Thunderbolt Fantasy – 11

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Thunderbolt Fantasy

This week things escalated pretty quickly. Our helpless MC Shang Bu Huan shots himself in the foot pretty quickly. I already suspected it’s a matter of time before his scam will be exploited by Mie Tian Hai, but I surely never would have guessed it’s that early. Shang Bu Huan, hilariously, is just plain terrible in whatever he’s acting; and curiosity got the better of him that he actually discusses with Mie Tian Hai (already a bad move, but then again these characters in Thunderbolt Fantasy love to chit-chat) on his motive of acquiring the legendary Tian Xing Jian sword. The sword, apparently, is the only sword that can actually destroy monsters, while other “low-ranking” swords can only send monsters back to the death realm, which the only exception is Yao Tu Li. That monster, unsurprisingly, is the most fearsome monster that somehow still got stuck in this world; therefore, Mie Tian Hai wants to attain Tian Xing Jian sword to slay the monster. It’s actual very noble of him when you think about it. But due to the very late nature of this reveal, plus the fact that Gen Urobuchi love to toy with our expectation, I suspect that the monster Yao Tu Li was already slayed by Shang Bu Huan. It’s not based solely on assumption though, judging the way Shang Bu Huan actually understands exactly what Mie Tian Hai implied about the death realm.

For once, the always-sneaky Gui Niao is actually behind everything happening and he spends this episode to get all the clues and try to catch up with everyone. For all the little details that he managed to get, it’s awesome that he actually figures out all the players in play and now plans to getting ahead (he’s no Shang Bu Huan after all). When he realized that the safe was empty, he understands that the main boss has something up his sleeve, the way he confidently carries out the piece with him. Along the way, Gui Niao gave one of the most ridiculous (thus, the best) speech about opening the keyhole is even more delicate and temperamental than a fine lady (whatever that means). When he saw two addition plates on Mie Tian Hai’s dinner table, he immediately figures out that his comrades the Archer and the Necromancer had sale him out. Finally, when he recognized that the lock in Dan Fei’s cell is unlocked from the outside, he understands that Juan Can Yun has helped the girl to get back the real guard. Upon figuring out all that, he decides to head to the temple that hold that blade to set out his traps. Well, getting the legendary sword sure is complicated.

Meanwhile, in a Limitless Temple, it turns out that Dan Fei and Juan Can Yun have been followed by the Archer and the Demon Lady all along. And they appear to be who they truly are, a villain. After all, getting the Tiang Xing Jian sword is what they’re after, so it doesn’t matter who they tag along with to achieve that goal. It’s still a very cool way to know about the Giant Spirit tree and its Spirit Veins that lead to the temple (also I feel kind of glad that we finally head back to the sunlight after spending too many episodes in the dark. At least now I can get much better screenshots). I’m also a fan of the elegance of Xing Hai, the way she dances around and proudly announces that her student would have noticed they’ve been followed at least 5 TIMES. The two pairs fight, but it comes to no surprise that the wiser team is a much better team. Still, poor Juan Can Yun gets shot in the eye by his ex-mentor and lose the guard; thus Dan Fei has to retreat. This very action marks the grow in Dan Fei’s character. She used to be the one who fight to death for her honor, but now because she doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt, she’s willing to step back. It’s nice to see her grow more trust to other people, and they really make a good pair if you ask me.

Next week we will witness the fight between our Shang Bu Shuan and Diao Ming, one of the subordinate of Mie Tang Hai. Although we pretty much know the outcome, it’s still interesting to see our MC get into a real battle the first time after the first episode. I’m also eager to see what kind of traps Gui Niao will prepare this time? Are they all going to fall for it? Until then, mi amigos.

Mob Psycho 100 – 10

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Mob Psycho 100

Plenty of action this week as Mob, Terumi and Dimple take on the major members of claw. As far as what happen this episode feels a lot like your standard fare for a shounen anime series. The main group infiltrating an enemy base, split up and encounter the enemies in one on one style battles. It’s a little too standard and even ONE himself mocked this in One Punch Man when Saitama and Genos reached the house of Evolution which was a servel floored deathhouse which you would assume the heroes would have to go through encountering foes alike. But then Genos just blasts the whole building to oblivion. Here however it’s played straight and in that regard it is a little dull despite the animation being quite interesting for the fights themselves.

