities of both Hisone and Nao, they are a bunch of eccentric characters whose characteristics are all over the place. We have Ririko (codename Jimmy) – a shy and introvert girl, Hitomi (TAC name Morris) – a kind-hearted soft spoken big (and lazy) girl and Eri (TAC name Penguin) – a self-serious and overachiever. Looking at this cast, one has to wonder how unfit those girls are in military context. I mean, army is supposed to be uniform, consistent and those girls are as faraway from those as possible. But maybe that’s the point, that driving (AKA massaging the inside of) dragon is a job that only oddballs can do (And to think that Nao now is the one being left out – 4 dragons and 5 girls, seriously?). I’m still not very convinced about the characters of Hitomi and Ririko so far, given most of the time HisoMaso play their weirdness mostly for laugh.

It’s Eri who takes the main stage in this episode and she’s responsible for HisoMaso’s first real thematic depth: whether to regard themselves as pilot or dragon caretaker, thus regard the dragon as their friend/pet or as the airplane. With a show that been dancing around its theme so lightly so far you’d know what their solution is. Eri’s point has her merits, she wants to be the first big female pilot in the military force and she’s determined to make the boys recognizing her talents, or in the broader sense to make military women more than just an object/ a weakness, but by doing so she’s objectifying her dragon as something no more than a tool. The fact the dragon is too tense that he remains in aircraft mode even after the flight is sad as hell. As a result, he goes over his limits and transforms into the dragon form when Eli pushes him harder.

Again, Hisone nearly ruins the mood of her new comrades by saying mean things as they are, but in some way there’s always a charm in her meanie thought-out-loud. There’s no chemistry between her and the rest of the cast whatsoever, but that’s precisely the joy to see this band of misfits doing missions together, arguing over the most meaningless things while inside the stomach of dragons. The girls’ facial expressions remain as expressive as ever and the visual is certainly top-notch and gorgeous. I’m not too sold with the new cast so far, mostly because it’s Eri-centric episode but I reckon I’ll warm up with the other two as time goes by.

Hinamatsuri – 05 [Three Heads Are Better Than One]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hinamatsuri

At this point, I’m done delving on what the main thread of Hinamatsuri is. What appeared at first as the buddy/parental relationship between a yakuza and a psychic girl has evolved into something else, with Hitomi and Anzu slowly taking a central stage. This episode 5 in particular, they follow up on what I feel their weakest sketch (the plot A) with their most hilarious segment I’ve seen this year, bar none. The main reasons why the plot A doesn’t work for me mostly because it confirms many issues that I felt last week: Anzu and Hitomi keep overshadow Hina, there’s little wacky Hinamatsuri-signature sense, and Nitta and Hina relationship rubs me the wrong way for the first time (money can’t buy everything, mate). There are still two main takeaways from this first half, however. First, it has a sad undertone that the main reason Anzu does all this is because she wants to buy a video game to play with Hina and second, Hitomi and Hina help the blonde kid in their own ways, both end up with some mishaps that turn their plans upside down) or in Hina’s case, she makes one up as she goes). That’s the “friendship” that Anzu always looks for but hasn’t realized yet, and the rewards end up being not the money they earned but the efforts they spend to help her.

But my dissatisfaction for the first half is quickly replaced the magnificent of this little investigations from Hitomi’s friends. I suspect the main ingredients for its success are the expanded cast, with each of the new character more than light up the screen and I don’t remember falling for a new character (Aizawa) as quickly as this 10 minutes. She has her manipulating side, and God she’s clearly enjoying messing with Hitomi just to see her “adorable” reactions. The animation does a good job to animate Hitomi’s excessive movements here (is it just me who think that there’s some yuri affection from Aizawa to Hitomi? If so, I’d welcome it). She skeds the fine line between enjoying manipulating her and care for her own good at the same time. Likewise, the two boys walk the fine line between innocent-as-kid (the way they imagine the affair, with the caption: I can’t fantasize anymore or they still behave like kids playing detective) and their affection to Hitomi. Hina plays her role well here is a clueless mascot who most of the time doesn’t get what is going on. This is the situation-based comedy as its most inspiring as the misunderstandings just keep building up slowly and Hitomi behaves just like a wet cat get herself caught in the kitchen’s corner – she’s an adorable kitty, I swear. Look, I don’t even care anymore if this show slowly becomes Hitomimatsuri but I still hope there’s more supernatural wackiness along the way.

