Aquarion Evol – 19

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

Okay. This episode caught my attention.

Last week I noted that I had gotten bored with this series. After watching this episode and thinking a bit more about it, I’m able to explain a bit more accurately why that happened. It’s got a lot to do with the structure of this series, and mostly my expectation for the interesting stuff and development to arrive with the arrival of the second half. Instead, the development of this series came to a grinding halt with the random filler episodes. The problem was that no character really improved or was developed further. Everything came at a standstill, apart from Zessica of all people. And she was in no way an interesting character to watch, with her only character-trait being love triangle bait, resulting into that incredibly stupid wardrobe change of her.

Looking back, these episodes were wasted. These filler episodes with the bizarre bananas and burying: they should have been done earlier in the series. These episodes should have been used to build up the plot some more. What originally attracted me to this series was the bizarre romantic subtext, along with the promise of featuring boys versus girls. Instead of that we gradually saw this show turn into a standard love story. There are plenty of those series already, and done better. Looking back, this series really could have used these ideas more in its first two thirds.

With this however, things actually changed and became more interesting. Shrade finally did something again, we got a closer look at what that other world is, Amata’s story with his mother FINALLY got somewhere at the end of the episode. What’s more: Mikono actually did something on her own (was I the only one reminded of Star Driver at the scene where she left? It would be pretty interesting if she were to follow that example), there was this bizarre plot twist pulled in which… Mix was gender-swapped (O.o). Finally things got shaken up! Finally it uses its characters.

And then there is Zessica. When it first became clear what the creators were going for, I facepalmed at the thought of having all this build-up… leading to her brainwashed and a villain. Now that I think more about it though, this holds potential. At the very least she’s doing something. She still desperately needs another character-trait beyond liking Amata, but finally she’s more than love triangle bait for Amata and Mikono.
Rating: *+ (Great)

Phi Brain – 30

by psgels, posted in Phi Brain

I like how this series pretends that it’s got the plot of a series that’s fifteen years old, taking a formula only to nearly immediately deviate from it again. I really thought that for now we’d just get a string of episodes that would feature the POG taking control of some side-character. Instead, they are making visible progress in their goals. And this episode was all about Gammon.

And yeah, this was the best episode of the second season so far. Gammon just got even better. At first I didn’t really know where it was going to go to when Gammon was suddenly invited to join the Orpheus Order, especially since Gammon generally joins the side that is against the side that pisses him off the most. But then it turns out that this was actually a follow-up on last week after which the Orpheus Order tried to get ahold of his sister. She’s fine now as they lost interest in her, but this really made an impact on Gammon. This episode was meant for him to resolve this and emerge as a better character instead.

And in the end this episode made use of the first season, relating back to the time Kaito and Gammon first met by having Kaito play for a Giver for once. Gammon was hilarious to watch by being thrown off his element like that, and I also really liked how Kaito did things for a completely different reason (he was pissed off at Gammon himself). It was very refreshing to have these two actually play each other’s roles for a change. It was an awesome way to flesh them out.

Having said that though, the characters in this series are idiots. In a way, the Orpheus Order might have gotten Gammon to join them. Hell, if they paid him for it he probably would have done so. But what on earth made that Doubt-guy think that he’d still join them.. after they openly threatened the life of his sister? Gammon on the other hand: I know that you gained control over your own anger again at the end of this episode. But still: you know the location of people who openly endanger innocent people… and you don’t use it?! Why?
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Uchuu Kyoudai – 06

by psgels, posted in Uchuu Kyoudai

Well, this episode finally revealed the reason why Mutta will pass the test. Heck, it was nearly entirely dedicated to that in some way or the other. And seriously, these writers are awesome. It yet again put more depth into the two lead characters, answered a whole bunch of questions and yet makes perfect sense.

I really wasn’t surprised with the revelation that Nanba and Mutta spent as much time as possible at JAXA. After seeing that UFO, it was the perfect motivation for the two of them, and it also perfectly explains why Nanba got the cards to become an astronaut. Mutta was the same, only he gave up on it while in high school, while Nanba continued.

I also love how we’re still not exactly sure what Nanba thinks: we never go inside his head. I think that we’ve had only three characters do that so far: Mutta, Serika, and with this episode Masa. Mutta meanwhile spent the entire episode moping, but he did that so well and it showed even more about His and Hibito’s relationship that it doesn’t really matter.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mouretsu Pirates – 18

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

This show is very shrewd. There are some parts that feel so real, especially with the characters. and then it keeps pulling some weird over the top plot twists from out of nowhere. This arc once again ends with a wonderful anti-climax that I did not see coming.