A particular standout moment had to do with a group of henchmen who encounter Ritsu while he is rescuing one of the captured awakening lab espers. Just when the henchmen are about to fight them, an old grizzled henchman tells them all to stand down. Saying that there is no way in hell that normal henchmen like them can take down an esper. Despite this decision rooted in cynicism rather than wisdom, this man is absolutely right.  Making this guy the smartest henchman I have ever seen as he knew he was outmatched and decided to stand down. Unlike him though, most of the other henchmen follow the normal route and try to fight the likes of Teruki, Dimple and mob thus naturally getting destroyed in no time.

So this episode consisted of fighting and people running around which naturally gives me little to work with. I was surprised to see Mob get beaten up by a physic physical fighter again only for Mob to reveal that he was holding back from fighting because she was a woman. Through once she commented that his chivalry was insulting to her as a fighter then Mob naturally knocked her out with no trouble offscreen. Mob really has ingrained Regains lessons into his mind to a degree that they could be considered a weakness. Though these lessons are important for Mob to retain his humanity. The animation of the fights can get a bit messy but the animators must be having fun with the level of movement they can work with. Teruki’s fight against the pyrokinesis scar did have some remarkable fire animation. So now the group has been captured and it’s really a waiting game for when Mob wakes up to destroy them all. However the organization’s leader looks to have appeared and he seems oddly familiar.

orange – 11

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Orange

Well, this episode is one the most emotionally wrenching orange has put up so far and for me at least this dramatic turn of event is what this show does best. Kakeru’s issue is a fundamental one. So far, the group succeeds in helping him to open up more and enjoying himself bit by bit, but they don’t actually change his very perceive that he’s responsible for his mother’s death. That and the thought that he might lose another person closed to him depresses the hell out of him and he comes full circle after the whole series of trying to get better. When he eventually gets into that self-loathing mood, everything just snap. That of course is frustrated. It doesn’t help either that Naho is incapable of sharing the feeling with him. She has known that they eventually got into arguments that day, but when it happened, his problem proves to be too big for her to handle and she just froze at that crucial moments. After that, she chose the worst possible way when dealing with someone’s outburst: chasing right after them. It’s much wiser to just give them some time alone to calm themselves (at least Kakeru would save his phone that way). But really, what would you expect from a 16-year-old girl to do? I can completely understand his outburst, but still that is not how you treat a girl, Kakeru. Ever. This guy needs a professional help and clearly he isn’t ready to have a healthy relationship with anyone anyway. Which come to a shortcoming from the group’s effort to save Kakeru: Does the group putting Kakeru and Naho together really is the best way to save Kakeru?

I know I said it before but I don’t really like the way the show’s main focus on the second half squarely on “saving Kakeru”. That aspect just overwhelms others relationship between the cast, since most of the time the topic they talk to each other is how to make Kakeru happy. This week proves to be a nice change as we see more perspective from the rest of the group towards Suwa’s feeling for Naho. Moreover, when the rest of the group calls Suwa, they all actually raise some valid points to the table. Yes, saving Kakeru doesn’t mean that Kakeru and Naho need to be together. Well, at least they like each other, but still it doesn’t mean that Suwa would just sacrifice himself for the sake of those two. At least give yourself a chance. Hagita in turns points out (accurately, but at the same time somehow inappropriately) that changing Kakeru’s future will eventually indirectly changing the future of those around him, and it might not be a good idea to change things so much in this timeline. Azusa argument is the most direct response; she wants him to express his feeling to Naho because she knows that he could make her happy; something I’m starting to doubt that Kakeru could offer Naho. Well, knowing all that, in addition that he knows how his old-self in original timeline would end up (he’s the only one out of the group who seen the pictures of his kid and the old group, talking about “overpowered”), he still decides to support Naho and Kakeru till the end. He might eventually become the awesome dude that no one deserves to have.

Last episode I predicted that the story might end on a Valentine Day, but given that this episode still wanders around Christmas and New Year (one of the saddest New Year Eve in anime I would say), we might have a Valentine that will never come. Instead, I think the story could pretty much end in another event that was hinted many times before: the day the group writes their notes to their 10-year-older self. Judging from that, things might not end as melodramatic as one would think. At least, this episode restores my hope that orange might actually pull off a satisfy ending.

