Uchoten Kazoku 2 – 03 [The Scent of Europe]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Uchoten Kazoku

Dear, how this show spoils me with its magnificent and whimsical magical realism Kyoto world. Last season, we were treated with many Eureka moments like Benten pulling a whale’s tail; tanuki drinking in a floating house to enjoy Gozan Fire Festival, or a fake train running around the shopping mall. Whatever the case, the way the show treats those moments with ease like they’re the most natural thing in the world just made my heart swell. This episode manages to raise up that bar by having Tenmaya reaches up the moon and GRABS IT. Of course, that doesn’t bode well for Benten, because she wanted that moon all by herself. So at the worst timing for Tenmaya ever, she backs to town (BENTEN’S BACK) and gives him a head-on-the-ground treatment. Benten has been the femme fatale for most of the time, charming not only to the human, but to the tanuki and tengu (but knowing that makes the last scene even more powerful). Here on a roof, owning the moon (Yasaburou’s moon) all by herself but is pleaded by Yasaburou to return the moon back because “it would be hard to live in darkness without the moonlight”, she pitches it back baseball-style and I know full well that this moment right there will be what I remember most about the Eccentric Family: whimsical, warmed and always be its own thing.

In the second sequence, we meet a new character (ANOTHER NEW CHARACTER? This show has such a huge cast) and she again is a fantastic addition to the show, although unlike Tenmaya and Nidaime I don’t think she will appear often for the rest of this series. That new character is Yasaburou’s grandma, a whitest white furball tanuki. I guess she’s more like a big grandma of that temple’s tanuki. Around her, it seems like time has ceased to progress, as she sits there, blind and sleeping most of the time, her memories is fading but she still sees many things that only the wisest livings see. For her, Tousen leaving for marriage was just yesterday (now, she’s already a widow with 4 grown up boys) but that warm conversations between them tell us how much they still care for each other. I also appreciate that she had a small talk with Yasaburou afterward, and never at once he mentioned that he is her grandchild because… they’d know it at heart. Tousen asks her Mom about Yajirou’s condition, further informs us how she still really cares for her kids, even when she still respects his decision to not go visit him in a well. I don’t particularly think grandma’s medicine will have a physical effect on Yajirou, it’d be more of psychological effect of resolving self-guilt from this shogi-addicted frog.

The last segment, which is a nice set up to the main personal conflict of this series, is all about Nidaime and his clash with Benten. I am just amazed how the show portraits Nidaime in this single episode. Moving home to the rooftop of the building by paying the twin tanuki- ironing his identical white shirts in a flick of time – giving his goggles to Yashirou and invites the tanuki to have afternoon tea with him (in which he always calls them furballs but never ever disrespects the tanuki) – then SEND BENTEN OFF HIS CHAISE AND PROCEEDS TO HAVE A NAP LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED. Benten of all people. Like I said, The Eccentric Family sets up the main conflict from way back by showing how opposite those two are: one is a tanuki who was exiled by his father and now living as a fine gentleman, the other is a human who was taken by that same person that disowned him to be a tengu. Both having a race-crisis and both have pride as high as Eiffel Tower, it only makes sense that they’re going to clash and they’re going to clash hard. This episode, without a doubt, is the best episode so far of this new season because it achieves everything I could hope for in The Eccentric Family in a solid package: the whimsical world that has a great sense of wonder, characters that are grounded and have a great, warm chemistry together and the plot that shaping up to be both personal and epic. Like the wise grandma tanuki said: makes sure to cause a lot of trouble, The Eccentric Family.

Seikaisuru Kado – 03[Wam]

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Seikaisuru Kado

I admit this show moves at a pace that is rather slow but he concept it sets up is truly brilliant. Normally in alien invasion stories the threat is clear as the aliens blow up the white house and attack humanity. Other versions usually paint humans as the antagonist force attacking something they don’t understand. However in Kado, the Alien and humans understand their positions. Logic and reason are prevalent in the discussions at work here and thus the threat of an Alien comes in a new force. The thing that makes zaShunina such a devastating factor is not his potential for warfare but rather his gifts to help humanity’s advancement. Wam’s are his first gift and being an infinite energy source that looks to require no maintenance as well as easy to transport and make, he has effectively devastated the energy market. All major energy production companies are rendered utterly moot in face of this device which results in companies shutting down and thousands losing their jobs. Assuming of course they plan to go down quietly. Make no mistake, they will try to find something wrong with these wam’s and discourage their use. Even I think that what is promised is rather too good to be true.

