Some Quick First Impressions: Boku no Hero Academia, Endride and Kuma Miko

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Boku no Hero Academia

Short Synopsis: A boy with no superpowers wishes to be become a hero.

For the most part I need to reiterate what I said in my said in my season preview about this show. There is nothing particular wrong with it as it does make at least a pretty decent Shounen. If I had to fault it for anything I would say it’s uninspired. There are a lot of aspects which reflect other shounen series and it feels to me like it’s following a formula. But what bugs me the most is that it goes for the less interesting story when it had a potentially greater story in it’s beginning. Midoriya is powerless and despite his desire to be a hero he has no realistic means of achieving it. What comes to pass in the next episode is that he is given a means to obtain a quirk(Aka power) but to me that undermines the lesson of the start. It would have been a far more powerful and interesting story if Midoriya had to make use of his intelligence and cunning to make a name for himself as a hero without a quirk. Which would make him an inspiration for all the quirkless. But instead we have him reinforce the class division and make it that he can only succeed by obtaining a quirk. Still if you can push aside that thought then this can be a decent shounen to watch as we do have some impressive animation on display and a decent hook. (Try not to compare it to One Punch Man. It only comes off worse for it.) It will be a fun little show to watch in between series.

Potential: 60%

 

Endride

Short Synopsis: A boy who loves crystals is dragged to an alternate world.

Well that certainly was something so bland it could be classified as a cheap 90s OVA that was made in the present. There is something about this that just has an aura of cheapness in it’s conception. The protagonist is run of the mill besides his fixation on crystals, the artwork is utterly generic and the setting screams that it is a cheap knockoff of other done to death settings. Even the animation is utterly lackluster as the fight scenes in this episode were determined to show anything other than the fight itself. Watch in awe during a fight as you see a boy with a strained look on his face while weapons clang in the background. The weapons as well just look bad with the main villains weapon resembling a safety pin with a spear stuck to one end. I would be exaggerating if I called this terrible but in truth it is something worse. This is forgettable. This is the kind of anime that is lost to the ages to never be remembered. It isn’t good enough to be recalled nor bad enough to be hated. It’s just…bland.

Potential: 0%

 

Kuma Miko

Short Synopsis: A girl wishes to go to school in the city but is stopped by her guardian who happens to be a talking bear.

This is pretty fun. It’s an enjoyable comedy with some good jokes and decent comedic timing. The chemistry between Natsu the bear and the miko is smooth and makes the nature of the screwball comedy work well. The artwork is bright and pops out while the character designs are easy on the eyes. Natsu’s transitions from bearlike to nonthreatening is nicely done. I liked the reference to Jaws in the beginning and the folktale that happened to sound like a bizarre hentai doujin. Though I must repeat that this likely isn’t going to impress you if you are looking for a laugh out loud comedy. I smiled but I find the show decently enjoyable at best. This isn’t something I see being top of the season.

Potential: 60%

Some Quick First Impressions: Ace Attorney(Gyakuten Saiban), JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Diamond is Unbreakable and Mayoiga

by AidanAK47, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Ace Attorney(Gyakuten Saiban)

Short Synopsis: Our protagonist is a lawyer that says “Objection!!”

Its as I feared. For you see in video game adaptions you have to rip out a core part of the experience and pray that another aspect has enough strength to hold it’s own. In this case it clearly cannot do that as all tension was ripped from the situation. This is admittedly the tutorial case for the game and watching the anime it’s clear that an anime only watcher could notice that. The dialogue that clearly made reference to game mechanics and the visual text boxes that are clearly there for the fans of the games. In the games the tension of the case was there because it was you who was looking over the court record and finding inconsistencies in the witnesses statement. When you cut out that aspect it just feels like Phoenix(Calling him Naruhodo just feels weird to me) is pulling the answers out of nowhere with little effort. This could be remedied in future episodes as we follow him investigating the case but it won’t fix the problems in presentation. This entire episode just felt off. The beginnings pacing was too fast, the music felt inappropriate and terrible, art is passable at best and something wasn’t right about the animation. To me this feels like it wasn’t a top priority project for A-1 pictures and something about it just makes it seem lazy. But perhaps the fault simply is that Ace Attorney can’t transition to anime because it’s game format was an important part of it’s charm.