Manga Shelf – Girl the Wild’s, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko, & More

by K-Off, posted in Girl the Wild’s, Manga Shelf, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Sumikko no Sora-San, Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko

Well, this is going to be interesting. I made a decision to review as much regular manga that I can, so even shonen comedies shouldn’t be beneath me. I generally make a point of actively avoiding talking about comedies, because what do we know, there’s only so many ways to say something just isn’t funny. But screw conventions, if I have to write 4 sentence reviews then so be it.

Here’s every single manga (with an SK webtoon) that I’ve read this week, along with three or four among them that I’ll cover from here on out. I’ll be writing separate reviews on the latest chapters of the manga that I’ve decided to cover here on out from this list, where I can get more in-depth.

Seitokai Yakuindomo Chapters 1-392

Seitokai Yakuindomo
Seitokai Yakuindomo Chapters 1-392

I admit it here, Tozen Ujiie’s works have been a “guilty pleasure” of mine for quite some time now, to the point that as far as his 4koma are concerned, I’m convinced that the man is a comedy genius. For the uninitiated, his style of humor is stupidly crude, consisting primarily of dick jokes and enema gags – it’s anti-PC humor at its finest, but I don’t like it just for the sake of it being different.

I’m someone who can appreciate both spectrums of comedy, be they lowbrow dick jokes or “highbrow” humor – so, what actually grabbed me with SYD more so than any of his previous work was its quirky cast, and Ujiie’s really creative word-play on the Japanese language to come up with clever puns. Though I often lose his comedic intent through translation, it’s pretty neat when I can catch onto something. A story is nowhere to be found in SYD, but I see it as the equivalent of a Japanese comedy skit in manga form, where on the other hand Puchi Puchi Tan Tan has a little bit more cohesion as a story (at the cost of consistency in comedic tone). I look forward to talking about this and learning more about Ujiie’s wordplay.

Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san Chapters 1-30

Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san
Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san Chapters 1-30

You know when you read a new shonen manga, and it instantly feels like an illustrated storyboard for an anime? This is about our protagonist as he deals with a ghost girl who lost her memories and (for the sake of To Love Ru level of fan service) can strip her ghostly clothes.

Yeah I hate this very much, maybe if the fan service was toned down by 100% I could appreciate the light-yet-brandless level of comedy offered here. The main character is also stupidly overpowered, so there’s no reason for me to care about anything at stake. Quite possibly the extreme spectrum away from the average spineless harem male lead. But oh well, this is bound to get an anime adaptation so I’ll probably have to talk about it then (I predict it’ll come out in Spring 2018).
Continue reading “Manga Shelf – Girl the Wild’s, Seitokai Yakuindomo, Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko, & More” →

91 Days – 09

by AidanAK47, posted in 91 Days, Currently Watching:

After the drama of last episode this series takes so time to cool off as we see the aftermath of Corteo’s actions. For the most part it appears to have worked for the Vanettis benefit as without a head the Orco family is essentially finished and thus have incorporated themselves into the Vanettis. This hasn’t caused the Vanettis to be lenient with Corteo as he’s being interrogated in a garage outside the estate. This puts Avilio in an interesting position as his friend that he dragged into this mess is now being tortured for information. It is here that I really would like to know exactly what Avilio is thinking as I can’t discern his exact feelings about this situation. In front of the Vanetti’s, Avilio is as cool as a cucumber, never showing a sign of weakness. Outside he’s a little more aggravated but I question as to exactly why that is.

The obvious reason would be his own guilt over his friend suffering because of his own actions but I happen to see another reason as to why this particular scenario would make him equally flustered. After all Corteo is the only one who knows Avilio’s true name and real agenda for joining up with Nero. If Corteo breaks under the torture or speaks out of revenge then Avilio is completely screwed. It would be debatable as to how much faith the mafia family would put in Corteo’s words but it certainly would light some suspicions about Avilio and make his goal harder to reach. It’s that which has me wonder as to just what is getting Avilio worked up here. Guilt or self preservation? Nero is also made Don in this episode which may be part of Avilio’s plan for all I know. The former Don remarks about how he was never able to protect what really mattered in the end which may be his way of saying the Nero that even as the head of a mafia family, one can be powerless.

