Berserk(2016) – 07 [The Black Witch]

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

I apologize for this very late review, but due to circumstances I didn’t have the means of watching the episode, and hence the week-long delay. I’ll try to at least leave a notification in case of such issues in the future, but otherwise will try to keep the posts steady. So let’s get right to it, shall we?

We get a recap of the ending scene of last episode, with the Demon Child warding off the spirits, and in turn making Casca the hailed princess of the cult. It appears that in these times of desperation, the cult members cling to anything that they can praise as a deity. The noteworthy thing here is that Casca shows a maternal instinct for the Child, as she tries to reach for it before it disappears. This stands as a stark contrast to Guts, who sees the child as a curse and an ugly reminder of his past.

Next we have a scene at the camp, with Luca being brave and assertive as ever. I always disliked Nina’s characterization, but she appears to be even more annoying in this series. Her selfish ways are highlighted here in an attempt to create some sort of a character arc for her in the future. The duo’s discussions are interrupted, as they are notified of an impending trial of another one of their compatriots.

Looks like we have ourselves a classic witch hunt here. Not unlike such similar occurrences in reality, these hunts are more about silencing unrest and class warfare than anything else. There are few tools more effective in oppression of a population, than an appeal to divine authority. Thankfully the masquerade is cut short by the sudden appearance of a certain Black Swordsman.  Guts has well established himself as the king of entrances, and this instance is not any different. I really do enjoy his no-nonsense approach to information gathering, and when pushed he proceeds to lay down the authority very swiftly. Fans often forget that Guts is truly an antihero, with his mercenary background defining his sense of morality. He is single-minded in his approach, and not afraid of taking any necessary measures to achieve his goals. I like to note that the digital blood splatters were bearable in this scene, and did little to distract from the action.

Next we have a rush back to the campsite in order to fetch Casca. There is a quick overview of the state of constant fear that has enveloped the camp, as people are quick to sell each other out in order to avoid punishment. The knights’ preoccupation with the situation in Albion can only mean that the news of the full-scale Kushan invasion has not reached their ranks yet. This is exacerbated by the show jumping the gun, and expediting the assault on Windham as early as four episodes ago.

Nina proceeds to panic when Luca doesn’t make it back to the campsite, and makes another stupid decision to seek refuge in the cave of the cultists. I guess this can be excused, since from her perspective the chance of Luca being caught by the knights is actually very high, and this decision is made out of pure desperation. I never liked the “princess is in another castle” shtick, but here it serves to move the plot towards the eventual encounter.

I never fully understood the mechanics of Puck’s visibility to mortals. It was implied that those of closemind and narrow worldview would find it harder to see him, but here we are told that larger crowds further hide his presence. I guess things are more easily concealed when there is more commotion. There is also a shallow attempt at explaining Isidro’s backstory, but given the rapid pacing of the episode this can be excused, as it would’ve bogged down the flow if it was given too much focus. He might be a silly kid, but at least he’s honest and to the point. From his view it definitely seems as if he’s found himself quite a master in Guts, and there’s safety in being under his wing. Little does he know how much of a magnet Guts truly is to danger, and considering that he learned his skills firsthand in a mercenary camp, Gut’s utility as a sword instructor is at the very least highly questionable. Nevertheless, he pursues Nina and Casca towards the cave.

Next there is the reappearance of Joachim, as he spills the bean about the location and activities of the cultists. A soldier also breaks the news of Guts to a visibly shocked Farnese, as the main thing she was trying to avoid has finally come to find her. Her reluctance in facing Guts definitely plays a part in their decision to give priority to hunting the cultists. There is some irony in the fact that the gravitation of the common people to these cults is directly related to their struggles under the Holy See’s oppression. The tighter the grip, the heavier the backlash against it.

