Eureka Seven Ao – 16

by psgels, posted in Eureka Seven Ao

Finaly! After two weeks of waiting (those bloody olympics!), Eureka Seven Ao is back! And it still stands out as a very entertaining action series with hard-hitting plot twists. I again went wtf the end of this episode when it became clear what the creators were building up to: completely erasiing Goldylocks from existance.

Again what I like about this series is how vague it is on what’s real or not. This episode also had these strange dreams, but how real these were (whether they were just simple projections of Ao’s fears, or something more) is also very vague. Not to mention that giant superweapon that Ao pulled out of nowhere: what does it actually do? Does it remove people from existance, or was Goldilocks never there and was everything before just an illusion?

Surprisingly, this episode didn’t have Truth in it. Instead the main enemies were the Secrets, which surprisingly were revealed previously to be not as bad as we thought they’d be. Also, what was Naru doing again at the beginning of this episode? My memory from three weeks ago may be have been failing me on that one.

Beyond that, this show knows its action: it often uses this technique known as the Itano Circus, which basically is showing a huge amount of bullets and following them through complex camera movement. Add that to the techno-soundtrack, which I actually think fits better compared to the soundtrack of the first Eureka Seven, and you’ve got the best action of the season by far.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

The Manga Experiment – Week 34

by psgels, posted in Manga Experiment

Hotel – Ch.04: Wow. I think I understand now why this manga by Boichi was recommended to me. Here this story starts out similarly to the second chapter with a sick girl who turns out to be pregnant, and from there on it changes… oh boy, it changes. This one took me completely by surprise and I spent about a minute with my mouth open. Good stuff. Hotel would make a fantastic anime with the right people working on it, by the way.

Shingeki no Kyojin – Ch.02-03: One thing that I did notice now that I’m checking out multiple chapters at a time is that with some series, I find it very difficult to remain interested. Before starting these chapters I told myself to read up till chapter 4, but during chapter 3 I already noticed that I was trying to force myself through it. The art for all of the giants in this manga is really impressive, and the creators made this interesting world where they’re basically running humanity into extinction, but I dunno: I don’t really get the same urge to check out what comes next. I know it’s all build-up, but at this point none of the characters really stands out as interesting.

Coelacanth – Ch.02-03: And this one did manage to keep my attention, and I wonder why. I mean, it’s not the best I’ve read during this experiment, and it suffered here and there from being too vague with its dialogue (something I’ve been noticing with a number of other shoujo manga as well), but still: its murder mystery half turned out to be a little darker than expected with hints of pedophilia for more things to come, and the romance half felt surprisingly dark.

That alone however probably isn’t enough to really get my attention, so what did this episode have as well? I guess that it kept me guessing: these two chapters were being really vague in where they actually wanted to go to, and the twists kept it fresh. Oh, and the dialogue that was clear was very straight to the point, and very un-shoujo like, for something with so many shoujo elements.

A Lollipop or a Bullet – Ch.04-06: This manga really has a knack for drama: it loves the saying “a picture says more than a thousand words”, and it loves to casually hint to the disturbing stories of its characters. Only very few panels actually show the darkness of this story. On top of that, the faces in this manga are also really expressive: they show exactly how the characters feel.

Dengeki Daisy – Ch.01: In the preparation of next season’s surprisingly huge batch of shoujo romances, I ended up checking a critically acclaimed shoujo manga: Dengeki Daisy. Unlike the other shoujo I’ve checked out for this experiment, this one was fairly typical in its set-up: it’s just a school life story and nothing beyond that, with a mysterious guy watching over the lead female. This however did feel rather refreshing for a shoujo romance, in that both the guy and the girl had a personality, the drawings were dynamic and energetic and it could be funny when it wanted to. Still, what worries me is that the build-up to the good parts is going to be too long again.

Takemitsu Zamurai – Ch.01: This one is a samurai story, with a very distinctive art style. Everything looks crude and messy, but there is actually movement between the panels. The story and set-up don’t say much yet after only the first chapter, and it mostly dealt with an eccentric ronin who moved into a new village with a lot of hints at murder, but it did give a good description of how these people lived, including small details like the focus on a kid’s hands or an octopus salesman.

Suiiki – Ch.01: From the author of Mushishi, here is a story about a girl who enters this strangely nostalgic dream-world, filled with slice of life. I really like the background art for this one: it is crude at points and looks a lot like rough pencil sketches, but in those sketches the artist stuffed a ton of details. Beyond that, this was just a really charming chapter. Great characterization and very down to earth and believable characters.

Natsuyuki Rendezvous – 07

by psgels, posted in Natsuyuki Rendezvous

After compiling the preview for the next season, at this point I’m about 90% sure of this: my favorite series of 2012 will be either Uchuu Kyoudai or Natsuyuki Rendezvous. Both series stand far above the other series this year in terms of characterization and acting. This episode of Natsuyuki Rendezvous only reaffirmed this.

It went on even longer with the body takeover: this episode still didn’t resolve it, but instead it was entirely dedicated to Atsuhi coming ot terms with his own death, and Rokka moving on. This episode didn’t pull the soap opera card by hammering on that Rokka was falling in love with him again, but rather it was about how he realized that she had fallen in love with someone else. Something that both of them couldn’t imagine for years.