However as Avilio goes to rescue/potentially silence Corteo, someone else gets to him first and killed one of his guards while lightly injuring Ganza. Here is the first point of suspicion against Ganza which ultimately justified his reveal of being the man who sent Avilio the letter and likely the fourth man whom Nero mentioned. This doesn’t really stand all the well with me as all the evidence which points towards Ganzo is given in this episode when before he was mainly a background character. For a show that generally puts a lot of subtle visual foreshadowing, I think it as cheating to only just lay groundwork right before the reveal. It feels unplanned and it calls to question as to why Ganzo didn’t get more screen presence for this reveal to get a reaction besides a “Oh, so it was that guy.” I have praised this show for it’s show don’t tell policy of storytelling but I must admit that it is keeping a little too much to itself. Avilio is the obvious example as his plan of revenge has been an enigma for the start and his stoic nature makes it hard to see what he is really thinking. He is now in a position where he can kill Nero easily and take out the don while he’s at it.

Yet Avilio still plays the role of faithful lackey for a large amount of time. Still the series did tease the thought of Avilio killing Nero near the end of the episode as he was given an ultimatum by Ganzo to kill Nero to save Corteo. Sadly this tease holds no tension as we all know that Nero is going to be the finale. They are not going to kill him next because they have been clearly setting him up to be the last man Avilio kills. Even the promotional material right from the start insinuates this. Still the only thing which could be delaying his death from a narrative standpoint is the identity of the fourth man. Which Avilio could have easily gotten either by questioning Nero to a greater degree or even forcing it out of him before killing him. Really, just why is Avilio procrastinating? Has he taken a liking to the Mafia life? Has he come to think of Nero as a friend? Is he just losing his nerve to go through with it? Whether these emotions are swirling inside Avilio or not we do not know, for all we see is a grim faced man who looks like he has a plan..

This may be why 91 Day’s engaged me so much more last episode when Corteo was the focus. You knew what was going on in Corteo’s head which it made him relatable and the situation all the more engrossing. However I never know what’s going on in Avilio’s head and he rarely shows his emotions so I can’t relate to his situation. He is ever stone faced, seemly apathetic of his surroundings. Thus because he isn’t moved by the situation, I too as a viewer is equally unmoved. This may be at the core of why 91 Day’s isn’t as engaging as it by all rights should be. Still with the unveiling of it’s greatest question we may be at the point where Avilio’s nature will be unraveled and his plan finally comes into play. Once Ganzo is taken care of there really will be nothing stopping Avilio from taking his revenge. With so few episodes left I think this slow burn needs to turn into an inferno.

Thunderbolt Fantasy – 10

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Thunderbolt Fantasy

This week is a calm before the storms episode, as this episode is all about scheming and no actual action. But things slowly progress to an epic final.

Shang Bu Huan again gets the short straw by letting Gui Niao manipulates him into his plan. With the help of the magical hood that transforms anyone wearing it into… wait for it…. Gui Naio himself, he makes the laughable impossible scenario become possible. Shang Bu Huan, in Gui Niao disguise, will travel with Mie Tian Hai to retrieve the real guard (I thought it was a handle last episode); while the real Gui Niao will stay at the tower to steal the handle. Sound like they could pull it off, right? Until you realize that the plan only needs one Lin Xue Ya in play: the best option would be him to go with Mie Tian Hai, and TELL Shang Bu Huan about the whereabout of the handle and how to open the safe. Our poor MC not only could be easily exposed by the big boss (remember by just a glance he could tell that the guard is fake), he also has nowhere to run, and worst of all he doesn’t even know where the guard actually is. How did you agree on such a lame deal like that Shang Bu Huan? All odds are against him indeed.

One thing that I didn’t pick up last week was that Shang Bu Huan carries a dull blade. That explains a lot on his not-too-sharp attacking style a while back. Now either his dull blade functions like Kenshin’s reverse blade sword that reduce the damage to the opponents (because he’s too awesome to carry a real sword), or this is a legendary ridiculous long-lost sword style that no one but him could master. From the reaction of Gui Niao though I think it’s more of a latter, as he himself called it a dreadful weapon. It happens too often with the wuxia/ martial arts universe, sometimes those ridiculous fighting styles just pop up from nowhere and become an ultimate martial-arts moves that make absolutely no sense in real life whatsoever. My favorite has to be a drunken boxing style (which actually based on a REAL martial art, Zui Quan), where you have to be… ahem… drunk to triggers all the secret moves; and of course the only one who could master it was the only person who allergic with alcohol.

