Kyosogiga 2012 – 02

by psgels, posted in OVA Impressions

Kyosogiga is so delightful, even if it isn’t about anything, like in this episode. Whereas the previous installments were about something heartfelt, this was about a lost remote (no, really). But there is just so much passion put into this show that it doesn’t matter how silly it is.

This is a short post because the episode itself also was just seven minutes long, but I just have to talk about this show and highlight what a wonderful project this is (I’ll also do this with Masaaki Yuasa’s upcoming project when it gets released). Screw the standard episode length of 20 minutes if 6 minutes also fits this show well. This episode had plenty of style to make up for it and the animation in particular just went all out.

And again this is more than just style over substance because it did create a very enjoyable cast of characters with very simple means. The crow chase scene in particular was great, and even though the henchmen of that one girl were all huge stereotypes, they were also for the first ime in a long while actually lovable. They’re different from the usual thugs you see who always yell at every opportunity. It’s a small difference, but definitely stands out here.

Hunter X Hunter – 53

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

Holy crap. I knew what would happening this episode. And yet, it was a shock to see it again. This is just so un-like any other shounen out there. I mean, Hunter X Hunter already was unique as a shounen series, but this time it really set itself apart. This is something you’d just never see elsewhere.

I think it’s clear now why the Phantom troupe is my favorite shounen villain group ever. With this episode, it just becomes clear how cunning they are, and how far they’re willing to go. They actually managed to hi-jack the entire auction with their powers and connections. Last episode’s battle ended with a huge anti-climax, orchestrated by Chrollo himself. And at the end of it it was revealed that Chrollo could have easily killed the Zoldyck family if he actually tried to kill them, instead of taking their powers. This episode just screamed professionalism in every way. Aside perhaps from Kurapika’s actions.

Kurapika. All of that build-up has come now together in this episode. After all his hard work, someone beat him and defeated the Phantom Troupe instead. He felt utterly terrible in this episode, and the creators portrayed that so well. That only lead to an amazing scene where he was forced to bid for the scarlet eyes.

Seriously, this episode had like three moments that I was looking forward to for SO LONG now. AND IT WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT. Oh and for your information, after this there will be a short part left, and then we’ll reach the part where the original Hunter X Hunter TV-series ended. After that will be part that turned Hunter X Hunter into one of my favorite shounen series ever.

Overall, the 2011 series is a lot shorter than the 1999 series. At this point, without taking future episodes into account, I still recommend the 1999 series over this one. The Hunter Exam arc in that series is just better, and that’s necessary for a good introduction in this series, rather than having to wait through like forty episodes to get to the good stuff. However, I do have to say that the Zoldyck, Skytower and Yorkshin lead-up arc are done better in the 2011 series.

As for the actual Yorkshin arc itself. I’m not going to even bother compare. Everything about this arc is amazing. I don’t care whether some details are done better in one or the other. It’s not worth it. Just watch any version you’d like.
Rating: 6.5/8 (Amazing)

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 04

by psgels, posted in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

This episode put the “Bizarre” in “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure”. Jojo fights someone other than Dio this episode in this crazy serial killer that Dio brought over to the dark side. Even a minor villain like this guy is done completely over the top, with knives appearing all over his body, not to mention his ultimate weapon that is this gigantic row of scissors tied next to each other. And this came from more than 20 years ago.

I’m really beginning to understand why this series was so influential. I mean, this manga started two years after Dragon Ball, and aired right next to Dragonball Z, which looks even more boring in comparison here. It’s obviously inspired by Fist of the North Star, but even then it was its time far ahead.

Also, the basics behind the powers of this series really are imaginative, and I loved how over the top this episode was with something as delicate as breath control. I’ve practiced Karate for 13 years now, so I know how important breath is in fighting: it can make a world of difference in terms of the impact of your attacks. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure takes that concept, and just brings it over 9000 by giving it all sorts of powers and magic sparkles.

In fact, this huge power with delicate things seems to be a very big theme in this series. This episode also had that magician guy do all sorts of fancy stuff with his pinky finger, the behind Dio’s powers is also something that can probably be easily broken. And the way in which that magician used pepper when he was first introduced (and sneezed himself off the fence in result) probably also has to do with it.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Robotics;Notes – 03

by psgels, posted in Robotics;Notes

This is a question to the people who pilot real robots: is it really comparable to video games?

You know, I have never controlled robots other than your occasional radio-controlled car as a kid, but it seems to me that there is much more involved than just learning the controls. Most notably: keeping the balance. As a video game programmer, I’d want to make controlling a character as simple and easy as possible, but is that really viable with a robot that is bound by real physical rules, and who tumbles over if the balance is even a slight bit off?

