Kiznaiver – 03

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Kiznaiver

So this episode was an introduction to our new seventh Kiznaiver who looks to be a roguish shut in with a pendent for self harm. Adding a masochist to a group that shares pain is certainly a dilemma but I wonder just how they plan to make use of him in the plot. Considering that pain is now split seven way between them it’s possible he is unsatisfied with his share of the pain. My previous assumption of him being greed seems off the mark though I still think he has a secret relating to it. The characters even commented on him potentially being a conman who hurts himself to claim insurance payments. This would make sense as Noriko’s labels of new seven sins seem to only refer to the characters on a superficial level where as there secrets are more closely related to the true seven sins. I must call out the start of the episode which immediately deflated the cliffhanger of the previous episode. I found it rather distasteful to be fair as it felt like a cheap cop out. It’s sort of like that episode of Humanity has declined with has a manga creator end each chapter with a twist for the purpose of heightening excitement for the next chapter. This isn’t bad in itself as if done well it can be an effective method of storytelling. But when done poorly it can mess with your storyline as you attempt to end episodes on higher and higher cliffhangers. But then there’s this dishonest method here where you have a character make a revelation just to brush it off as a joke. I am certain that she was in fact telling the truth and just played as a joke to cover her bases though the circumstances are likely not as cold as she makes it out to be. The purpose may be to foreshadow Makis circumstances but there are plenty of ways to do that without teasing a potential conflict between her and the others.

We do learn a number of things about the Kiznaiver system in this episode such as when someone feels pain the others are informed of who it was by a holographic number displayed on their scar. Also while sudden pain is shared, residual pain is not. The end of the project looks to be the end of summer vacation and there’s likely more missions in store for the group. Lastly based on Noriko’s wording at the end of the episode this is not the first time the Kiznaver project has taken place which really gets me curious about the opening scene. My current guess is that Agatha has taken part in the Kiznaver project before and that is the reason for his sensory deprivation of pain. Actually considering his lack of emotions as well it’s possible the previous subjects shared more than pain but emotions as well. The mystery has certainly a lot of interesting aspects to it but Kiznaver is showing some issues. Namely the story is being held up by it’s highly likeable cast and their interactions as the plot is moving at a snail’s pace. We still don’t have a clear idea on just what this show will focus on and looking at these past episodes not a lot has actually happened. FIrst episode had the cast made in Kiznavers, second episode had them introduce themselves and third episode had them chase down the last member. I am not saying these episodes were not enjoyable but now that the plot has started I worry it will devolve into slice of life antics with the shared pain being more of a gimmick. Or Okada will go full Okada and have the cast throw over the top hissy fits about first world problems. What makes this show work is the parts which are distinctly trigger and in the coming episodes I would prefer to have more trigger madness over bland SOL.

~AidanAK47~

First 3-Week Impression Guide (part 2)

by SuperMario, posted in Kaleidoscope, Spring 2016 Kaleidoscope

This is the latter part of my guide, which consists of 6 (and a half) more shows:

Bungou Stray Dogs

Bungou Stray Dogs

The Verdict: The show picks up itself beautifully in its 3rd episode. Now the main story kicks in we have a reason to care for those characters, just as long as they don’t spend time for those characters’ chit chat nonsense. The visual is one of the strongest of the season though, while the action scenes where they happen, are thrilling and exciting. I have a strong hope that it will get better from now on.

Keep Following: Yes. Not because I’m covering it, but because I see this one have a lot of potential to be memorable.

Recommended: I’ll say give the third episode a try and if you like it, then yes.

12-sai

12-sai

The Verdict: This is sadly the most underseen titles on my list and I certainly can see why. But the show actually portrays quite sensitively and dare I say, maturely on what it means to be 12-years old, to find who they really are, to have a first crush, and to grow up. This is a shoujo adaptation so it means the growing process will lean more towards romance and friendship, but it’s not often we have a show that treats young kids as they are here. This is a nice little gem.

Keep Following: At least for now, yes. I will give it 3 more episodes.

Recommended: If this post by any mean a recommendation (it is), I would urge you to give it a watch. At least its 1st episode, because simple the show deserved more attention than it currently had.