The ridiculous humor in this show still bright shines, as I can’t help but laugh with the claims Gui Niao made on his schemes that help putting the villains to live out their days quietly (Sha Wu Sheng, for example, had been quietly killed off everyone that might have a connection with The Enigmatic Gale); or Juan Can Yun after 5-minutes of extreme cautious when rescue a damsel-in-distress Dan Fei, suddenly came to realize that Shang Bu Huan, along with his actual prison-cage, were vanished. Keep that humor up Thunderbolt Fantasy.

It seems like the final battle will be at the Limitless Temple (remember that place? Yes, the place with offensive smell that is). Looking through a preview next week, there will be a big stand-off there. There are Shang Bu Huan and Mie Tian Hai group, Juan Can Yun and Dan Fei also make their way to the temple, and most surprisingly, Shou Yun Xiao the archer and Xing Hai the necromancer will be there as well. Gui Niao has mentioned to our MC that the main reason to he included Shang Bu Huan in the first place is to serve as a distraction for those two, so that they don’t have time to scheme anything against him. Well, it still doesn’t justify how Gui Niao so desperately to keep the man that he offers his own head to Sha Wu Sheng, but I let this pass for now. For now, what I’m interested the most is the intrigue role of the Archer and the Necromancer. Are they going to be comrades and help the gang to get back the sword safely; or are they going to be every man for himself, Tarantino-villain mode where every heads will roll? Right at this moment I would say the latter, but really the story could go anywhere depending on how high Gen Urobuchi was when he wrote it; and that thrill is precisely the reason why I’m still waiting for more Thunderbolt Fantasy week after week.

2016 Fall Anime Season Preview

by AidanAK47, posted in Seasonal Previews

There are times when I think that time hates me. After all my work hours go by so slowly that one would think time has stopped. Yet my spare time flies by that I look at a clock and one minute later look again to see an hour has gone by. I barely feel this season even started and yet it’s already ending and we got a whole new lineup to see. I previously said the current season looked to be a rather weak one but it has brought a number of surprises. The question is whether that will happen again as this season is looking potentially weaker. The large amount of original shows certainly increases the chances of a number of hidden gems so you never really know until it’s over.

My usual method of checking out every bit of source material I could find didn’t fair too well this time due to the large amount of anime original and untranslated works. But if I could get my hands on it, I checked it out. This season we are doing something a bit different. My usual way of doing this has become a bit outdated not that we have a number of authors on the blog. So instead of the poll below being used to decide one of the shows I will cover, we will use the poll as a means of figuring out just what you want us to cover. Basically it will be more or less the same but the top pick may not be covered by yours truly. Feel free to vote for as many shows as you would like.

This poll is no longer accepting votes

What will you be watching this winter?
VoteResults

Once again thanks to Mario for gathering the images and the others for inputting their two cents on certain shows. Let us get started.

 

The sequels/prequels I don’t care about

12-Sai. Chiccha na Mune no Tokimeki 2

AJIN 2

Bubuki Buranki: Hoshi no Kyojin

BUNGOU STRAY DOGS 2

Cardfight!! Vanguard G Next

Digimon Universe: App Monsters

Haikyuu!!: Karasuno Koukou VS Shiratorizawa Gakuen Koukou

Hibike! Euphonium 2

Kaitou Joker 4

SHOW BY ROCK!! 2

Kidou Senshi Gundam: Tekketsu no Orphans 2

Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love Legend Star

ViVid Strike!

 

Series I don’t look forward to

 

Bloodivores

 

60 years ago, a strange case of insomnia struck the population, forcing them to stay awake for more than a full week. The victims, completely sleep deprived, all went mad. To cure this illness, a new medicine was produced, but the side effects turned the patients into vampires. Humanity went to war against this new species and triumphed, but some of the vampires managed to survive. Born from a Human and a Vampire, the main character Mi Liu, “The Child of Hope”, is to represent the new hope that will connect the two species. Ringleader of a bank robbery, Mi Liu is arrested and transferred to a special prison of the National Defense Agency that monitors Vampires. Trying to break free with Anji, Mi Liu is attacked by strange monsters and he finds out that the prison location corresponds to the birthplace of Vampires, the old capital “Blue Town.” Why are Vampires trapped in Blue Town? What are those strange monsters attacking them? Our heroes must fight to solve those mysteries.