That is only one of the problems with an even bigger problem being that Japan is now the holder of the greatest energy device known to man and the only present manufacturer. The preview does hint at discontent over Japan’s monopoly over the devices. So the question is, just why is zaShunina presenting these wams to Japan? We get somewhat of an explanation over just why he chose Japan though admittedly it’s a little sigh inducing. Apparently Japan has more “heart” than the rest of the world and thus seem more likely to share the gifts zaShunina presents. This logic is fairly flimsy and zaShunina does mention that heart is only a word that represents half the mention of the quality used to judge. Personally I prefer to think of it that Japan had the prefect dimensional parameters for the manifestation of Kado. Really both of these are just a flimsy excuses to make Japan the center of the story, much like Kyubei’s explanation about emotional energy in Madoka was a flimsy excuse to justify magical girls over magical boys. What’s important here is that Japan now has the solution to the energy crisis and zaShunina has left the distribution, use and handling of these devices completely within the hands of the Japanese government. Painting a giant target on Japan because with a device like this, someone is going to want to try weaponising it. Thus having it that anyone can grab one of these things opens up the dangers of them being greatly misused. Whereas withholding such a device from the world makes you public enemy number one.

The first episode makes it clear where this series is planning to take itself as it’s most likely up to Shindo to find a way of reaping the benefits of this fantastic device while preventing it from sparking World War III. This being only the first of zaShunina’s gifts as I am certain he has more groundbreaking items at hand. He has already shown that he can duplicate food which could end world hunger and is most likely capable of teleportation as well. Both equally as devastating to earth economy. Something that I think could really carry the series is the interaction between zaShunina and Shindo as the two do sometimes devolve into amusing bickering from time to time. The negotiator on the side of the Japanese government briefly broke character upon witnessing it though previously she did state that she was wary of Shindo. These three character show good potential for growth and i hope they do and that things are kept as far away from the weird science girl as much as possible. Comic relief characters are all well and good but when a show has such a mature serious atmosphere, having some hyper teenager who looks like she jumped out of a light novel adaption just kills the mood. With the stakes laid out and the setup pretty much done I hope this is the point this show really takes off.

Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan) – 29[Soldier]

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

Before I started this episode, I had it in mind to write in this post that the titan designs of this season were far less intimidating and more comical. After this episode however you can consider that though solely retracted. Personal favorite is the titan that appears when Reiner opened the stairway door. If I saw that in the middle of the night you would be certain I would be running as far as possible in the opposite direction. It’s good to have some action after the cool down period of the last episode. Monkey trouble is kicking up…trouble but I can’t help but wonder just what is his agenda here. Is this simply an act of killing humans or is there something else at work. Considering her recent focus, perhaps Krista is the one he wants dead and the others are just collateral. But then again Ymir is acting suspicious enough that she could very well have something to do with this. I really wish this series could hold back a bit presentation wise and show a little more subtly as Ymir had “Acting suspicious” plastered all over her face and the camera make a point to shout this all the more. The reveal at the end of the episode isn’t really that much of a surprise when you openly announce that she’s hiding things with dramatic emphasis. Honestly I had her number when she interrupted Connie just as he was coming to the realisation that the titans within the wall where his village’s inhabitants. Making her the second person to cut off the line of thought, with the first being Reiner. Though considering Reiners actions this episode and his brief flashback that seems to dismiss the idea of him being a titan.

