ID-0 – 05 [OFE with Free Will]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Id-0

Welcome to another instalment of space opera mechas, this time though the episode leans towards to Alien-inspired thriller as the story unfolds mostly inside the spaceship, but for my money this is the best episode Id-0 has pulled off so far. To even my surprise, this show just keeps getting better and this episode gives more insights about Ido and his (possible) connection to that loli tailed girl Alice (codename: Ore). Its success also has something to do with excluding the scenes involving the masked man and focus on the dynamic between the cast and most of all, give Maya a necessary development as a true protagonist.

Prior to this episode, she serves mainly as our perspective, our “lenses” towards getting accustom to the new cast and the new environment she ends up with. This episode, however, shows us how much she cares for Alice and how she stands up for herself to do what she feels necessary. In particular, she acts even before Grayman’s approval in order to save the girl when the communication was lost and her burst out when seeing Alice outside the space is just goddamn effective. There’s no hurt when the show giving us a lead worth caring for so I hope ID-0 continues to flesh her out even more.

Now to the main plot of this episode, the “Alien invasion” in question is the foggy space dust, itself a satellite that Alice summoned last episode, and now its main mission is to bring her back. The satellite can transform into various forms, from foggy form to hard solid and it proves to be a hard case to crack for the gang. At long last, our band succeeds in luring it out of the spaceship, but it grabs Alice outta space as well. But Alice freakily survives, as she’s encasing herself in an energy barrier and swims towards Ido (remember everyone said she’s special. Yes, she’s THAT special). Her presence again gives Ido some flashbacks of his long-forgotten past. He knew this girl all along and calling her “Alice”. Now who’s exactly is Alice? Who is the real Ido then?

Most people have guessed, and I tend to agree with that hypothesis for now that Ido was the masked man. It makes sense narratively that Ido had to face his past demon to really become his true self, you know, the fight with the enemy both from external and internal forces. About the reason the masked man abandoned him then? I think more along the line with cutting one of your personality to fully commit to power. But of course, all of this are just guessing game for now and I’m sure we will have a clearer picture in ID-0’s later episodes.

This episode does set up nicely what direction ID-0 is heading for the rest of the series. Plot-wise, there will be an ongoing conflict between this Pirate gang and the police authority. There are men who seems like to control the Orichalt for themselves. Then we have Maya growing as a valuable member of the team, and the secrets surrounding Ido and loli-girl Alice. They hold quite a trump card here (Alice), the question now is how they will treat her? As a member of a family or as a captive for negotiation?

Tsuki ga Kirei – 06 [Run, Melos!]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Tsuki ga Kirei

This week our duo Akane and Kotarou experience their first taste of hardship, also known as the hard truth about their dreams. Both determine to do their best after the pinky promise (which give me chill every time because it reminds me of an episode of xxxHolic about a girl who always breaks promise – an example of how a single quirk from anime can affect your real-life perception), Kotarou had to meet the publisher and Akane for her track competition on the same sunny Sunday. And they both failed, in their own ways. Fortunately enough, their hardships comes from their own struggling to reach their dreams, not from their relationship itself. They spend some quality this week in the corner of the library, when they mostly share their own progress to the other. Those quiet scenes are excellent all around. The duo keeps having a space between them but you can feel the warm atmosphere hanging around. Two sequences of them in the library, the first filled with hope and quietly excitement, the second is saturated by disappointment, both connected by the pinky promise. Such intimate and affecting moments for the two lovebirds. Also, the shorts this week from Tsuki ga Kirei are solid too, now I’m a fan of Miu and Inaba couple because they’re soooo relatable. And cute. While I’m not much a fan of Roman and sensei gags, this one goes reasonably smooth enough. But Sakura’s fantasies short is my favorite short this week.