Potential: 30%

 

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Diamond is Unbreakable

Short Synopsis: Once again a new Jojo must face a Bizarre enemy

The first thing you will notice is the art style which is very evocative of the Bronze age of comic books. It takes some getting used to but it is a rather interesting style despite the strange use of colour. It seems I will be able to enjoy this series without watching the rest of stardust crusaders as we seem to be on a brand new storyline. My only question being just why is Jotaru’s cap fused with his skull? Did something happen or is that just a weird design choice? Either way this is looking to be a return to form for Jojo as our new protagonist has a much more interesting power and personality. His way of snapping when someone makes fun of his hair is quite amusing and the weird method he has of fighting opens up a whole new layer of possibilities with future encounters. The presentation is very old school and has a certain charm to it. If you seen Jojo you know what to expect here and I can say it’s still delivers on that. Whether it can keep up the steam depends on how this Arc turns out.

Potential: 70%

 

Mayoiga

Short Synopsis: A group of crazies are on a bus trip to a secret village to start their lives over.

While it hasn’t been confirmed, it looks to be certain this is a horror anime. For this episode has ominous vibes throughout and I like that. There is a lot of potential here in the eerie atmosphere and a huge cast full of mentally unstable characters each with their own problems. Of course because it’s such a huge cast there are a number of stereotypes present. A rapper, a chuunibyou, a delinquent, smart glasses guy…the anime spends five minutes just having each one introduce themselves. There are a few interesting one such as a girl with obsessive compulsive disorder and a girl wearing a hoodie who looks to know more about this than the others. I would complain that this is far too huge a cast for a twelve episode series but there are heavy hints that a lot of these people will be killed off. I am fairly interested in what is to come but I am also worried as horror such as this requires a subtle hand. Subtlety is not Okadas strong point. I like the foreshadowing this episode had but a lot of up was in your face. Such as two songs that happened to have grim lyrics and some pretty big signs that these people are already dead and this is some kind of purgatory. Okada is going to need to restrain herself and not up the melodrama to cartoonishly exaggerated degrees for this horror to be good. Still I wouldn’t mind a nice anime slasher flick myself either. There’s a lot to like here but I need to see just what Okada is going to do with this setup and characters. I hope she pulls through on this because anime horror is sorely needed by the medium.

Potential: 80%

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu – 12

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Well Sukeroku was just five days away from retirement, not afraid of anything anymore, gonna tell Miyokichi he loves her after the battle, followed by a around the world trip on a boat called the live forever, put on a red shirt and kiss Yoko Littner goodbye. Yes, the Grim Reaper was clearly sharpening his scythe this episode as Sokeroku expressed how this was the turning point for him in his life. Thoroughly expressed by him telling a sentimental story about a man who cleans up his act after his wife tells him a white lie regarding a wallet found on the beach. This story truly exemplifies Sokeroku to the core as this too was a turnround for him. A chance for him to make his daughter happy and win back his wife. This story was like a promise to Konatsu that he planned to make things better from now on. All sorely ruined by Miyokichi.

I find that this episode has thrown a wrench into my previous assumptions about this little love triangle. Miyokichi is obviously still in love with Yakumo but against my previous impressions Yakumo somewhat accepts her. I say somewhat as I am not certain as to his exact intentions. I think that seeing her current state awoke guilt in Yakumo and he felt that if he accepted her feelings then perhaps he might be able to bring her back together with Sokeroku and Konatsu. Sadly Miyokichi looks to have lived up to her curse promised before and attempts to drag Yakumo into a lovers suicide. So stopped by Sokeroku who bursts in promising to give up Rakugo and focus on her and Konatsu. Considering Sokeroku just returned to what he truly loved this felt like a betrayal to me and I would like to think his words were simply to keep her from the edge of the balcony. I think he knew that Miyokichi truly didn’t want to die as he noticed her shaking when he caught her in his arms. What also surprised me was that this actually looked like it worked as Miyokichi started to get shook up by his words. I still believe their relationship came about out of necessity but it is possible that in the years spent together some love could bloom. After all, Sokeroku actually knew her first name when Yakumo did not and is that a sign that maybe they held a special connection that Yakumo didn’t have with her? Perhaps if Sukeroku put work into finding a job and supporting them things wouldn’t come to this. Fate however, is a cruel mistress and if you tempt her then she will ruin you gladly. That or maybe one shouldn’t install tiny balconies made of cheap flimsy wood because it breaks to drop Miyokichi to her doom. Sadly Sokeroku managed to catch her but with Yakumo being the only one holding him up it just ended up being a lovers suicide just as Miyokichi intended. Just with the wrong lover.

