Magi – 14

by psgels, posted in Magi

Magi uses its three main characters in an interesting way: episodes in which all three of them are active are quite rare. First they all travelled separately, then Aladdin lost consciousness for an entire month. It’s quite interesting, actually.

Now, as for this episode… the politics… Alibaba sure came with some ridiculous ideas. It was definitely creative, though and I have to say that I did not expect this. If the rest of this series will focus on turning Balbadd into a democracy and the challenges that come into its way, it’s going to make for a pretty interesting conclusion.

Having said that though, there is one thing I realized this episode: Magi is a series based on middle eastern folklore, based on modern ideals. The slavery already was one hint for this: sure, it’s something terrible and all, but back in those days people just found it normal, and were more preoccupied with their own survival. Then this episode with Alibaba’s sudden decision to turn an entire monarchy into a republic overnight. It is that this series suddenly revealed that there are other republics in this world, but still: it just does scream “freedom! equality for all”. Idealistic and inspiring indeed, but historically accurate? Err… Not to mention breaking off an arranged marriage in those days. I’m not saying that this was bad or anything, though it did catch my attention.
Rating: 4/8 (Good)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 14

by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

How big is the soundtrack of this series anyway? This episode added italian flavours, and better middle eastern flavours than what Magi has been dealing to us. And in the meantime I just keep hearing more tracks I haven’t heard before. Also, is it just me or did this episode bring in yet another ED? Seriously, the producers from David Production… I love these guys.

Anyway, this epiode was meant to introduce a whole bunch of characters: the main antagonists (for real this time…. right?) and we finally get to see the guy who has been appearing all over the promotional material in this series: Zeppeli’s grandson. The latter especially was done with that great sense of humour, and I loved how it used the ripple for all kinds of bizarre effects, from slinging spaghetti to putting a dove in a woman’s mouth. Especially the latter…. how do you think of it?

And yeah, the creators did a good job of making the three new villains even worse than the previous one, making them look like a walk in the park in comparison. The trick will now be to keep up the momentum. My biggest fear is that they lack the humour that some of the other characters in this series have, because of how crazy the jokes here… it’s a large part of why this show is so incredibly entertaining now. They need to be more than just another stronger version of the same bad guys.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Uchuu Kyoudai – 40

by psgels, posted in Uchuu Kyoudai

I had been spoiled about the cliff-hanger of this episode (seriously, try to keep things like that out of the shoutbox; you know who you are…), but neverthelesss. : what an episode. And to think: this airs on sunday morning. Think of all the traumatized kids here. I mean, nobody died yet, but still, this was heavy stuff here. Also, an entire episode in which Mutta didn’t appear.

Here, you can really see the benefit of realism. You have series in which characters have all their bones in their bodies broken, limbs cut off, or cough up blood like crazy. But in this series, you really fear for the characters’ lives due to how meticulous it has been in portraying its characters: they feel real, making any danger to them so much more tangible. Especially since this episode also was a big chunk of atmosphere of Hibito trying to save both himself and his partner, all the while that this episode kept dropping hints that his oxygen tank was about to burst.

And it did, while both of them were still far from being saved. Heck, how long is Hibito going to be able to survive like this? And this brings me back to an awful feeling that I’ve had since this series took so much time into building up Hibito’s launch. I originally thought that something would just go wrong there, but heck. Are the creators seriously planning to kill off Hibito? Holy crap man. I mean, I can see the creators actually go through with that with all of the build-up they’ve done!

And I’m already going to give a warning for next week: really try to keep spoilers to a minimum there. Something tells me that that is an episode you do not want to be spoiled about…
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

From the New World – 15

by psgels, posted in From the New World

And with this episode, we come back to squealer. The Queerat with a surprising intelligence. This episode confirms it: he’s not exactly evil, but he is clearly trying to use the gods for his own gain here. I actually really like his character, and how he’s this guy who on one hand can’t be trusted, yet on the other hand is very useful.

But this episode came with another very interesting revelation here: the queerats are trying to copy human culture. Like, the culture the humans left behind when they started getting the cantus. This episode showed this even more, by showing exactly how much of these queerats there are in one colony (tens of thousands), and by throwing some traditional Japanese armour on them. It might very well be possible that Squealer also caught one of those snails, and if he did, the information he got out of it could prove to be very dangerous. Like, this episode was only the tip of the iceberg. Note that he talked about colonies he “merged with”. Something tells me that he just captured them by force.

