Shingeki no Bahamut:Genesis- 05

by K-Off, posted in Shingeki no Bahamut

Ah, the story progression that I was looking for. I finally find myself having a reason to get attached to Leone and Kaisar, because this episode devotes an entire episode to their rivalry and is just all around an improvement from last episode.

I’ve talked about how the slow pacing hurts this show, and this is one instance where taking a break from the monotony of side activities does a lot to build the story. In this episode, we follow Leone and Rita (possibly my favorite character so far) as they try to get Kaisar and Amira back, who were captured by demons in the last episode. The old rivalry between Leone and Kaisar finally come to a head, and it’s been delivered in such a satisfying manner here- the rising action was not contrived in any way and it was packed with a lot of tension. Regardless, there remains much to be worried about when talking about where this anime will end up-take Amira’s exponential “moe-ification” and the sluggish pacing, which appeared plenty of times in the last few episodes. Those will, without a doubt, stay relevant as the show moves forward.

In addition, Jeanne D’Arc and the Knights had at most 3 minutes of screen time ever since the series began, so I do think that it’s a mistake for Sato to put them on the sidelines for so long. Jeanne D’Arc is probably the only well-known historical figure in the anime, and she’s yet another character being cast off as a minor supporting character when she has so much potential.

Parasyte-the Maxim- 03-05

by K-Off, posted in Parasyte

Let me put up a disclaimer: When I first started to review this series, I didn’t foresee the obvious outcome that this show would end up so mediocre. I debated whether or not I should write reviews in groups of 2-3 episodes versus reviews that would drone on about the same issues every single episode, and I ultimately decided on the former. Parasyte is yet another anomaly- because while the pacing and story are solid as hell, various weaknesses in character development and a total failure to create an effective setting ultimately bring the show down.

First, I think we can all agree that Migi is by far the best character in this show. But besides him, who else do I genuinely care about? Shinichi’s “dehumanization” continues to occur far too rapidly for us to care about it very much, yet the writers seem to keep beating us over the head with evidence that he’s changing- when Mr. A is approaching Shinichi in episode four, Shinichi feels strong remorse about having to kill A, even though he ultimately kills him out of self-defense. So I was initially under the impression that Shinichi doesn’t want to kill any organism regardless of their threat level, because his actions had demonstrated that very same idea up to that point. However, when a pregnant Miss Ryoko is literally causing zero harm to anyone, all of a sudden, Shinichi wants to kill her- what a textbook definition of beating us over the head with character development.

This also directly correlates with the failure to create tension whenever Shinichi goes outdoors.  With a premise as this reminiscent of vampires, there was so much potential here. Although this is obviously a minor issue in comparison to something like character development, creating an unnerving tension whenever Shinichi goes outside to interact with other humans would take the story this show seeks to tell and drastically further push the narrative. How awesome would it have been, had the writers shown Shinichi suspecting every person he saw in the city simply because one of them might be a parasyte? Because so far, the only things that remind us that there are other parasytes out there are the “boss fights” we get every episode.

Overall, although I’ve only listed the negative aspects of the show fron episodes 3-5, the parts this show does right remains the same as what I wrote for my episode 2 review. Regardless, the soundtrack is definitely now a problem- the big emotional reveal in the fifth episode was ruined for me because of the badly composed dubstep (a genre of music that I normally enjoy.) Ultimately, the positives and negatives of this show make this series a fairly average one so far.

Your Lie in April – 04 & 05

by LightningBolt, posted in Currently Watching:, Your Lie in April

Episodes 4 and 5 of Your Lie in April were crucial ones in terms of how the series would develop. Episode 4 was a very important episode in the series as we see Kousei reintroduce himself to the music world after his mother’s death left him unable to play the piano. How the writers would handle this situation was extremely important. I was personally worried that Kousei’s and Kaori’s performance would go too smoothly, almost belittling Kousei’s trauma. Instead, the writers took a more agreeable path than that in which encouraging signs for Kousei’s progress were mixed with frustration and familiar problems that showed that he is definitely not out of the woods yet.