Studio: Creators in Pack TOKYO

What happens in the backstory of this show sounds much more interesting than the show itself. A world driven made by insomnia? That is actually a pretty interesting concept. But nope, it’s just backstory to justify vampires. Really gotta hand it to the scientists that somehow managed to turn people into vampires when trying to cure insomnia. Anyway we have no staff information and it might surprise some that this is an adaption of a Chinese web comic originally called Space-TIme Prisoner. Based on what little I read it’s really nothing to write home about. Fairly mediocre, much like The Outcast series airing in the summer season. I quite like that anime is being created of non-japanese works but I really wish they could pick something a little more worth it.
Continue reading “2016 Fall Anime Season Preview” →

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 24

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

Things seem to be wrapping up as things approach the finale and one of my previous assumptions turns out to be correct in that Subaru died last episode and his “save point” was updated to the point after the White Whale. This really does show that this curse doesn’t just randomly decide where to bring Subaru back to, but it feels calculated. Decided by another entity, namely the jealous witch. Speaking of her we learn of the reason as to why the witches cult is after Emilia and it looks like they plan to test whether she is an appropriate vessel for Satella. However what is interesting is that even if Satella rejects Emilia’s body the witch will still be reborn in some fashion in the future. Given that Puck has frozen over the manor(Or if his contract is true, the world.) in all of Subaru’s previous loops, it’s safe to say that Satella rejects her body as a host.

Perhaps this is merely because it isn’t the right time as I believe Satella really did bring Subaru to the world to protect Emilia till the day she takes her over. On that note Emilia has a small moment as Subaru incognito helps her recognize that the children don’t hold the same animosity towards her as the adults do. Even with this I can’t help but notice that right up to the end of the series she has been a rather flat character. I have heard tales that might change in the future but as of now I see Rem as the true series heroine and Emilia as more of a plot McGuffin.

When I see Subaru succeed it fills me with conflicting emotions. On one hand it’s a great payoff to the long journey of agony he has gone through to reach this point and is is quite satisfying. However when the story turns like this then it edges towards becoming the generic Light Novel setup that it has actively avoided. It is a somewhat silly worry of mine but I know of how fast a story can slip into the trappings of this particular genre and end up derivative. The common main fall factor is when the protagonist gets god modded and thus the remainder of the story becomes a string of battles to show how amazing the main protagonist is to other people. That’s why when I see Subaru succeed and everyone praise the hell out of him, I worry that the story may take a turn into wish fulfilment power fantasy.

But then I remember that the author is a complete sadist and the chances of that happening are quite slim. I will admit that the author has done a great job of setting the tone as in this episode everything goes exactly as planned. Thus because everything is working out it leaves the viewer with immense suspicion that something is going to go wrong. Because we have been here before and last time punched us in the gut. As Subaru leads everyone to a complete perfect victory I had a small part of my mind preparing for the story to stab me right in the heart. The problem is I have no idea as to when the attack comes.

Subaru did remark about how terrifying his existence must be to the witches cult and honestly he has a point in that regard. We know what he has gone through to get to this point but to anyone looking from the outside, Subaru is some random person who showed up out of nowhere and knows your every move. I interests me as to how this will affect Subaru in the future as he is given off the impression that he is some master Tactician and earning massive respect from the people he is leading. What makes this troublesome for him in the future is that he cannot possibly live up to that respect without abusing his “Return by Death” which is ultimately a gift from the final endboss of Re:Zero. When it comes time for him to face Satella then he will be at a massive disadvantage as Satella is most likely not going to let him repeat till the point where he can beat her.

But that is a conflict for another day. This day has Betelgeuse being rightly bewildered by Subaru’s ability to see through all of his plans with little effort. This looks to be the end of the demented psychopath which I admittedly took a liking to despite his crazy act being ridiculously over the top. I think the turning point was when I stopped looking at him as a menacing villain and more see him as a evil anime Jim Carrey. Then his whole act just became rather charming. There were some animation blunders(Namely one point were Julius’s mouth disappeared) but the action in this episode was fairly solid and we have a nice lead into the climax of the series.

