Some Quick First Impressions: Momokuri, First Love Monster and Days

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Momokuri

Short Synopsis:  Girl has a crush on boy, girl begins to stalk boy, girl decides to confess to boy. Naturally the boy accepts it. The show chronicles their love story.

They really need to make clear what is a Tv short and a full series before they start airing. Well today’s lesson dear readers is simple, stalking isn’t cute. It’s creepy. A girl becomes obsessed with a boy and proceeds to do all the things a stalker would. Takes pictures of him when he’s not aware, spies on him, knows way too much about him and even holds items used by him in certain reverence. Despite her confessing to him and it being accepted she still can’t quite get rid of her old stalking habits which pretty much makes that the main joke. It’s not really funny and I am not fond of the idea of somewhat romanticising obsession. The characters aren’t really all that interesting and it’s focus seems to be on being cute more than being funny. I say give this a pass as there are better school romances this season.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

This is actually an ONA and its episodes are just 13 minutes long. With that said, throughout the two episodes there’s only one hook from the show: that the two main characters decided to date together, the rest stretches out to how the girl becomes obsessed of the boy, and their shyness when being together. For me 20 minutes of doing just that is simply not enough, and I don’t find the lead endearing or anything. The only thing that I give a plus for this show is we get to know how each other feel, even the supporting ones, through their voice-over and it somewhat balances out the seemingly one-note first love story. But then again I don’t have any high hopes for this one.

Potential: 10%

 

First Love Monster

Short Synopsis: Girl was saved from a car accident by a boy and she immediately has a crush on him. After she asks to date him, she finds out he’s a primary school student.

There’s nothing quite as tragic as a unfunny comedy. The manga gave me the impression this would be a more straightforward shoujo show but the anime looks to be pushing for a more slapstick comedy approach. In regards to that it’s lacking a sense of dignity as the second half of the episode delves into humor so juvenile that it’s downright embarrassing. I get that the joke is that these children in teenager bodies are acting immature and childish but I suggest maybe not resorting to kids toilet humor. What’s more the actually maturity of these “kids” is questionable as one hand you have them talking about their wieners and then on the other you have them commenting about how the main guy could be cuckold which is certainly not something a kid would know. The first half had me yawning  and the second half had me shaking my head. This isn’t worth your time.

Potential: 0%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

And talking about first love, we have this one in its extreme spectrum that speaks so much about “crush”. The premise alone is stupid enough, and yes the show goes for full comedy so it means that they don’t take themselves seriously; but to see the kid starts to do all kiddie things, and worst of all they design them to look like a teen who wear kid’s clothes and doing kiddie things, it just sends me chills down my spines. All other characters tick all the box of archetype and anime tropes here so I don’t see any reason that I would spend more time with it.

Potential: 0%

 

Days

Short Synopsis: A boy who clueless about football decides to join a football club.

This is all pretty standard for this kind of sports anime. A clueless newbie joins a sport where he must be shown the ropes. Gains a deep passion and camaraderie with fellow players. And to the world of that show the only thing worth giving a damn is the sport it’s representing. In this case, football. I find it somewhat endearing as it makes the sport look as dynamic and lively as a football match somehow resembles a superhuman showdown with overblown sound effects and overdramatic reactions. Still there is a certain draw to this kinds of shows and I would be lying if I said I didn’t get drawn in partly. It’s simple but effective though the motto of try very hard and you will succeed is one I see as quite foolish. As a certain sportsman once said, “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” It’s no Giant Killing but if you are looking for something watchable in between shows this is not a bad choice to go with.

Potential: 50%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

I have to say I have a soft spot for sports anime, mainly because a) I have a sport background and b) I had read many sports manga during my childhood. Days sadly appears to be typically underdog football show, where the main character is weak, don’t even know much about football so he has to try harder to be on the team, and his “pushing himself to the limit” attitude gonna inspire the whole team. There seems to be at least inspirational story but I had seen this many times before and for this episode the show doesn’t offer anything different. I’d say I like the character’s designs and I like how they include futsal here (they don’t often portray futsal in anime) but that’s all there is to it.

Potential: 20%

Some Quick First Impressions: Berserk, Relife and Rewrite

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Berserk

Short Synopsis: After being betrayed by a dear friend, the black swordsman ventures out for revenge while surviving the demons chasing after him.

Let’s get this out of the way first, yes indeed. This show is ugly. It keeps switching between 2d stills and janky 3d animated models that look like a Playstation 2’s throwup. It never truly allowed me to adjust because the quality of the show was all over the place and thus I was left being nagged that after nearly twenty years without a continuation, Berserk is graced with this visual abomination. But to be fair it was expected considering the studio. Music felt equally off in some places as instead of medieval themed pieces we are graced with heavy guitar and what seems to be some electronic rock? The tune played when Guts swung his sword at the tree demon was especially jarring.  Let’s move on to what matters, the story. This episode didn’t fair well in that category either as the pacing was fast and wonky. This wasn’t a faithful adaption as the studio wishes to skip some story arcs to jump right into the conviction arc, so it’s hastily trying to gather the pieces together instead of letting it flow naturally. I am a good bit disappointed as one of my favorite arcs, Lost children is going to be skipped but we are short in time when it comes to this. But there are parts of this that held some potential, Guts dream sequence was done very well and I rather liked the end with Guts making a declaration and silencing the demons whispering to him. The original Berserk anime in 1997 also had a shaky first episode and I am hoping that once this settles into the arc proper, it will begin to shine.