After the performance, we’re left with Kaori’s sudden collapse. I was immediately worried that this was going to be an extremely cheap use of melodrama to inject some drama into the show that would ultimately be completely negligible to the series as a whole, but we learn in episode 5 that this has been a recurring issue for Kaori and will almost definitely be a very important part of Your Lie in April going forward. The rest of episode 5 showed a stronger focus on the relationships within the show with some monologues from Tsubaki and Kousei as they ponder their feelings. Episode 5 ends with Kaori pushing Kousei to enter a piano competition, which will be another important step in Kousei’s progress overcoming his trauma.

The good from these two episodes is that the pacing and production values have remained very strong. Good pacing is always nice since it feels rather rare in the medium, and especially rare in the drama/romance genres. The show also managed to beat out my worst expectations that I detailed a little bit in the above paragraphs, relating to how Kousei’s accompaniment of Kaori would go and Kaori’s collapse. As for the bad… I really wasn’t a fan of the writers hanging the botched performance over Kousei’s head. I can understand Kousei being hard on himself, even if he was pushed into the performance. I think it would be a natural reaction. I was less understanding of Kaori bringing it up at the end of episode 5. At the end of the day, I think it was merely to get him to do the piano competition, continuing to try to help him overcome his issues, but I’m still iffy on hanging that over his head to get him to do it. This is also a good time to mention the sappy lines I forgot to mention last time. They’re back in full force, particularly during the monologues. The biggest issue with these lines is that they really just suck me out of the show. Nobody talks like that.

Overall I’d say the quality has remained fairly consistent through these five episodes. Kousei’s upcoming piano competition should be the next major event and it’ll be interesting to see how the writers choose to move along the plot from where we are now. Also, of course, it’ll be interesting to see how Kaori’s health develops going forward.

Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Bladeworks – 05

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Bladeworks

Always elegant. That is the motto of the Tohsaka household and the mask of Tohsaka Rin. The meaning clearly that no matter what you do, do it with style and grace. It is the creed which Rin upholds by playing the honor student. Though as you can see, at times cracks can appear in the facade.  We had two great action sequences today but in my opinion this were not the meat of the episode. That is because this episode has started to delve into what makes these characters who they are. Even starting the episode with the conversation that would dictate Shirou Emiya’s life. So after the last episode had Rin declaring that she would kill Shirou if he approached her while not understanding his position, the very next day Shirou does exactly that. It’s a stupid move on his part but frankly I can’t blame him. Considering how Rin has been helping and been sending him mixed signals I would likely do the same. After all she may have warned and made that point clear but often it felt insincere and hard to take seriously. But while Shirou searching for information on the now missing Ayako from the previous episode, Rin takes the opportunity to ambush him and show that she means business.

Though truth be told I doubt her heart was in it. Shirou managed to put up a great fight and Rin didn’t seem to be pulling punches. But with her warm attitude to Shirou before it’s hard to think she could really kill him. But then came the highlight of this episode. When the fight is interrupted by a scream, Rin and Shirou run to the source. Upon finding an unconscious girl Rin administers treatment but is nearly killed by a sneak attack that Shirou blocks with his arm. And then we see the mask come off. Rin sees the blood and the ever cool, collected girl panics. Seeing Rins expression to his injury really set the message home that even if she’s a master magus, Rin has never been in a kill or be killed situation. But Shirou having seen worse keeps his cool and takes control of the situation. Even if his actions are not the smartest. This is quite the interesting dynamic they have. Much like say a master tactician and a rookie soldier with front line experience. When the battle is over we much like shirou are clueless as to what Rin wants and even she herself seems to have a hard time seeing it. Her reaction to Shirou’s magic tutelage was also telling of her character. Her indignation as a mage but her jealousy as a daughter. Ending the episode on the not that Kiritsugu put being a father to Shirou ahead of being a mage. In terms of how they were raised, they are almost complete opposites.

That’s enough about Rin, what about Shirou? He certainly had moments. His reaction to Ayako’s disappearance and his quick thinking during the fights. Shirou is by no means a genius but UFOtable managed to make his character really shine here. One thing I really wish though is that they tone down the hints any time that certain character shows up. I am fairly certain that anyone watching already has an idea of this mans role thanks to the music queues and foreboding atmosphere. It’s minor and honestly not a big issue but still, subtlety would be nice. Animation remains steller with art following. Though a bit of advice. I understand that it’s just the way the characters are drawn but try not to focus on their noses. It can become quite distracting if you stare at it long enough. Well with the next episode we have yet another action scene coming so lets see if the fan name Unlimited budget works continues to hold true.