Kuromukuro

Kuromukuro

The Verdict: Also known as “that Netflix anime”, this story about a samurai who wakes up few hundred years later, and finds the world starts to become a battlefield as well. I actually enjoyed the first half’s slice of life section before it all turns into battle here. Having a huge fight between two sides of which we have no idea of is not a great strategy. The main protagonist has a unique quirk and by the end of third episode, has grown into a likeable character, but very few information has been explained about the attacking side, and the main girl is just plain. The fight, by the way, is good to look at, but I don’t see it as a standout, either.

Keep Following: No. This is an easy skip.

Recommended: No. The story is still not enough for us to care, and if you want a truly epic action show, look no further than:

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

The Verdict: Just 2 episodes were aired so far (because of the earthquake), but it’s seems Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is the show that most likely becomes a big hit. The animation and background art are stunning. The production as a whole is awesome. The pacing keeps you on edge all the time and even the character designs are gorgeous. But don’t expect a subtle moment because mostly they keep putting everything into MAX. The story and the character development, on the other hand, are shaky and not consistent. But this is to be expected from an action show so I have no complain.

Keep Following: Yes. I admit this show is not my cup of tea. But even me sometimes want to watch a pure action show where my heart races and my fist bumps.

Recommended: Yes. THE-MOST-ENTERTAINING-SHOW-THERE-IS this season.

Kiznaiver

Kiznaiver

The Verdict: While I said earlier that I think Joker Game is the show I’m most certain to solid, Kiznaiver is the show that have a potential to become a standout show of the season, since this show is the most creative show (at least for me) of this season. There’s a lot to like here, when forced the characters to be honest to themselves and confess their secrets to each other, there’s a sense of real emotional bonds and we, the audience feel it as well. While the “missions” are sometimes feel forced and ridiculous, the emotional strengths overcome most of it. The style here in Kiznaiver is excellent and unique (kudos to Trigger), the characters are great so far. Well I do hope that the second half of the shows can deliver the strengths that Kiznaiver had been established so far

Keep Following: Yes! Yes! Yes!

Recommended: Yes. As I said, the most inventive show of this season.

Flying witch

Flying witch

The Verdict: Flying witch has all the elements good slice-of-life shows have. The pacing is slow but steady the cast is endearing, the atmosphere is inviting. To mix some of the magic ingredients on top, and you have a show that both celebrate the everyday life and the magical life, making it a consistent magical realism show. The background and music both complement the atmosphere without being too stand out.

Keep Following: Yeah! The execution is strong enough that I don’t mind if story is about nothing.

Recommended: This is for me the most consistent of all shows. This is a nice contrast to Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress as well. (while Kabaneri tends to go bigger and bigger, this shows really like to show little details and very light on story). I’d recommend watching this after Kabaneri to balance it out)

Uchuu Patrol Luluco

Uchuu Patrol Luluco

The Verdict: This is the only short series (hence a half) that I watched and I absolutely adored it. Trigger has a very unique style, and this series would go as wild and as wacky as ever. The short running time also mean that it won’t wear out its welcome. This runs for 4 episodes (20 minutes so far) and I loved every moment of it

Keep Following: Yes. Too good to turn down

Recommended: Yes. Common guys! This just take like 5 minutes of your time every week. I would say this is a more unique looking anime of this season.

This concludes pretty much my guide. After the first 3 weeks I would say Joker Game, Kiznaiver and Flying witch are the top tiers (which we all covered here). I hope they remains consistent throughout the rest of the season. Okay, time to watch this new week’s episodes for me and I hope you guys enjoy my reviews here. Care to tell us which shows you are enjoying or is there any note-worthy shows that we’ve missed? Tell us more in the comments.