The deaths of the scout corps leaders didn’t surprise me all that much. Upon introduction I had these people marked for dead so to see it happen was hardly surprising. Though even if it was expected I will say those death scenes were really good. I knew when I seen Krista pouring that alcohol over Reiners wound that it would come back later. It annoyed me so much to see her waste the entire bottle, not even pouring it over the full wound. Majority of it ended up on the floor. Poor Gerger, all he wanted before he died was a drink. This world couldn’t even give him that. I do find it rather amusing how Nanaba sacrificed herself in order to save him, only to give him a far crueler death. Though considering what happened to Nanaba afterwards, maybe not. At least he wasn’t conscious when the titans started eating him and Nanaba’s last words are utterly bone chilling. Fun fact for some, the last line that Nanaba said “Father. Please stop. I won’t do it again” was an anime only addition. I actually really like this change as it insinuates a lot about the character just right before she dies and to see a strong character get broken down to a sobbing child is a pretty horrifying sight. As to what we could inferred over her last words, perhaps it was a beating she got after doing something wrong or that her father was an abusive parent or potentially something significantly darker. What it is we shall never know now that she’s titan chow but what it does show is that the veterans of of the scouting corps are just as fragile as the rookies.

This episode does showcase the things which make attack on titan so well regarded but while I enjoyed this episode a lot I still have this nagging in the back of my mind. That being that this episode presented more questions and little answers. We are reaching the 30th episode of this series and we don’t know much of anything about the titans or anything in general. There are plenty of teases for answers down the line(The key to the basement, the priest talking to Krista) but whether we will get those answers in this cour is up in the air. Another thing is that I would really like to see humanity start winning. Every victory up until this point has come with a big however nailed to it. I may have mentioned this before but the key to tragedy is the balance between hope and despair. Muv Luv Alternative (Stated as the inspiration for Attack on Titan by the mangaka himself) managed this balance perfectly. It made you believe that humanity could win, that things were turning the tide before bringing in the BETA and everything going straight to hell. Attack on Titan piles tragedy upon tragedy and a constant tragedy isn’t interesting. We had a small moment where it looked like the survey corps would pull through but pretty much one minute later and things are right back to doomed. I think this would have had greater impact if the survey corps succeeded in defending the tower and then the viewer is like “Yes, these people can win!” and then just as they are about to leave the second wave of titans come in. Then the despair is real and more poignant because for one moment we believed things would work out. Well next episode has titan Ymir and if I am not mistaken, her titan form looks remarkably similar to the titan that killed Reiner’s brother in that flashback.

Tsuki ga Kirei – 03 [Howling at the Moon]

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

Tsuki ga Kirei sure understands about the life of 14-year-old kids would be like. I’m sure we all have different experience about that pre-teen stage of our life, but the life portrayed here is so vivid and true to life that it brings out our fond memories as well. Personally, while not much really happen between each episode, this show is weirdly the show that I’m eagerly anticipating the most each passing week. So far, the simple visual style and its focus on characters’ little exchanges make it an unusually appropriate and grounded production values. But in terms of plot where progression is the key, the show still manages to surprise me with its confession right at the end of this third episode. I guess the bookworm Kotarou has balls after all.

This episode follows Kotarou as he’s hoping for his first writing piece to get published, the anticipation occupied his mind that he couldn’t concentrate on his exams. I’m still a fan on the way this show focuses more on the anxiety of Kotarou than the outcomes. The same approach can be said with Akane and her track competition. We follow her as she engages in the competition (the bit where Chinatsu chanting her name is great), not the result of whether or not she suprasses her track record. We also have a fairly mundane dinner scene of Akane’s family and I’m quite amused that we have a dinner scene as it is, where parents have a presence (unlike other anime where they disappear in the background) in her life. Tsuki ga Kirei still excels of its show-don’t-tell approach, even later when Kitarou unfortunately falls into the usual trap of saying out loud what he thinks, I still give it a pass since he’s anxious about whether or not he should text the girl, and we can’t fault the lovestruck Romeo for being too excited. Many tidy details that the show doesn’t outright state but it’s golden once we pick up those details: we can see Kotarou is fond of boxing, not only box around his light chord in excitement, but the poster of Mohamed Ali is up there in his room. Or in Akane case we pick up that the sisters live in a same room, whereas more oftern than not the kids in other anime will have their own rooms doesn’t matter the finalcial situation of the parents. Or how we aren’t sure what his Sunday practice might be, but looking at it (the group and him practising various instruments in a local shrine), we have a good idea about the details.