For Kotarou, the publisher flat out comments that Kotarou isn’t suitable for serious writing, instead he persuades him to try his hands on Light Novel. Looking by his effortless and calm manner when talking these things to Kotarou, he must have done it from time to time: crushing other young aspiring writers’ dreams into pieces. But hear me out, before everyone gets mad at him for being a senseless a**hole, I approve with what he did here. In fact, I’d feel much more angry if the guy keeps selling other’s dreams when he knows they couldn’t make it far. It would be very painful to see a person who isn’t talented enough just keep pushing their head against thick wall. His Mom, as well, clearly disapproves him of becoming a writer. That doesn’t mean he can’t become a writer, it’s just that he has to try harder than before. Likewise, Akane’s situation doesn’t improve at all. I’m glad that she has a courage to tell her best friend that they’re dating, but when Chinatsu confirmed that she knew all along, it confuses Akane to the point of losing her concentration for the competition. Or maybe her sister was right when she said that dating, studying, and running at the same time might be too much for her that she ends up failing every single one of them. Worst of all, she loses the race to Chinatsu, and Takumi is clearly let down by her under-performed records. I love the reactions of Akane’s parents when hearing their sweet daughter is dating (especially Papa – his girls are slowly taken away from him by annoying brats that he knows nothing about. Of course he’s worried), and Akane’s reactions when her sister “exposed” her secrets are really endearing.

Now, Chinatsu. Frankly, it’s hard to read her motivations since we don’t know much what she been thinking, but let’s try to break her actions down a little. Apart from seeing Akane as her best friend, Chinatsu also regards Akane as a worthy rival, both from running track to that love interest. In running, she’s determined to give more efforts and in the guy she likes, she basically declares a “warning note” to Akane (I notice the word “notice” she was using here). As a friend level, her actions could potentially damage the friendship she and Akane have, and I think most of us will say that her pushing for confession to Kotarou to “have a proper closure” is way over the line. You don’t mess romantically with person who already in the relationship, missy. That’s a rule. But saying that, I know Chinatsu is a type of person that when receiving a proper rejection, she’d just smile and move on. On top of that she would never betrays her own feeling, doesn’t matter how others will react to that. In short, Chinatsu confessing her love to Kotarou is just purely Chinatsu being herself, and I certainly don’t blame her for that; I just wish she’d come to understand that she’s being unfair to Akane and most of the time when that happen they become too hard to be friend again. I guess we will have a proper resolution next week. For one thing that Tsuki ga Kirei does absolutely right so far, the conflict never drags out for too long, usually an episode or two in length. Tsuki ga Kirei maintains its beat throughout this episode, fleshing out our characters not by their romance, but by their own struggles with the adult world. And that’s swell because we need to root for them as well-formed individuals before cheering for them as a couple. Keep them going Tsuki ga Kirei.

ID-0 – 02, 03, 04

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Id-0

Like I mentioned in my Sakura Quest’s post, I just feel underwhelmed by the recent development of that show, and in truth this little bastard here just keeps growing on me, couple with the fact that ID-0 is hardly covered anywhere else; so I hope that my posts will help the show getting more attention it deserves. I blame Netflix for this unfortunate, as the way I see it, anime shows need to be more accessible instead of exclusively available by certain viewers. The recent development of music industry, for example, has bands release/share their albums for free online in order to gain solid fanbase before aiming to get profits back by live shows or physical CDs. In that same vein, anime shows need to be watched in order to gain worth-of-mouth and increase sells (do you really watch shows that nobody talking about? Like, have even you heard of ID-0 yet?) and I witnessed the restriction hurt the chance of Re:Life last year and now seems to bring Little Witch Academia down that ship and I personally think it’s dumb, dumb idea. But enough about that and let’s talk about ID-0, an original CG show about a bunch of space pirates by Sanzigen, the company responsible for Bubuki/Buranki last year.

Episode 2, 3, 4 focused mainly on the crew members of Escavate Company, a band of misfits that steals Orichalt chunks in space (I don’t even know what they’re worth of, energy, maybe?). Many of its members don’t have their physical form, which mean, their consciousness lies within an I-Machine permanently, most of them due to unfortunate consequences. Ido is a prime example, having lost his physical body, his memory taken away and his ID erased, (his ID is 0 hence the name Ido), he doesn’t know who he was but he’s skilled and ruthless and because he has nothing to lose, he’s determined to go all the way to his death in every mission. The other casts have great, easy interactions to each other, and moreover each of them fit their roles very well. Rick (the red I-Machines) has an outgoing personality but I found at no time he’s annoying. The captain Grayman with his well-built body often in command to protect the crews, but sometimes his childish side still gets through and you always feel the responsibility he has for the safety of his crew.