Well it’s been a long glorious ride of ups and downs but we finally reach the end of Re:Zero. The next episode should be the last unless there is a 26th episode I am uninformed about. The big question is just how White Fox plans to wrap this all up. I don’t think it is unreasonable to assume a second season is guaranteed as this show has been immensely popular not just in Japan but outside it as well. However I have said before that an ending can change everything when it comes to a show. A bad ending is the thing that can change a shows impression from “great” to “very good”. There are worries that the ending will be rushed to accommodate for a lot of material at the end of the arc and there is the question of this last episode being able to provide a satisfying conclusion while leaving room for a sequel.

The absolute worst case scenario would be the series ending on a sequel hook as that would be cruel beyond measure to wait for the light novels to gain enough material for another season. There enough of web novel material, that’s for certain but I highly doubt they will go ahead with a second season using that. My wish is that we leave this story with a nice temporary sendoff that leaves us happy and patient enough to wait for a sequel. But let us remember, this is Re:Zero. Where suffering is the name of the game and nothing goes according to plan. I can hardly predict what cruel machinations Tappei Nagatsuki has awaiting us poor unsuspecting viewers but I can say that my Sundays will be very lonely from now on without this show. This year’s winter looks to be cold indeed.

Berserk(2016) – 11 [Shadows of Ideas]

by Bam, posted in Berserk(2016), Currently Watching:

The cold opening retreads the ending of the previous episode, with Casca being set on the pyre. In the spirit of the last few ones, this episode is also quite a fast-paced and action heavy. We have a very brief reintroduction of Zod, which serves more as a cameo than anything of substance. After the opening the series has officially moved unto volume 21 of the manga, covering the final stretch of the Incarnation Ceremony.

We see the Egg Apostle climbing the Tower of Conviction in preparation for becoming the Egg of the Perfect World. It stumbles upon the Demon Child, and resumes to take it in itself out of pity. This chapter delves a lot into the topic of social outcasts, and the alienation that sets in them due to the ostracization. We see this with Mozgus’ elite torturers, Luca’s gang of mistresses, The Egg Apostle, and to some extent the Demon Child itself.  Suffering is a recurring motif in the Berserk saga, and the aforementioned subject is one that comes up quite often. It was a central theme in the Lost Children chapter, which much to fans’ dismay was omitted from this adaptation, as well as the steward of the mansion featured in episode 3 of the tv series.

Isidro proves himself as one of the less useless characters of his stature, actually managing to save Casca from the lynch mob. Diving down that height with a non-elastic rope will realistically result in his spine being snapped in half, but given some of Guts antics this comes off as a really minor gripe. There are a lot of characters featured here that do nothing but stand around and gawk, and with the exception of Jerome and Puck to some extent, Isidro at least manages to be active in the proceedings.

Guts cuts through the soul phantasm and makes his way to the tower, and the effects here are again of especially low quality. The bigger the soulmass gets, the uglier the CG looks. We also see Mozgus transform to his true apostle spawn form, which similar to his regular model is quite unremarkable. The Dragonslayer CLANG! does make sense here, but they really should’ve recorded some more sword sound effects. The entirety of the sound mixing of the series is very sub-par, and only the voice acting is of adequate quality. We hear the Skull Knight’s voice-over during the first part of Guts and Mozgus’ battle, and this also comes off as unnecessary since it’s just a reiteration of the same thing he was telling Guts in their earlier encounter.

We see the masses praising Mozgus as an angel who will deliver their salvation, and throughout this whole episode their sheepish nature is highlighted over and over again. I was never a big fan of this trope, and it just happens to be a quite reoccurring theme in anime. Speaking of tropes, Mozgus is saved by his bible, but the somewhat interesting point here is that he is not evil for evil’s sake, but a very misguided true believer. What is absurd however, is that Mozgus is not only adept at using his brand new apostle form and its abilities, but has also somehow managed to name his moves in the little time that he’s had. Guts finishes Mozgus off in a resourceful way, and it was good to see that they included the little detail of him guarding against the explosion the very last second.

Nina continues to be annoying, and I was glad that she was quickly written out of the episode. Guts and Luca are the only characters who remain reasonable throughout this chapter, and their dialogue is pretty much the only interesting ones. This is a problem with the manga as well, and another sad reminder of the superiority of characters and writing during the Golden Age Arc. On that front, there is a sad tender embrace between Guts and a reluctant Casca, which manages to be a brief but poignant moment, although admittedly not by virtue of execution, but rather relying on the backstory of the characters.