~SuperMario~

First 3-Week Impression Guide (part 1)

by SuperMario, posted in Kaleidoscope, Spring 2016 Kaleidoscope

A quarter of the Spring season have passed, and it’s time for our 3-episode round up reviews. Usually by that time the shows have established all their ingredients and now start to kick off to their premises. The 3-week rule is a good barometer to determine whether the series can turn out to be good or not. The main purpose of this post, as a result, is to make it as a guide for you readers, now we have a better idea about those shows. My experience with anime would say sometimes it’s not the case at all (like recently Everything Becomes F started of strong and then ended completely ridiculous), but most the time this proved to be a good exercise. Even the wicked Puella Magi Madoka Magica shows its true color in its 3rd episode,

This season so far are quite solid in terms of amount of good shows, and a range of variety as well, though no shows is truly stand above the rest. we have good action/mecha shows (Kabaneri of Iron Fortress, Kuromukuro), comedy/slice-of-life shows (KumaMiko, Flying witch), shounen (Diamonds Are Unbreakable, My Hero Academia) and many usual light novel adaptation and cute girls doing cute things shows. The most impressive thing here, as I mentioned in earlier post, is the great showing of 12 year old-characters girls. Usually those girls in anime was treated more like a supporting character with no depth at all, so this is a great sign and I hope there’ll be more like this in the future.

So without further ado, here is the list of the first batch that I have watched so far in the airing order, along with my impressions on how they doing so far, LET RUN THEM DOWN!

Mayoiga

 Mayoiga

The Verdict: One of the strength in Mari Okada’s scripts is her ability to write characters that are so different from each other. They have a distinctive feature, gestures, personality that it’s a joy to see them playing off against each other. Mayoiga put it up to the MAX by introducing 30 of them, and quite frankly, having interesting traits’ characters and promising premise ain’t enough to have a good show. The story, judging from mystery aspects, is way too slow. After 3 episodes, all we get are 1) Those people arrived to the Lost village. 2) 2 of them have disappeared and 3) A body has been found floating on a river. And they are all 5 seconds before the end of each episode. The rest of the time Mayoiga stumbles around with many ideas and not that good execution.

Keep Following: Since I’m covering this one, that’s a Yes

Recommended: Sadly, no. It’s still the more ambitious show of the season so it’s still interesting just to see how it all plays out. Will it be great? I don’t think so.

My Hero Academia

My Hero Academia

The Verdict: For me, My Hero Academia mostly succeed on what it sets out to be: what it means to be a hero. While shows like One Punch Man shows the other side of the spectrum: what it means to fight and save people (being in hero association is a mean to achieve this), My Hero Academia looks up on being a hero, and how it inspires others to be like him. In that sense this is more like an idol/ sports shows than its shounen origin. Anyways, the reason this shows works so far is because its heart is on the right place, it feels the pain and struggles our protagonist Izuku has, at the same time still bright and optimistic to suggest that it you really strive for it, your wish will come true.

Keep Following: Sorry but No, My Hero Academia sadly just isn’t my type of show. Being an idol/hero who inspires others is not my interest. Considering we have quite many fine shows to watch here, I will leave it aside for now.

Recommended: By all mean, yes. While the third episode slows the shows a bit, I’d consider it the calm before the storm. Next week when we reach the test, there will be much more fun to see.

KumaMiko

KumaMiko

The Verdict: Here come a sleeper hit of the season. I enjoyed the first episode of KumaMiko, but I could never anticipate that the next episodes would be that solid. They are more focus than the first one and the communication between the two leads, in particular; is very nice to watch; they bounce off each other well and the comic timing is mostly consistent. I loved the humor of the show, from its pop culture reference (most notably Uniqlo), its sometimes crude humors, to its irrelevant randomness (like when Natsu recalled when Machi got tranced when she was young, I laughed my heart out), it just all clicked.

Keep Following: Yes. This is a better comedy show than most this season, and completely took me by surprise by how consistent it is. I originally thought this is a nice little show to watch between other big shows, but now I actively look forward to watch it.

Recommended: I would say Yes, but with reservation. Humors depends on each people and some of the jokes might be too left-field for some.

Re:Zero- Starting Life in Another World

Re:Zero

The Verdict: After 3 episodes (oh, actually it’s 4), we have a nice closure to the first part of the series. The cast, due to the repeating, have to deal with the same day in different situations. That way it gives different perspective to the characters, which is a plus for me. The story is just engaging enough to make use of the hook. The cast so far is pleasurable as well, albeit not that deep yet.