Megalo Box – 5 [The Man From Death]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Action, Megalo Box

Hello everyone and welcome to Megalo Box, now with added 100% more feels. This week we have a story of disabled boxers, war and mutual mistakes, and I loved every second of it. Lets jump in!

So lets get this out of the way right now, I was not expecting anything that happened this episode. I was prepared for some backstory on Aragaki and some sort of grudge with Nanbu. What I was not prepared for was a more effective story of war and lost limbs than anything I got from Violet Evergarden. That might seem an exaggeration but over the next few paragraphs I will explain. Specifics of the war story aside, I am glad Megalo Box is taking the time to build up its boxers. We need more than the end boss Yuri to carry this story, so compelling or interesting opponents are a must. Not only do they let Megalo Box tell interesting stories, but we get to explore Nanbu and Joe through their opponents as well. It gives Megalo Box real breathing room for its character moments.

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3-gatsu no Lion – 41-44 [Being Here…Child of March Town]

by SuperWooper, posted in 3-gatsu no Lion, Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama

Alright guys, here’s my last post: a series of short takes on the final four episodes of 3-gatsu no Lion. These are a month late, as usual – it wouldn’t do to break tradition just before my departure. I might pop in for joint film reviews or special occasions, but apart from that, this is the end. Thanks for reading!

41: After the big showdown between Yanagihara and Shimada, 3-gatsu opted to decompress by focusing on its side stories for a bit. I’m of two minds about this episode. Everything involving Chiho-chan is a home run for me, so working her plum syrup into the festival story gave me a reason to care about the Kawamotos’ sweets business. Hinata’s determination to support her friend, plus her growing satisfaction at helping the family financially, are taking her character in a good direction. All the plans she has for special confections hint at a future where Hina takes over Crescent Moon, relieving her big sister of the burden left by their departed mother. Rei pitches in at the festival, too, and there’s even a cameo from Takahashi, lending a sense of community to the first chapter of this episode. As for the scenes from Hinata’s school near the end, I remain unimpressed by the series’ unwillingness to tackle Takagi’s character in detail. As her prospective homeroom teacher says, she doesn’t feel remorse for her actions, but if your goal is that she feel remorse, you won’t get through to her by instructing her to conquer her anxiety. See my post on episodes 35/36 for more on my issues with this subplot.

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Steins;Gate 0 – 4 [Solitude of the Mournful Flow -A Stray Sheep-]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Steins;Gate 0

Welcome to week four of Steins;Gate 0, now with more time travel! This week we have dystopian futures, new characters and the first hints of darker tidings. Lets jump in!

Now, I don’t know what it is about the 4th episode of anime, but just like Megalo Box this is Steins;Gate’s first stumble. The world line jumps/flash forwards/back had issues this week. Not only was it occasionally difficult to tell just when we switched, but they came at odd times. The opening world line jumps for instance somehow turned into a dream sequence and then we popped back to the rooftop of last week. It was difficult to follow and, at least for now, doesn’t add much or make sense. PTSD alone would have worked better there. The reason time travel worked in the original Steins;Gate was we followed Okabe through it chronologically, so everything still fit and had an order to it. Here however, perhaps because of route format, the world line jumps simply feel out of place. I hope this is a one-off problem.