Potential: 40%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

The long awaited Berserk has finally arrived with new material. I am a bit worry about the amount of CGI when I first heard about it but now after watching it I’d say the CGI is pretty serviceable. In term of actual story, this is more like a self-contained story to show us more about Guts and his curses, about the way he unfortunately has to walk on, paved with skulls and dead bodies of the weak and innocents. I’ll say we will get into the actual arc when the next episode kicks in. The biggest drawback for me in this episode is the overall tone, which they mix between gritty, harsh, dark material with the light-heart comedy, and frankly it feels very awkward. All the out-of- place comedy involves Puck so I’m a bit worry since he will be prominent from now on. The fighting sequence, like I mentioned earlier, still holds much tension and at least the CGI don’t distract the atmosphere. That aside I think we pretty have a solid new episode of Berserk and I’m hungry for more.

Potential: 70%

 

Relife

Short Synopsis: A 27 year old man is given a chance to relive his high school life.

Well despite this being only an impression of the first episode, I am surprised to say that you can view the entirely of the Relife anime right now.  All 13 episodes are available now to view on crunchyroll, making this the very first anime to begin and finish airing on the same day. Whether this is a blessing or a curse is up in the air for me as it’s great to have the full series at hand now but in that case how am I supposed to blog it? If this becomes the norm for anime I may be out of the job. Anyway what we have here is a pretty much perfect adaption of the Relife comic. It’s looks great and has captured the comedy of the series perfectly. As a man in my twenties I can certainly relate to Kaizaki’s troubles with finding work as it really wasn’t that long ago where I was a NEET myself. Can’t say I ever lied about having a job to friends though but man, that was rough. My own personal feelings may be heightening my enjoyment of the show as I can sympathise with the main character so much. However I truly feel like this is quite a good school life show and from ratings of the series as a whole, it looks to stay that way. An enjoyable little show and I give it a higher rating because you can binge right through it all now.

Potential: 90%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

Although the concept about a failed adult has a chance to return to his high school life has been done to death at this point, most glaringly we just had ERASED few seasons back, there’s still meat behind this show so I’m eager to see more from this. The first thing that this series done right is to make Arata the main protagonist as relatable as possible, and his failure from his current life is something that most of us has been through. 28-year-old without a proper job, still relies on parent’s allowance and see all his friends has been settled down is not a pretty picture. The second thing the show is really good at, despise just this first episode, is the power of the cast. Just in about 10 minutes I feel like I’ve learnt about most of the cast, all their traits and the chemistry so far is rock solid. With that said, the gags about Arata being under-prepared, his sometimes silly reactions don’t do well to me, and judging from the first episode here I can see that comedy is not this show’s strong suits.

Potential: 75%

 

Rewrite

Short Synopsis: Something something, murderous little girl with ribbons, something something, high school, something something, fairies and giant squid monster.

If it’s something I say this adaption isn’t botched like I was expecting though the animation could certainly be better. But I suspect that any viewer watching this is bound to be very confused. I will say I am not fond of the choice to just use the soundtrack of the visual novel for the anime, even if I do admit that Maeda is a fine composer if nothing else. The visual novel tracks were meant more for a reading experience and hearing them in the anime felt too intrusive and sudden. There is nothing wrong with the tracks themselves but it’s clear they are being shoehorned into the anime scenes.While the show isn’t making any effort to explain itself I admit that the supernatural elements lend a certain mystique to the anime and act as a good hook. As a forty minute first episode, it did it’s job. However I give this a low rating namely because I know what’s to come and the end of the episode is perfect indicator of that. First we go into the old typical Key comedy and school life first half and then things are gonna get weird. Sorry I mean weirder. Still annoys me how Key heroines tend to act more like kindergarteners than high school girls and the hints of mystery bug me because I know the answers and those answers are pretty dumb. You may get some enjoyment out of this if you happen to be a Key fan but I recommend that you keep your expectations low.

Potential: 30%

 

Mario’s thoughts:

We have a double-length first episode and they use these 50 minutes just to set everything up. I guess this is an essential part of time-loop series, just like Re:Zero last season where the first few episodes just to set things up, get us to know all the main characters and then wait for the plot kicks in. In that respect, there are still ways too many characters get introduced in this first episode, while the main hook still hasn’t presented. There are some underlying bits that will be relevance in future episodes: like the very nature of our main character, Kotarou; or the setting place itself, it seems like there is something going on behind those factories; and I especially like the first opening of displaying the ruined city and it’s interested to see how that part connected to the main storyline. On other notes, the character designs of making every one “cute” annoys the hell out of me, and I can’t even get behind these uniforms: it’s more like a maid uniform for all I care. In all, I’m not quite convinced with this first episode but I’ll give it a 3-episode test to see if it can still hold up.