Maya is our protagonist though, and so far, she’s quite refreshing to watch. Still inexperience outside of her skills, she acts innocently most of the time, but by no mean she’s boring. While in action, she has a quick decision-making that comes more of her nature and never feel too geeky or too forced. I really appreciate that ID-0 never pushes up its fanservice from these girls. Well, they could easily fill up with fanservice scenes but they haven’t gotten around to it, which I’m glad. Episode 4 introduces a new crew member, Amanza. She’s in an interesting position as she’s a policer whose main mission is to catch the Escavate crew, but she got sucked by the Miguel Jump (they jump through dimensions) and thus has to live amongst our crew. Moreover, she fits right in with the rest of cast, making their interactions a joy to watch. I know these fellas aren’t the deepest bunch around but their nuances and their easy chemistry more than made up for that.

About the world building, so far I like the concept of these guys stealing the Orichalt chunks in space and there seems to be an overarching plot of the men in power who aim to steal the Orichalt chunks for whatever reasons, and honestly, for now those scenes revolving the man in mask are a dead weight. They tend to over-analyze the concepts which drag on too much and their intentions are so vague it’s hard to take them seriously. Episode 3 also introduces an abnormality, a loli girl who lives in the Orichalt that seems to have a strange power that affected satellites. Whatever her real power is, getting to know who she really is and what role she has in the big picture will be one of the overarching plot of ID-0. As for the CG part of the show, the action part is mostly done well and I enjoy majority of the animation sequences. Sometimes we can see the stiffness in character’s movements but because they’re robots, it’s rather appropriate, right? The character’s designs are attractive so visually, really I have no complain so far. It might take sometimes to get used to the visual but it’s a treat once you are up to it.

I know most of you readers don’t watch this show (either because of streaming rights or the CG or you just don’t aware about this show), but that is one of the reason why I really want to cover this show: to get more people know about this show. I have a blast time watching it so far, so I hope you guys give this show a chance. It deserves much more attention.

Sakura Quest – 06 [The Rural Masquerade]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Sakura Quest

This episode of Sakura Quest… Did I just miss an episode or two in between? Remind me again when exactly did all those movie productions come from? The show just drops its woodcarving storyline to this film production storyline and that switch is jarring. Now Sakura Quest heads into one of direction that I’m quite nervous about: a sitcom anime – a type that don’t need much continuity. On top of that I can’t say I’m fond with this film production scenario. I don’t get the idea of the movie they’re making either: A slice of life story set in Manoyama (see self-reference here) that… have a blue-faced zombie outbreak? How’s that supposed to be a slice of life then? Okay, now to what we have this week, we have our girls run along with the film crew, trying to find good locations, calling up extras and finding old houses to blow up. It’s good to see the functions of small film productions in action, and the old man Kadota and oba-san Chitose provide many good laughs on screen (the comedy in this show remains very good). I love Kadota’s commitment to the role he played, and just by few scenes both Chitose and the tsun café girl Erika’s unpredictable reactions really tell us the person they are (oh, and Ririko’s cute little victory). Lovely character works all around. The director is a bit of a douchebag though, I can see him piss a lot of local people off by the next episode.