So did Sokeroku truly mean what he said to Miyokichi? Could he shape up and get a job? Truthfully I think not. Sokeruka was a man made for Rakugo and even if he tried his hardest I fear he will fall into old habits in time. To take Rakugo from him is like taking his heart and without it he is but a lazy neet. But I certainly seen he had no intention of returning with Yakumo to inheret his masters title. He knew better than Yakumo that nobody would allow him to have the name. We finally know how he died and the reason Konatsu caused him of killing her father. I would say that Miyokichi is the main culprit in this mess as she was the one to cause this whole situation. From this it looks like we will be returning to the future and with this story we finally know just what Yakumo intends with Yotarou. He wants him to take up Sukeroku’s mantle and provide the Rakugo he cannot. To be the guide to help Rakugo survive to the modern age.

Schwarzesmarken – 65/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Reviews by AidanAK47, Schwarzesmarken

Schwarzesmarken is a strange title in that it has a setting with fantastic potential yet the story is dampened by a rushed pacing and Missing characterisation. Despite this there are signs of a greater story under the hood and at times that story can shine despite haphazard adaption. The Stasi make for a great villain in how they impose a level of Orwellian control over East Germany which makes characters hold suspicions about another being a Stasi spy. All the while an Alien threat pushes East Germany into a corner as it deals with enemies both inside and outside. On top of the divided west Germany standing on the sidelines to see who schemes his way to leadership. All the while other countries dip their fingers in attempts to use Germany for its own ends. It’s all a tangled web of power struggles for a country facing total destruction which makes for some great situations which this show can become most engaging.

The strongest element of this show is its setting which is surprisingly authentic to real Germany of that time. A good amount of research went into various elements of this show. From the type of cars used to trains and even stories read to children. The internal politics of the situation are engaging and it does have a strong set of episodes around its middle regarding a character called Lise. Watching the power struggle between the governing parties helps remedy the insufficient level of character development present in the series. Characters can have drastic changes and it often feels as though a chunk of their character arc had been tossed aside to fit a one cour series. Characters who barely shared two sentences can switch from indifferent to each other to being close trusting allies. Frankly it’s jarring and makes you feel as though you accidentally missed an episode. The thing that makes this disappointing is that it’s not as if the characters are boring, if anything they do seem quite interesting. But no time is devoted to letting the viewer get to know them. So when a character dies or faces tribulations you just feel indifferent to their plight because you don’t know enough about them to truly care. The art of the show is fairly basic but the Mecha battles are fairly impressive feats of CGI animation. Music is also good but lost in the level of noise in the Mecha battles.

There is currently a demo for the visual novel of this story on Steam Greenlight. If it is well received there’s a chance of the Schwarzesmarken visual novels being brought over to the west. If that happens in the future I would recommend those Visual Novels over this anime in a heartbeat. It is pretty much guaranteed that the story is done better in the VN than in this anime and I find myself disappointed that I experience this story in its current form. For Muv Luv fans this anime should be good fanservice and it does act as a cliff notes for those not interested in the visual novel alternative. Otherwise I wouldn’t recommend this as while it does have potential, its hampered by a need to rush its way through its story in order to cover its entirely. Which has resulted in an anime which feels detached and lacking.

Schwarzesmarken – 12

by AidanAK47, posted in Schwarzesmarken

So Schwarzesmarken ends and the cheesy speeches not withstanding it not a bad ending. The Stasi are dismantled, West and East Germany have joined forces and things are looking up. However it turned out we have some causalities. The first being that white haired girl pilot whose name I can never remember and Irisdina. Not much fanfare was give for miss white hair but Irisdina got the full works. She has the satisfaction of taking out Axemann and died overlooking the birth of a new Germany. All of which is touching…if it wasn’t undermined by how she died. I give credit to her for beating the hell out of Axemann while handcuffed but she truly was screwed over when her teammate arrived with a gun and threw it to her. Instead of that teammate you know…shooting Axemann herself. It’s really hard to feel for a death that could have so easily been prevented and no matter how I try to rationalize it I can’t see any reason why she would have thought throwing the gun was better than shooting it. You can’t say she wasn’t acostumed to firearms because firearms training is a requirement for pilots. Those previous seconds shouting and throwing could have so been used to save her life and I am pretty annoyed that girl doesent hold any guilt over this.