Potential: 40%

Flying witch Review – 86/100

by SuperMario, posted in Anime Reviews, Flying Witch, Reviews by SuperMario

As I mentioned in one of my weekly posts, most of the reason why a slice-of-life anime show don’t work well is not because there’s nothing happen, but more because the cast isn’t interesting enough or the show tends to repeat the things that we already know. I’m happy to say that this is not the case for Flying witch. Flying witch has all the elements good slice-of-life shows have and moreover it presents itself as one of the finest in the genre in years. The slow and deliberate pacing and the strong sense of atmosphere maybe the whole reason why people keep coming back to watch it.

Story-wise, the show focuses on two main themes: the first theme is how Makoto the witch learns and lives her rural country lives. There are segments that as mundane as possible: Makoto learns to plant, the cast cooks hamburger, they go for herb-picking or thinning the apple trees. But the details they put in both show how they really care about the process, and help maintaining the relaxing atmosphere till the end. In Flying witch world, time will pass and people may get old, but growing plant, eating hot cakes and wandering around might be the best ways to spend your day. The second theme is to produce a mix of magical realism in this everyday life. By introducing new characters: The Harbinger, another witch, the witchcraft, the witch café or at the end the flying whale and Earthfish, the show showcases a sense of wonder, a touch of magic that feels almost like, well, actual magic. It helps that the introduced characters are endearing and have a very easy chemistry, they are both display on how each of us is different and have different purpose from each other, but ultimately we are all part of mother nature.

Aside from the atmosphere, the cast is easily one of the highlights of the show. Rarely in anime that I see a cast who feel really natural and thus, true to life like our friends around us. Chinatsu, for example, acts exactly like how 12-year-old girl would act. Her ever curiosity, her excited over whenever she encounters new things, are so natural and exactly herself. Chito the cat acts like any normal cat would, and then some. Indeed, one of the greatest strength of the show is how everyone in the cast are so consistent, yet each episode we could learn something new about them. Like we only learn that Nao is so clueless in kitchen on the last half of the show, or until the second encounter that we learn Anzu is really knowledgeable about history. Each of the cast also fits in the shows perfectly and it has been so long that I found myself enjoying so many characters like this one. Moreover, the chemistry between the cast is what makes this show shines so much. I always enjoy little moments shared between some of their cast: like back-and-forth conversations between Chinatsu and Inukai, or Nao and Chito the cat, or Anzu and Kenny the white cat. The chemistry between the siblings: from Kei and Chinatsu, to Makoto and Akame is also well-spot, they’re siblings and their personalities are so different, but they understand each other and I can feel the warm feeling they have for each other. All these little moments help build up the chemistry and make the show so rewarding to watch over and over again.

But the show not only shine for its laid back atmosphere, Flying witch is also known for its understated details. It furthers showcase how the staffs put so much effort to this show so that it feels almost effortless. Those little details that we can easily miss the first time we watched, like Makoto put her broom in “vehicle parking” section in one episode, or how the hamster shakes himself uncontrollably every time he finds himself near Chito the cat. Those details could indeed be very rewarding on repeated viewing. While the show is much more an atmospheric spectrum than comedy side, this show also has very solid understated comedy and always has a very good sense of putting a final punch. The quick remark from Chinatsu about her Mom for example “I heard that old people aren’t easily surprised” is both very whimsical and modest. The punch where Akame giving Chinatsu and Makoto her presents had to be one of my favorite part of the show.

Indeed, because of its relax tempo and slow pacing, it is destined for a lazy Sunday afternoon watch (which was exactly the time it’s available here in Australia), that’s feel true as in many of the episodes -for some characters – all they do is taking a nap. Ultimately, Flying witch is a celebration of the joy of everyday life, with a little touch of magic to create a sense of wonder that life and nature could bring to us.

~SuperMario~

Flying witch – 11-12 (end)

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Flying Witch

Flying witch gives us double doses of last episodes and I’m very happy with the way the show concludes within these last two episodes. All members of the cast were presented, and scenes involving the Flying Whale and Earthfish are the show’s most magical moments. This show has always been very consistency in its tone and atmosphere, but I would never expect that a show like this would have a nice closure sequence, and Flying witch actually pulls it off.