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Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These – 5[Birth of the 13th Fleet]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Legend of the Galactic Heroes Die Neue These

Now this was the part of the original OVA series that I really started to get interested in LOGH though in that this was episode 3. I find it great that neither Reinhards nor Yangs society is perfect so there is no real villain in regards to the two sides. No side is effectively more right because both have their positives and negatives. The Empire is good if you are born Nobility but otherwise the class divide has a hefty amount of unfair privileges and prejudice. The Free Planets Alliance allows for personal freedom…assuming of course that person is supporting the war and doesn’t have pacifist sentiments. Both are essentially a dictatorship, just that one is more open about it while the other hides it under a false pretense of equality. Nothing shows this more than the politician Truniht making a impassioned speech at a funeral about the glory of dying for your country and how people should aid in the war against the empire. Jessica Edwards certainly made a good point in interrupting that speech by pointing out that what he is saying is true but is highly hypocritical when Truniht and his loved ones remain safely outside of the war while others go to die for their country. It’s all well and good to praise the guillotine as being a honorable death but you better be willing to put your head under it if you want your words to hold weight.

But boy, Truniht truly is a slimy politician that makes me hate him all over again. He just has that absolute insincerity and greed. Topped off with his own personal army which is disguised as a radical nationalist group whom remove anyone who poses the slightest risk to his influence, he truly is the kind of creature I would love to toss out an airlock. So I relish any opportunity for people to piss him off, be it Jessica pointing out his hypocrisy or Yang refusing to stand and applaud his speech. It is interesting to note that the officer that berated Yang for not standing up is the same officer who assaulted his home leading the PKC. On that I will say that the anime didn’t quite do a good job explaining why the PKC gave up so easily. It wasn’t just because they were sprayed with water but also because that activated the fire control system and called the police to Yangs house. Julian certainly is making himself at home though at this point in time he’s been living there for quite a while. The remake does a better job of showing how young Julian was while in the OVA he looked more like a young man than a teenager. Got to say that both of them were quite calm in handling the whole situation of the PKC throwing a grenade through the window. Almost as if it was a regular occurrence.

So Yang is given his next mission to capture Isolation Fortress, which has quite a big role throughout the series. I think next episode will go into detail as to why this fortress is so important so I won’t explain why but this mission is really risky. It’s like an ultimatum to Yang, either pull off something no one ever has and win more accolades or die in battle so as to not be a thorn in Truniht’s side. Yet Yang always responds with the attitude of a salaryman going to another day of work. I rather liked the small moment where Yang held a broken piece of a plate in his hand after the PKC attack, remarking that it was the only genuine thing his father had. Suggesting that his father was a bit of a conman with his merchandise. From the look of next episode it seems we are not getting back to Reinhard yet and instead be seeing how Yang handles his unreasonable mission.

Golden Kamuy – 04 [Grim Reaper]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Golden Kamuy

Given the brisk pace Golden Kamuy usually sprint through its storyline, breather moments like those in the first half of this episode is much needed. Not only it allows the events happened so far to sink in, it also gives more space to strengthen out main’s dynamic. In addition, it’s informative to say the very least that we get to learn more about the Ainu culture while they’re staying in Asirpa’s village, something that doesn’t discuss quite often in this medium. But by saying all that I feel Golden Kamuy drags at times when they focus too much on the Ainu traditions. That part about Sugimoto playing kisarari game with the children doesn’t need to be there for example, neither does those Ainu cuisines that pop up here and there. Those feel like more the author showing off his knowledge on the Ainu people than it has anything to do with the treasure hunt story, and that tonal whiplash hurts the show more than it helps. Golden Kamuy is the show that has no qualms at depicting excessive violence, like this week’s skewers, because it’s the nature of the show. Having Sugimoto tries (and fails) desperately at some children’s games feel like it belongs to another show altogether.