Keep Following: I’m really in between whether I would continue watching it or not. Everything so far just fall right in the middle: the story is decent is enough, the cast just decent enough, the hook is decent enough… that nothing really stands out. I will give it another episode to decide.

Recommended: It would turn out to be a solid show, so if you are in favors for the first few episodes here, then YES.

Joker Game

Joker Games

The Verdict: The third episode so far the weakest of the bunch, and it seems like the show will continue in that direction, that means each episode a new spy guy takes a spotlight. Each episode is very solid and I really hope those spies can show much of their humane side, while still follow the instinct of the spy. Joker Game is still one of the most solid show of this season.

Keep Following: Certainly. If you ask me right now which shows I’m most certain to become solid. It’s this show.

Recommended: A big YES

Twin Stars Exorcists

Twin Star Exorcist

The Verdict: Twin Star Exorcist manage both to embrace many of the cliché of the genre (the boy with potential talent, his tragic past, the girl literally falls into his arms, that girl ends up living on the same house with him, they fated to become together, other girl who liked him, too many to even list them all here), while at the same time being very entertaining and hits all the right notes. I have an easy watch every time, which indicates that it has good pacing and the lead actually have great chemistry.

Keep Following: No. Spending 3 episodes is quite enough. I don’t see anything truly stands out from the show.

Recommended: Although this is an entertaining piece, I would say NO since there is many more entertaining or simply better shows out there.

~SuperMario~

Flying witch – 03

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Flying Witch

Flying witch has another solid episode this week. Flying week’s formula seems to be half of Makoto the witch getting to know an everyday country life, and other half of Makoto’s witchcrafts and meeting people from that magic world. All of these stories take place mostly in a single location as well, this time are the backyard and the shrine where “no one around”. This week’s episode still maintains a slow, relax but confident pace and an endearing cast who interact well with each other. If you like the first two episodes so far, you are not going to be disappointed by this one.

The first half revolves around Makoto wanting to grow some vegetables, so they all do the gardening. Growing plants seems like a useful way for a witch to make their ingredients, thus learning about how to grow ones makes sense for me. The scene-stealer of this first half is easily the pheasant. All the jokes around him were well-earned, from Makoto being furious and chase around him, to his “bring it on” attitude, to Kei’s father doing exactly the same, except the fact that he’s a local. This first half is expectedly atmospheric, I’m happy with the way it plays out.

Watching Makoto and her friends dive into the simple joys of gardening really highlights how magical growing your own vegetables can feel — even without a wand in hand. There’s something timeless and satisfying about getting your hands in the soil, nurturing tiny seeds into flourishing plants. It’s not just about food; it’s about patience, rhythm, and a deeper connection to the world around you. Moments like these make you realize that while magic is nice, mastering the everyday wonders of gardening might be just as powerful.

Of course, having a few seasoned experts like Sugar Green Gardens on your side can make the journey even more rewarding. Whether you’re aiming for a humble kitchen garden or an elaborate backyard oasis, their team knows how to craft spaces that are both beautiful and functional. Just like Makoto learning from locals, tapping into expert knowledge ensures your garden doesn’t just survive — it thrives, becoming a place where every day feels a little bit enchanted.

In this episode, the second half for me is a better one, as Makoto’s older sister shows up and tutors her “a simple witchcraft”. I liked how the spell is very simple and folktale-like, and not Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo chants (or is it a chant for only fairy? anyway..). Makoto’s sister is also a joy to watch, having an outgoing and cheerful type, and she also interacts well with the whole cast. My only concern is Kenny the cat is white, and from what I know the witch only carries a black cat. Since there is no explanation here I guess this is just normal here. I’ve said this before but watching Flying witch is a fastest and most enjoyable 20-minutes watch of this season. I love the cast well enough; the atmosphere is well pace and the situations they are in are all endearing. Flying witch is a celebration of everyday life, with a mix of magic on top, and I still have no complain about that.