I would say the first segment of episode is Flying witch as its most magical and most awe-aspiring. It’s a treat to see Anzu appears in a whole episode, and the show wasted no time to highlight another side of her outside of the café setting. Turns out she’s a would be archaeologist and she’s super knowledgeable. I love how Chinatsu keeps asking everyone the most random questions she could think of, and surprisingly Anzu handles them very well. Her speech on the different between pancake and hotcake is whimsical and just plain nice to here. Talking about whimsical, I love Anzu’s close relationship with Kenny the white cat, and that the cat had been studied anthropology as a hobby. What an understated comedy here. All the cast delivers a very easy-going and laid back chemistry here. In terms of visual, the part where the cast goes to see flying whale, and ends up anticipates it in a completely opposite direction (talking about Makoto’s lack of sense of direction), to the part where they are on top of the whale- the visual are bright and just full of wonder, exactly like how it feels to get into the car and drive and just enjoy the scenery. At last, the show always has a solid punchline and this episode is another great entry, as it turns out the letter Anzu’s mom send to Akame is the bill that she has yet to paid.

In the last episode we follow Makoto as she goes out to the fabric store to buy stuffs for her robe, and on her way she happens to encounter many of our cast. This is Flying witch at its most mundane, but this is no mean a bad one. Instead following her stumbles around, deciding on which colors to take, and finally made a full robe all by herself is rewarding enough. The chemistry between each character with each other again is natural and laid back, and I really like the way the show portrays the chemistry between Akame and Makoto, as well as Kei and Chinatsu. They’re siblings and their personalities are so different, but they understand each other and I can feel the warm feeling they have for each other. The Earthfish in the last segment is a joy to watch, and actually if you pay more attention, those earthfishes have been foreshadowing in the first half of this episode. Well, the way those fishes just like to have fun, drinking alcohols, got drunk and flashing around are for me the most enjoyable moments in Flying witch, this and a sense of closure feeling as Makoto looks back to her stay, and as we know that this is the end of this amazing show, make the whole last segment a bittersweet experience.

Well, not that I’m complaining since the show had always been a joy to watch. I stand for what I said in the first episode that this is one of the best slice of life series we have in quite a long time. There will be anime shows come and go every seasons. There will be of course more shows that offer more thrilling and colorful characters than Flying witch, but nothing can beat Flying witch for what it does best. In Flying witch’s world, growing plant, eating hotcakes and wandering around might be the best ways to spend your day.

~SuperMario~

Bungou Stray Dogs Review – 62/100

by SuperMario, posted in Anime Reviews, Bungou Stray Dogs, Reviews by SuperMario

Well, we don’t usually give a review on the first cour of anime show, given the fact that the second part will air next autumn season. But since I’m not certain I would cover its second half, plus I don’t think this series will improve itself, I might as well give Bungou Stray Dogs a proper review now.

Bungou Straw Dogs is an action show that follows a story of Atsushi, an abandoned boy who can transform into a tiger unconsciously. He got rescued and later recruited by the Armed Detective Agency, which contains a bunch other gifted characters. But things become more complicated as the Port Mafia – the local mafia – also want to take their hands on Atsushi and towards the end of the series, somehow the Guild – the North American counterpart for gifted people – involves to capture Atsushi as well. The show follows this main storyline, at the same time introduces each and every one of the Agency.

As far as action show goes, in term of production, the show has a lot to recommend on. The art designs, in highlights, feel like an essential component of Bungou Stray Dogs. This show has always put extra effort to create a strong personality for its settings. From under the bridge scene right at the beginning, to the abandoned hospital, to the various sights of the city, all are well-drawn and have an atmosphere of their owns. The last episode set-piece in closed space dimensional, in particular, showcase the art designs at its best as it has a very distinctive feel of dreamy and creepy, like a nightmarish version of Alice in Wonderland. The show goes for more of impressionist visual style, and I would say what they achieve here is impressive. The staffs show us that they have a great flair of shot compositions. This is one of a few anime series that whenever I freeze frame the screen, I can still find great shots for my screensaver. The impressionist visual also means that the color palette changes depend on the mood of the scene, but the show favors the use of strong color in its more ordinary scene: dark red, green, resembles many of classical paintings. The music of the show has always been very consistent, and sometimes it did take a little risk. In a bombing sequence for example, the score goes to unsettling and nausea approach, which in turns very fitting to the chaos and the nausea of the confusing crowd.

But in Bungou Stray Dogs, we don’t only have action. There are also some twists/ flavors mixed in with its action, and the results vary in many degrees. The first ingredient is to make the characters based on real life authors. This adds a little quirk to the characters, which is actually fun to watch, especially if you know the authors they are referencing to. Talking about characters, the cast in the show does have their own voices. Like the cast in shows like Baccano or Cowboy Bebop or directly from Tarantino’s movies, they never feel like a real person, but they’re damn fun to watch nevertheless. I have to point out Dazai and the girl Hyouka as the show’s stand out characters, the way Dazai’s charm his way out (even about suicide) and Hyouka tragic but grounded circumstances. Other characters are vastly over the top and when given a spotlight, they developed quite well but most of the times the cast is unfortunately bland and one dimensional. See, this is a fundamental problem of Bungou Stray Dogs, because the cast is so exaggerated and over the top, leaving them on their own could potentially affects the main storyline. As a result, in order to keep the story going the way the show wants it, the cast has to be as one-dimensional as possible and sometimes as inconsistent as ever. For instance, it’s nice to learn the truth behind Ranpo’s gift or Kanji acts up once in a while, but for the majority of time we will have to see the childish, selfish side of Ranpo or the happy-go-lucky Kanji. Bungou Stray Dogs, you need to constantly shed new lights to your characters, because if you don’t care fleshing out your characters then we won’t feel it either.