This is criticism, but I don’t think that it’ll hurt this series that much. I personally think that Btooom’s lack of realism in its bombs is a bigger flaws. Still, I think it’s worth to think about how robots would really move in order to better understand this series, compared to doing this when the plot twists really start coming and all hell breaks loose, based on these flaws. I remember having trouble to accept some of Steins;Gate’s biggest plot points (which I won’t mention here due to spoilers).

In any case, this episode was surprisingly witty. I liked how the characters already went to a local robot tournament and had a bit of fun in the matches, but especially that Pleiades guy was a very nice twist. It’s a very creative way to introduce a new character. This episode also introduced the actual character of Frau, and her character too seemed pretty interesting based on her off-screen actions and that single smirk of her.

What I also like is how this show also has exciting music in quiet scenes, most notably the build-up scene right before the match.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Sword Art Online – 17

by psgels, posted in Sword Art Online

This show is starting to piss me off now. It makes no sense! My suspense of disbelief is gone! What the hell is it doing!?

First of all the details in this episode that made no sense: isn’t flying the core mechanic of the game? In that case, why did that blond girl (otherwise known as the cousin) not find it strange that there was this guy who was awesome at fighting, yet a complete newbie at the rest of the game? On top of that, the races are all supposed to be hostile to each other, signified by how that cousin and that friend immediately wanted to attack Kirito for being a different race. That’s nice and all, but what about everyone else? I mean I don’t know whether this has changed in the past few years… but there were a lot of assholes in online gaming who just basically attacked anything they could. This is not Sword Art Online anymore, so nobody dies or anything.

Second of all, there is a very big flaw in the core mechanics of this game. I”m referring to the main quest of this game, in which the world tree needs to be climbed. This episode heavily hinted that two races need to work together in order to get there. That’s probably another reason why Kirito is special, because apparently he is the first guy who will probably try that.

Now, there were a few years in which I played a lot of MMORPGs, and what really surprised me is that the creators overlooked the possibility of using multiple accounts. Like, just create a team of different races, and when the world tree is cleared everyone can just start playing as the race that got the wings.

Those were the plotholes. What pissed me off the most though, was the main villain. The really annoying thing is that there really is potential here: using gaming technolgy as it further evolves to more and more take control of people. There is so much awesome stuff you can do with that if you put some thought into that, but this episode comes and just turns it into an excuse to keep Asuna hostage. What kind of oversimplification is that?

I mean, this is like Fractale: the setting was fascnating. I’d still love to see a properly done series about a society in which touch is non-existant. But the points that the series decided to focus on… why?! My big problem with the new arc is that there still is very little to make it worth watching.
Rating: 3/8 (Mediocre)

Zetsuen no Tempest – 04

by psgels, posted in Zetsuen no Tempest

This was a very quiet episode, but it showed much more the strengths of this series: its characters. The action of last week was nice and all, but this time this show was all about the characters and their back-stories, and I just find that much more interesting.

The story between the two leads is quite creative, and it also really shows some of their edges. Mahiro as the kid who grew up always feeling special and violent, Yoshiro as the kid who was quite intelligent and came with smart ideas. While people can change a lot in their transition from kids to teenagers, it still is good to keep establishing their characters like this early on in the series. And I have to admit that especially Yoshiro coming up with the story of Mahiro saving that puppy made me laugh.

What also surprised me about this episode was that the two of them just barged into a house and made use of their supplies. That’s quite… different and unusual for protagonists to do. I mean, Yoshino objected at first, but he happily plundered a fridge there. But then again, by the time people will wake up, everything would probably have spoiled.

Also, commenting on how to cook celery. These are small details, but also bring a ton of character.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Kamisama Hajimemashita – 04

by psgels, posted in Kamisama Hajimemashita

This show didn’t turn out as what I expected it to be. With Akitaro Daichi behind the direction I was expecting a lot of hyperactive comedy here, but this episode yet again took a step back in terms of pacing. The way this episode progressed also quite surprised me.

To be honest, the first half of this episode had me wonder whether I perhaps overestimated this series. The set-up was basic with Nanami running into this snake familiar who suddenly decided that he was going to marry her against her will. It was a very cliched set-up, especially with Tomoe joining the school as a student. But as the episode went along it just kept getting better and better.