I actually misses the shorts that came out last week (boy do I wish it regular features), but we do have a brief callback to one of those shorts, this time in Kotarou’s awkward point of views. LINE is the biggest winner here (I use it in real life too), being the communication platform for our two leads where they’re too shy and cautious to talk to each other in real life. The romance so far is understated but again so true to life and Akane returns his encouragement last week with another heartwarming response “You’re perfectly fine the way you are”. The two other casts don’t have much attention this time, Chinatsu being busy with her track competition but I love how effortless whenever she’s around Kotarou. Takumi, on the other hand, has a slight chance to confess his love for Akane, but decides to back down. I don’t really think Akane has a romantic feeling for him (more of respectation) but I would like to see him making a move to Akane. I also adore the way Kotarou really wanted to ask Akane how she been doing, but won’t be able to. The way his thoughts and his focus are entirely to the phone rather than the practice is something I’m sure we all been through; and for once dead phone actually gives a positive outcomes since Akane decides to go to the shrine to see him. As they’re sitting there and looking at the moon. She remarks the moon is beautiful, Kotarou takes this as a clue to ask her out (remember I said last week that “The moon is beautiful” is a poetic way to say “I love you” in Japan). Part of me want Akane to reject it, as first love is only pure and shine the brightest when we never reach it in full, unlike the moon itself.

Sakura Quest – 03 [The Cry of the Mandrake]

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Sakura Quest

“The one who can change the town is the young fool outsider”
Which kind of makes sense, since the outsider’s perspective will give a fresh take to improve the town. That makes our Queen Yoshino the perfect candidate, but as the interview goes on, she learns the truth: she hardly knows anything about the town, except from perhaps its scenery and expired manjus. So her first step as Manoyama’s Queen is to find what the locals like (to no result) and what makes the town unique. Here Yoshino learns the main conflict between Tourism board and the Merchants Group, the UMA boom resulted in Kadota-sensei switched from homemade carrot Kabura-kun to the silly Kabura-chupa mascots. As we knew last week, the Kabura-chupa has nothing to do with the Mexican mythical creatures and does seem to cause more mixed response from the local and neither attracting much tourist attention. After the hilarious runs from both our girls and the Tourism board to achieve the mascots’ heads, the final parade where Yoshino decides to ditch both the town’s previous mascots (making Kadota-sensei appear in a mix of Chupa with Carrot head, but that mainly for practical reason) and her promotion speech is a touching, if not a bit too honest for her own good (now I have an idea why she failed 32 interviews). She decides to spend her time as a Queen to pick a mascots that could stand the test of time. And now our real Quest finally begins.

One thing of note that I find particularly true to life is the way the villagers are indifferent about what they want to make the town better. They’re just a bunch of locals who born and live within the town to the point they don’t really question about the town’s condition anymore. Usually in other series that take place in a small rural area, they tend to feature many local custom (like welcoming the sunshine in Love Live Sunshine), and the local’s unabashed love for their town. Not here. The old people in the town don’t want anything to change; while the young ones pretty think it’s a dead town anyways, why bother trying. Manoyama feels really like some random small town we might come across. It’s not like they don’t love their town, but more of they are born here, taking a job that passed through generations and taking the town for granted. Whatever going to happen, they’d still live there, so why bother on the change at all? I’m kinda curious to see how the girls can fire up those people in coming events.

Finally, I’m glad that Sakura Quest is a more adult-oriented show that don’t feature high school settings with juvenile humor, because the humor in this show is deadpan and much more attuned to my own taste. Lines like “just the cold indifference of time’s unending march” both sound true, but with a more sarcasm tone. Also I really enjoy the various costumes that the main cast’s wearing. There is a great attention that focus on these costumes here as oppose to say, high school uniforms. As it announced, the show will be 26 episode long and so far Sakura Quest more than earned its spot in my watching list.

Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon (Winter 2017) Review – 74/100

by SuperMario, posted in Anime Reviews, Reviews by SuperMario

I remember back in the first impression of last Winter season, I regarded Demi-chan as a better Monster Girls slice of life subgenre over this one. But as the season progressed, while Demi-chan run out of its steam quickly, this one picked up its pace after an underwhelming first episode to become a much more worthy title of last season, to the point many critics (according to ANN critics) hailed it as one of the best show out of 2017 Winter season, behind only to the modern masterpiece Rakugo. Do I agree with that consensus? No, God, no. They obviously don’t watch ACCA, and I would argue Scum’s Wish or Tanya are better options. Dragon Maid is a warm little show that have some neat things to say about dysfunctional family and a high production values for its genre, but it never raises above exceptional level to me.