 

Nanatsu no Taizai – 05

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:

One of the problems facing this series is the presentation of threats. In many other shounen you can just bring out some powerful villain and have him force the protagonist to get stronger. In seven deadly sins however our main characters are already veteran legendary warriors with tremendous power. So just adding in a strong warrior would undermine their status as legendary. So the author has to find ways to place the Sins in disadvantageous positions. The two villains in this episode did just that.

Our first villain attempted to poison Meliodas but when didn’t work he used the princess as a way to prevent Meliodas from going on the offensive and forced him to defend her. On top of that the villain had what seemed to be a method of teleportation. So the threat was not to Meliodas but to those he was protecting. This made Meliodas think out of the box and presented a better fight than a battle of who call pull out the biggest deus ex machina. The second villain also used a troublesome technique, making Daine mistake Meliodas for a holy knight and for Meliodas likewise. Leaving the episode with the two unknowingly fighting each other. This is a great threat to a character who is already powerful. Using their power against them.

While I find the villains costumes ridiculous at least their methods are interesting. But there were some small issues here. The fanservice for one. When escaping Ban the third sin stripped a female knight of her armour. Which turned out to be a waste of time because it didn’t fit. All so we could have her be embarrassed in her underwear. Well we do need the money shots don’t we? Still Ban is at least proving to be a enjoyable Sin, even with the unoriginal personality. It was good seeing him in the flashback egging on the Meliodas to strike him in anger only to see him get angry for the first time. He’s going to need a little more fleshing out to differentiate himself from the many other battle manic type shounen characters.  Another was the doctors death. This because it was pretty obvious what the intent was and this being a shounen series I have to wonder if he’s genuinely dead. Shounen characters have survived swords through the chest before gentlemen. This series so far has been solid but future episodes depend on whether they can keep these overpowered character’s battles interesting.

Gugure! Kokkuri-San- 05

by K-Off, posted in Gugure! Kokkuri-San

This. This is what I was asking for, and it delivered. This episode finally starts to create a distinct voice for itself by not adding to the hodgepodge of comedic styles this show already had, opting for a slow, drawn-out humor rather than the experimentation this show seemed to be doing with these past four episodes. It’s finally good to see this show starting to show some consistency, at least in the style of comedy it’s trying to go for.

Besides that, the part about the bully in Kohina’s school was mind-numbingly dull. I don’t see the jokes about the flower working for a Westerner with no prior knowledge of the context behind Japanese flowers, so the first half of this episode was very painful to sit through. However, I wouldn’t fault this on the show by any means, and I’m sure I would have appreciated it far better than I did had I known.

Let me talk about gender-bending real quick. Often, it’s over-used as fan service of the lowest degree and is one of the worst things a writer can do without giving the proper context. In addition, the explanations given for such gender-swaps are usually so contrived and idiotic that I can’t help but wonder who these shows were supposed to pander to. Even if one has a gender-bend fetish, wouldn’t they want their material being handled with all proper respect? Just like fan service, even gender-bending stories are proper in the right context- and in this spectrum, Gugugure! Kokkuri-San handles gender-bending excellently. Not only is the reason for sex-changes perfect for this story (they’re all spirits/gods, so they’re genderless), it’s handled in such a way that the fan service is covert/almost entirely nonexistent. Chiefly, Inugami. He may only be a side character, but he remains one of the most interesting character next to Shigaraki thanks to this ability. The character interactions change dynamically with Shigaraki when Inugami turns into a female this episode, and this was easily the second highlight of this episode, which was pretty damn funny.

I really started to enjoy this episode after the first half of the episode, as Kokkuri-San and Inugami enroll in Kohina’s school under cover, allowing for more character development for Kohina whilst getting some genuinely good laughs in.The school setting this episode seems to introduce dynamicism  to the plot by expanding the scope of the character interactions- now, not only do we get to see Kohina interact with the spirits, we also get to see how Kohina, the spirits, and the classmates all mingle simultaneously.

If this show keeps going at this pace, it can finally polish itself to become a really great series, possibly better than Barakamon.