Beatrixs goal is revealed to be a desire for Germany to sacrifice all personal identity in order to become a well oiled machine for the sole purpose of destroying BETA. Thus saving the world at the cost of East Germany’s individuality. Meanwhile Katia puts forwards that East and West Germany should put aside their differences and fight BETA together and with both their powers combined they would truly prevail. Beatrix dismisses this as idealistic nonsense and here’s the thing. I agree. Katia’s plan is really not a solution but more of a optimistic approach. That said I don’t find Beatrixs plan much of a solution either. At most her plan would end up with the same result as Katia’s which is not winning the war but rather prolonging the impending defeat. Simply put, these two people have truly no idea just how doomed Humanity is. For you see the BETA have Humanity on its last legs at this time and they haven’t even brought out the big guns yet. It would take some massive world leaping timey wimey stuff to score what could be considered a victory against them. So when hearing all this talk about hope and such I can’t help but pity these fools. I read the visual novel, I know what you face and you don’t stand a hope in hell. So all that’s left is the final battle and I find my thoughts on this series to be mixed.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi – 85/100

by AidanAK47, posted in Anime Reviews, Boku dake ga Inai Machi, Reviews by AidanAK47

In the large reservoir of anime it is surprising just how few titles focus on the concept of time travel. There are of course titles which feature time travel but few that make it the core focus. So here we have Boku Machi or ERASED, a tale about a mangaka time traveling to his childhood to prevent the deaths of children at the hands of a series killer. This series has some great presentation and direction though it does make it somewhat predictable in how it highlights what’s to come. Predictable does not mean boring though and this tale has a lot of heart. There are a number of great scenes that can play with your emotions and each episode does leave a feeling of dread for a tragedy to come. Though those episode cliffhangers do build up expectations which the ending fails to deliver.The female cast is ridiculously strong with Satorus mother being one of the best parenting figures one could have. Especially seeing as her initial impressions make her seem like a deadbeat parent. What is a shame is that one girl(Airi) in the cast is neglected despite having a great personality.

This is very much a slow paced show and a large amount of the shows runtime is devoted to one of the victims of the killer(Kayo) and Satoru’s efforts to free her from an abusive household. The tale is a moving one but it does push the main plot to the sidelines for quite a while. The mystery while not particularly deep provides the right level of intrigue to keep a viewer on their toes and a motive to keep a close eye on proceedings. There is a good bit of misdirection to keep you thinking and there are nice small touches throughout like the synchronisation of Satorus dialogue and monologue as well as the letterboxing of the past to give the feeling of being an outside observer. Some admittedly is a bit too forward in its execution but there is a lot of minor details that makes the story more interesting.

It does have its weaknesses as a show. Yuki Kajura provided a ill suited and uninspired soundtrack, the pacing can be too fast at times, the “villains” are exaggeratedly evil and to those looking for a smart mystery you will be disappointed. However I believe it’s positives do outway its negatives. Ultimately what decides your enjoyment of this show is your level attachment to the characters. The focus is clearly character driven and if you find yourself not caring for them, I am afraid the plot will not hold anything to compensate. But if you find yourself getting drawn into these character then I believe your experience with this show will be a positive one but remember to walk into it with the right expectations.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi – 12

by AidanAK47, posted in Boku dake ga Inai Machi

As I said before, an ending can change your entire perception of a series and in Boku machi’s case the ending is …decent. I can’t say I have any problems with it and I could consider it good. In all honestly it was hard to imagine a case where we could get an ending better than this considering the circumstances of how the last episode ended. A bombastic showdown between Satoru and Yashiro would be uncharacteristic of the show so far and Satoru’s current state stops them from having any real confrontation. So what it all boils down to is Satoru giving him a mental probing and egging him on to push him off a ledge. All to incriminate him so they can arrest him. Presentation wise, I like it. But when looking at it from a closer perspective I admit that Satoru’s plan looked to require a lot of assumptions. For one, how did he know Yashiro would push him off the roof? How did Yashiro manage to poison one of the medicines used in that girl’s surgery? How did they prevent that from happening? How did Satoru’s friends manage to inflate a cushion without drawing suspicion and where did they get one? There was also issues with the large amount of padding in this episode as it flashed back to scenes that happened not all that long ago.Lastly, no matter how it’s presented, having friendship be shown as the reason Satoru beats Yashiro is cringe worthy. Friends and connections are great and everything but when you outright state that your victory is owed to a little help from your friends then it always sounds lame. The biggest issue of all was the feeling of padding through this episode. The pacing has always been fast but for this episode things slowed down to a crawl as we go back to how Satoru got his memories back, have several sappy unnecessary speeches and reiterate what has already happened in the series. When looking over the episode you can see that not a lot actually happened in it and if this was the case I would have preferred to forgo the speeches and flashbacks for more scenes of the epilogue. One thing in particular that I felt needed much more fleshing out was Airi. It was an odd decision for Airi to be given such limited screentime if in the end she was to emerge the “Victor”. To someone watching the series, Satoru’s reaction to Airi looks to be a major overreaction so putting some extra time in the end for the two to bond under the bridge would have made a better conclusion than ending on an emotional reunion between our main and a character with very little screentime.

