Another – 12

by psgels, posted in Another

You know what? This is a season of very solid endings (save for Guilty Crown perhaps, but screw that show). I realized that when Another’s ending was the first ending that didn’t live up to my expectations. Oh, it was still good and i liked the closure it gave, but my expectations of this episode were high, and this episode pulled a few things that tugged on my suspense of disbelief.

The closure that was given was very solid though. To be honest, I did not consider Reiko being the ghost being a possibility. Technically she isn’t a student, But I can accept the logic of the ghost being a bit creative. This episode also didn’t really solve the calamity, it only delayed the killings for another year. I don’t mind that either. This is no story about exorcists, it’s about a bunch of teenagers trying to survive. I also liked the direction of this episode. The faces were a bit silly t times, but it nevertheless was good suspense, the action scenes were well directed and shot, and the scene with the revelation of the ghost was also quite creative.

Still, my knowledge about fire kept poking my suspense of disbelief whenever the characters were in the house: what happened to the smoke? I mean, a lot of victims of house fires don’t die because of fire, but because they inhale too much smoke. I can buy scenes with characters running through fire as fast as they can, but the characters in this episode casually walked around a burning building while feeling perfectly fine. In fact, acknowledging the fire could have lead to an interesting extra threat to this episode.

My big issue with this ending is its lack of meaning, though. I’m still not exactly sure what happened here, with the ghost breaking his own rules and suddenly deciding to try and eliminate every single member of the class with random lightning bolts, falling pillars, chandeliers and even trying to kill the dead student… for some strange reason. The people who went crazy were also nice and all, but they would have been even nicer if they actually had been fleshed out a bit. Because of that they also lacked the impact they could have had. And who on earth was that murdering maid?

And then Misaki suddenly revealed that she witnessed Meiko being killed. Of all the places she could have been. The creators could have done an epilogue that explained that: “we later found out that Meiko had been killed when.. blah blah et cetera”. Also, regarding the dolls of the first episode: what was their point again?

Overall, I think I liked Blood-C slightly more over Another (yes, I liked that show). It took much longer to get going, but in the end I liked how bold it was with its mystery, and how everything came together at the end. Another doesn’t necessarily have that ending where everything comes together, but instead it’s the journey that made it memorable, trying to figure out a way how to stop people dying the most bizarre deaths. It tried a bit too hard at times, but overall I’d rank this in the top five shows of the Winter 2012 season..

A review will be posted tomorrow, because it’s too late now (where I am anyway). Why on earth do four series decide to end all at the same bloody time?
Rating: *+ (Great)

Natsume Yuujin-Chou Shi Review – 87,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Natsume Yuujin-Chou



Let’s get this out of the way first: out of the series that debuted in the past Winter Season, Natsume Yuujin-Chou’s fourth season was by far my favorite. Can you watch it without having seen the other three seasons? No. It very clearly builds further upon what these three seasons did. It doesn’t matter though, because every series of Natsume Yuujin-Chou is truly excellent. Few series can boast to be as genuine and heart-warming as this one.

The people who have already watched the first three seasons know what to expect: episodic stories and small arcs about a boy who can see spirits, and all of the problems and miracles that come with it. The episodic nature again makes it a very varied series that changes every week, and again this series has a very good balance between really heart-warming stories, and stories that are almost like a thriller. The stories still are very cleveryl constructed, and yet they play out very naturally and believably. This season also likes its character studies, and quite a few side-characters also manage to get their place in the spotlight to actually develop themselves a bit.

Every season of Natsume also has a slightly different tone from the other. The first was about quiet and relaxing stories about all sorts of youkai Natsume meets. Season 2 instead put the focus more on the main plot and various recurring characters. The third season was dedicated to Natsume’s development, and the fourth season is about Natsume’s relationship with the people around him. Imagine what a wonderful total picture this all creates! And indeed, the cast still is amazing, in particular Natsume has gotten so much development at this point.

What makes the fourth season stand out in particular is that out of all the four seasons, it’s got the best beginning and the best ending. It really saved its best stories for those points, and especially the ending is a treat. The stories in the middle are also very good, but not as good as the middle episodes of the first and the third season. I’d really consider the First, Third and Fourth season to be just as good, all with their own highlight and standout stories that rock in their own ways, either by being incredibly heart-warming, really well told, consistently tense and intriguing, amazingly built up, wonderfully acted, or just all of those together. This series still is a huge believer of subtlety over bombast, and this leads to some of the best acting of the season.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Great variety, masterful at retaining a subtle atmosphere, and manages to consistently tell heart-warming stories.
Characters: 9/10 – Natsume has 52 episodes of development right now, and this season just continues to add things to his character. The side characters also get a lot of time to flesh themselves out and develop.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Great and very consistent animation. Perhaps not the best of the season, but there are a few very talented animators flexing their muscles here.
Setting: 9/10 – Everyone around Natsume is the main focus of this series. Yes, the setting got even better.