~SuperMario~

Mayoiga – 04

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Mayoiga

It’s until this week that I just noticed the rather strange part of the OP of Mayoiga, the sequence was shown in the point of view of Masaki. It starts with her, then introducing the cast and finally ends with her standing alone in the lost village. But when I think about that, only in the first episode that we kind of follow Mitsumune as the protagonist, and that is because he had the most affection towards Masaki. She was also the last person to encounter Yotsun before he went missing. All the speeches from her are kind of prophetic as well. It seems like she unconsciously aware a lot of things about the place. Now I’m not implying she’s the mastermind behind everything but now I have a strong sense that she’s the key to solve the mystery.

We also pick up two important developments this week. The first is when the group felt threatened by the mystery and more than half of them decided to go back. I’ve always enjoyed those characters talking forth and back. Most of them are over the top and ridiculous that it’s rather fun to watch them shouting at each other. In this case they have many oppose opinions on whether or not staying is safe, I know that staying with Masaki is the best option (haha!), but I can see why they decide to leave as well. It’s a small complain but Mitsumune become increasingly annoying, every decision of his was driven by protecting Masaki, staying close with Masaki… makes him a paper-thin personality. The group decided to leave the village is an interesting progression as well, as I’m pretty sure they couldn’t leave the village, I’m curious to see what happen next to them.

And then we got to the mystery near the end. It certainly is fascinating. If the lost village is a passage way between the life and afterlife, where we can meet deceased close people, then I’m all for it. But the way I see it, it seems like Mayoiga is the place where we can encounter our deepest fear/desire. If this show goes to either of these directions, it could become a very interesting show, because when the mystery related to human emotions, there’s a lot to explore and we at the same time get invested. Many episodes ago I complained about the bus driver’s shaky role in the story, but I’m happy to say that this week he had a solid progress here. Still, damn if I know what the giant Mitsumune looks like.

~SuperMario~

Bungou Stray Dogs – 03

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

This week Bungou Stray Dogs had improved a lot over its last episode, probably because the main storyline has kicked in. Look, I’m always in favor for character developments more than plot development, and one of my favorite character development is through the small character moments when the cast interacts with each other. That’s why I like KyoAmi a lot because they nailed those moments and made the characters such a joy to watch. Bungou Stray Dogs, on the other hand, is one of those rare times that I would recommend the opposite. The times they spend talking together is the weakest part of this episode. They spend times do the gags that we already know: Atsushi being shy, Junichiro keeps feeling sorry for Atsushi, Naomi keeps dominating Junichiro, Dazai keeps talking about suicide and Kunikida keeps getting furious over Dazai. And those gags were not even funny to begin with.

Things really got geared up after that, when a woman (Higuchi) showed up with a request for the organization, which ends up being a trap. While I see a lot of issues on the series’ character interactions, it’s actually the main storyline where Bungou Stray Dogs shines. The pacing is much faster and more entertainment, but more importantly, the action part sheds a new light to those characters that we haven’t had a chance to see before: Junichiro can become uncontrollable mad if someone hurts his sister. Naomi, appears mostly as a dominant incest-obsession archetype, literally shields her body to protect Junichiro, our main character Atsushi can turn into a tiger now on his own will, and Dazai is always one step ahead of everyone. The new characters introduced in this episode are a mixed-bag, unfortunately. Akutagawa is a reasonable character with just enough unique skills (Rashomon) and clear motivations to stand out on his own, but the character Higuchi is just plain and feel more like a plot device. Poor Higuchi even got slapped by Akutagawa for not completing her job. Now this is bad writing. Well I guess Akutagawa supposed to be a cold, ruthless guy but showing him slapping woman is no way justified that. Cruelty for the shake of just cruelty is terrible. But I can put that aside for now as long as they don’t repeat that same mistakes. I also love the introduction of Port Mafia gang here, albeit target the weretiger just because of the money is a bit of a letdown. But I guess there is more to it as why the weretiger attracts so much attention from all the gangs. I think the rest of the series we will learn more about it and exactly what they want to do with the weretiger.

The visual and characters design remain strong and actually at this point I trust the show on these. This is a rare compliment I would give to any shows but I believe Bungou Stray Dogs deserves this. Basically most of the second part is a step in a right direction, and if they keep going into that direction, Bungou Stray Dogs could become a very entertaining show.