Also, the queen story becomes more shocking again. It’s like this bizarre combination between an insect society and a human one. With ants for example the queen also never leaves the nest again, but this really takes it a step further when she’s forcefully kept alive, just to produce offspring. It’s a huge moral dilemma: she’s needed because she is the only one who produces children, but in the meantime she also attaks and kills everyone.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

AKB0048 – 15

by psgels, posted in AKB0048

Now that we’ve got the obligatory string of first episodes out of the way, it’s time to focus on what really matters this season. I still say that the Winter of 2013 sucks, because in terms of original content there is very little that stands out, not to mention the lack of variety. In the end, for anime to move forward, this is the most important for a season overall, otherwise we’ll just get stuck in a string of endless sequels.

Nevertheless, there is a lot of great stuff in store the upcoming three months: the amount of sequels and continuing series that will all stand out on their own way is amazing here. It’s been a while since I’ve seen so many of them at the same time that managed to impress me like this. And this is series that all deserve their length they need to become even better, rather than being just some corporate sell-out. That’s the theme between the 10 series I’m blogging this season anyway: no pointless padding!

Anyway, AKB. This time we’re introduced to the the absolute horror. The thing that’s even worse than watching a bunch of idols: VARIETY TV! I really hate those kinds of shows. In the Netherlands they are already utter crap, but I can only imagine how boring they must be with Japan’s standards. So yeah, when this show started to poke fun at them inbetween the lines, it did make my day. First the characters being utter crap at it, and afterwards them succeeding by doing what? Having fun at dodgeball and losing their clothes? Speaking of which, Mimori has turned even more into a walking boob joke. Go fix that in the upcoming episodes.

Inbetween the promotional activities, there also was this plot going on. Most important twists here revolved around Chieri, and how she suddenly became incredibly popular after last week. And yeah, the reason behind this was pretty much her backstory: she made the news, on top of being a famous daugher. Because of that she caught the attention of a lot of people. Her speech did the rest. The question now is what her father is planning: he’s obviously trying to use her popularity now, but what for?
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Jormungand Perfect Order Review – 84/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

I have been putting this one off for way too long, but that’s not because I was looking up to reviewing it. Rather there was so much coming out that I instead wanted to cover, but I guess that I’d just wrap up this sequel that really improved a lot over its original series. The key for that was its plot, for once.

The first Jormungand series really was a build-up series: it’s there to introduce the characters, get the viewers a bit used to the world and concepts of this series. It could have done this better though, because it was too monotone, both in terms of stories and characters. Perfect Order drops the random stories, and instead is much more coherent, not to mention varied in both terms of content and characters.

The improvements first become visible with the characters. The first season was flawed because it had too many characters who were trying too hard to be snarky. The second season then commences to both introduce characters with significantly different personalities, as well as develop the current cast to go beyond their snarky self. Suddenly, a cast that was once bland sparkles with personality, just as I hoped.

The plot takes a while longer to show its trumps, but in the end, it actually does pay off with a number of really good plot twists. Not going to say when they show up, but let’s just say that the characters were preparing for a certain events for a very long while. It really impressed me in any case.

This is not one of those cases in which all of the build-up comes together, though: the plot twists themselves are really good, but the first season’s random stories remain rather… random, and just could have been done better. It’s really the writing that improved so much, but Jormungand as a whole is not a series that is perfectly paced or told, not to mention that even though the setting for this series is very original (taking place over the whole world and not just Japan, America and Europe), it just doesn’t feel real or relatable. There remain a few too many one-dimensional characters in this series, despite the added variety. Nevertheless though: very solid show. Including an awesome soundtrack.

Storytelling: 8.5/10 – Big improvement: things feel much more solid and coherent and it finally starts building up to something, with a great payoff.
Characters: 8.5/10 – A varied cast, that really shines in comparison to the bland cast of the first season.
Production-Values: 8.5/10 – Solid animation, but what really stands out here is the soundtrack. Again a big improvement in how it’s used.
Setting: 8/10 – Nice choice of locations, but it doesn’t make enough of an impact for a higher rating.

Suggestions:
– Black Lagoon
– Irresponsible Captain Tylor
– Seikai no Senki

Psycho Pass – 12

by psgels, posted in Psycho Pass

Interestingly, Psycho Pass had the same idea for episode 12 as Robotics;Notes: develop a side-character. Overall, this always is the episode for side stories: right after the big halfway climax. Psycho Pass’ case is interesting, because of how little the character in question showed of herself before that episode. She was just there, but with this episode, Yayoi got a character.

Dead people are often glorified in these kinds of series, but here is one who actually turned out to be quite an asshole when you learn who he actually was. Or at the very least he is incredibly rash. Beyond being about Yayoi, the rest of the older cast also got some interesting details added to them.

I found it quite strange that all of the latent criminals were just lumped together like that. Yayoi for example still could think quite clearly, but she was put together with people who had very obviously lost it. Or was that meant to show how she was special? That she was one of the few people who did not go crazy from being locked up for so long, being denied her artistic expressions?

