Aquarion Evol – 17

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

Okay… so this show just explored some new depths here.

Shoji Kawamori, Mari Okada, or whoever it was who came up with the idea for this episode: why? Why did you stuff everyone in swimsuits? Why was the ancient aquarion hidden in a lake? Why do people need to take a bath in milk? Why did that milk suddenly become a way to teleport people into mechas. And what on earth was up with all of the banana references? Seriously, with these past episodes this series has made all of the training arcs look completely ridiculous.

This was by far the most sexualyl charged episode so far. And despite some of the really bad twists of which I’m still not sure whether they were pulled on purpose or not, some characters emerged better out of it, while others got even worse. By far the best character in this episode was Andy, with his incredibly awkward freudian mistake. By far the worst was Zessica. This episode pulled the twist that gave her even less of a personality “I’ll love you even if you don’t love me back”. This remains a terrible twist. At least lett her attempt to move on or something. Also, what on earth was up with that new outfit of hers? Who on earth found it a good idea to give her a Queen’s Blade outfit? What on earth was that meant to symbolize?
Rating: * (Good)

Ozuma Review – 67,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

So… Ozuma. What is there to say about it, really? After years of absence, another Matsumoto Leiji series has come out, adapting a story of his that’s more than 25 years old by now about sand submarines. After six episodes, I’m still not quite sure what I watched.

Ozuma’s biggest problem is that it’s plagued by production issues. While in theory it’s nice to see a series who says an entire “screw you” to broadcasting schedules, this series feels very sloppy, and way too short to really do anything with its premise. It just delivers a bunch of ideas, but doesn’t connect them well. The ideas are great, don’t get me wrong about that, and this could have been a great retro series, but in the end nothing really comes together and the whole execution lacks soul, not to mention the sloppy animation.

I think what also was pretty bad for this series was its cast of characters. The main character is a very annoying brat, and the ones around him just fail to be interesting. They have neat ideas behind their characters, but their delivery is all just so lackluster. I miss passion here, I miss attention to detail, I miss the build-up that stories of the Leijiverse are so good at. You can see that the original Ozuma story had potential, but it’s like the creators didn’t care or something.

Storytelling: 6/10 – Lackluster is the best way to describe this. Doesn’t care at all about standing out.
Characters: 6/10 – These guys feel like caricatures of the usual Matsumoto Leiji characters. You can see flashes of other, better characters in them. Oh, and be aware of the male lead. He’s annoying.
Production-Values: 7/10 – Great character-designs, but very sloppy animation and doesn’t stand out at anything else.
Setting: 8/10 – Great ideas! Sand submarines? Awesome! Bloody shame that it doesn’t use them, really.

Suggestions:
– Space Pirate Captain Harlock
– Hi no Tori
– Secret of the Cerulean Sand

Uchuu Kyoudai – 04

by psgels, posted in Uchuu Kyoudai

More about the romance in this series: there are actually other guys who try to hit on Serika. And it’s in a non-creepy way. After watching so many “will they won’t they”-romances, it’s so refreshing to see one that actually handles it well. Every part of the romance in this series feels natural instead of contrived.

In any case, I love how this show plays around with its narrative and keeps its viewers in the dark. There are certain scenes that this show blanked out on purpose, only to reveal them later when it fit in better. Or take the part in the interview when after it finished, everyone stopped by a certain alley, of which we later learned contained a series of portraits of Japanese astronauts. This series has a ton of small touches that tell so much about the characters like this.

Mutta also was as hilarious as usual. Again the details around his crush on Serika are hilarious (that photo!), but the interview question when one of the interviewers suddenly started talking in very bad Engrish. The cotnrast between Kenji’s answer couldn’t be bigger. I also love how insightful the discussions with him after each test are: the creators use his character well for that.

Furthermore, after this we’re in for something completely different.. This series doesn’t linger in endless exams, because the next few episodes show a small side-trip to Hibiki at NASA in order to show a different side of the astronaut business. And to keep us in the dark for a bit longer on whether or not Mutta made the exam…
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Fate/Zero – 16

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

Kiritsugu… has generic villain motives. “I am going to end all murder and killing, and in order to do that I’m going to murder and kill!”

Joking aside, with three episodes, it’s evident that the second season of Fate/Zero is already improving a lot. The first season had a lot of build-up, and now that that is over we can finally get down to business, and I love how well the creators made use of this. Kiritsugu’s plans were very well thought up and executed, in addition to being completely ruthless. Although I do wonder how he knew where Kayneth and his fiance were. Does that have to do with these familiars that were mentioned in one of the early episodes of the first season?