~SuperMario~

Joker Game – 03

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Joker Game

I was going to make this a full announcement but seeing as most of it is already known I might as well include it here. I now have full admin rights to the site which means that I now pretty much run the place officially. I managed to get in contact with psgels with the help of a certain passerby and explained the situation. On matters of whether psgels is coming back or otherwise I am afraid I have no comment on the matter. EIther way I have done some minor things such as fixing the headers and adding some user account. I don’t plan on making any major changes other than maybe updating that shoutbox to a more useful version.(If I can find out where it is in the control panel. WordPress is a finicky thing.) Our second bit of news has already been announced by our new writer below. We now have a third writer on board by the name of Helghast. So what that basically means is more anime coverage for you guys. On matters of taking on any more new writers I am hesitant and would prefer to see how things go for a season or two. If we wish to take on new writers then we shall put up a post specifically asking for them and if that does happen I want to make it clear that you should know exactly what you are getting into. I don’t care for disappearing acts at this point. Right then, moving on.

Joker game is turning out to be more episodic than I expected as it looks like we will be following a series of small stories about the team rather than a continuous narrative. Though the escalation of World War II looks to be an ongoing background theme. Today’s story was a decent one though I heavily dislike the use of one of the oldest trope of fiction. Namely the Easy Amnesia trope. Our super spy loses his memory from a bonk on the head and then regains his memory from another bonk on the head. I am no expert but I can at least confirm that you do not regain memories by bashing your head a second time nor is it this easy to gain amnesia in the first place. Otherwise boxers would be a forgetful lot. I am a bit disappointed that Joker game is resorting to using this as a means to make this episode more interesting, especially when their are better alternatives.(Like maybe him faking amnesia) Well our amnesic japanese spy is in a Germany occupied France with three individuals who are with the French rebellion. The Germans are right on their tail with leaves mister Japanese Jason Bourne to make use of his particular set of skills to get everyone out of the predicament. Our new characters aren’t given much development as they really only feature in this episode but at least there was enough here to care about what was going on. Though the episode was essentially a wait for our secert agent to regain his memories and let us know just why he’s here and going through all this in the first place.

Another ridiculously far fetched plot point is that apparently spy school teaches you to embed your mission objectives into your subjective unconscious, just in case you happen to lose your memory on a mission. Hold the phone on that one Joker Game. I am willing to accept the elite spartan spy training school but that doesn’t mean you can use it to excuse everything. I would have just as easy accepted that he recalled his mission objectives due to it being the last thing on his mind before losing his memory. To say that he did it on purpose is pushing suspension of disbelief. It’s strange that they put this far fetched detail in when the end of this episode has a rather clever detail. Before entering the church our spy had one eye closed and he switched to his other eye once he entered. I thought it was a strange detail until I looked it up through reddit and found out that it’s a method of keeping your eye adjusted to the dark. Whats even more surprising is that this is the reason that pirates wore eyepatches. Not because they had some sort of strange habit of losing eyes. I also learned that real life pirates are significantly more boring than fictional ones. I still have a problem with the presentation which looks to be a byproduct of the original novel. It seems to assume the viewer cannot figure out anything themselves and decides to spell out as much as possible. I feel the story suffers as a result of this and if it’s going to continue then it could prove to grow rather irritating. The series still remains good and I am not exactly opposed to the episodic format. Though I would label this episode as just alright and I hope that these super spies don’t end up being overpowered.

~AidanAK47~

An Introduction: A Wild Author Appears!

by HelghastKillzone, posted in Koutetsujou no Kabaneri

If you been following this site for a while, you may have noticed that someone new has made his first post. My name is HelghastKillzone and I’ll be the newest writing member of the Star Crossed Anime Blog. Before I go into the finer details, here is a little history on what anime means to me.