Out of all the main girls, it’s Shiori that I’m initially worried the most. For other girls, I can see how they develop their potential conflicts. Yoshino with her adaptation to the rural village, and her quest to gain more tourists for the town will serve as the main driving force for the story. For Sanae, we already had her being insecure about running away, and the potential love-triangle with the wood-carvers. For Maki, it’s her job insecurity and her conflict with papa. Ririko will have to deal with the difficult oba-chan and maybe her love for video-recording. But as for Shiori, there’s not much to develop. She’s a stable character with a stable job and a stable family, and so far, she serves mainly as the supporting voice for Yoshino and the girls. Prior to this episode, the only development angle I could imagine for Shiori is her closeness to Ririko, which whenever Ririko has an issue, she’d be the closest to help out her friend – But that, as well, is a supporting role. Thanks Sakura Quest for given her something to work with this episode without distracting the main storyline. It’s obvious that she feels connected to the abandoned, worn-out house and for now, my guess is that she was close with the person who used to live in that house. Her close friend maybe. Whatever the case, it’s good to see that she takes a main stage once in a while, and I really hope that Sakura Quest gives her something of an arc to develop her further in later events.

But the main beef in this episode is all about developing Maki. Aside from Ririko, Maki is my favorite girl and this episode both flesh out her current situation with her family, as well with her acting career. When she remarks that “Loving (the job) is also exactly what makes it so hard” and “Your twenties are a special time, and I wasted them”; I feel the sensations. Her underclasswomen appeared as a main female lead just puts the salt in that open wound, made she feel frustrated. But Maki, remember that Moe’s getting more acting roles ain’t because of eating cicadas, and besides, cicada isn’t that bad (take my word for it). Sanae seems to knock some sense out of Maki and all eyes now are looking for her to take the acting part. I know she’d be exceptional there. These concerns about adult-insecurities are really relatable and grounded and those character’s moments are what raise this show above the bar of your average anime.

But I finished this episode feeling unsatisfied. While, like I said, the characters’ works and the comedy are the show’s greatest strengths; the main storyline feel abrupted, unbalanced that feel more like a wasted opportunity. This episode, judging as a whole, is a solid episode, but that is precisely why I have a feeling that the series will be just sitcom-y like this from now on. At this moment, my interest in continuing cover this show has dropped dramatically; I will give this show another episode to see if it can redeem itself. Sakura Quest is not bad per se. I just feel underwhelmed by the potential it could’ve had and the actual presentation right now. Otherwise, with 2 other shows that I find myself more invested in, I would just pick one and cover instead.

Little Witch Academia – 18[Sky War Stanship]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Little Witch Academia

Did you know that the animation team that worked on this previously worked on Gurren Lagann? Of course you did but I say anyone clueless would have caught onto it just by this episode alone. So Constanze finally gets her time to shine and she’s just as lovable as I remember. Akko was a little annoying at the beginning of this episode with her constant screwups but that went away when she actually started helping Constanze instead of just pulling a Dexter and Dede routine. Seeing Constanze warm up to her was nice and the Gainax mecha anime references at the end of the episode really made it. We got Evangelion, Gunbuster, Gurren Lagann and even Akko doing the classic Gainax pose. The wild hunt itself seems to be a callout to eSports but I don’t think we got an explanation on why it takes place besides entertainment. There were a number of noticeable still frames this week so I wonder if that was to account for the mecha action scene or are things getting a bit tight at Studio trigger? Just how they can bring the bring guns for the rest of the season. All and all, I got my Constanze episode so I am pretty happy with that.

Still questioning just why Ursula continues to do absolutely nothing about Croix but at least this episode she went to call her out on her wrong doing. From what can be gathered from their talk, it seems her goal in these random experiments is to collect emotion. In this case she stirred up trouble to collect emotion from the crowd. Her endgame isn’t clear but from the sound of it this isn’t going to be good. I admit some of my old frustration with this series has come back as once again the plot looks to be at a standstill. I am having fun, no doubt. But I notice that not much has actually been accomplished these past two episodes besides giving Amanda and Constanze some spotlight. The two certainly deserve their moment to shine however when I notice that this episode could essentially be removed from the series and nothing would be affected, I can’t help but feel a little miffed. Not to mention that it’s more than a little late to start developing these characters, not to mention pointless if they aren’t going to be more than background decoration. This has always been the aspect of saturday morning cartoons that I never quite liked. An adventure happens but the characters in question end up in the same place they were when the episode began, all experiences and lessons learnt sent to the void. Little Witch Academia isn’t quite guilty of that as I think from now one Constanze will be considerably warmer towards Akko though all things considered this is likely the most screentime she’s going to get. Perhaps that machine broom she built for Akko might come into play later though I still think the shooting star that’s soaring around the world is going to come back in some fashion. Likely during the finale.