The main event coming out of that part, however, is that Sugimoto leaves Asirpa behind to pursuit the goal alone. It’s nothing dramatic though since all of us know for certain that they will get back together soon, but this marks an improvement to their relationship. Why, you ask? Many wonders if Sugimoto misunderstands what grandma said to him (FYI, the manga purposely leaves the part untranslated, so we, like Sugimoto, just gets grandma’s intention purely through her expression). I’m certain that he gets what she meant, and decides to leaves Asirpa behind because now he cares for her well-being. They’re close enough that he wants her out of this dangerous game that put their lives on the line. Consider this as a friendly brotherly act from Sugimoto. Asirpa, naturally, doesn’t take it easily since she herself has a history of being abandoned by the ones dear to her – which boasted by a bizarre flashback of the White Wolf (White Fang?) abandoned her BUT I SWEAR I SEE HIM FOLLOWING HER EVERYTIME (so what’s the use of “abandoned” then?). She embarks on her own journey to catch up with Sugimoto and catches Shiraishi, the Escape King instead. I like this guy well enough and I could see him joining the duo as a comic relief/ supporting guy who say cheese every time, and boy do I welcome him joining in for this quest.

About Sugimoto, we’re all aware of Sugimoto the Immortal and not necessary Sugimoto the Wiseman, as he gets himself caught almost immediately by the Grim Reaper. The Immortal vs. the Grim Reaper’s gonna be a fight worth dying for, right? On that note, do you know the simple way to make your character badass? Make them as bold as possible (like a guy whose parts of brain missing) and then have them enjoying something cute. The image of him eating the kushi dango while making serious face will forever burn through my brain, thank you very much Golden Kamuy. It doesn’t take much time for the 7th Hokkaido Unit to identify Sugimoto, because as Grandma puts it, his turenpe is… distinguishable. Now we know the army’s main objective for the race, to buy arms from the US in order to rule the Hokkaido. The post-war dissatisfaction from ex-soldiers is a well-trodden path, but it fits to Golden Kamuy’s theme so I have no complain. What I do find unpleasant, however, is the character’s designs of the 7th Unit soldiers, especially their dead fish-eyes. Usually those eyes are used to portrait dummy, doll or characters with no soul and I don’t think these guys have no soul. The twin soldiers in this episode act a bit sadistic as well, make me wonder if the show’s gonna evil them up to inhuman level as the story goes on. And we also have those tattooed escaped prisoners who still lurking somewhere in the dark.

Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory – 03[Big One Percent]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory

We got nearly a full episode of mecha combat so time for those CGI animators to show us what they can do. Now I gave this series a lot of grief last episode over CGI, so it’s only fitting to commend the CGI this episode as that was some excellent mecha CGI. not quite seamless enough to not be recognised as CGI but the movement of the mechs made it very easy to forgive that. Three quarters of the episode was pretty much mecha combat and it didn’t feel janky while also conveying the weight of these mechs. 2D mecha would still be preferred obviously but as an alternative I am fine with this as well. I loved the scene were the behemoth jammed the barrel of it’s cannon into a mecha, swung the mech upward and shot it in midair. Admittedly it was supposed to be a rather grim death scene but I saw that and immediately thought “Damn that was cool.” Speaking of which we did have some death scenes, though none of characters that were all that well known.

Seems they may have gotten more attention in the novels but right here and now all I scene was background character cannon fodder. Though one of which was Speck, who was the soldier that was joking about mutiny one episode back. Now sacrificing his life to give Kurtz a shot at taking down a behemoth. Again it does feel a bit trite but I find myself willing to forgive it. Another argument I have heard is in why Kurtz pretty much watched Speck die without doing anything and only after it finished killing him. But someone brought up that he couldn’t get a clear shot because the composite armour was all he could see and once the mech turned it’s head, he had a clear shot at the exposed head. Makes sense as firing beforehand would cause him to lose the surprise factor, which when fighting Behemoths is integral to taking them down. One detail I really love is that upon Kurtz taking out the main control of the behemoth, the mech was crushed under its own weight. Ultimately black technology is what keeps these robots bipedal and if you take that out then the robot quite literally destroys itself.