Psycho Pass 2 – 03 – 04

by ninjarealist, posted in Currently Watching:, Psycho Pass 2

Episodes 3 and 4 of Pyscho Pass are difficult to talk about. This show has been extremely consistent so far. The staff have handled this sequel with an understated confidence that’s hard to dislike. I still don’t find the show to be as atmospheric as the original, and I still like the dialogue less, but the narrative continues to be engaging. I think where the narrative has really succeeded is in avoiding extraneous clutter that would detract from the major themes of the show.

However, this is both a strength and a weakness. While Psycho Pass 2 doesn’t waste time, the direct style of writing can be a bit predictable at times. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who saw the drinking scene between Aoyanagi and Ginoza as a clear death flag. And one episode later, sure enough, Aoyanagi gets turned into red pudding . This show is clearly trying to shock the viewer and I think it would do a better job at this if the plot was a little more surprising. But that’s a minor quip.

I think a bigger quip would be that if they were trying to shock the viewer with the violence in episode 4, they didn’t do a great job. The hand-to-hand combat shown in the first part of the episode was quite disturbing, and really succeeded at unnerving me. But this effect was sort of ruined with the gratuitous dominator shootout at the end, which honestly felt kind of cartoony to me.

And then there’s Mika Shimotsuki. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s really become the wild card in this series. Her ethically questionable decision-making raises some interesting questions, questions that don’t have easy answers. Chiefly, was her inaction simply malicious or does it speak to more undestandable flaws in her in character? And is her rage against Akane simply the result of a bad attitude or is her anger rooted in the trauma that was inflicted upon her in season 1? Is Mika just a testament to the failure of SYBIL to produce a healthy society? These are tough questions and I’m excited to see how they get resolved.

Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Bladeworks – 04

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Bladeworks

So after last weeks action packed episode it’s only natural that this week takes things easy. Though thankfully not by talking exposition. There was a scene with Saber explaining the class system but it was passed by fast and unlike the other infodumps so far, Shirou had a lot of input to help move things along. What surprised me is the addition of even more new material not present in the original visual novel. At the beginning we had a new scene with Illya explaining her actions to her maid which is welcome as I am sure many were asking the same questions her maid was asking. To have Illya explain herself was fine and all but I really question why this had to take place while she was taking a bath. I find it funny that this series only begins to show great faults when it starts to pander towards the fanbase. We also have a new action scene with Rin facing off against Casters dragon teeth minions in a office building. I do like the new different variations of the skeletons as opposed to the one design they had in the visual novel. But I think this scene was just to put in a little excitement to the episode as plotwise it was relatively pointless. However it does add a little more action to stop the slice of life aspects from becoming too prominent.

Otherwise the episode was about Shirou taking Saber to school and introducing Saber to Sakura and Taiga. With the episode ending on the setup for the next, that being Rin’s declaration that she will kill Shirou if he approaches her without understanding his position as a master. Does that mean this episode was uneventful? Hardly. To those who pay attention you are bound to notice foreshadowing. My personal favourite point was the archery club captain Ayaka’s talk with Shirou. She was good at probing the things that make Shirou who he is without being overly expository about it or spelling it out. I also like that they are toning down Shirou’s affection for Saber. No heavy blushes or exaggerated moves. Here’s to hoping things are kept strictly professional this time between them. He does display these actions towards Rin now but unlike with Saber it’s not in irritating love struck puppy kind of way.

From what I heard these new scenes are written by Kinoko Nasu himself so that may be a reason as to why they don’t feel like filler. But that also means that the new information at the beginning of the episode has now officially become canon. That information being that Berserker gains back one of his lives after three days. Overpowering a character who is already overpowered, yeah that does sound like Nasu’s work. It’s one of his nasty habits that tends to corner him later on in his stories, but well moving on. The new scenes have only added to the series as a whole, helping keep the pacing to a speed more suitable for an anime adaption. It also provides insight into the other masters actions when previously we only seen this from Shirous perspective. My only worry is that they may take time away from the main plot which is already a rather sizeable length. I don’t mind trimming out the more slice of life scenes from the visual novel to make way for new content. But if it cuts time away from the main story we could start having issues. However I still say, just keep doing what you are doing UFOtable, cause so far so good.

Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis- 04

by K-Off, posted in Shingeki no Bahamut

By now, I have a general idea of where this story is going. Our characters finally face the main villains of the story and starting next episode, I reckon that we’ll get some real story progression because frankly, the past few episodes did almost nothing to get me to care much for the characters, no matter how charming they may have been.

The problem with the show thus far, is that it uses character tropes borrowed from various Westerns to the detriment of interest on the viewer’s part. This is where the slow pacing is actually hurting character development, an ironic condition owing to the fact that we’ve come to expect slow-paced anime (like Space Brothers) to have too much emphasis on its characters, which usually bores everyone. Even with the slow pacing, Kenichi Sato decides to place fast-action in every episode, and while those scenes are very fun to watch, there is such thing as too much of a good thing. By placing action in a story that is barely progressing, you force the viewers to miss the subtle character expositions you want them to pick up. Sato is clearly much more concerned with the action over exposition, and  I’m concerned where this anime will end up . Take more time to focus on Favaro and Leone’s pasts longer than the forced-in exposition we got in this episode, because the “twist” we get in this episode was way too rushed.

I also worry that Amira might permanently devolve into a vessel for moe, because her character literally did nothing this episode besides acting “cute” and fighting. I much preferred the Amira we got in the first episode, because although that one was very generic and without nuance, she at least had intrigue built into her personality. She’s a badass demon. If you’re going to show a human side to her true form, make the audience become invested in her character with some character development rather than an abrupt shift in personality. Other than that, the only character I find interesting so far is the necromancer, because she’s pleasantly gruesome. If there are to be any highlights in this episode, they are the scenes that involve her. The voice actor does a fantastic job portraying her personality, and I look forward to seeing more of her character.

Ultimately, this episode was not a bad episode so much as it was a red flag.

Nanatsu no Taizai Episode 1-4

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:

Sorry for not giving this a first impression but I felt that to do so at this point would be redundant. So Nanatsu no Taizai, or Seven Deadly Sins if you prefer. An anime that certainly does nothing new. Every ounce of which filled with standard shounen battle manga tropes. Yes this anime does nothing new, instead it brings back something old. Seven Deadly Sins is reminiscent of old school shounen such as dragonball, Slayers and Fist of the North Star. Even the artstyle of the manga had a similar feel to that of Akira Toriyama. And in the age where mainstream shounen is that of blatant wish fulfilment such as Sword art online and Mahouka, this is most certainly welcome. To those who grew up on the likes of Dragonball Z, this will hit the nostalgia buttons.

The story is of a kingdom being terrorised by the holy knights, where a young princess Elizabeth seeks out the legendary Seven Deadly Sins. A group of exiled Knights who may be the last hope for the saving the kingdom. On her search she runs into a mysterious boy who owns a pub who could be connected to the ones she seeks. The story is simple but effective and wastes no time in getting started. It’s not long before we are introduced to our first Sin, Meliodas. Being our main protagonist, Meliodas is rather happy go lucky though not with the sense of idiotic naivety like Monkey D Luffy. More in the sense of a powerful warrior with a heap of confidence. The one aspect I am not fond of is his constant sexual harassment of Elizabeth, which is played for laughs. This is not out of righteous indignation mind you, but rather that it gets old fast. Elizabeth is a character chained by her role as a princess. Therefore you can likely guess her personality. She serves the needs of the plot but it doesn’t remedy the fact that she is rather boring. Daine the second sin, on the other hand is a great character. It’s so rare to have a giant as a main character and her method of fighting with brute force is one I love to watch. I also find her concern for her size and how others view her interesting. Such a pity she is crippled with a lovestruck fascination with Meliodas. Again used for comedic effect. The talking pig is a typical mascot character but well at least doesn’t grate on the nerves.

The animation seems fairly good with fight scenes having the necessary thrill. The art didn’t quite capture the style of the manga but it’s close enough to not warrant complaint. I do find fault with the fanservice but in comparison with the standard as of late this is very tame. And so far the story has been adapted perfectly. To those missing the glory days of Naruto and Bleach or looking for a nostalgic fix I do recommend this show. As both the manga and the anime have yet to suffer the curse of long running Shounen battle manga. I only hope it can stay that way. One last thing, the new third Sin in the fourth episode should have kept the beard. He looked much better with it.