In fact, now looking back, the premiere episode of Dragon Maid was a bad representation of a whole show. The premise of a female dragon decides to live in a human house as a maid and devotes herself to that role, loves her host unconditionally is a wish-fulfilment and convenient one. That episode also played up the slapstick tone of dragon making a mess trying to fit in with human environment, which became less and less prominent as the show went on. They also played up the comedy which was a missed opportunity because while Dagon Maid is very solid at humor, they never meant to be in a forefront. The show improved dramatically from second episode with the introduction of Kanna and the show shifted the focus to slice-of-life approach, but the first episode already did the damage to discourage anime watchers into this show.

The humor of the show is on the risqué and bawdy side and I really do prefer this type of humor than over the top silliness, but I also agree that sometimes they got too carried away. The yuri love at the centre between Tohru and Kobayashi-san is well grounded; but the same can’t be said for the running gags of yuri undertone between two primary schoolers of Kanna and Riko (sometimes Kanna is a perpetrator for example, in which she “innocently” staying too close to Riko). More cringe-worthy, Lucoa and Shouta running gags of gigantic bouncing boob gave a huge backlash to more serious anime watchers as it appears the older (dragon) woman sexually assaulted the young shy boy. Well, for the love of God I’m not that serious about the issue but bouncy boob jokes do get old fast.

But at its core, Dragon Maid is a sensitive portrayal of a dysfunctional family and what it means to share happy moments with the person you love. Kobayashi-san, a thirty something workwoman who prefer to be left alone than having any real relationship is a perfect protagonist for this tale about family. Sometimes she remarks that it’s her who unsure how to express her feeling. Most of the time she doesn’t contact her real family not because they are having a tense relationship, it’s just her who feels detached from the family. There’s a real, honest look at the heart of modern day lifestyle, when individual starts drifting away from any real connection and this series is all about establishing that real connection.

The second theme Dragon Maid of underlined is the very definition of “family” and “where we belong”, as Tohru, who born a dragon, comes to live together with a human. The show addressed many times that the human world isn’t Tohru’s place, and because human’s and dragon’s lifespans are vastly dissimilar, what will happen to Tohru once Kobayashi reaches her end? Does lingering on the life that clearly don’t belong to you worth taking at all? As this series says, yes, because feeling is true. The other theme about family this show also addresses is the parental relationship, especially those from Kobayashi-san and Kanna. There are many touching moments where Kanna looks up to the protagonist as her mother figure (as a dragon she was exiled from her family) and Kobayashi-san tries her best to fit in that role. Secretly buying the stationary that she loves, tries to finish work early in order to aatend her play. Those intimate moments come from a very real place that doesn’t matter if the premise is phony (dragon appears as maid girl, duh), as long as your heart is in the right place you still hit jackpot.

True to its “sharing the moments together” theme, many of the show’s best sequences lie in the slice-of-life activities the characters have with each other, be it as bizarre as dragon’s fights, anime convention (where real monsters appear as themselves), or as mundane as spending a christmas holiday in kotatsu, preparing dinner or having a sport festival (there must be one in every slice of life high school show huh?) or performing a play together. The cast is mostly likable, especially Kanna who takes the anime world by storms. I also find the different length in each segment to be effective. Sometimes it plays for entire episode, sometimes it chops off and we have 4-koma like format, which actually adds to the final punch and the laid-back atmosphere of the show.

As KyoAni is the studio behind this show, it goes without saying that the show have a great treatment in productions values. The characters facial expressions are varied and spot on, the animation- where it needs to be, especially during dragon’s battles, is energetic and exciting. From what I gathered the studio actually modified a bit in its last 2 episodes from the manga source, which for me enhanced the main emotional core and successfully ended the show by overcoming its biggest external and internal threats.
All in all, Dragon Maid is an enjoyable anime. The show has relaxed atmosphere, engaging chemistry between its main cast, great animation and have some deeper and more intimate moments than its usual slice of life fare. Still compare to KyoAni canon I can’t help but think this is an inferior one with questionable fanservice. It’s heartwarming but lack certain quality to raise above the rest of a pack.