We’re welcomed back to the cave, and it seems that this episode has given it a livelier look, as a bright magenta color palette prevails the tone of the scene. There also appears to be some improvements to the textures, with the ground and the cave walls having a more detailed look to them. I personally always enjoyed the symbolism of the crown of thorns that they place on Casca, although I admit that it is more for show than pertaining to anything deep. Nina is being prepared to be sacrificed for the union of the Great Goat and Casca, who as we remember is being worshiped as an idol of the cult. The world of Berserk heavily revolves around the concept of sacrifice. The cave seems to be located within a certain interstice, as a place where the barrier between the physical world and the astral realm is particularly weak. This is further intensified by the presence of Casca, which yet again summons the ghosts of those who were sacrificed to possess the cultists.

Next we get a full-on zombie brawl, as the Iron Chain Knights converge on the location of the cave. Well, in reality it’s more of a slaughter than an actual battle. I like to take the time to say that I really enjoy the design of the visor on Farnese’s helmet, here portrayed with an even more exaggerated length than the manga. Isidro proves his worth, as he buys some time until Puck can fly and get Guts. It is revealed that the Great Goat is not really of any supernatural essence, but just a man donning a ceremonial goat head. This quickly changes as the Egg Apostle sires the Great Goat, and makes him a true apostle-spawn. I’ll be getting into the Egg Apostle’s story in later reviews.

I seriously thought that what ensues will be toned down, but lo and behold, we are greeted to yet another demonic rape attempt. I guess after the infamous Rape Horse I should be expecting the series to stick close to these specific elements of the source material. Here we have some familiar workaround female nudity, as well as a peculiar censorship of some violence. I think this is a good place to delve a little bit into the strange censorship laws placed on the Japanese media. The regulations regarding anime censorship are strangely specific, with varying levels of rationalizations. There is much leeway in the graphic portrayal of violence when the subject is considered “otherworldly”. This means that a zombie, monster, or any evil creature can be shown to be straight ripped apart, while human victims need to be toned down to either simple stabbing or details being subject to black bars and omissions. There are similar laws regarding nudity, and more specifically the male reproductive organ. As Toshio Maeda of Urotsukidōji fame came to realize back in the 80’s, a regular human penis can under no circumstance be portrayed in media, while any phallic or “penis-like appendage” is completely acceptable under article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan. And hence, the inclusion of the snake penis.

As things seem to be reaching a critical level, we are greeted to another badass Guts entrance, this time in the form of what can only be called a ‘Batman moment’. He emerges from the shadows, swiftly maneuvering down to the pit, and making mince-meat out of the possessed cultists. The Dragonslayer dances with little resistance, as the cavelight gives a Sword of Moonlight blue hue to its blade. As we get passed the nasty goat circumcision, we are thrilled by a much-awaited reunion of our two estranged lovers, as their meeting gaze speaks much more than anything that could be uttered here.

Overall this one was a faster, denser, and dare I say better episode than the last few that we’ve had in Albion. There are many confrontations in store, and the stage is nearly set for one of the most iconic moments in the history of Berserk. I have my work cut out for me, as I’m jumping right into the next review as soon as this one is posted. Stay tuned for more, as I rush to make up for lost time.

~Bam~

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei – 07

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

Oh the sweet sweet irony. Well I believe this qualifies for dramatic irony. You know what, I don’t care if it’s technically irony or not. I am calling it ironic. Though why is it ironic? Well the reason for that is that in this episode Illya had her soul transferred to a doll which exactly mirrors a bad end of the original Fate/Stay Night visual novel. Here in the Fate route, Illya captured Shirou and offered him a deal to become her servant. You are given a choice to accept this offer but if you do then Illya will take Shirous soul out of his body and place it in a doll. On the grounds that now he can be with her forever…as a doll. This is something that makes Erika interesting as she is a representation of what Illya could become. She holds the same kind of skewed morality that Illya does in the main series though in her case her motives are far less malicious. A small scene was left out here of her reacting to how Miyu cried over her showing Illya’s body. Going from joy before slowly feeling ashamed when Miyu didn’t react the way she thought she would. Luvia and Rin are back and even without minds they are bothering others. They annoyed Beatrix to the extent that she went and revealed how to turn them back when she refused to punch them because it would make them go back.