Even at the end of the episode when Rokka realized the hints of Atsushi, this again wasn’t with a soap opera in mind, but again with the themes of goodbye. I love how the creators used that small potted plant thingy as the way for him to leave Rokka, in order to “correct his own mistakes”. I have no clue what that means, the way in which it symbolizes his character-development was really well done.

What’s more: this series really was made for Noitamina. 11 episodes is the perfect length for this story, and that makes it also very easy to pick up and just watch for those with little time. And really: this series wastes no minute of its airtime: every scene feels like it contributes subtly to the cast.
Rating: 6,5/8 (Amazing)

Moyashimon – 18

by psgels, posted in Moyashimon

Only three monthsago I was a weekend in Paris for a holiday, so it was kindof nice to see it in animated form. And some parts of this episode definitely rang home to me, like how on one hand it profiles itself as this hip charming city, yet still is full of merchandizing stuff, how the hotels are small and how things are pretty expensive. There was one part that I found a bit fishy: the creators handled the language barrier right, but how did they know the exchange rates between euros and yen instantly?

But still, there is something I’m really wondering here: what’s the point? Why is Paris important fo this series? All the characters did in this episode was eat out expensively and spend money. There were hardly any microbes, plus it doesn’t really add anything to the premise, setting or characters. Haruka’s whole wedding has been going on for nearly the entire season, but has much changed?

On top of that, this episode also wasn’t really fun, it wasn’t surprising, it wasn’t entertaining. It was just… there. I’m really starting to wonder whether my original assessment for this sequel was right: why was it made? What does it have to add? Right now this feels like the Paris-hen of Nodame Cantabile: sure it has its moment, but was it really necessary? There are virtues in being concise, you know?
Rating: 3/8 (Mediocre)

.Hack//The Movie Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

So, the new .Hack Movie: how did it turn out? Well, you can see this as the spiritual sequel to .Hack//Quantum. It’s got a similar kind of set-up, it’s got a similar main character and its story progression is kindof similar. It’s just slower-paced and more epic.

But yeah, for those who are unfamiliar to the franchise: take Sword Art Online, and instead of putting the focus on combat, you put the focus on adventure and social interaction. Where Sword Art Online has a lot of shounen elements, .Hack on the other hand has more shoujo-esque elements in it, although it does tend to blur the lines between the genres more often. Of the .Hack franchise, I really recomend.Hack//Sign, which has been among my favorite series for eight years now. This movie simplifies a lot of the setting, but it has its merits.

Here is the thing with this movie: don’t expect anything from the plot. You’ve seen this story before, especially if you’re familiar with any other .Hack installment. All you need to know is that the story is epic, the protagonist is an average teenaged girl and that it has romance, and you can pretty much fill in how it’s going to progress on your own. Where this movie delivers instead is with its atmosphere.

The plot is simple, yet the movie clocks in at an hour and 50 minutes. That time is used to make everything play out very slowly. Because of this, it does a proper introduction of the characters, it does the development and the progression believably, the acting is down to earth and credible and the build-up all gets used well in the climax and it closes off satisfyingly. It’s also helped by a composer who obviously is a big fan of Yuki Kajiura, yet manages to keep her own influences.

So yeah, it’s not a movie that people are going to talk about for long, because there’s not much to say about that hasn’t been said in other .Hack anime, but what it does, it does well. It’s also completely done in CG, but this is handled well: in the virtual world this makes sense, and the characters manage to avoid the “botox”-face syndrome decently. It’s in any case better than the other CG .Hack Movie (Trilogy) which was heavily over-acted.

Storytelling: 8,5/10 – The pacing is slow, but skillful and the build-up is good.
Characters: 8/10 – Well acted and engaging characters.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Pretty good CG, and an impressive soundtrack.
Setting: 7.5/10 – It’s the .Hack franchise well portrayed, but it doesn’t really add something new to it.

Suggestions:
– .Hack//Sign
– .Hack//Quantum
– Digimon Movie 2 – Bokura no War Game

Uta Koi – 07

by psgels, posted in Uta Koi

After compiling the preview for the next Fall Season, I just realized how special this current season is. Sure, it may not shine in the quantity department, but what really makes it stand apart is the imagination in its premises, compared to next season in which everything sounds surprisingly similar. And among those series, Uta Koi once again showed that it stands among the most imaginative and different shows of the season.

This episode contains two romance stories in one again, just like in the first episode, and they’re about the members of the Fujiwara clan (which appeared to be quite big). One story revolved around a guy who died early, the other about a guy who had a full life. The first story was about living life to the fullest, and the second was about long-term relationships and fear of faithfulness. I can understand why the two of them were compiled together, because they contrast very nicely with each other.

Still, this series remains kindof silly. I mean, I’m not sure who found it a good idea that the way to flesh them out would be a random test of courage, which turned out to be a silly joke by an old man. I mean, I get the historical significance of the romance and the stories around that, but the thoughts behind that test of courage seem a bit lost on me. Out of all of the things to highlight the difference between the two main characters of this episode… why that?
Rating: 4,5/8 (Good)

Hyouka – 17

by psgels, posted in Hyouka

Well done, Hyouka. I applaud you. This episode brought things together perfectly and it gave everyone a conclusion after so much time of build-up.