I also loved that after all of the focus on Chivalry from Saber’s perspective, this episode yet again comes with the complete opposite of this in order to criticize it. Neither side is right: Chivalry basically means killing with honour, but Kiritsugu’s methods also only give birth to more conflicts. I love how this episode managed to balance that out.

Also, Kotomine Kirei. If I didn’t find out that this guy is the main villain of Fate/Stay Night, I really would not have guessed that. This episode again showed him as this conflicted soul, not sure of what he wants to do. Seeing him trying to figure this out is also quite interesting.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Mouretsu Pirates – 16

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

Up till now, I didn’t really mind Mami: she’s a girl with a healthy fixation on making clothes, and I can very much see why she wants others to wear the clothes she designs and makes. There was nothing creepy about her. At least, until this episode. Spending three all-nighters to create random costumes for twelve different high school girls on a whim. That’s a bit much.

The actual heist this episode also was hard to watch: it worked out fine in the end, but it was very unprofessional. Not to mention the dress up party that popped up from nowhere and some of the characters putting on very bad displays.

Thankfully though, this was far from the main point that this episode wanted to make. Everything apart from that was really solid. This is an arc for Marika’s growth. For that, this arc did take some risks with its suspense of disbelief, but then again Marika would never have been able to change and show herself off like this if it hadn’t happened. Also, the end of this episode finally revealed what this arc had been building up to all along. Wow. Now that’s an interesting twist.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Eureka Seven Ao – 02

by psgels, posted in Eureka Seven Ao

The three big mecha/sci-fi shows last Winter Season have gotten an addition: Eureka 7. If you don’t include Uchuu Kyoudai among them (which is a completely different show anyway), then these are the four best series of the genre in 2012. Where Rinne was fun and witty, Aquarion was over the top and weird, Mouretsu Pirates was creative and down to earth, Eureka Seven puts the focus on its drama, and does it really well. This second episode, I’d probably rank it above the second episodes of Aquarion and Mouretsu Pirates and below Rinne no Lagrange, but in terms of potential, it could possibly eclipse all of them if it keeps on going like this.

This show also looks gorgeous. It’s a bit different from Aquarion, which spams eye-candy through its CG department. Here the CG and 2D animation mesh much better, and it’s the 2D animation that steals the show by being really expressive. That’s really going to work in the show’s favor later on.

For this series, the creators really used Ao’s innocence as a central point. It’s no excuse that he immediately knew how to pilot the Nirvash as soon as he stepped into it, but beyond that: it cares about continuity, it plays around with different parties who are all after him, and he realy is forced in the middel of this giant war, just because he refuses to let go of this bracelet of his.

I’m also very surprised at how the creators used Eureka in this series. If that really is the same Eureka as in Eureka Seven, she really changed.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Tsuritama – 02

by psgels, posted in Tsuritama

As a fun and whimsical series, Tsuritama stands at the top of this season for me. This show has something more than the other shows about teenagers doing stuff, and it’s not just originality. It’s also the characters who feel much more genuine than usual. They play off each other quite well and most
importantly: despite the way they act, they’re not annoying.

the lead character is an interesting variation to your typical loser here. The thing is that the things that go on in his head and what he actually says are completely different. He’s actually really shy, but most of the time it doesn’t seem that way due to how detailed his inner monologues are. But then someone comments on how shy the guy is, and you indeed start thinking of how he comes across when you strip away all of the inner monologues. And yeah, that makes him stand out as very weird, especially since he keeps making silly faces for no apparent reason.

Oh, and I also love the guy with the goose. He’s just so… surreal.

Out of all the shows this season, this one probably has me the most curious about what the heck it’ll be about. It’s hyping up its own story so much with at the end of every episode foreshadowing, and yet this is a show about fishing. How on earth are they going to fill 11 episodes with that? They must have some brilliant idea about this, and I can’t wait to find out what it is.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Sakamichi no Apollon – 02

by psgels, posted in Sakamichi no Apollon

This. This show is just amazing.

This season rocks: it has so many series that stand out in refreshing ways. With Sakamichi no Apollon however, I can actually say that it’s the best at something: this series has the best portrayal of performing musicians I have ever seen, bar none. It has been a long while since a show premiered of which I could say that. This series is currently pushing anime to new grounds.