A lot of humor this episode as it mainly details the misadventures of Illya who has been transformed into a doll. It could be my bias speaking but I thought it was quite amusing, particularly Gil reacting to Chloe bursting into his room.  Always magnificent, that fellow is. He even remarked that upon getting his adult self back the first one he would kill is Chloe, which considering how he is in adult form may indeed not be a joke. Though some jokes didn’t quite hit such as the obligatory big boobs vs flat chests joke and Beatrix’s room was more strange than humorous. So the violent girl swinging around the hammer of a god is also a ravenous fangirl for a guy named Julian. The disconnect is rather off putting but I guess we now know why Rei Kugimiya was chosen to voice her. Still regardless of whether the joke is funny or not, Illya’s reaction always tends to get a smile out of me. Speaking of which it seems they first planned to brainwash her before putting her into a doll but couldn’t because Illya was hiding her consciousness in a place which seems to be suggested to be where Choles personality used to reside. The theory that she may in fact be her real personality is starting to get some weight. We are entering the second half of the series and likely when the action is going to kick up a notch. I will admit that this isn’t quite a good as I was hoping but all things considered, as long as a certain part is done well then I will be happy enough.

Mob Psycho 100 – 06

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

It a beginning of a dark path for Ritsu as his own inadequacies are pushing him in a direction that won’t end well for him. Part of the problem is the student council president whom is called Shinji. He happens to remind me of another Shinji in another series who had an equally punchable face and crushing superiority complex. But while Mob is depressed over losing control last episode, his brother is becoming more frustrated as his abilities fail to meet his expectations. Mob may be the main reason for this as when he was a child he foolishly promised his brother that someday he too would have psychic powers which unfortunately didn’t turn out to be the case. Perhaps a testament that relation does not equal skill, nor should people expect a person to inherit the qualities of their family. In fact expectation may be the subtitle of this episodes theme as we see it presented throughout. Ritsu is frustrated because people have great expectations of him when he himself feel inadequate. The student council president is expected to match the level set by his older brother. Finally a innocent person is framed of a crime simply because it is something they expected him to do.

Under the grounds of removing delinquency from the school, Shinji and Ritsu frame Tenga by placing girls recorders in his desk and bag. The rest follows suit as mob mentality takes hold and he is left unable to defend himself simply because no one actually believes he wouldn’t do it. It’s more tragic when you see that Tenga may not be as bad a person as first thought when he has a perfect attendance record up to this point and even tries to awkwardly apologize to Mob for tricking him into getting kidnapped by Black Vinegar delinquents. Not to mention him starting to run with the body improvement club and actually starting to enjoy it. But after this he will likly be mistakenly labeled as a prevert for the rest of his school life. It really goes to show the level of cruelty people can display if given the opportunity and shield of anonymity.

Seigan is back fooling the gullible but I find his antics much more fun when his clients are far more reprehensible than he is. One thing quite amusing about the scene though was that when the client was threatening Seigan to reveal a 13 letter password, Seigan responded with “GetAJobYouBum” which actually is 13 letters exactly. In other wannabe esper territory Ritsu paid a visit to a lab dedicated to researching psychic powers. Besides him being greatly underwhelmed by the level of power of the subjects, it did reveal that he manages to unknowingly twist a spoon when he threw it away which does suggest that Ritsu has a level of psychic power that he’s not aware of. Looks like things plan to get more troublesome as DImple is back and looks to have taken an interest in Ritsu. Perhaps the next foe Mob will have to face is his own brother?