Down by the bottom of the tower Azan is engaged in a brave but foolish struggle, and after Mozgus’ demise the ceremony is now well underway. We see that the gang equip themselves with torches, and Farnese finally moves to reassure us that she hasn’t turned into a complete CGI statue. This part is just developing her disillusionment with her faith, and the payoff doesn’t arrive until after the ceremony. There is a quick mention of Serpico not being too fond of fire, which is a nice little nod to later in the story.

This was a fast but utterly unremarkable episode, since the action sequences in the series are not at all handled proficiently. The next episode is “Those Who Cling, Those Who Struggle” and appears to be the final episode of this cour. It is not clear if they are going for a continuous 24 episode season or two separate cours, but I am guessing that there will be a break after the next episode. Well at least things will be a bit clearer by next week, so we’ll have to wait and see where we are headed.

~Bam~

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei – 10

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei

The final battle begins and this show yet again gives me little to work with. It’s funny but being a Fate fan I thought I would be able to go on endlessly about this show with little effort. Yet the pacing of the last few episodes has been dreadfully slow and not a lot has actually happened. That said, what did happen was pretty entertaining. For one our main villain is revealed to not be Darius Ainsworth but instead his son Julius Ainsworth. After being stabbed with Caster’s rule breaker his illusion falls and with it comes what seems to be his original personality. I actually prefer Julius’s now cold serious personality to that of his immense overacting when he was impersonating his father. The question is though, just why was he impersonating his father? Perhaps it as to maintain control of the family after likely killing his own father. What makes this reveal so strange is that this isn’t the first time Julius’s first time appearing as he turns out to be the boy that Beatrix was obsessively fangirling over. She too enters the fray after insinuating that she was just finished enjoying herself and asking to not go into more detail. It’s all too clear just what she was doing but what concerns me is whether all the Ainsworths are related because if so this becomes quite creepy. Well, creepier.

Well I will be damned, Hades really does have a cap of invisibility and here I thought Prisma was making up noble phantasms again. Though the design doesn’t look like it’s from ancient Greece, that’s for certain. What I can say is that it gave Gil some great moments. It’s a pity he’s not taking a more active role but having him bust out Miyu’s brother so the Ainsworths wouldn’t have anything to hold over Miyu was clever. They already knew where he was so getting him out wasn’t a big problem. I do feel bad for Erika this episode as Miyu admitted that she wasn’t her friend but all things considered I understand exactly why Miyu would say that. Erika does not mean any harm but she’s just been too far twisted to really see the wrong in her actions. Seeing her say she would put her trust in Julius just right before getting smothered in what looks like the black mud from the polluted grail was rather heartbreaking. If the parallels to Illya carry true then Erika is likely a holy grail as well so this really doesn’t bode well. Silver Link missed a great chance for some fanservice with servants who failed to get the grail appearing in droves. Come on, we could have had Diarmuid or Castor or Rider show up in mud form but instead we just get a bunch of generic dudes in Armour. Considering the level of power of heroic spirits, there should be no way in hell that Illya and crew should be putting up this much of a fight but we can blame them as being not full manifestations.

Miyu’s brother is revealed and to no one’s surprise it’s alternate universe Shirou. Making an admittedly badass entrance, the boy is ready to hijack the show and I really couldn’t be happier about that. Though I think Sliver Link picked a poor ending point for the episode. Given just thirty more seconds they could have ended this on a much more awesome note. Also it was rather strange to change it so Shirou blocks a hailstorm of arrows on Rin, Bazzet and Luvia because that suggests he can project Rho Aias from a distance. Which I am not certain he can do. The big question is that how is everyone else going to react when the Shirou they know was the lamest version to date compared to what some consider to be the best version of Shirou’s character. It is no joke that Miyuverse Shirou is pretty great as he feels like a combination of Unlimited blade works Shirou and Heaven’s Feel Shirou. He’s almost the halfway point to Archer as evidenced by parts of his skin turning tanned and the small dash of white hair. It’s a pity we won’t see his backstory as that’s for another season. Either way we got a pretty epic battle coming up and I am most certainly ready. Just make sure to play Emiya at one point and this will go marvelously.