Little Witch Academia – 15[Chariot of Fire]

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

Shiny Chariot rides once again and I think that’s where most of the animation went besides the showcase at the end of the episode. Wise choice though as it shows that Ursula hasn’t dulled much in her later years. She still seems intent on keeping her identity secret from Akko though this may be because finding Chariot is her main driving force at the moment. We at least are getting some idea of Chariots past as it seems she and Akko are a lot more similar than first thought. Akko and Diana seem to mirror the relationship of Ursula and Croix in their youth. However it would be a strange twist of fate if Akko ended up under Croix’s wing while Diana and Ursula teamed up. Diana has started to look into Ursula so she could very well figure out her true identity.

I feel that Akko’s nativity is getting to be a bit much as her trust of Croix is so much that even when walking up to her lair she doesn’t seem to register how ominous it is. Though Ursula is at fault as well seeing as she doesn’t seem to be making an effort to warn Akko of Croix’s intentions. I don’t really understand why she covered for her when Akko woke up as letting Akko know of the danger Croix possesses would be a very good idea. Though what is Croix after exactly? Others besides Ursula to harbor doubts over her changes to magic and with good reason. Amanda makes a point that with her innovations magic has essentially been supplanted with Science, making it indistinguishable. It does feel like with the technological upgrades it’s getting that something more personal has been lost. However another reason to be concerned is that this direction for magic is heavily dependant on Croix. In fact she pretty much holds full control of magic power distribution with this system and she seems like just the kind of person to take full advantage of that. Those routers may allow magic to be used off grounds but who’s to say she didn’t place a backdoor in them to allow her to shut them down whenever it’s convenient for her. It’s getting to the point that when she makes her move, nobody would be able to do anything about it. For everyone would depend on her inventions at that point and she would have them by the balls.

Kudo’s to the commenter on the last post who correctly guessed the involvement of Yggdrasil as Ursula points out the tree as being the source of magic power. I originally wrote it off as I thought it was strange to involve Norse mythology when so far it’s been mostly Celtic(Though we did have a dragon named Fafnir so it’s not the first time it’s popped up.) but if Wikipedia is trustworthy then mentions of a world tree are in Celtic folklore as well though that tree was unnamed. The final bit of exposition that Ursula gave at the end of the episode was impressive animation wise but admittedly only really served to inform us of what we already know. It clued in Akko to what she needs to do and the main new information to be gleaned from it is that the seven words unlock some sort of reality warping magic and the bit about Yggdrasil. In that regard I feel like unsealing the words can only really lead to trouble as Croix could swoop in to take the magic once Akko has done her job.

Shingeki no Kyojin(Attack on Titan)- 28[Southwestward]

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

It’s more than a little frustrating when you have a character present who has answers to very important questions, yet refuses to speak up for rather contrived reasons. Though we don’t quite know why the priest doesn’t speak up I can’t really think of anything that would possibly be preventing him from doing so. This world isn’t advanced enough to have listening bugs or specialised bombs. And with him admitting that he will speak only to Trista of the scouting legion that suggests it’s not a matter of him being overheard either. I just can’t really see it as anything but a contrived reason to keep the audience in the dark. So I think this is the episode where this anime’s production values can’t keep it interesting for me. Though it seems like those are slipping as I notice more still frames in play. Perhaps my lack of interest stems from the fact that I read the manga and thus all this baiting for answers isn’t grabbing me because I know the answers. Though I also remember this was a round the point that I started to lose interest with the manga. Still what have we learned with this episode?

For one we learned that the material of the wall is made out of the same crystal material as the titan’s hardening which means that they could block the hole in wall maria by Eren making use of the technique. I am not certain if Eren made use of it before in the first season but Levi pretty much says for him to shut up and do it with hopefully will mean that Eren won’t be angsting up a storm about it. We learn that Connie’s village was apparently attacked by titans but oddly there isn’t any blood or signs of villagers escaping. Considering the rather bloodchilling “Welcome Home” Connie got from the immobile titan I think it’s a safe assumption that the Titans within the wall are the villagers of Connie’s town. What further proves this is that the wall has not been breached which pretty much means these titans somehow climbed over the wall or magically appeared within it.