91 Days – 06

by AidanAK47, posted in 91 Days, Currently Watching:

I would say this is the strongest episode so far of 91 Days as it essentially revolves around what makes Mafia drama at it’s best. Betrayals, scheming and deceit are what fuels organised crime and what a scheme this was. When looking at the three family leaders I suppose it’s no surprise that Orco is the first to be knocked off. After all the Galassias still hold the reign of the Vanettis and the Vanettis can’t go down until Avilio has his revenge. They used the fact that they have something that Orco wants and I particularly liked how they kept presenting him with risky handouts that turned out to not be genuine. This really caused him to relax his guard and when it came time to drink the real drugged drink he downed it without hesitation. Not to mention Avilio revealing himself to Orco in order to gain his trust. Thus the full plan comes into play.

To lure Orco to the distillery, fool him into thinking Avilio betrayed Nero and drug him with a congratulatory drink. How this was presented is really how any anime should handle a good plan. No inner monologues before or after the act to perfectly spell out what Avilio was thinking and only slight clues alluding to what he intended. One small line about gathering Chickens was enough to figure out where they got the blood to fake Neros death and because we didn’t know the full particulars of the plan we were as in the dark as Orco was. It gave a chance for the audience to be fooled along with him while giving a reward to those who paid close enough attention. Now if only Shounen battle anime could take this to heart and realise that maybe we don’t need someone mentally choreographing an enemy’s moves to understand what’s going on. Maybe in a manga that’s necessary but in a show it’s just a pacing killer.

This may be the first time Fango’s craziness has actually benefited the show as he takes notes from Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus and feeds the remains of the Orco Head to the family members. Now I see why previous episodes put such focus on how the Orco leader had a obsession with perfecting Lasagna. This does show just how putting this guy in the top position is a really bad idea though as Fango is far too impulsive to be trusted. The test he gave Nero before accepting his deal is evidence enough that he’s far too unpredictable to keep a stable partnership. He’s playing along for now because it benefits him but the moment it suits him to have Nero killed or even if for a moment he just feels like killing him, he will not hesitate.

Plus as Avilio pointed out, Fangos enemies are now their enemies. Knowing Fango, he’s bound to have made a lot of enemies. As far as I am concerned I think Fango  is a ticking time bomb ready to self destruct so it’s really a matter of whether this is part of Avilios plan or merely a temporary deal to give him time to plan. Maybe he intends to get Nero involved with someone ready to run the family into the ground and abandon him when things get truly dire. A question I ask when I finish the episode is whether the lasagna Avilio and Nero were eating is the same as the one fed to the family members. Knowing Fango, he would be twisted enough to present them with it without them knowing.

orange – 07

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Orange

This episode is a winner. It hits all the right notes on what make orange so appealing. Upon knowing that Kakeru will attempt his first suicide after talking to his Tokyo friends over the weekend, Suwa and Naho confront him and tell him not to go. Kakeru is an insecure kid, he’s deeply troubled by the death of his mom, blames himself for what happened and is unable to talk about his problems to his friends. But as Suwa points out correctly, close friends are supposed to share pain together, and his mistake was not his fault. I once had a real friend who told me that she had thought about attempt suicide and it was nasty. The real ugliness of it is once you had it, the thought of suicide never leaves you away and there’s always an urge that push you to do it whenever you feel depressing. Kakeru can only get better if he can be able to talk about it and let his regrets all out. The last sequence is a very nice moment, and I tip my hat off to the direction of that sequence. When Suwa confronts Kakeru, there’s no music cue between those exchanges and it’s the silence that makes us feel the tension and weight behind each conversations. Talking about these things is never easy but at least all three can be able to speak out what they really want.

Suwa steps up to become a big bro for the group. I mentioned last week that I had my concern about feeling cheated if all Suwa did was just followed what were written in the letters. Well, he did follow the letters but thank god the show never sells him short. The thing is that Suwa is not a selfless kid who pull back his feeling to see Naho and Kakeru happy. He did it for the sake of them, yes, but he also did it for his sake as well. It’s a hard role for him but he can pull it off because he’s the most mature and most emotionally honest of the group. There’s still unclear if the rest of the cast also receives the letters like Suwa and Naho did, but they fulfill their supporting roles very well this week. Scenes when they asking Kakeru what he wants for his birthday, or when they stand up to protect Naho from Ueda (Ueda sadly remains the only sore thumb in this episode) are all genuine that showcase their great care towards the leads. And I love the way the two girls stand behind the door, overhearing the sincere conversations from the leads. That small moment speaks more than thousand words, and suddenly they become much more layered in that single moment than they were for the last 6 episodes. Yes, those friends might not be the ones who could change things significantly, but they will always be there whenever you need them.