The inconsistency of the characters further highlights this issue and most of the times it feels like the characters act certain way just because the show wants them to. Like for example in the first few episodes it was established that the Agency is like a big family; but then Dazai got captured for several episodes and no one seems to care. I believe this supposed to show how Dazai is always ahead of everyone and he can take care of his own, but it feels truly bizarre that after all the trouble he went through, the next episode we have him sitting in a chair like nothing ever happened, and the cast treats him like he was never been captured before. There are also many times that the character Kunikida has a huge leap of personality, like in one episode when the Agency was informed that Atsushi has been abducted, Kunikida was totally oblivious to the news and kept babbling about the Agency’s current “important” ministry job. In the end of the episode, however, we have him rushing out to rescue Atsushi like it’s the most obvious thing in the world and it makes me feel dumped.

The second mix of ingredient is the mix of detective cases in several middle episodes of the show. Those cases are simple enough and they were presented to mostly showcase the cast’s members. But many cases are just plain, with our Detective solve it way too rushed with information we never even heard before (like the fishing tackle store, which if it blows up it could bring down all the big building nearby. How are we supposed to know it? Well, never mind!). Usually the new players introduced will have something to do with the case, and then when they finish their purpose they will get tossed out and we will never hear from them again. This is a minor complain but the number of innocent people who got killed off are jarring to me. I guess this is just me as I think the show doesn’t care much about this issue, but killing people just for the sake of raising stakes is a terrible writing.

All to say, in terms of production and character designs, there is a lot to recommended but writing-wise, the show needs a lot to improve on. As for the score, for me 60 is the line between exceptional and mediocre shows, and Bungou Stray Dogs is a slightly (very slightly!) above average show. This first half set itself up to be a three-way war between the Agency, the Port Mafia and the Guild. I’m interested to see how they handle the war and also curious to see the Guild counterparts and their gifts. Here’s hoping for the second half can deliver what this first half has been promised.

~SuperMario~

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 13

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

When I heard about this arc being hard to watch I readied myself for a number of things. I was prepared to see Subaru die gruesomely, to see him tortured and broken. However while I was ready to see him get destroyed by others; I didn’t expect him to be the architect of his own destruction. This was truly a painful episode to watch with Subaru attempting the brute force his way through story developments like a typical shounen protagonist and it just failing miserably. It wasn’t elegant, nor was it impressive and Subaru came off as outright pathetic in his attempts to make himself seem like a big deal. This is by far Subaru’s lowest point in the series and the visuals certainly show it. The manga tried to give him dignity in that there he was at least given some acknowledgement and looked decent even when getting beaten. Not in the anime, here he looked seedy, graceless and desperate.

Which leads me to rethink something I said in the last episode review of this series, namely that I was worried about Rem becoming irrelevant to the story. Perhaps I was worried about the wrong person and in truth the one whose rapidly becoming irrelevant is Subaru himself and he’s all too aware of it. After the closure of the mansion arc Subaru is in a a brand new run where he has no real idea of how anything will turn out. His usefulness has dropped to zero and his existence in Emilia’s life is no longer necessary. For when you think about it, he has no real reason to be at the King’s selection nor any real reason to be in Emilia’s life. The spotlight is moving away from him and I think Subaru has noticed. That’s what makes this episode a little easier to watch for me, for I see it as Subaru desperately kicking and screaming so that he doesn’t end up left behind.

I will admit that seeing Subaru going through all this is not a pleasant experience and while I appreciate the subversion of the shounen tropes, it’s still somewhat flustrating to see Subaru act like this. What makes this somewhat more frustrating is that Subaru is basically making the moves the viewer likely would. I know if I heard someone start berating the girl I liked by racist assumptions I would call him out on it regardless of where I was. Same goes for Julius as he questioned Subaru’s declaration of being Emilia’s Knight, I too would try to shout him down. Upon being challenged to a duel I would relish any opportunity to hit him. But here Subaru is making all the moves the audience wants but is experiencing the consequences of taking such actions. By declaring himself a knight he publical embarrassed Emilia in front of everyone and by fighting Julius he showed everyone just how much of his words was pure empty talk. I really like that when looking at it from Julius’s perspective all his actions seem logical. Most often to make the hero look better they have his opponent act illogical and unreasonable but here Julius was the more level headed one. He tried to make Subaru see just how he was making Emilia feel and even his challenge was him giving Subaru a chance to show his worth; while preventing him from getting murdered in a back alley for insulting the knights by making him an example. Obviously he isn’t right in every regard, I am fairly certain he got some enjoyment out of beating Subaru to a pulp and his philosophy of might makes right is just wrong. However he isn’t just some one dimensional caricature for Subaru to beat down and show everyone how great and right he is.