Suggestions:
– xxxHolic
– Porfy no Nagai Tabi
– Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 52

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou

Yeah, this was pretty much the best ending of the season. In fact, out of all of the four natsume seasons, this season had the best final episode. This was definitely in my top 5 of favrotie Natsume episodes. If this turned out to be the last we’ll see of Natsume Yuujinchou, then I don’t mind this at all with such a wonderful closing episode.

This episode had a lot of parallels to that one episode of the third season, where Natsume met Touko (that one overall turned out to be my favorite Natsume Yuujinchou, out of all the 52 that were aired), but there were some huge differences here. Both were meant to show how hard Natsume’s childhood was, but that episode was about Natsume and his fears of not being able to do anything. This episode (and arc, really, it was about Natsume’s fears of responsibility. In this case, he wasinvited by a really nice family, and yet he didn’t want to cause any sort of trouble for them. You can see Natsume get a lot colder after the events of this episode when you look at the other flashbacks. Only when he met Touko he started to open up again.

The house part was kept wonderfully subtle. The creators said so much here with so little dialogue. It was incredibly heart-warming.

Overall, the fourth season: it has the best beginning and ending of all four seasons, while in the middle part it was a bit outclassed by seasons 1 and 3. Still, it had a point and purpose, and it still was really worth the watch. When I first started watching this, I really didn’t expect this to go on for 52 whopping episodes, but I’m definitely glad that it did. This was by far the best Winter 2012 series.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Mirai Nikki – 23

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

I had already been spoiled for about half of the major twists in this episode (which also makes this a very bad show to want to rewatch by the way), but after finally seeing the complete picture in which everything is explained I definitely gained a new appreciation for this series. I think the only thing that’s left to be explained is what exactly Yuno’s diary means by “Happy end”. I mean, twice it obviously hinted at the two of them having sex and all, but it still makes no sense to see that as an actual “end”. I think that the best example of creative use of broadcasting schedules was with Michiko e Hatchin. It totaled 22 episodes, yet ran for two full cours and while it had a ton of random hiatuses, it also had random weeks in which it suddenly decided to air two episodes at once. We need more series like that.

As for Yukiteru, I think that this guy improved a lot. There indeed was a long while in this series where he had the bad main character syndrome, but in this episode he again was pretty interesting to watch.

Also for the record, Mirai Nikki has a very strange broadcasting schedule: with this there are still 3 episodes left, so this show will actually end on April 21st, a time when most of the spring series have already started (with the exception of Hyouka and that idol show, I believe). I like that. Screw the fact that you have to end at the final week of march. If this show wants to have 26 episodes, it can have them. It makes things a bit difficult to organize, but who cares?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Aquarion Evol – 13

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

Now this was just entertaining as hell. Really, all of the three big sci-fi shows this season really delivered excellent episodes to close off their first halves and they really surpassed themselves with it. Mouretsu went the politics route, Rinne no Lagrange toyed with the scenario, and Aquarion was the one who just went all out with its action. This was really an episode full of adrenaline, and very entertaining to watch as it yet again made excellent use of its romances.

.. with perhaps one exception. This is something that has annoyed me about other anime as well. I mean, on average, women are physically weaker than men. Having a really physically weak girl in the cast, makes sense. However, for the love of god: quit having women faint so often. I mean, not only does this just get pulled way too often, but it also pretty much puts the girl in question out of the picture for as long as she’s unconscious.

But I digress, when she woke up, the doll girl and her romance with the spy guy definitely made up to that. Then there was that bizarre part where Mikono got.. abducted and hold like a trophy, only to be rescued again (thankfully), followed by what can only be described as an orgy as six pilots fused together. I really was entertained throughout the entire episode.

Next episode should prove to be very interesting, because it’s here where the huge difference between Mari Okada and Shoji Kawamori comes into play: deaths. On one hand I have often been trolled by Kawamori’s deaths, and I often feel that these are a bit meaningless, if the characters turn out to be dead at all, where on the other hand Mari Okada loves making her deaths meaningful, and her scripts don’t use implied deaths at all. In this episode the death of two characters was implied, so next week will be a huge rope pulling match between these two. I really hope that Mari Okada wins, because I very much prefer how she handles death in her stories, but the two of them are both so over the top that it’s got to be a lot of fun to watch.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Rinne no Lagrange Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Rinne no Lagrange




By far the biggest problem of the past season was a lack of ambition. The series were all very solid, but but a lot had the “this could have been much better”-syndrome. If only the creators took more chances and came up with some more imaginative premises, this season would have been amazing, because in terms of execution there certainly was the potential for that. Rinne no Lagrange was one of the most apparent examples of this, where we have a fun, exciting and interesting series about a teenaged girl who has to protect her school from invading aliens inside a mecha with special powers.