You might have notice that in previous posts I didn’t discuss much about the romance between Naho and Kakeru, mostly because I found it the most ordinary aspect of orange. Although they share great chemistry together, there’s no denying that “boy gets girl” part is the most cliché part of them all. But even so, this week’s moments between them are goddamn effective. The reason why Naho and Kakeru in the original timeline couldn’t get together was because they were unable to express their feeling to each other. Kakeru always hides his feeling deep down, and Naho is too nervous to say what she really thinks. In this timeline, however, with the help of Suwa and all these friends, Kakeru has a chance to confess to her and she replies him back. Call me cheesy but I found the flowers scenes are heartfelt. They were used twice but each sequence conveys different feeling. When the adult Naho receives the flowers from Suwa, it feels deeply poignant, but when the young Naho accepts the flowers from Kakeru and his confession to her, it feels sweet and genuine. On other notes, there are many nice visual motifs in this episode: the flowers, butterfly (butterfly effect?) and the fluid-est scene transition that fit to the opening credit (go see it!). Based only from this episode, things are about to get better after Kakeru confesses his deepest regrets, but I’m not sold. The theme and the tone of orange always firmly head towards the melodrama territory, so things going to be sad. I’m for once keen to see how they pull this off but at least this episode is a solid example of what orange can do best.

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 20

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

“For a rat, Poison. For a White Whale, a harpoon. To our Honorable Dragon we are, Shitbags”

The above was actually the first time the white whale was mentioned in this series, way back in the second part of episode one. This was the password Felt said to gain entry to Roms shack. The first line makes me wonder if there is a rat mabeast giving the kingdom an equal amount of trouble. This was a pretty great episode. So much so that I will even forgive the music at the start of the episode blatantly robbing part of the Melody of the Chrono Trigger Theme. Todays episode focused on the battle against the White Whale and on the past of Wilhelm who was likely channeling the spirit of King Bradley from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Wilhelm when it came to fighting but I certainly wasn’t expecting him to jump on the thing and slice it up in what could be considered completely ridiculous yet strangely awesome at the same time. Goes to show that in this universe everyone is truly ten times more powerful than Subaru.

Even an old man, or more specifically an old man’s wife make Subaru seem like average Villager A. The flashback to Wilhelms younger days honestly would make for an interesting story on it’s own and there is a extra novel detailing how he and his wife meet and fell in love. Still the small scenes give us a decent idea of what exactly happened and I quite regret that Theresia is dead seeing as she is quite likeable. I wonder if it’s going to be a thing from now on for Re:Zero to make every side female character deeper and more interesting than the main Heroine? Emilia, you are going to need some serious development to catch up here.

We have the reveal of not only Wilhelm’s wife but Satella the jealous witch makes a brief but long awaited first appearance. When Subaru tries to tell someone about his power in order to draw the White Whales attention, Sattella appears over his shoulder with only her lips visible. She mouths the words “I love you” before disappearing. Seems she’s quite taken with Subaru but that’s likely not a good thing. It’s been pointed out previously in the series that if the Jealous witch takes an interest in you then it will only lead to bad things. In this case she isn’t just interested in Subaru, she’s outright enamored with him much to Betelgeuse’s dismay. White Fox have taken the costly move of not resorting to CGI to animate the white whale and I certainly thank them for it. CGI is still recognised as such no matter how well it is done and will truly never quite match the level of a 2D animated object.