Other than that we got a really nice scene with Sousuke and Chidori where in the do a thing that a majority of couples need to do in anime. Actually communicate with each other. You could call it an anticlimactic resolution to their individual problems but it certainly is good to see characters actually deal with their problems instead of letting them bottle up their emotions until the appropriate climatic moment for maximum dramatic effect. Like episode 14 of a certain show about Darlings. The fact of the matter is that these two have been through a lot so actually seeing them talk things out is excellent development for them. Chidori admits to being both in love and scared of Sousuke with Sousuke admitting the same thing about her. You would think it would take an entire episode for Chidori to push Sousuke to rescue her classmates over protecting her and yet Sousuke cuts that right off by stating that he wants to protect Chidori and the school life that she cares for. Admittedly in the novel there was a bit more Angst with Chidori suddenly talking furious technobabble to explain the situation being hopeless and the manga goes even further than that. So I actually prefer how it was handled in the anime, less dramatic, more sensible. Cause those things are precious to him too. Actually makes me wish I could have given the entire series a rewatch up until this point cause this really does feel like a development the series has been building towards for a long time.

Megalo Box – 4 [Let’s Dance With Death]

by Lenlo, posted in Finished Series: Action, Megalo Box

Welcome one and all, to the real start of Joe’s boxing journey. This week Megalo Box’s starts to show its first cracks and gives us more fights than we can shake a stick at. Lets jump in!

Overall, this was a good episode in every respect but one. The music, story and pacing all do wonders. The one sticking point for me this week though was the main fight and its animation. For the most part it works, having Joe struggle with fear as his main opponent was brilliant. With both Joe and Nanbu caught up in it, Sachio had to be the one to save the day. The kid needed to be more than the plucky sidekick. However the fight animation itself worried me. It feels slow, delayed in places. Not smooth and snappy, nor working with the music like previous fights. In addition, ending the whole thing with one punch after all that buildup felt like an anti-climax. It wasn’t a bad fight by any means, let me make that clear, but I was hoping for more in our first big match.

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Hisone no Masotan – 03 [Take responsibility, would you?]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Hisone to Masotan

HisoMaso continues its bright, playful creativeness with another stellar episode, albeit a bit light in terms of plot. It’s an annual Air show and with that our titular characters’ bond is getting a little deeper. The cast’s getting even more expansive with several new faces, although somehow the main supporting characters that we see in the ED are still nowhere to be seen. Here I want to bring up one of HisoMaso’s unique appeal: its simple but incredibly expressive character designs: be it in their facial expressions or in their gestures. I believe the simple designs help loosen the strict movements we usually see in other anime. Here, each character has their own mannerism: their distinct movements can inform us plenty about the characters’ personality. In addition, their exaggerations actually never feel out of place with the tone of the show and the facial reactions from those characters are just something to behold, even with Masotan this episode whenever he hears Forest name. Those things help make up plenty for the lack of actual characteristics in our characters.

The main development of this episode revolves around the appearance of Hisone’s predecessor, Forest, which I’m still not sure if she’ll be a recurring character or just one-off. While she quit the D-pilot job few years ago, Hisone still feels the connection between Masotan and his old pal and becomes jealous of it. I can understand where Hisone coming from, given how she always regards Masotan and her have some sort of special bonding. Turns out, someone else even understands the dragon better than she does, so even her most secure feeling gets crumbling really quickly. Hisone’s speech with the dragon during their flight is another touching moment, further strengthen their special relationship. I also come to enjoy HisoMaso whimsical sense of wacky, most notably from Hisone’s remarks (gold: “I’m envious of your ability to sincerely believe this a proper contribution”. Way to go, Hisone) and her TAC name (which is like a nickname) is her freaking real name. I might not catch the nuance of the wordplays in those names here, or maybe the point is that these names don’t even mean anything excepts sound cool together (HisoMasooooooo)

As I said earlier, in terms of plot this show doesn’t have much to tell right now but it more than makes up by the strength of its stunning visual (I took like 40 screenshots out of this episode) and its easy-going bright atmosphere and fun characters. Being said that, I hope the show doesn’t get dark later on and I still HAVE NO IDEA what it will bring for the main overarching plot. The flights aspect is my least favorite part so far, so I hope they can turn that aspect into something more interesting. Somehow the lack of actual main plot doesn’t really worry me much, as long as HisoMaso still delivers those cute face expressions and introduces us more characters that we can relate to, I will be more than happy to get behind.