The build-up for this episode was fairly straightforward with the electronic warfare and the spaceship battles. And then the revelation of Jenny’s fiance’s over the top performance as some sort of hitler-like figure felt so out of place that it became hilarious, especially when Chiaki immediately followed it by one of her best performances as a pirate so far.

And at the same time, I also feel like ths is something that the final arc is going to use in some way: the anti-government sentiments. This episode did show that there are quite a few people who are looking to organize some sort of revolution. I can very much imagine the Bentenmaru getting involved in this somehow, and it woud make a very interesting climax. Speaking of which, I do wonder whether the creators also plan an anti-climax like in this episode for the ending of this series. It would be awesome if they did that.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Fate/Zero – 18

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

An, so this is this season’s kid episode. I like it much better than the first season’s, because instead of giving character to one of the characters of Fate/Stay Night, it’s entended to shed some light into Kiritsugu’s background, and explain why he became a mage hunter. We see him as a kid, growing up on an island somewhere in the south of Japan that gets infested by what I’d call zombies, caused by the research of his father.

This explains that with all of the talk about lineage, we haven’t really seen anything about Kiritsugu’s parents so far. This episode doesn’t explain what happened to his mother, but I suspect that that’s got something to do with anime’s “weak and dead mother”-syndrome. What I liked about this episode is how well it fleshed out Kiritsugu and his childhood friend Shirley, together with Kiritsugu’s father… only for everything to fall apart.

One thing that I do wonder is what triggered Kiritsugu’s sudden character change at the end of the episode. I mean, I get that seeing your entire world being turned upside down is a huge shock, but would that turn Kiritsugu really from an innocent young boy who grew up normally, into a cold blooded killer with no fear of death whatsoever, in a matter of hours? The start of this episode whowed that he’s reckless, when he dived off that cliff higher than everyone else, but I don’t think that any other part of this episode hinted at that darker side of him.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Spring 2012 Kaleidoscope – Week 18

by psgels, posted in Spring 2012 Kaleidoscope

#1: Natsuiro Kiseki – 05: What a completely adorable episode. The characters just continue to grow here. even though there was no stone today, this was one of the best depictions of a cold in a long while. – **+ (Excellent+)
#2: Shirokuma Cafe: I don’t get it. Some of the jokes in this seris are horribly predictable. This episode again had all kinds of animals suggest bizarre dishes around their favorite food, and Shirokuma’s bad puns. And yet it’s hilarious and so refreshing to watch. The punchline to the parfait fair also was delightful. – ** (Excellent)
#3: The Legend of Korra – 04: Cheesy romance aside, this is the first time I’ve been impressed by this series. The creators used Korra’s brashness in an excellent way here in combinatiton with the politics. – ** (Excellent)
#4: Kimi to Boku – 17: This episode played up Chizuru’s annoyance to the max again, but I’m not bothered by that as much as I used to. Again this episode was really charming and simple. – ** (Excellent)
#5: Sankarea – 05: Very torn on this episode. It would have been #1 if it wasn’t for that annoying cousin. Excellent build-up and pay-off, although I do wonder whether turning zombies in assaulters was the right decision. – ** (Excellent)
#6: Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – 17: I’m still amazed at how short this series is: not including the OP and ending screen, its episodes are only two minutes and ten seconds long. This episode had 6 different sketches in just that time-frame. All of them were fun. – ** (Excellent)
#7: Jormungand – 04: Good episode for Koko as finally her character was a bit more rounded. Also, “I am an American! I have blond hair, I work for the CIA and I am an asshole!” – *+ (Great)
#8: Nazo no Kanojo X – 04: A bit of a step down compared to last weeks, mostly because the saliva is starting to lose its gimmick, but nevertheless that girl whose name I’ve forgotten had some nice moments together with Urabe. – *+ (Great)
#9: Medaka Box – 05: I noticed that Medaka is often able to hold the higher moral ground, solely because she’s so ungodly good at everything. Will this get used later? Also Gainax, there are times where a slideshow is good, but there are also times where a slide-show is just lazy. For a Gainax series I am surprised how actually mediocre the action in this series is. – * (Good)
#10: Hunter X Hunter – 29: Uh, Hunter X Hunter… are you serious in this? Do you really intend to have people call out the names of their attacks, accompanied by huge letters? Is that your idea of how to best represent Nen? – * (Good)
#11: Saint Seiya Omega – 05: Is the entire series going to be about training and people being hot blooded? – (Enjoyable)

Un-Go – Inga-Ron

by psgels, posted in Un-Go

Fr4anchise based movies have always been this interesting beast and I’ve noticed myself that it’s always difficult to rate them. I’m not sure why, but the format of a movie is rather difficult to correctly mesh with the format of a movie; that’s how different these two formats are. And on top of that, there are so many different ways in which to execute these movies: sequel, prequel, side-story, filler, completely new story, background movie, recap story, done in the same style, with a completely different style or a style that’s similar, but not quite the same, or just going for an entirely different alternate retelling. All these options have had their examples that worked really well and that didn’t work at all. Un-Go went with a prequel movie that’s done in the exact same style as the TV-series. And it delivers.