The animation of this episode was quite brilliant and the fight was exhilarating with a nice exchange of blows between both parties. At first I was worried that the White whale would go down without much of a fight considering how much of a beating the army were giving it. But they managed to show just why this thing is so dangerous once it summoned its fog. It was similar to a raid fight in an MMO as all members of the army jumped into to attack in waves. The more damage they inflicted on this thing, the more dangerous it gets. Summoning the fog to hide, blasting people out of existence, making people go insane with it’s roars and pulling out it’s final and most dangerous card by episodes end. This thing knows how to put up a fight and I certainly would love to give it a fight in Monster Hunter if they ever made a tribute to it.

The beginning of this battle started off with such hope and perhaps I should have seen that this being Re:Zero, things were going far too well. At episode’s end it makes me wonder if this is a dead end for Subaru and he may need to come back to this battle with new reinforcements. Perhaps he needs Priscilla to give him a hand and maybe Felt can manage to get Reinhart to join the faye. Fairly certain he could make short work of this beast but as Wilhelm pointed out, his wife shouldn’t have been killed by this creature if it was only this strong. He’s right in that regard as based on how much Wilhelm was ripping it apart, his wife would have made short work of it. But then the answer comes with the episode’s cliffhanger. That there is not a White Whale but instead White Whales.

Considering that the army threw everything they had and couldn’t even kill one this truly doesn’t bode well for Subaru. Even Wilhelm is out of the running now but something tells me he isn’t dead quite yet. That whale swallowed him whole and I think he would be able to cut his way out. So once again this series leaves me thirsting for more as we get a new ending sequence that likely won’t be put to much use in the last few episodes. In fact we managed to get an opening and ending in an episode for once which is good yet somewhat disappointing. The next episode likely will end the battle with the white whale but one must wonder how much trouble the Witches cult after this will give Subaru seeing as the White Whale most likely wouldn’t leave anyone ready to help take them down.

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 3rei – 06

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

At the moment I must admit that the Ainsworths are not a particularly interesting antagonists. They are a good addition in that Prisma Illya has an antagonist rather that Zwei which generally had to throw in a makeshift one to take up time. However the Ainsworths as they are now are just evil people being evil for the sake of being evil. THere is likely a better method to their madness but they do come across as rather one dimensional. This episode mainly serves to introduce Darius who has his own meta way of looking at the situation. Claiming the situation to be an act in a play with Illya and co being the stars of the show. He pulls several made up noble phantasms out of nowhere and proceeds to introduce himself to Illya. I will admit that locking himself and Illya in a ice dome with limited air was particularly dark for him. He has pretty much shown the group just how outclassed they are in terms of combat strength so as an obstacle to Miyu’s rescue he works great. However he will need more development on his objective and character to truly stand out as a villain.

The action in this episode was decently animated however I can’t say the action scenes themselves were great. For having the villain just one sidedly beat the heroes doesn’t make a good action sequence. This is the main reason why Bleach’s whole Aizen battle failed so miserably as a climatic showdown. A battle is interesting when both fighters are pushed to their limits and there is an exchange of blows. If one fighter is never injured, never has to try and always has the upper hand then there is no tension. Thus no real interest. Though One Punch Man may be an exception to this rule but even then those battles put Saitama in interesting situations to compensate. Those noble phantasms make Darious a bit overpowered and as Gilgamesh pointed out that the Noble Phantasms he used were not items from his treasury and therefore not real Noble Phantasms. So essentially our villain can pull any power he wants narrative wise and  considering that Noble Phantasms are ridiculously overpowered as it is, this means the heroes are going to have to pull some major weapon out to get on an even playing field.