As per usual, I tend to check episode reviews on a show before writing these in order to gain an idea on the consensus of what was presented. The end of this show looks to have caused a division in the fanbase. Some express disappointment while others feel satisfied. I went out of my way to watch a youtube video from someone(Who I shall not name) who actively disliked the show. It was interesting to say the least as there were aspects of his argument I argeed with but didn’t see quite as detrimental to the series as he believed. What I found most fascinating was when this person made a comparison between this series and Steins Gate as he looked to deem that flawless while many of his problems he had with this series reflected my problems with Steins Gate. Such as a beginning which made it hard to invest myself in the story or some rather arbitrary rules for time travel.(One of the particularly amusing things I find about Steins Gate is that it’s explanation for Time travel isn’t time travel. It is in fact sliding as Okabe is traveling between alternate realities. Not traveling through time.) Through when thinking about this I noticed that the two shows do hold similarities. Now, I am aware that if you break down a show to it’s base components you can find similarities between virtually anything but still. Both shows hold a lie in its premise. Steins gate being that it alludes to be about a ragtag group taking on a elusive corporation with aid of a makeshift time machine. What it is actually about is a more traditional tale of someone trying to right a wrong after abusing time travel. Boku Machi in turn alludes to a tale about a mature man returning to his childhood to have a cat and mouse game with a serial killer. What it is actually about is more a character drama and thriller with Satoru attempting to right the wrongs in his past. In this regard I believe I see how there are those who were disappointed in how this all ended. Cliffhanger endings of each episode keep building up expectations the show wouldn’t deliver so I think what will determine your enjoyment of this series will depend on which aspects you focus on. I could go further but if I was to be perfectly honest I would state Boku Machi is the stronger of the two; simply because it took less time to get to it’s point. Say what you will but I am sure much of the praise for Steins Gate is for it’s second half and not it’s rather story light first half.

Certainly through all my moaning and complaining you might believe that I am discontent with this series now that it has finished; with that you would be incorrect. I may be acting overly critical but I am still quite pleased with how the series turned out. This may be because I lost interest with the manga over time and found the series kept that interest better than reading the story on paper. If I had a problem with the series it would be with Yuki Kajura because she really did not try with this soundtrack. It didn’t match the series in the slightest. Honestly Yuki; you can do better than this. I also consider this ending to be better to the manga equivalent which was disappointingly anti-climatic. You may consider this ending anti-climatic as well but in the manga we had over ten chapters building up a showdown between Satoru and Yashiro that ultimately gets resolved in a second. I found it rather dull and would swear that the manga was axed at just how quickly it all resolved. In that regard I think the anime did it better. Was there a better way to end this series? Maybe, but I pick the ending that didn’t set up the finale to be more than what it was.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu – 11

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Even without the aforementioned grudge it looks like Yakumo and Konatsu get along like oil and water. She changes her tune fast once she finds out he is a Rakugo performers but their relationship remains stiff and awkward. Something which based on the first episode doesn’t look like it’s going to change. One particular aspect I find interesting is how Konatsu views her mother with disgust. From Konatsu’s perspective it’s certainly understandable. After all Miyokichi sleeps around with other men and actively discourages Sukeroku from performing Rakugo again which Konatsu truly loves. Though having seen what we have seen this is perfectly logical. Her Parents relationship, sad though it may be, was born out of necessity. Miyokichi needed a man to depend on and Sukeroku needed a goal. However Miyokichi didn’t expect that Sukeroku without Rakugo is a worthless bum who can’t gain the drive to look for real work. So she returns back to the only way she knows how to make a living. As for her stopping him from performing Rakugo it’s obvious that it’s because it reminds her of Yakumo and she’s not over him yet. So the situation is that Yakumo has to convince Sukeroku to perform Rakugo again which is rather interesting when this situation was reversed before.