Artistic expression is one of the surprising themes of Psycho Pass, by the way. It’s almost as if there is no normal art to be found and instead it seems like this show hates artists. Or more precisely: the Sybil system hates artists. In this series, you’ve got the psychopaths, like with the murdered schoolgirls, but the other artists are labelled as liberalists and freedom fighters. I can’t believe I’m spotting similar themes as AKB0048 here…

Also, the new OP: I liked the old one better. Mostly because of the dull vocals that you hear everywhere else in rock-songs. The ED is similar: quite generic, in my opinion. Although it does have some nice visual ideas.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Zetsuen no Tempest – 13

by psgels, posted in Zetsuen no Tempest

Recap. And it’s the kind of annoying recap that you can’t fully skip because it contains some new material at the beginning and at the end. I did fully watch it this time, though. The reason for that is how important flashbacks are for this series (heck, one of the main characters has been dead throughout the entire series’ airtime thanks to that). Still, it is just copy-pasted, so in that aspect, this individual episode doesn’t win many points….

Having said that though, there was a significant amount of content at the end of the end of the episode, much more than usual. It’s meant to be an aftermath to the previous episodes. And holy crap, two billion people died!? The series then proceeds to tell how the world has been “saved” by the tree of genesis (killing people whenever a fight breaks out between them), and they pick this episode of all things to show what happened when Mahiro found Aika’s dead body.

What I liked best was the intrigue that popped up at the end of the episode, though. Apparently Yoshino has been running off on his own, dowing all sorts of things with probably Hakaze (although this was not mentioned), and the next number of episodes will focus on Mahiro running after Yoshino for this. I know that the first half of this provided hints that this would happen (how he had ties with the army and all). The delivery of this twist was also really good: the entire recap was told through Mahiro’s perspective, even though the first half was told in Yoshino’s perspective. That made me glad that I watched the recap in order to prepare for this change. Watching the same thing you’ve already seen before remains annoying, though.

EDIT: I just realized this after I nearly went to post this, but damn you Bones and your after-ED content. You keep pulling these scenes after your EDs and it’s damn misleading. Not to mention that it was a huge scene that it revealed there….
Rating: 4/8 (Good)

Robotics;Notes – 12

by psgels, posted in Robotics;Notes

Robotics;Notes has returned, and with a pretty interesting episode to boot. Instead of continuing the main storyline, it makes a little detour to a couple of side characters: Jun and her grandfather. This is where the character-development really begins, starting with some of side characters.

I nearly forgot that that old guy was the grandfather of Jun, but his illness really reminded me again. And thi showed some interesting dynamics between the two of them, along with the past they shared. It revealed the guy feeling guilty over whta he did to her in the past, and how he let one of his robots go out of control.

It had a bit of cheese, but it worked. The end effect of this episode was that it was quite heart-warming to watch. Most interesting was Jun overcoming her own fears though. I liked her doubts about the robot club and how she was forced to choose between two things that she’snot entirely confident of, but she has fond memories with.

Also, new OP and ED. I think they’re improvements over the previous ones. They are more slick and interesting looking. Nothing amazing yet, but definitely better. The ED is a slide-show, but it does show a lot more about the character. It slightly flehses the cast out a bit, which is a nice touch.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo – 13

by psgels, posted in Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

…

Hell yeah! Three Mari Okada series in one season again! And not only that, they’re all in their second halves. This will be awesome! Even though two of them are adaptations, she really is able to get the best out of the source material.

And this episode reminded me why I originally liked Sakurasou so much: the chemistry just amazing. This episode again made me laugh so much at the banter between the different cast members, but in particular Sorata and Shiina were wonderful in this episode. Sorata is also picking up on Shiina’s sharpness here. And I love how the creators tried to make up for the sister debacle: completely ignoring her and turning it into a hilarious joke for this episode. It’s a good start.

But something other happened: not just the chemistry was really sharp, the drama as well. Rita and Ryuunosuke keep developing, even though Rita is gone now. Shiina is now in love, and you can really notice it: she really wants to be with Sorata as much as possible, and keeps hanging around him. Sorata meanwhile said something really interesting here: he prefers the old Shiina more. I actually really like that way in which that subplot is going: Sorata wondering whether or not Shiina is heading into the right direction. Shiina’s development is really great, and yet it’s one of the characters who is fighting it. Aoyama meanwhile still has a dodgy part in this: I had hoped that she would move on, but instead we seem to be heading for a love triangle. Not sure whether I like that.

And then there is Misaki. Forceful is a word to use for her here, but unfortunately I do have to say that I can learn a thing or two from how she was acting in this episode. Here is one girl who really made up her mind on something.

One word on the new OP and ED by the way: they’re both pretty good. I just have one criticism for the ED: it doesn’t really work when the characters aren’t really synched to the music.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)