Yeah, there probably aren’t a lot of people inclined to pick this up based on just that premise. But really, the exeucution definitely makes it worth watching and the creators definitely tried to bring something appealing to such an overused story. For starters, it smartly turns the invading aliens into more than just a horde of monsters intent to destroy the earth. They’re civilized, they actively try to sympathize with their opponents and some of them also try to oppose causing unnecessary bloodshed. This series also cares a lot about continuity: houses that get destroyed remain destroyed in the next episode and it also subtly shows that there are giant mechas fighting near innocent people who have never been in a war themselves.

Beyond that, this is a series that focuses on the relationship between its three main characters. In the character department, it’s this that really stands out. The characters alone aren’t really special. There are a lot of cliches, they’re a tad too perfect at times and this show has really awkward moments of fanservice, but together they play off each other wonderfully. This also goes for the side characters, by the way. They really manage to flesh each other out. Some very good direction and camera work helps with this, and makes this show quite witty and fun when it wants to.

So yeah, it’ s a shame that the subject material of this show is slightly dull. These creators could really have made an epic series, but in the end, too little just happens for it to warrant that. Instead it chooses to let its story and characters play out, and while that produces a solid series, it really would have been nice a little less cliches, a little less focus on schools, and a little more complex characters.

There will be a second season though, so who knows whether the creators are saving that for then.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Snappy direction, solid action, great atmosphere. A tad slow-paced, but fun.
Characters: 8/10 – Solid, great chemistry, but there are a few too many moe cliches, and the characters could have been more detailed.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Solid. Nothing special for this season’s standards, but the action is still very solid.
Setting: 8/10 – The continuity in this series is very well done. Beyond beyond that though, it does little more.

Suggestions:
– Mahou Shoujotai
– Gakuen Senki Muryou

Rinne no Lagrange – 12

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

You know what? This was my favorite ending of the season so far. Or in any case semi-ending, because we’ve still got the second season upcoming summer, and the big ones (Natsume, Chihayafuru) still haven’t ended yet. This episode featured a great climax, it was a great aftermath, and it included a bunch of very nice hooks for the second season.

Of course a straightforward climax can work really well if executed right, I always appreciate the endings that try something more than that. For this episode to start with the aftermath, right after last week’s cliff-hanger was a very good idea. For a minute I really wasn’t sure what was going on because Rin and Madoka were also acting a very cheesy romance for some of their school mates, but once the actual climax started, everything fell into place. I like that.

As for the hooks for the next season, it was a great idea to break up the group for a bit and have everyone go their own way for a moment. This makes it more than just a “see you in three months”-ending, but it’s a great moment in this show for a pause in the story. Yes, this is the great thing about 2-cour original stories. They really can be tailored to anime format.

Overall, this Winter Season played out very much like I thought it would. What seemed like the biggest problem really turned out to be true: this season had a lot of great staff, but the one thing it lacked was ambitious premises. This resulted in a lot of very solid stories that however could all have been amazing, if only they took more risks and displayed more interesting plots. Rinne was very fun and entertaining, and I really feel that if it had a more ambitious story, that didn’t revolve around yet another high school, it really could have been a classic.

At the moment, what I fear is going to be the biggest problem of the upcoming Spring Season: strange staff choices. Appolon has mediocre scriptwriters (one wrote the Stitch adaptation, the other was responsible for the horrible adaptation of Persona), Tsuritama will be written by the guy who outlined Suite Precure of all things, Uchuu Kyoudai will be adapted by Makoto Uezu (out of the 20 series this guy did the series composition for, I only liked four, two of which are the two Sunred seasons), Zetman will be adapted by a guy who is notorious for taking huge liberties with source material, and often very rushed stories, the guy who wrote Guilty Crown will be doing another series, and out of all things we have Shoji Kawamori and Mari Okada doing an idol show. On top of that Jormundgand also looks very intriguing, but it’s got a really bad director. These are a ton of shows who have a lot of potential, but what I’m most afraid of is that that one person at the wrong place will take away that potential. And that for so many series.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hunter X Hunter – 24

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

Okay, so I was wrong. I mean, I still think that the previous episode left things to be desired in the cinematography department, but for some reason I actually thought that Canary was killed and wasn’t meant to appear after this. And then this episode starts out by fleshing her out. Either my memory deceived me, or these are two different yet both interesting ways to show her, but I don’t have the time right now to watch the corresponding episode of the 1999 series to be sure.