Sukeroku makes his problem clear. He can no longer see the audience and this was the problem Yakumo faced once before in the past. Before he polished his Rakugo but neglected to view the audience when performing which made his performances lacking. It was Sukeroku who taught Yakumo to see the audience and learn to pull them along with his flow. Now Yakumo must teach this again to Sukeroku though the solution isn’t as simple as it was with him. With Yakumo he was simply ignorant of his problem but Sukeroku is aware. Is it strange that I was reminded of the tale of Amaterasu when Yakumo managed to lure Sukeroku out by performing Rakugo in front of Konatsu? Perhaps I am looking too much into that but this did illustrate the difference between Yakumo and Sukeroku’s styles. When Yakumo tells the tale he starts scaring Konatsu by placing emphasis on the darker parts of the story. When Sukeroku jumps in and lightens it up with his style and we have our first duel performance by Sukeroku and Yakumo. Truly the dynamic between them is marvelous and rather than performing solo perhaps it would be better to combine their talents. At the end of their performance Yakumo begs Sukeroku to take up the name which personally I see no way that can possibly turn out well. Though it seems for now that Sukeroku’s problem is cured. For even if he can’t see the audience, perhaps he can look past them and perform for his daughter.

Schwarzesmarken – 11

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Schwarzesmarken

Everything looks to be gearing up for the finale but with the death of Lise goes a heavy amount of emotional commitment. I fear a key problem with this show has returned and that is that it’s difficult to get invested in the events on screen when we have no attachment to the characters. Lise is dead, Irisdina is captured and Katia has been relegated to an off screen position. That leaves us with Theodor and Gretel to carry the show. Neither of the two have been all that engaging though Gretel does have moments. Theodor has reached the end of his arc at this point; as other characters just have pointed out. What remains here is the endgame of defeating the Stasi and the question of just what they are going to do about the BETA horde at their doorstep. I am at least glad that Beatrix has taken up the lead role as main villain after discovering that her superior was a KGB operative who was planning to make east Germany a bulwark for Russia. I like that she didn’t make the stupid move of uncovering his motives without a backup plan. Guess Schmidt should have checked who his officers were getting orders from and he ends up with a bullet to the head from the officers he calls in to take down Beatrix. Now she’s in full command of the Stasi and that’s just the way I like it. Schmidt was never an interesting villain; he’s far too impersonal to the members of the Schwarzesmarken team. Beatrix makes for a much better threat coupled with the fact that she’s a great TSF poliet. We also get some insight into her motivations with her conversation with Irisdina. It’s looks like both Beatrix and Irisdina are trying to fulfil Irisdina’s brothers wishes in two different manners. Both seem to be trying to save Germany in their own way though Beatrix’s methods are more ruthless and unforgiving. It’s possible Beatrix might have been romantically involved with the brother as well which would explain the level of hate she has for Irisdina who had to kill her brother to save herself.

I really dislike the character who walks into Theodor mourning his sister and congratulates him on killing her. No matter how much of a horrible person someone is; you don’t walk into their funeral and congratulate their lover on becoming single. It’s just not something people do. I can’t say Theodor has been an interesting character as his arc has been one big sister complex. Now he’s that Mecha protagonist who’s really good at piloting and has a constant case of low self confidence. Meanwhile Gretel has been taken to the Stasi files Archive where Axemann reveals his agenda to come under Beatrix’s command and offers Gretel a chance to join the Stasi. However Axemann isn’t a pilot and didn’t take into account the communications transmitter Gretel has in her suit. The rebels rush in and Gretel gets shot and is now presumably dead; leaving the series in the hand of Theodor. This could have been a great scene had it not been for the fact that I truly don’t know Gretel well enough to emit an emotional response. I have more or less ground this point to dust but this really is the biggest problem with this show. The focus has been mainly on presenting the events of the story fast and foremost that no time has been spent on letting us get to know the characters. Which makes character moments within the story just feel empty. Lise worked because of the main stories big focus on her but when it comes to other characters it’s either out of nowhere or just not effective. One thing I haven’t commented on with this series is the music and it really is quite good. I felt it often gets overshadowed by the heavy amount of Mecha clashes and bullets but I like the German feel they went for. Mecha battles are quite excellent as well with some great CGI work. So all that’s left is the final battle and I find my thoughts on this series to be mixed. Though in all things considered this could have gone a lot worse.