Sliver Link, was there really a need to make that scene with Miyu even more awkward? My memory of the manga might be a little foggy but I am certain that scene wasn’t quite so…suggestive. Sort of reminds me of that scene in the second Gurren Lagann Movie where they made the anti-spirals treatment of Nia well…suggestive. That really doesn’t make sense. Alright if the point is to get across that Darius is a serious asshole then I am certain the stabbing and draining of Miyu’s blood would have accomplished that. Having him insinuate so much and those camera angles just seems to be fan service for a very select fetish group. Miyu and Erika’s relationship seems a complex one as Erika really can’t seem to see the evil in her family. She’s not a bad girl but she doesn’t quite realise just what kind of horrible things are being done to Miyu and why everyone is trying to save her. She has a kind of childish cruelty. Still despite my gripes with this episode, I appreciate that we are getting more action. The last two episodes were veering towards Zwei territory again and I was starting to get worried.

Neon Genesis Evangelion – 03

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Neon Genesis Evangelion

Let me just start by apologizing for the delay of this post. I guess the only privilege of covering a retrospective show is you can cover it any time you want. I kid, I kid. The truth is I just binge-watched many series so I don’t have time to do this review. While I’m enjoy writing reviews, it’s no secret that it has eaten most of my free time and sometimes I miss a good old time when I still have time to watch everything and not to worry about review. Anyways, my ranting ends now and I hope I will review this piece more frequently. Now, moving on.

This episode shows us another facet of being a hero. It’s not all shine and glory, and Shinji proves to be as atypical a hero as you could imagine. Told through the point of view of new Shinji’s new classmates Toji and Kensuke, Shinji at first appears as a thorn to their eyes. His sudden spotlight for being the one who save the city strikes a wrong note to those guys, and to make it worse Toji’s sister was injured from that fight, something which he blames for the fault of the hero. To add salt to the wound, Shinji himself confesses that he did not choose to protect the city. Seriously if I were Toji, I would not stop with just one punch. Shinji’s submissive seriously gets on my nerve! But when the Angel attacks again, Toji and Kensuke has a real chance to witness what it really means to be a hero and save the world. It’s all messy. Eiji got suffered, both physically and mentally. It’s a life and death matter where you could end up death with just one wrong move. Shinji pushes himself to the limit that it borders on insanity. Kudos Gainax for creating a battle that gripping, on-the-edge and terrified, instead of going over the top like most mecha action sequences tend to do.

The original Japanese title really nails another theme of this episode. “The Phone that Never Rings” best described about Shinji’s character. The more I think about it the more I see him not really fitted for this type of job. He’s a loner, he’s submissive (look at the way he talks to himself “aim in the middle”) and worse he sees no point for himself to fight. Even in his normal school life, he has no friend. As I mentioned above the battle was gripping because we witness Shinji nearly breaks down, but the worst thing of them all is the whole mess is still working. As we learn in consequential theory, if one still produce a desired result then nothing is needed to worry about, right? In this case not in a long shot. If Shinji keeps pushing himself like that, eventually he’ll break. Everyone breaks, it’s biology; as they say in the (in)famous torture scene in Zero Dark Thirty. Seriously I think saving the world is too much a burden for our Shinji. Not that I blame him really since it’s already a very obscure idea to rely on 14-year-old kids to fight the alien. Well, we still have plenty to go but as far as 3 episodes, EVA has already established its strong grasp on the ruined and shattered theme. This time I will try to get the next episode review quicker so stay tune. Until then!

Thunderbolt Fantasy – 06

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Thunderbolt Fantasy

I imagine those of you who expect Thunderbolt Fantasy a full-blown action series, the first half of this week would prove to be a disappointment. There’s too much talking and the plot just floats upon a river, slowly crawls into its destination. But really Thunderbolt Fantasy never intend to be a true-ish action show, the staffs go for it knowing full well it’s a campy B-genre show. They really understand that the band of misfits is a real stars of the show (as oppose to the attention-catching premise which is a puppetry wuxia show written by Gen Urobuchi) and as a result the show spends a considerable amount of time just for the characters interacting with each other. I’m fairly content with it because if the show just relies on its gimmick, it will wear off very quickly. Thankfully again, when the actions indeed kick in, it’s a feast to the eyes. There’s way too much explosions and gores actions (in a puppetry form to boost) that you would never see in anything else, anime-wise.