On the matter of the king’s selection I find it amusing that none of the candidates is aiming to simply be a good ruler and many are going for a radical and dangerous change. We have Priscilla who basically promises a complete dictatorship. Crusch wishes to rid ties to the dragon and let the people rule the nation which seems like a pretty big deal. Anastasia admitted that she is only after the crown to satisfy her own greed. Felt after being pushed into running as ruler due to Roms interference, declares that she was get rid of the social class hierarchy. Emilia in contrast seems to be the most reasonable one and promises to give equality to all people. Basically each participant has pretty much declared that they are going to do whatever the hell they want when they get the crown so I wonder just how this is planned to be settled.

The defining aspect of this episode is the scene after all of Subaru’s embarrassments where he and Emilia finally have a talk. The talk bordered on the overly melodramatic but hit some big points. Namely that Subaru has placed Emilia on a pedestal so high that he can’t even see her for what she is anymore. Emilia cannot understand just why he holds her so highly and Subaru can’t explain because of the curse. Leaving him rambling like a madman to Emilia about events that just didn’t happen to her. After Subaru lets out his most selfish true feelings; Emilia declares that they go their separate ways leaving Subaru alone. This is probably the most human Emilia has been in the series and he comments such as “I had high hopes for you” cut deeper than a knife. This is a massive turning point in the series but one that has me worried. This is big in regards to Subaru in that once he arrived in this world he made Emilia his center and focused all his efforts for her.

Now he’s lost that and the time has come for him to find a new objective but there lies a problem in this. If Subaru dies then possibly all this will be undone and even though while watching this episode I desperately wanted someone to kill Subaru just to undo the utter cringeworthy displays he put in, I do not want his confrontation with Emilia to be undone. If I am asked about whether this episode was a good or bad episode I say my decisive factor is what comes after this. This could be a great example of Shounen deconstruction if it remains this way and a great cornerstone of Subaru’s development as must pick up the broken relationship pieces caused by his mistakes. But if all this gets swept under the rug and Subaru gets to replay for the perfect end then this episode will leave a particularly bad taste in my mouth.

~AidanAK47~

Kiznaiver Review – 60/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Kiznaiver, Reviews by AidanAK47

Kiznaiver is a very different faire from Studio Triggers other works in that it takes a more serious tone and has a writer who tends to go more for the melodramatic. This is a tale about a group of very different people gathered together and have their pain linked to one another. In an effort to take a step towards world peace a system was devised to allow people to feel the pain of others as if it was their own and thus these group of people must learn to coexist with one another to complete missions given to them throughout the summer. This is the premise sadly lost in this show as it eventually gets lost in a love pentagram, excessive teenage melodrama and angst over the past. Kiznaiver is a polarising title in that it has elements of great worth and characters, while not particularly deep, that have good chemistry. However while it had a vague idea on the themes it wanted to touch and what it intended the characters to be, it purely gets lost when it comes to presenting those idea’s. What we are left with is a series which doesn’t know where it is going and wastes more than half its runtime in reach of a goal. Though once it finally decides on its direction it sacrifices all it has set up and it’s greater elements for forced drama and soap opera like developments. All to end on a climax with feels undeserved and rushed.

Kiznaiver is a bad story with excellent presentation as while the story developments are confused and lack focus, the presentation could fool you otherwise. Direction is particularly excellent in giving emotion to certain scenes and the visual aesthetic is quite appealing. The anime also sports a great opening with what may be the last song by the excellent band “Boom Boom Satellites”. The OST has some notable tracks and sound direction is spot on. The characters are quite likable and at times the comedy can work well but it falters when it sacrifices the comradery of the group for the cheap thrill of over emotional outbursts and vocal preaching. The plot gives special attention to certain characters only to abandon them to the sidelines afterwards and at times changing characters to fit what is demanded of the plot only to double back and have them return to how they were. At the beginning Kiznaiver was aiming to be zany and fun like any other trigger anime but halfway in it decided it was going to be Kokoro Connect. Then reaching its endgame without really deciding on which of the two it would prefer to be.

The show tries to act as a character study and tries to get across a deeper insinuation about the nature of feelings and connecting with other people but when examined it comes across as shallow and simplistic. Mainly resorting to a traumatic past as the cause of someone having communication issues instead of taking into account that maybe their are those of us who simply can’t connect with others. Or simply don’t want to. Two character get more focus in regards to this and one has their development more or less negated within two episodes of coming out of her shell. The other remains rather enigmatic and when it comes down to it, all that we truly learn of her is that she has a contrived tragic past. If it doesn’t affect you then sadly she has nothing else, besides acting as a love interest. Despite this it has moments; in both the forced drama and zany antics there were points when it comes across as genuine and heartfelt. Though this does make me lament just what this series could have been if had better planning. This is Trigger trying something different and as an experiment it is interesting. I would like to see Trigger tackle something like this again but if they do I hope they hire a better writer.