A thought has occurred to me while watching this season. I originally thought that this will be the one and only season of Little Witch Academia. Triggers Original works after all aren’t known for leaving room for sequels. However Little Witch Academia was their first work and it is possible they may wish to make more than a single season for this series, though that is admittedly unlikely. The one thing about this is that I thought this series would end with a conclusive, decisive ending but if they do plan to continue Akko’s adventures that won’t be the case. Sure the trouble with Croix will be resolved but there may be quite a few loose ends left behind. The thought of this leaves me with mixed feelings as another season would certainly be welcome but I do also prefer a realised end over a “To be continued.” Next week looks to be a Diana episode so we will finally see just what that comment in the last episode was about. Considering that the latest word of Arturus has to do with tradition I think helping Diana will lead to unlocking the word.

Seikaisuru Kado – 05[Nanoka]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Seikaisuru Kado

Looks to be the tread this week for unexpected reveals and rather uneventful episodes. This week’s episode mainly dealt with zaShunina hiring that annoying Scientist girl Shinawa to figure out how his Wam work. Not sure why he couldn’t just tell them how it worked but I guess but his logic he figured humanity wouldn’t accept an answer that didn’t come from a human. Or simply zaShunina is simply playing around with humanity to see if they can come to their own answers. His talk with the prime minister looked to be for two reasons. One was to convince him to go along with his plan and the other seems to be to affirm if he was correct in presenting humans with Wam. It up for debate if zaShunina was right or wrong in this matter as we are still oblivious to his true intent. The prime minister absolved him of guilt by saying that regardless of what is done with Wam, it would be the fault of the user and not the one who gifted it. I counter that be saying if the gifts intent was to cause chaos then the giver does hold responsibility. You can’t give a loaded gun to a child and then say it’s his own fault if he manages to shoot himself. I despair that this annoying creature must remain present in the series but I guess someone had to fill the role of genius Scientist. To be fair her antics are less aggravating besides her attempt to eat zaShunina’s hand for some odd reason. I am willing to put up with her considering that her actions in this episode essentially ended up being one giant “Fuck you” to the UN.

Boy, was that glorious. Sure we will hand over the Wam in our possession but first let’s give the entire world a self help guide on how you can make a infinite energy source with a piece of paper. Certainly makes the government’s plight seem ridiculous in hindsight when it’s not the objects themselves that matter, but their form. Meaning you could make one of these out of cow dung and it would still work. So the government were getting antsy over what are essentially useless glass balls. Still there is the long term effects of just what this revelation could do to the world. Previously I said I was on the side of Saraka but in light of this episode’s development I have shifted my stance. It is true that humanity is not ready for infinite energy but just when would they be? When oil, fossil fuels and other resources run out? Likely not. I have trouble seeing a scenario where Wam are adopted and thing work just as intended as without doubt in the hands of the government there would be an attempt to monopolize the energy.

Honestly i don’t think humanity would ever be ready for Wam. So the approach of just throwing it out to the people and letting it all sort itself out is actually not a bad idea. Humans tend to adapt to anything and regardless if a strict policy was placed on the use of Wam then it was going to end up in the wrong hands regardless. When you think about something like the internet, it’s growth was spontaneous. It wasn’t controlled or planned to be become what it is today. It just morphed into what you see before you. This new revolution could lead to bloodshed and chaos but the benefits of what could come from this are uncountable. Still this could be the first move for zaShunina as he does not appear to be fond of the idea of countries. Much like others suspect, perhaps this is a plan to throw government into chaos and thus rewrite just how humanity governs itself. From what I hear next week’s episode of Kado will be a recap episode. Rather unfortunate considering the reveal it dropped.

Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan) – 31[Warrior]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan)

In light of the revelation this episode allow me to paraphrase a common saying, well shit. I admit due to my knowledge of the manga that I have been dancing around this particular reveal in my posts. I knew it was coming but I wasn’t sure how obvious it was to those that didn’t know. To me it felt very obvious that Reiner was a Titan, though which titan was up in the air. Though regardless if you seen the reveal coming or not, there was no way you could have possibly have predicted just how it was revealed. Well in this episode it was revealed who two of the most iconic titans in the entire series are and done so with such casual banter that it’s hard to believe. “I’m the Armoured Titan and this guys the Colossal Titan” says Reiner in a shot where he’s barely on screen. I remember reading this in the manga and needing to go back a few pages just to verify if I missed something. But no, the reveal is just dropped that suddenly. I can’t honestly fathom just what Reiner was thinking and even Reiner himself seems to be flabbergasted when he thinks over just what he’s doing. Perhaps after getting out of a near death situation he was unhinged enough to drop the ball. But this will likely go down as one of the most shocking moments in the entire series. Almost makes me wish I waited till the second season before reading on in the manga.

Thing is that I must ask, just what else happened in this episode? I know twenty minutes went by but it does seem odd just how little happened in those twenty minutes. Ymir was pulled up on to the wall and Reiner revealed that he was a titan. Quite frankly, that’s all that happened this episode. Sure there was so mindless talk, one thing being for the most part a needless flashback which looks to be the author trying to justify that this was set up in advance. However I feel it opens up a plothole. For that flashback confirmed that the scouting corps had caught on to Reiner and Bertholt being Titans, yet they still left Eren all alone with the two of them. Mikasa was smart enough to keep an eye on the two of them but just what excuse does the rest of the corps have to leaving them so close to humanity’s only hope? Not saying they have to have twelve soldiers surrounding them at all times but they could maybe push Eren somewhere else and let some other guy take care of them. Maybe it was a plan to lure them underground to detain them? Still seems too risky to use Eren in that regard. Besides they don’t quite know if they can detain them.

That really bugged me but all things considered the reveal was fantastically done, leaving one hell of a cliffhanger. Pretty sure that seeing the scouting core have a rematch with these two is a long time desire of fans and now we are looking to get that showdown. Still no answers though, who is Reiner working for and why is he doing this? Are Ymir and Reiner working together?(I am guessing not based on his reaction to her titan form) Where does monkey trouble fit into all this? Is he another completely separate entity? Perhaps next episode we will get some answers. But even if not this is bound to be one hell of a fight.

Uchoten Kazoku 2 – 05 [Daimonji Leisure Cruiser Battle – Continued]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Uchoten Kazoku

Who would’ve thought that the chaise will be a declaration of war in that universe? For the record, their head-to-head battle: Nidaime:2 Benten:0

If last week was all about romance – which now looking back the Eccentric Family had never actually focused on this aspect before – this week we have dispute as a main theme – tanuki and tengu disputes, such fool and prideful creatures; another reflection of their idiot bloods. This week manages to be one of the best episode of all season, offering both the magical sensation this show is famous for, and further deepens the conflicts and most of all just full of beautiful, heartfelt moments. I’ve realized that reviewing Eccentric Family is getting harder and harder since I’m embracing the show so much that instead of critique I’m just babbling about my favorite moments. But damn it, let’s do it anyway.

The first half we have a continuing of our tanuki love from last week. Turn out Gyokuran, Yaichirou and Yasaburou were sucked into his father’s secret shogi room, which in turn is the place where 1) it linked directly to Akadama-sensei room and 2) their parents were trap by none other than that old cranky tengu and then their love blossomed. Such lovely details. Eccentric Family don’t usually go sweet, but they handle that romance with such heartfelt. I guess Akadama-sensei is actually useful for once (in truth, he looks like a mighty, proper professor this episode), bringing the courage between two individuals who too shy/stubborn to admit their love – and what they say to each other is rather simple, TO THE POINT (other anime takes note, cut out all the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo bullshit and the romance is strengthened). And that lovely story from Tousen seriously melted my heart. The storytelling of Eccentric Family is as strong and effective as ever, even the comedy really hit home as well. I have a good laugh when Yaichirou gets dokidoki he bumped his head to Gyokuran, roleplayed by Yasaburou. This first half is up there as one of the most magical moments in the whole Eccentric Family, hands down.