It did suddenly get quite dramatic, but what seemed forced at first turned out to be surprisingly genuine. First with the story about the snake familiar who has created an entire dimension to protect the memory of his deceased master, and afterwards Tomoe realizing that the same might happen to him and Nanami. And inbetween Nanami just walked around brightly and took a lot of those worries away. The drama here is simple, but really effective, especially with that ED. Because of how well these episodes are told, this still is my favorite shoujo of the season, even in terms of drama. Sukitte Ii na Yo is also good, but it comes across quite forced in comparison.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo – 03

by psgels, posted in Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

Sorry for the lateness. A combination of me having many real life appointments and my computer catching a virus lead me to create quite a backlog. Still, now that I’ve managed to finally see this episode, I can again get really surprised at how GOOD this show actually is. At this point this show can pretty much become the best shounen romance in a long while.

So many cliches died today. Sorata definitively stepped away from the other male leads in this episode. Before, he was like them in that he had nothing that set himself apart: everyone else in Sakurasou had something to do, but he had no hobbies. In this episode, he actually realized that, and became fully aware of it. That is so much better than your average shounen lead who is kept bland on purpose and doesn’t even seem to realize it.

Misaki meanwhile. Holy crap, her role here was really good. I really feared that she would be the typical ditzy girl you see everywhere. Well, those ideas ended with this episode as well; she really managed to show her feelings for Jin. Who by the way had the best dialogue of the episode. The guy is subtle: he was obviously pissed in the first half of the episode, yet he hid it in a really good way. It’s still a mystery why he doesn’t just go after Misaki though. My guess is that his pride is in the way, but they just know each other for too long fot htat to be true.

Also, Shiina. I mean, she started out as the typical girl who needs to be taken care of by the male lead. It’s a typical wish fulfillment trope, and yet in this episode she became so much more. She’s just so focused on drawing manga that she doesn’t care about anything else (or so it might seem), but she’s really sharp in her dialogue and she really knows what she wants.

I’m really glad to have decided to blog this series, because there is so much interesting stuff going on. I also don’t mind the fanservice at this point. It’s blatant yes, but it’s part of the characters, instead of just there for the sake of having fanservice. That’s also why I minded that one panty-shot of Little Busters so much: that just had a girl tripped up in an incredibly weird position that made no sense, just for that shot). It also is there to create this wonderful tension between the characters: without it the chemistry between the characters actually wouldn’t be as good as what it is now. That’s what I call good fanservice.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Uchuu Kyoudai – 29

by psgels, posted in Uchuu Kyoudai

This series’ cliff-hangers reached a new level of frustration. Before, they already had me wanting more and more, and ended right at the exact moment I was the most into the series. This week’s episode was like that as well, but on top of that, it had something extra: WHAT ON EARTH was the meaning behind that cliff-hanger?

I mean, this was a wonderful episode. The build-up was just perfect, and I love how this show took its time to show everything leading up to Hibito’s launch. It’s all so detailed, and despite the slow pacing the characters all made it so enjoyable to watch. The humour was better than ever, and as an added bonus Mutta’s mother showed a completely different side of her this episode when she was so worried about Hibito’s fate. Oh, and we finally had a punk kid who behaved normal. I once met a guy who had mohawk hair, and he behaved totally normal, completely unlike the over the top punks you usually see. Of course this effect was mitigated by his father and little brother, but it’s at least something!

But here is the thing: this series also looked like the build-up of a big death scene. With this series taking so much time leading up to that, toying with the weather, showing everyone worried and putting so much focus on Hibito. I wouldn’t be surprised if something indeed did go wrong. And it will very likely be completely amazing if that does happen.

And then Apo disappeared. What? You’re going to kill the dog? What? Why did he get lost at such an important moment!? WHY!?
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)

Magi – 03

by psgels, posted in Magi

This episode closes off the introduction arc of Magi, and it was actually surprisingly good here. Nothing deep or anything, but in terms of adventure it was rock-solid with many references to the Arabic legends, a lot of creativity and surprisingly solid characters. The adventure part is what I like most about Magi, though: this episode again showed the characters travel from one scene to the other, every single one of them having a ton of creativity.

Most of all this episode also added background of royalty: Magi being the one to select a king is a great back-story and makes this more than a random dungeon crawler, with that bad guy living his entire life for meeting him. In one episode this episode hinted at the pasts for all of its major characters.

I also like that this show is in no hurry to get its main cast together. I mean, it’s obvious that the purple haired girl will end up joining the lead cast, and this episode provided even more hints for this, but we’re three episodes in and they’re still not a team. That’s quite rare for an adventure series (I mean I like the genre and all, but I’m also very annoyed by some of the overused clichés that bog them down).
Rating: 5/8 (Great)