This movie is set to answer some of the questions that are left behind by the TV-series. Not all of them, unfortunately. We get to see a lot of details and new information on the two leads, along with Bettenou, and it subtly answers a few questions about the final arc of the TV-series. Characters like that one prisoner however never make an appearance. For me though, this series did answer as many of the most lingering questions without forcing things in and I’m overall very happy with the result. Shinjirou, Inga and Bettenou definitely emerged as better characters out of it.

Now, the reason why I’m not going to rate this movie is because it really is just another episode of Un-Go. It fits right in with the series, unlike for example the Eden of the East Movies. If you’d package this as a 13-episode series, you wouldn’t notice the difference. This movie blends in perfectly, it rocks for the same reasons as the TV-series, and if you’ve liked the TV-series, then there is no reason to not watch it.

The storytelling really packs the same punch that made the TV-series so good, combining interesting characters with a fast-paced dialogue and throwing in many twists along the way that lead into very satisfying conclusions. Again it succeeds in fleshing out quite a few new characters in a minimal amount of time; something that very few other series can boast. It’s all-around enjoyable and had me consistently fired up.

Eureka Seven Ao – 04

by psgels, posted in Eureka Seven Ao

So… I had typed up this entire entry for this episode. I was taking screenshots… and then my laptop crashed. So apologies for this brief entry.

Basically, I’m warming up to Ao. One big similarity between this series and the first Eureka7 is that everyone treats the lead character for who he is: a kid. Renton was a brat, so people treated him as such, while Ao is more sympathetic and a victim instead, and I can see why the adults in this series want to look over him.

Naru meanwhile: what is her purpose beyond a romantic interest? I was surprised that she didn’t join along with the Pied Piper crew, but that will probably come later. In the meantime, this series has very solid build-up and a great and emotional soundtrack. Now let’s hope that net week my laptop doesn’t crash.
Rating: *+ (Great)

Sakamichi no Apollon – 04

by psgels, posted in Sakamichi no Apollon

With this, it’s clear that this series is going to go for a love polygon now that also Jun entered the picture. Normally this would make me worry, but with a series that is THIS good, I am getting really curious where this series plans to go to. Things right now are set up that everything can spiral completely out of control with the right amount of development, and there are a ton of different directions that this series can head into at this point

The second half of this episode was really meant to show how admirable Jun is and why Sentarou looks up to him. I especially loved him talking himself out of that failed concert when Sentarou walked out because of that one drunk. A drunk who by the way spoke very commendable English. Of course the voice actor for this guy put a lot of emphasis on his syllables, but that’s what all voice acting is like. Normal voice acting in anime also is also like that. Plus, he was drunk.

The first half of this episode meanwhile was about how fragile Kaoru is as a teenager. What really hit me was when he was playing in front of his family, desperately trying to get out of there in his head. The kiss unfortunately felt a bit too soap-operaish. On the other hand though, I really liked how he got to understand how Sentarou grew up as a half-American.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Tsuritama – 04

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

When it comes to series that are about characters who are practicing a certain thing (in this case fishing), I generally tend to prefer watching experienced characters: the characters who already know the basics, and use that knowledge to tell their story. This compared to series like Tsuritama, which are a beginner’s guide instead. The thing with basics is that they tend to be boring, and they take away time from when things get really interesting. As for Natsuki, the supposed “Fishing Prince”… has he actually caught a fish before in the past episodes?

The thing with Tsuritama is that out of Kenji Nakamura’s series, it has the most fleshed out characters, but the least exciting plot so far. What I mean by that is: I’m missing something in this series, especially considering how this is a Noitamina series. This episode again was build-up, making it all the more important for the second half of this series to be balanced well. At the very least, this episode closed off the introduction. Yuki can catch a fish now, the brainwashing device is gone, and Yuki has warmed up to his new friends. Now it’s up to this series to develop that and turn things into something special.

The best part in this episode came from Natsuki. He is both a very good catalyst between Yuki and Haru, but this episode also revealed his own issues. His relationship with his father has the potential to, again, become very good if well developed.
Rating: * (Good)