normal_psp_screen_1

Just like any typical person growing up in the 90s, anime in my childhood consisted of rushing home on weekdays from elementary school to watch Sailormoon, Pokémon, Gundam Wing and whatever Fox Kids or YTV  decided to throw in on Saturday mornings including the short-lived Escaflowne. Over the years, I picked up series here and there, from Hellsing to Evangelion to 5cm per Second but I never followed anything week to week until the Fall 2013 season. My actual blogging career started that year in the spring with MeepingAnime.com (now known as azureminds.com), ProjectOtaku.com (now defunct) and finally, SeaSlugAnime. I have covered such shows as Chaika, Captain Earth, Aldnoah.Zero, Zankyou no Terror, Psycho-Pass 2, Seraph of the End, Unlimited Blade Works and ERASED on an episodic basis as well as having written up on older shows, movies, seasonal preview and the low-hanging fruit of top ten lists.

cover

My tastes tend to lend towards the more mature and darker end of anime but I’m not closed off to indulging myself in the more lighter, moeblob, ecchii side of this wonderful animated medium. I will admit that there are large gaps in my viewing experience like the staples of Cowboy Bebop, Stein;Gate and Ghost in the Shell. It’s on my to watch list but I have a hard enough time in keeping up the latest and greatest but I would still love to hear your suggestions on what I should watch next. If you trouble grasping on what I would enjoy, my online alias and accompanying display picture is a perfect example of what exactly you’d expect from me. HelghastKillzone is from the Sony’s FPS franchise of Killzone for which I love the gunplay, visuals and aesthetics but the story is something left to be desired. The display picture, though, isn’t from the video game but instead, taken from the movie of Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, which is one of the very few anime I have awarded 10/10. If you are still unsure what where I stand, I suppose writing up a top ten anime show article for myself would do the trick.

Jin-Roh-The_Wolf-Brigade-wallpaper

As for my personal life, I live in Vancouver, Canada in the North America unlike the my other European contributors on this site. I hold a political science degree with some other lesser diplomas and certificate to go along with it. I do find it a little sad and ironic that my best phase of writing came after I received my bachelor degree where it was all about analyzing perspectives and pumping out papers. As for my working life, I’m actually a serving member of the Canadian Armed Forces for the last eight years and is looking to further my career within governmental agencies  In my spare time, I play extensively in this little-known MMOFPS game call Planetside 2 under the same name. If you have heard of this peculiar game then I suggest you hit up the Connery server for some sexy times.

For the spring season of 2016, I will be covering Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. Unfortunately, due to a work-related trip, I won’t be able to do episode three piece until this Monday.

Calling it now. Anime of the Season.

LINKS

Go on and say bad things on my MAL Profile:

http://myanimelist.net/animelist/HelghastKillzone

Previous Articles:

http://www.seaslugteam.com/author/helghastkillzone/

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 03

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

We reach the end of the first arc and our villainess is defeated but many questions left unanswered. I am glad that she didn’t happen to perish in our Knights Excalibah! attack as she plays a fantastic femme fatale. Her fighting style resembles that of Rider of Fate/stay night and when she climbed on the walls she almost looked like a possessed corpse. She’s a genuinely intimidating figure and the fact that her nickname is “The bowel hunter” makes her all the more scary. For our protagonist to make an enemy of someone whose primary interest is ripping out people’s intestines is a worrisome matter indeed.  Not to mention she such a beast that to dodge an attack when one of her feet is frozen to the ground she rips the flesh off her foot and freezes it with a crystal so she can continue fighting. That’s some incredible pain resistance. What we have here is an episode which was entirely set in a room with a massive fight scene. It wasn’t the highest quality fight scene I have seen but damn if it wasn’t pretty damn good. It’s nice that anime nowadays can have people fighting while talking instead of tense facial expressions to the sound of sword clangs. In particular the 360 shot looks to me like someone was taking lessons from One Punch Man. Well played White Fox. I would take some well done Sakuga over still frames and yelling any day. What is most surprising is that Subaru isn’t the star of the show here and instead the Knight who was featured last episode showed up to defeat Elsa. While Subaru’s actions did affect the outcome, it is surprising that he wasn’t the one to defeat her. It’s almost taboo for the villain of the arc to be defeated by someone other than the main protagonist.