~AidanAK47~

Kiznaiver -12

by AidanAK47, posted in Kiznaiver

This was certainly pure narrative confusion at it’s zenith and in that regard I don’t mean that the events depicted were hard to understand but rather a general confusion on what mood it wants to go out on. In this episode we had comedic, drama and climatic showdown all hastily weaved together to try and make something work. In that regard I may have succeeded on small fronts but failed as a whole. So Noriko has gone full supervillain out of nowhere and is attempting her own version of the human instrumentality project. The story tries to explain away her motivations by having Mutsumi lay out that Noriko has somehow gotten it into her head that in order for her to give back pain to those deprived by the Kiznaiver experiment, she needs to take on everyone’s pain and somehow that will fix everything. Or something about wanting to connect to others through pain…honestly I have lost all interest to truly dissect it at this point. Basically the logic is akin to saying the best way to heal a bruise is to break your arm. But who cares, the show only cares that Noriko needs to be stopped and the only way to do so is to have Agata give her a good talking to. Thus through the power of love and friendship and all that complete utter bull…um sorry I mean he’s going to snap her out of it with a good scolding. It’s clear that Kiznaiver wanted to have a big climax and that I am not really supposed to question the machinations of it too much. For if I do, awkward questions show up like isn’t Noriko forcefully abducting an entire city and performing dangerous surgery on them? Did she get away with this scott free, like no repercussions whatsoever? Where did she get that legion of followers who do her every bidding? And the big one, just what is this supposed to accomplish?

All the while this deathly serious stuff is happening, there are random jarring moments of comedy sprinkled in with little regard to the tone. I just say when you cut from Norikos sister telling Agata about how lonely Noriko was and how he needs to save her to two of those weird mascots sumo wrestling in the park, well it’s clashing.At this point the KIznaiver things is basically magic and Noriko’s big terrorist attack is stopped once Agata tells her to just let things go and badda bing badda boom, everything’s solved. The other Kiznaivers didn’t really have a point here besides chucking in their two cents on the situation. Giving speeches that solemnly remind me that these people haven’t really hung out long enough in front of the audience to give them the “nakama” card. Also for some reason the bullies come back and are unceremoniously booted off screen again. Seems their sole purpose was to act as an exposition device for the other Kiznaivers so they know what is going on. Well once Noriko comes to her senses it’s time to settle the shipping in the epilogue because that truly is what was given primary focus this series. Yes I am somewhat glad that Kamina 2.0 and Yoko 0.5 got together but personally I would be most interested in seeing more of Luluco finding Nova in the background.

The ships are pretty much what was decided in episode 4 with Noriko and Agata, Chidori and Tenga, Yuta and Maki with Nico doomed to forever alone status. Unless her and Hayame kick something off. Truthfully this all felt forced as while I can get why these characters could go for each other, I find it far too sudden with it all happening in such quick succession. As I see the gang all together again I find somewhat of the feeling that gave me hope for the series in the beginning. The characters do play off each other well and I do find their interactions amusing. (Particularly Noriko’s comment that she and Agata will have a pure relationship…until Agata pushes her down.) This is strange even coming from me of all people but perhaps Kiznaiver would have fared better if it left all this Kiznaiver experiment stuff to the side and just had it be about the characters playing off one another.

Looking over it all Kiznaiver was a confused series that spent too much of it’s start wasting its time and pushing for a dramatic climax as it reached it’s end. Some say that perhaps with a two cour season it could have shown more of it’s potential. It certainly could have but seeing as the writer couldn’t build a series for one cour I doubt she could do it much better with two. I blame the majority of Kiznaivers failings on the writer as speaking in terms of presentation it’s fairly remarkable. In much lesser animation studio this story wouldn’t nearly have been what it is and I see it as a testament of just how much Trigger can really do even with lacking material. If there are those of you who have lost faith in Trigger due to this series I say watch the short series that aired alongside it this season. Space patrol Luluco is shorter, more in tune with triggers style, had a far more satisfying climax and is overall a much better show than Kiznaiver. Most of all I truly look forward to that Little Witch Academy TV series they announced. Kiznaiver ultimately wasn’t what I hoped but I am certain Studio Trigger has more bullets to fire.

~AidanAK47~

Bungou Stray Dogs – 12 (end)

by SuperMario, posted in Bungou Stray Dogs, Currently Watching:

And we get to the end of Bungou Stray Dogs, but this last episode doesn’t offer any conclusive ending, instead feel more like a set up episode for the next season. This last episode functions like a typically Bungou Stray Dogs’ episode; there are many good things to say about it, mainly the technical triumphs and the great character designs, but the writing and the new characters are mixed bags.