I did really like the moment where during the check on the wall one of the soldiers was getting ripped up by the anticipation of an enviable titan attack. Being out in complete darkness and knowing that at any moment giants can come out and rip you to pieces is nerve wracking enough but agonising over when it could happen is sure to drive anyone mad. This show does lack subtle when it comes to character interactions so it’s pretty clear that Ymir lied to Crista over being with her because she wanted to be and clearly has a second agenda. Reiner was acting weird as well with just how hard he was trying to get Connie to ignore what the titan said but I admit I have difficulty determining if this was him covering up the truth or just acting really over the top for dramatic effect. Now that are stuck in a castle with Titans at the doorstep. But for good news this week, Sasha got a potato. Honestly that did make me smile.

Seikaisuru Kado – 02[Novo]

by AidanAK47, posted in Seikaisuru Kado

This episode answers the question of just what was happening to the plane survivors during the period the government were trying to break into the cube. The answer seems to be that they were interacting with an alien lightform. This episode does feel like the series is still in its introduction stage and likely the real start will be next episode when the Alien starts taking a active position in politics. We do at least find out why he doesn’t just release the passengers out of the cube right away as it seems it will take a degree of processing time to allow each passenger to leave. This seems to suggest that the inside of the cube isn’t really a psychical space but rather some kind of database which currently has the data of the passengers stored as virtual data. The big question is that does this mean that the passengers died when the cube absorbed them and now the Alien is reconstructing them based on the data it absorbed? What’s more, was this an intentional act or an accidental one?

This series reminds me of a book I read called Childhood’s End. In that the story involved Aliens coming down to earth in order to better mankind. Though unlike those Aliens, Yaha-kui zaShunina doesn’t seem to understand anything about human society and thus needs Shindo to act as interpreter. What he hopes to gain by helping mankind is not exactly certain, even the Aliens of Childhood’s end had their own agenda. He has already made it clear that he isn’t exactly an enemy or a friend. But what I think this series will mainly focus on is on just how much he can influence society. He could give over great inventions to Japan but that would result in other countries getting nervous. Truthfully not much happened this episode, this was more the Alien adapting to human communication and working together with a negotiator. Perhaps when this series really kicks into gear we might see how good this turns out to be. I just hope we don’t get more of the ditsy science girl as in a sea of rational human beings she is an unwelcome distraction.

Some Quick First Impressions: Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darouka Gaiden: Sword Oratoria, sin Nanatsu no Taizai and Atom: The Beginning

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darouka Gaiden: Sword Oratoria

Short Synopsis: A spinoff story of the DanMachi series.

Not even three minutes in and we got a boob joke. I say watching anime is really demoralizing for girls C cup and under seeing as anime seems to assume that if you aren’t stacked then you have no sex appeal. Well this is basically the Raildex of the DanMachi series. It lacks originality(I only just noticed that the first meeting between the sword girl and the protagonist of the DanMachi series essentially ripped off the iconic first meeting of Saber and Shirou in Fate), it’s bundled with fanservice and the action set pieces are only there to make the characters look good. Also yuri because why not. It’s not something as offensive as the next entry on this post but it is the equivalent of anime shovelware. This series was clearly made to target the SAO demographic and to those who don’t fall into that category it’s just a rather soulless experience. Guess the only thing left to say is that this show manages to barely beat out SukaSuka in terms of absurdly long anime titles.

Potential: 0%

Mario: A spinoff story based on the universe of DanMachi (which I only watched the first episode of it), this new season unfortunately is a weaker RPG fantasy fluff this season. What we have so far is the gang fighting a bunch of monsters. The cast so far is generic and the main heroine is so helpless she drags the whole cast down. I know everyone isn’t meant to be perfect and the main girl needs to develop somehow through its run, but  for God sake don’t do that by making her unbearable at the start. I still don’t really get why the show has to use “level” and all the monsters and level path exactly like a RPG? Aren’t they supposed to be in another world? Cut that game mechanics then. Now after few hours watching it, I don’t remember much of it so it kinda speaks to the quality of this one. Bland and forgettable.