As the title suggests, the leisure cruiser battle begins, again. I’ll be frank, this year’s battle just can’t compare to the one in last season; both in scope (last year the Shimogamo was an underdog; this year do we have any doubt they would lose to the stupid twins?), and in the excitement it evokes (they don’t even focus on the Daimonji festival for Christ sake. Such a waste). The only stand out moments were when Gyokuran loses her temper at the twins (she fits right in the Shimogamo family. No doubt). Seeing another vulnerable side of Gyokuran sure is great fun, but also witnessing the bus (Yajirou) landed right on top of the cruise that literally blew everyone out is the whole other experience together. It is a tradition for tanuki to enjoy themselves in a floaty house on the Daimonji festival, now adding the dispute between those tanukis as part of the tradition as well. While this sequence sure highlights the slapstick, silly nature of the show, it sadly is the weakest part of this episode, but I guess mostly due to the fact it was bookended by two stellar sequences.

Right after the chaos created by the tanuki, the tengu takes the stage. Nidaime comes to pick up his chaise, whom Benten took for her sightseeing. Now I am convinced that the reason Nidaime come back to visit his estranged father have something to do with her visit in Britain. For now, I guess that she triggers him in some ways, but her true intention is still for him to see his father (I’ve learned the roundabout logic of the tengu. So it seems). The final showdown between Nidaime and Benten comes as quickly and unexpectedly as none of us would guess. Indeed, blink and you might miss the outcome. It’s the first time we see the weak, helpless side of Bentei, when all her pride is strip down by the (foreshadowing) beaten. As Yasburou points out, there is something that hold her back? What is it then? I love the last part, as Yasaburou stays behind, looking at Akadama who solace Bentei. Now the ED sequence starts to make so much sense. We see Bentei visiting Britain, and later we see what likely is the continuing of that last scene. Akadama carries Bentei on the back, Yasaburou picks up her lost thong from behind. That is pure visual storytelling my friends, when two such simple shots can tell us much about the mood and the emotions of the scene. Likewise, what Bentei admits, that she’s frustrated, while sitting at the pond, is understated and just goddamn fantastic. I have never thought she’d be no match for Nidaime. But what are they even fighting for? Tengu dispute? From a human and a tengu turned English gentleman? Over the chaise then? That makes no damn sense.

But really,

I’ve truly missed Kaisei.

Re:Creators – 05 [This Water is Coldest at the Bottom]

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Creators

Sometimes, what might look good on paper doesn’t translate well when it comes to reality and this rings true for the latest addition to Team Sota. Sandwiched between the whiny get-in-the-fucking-robot Shinji and the bratty attitude of Asuka is Rui Kanoya, the teenage pilot of the Gigas Machina robot. Over the course of the episode, he goes from throwing tantrums to committing to defending the creator’s world at the drop of a hat which is jarring to say the least. Consistent from him would be nice but I’m not holding my breath since his description is locked in by his creator. At least the giant robot is on the good guys side for now seeing how it can just shrug off anti-tank missiles.

Considering the amount of collateral damage done and the impossible powers being flung around the city, I’m glad that the Japanese government finally decided to step in with a massive show of force by their special forces team, TOW missiles and Cobra gunships. Too often in anime, the government is far too passive or inept when crazy shit hits the fan like the Fate/stay Night franchise where the biggest response was two F-15 Strike Eagles against Caster’s summoning of Cthulhu. The conference doesn’t do much more than reaffirm previous concepts but it does provides interesting background tidbits like the initial shuffle between Yuuya and Blitz or Meteora doing her Homura (Madoka Magica) impression as she steals very expensive military-grade weapons from the JSDF. The highlight, of course, is Meteora sheepishly asking for exemptions and write-offs for her antics. Keep in mind that she still has a FN Minimi(or M249) machine gun in her procession as well as frag grenades and that will probably use them later on. The question is what role will the government play from now on since they aggressively inserted themselves into the plot. Will they give out orders to our heroes and subject them to regulations or will they attempt the classic plot twist of betraying our protagonists and wipe them out?