Chitanda had her part with the broadcasting club, followed by that interesting advice Irisu gave her. After so long trying to advertise the club, she indeed ended up doing things a bit ham-handedly, and got pointed out for it, and I like that she too realized that she’s not going to do that again and that it was just something necessary to sell all of those anthologies.

Ibara meanwhile had this really genuine conclusion with that one girl, and I like how it indeed was true that there was a reason for her acting like that. That on its own was perhaps nothing special, but it removed so much stress from Ibara that it was really charming to see her, after how well the previous episodes portrayed her state of mind.

The real stars of the episode were Hotarou and the actual culprit: the vice president of the student council. My guess turned out to be half-right, I guess. Hotarou just went with his hunch speculated a bit and successfully managed to unmask the guy. And I think that that is the difference between him and Satoshi: imagination. Hotarou is really able to think between the lines. And the story behind everything was awesome, in which the whole plot was used as a way to ask a really good writer to continue with what he was doing.

This is really how you create a slow-paced series right. Instead of dragging things out, you use the extra time to give mode detail to the setting, characters, storyline. It’s because of all that build-up that this episode was so good, and I really like how believable the cast turned out here. If the creators can take this even further for the final arc, then it’ll really become amazing.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)

Rinne no Lagrange – 18

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

Okay, I did not expect that.

Last week when Yurikano took over Madoka’s body, I thought that this would be the start of this epic story to resolve the war, with Yurikano in a central position. And here this episode comes and already removes Yurikano again from the main plot. And the way in which they did it surprised me even more.

Basically… this episode used coincidences: first Madoka randomly switches on the communicator while she’s talking to herself about Yurikano and afterwards just as when Lan’s brother is about to talk to Madoka about Yurikano, the Rinne switches them back again. They were a necessary evil: it led to nice character development and the chemistry that resulted from it was awesome. After all that build-up, this episode resolved everything surprisingly quickly. It’s a bit of an anti-climax, but so much stuff happened in this episode, and it was quite creative in the process.

And really, the creators can use this in their advantage. The only flaw of this episode was the coincidences, but I like it when a series does something against expectations. This brings the center of the story back to Dizelmine and Vilagulio. But how will they fill the remainder of the series with that? I mean, this episode was rushed for a reason. The question now is what kind of reason that was.
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita – 07

by psgels, posted in Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita

With this epsiode, the fairies watched Groundhog Day and thought “hey, we can do that too!” The result was a very surreal episode. And with this series, that has to say something.

Also, what made this different from Groundhog Day was that Watashi kept running into herself. At first I thought that these would be future versions of herself, but since we never got to see those this remains just speculations. All that’s clear is that the fairies were hungry and this only became clear near the end when suddenly everyone started making cakes.

I’ve made my complaints about Assistant-kun, but in this episode he had a very interesting role to play. One thing that’s always fun about the series with a disjointed narrative is seeing all of the out of order introductions, and this was the point at which he apparently got introduced. Does that mean that he won’t appear in the final arcs or are we currently watching the chronological first arc of the story? I doubt that though, because something tells me that the creators still want to explain why Watashi’s watch broke. Also why was grandfather gearing up for battle?
Rating: 5/8 (Great)

Dudu the Floatee

by psgels, posted in OVA Impressions, Young Animator Training Project

Nearly everyone here is probably familiar with the workoholic trope: a father works a lot, neglecting his child, and some drama is created from that. If it’s told from the perspective of the father, the main theme is guilt, if it’s told from the perspective of the child, the main theme is loneliness. Dudu the floatee is entirely dedicated to this trope, but it actually manages to be different from the norm.

What really surprised me was how much heart this short has. I mean, this was told from the perspective of the child, and it does go on with the theme of loneliness for a while…. and then her floatee comes alive, takes her into a strange world full of floatees who kidnap her father and this turns into a quest for her to save her father. Instead of the usual conclusion in which the father realizes his errors, both of them actually come to an understanding with each other: the girl understands that her father is both afraid of water and that he sometimes needs to be at work, and the father realizes that he can’t keep using his fear of water as an excuse to ignore his family life. This two-sided development is what especially impressed me here, and it turned this into a very heart-warming little episode.

Anyway, this is the entry to the Young Animator Training Project by the Answer Studio. They’re a small studio that I really like, because they don’t release often, but when they do they always go for the really imaginative anime like Flag, Otona Joshi no Anime Time and Votoms’ Pailsen Files. Dudu the floatee gives me a lot of confidence to their junior division, because it was again really well animated. This episode also was directed by the director of Otona Joshi no Anime Time by the way, and it shows: it again has this really down to earth relationship between a parent and a young child.

So, to summarize the second iteration of the Young Animator Training Project: skip Buta, but definitely check out the rest, because these are some very well done animated shorts for every age: they’re aimed at children but have enough depth for adults to enjoy. Buta was probably the only one who didn’t get this and instead is just a bit of fun for children.