Potential:10%

 

sin Nanatsu no Taizai

Short Synopsis: Lucifer falls from heaven and fights the well endowed seven deadly sins.

You know I think a series like this is an director just daring god to smite him. Cause I don’t know how more blasphemous you can get without genderbending Jesus.(Frankly I am surprised that hasn’t happened yet) So theres angels and demons and something something banished…honestly this show cares about it’s story as much as I do. This is essentially queens blade anime where the goal is tits, ass and more tits. Sadly the titillation is something I can’t enjoy because they made the age old mistake of making the breasts so big that it just becomes unappealing. The show goes out of it’s way to show nudity whenever possible and pretty much everyone is a lesbian who’s ready to feel up whoevers closest. This is an anime where a girl’s female best friend hugs her and then proceeds to cop a feel. But you know the biggest sin here is that it uses the seven deadly sins motive in the laziest way possible. Previous shows I seen at least played around with the concept to subvert expectations. Not here. Pride is prideful, envy is envious, sloth is lazy, Gluttony is hungry, wrath is picking fights, greed is trying to get money and lust is a bitch in heat. If you are interested in anime you can watch with your trousers down…honestly you would be better off going for hentai. At least that will put out.

Potential: 0%

Mario: Hello softcore porn, here we meet again. This season has offered heaps of terrible trends of current anime: we have a blatantly advertisement anime to promote their products, we have an incest anime, we have a lazy Light novel rip-off anime, but this is the trend I distaste the most: a fanservice softcore porn that numbs all the senses of us viewers. This is the most blatant misuse of seven sins concept that I have ever seen, and I can’t call this plot “plot” either because all they do is tied up the girl and “torture” her, in what sense I think you have an idea by now. The other girls are combination of huge tits, fetished custom designs and behave like they’re all ready to strip off. I will give it an upvote though that Sin never pretends to be something else, it’s straightforward fan-service from start to finish and I know there’s a market for this sort of anime but with all my respect this anime is what I disgust the most.

Potential: 0%

 

Atom: The Beginning

Short Synopsis: A prequel to Astro boy, two creators work to make an intelligent robot.

Much like Young Blackjack two years ago we have the return of another Tezuka favorite with a prequel series. In all honestly if we were going to get a prequel to Astro Boy animated I would have prefered Pluto. Not to say this series is bad, actually it’s a strong start to the series. But Pluto is a manga by the mangaka who made Monster and 20th Century Boys. So the level of quality is on another level. (It really is sad that only one of Naoku Urasawa’s best works has been animated.) But enough on that, this show manages a nice blend of old school and new school with excellent animation and a simplistic yet effective story. Atom’s design is excellent and there is a certain love put into the mechanical workings of the robots. The main characters are loveable dopes though due to my ignorance of the source material I feel like I am missing some sub level context in the shows presentation. Seeing as the manga got better as it went along I actually have high hopes for this one. People may have some trouble getting past it’s old sensibilities such as the catchphrases and tendency for characters to awkwardly shove exposition into dialogue. But if the animation can stay strong and keep it’s charm then this could be something worth checking out this season.

Potential: 80%

Mario: We get to the end of this long winded first impressions period (finally!), Atom the Beginning is a worthy title to close off these new anime-tasting offerings. Served as a prequel to the classic Astro Boy, although you don’t need the knowledge of the existing material to enjoy this one. The best thing this series offer so far is its rich and natural world building where robots becoming a prominent factor in human life. From robots specifically giving balloons to the children, helping human for constructions, to appearing in a massive parade, that world is well-detailed and I enjoy looking those technologies on display. This episode also succeeds on introducing the main casts so far, both informs us how they view of each other (like the genius *genius* wheelchair guy towards the main duo), and clearly establishes their personal traits. The main duo so far is your typical nerdy, self-centre and blind-by-their-own-ambitions type, and hearing them keep babbling about how genius they are can be bothersome at times, but their chemistry is quite grounded. Furthermore, if this episode is any indication, the show will go less action, save-the-world pack, but more about the implication of using Atom, which for me is far more interesting angle. The productions and the retro character designs also help to make this one more accessible. A solid start for Atom.

Potential: 70%