Also, I really liked Killua in this episode. I do have to wonder how these chains work he was hanging from, because they defy various laws of physics at first sight, but this episode added a ton of details to his character, and finally expanded a bit on his need for friends. His father at first seemed really out of character with this fatherly talk, but I like how the creators made use of how we’ve never seen him before.

One scene I did feel that didn’t work out as well was near the end of the episode, where Killua ran into his mother. Something seemed off, and the way these scenes cut into each other was a bit sloppy. I’m not sure what it is, but when that Zoldyck theme starts playing right from out of nowhere it also tends to break the mood, rather than add to it. It’s a bit too abrupt and unlike most tracks doesn’t feature any lead-ins whatsoever. It’s just silence…. CHOIRS!!!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mouretsu Pirates – 12

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

The direction of this episode was superb. I mean, Mouretsu Pirates never really stood out through its animation, but the designs of the ship was really creative, and the camera work was really solid. I really liked this episode and it was a great conclusion to the Gruier arc.

So if I understand things correctly, Gruier was actually in the wrong here. What she wanted to prevent is the monarchy from increasing its influence. Her sister kept using the ghost ship, or rather the device that was used to create the royal bloodline of Serenity, to cling to it, and she wanted to end that once and for all, in order to move on. Interestingly, she seemed to assume that members of the family were still being produced, so she actually was ready to at least prevent these births. I guess that this is why she enlisted the help of pirates.

I really like how this show weaved actual complex politics into its story beyond the “let’s wage wars in order to end all wars”, or stuff like that. Again this show takes its audience seriously and I really appreciate that. On top of that, this episode had the best characterization, and I loved how the characters subtly played off each other. With this, I really have to say that overall, Mouretsu Pirates ended up as my favorite of the three big sci-fi shows of Winter 2012.
Rating: **+ (Excellent+)

Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Last Exile - Ginyoku no Fam




It’s a bit hard to recommend Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam, because it had to live up to the expectations of the original Last Exile… and it didn’t. Still, I still consider it a series worth watching, and it is the proof that Gonzo isn’t dead yet.

But yeah, go into this expecting a war story that just happens to take place in the same universe as Last Exile. The mood and tone of this series have some signfiicant differences, and mots of all this series lacks the refinement that its predecessor has. The character animation often is sloppy, there is much less time spent at believable acting and realism, and the charactes too are a lot closer to caricatures.

The big difference is in the plot, though. It’s here where Ginyoku no Fam lacks creativity. It’s all just too average and straight-forward, and it tries too much to center aruond cute girls… in the middle of a war. Too many episodes are just dedicated to “war is bad”, without much refinement to it. To me, the creators seemed very conflicted on what they wanted to do with their main character, Fam. First they establish her character as a delivery girl, and there are times where she really does well to keep true to that role, in particular the ending. At other times though, they want her to be more involved in the actual war, and that’s where this show leaves the most to be desired, as we’re treated to a very whiny teenager who keeps preaching peace over and over again, and who gets shoehorned into politics that she doesn’t belong in.

So yes, be warned. Those who give it a chance however, will be rewarded by some absolutely gorgeous aerial battles, an excellent sense of world building and a pretty engaging atmosphere here. It’s especially the setting int his series that stands out, because the creators created a ton of interesting locations, with some of the most gorgeous background art and architectures. They dabble a bit in different cultures, and the creators really managed to bring the overall world to life, especially in the first half of this series.

The characters are a bit of a mixed bag, but there also is enough good stuff among them. Fam has her moments where she gets really annoying, but she also has a vew moments where she redeems herself, and the cast of side-characters has a number of interesting people walking around who do manage to spice up the story. It remains an unbalanced production though, but I do think that it gets too much flak. It’s no masterpiece, but it’s got enough reasons to make it worth watching.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Could have used a bit more ambition and gets distracted often, though its atmosphere is good.
Characters: 7/10 – The creators were conflicted in how to use their main character, and thefore she tends to get in the way of everything. It’s got some good moments of characterization, though.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Amazing background art, the action scenes in this show look gorgeous. The 2D animation… not so much.
Setting: 9/10 – Excellent and intriguing setting. This series has a lot of fun with its world building.

Suggestions:
– Shantri-La
– Guin Saga
– Simoun