And this isn’t something of just the first episode: the moment when the characters started playing together, the same incredible animation returned, which perfectly captures the actual soundtrack. In the past there were the series that got close to portraying music really well, most notably Beck and Nodame Cantabile. But this one just nails it completely.

And on top of that, the characterization is also just amazing: the acting is wonderfully subtle and the bond between the three lead character is already second to only Uchuu Kyoudai. This isn’t just Shinichiro Watanabe delivering something amazing; there are a ton of talent people working on bringing this story to life.

I do have a few complaints about this series, though, and that mostly involves its cliches. Most notably the random bullies that it uses to create tension, and how the characters walk in on those bullies at exactly the right moment. These kinds of things really make me wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t been saved at the last moment. But even with that I have to admit: this show makes use of them, and it does so incredibly well. In this episode things weren’t over when Sentarou arrived, but an actually entertaining fight followed. The second time was used to bring in some romance. Cliched again, but the acting made up for it. Sentarou already is incredibly different from the usual “delinquent with a heart of gold”.

Oh, and I also have to praise the use of Christianity in this series. I was quite surprised when Kaoru was surprised that Ritsuko was a Christian, because you really don’t often get to see that in anime. And when it does appear characters tend to dress up like nuns for some strange reason.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Lupin III – Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna – 03

by psgels, posted in Lupin III - Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

So this was a shout-out to train stories. And was I the only one reminded of the Sound of Music here?

Overall, again it was a very neat little episode with a ton of style that used its characters really well, ranging from the Samurai that stood central in this story to the king and his children he was supposed to assassinate to Mine Fujiko pretending to be a female tutor. It had a lot of elements that could have been overdone, but it was again the acting that made it great. Although it was probably the least interesting episode of this series so far.

Still, with this third episode this series focuses again on something completely different, and I have to say that this show uses its side-characters very well here: Lupin, Goemon and that other guy from last episode are all very different, and with this, all of them give a different flavor to each episode. If I had to compare the characterization here to what I saw in the Castle of Cagliostro, I think I’d prefer it here if I have to be really honest. At the very least this show caught my attention much more here.
Rating: *+ (Great)

Mirai Nikki Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Mirai Nikki



Mirai Nikki: grab a bunch of psychopaths, hand each of them a diary that predicts the future, make them kill each other and you’ve got yourself the germ of an entertaining story.

This is a show for those looking for some over the top entertainment. It has action and suspense, but unfortunately also plotholes and a lead character who is a wimp for a good first portion of the series. In the end the pros do make up for the cons in this series, but it takes patience.

The bigggest problem with this series is that the characterization takes a really long while to get going. At the beginning of the series, Yukiteru (tha male lead) is a typical coward who once in a while does something heroic. The side-characters are all pretty dull and one-sided, and it doesn’t really feel like any of them comes to his or her right. The only one who really stands out is the lead female: Yuno. The biggest selling point of this series and the mother of all yandere. But even she takes a while to really get going, and is for most of the first half of this series a deranged psychopath without much depth either. The interesting stuff only starts when the characters start to develop and change over the course of the series. This is where the cast gets depth, Yukiteru grows balls, and the characters come together more and this is where the series gets really fun to watch.

Something also needs to be said about the plot: it can get quite creative in the plot twists it delivers to the viewer. It however is not as clever for this premise to really work, and as a consequence it’s full of plotholes. When you stat to watch this series, you really need to realize this, because there are way too many leaps in logic and weird coincidences that would instantly break any normal suspense of disbelief. It’s the kind of series where you need go go along with the flow, no matter how ridiculous it may get t times.

Because in the end, this does reward, even though it takes a while to get there. Mirai Nikki’s biggest problem is that it stumbles on for a good 10 episodes in uninteresting fights, challenges and characters, and it’s not even for the sake of build-up either. At one point it just decides to make its character arcs longer and actually use some character development effecitvely, and that’s where it becomes quite an entertaining ride. The ending is a bit weird, but heck, this show at least doesn’t skimp on entertainment value.

Just one thing: try to avoid getting spoiled about this series. It’s the kind of series that is hard to rewatch, because a lot of the fun is in its surprises that it pulls you.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Very entertaining plot twists, but is a bit annoying in its first halves.
Characters: 8/10 – The side-cast in particular really needs a long while to get going, but in the end the character development is pretty good all around.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Good soundtrack, animation that’s nothing special, but does what it needs to do.
Setting: 8/10 – The setting is just insane, but that’s part o this series’ charms.

Suggestions:
– Ben-To
– Ga-Rei Zero\
– Shikabane Hime