Boku dake ga Inai Machi – 11

by AidanAK47, posted in Boku dake ga Inai Machi, Currently Watching:

When Satoru was almost killed I expected him to survive and I thought that it was likely going to result in him getting pulled out or time travel. What I didn’t expect was a time skip. Satoru was indeed pulled out of the car; however because of the incident he was put into a coma for fifteen years. All the while Sachiko was once again proving she’s likely the best mother in anime; what with her not only taking care of him all those years but even going out of her way to exercise his limbs so that that his muscles aren’t dead from underuse. This isn’t in the episode but there was a point where doctors attempted to convince her to pull the plug on Satoru and her answer was a short and resolute “Fuck you”. Well we are back in a new future and with it we have a massive change in characters and the narrative. A large part of this episode was dedicated to Satoru attempting to regain his now scrambled memory. A nice touch to the episode is that his inner monologue is now narrated by his child self rather than being narrated by his older self. Another nice touch was removing Satoru from the opening. Showing that he hasn’t quite regained his standing. What is likely to scorch many a viewer was the revelation about Kayo who is now happily married and with a child. I admit that even myself am not entirely unscathed by the revelation; especially when the series hinted heavily at them becoming an item. Though personally it makes sense that Kayo wouldn’t wait for a guy she knew only for a short period during childhood and while I don’t look at it this way, it removes the thought that Satoru “won” Kayo. I am sure there are those who could look at this as a Genji Monogatari situation if Kayo ended up becoming Satoru’s wife so at least that notion can be tossed aside and we can see that Satoru truly is just happy to see her living a full life.

Due to hearing that this episode diverged quite a bit from the manga, I made it a point to read up on how the manga dealt with the events in this episode and I can confirm that the anime has more or less gone anime original. Is that a bad thing you wonder? Well truthfully I am uncertain. The manga does expand upon questions of what went on while Satoru was in a coma and the process of him reclaiming his memory is a much more gradual process than the almost instant revelation at the end of this episode. One particular thing I wish was kept was Yashiro’s backstory which a small part was given during this episode’s opening but their is much more to his past. If you are interested then you can read chapter chapter 32 of the manga as it is dedicated to detailing his past. Another thing I wish they hadn’t changed was the change of having Yashiro prevent the photographers from deframing Satoru instead of Airi. Airi encountering Satoru was a big part of helping him regain his memory though I believe the reason it was left out was because it also caused him to slip into a coma again for another year. That and Airi hasn’t had much of a presence in the anime series. But as I said before, this doesn’t mean I think the manga did it better. It is true you get more detail and a more gradual recovery from Satoru but it’s very uneventful. When watching this episode I was already getting impatient with Satoru as it really was just a waiting game of him realizing what the audience already knows. The manga is ten thirty page chapters which are mainly about Satoru recovering his memory. It is long, drawn out and I found myself getting bored as I read. This is good moments in this but if animated I could certainly see people getting frustrated with the almost agonizingly slow pace. I can only imagine how manga readers felt as each monthly chapter moved the plot along at a snail’s pace. The anime pretty much trimmed the fat and gave us the cliffs notes on what happened though the final confrontation is different.

We missed a small cat and mouse game between Yashiro and Satoru as they prevent him from taking another victim and skip right to a head on conflict which is a little bit of a shame. But we do have tension as Yashiro gets closer to Satoru as a friend to likely keep an eye on him. I find it engaging as it tempts the situation of Yashiro saying something to trigger Satoru’s memories or the potential possibility of him deciding to silence Satoru for good. The anime’s pacing is faster and more to the point, perhaps too fast. So you may understand my indecisiveness in deciding which handled the story better. On one side you have a fast to the point version of events which leaves out the finer details and on the other you have a far too slow version which gets boring at points but has far more of a build up. I guess the deciding factor on which approached it the best will be the next episode of the anime as I certainly have no idea what Satoru has planned considering he revealed that he has his memory back to the killer when he’s in no position to fight back. That isn’t the only thing the next episode decides as I have said once before on the finale of Madoka. This last episode is what decides Erased/Boku Machi’s status for the future. Either a must watch classic every anime fan needs to see or it being that show that was really good up until the ending. An ending can change your entire outlook on an anime and I certainly hope that this one doesn’t disappoint.