He didn’t exactly sit back and do nothing however and his skills at fighting are getting a little ridiculous. I mean he was swinging around that massive club with one hand with very little effort. My suspension of disbelief has limits. That delayed cut at the end was also rather cartoonish as they realized that Subaru was actually cut and the damage only showed up two minutes later. Still how it was shown was rather clever. At first it appears his clothes were only cut which makes it comical but then comes the bleeding from his stomach. I doubt this means another rewind for Subaru as this does feel like the end of an arc. Reinharts reaction to Felt pulling out that emblem was also rather intriguing. By my best guess I would say that the medal stole had some charm that made it could only be held by royalty which is why Reinhart started questioning her about her family. There’s also the matter of Sattella whose real name is Emilia. Upon being introduced to Felt and Rom he remarks about her being a half elf. Then Felt panics because a Half elf with white hair is apparently related to something. Even Emilia remarks that she has no relation to that something. My guess is that this has to do with the name Emilia gave Subaru before which appears to refer to a being called the “jealous witch”. I am still loving this show so far and the wait between episodes is really killing me. It’s true that Subaru’s chuuni mannerisms can swing between annoying and funny. The characterisation also needs some work but quite frankly I am looking forward to the further dire adventures of Subaru’s time loop hell.

~AidanAK47~

Kiznaiver – 02

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Kiznaiver

With the second episode we have some clarity over what Kiznaiver is going to be about and it seems my assumption was correct. What we have here is a kind of Kokoro Connect drama with some trigger style humor. Our characters are placed in a Saw like game where they must reveal their biggest secret or receive a electric shock. Our game master threatened that they would die if they didn’t pass but I find it hard to believe she would kill them in cold blood, especially when she looks to have a fondness for our whited haired protagonist. The situation gets exceedly dangerous but with the humor it makes it hard to determine just how dangerous the situation really is. If the place exploded I wouldn’t be surprised to see all the characters come out unharmed and covered in soot. That is good as it prevents the show from becoming overly melodramatic and getting dragged down with serious tone. What I find most interesting at the moment is the nature of the characters secrets for you see in the first episode Noriko made a comparison between the main characters and the seven deadly sins. At first I thought it was a one off joke as she later goes on to say the deadly sins have changed their forms and suggests alternative names which Agata dismisses as her making fun of them. However what is interesting is that each of the secrets the main characters revealed in this episode related to the seven deadly sins. Tenga is afraid of dogs and hides it for fear of ruining his reputation. Pride. Niko pretends to be eccentric because she thinks otherwise people will be jealous of her. Envy. Chidori is in love with Agata. Lust. Yuta used to be a fat kid. Gluttony. Agata is apathetic towards everything. Sloth. And Maki claims to have killed someone before. Wrath. So you would naturally assume that Noriko is our Greed but there is another member featured in the opening who hasn’t yet been introduced. The mysterious fellow with bandages on his hands. Likely he will be introduced in the next “Mission” and I am willing to bet his nature will have something to do with money. I am guessing he joins the Kiznaver project due to payment.

This episode’s mission acts as a nice character development episode and does act to further the plot. I can sort of understand the logic of this exercise. In getting these people to share their secrets you create a personal connection between them. As the wise Katsuragi Keima said, for people far apart secrets can be superglue. Or in more practical terms, sharing a secret with someone allows people to get closer together. By forcing them to spill their secrets it forces them to coexist with someone else as they can’t leave them alone in case they tell, and in turn that person knows them better than anyone else. Sound logic even if the means to achieve this involve demolition. In tone the secrets are half in slapstick territory and half being deathly serious. For one I find it most amusing that Niko pretends to be eccentric without really realising that she is naturally eccentric. As for Maki’s claims to have killed someone I am fairly certain she is embellishing the details. Her “Murder” was likely something she did indirectly or blames herself for. While I would love it if she truly did murder someone with full intent instead it’s not likely that is the case. THis happens to be another strong episode of Kiznaver and I hope it stays this way after seeing Maigo go downhill very fast. Hopefully Okada’s bad tendencies are all taken by that show and don’t seep into this one. On another note the opening is fantastic and really gets me in the mood for the show. In particular I love the prism styled showcase of the characters. It’s only flaw is that after seeing it I have “Take on me” by a-ha stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

~AidanAK47~