Almost the all the big players have been introduced and the ending scene is at the cusp of revealing the big mysterious connection between Sota, Military Uniform Princess, and the death-by-train-suicide girl. Hopefully, we can get to some action since it’s been lacking in the last few weeks and we’re already five episodes into this grand adventure of anime, games and light novels coming to life.

Tsuki ga Kirei – 05 [Kokoro]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Tsuki ga Kirei

This show is so unfair.

Like, after spending 5 episodes of cutely awkwardly topsy turvy Akane – Kotarou first love, how can we even root for poor Chinatsu? Even the show itself seems to know that too, as when Kotarou confessed to Akane few episodes back, we had beautiful full moon in bloom right in front of them (Tsuki ga Kirei!!). Poor Chinatsu, on the other hand, just “deserves” a reflection of a moon, lurking from afar from her and Kotarou. In addition, why add her as the most charming character of the show, whose have such a great, easy chemistry to everyone around her? I actually didn’t think she would fall for Kotarou considering she helps the two out last week, at least not yet. Our couple will have a bit of hardship now as Akane clearly feels insecure whenever Chinatsu’s around Kotarou (her voice changes!), simply because she can make a natural conversation with Kotarou in public while Akane can’t. To top all that Chinatsu and Kotarou will have plenty of time to be together, now that she’s going to the same cram school with him. Takumi, another external threat, is going to make his moves soon since he doesn’t have much time to be running alongside Akane. Not only those potential threats but the couple themselves don’t do too well too, Kotarou is slipping at his grades and Akane performs poorly at practice. There will be trials and tribulations for our duo’s romance but hey, what is love without pain.

Akane and Kotarou now officially become a couple, and this episode details exactly how two young people in their first stage of love would be like. This show never ceases to amaze me how sensitive and relatable they portrait their characters in those situations. They’re dating but they still can’t find a courage to talk to each other at school, so they seek advice from their most reliable sources, first of course, the internet (ask Mr. Google) and then the adults that closed to them. Again, the show excels on emphasizing visual cues from little gestures, facial expressions and their speech patterns instead of relying on obvious expositions. When you know a character enough you can tell his personalities just by the way he moves, and Tsuki ga Kirei is a masterclass regarding that. Kotarou is much more lively and relatable when he performing a traditional dance or exercising his excitement with sit-up and boxing in his room than any monologue could mutters. Akane’s subtle reactions while staying near Kotarou really inform us what she really feels. The show’s awareness for physical space is a highlight as well, just look at the last scene about the positions of the two where Akane seems to be further away from Kotarou. Great stuff.

And then they’re holding hands. Boy, never in my experience (even my own) that such a simple holding-hands moment fills me with so much joy and excitement. I really like the way they tried out the library but failed (again, Chinatsu) and how the bookshop-owner sensei helps the two lovebirds out: give them some time alone together; ya know, just the two of us (what kind of book shop that have no customer by the way? Usually they would fill with patronize who read books free for hours). For the amount of time they been thinking about each other, it’s rather surprising to notice that they have very little real conversations to each other (boy do I look forward for more), and when they do talk, it’s sparkling. But that is so Tsuki ga Kirei: slow, mundane in twenty minutes and then hits you in the gut for the last few minutes. As this episode further demonstrates, sometimes you don’t need too many big plot twists and tear-jerking situations to win over the viewers, you just need one good resolution that hits hard.

ps: Want to mention it but can’t fit it anywhere in the post, but I do really enjoy the shorts this week. The shorts explore the teen-romance in much lighter tone and each story adds something hilarious to the table. Those shorts are not mere extras by any mean, but they help enriching the romance theme of the show. Tsuki ga Kirei, as boring as it might sound, is still going strong.