Let’s get to the good side first. As far as action show goes, Bungou Stray Dogs is at its top form this week. There are new set of enemies introduced, promising a three ways battle between the Armed Detective Agency, the Port Mafia and the Guild (the North American organization of the gifted) in a second season. Thus the main set piece this week happens in the imaginary closed space of Lucy (resembled of L.M Montgomery – the author of Anne of Green Gables) named Anne’s Chamber. I have mentioned that the show always had a very good grip on creating a memorable set pieces that really feel like it breathes by itself, this time in particular the close spaced is just wonderful. It’s so stylish and awe-aspiring, while at the same time dreamy and creepy. The fighting sequence is exciting, with the cat-and-mouse chase that are thrilling from start to finish. Atsushi again proved himself this week that he is capable of fighting for himself, and I can forgive him for wanting to run away calling for help because that’s just who he was. Thankfully he got pulled back by the physician, who soon revealed to be the Port Mafia’s boss. He is one of the more interesting character out of this show, both very mysterious and smart and tricky, and he’s just like Dagai who seems to be one step ahead of everyone else.

The other new characters presented this week, however, are just bland. I’m a bit disappointed that Fitzgerald turns out to be over the top archetypical American villain, the one who thinks money can buy everything and proud himself for that. I originally think he’s one of the tough one to beat but judge from the facts that he’s super one-dimensional, and he got killed off rather easily in the end, all that made me wonder what’s exactly his role in the show. Lucy is also a very one-note character, who appears mostly as a mad, sick little girl who just want to have fun. A bit about her insecurity among the Guild is a nice little touch but other time she functions like a typical villain. Dagai again back to the office and seems like nothing happen further emphasized my complains on the inconsistency of the show.

Looking ahead, I honestly have no idea how they could handle the mega-battles between the Armed Detective Agency, Port Mafia and the Guild. There seems to be a lot more Guild members with more unique skills to fight against next season, but it seems to me that Mori (the Port Mafia leader) is the ultimate boss. I’m a bit keen to check out the second cour just to see how they handle all that, but I’m not sure about covering its second cour, since I don’t think the show will get any better than what it is now.

~SuperMario~

Joker Game Review – 50/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Currently Watching:, Joker Game, Reviews by AidanAK47

When experiencing the wave of new anime each season it can get rather tiresome to notice all the teenagers fighting supernatural forces while gathering a harem through seer luck or similarly tired concepts. So when something like Joker game comes along and takes a road less traveled with it’s story, naturally I am well on board. However the sad thing about entertainment is that even if you try something new, if you don’t succeed it amounts nothing more than a show which had a good idea and a lesson for others to not brand out from their tired concepts. In that regard I truly lament such anime but unlike them I don’t think Joker Game will remain as a lesson for others, for to do so it would have to be memorable. An idea with such promise, a tale about a team of Japanese spies sent out to gather info in the time right before World War II broke out. You could spin quite a tale with that setting but sadly Joker Game settles for a much more simplistic level.

The first problem with the show is it’s episodic format and it truly limits the plot when each episode’s story needs to be resolved in a short time frame. Each episode has a brand new cast and a brand new setting. This essentially prevents the viewer from becoming attached as there is rarely anything consistent to latch on to. But most importantly in episodic shows the show is often held up by the characters and their interactions. However Joker Games protagonists are completely interchangeable with little in defining characteristics. No matter the episode the main character plays the role of the super spy who never fails and in that regard is mainly a plot device. When looking over the story, Joker Game is style over substance and merely a spy power fantasy. The writing lacks the nuance to weave a compelling narrative around international espionage and often resorts to contrived or trite developments in order to make the protagonist look as good as possible. The villains in each episode range from the over the top evil to inconsequential, often any threat they pose is completely undermined by episodes end. The writer holds his protagonists in too high a regard which ultimately makes this a show about the triumphs of several Gary Sue’s and how much better they are than other people. It don’t take long for this aspect to wear on you and through the episodes the victories of the D-agency spies become less compelling and more boringly anticipated.

Through while the writing can reach unrealistically silly levels as the D-agents display skill bordering on the supernatural, you can still find some interest here. The show never truly drops to a level of becoming bad and to some they can come to enjoy the exploits of the spies and their missions. I found three or four episodes to have above average value and the show remains consistently watchable. However it never truly excels and in episodes can become quite boring as you wait for the inevitable cop out win of D-agency. The episodic structure continues right up to the end where the show simply stops instead of ends. The art and animation remain consistently good and the soundtrack is rather catchy and nostalgic of Noir fiction. Joker Game is a show that lacks the high points to be recommended and the low points to be outright hated, it’s middle of the ground which made the score of this series rather appropriate. Joker Game is a series destined to be lost to the ravages of time, soon to be forgotten.

~AidanAK47~