Our main character Shang Bu Huan, having the same state of mind as myself, has doubt about Gui Niao’s true intention in this whole affair (frankly, offer his head to secure the magic flute shows how desperate he is) and literally spends a good first half talking to everyone in the group. By the end of those talks he never gets the answer he wants to know, but instead learns two most valuable lessons: that his comrades have different sets of personality and they surely don’t look eye-to-eye in almost everything, and that everyone never trust each other, especially against our main character. The only things those people have in common are they’re going to retrieve the sacred sword, and Gui Niao. He’s a tape that stick everyone together and making them perform their roles. Whatever his intention will be, I’m really amazed the way he pulls all the strings behind the scene. Now, I have a theory about the intention of Gui Niao, and that has something to do with the information we gathered this week. It’s about the divided countries of Xi You and Dong Li. From the information we gained there was a sorcery of the demons that formed the Wasteland of Spirits, that split the two countries for almost 200 years. I come to believe that gaining the sacred sword, plus the fact that Shang Bu Huan come from Xi You, there is a fair chance of them to undo the effect of black magic, get rid of that Wasteland, and unite the two nations.

But to give more attention to our group also means that the enemy side gets undeveloped. We hardly see any of them long enough to have any impression, nor do we care much about them. For now, they are just too bland. It’s interesting to note about the character designs of the villains. Besides their black clothes, they don’t look as “evil” as some members of our groups. And I didn’t expect the main boss Mie Tian Hai appears to soon to fight off the group, so his appearance either will limit to talk to our allied group in the next episode (get right to the show’s comfort zone), or he is not the boss at all. From the way the show keeps delving on the nature of all the “archetype” characters (like the demon lady is not quite evil, but actually a bit elegant; or the “sheltered young lady” is the one who sees positive things most characters tend to overlook), I expect a bit of deconstruction on the main boss. Hopefully we will know more about him next week. Overall, Thunderbolt Fantasy’s still going strong. I really enjoy all the gestures and mannerisms each of the possess and hilarious lines like “let’s put aside a cultural difference for now” (when the characters talking about demon and human) are always welcome in any show.

Quick Announcement: Direction, Writers, and Content

by K-Off, posted in Special Articles

I never expected the site would come this far to where I’d feel the need to make an announcement – but here we are, and it’s only right to let you know what’s happening behind the scenes with the site. So as a public service, this is meant to inform all of you who don’t frequently visit our chatbox as to where the site is going, and the gradual changes that you can expect over the coming months.

When the first wave of new writers after psgels (including Aidan, Ninjarealist, and myself) came onboard, we did so fully intending to never deviate too far from the kind of content that Psgels had always maintained since the site’s days on Blogsome in 2005, and for the most part, that still holds true – we’re very consistent with episodic reviews, on top of the usual Seasonal Previews, and anything before them. However, we realize that we can’t limit ourselves to what we consider “playing safe,” and that it really doesn’t hurt to try something new for a change. As a result, the influx of all kinds of original content has reflected that. Besides, whether it was SuperMario’s Versus Show, Aidan’s Manga Spotlight, or my Game Reviews, the positive feedback from you guys, long-timers or not, have continued to encourage us in our efforts to improve the blog in our own ways. So, as far as content goes, you can expect a lot more interesting takes on the site like the Versus Show, on top of the usual seasonal content.

Lastly, you’ve probably noticed that the site has been in a constant state of construction with the chatbox over the past few days, but it’s an extension of our efforts to modernize the site. There’s still some tweaks to be made here and there with the entire site in general (for example, the site eats up A LOT of cpu and the chat needs more work), but I’ll be working with everyone, including Psgels, in order to clean up the site’s coding over the next few months. This really is a site you can fully customize from top to bottom, so if you have a suggestion for a new feature, please don’t hesitate to throw some ideas our way.