Hunter X Hunter – 21

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

When I first heard Gon’s voice actress, I felt that she yelled a bit too much at times. I still think that, especially in the second half of this episode, but nevertheless, Gon’s acting was awesome in the first half of this episode. The camera work and the timing of it really hit the right notes there. Hunter X Hunter is a show where, the more important a scene is, the bigger the budget allocated to it, and Gon’s serious scenes, along with Hisoka’s moment were apparently seen as very important here. Most of the eye candy in this episode came from really well drawn and shaded frames, but the part where Gon grabbed Gitarakur’s arm was actually animated really well.

On the other hand, I’d like to talk about the concept of pain in this series: there isn’t any. After 21 episodes, I’m sure now: pain in this show is just a small annoyance. It’s something that a lot of other shounen series suffer from. Again, I’m comparing with the 1999 version: there, the pain the characters felt was actually portrayed; when characters did something straining to their body, it actually looked like they were straining themselves (take for example the part a few episodes ago, where Hanzo balanced on his two fingers: in that episode he just did it like it was nothing, whereas the 1999 series actually animated tension on those fingers).

Gon’s part in this episode was pretty much done better compared to the 1999 series. But in terms of his father, I believe that the 1999 series holds the upper case, due to one big part that was cut here. I’m not going to spoil here which part, but the people who watched the 1999 version know what I’m talking about, and it lead to a different image of Gon’s father here, that to be honest lacks the same impact.

In any case though, after this this show can really start to shine over the 1999 version, because from this point onwards, that version starts to drag horribly. I only rated the main series as 82,5/100, which is relatively low for all of the praise I’ve been giving it. The reason for that is the next arc and the arc after that, so from now on this series can make up for a lot of stuff. And I hope that they are going to cut the obnoxious episode intro that has been appearing each week.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mouretsu Pirates – 09

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

You know, when I saw that picture of that castle I realized how un-typical this series is for Satelight. I mean, their trademark is spamming eye-candy, and lots of it, even with the series that Shoji Kawamori has nothing to do with. Mouretsu Pirates however doesn’t care about that in the slightest; that castle picture was probably the work of one of the artists behind Guin Saga who was brought in temporarily to make it look authentic.

The character-designs in this show are varied, but I really wouldn’t call them eye candy, and this is pretty much common over a lot of other works from Tatsuo Sato (most notably Stellvia of the Universe, where the CG looks really out of place when you think about it). However, this series does look very consistent, and it shows that with effort you can make a great show even on a limited budget without trying to be all visually fancy. This is a great example for the projects who don’t have great artists to back themselves up: instead of focusing on a few money shots here and there while ignoring the rest, it’s also very much possible to just deliver consistency without standing out, in order to focus on the characters. In this case, it worked nicely to bring life to the characters.

In any case, this was the type of building-up episode that I like: the ones that are interesting. This episode added a lot to Gruier by showing what her home country looked like. The Ghost Ship also turned out to be the first manned space flight meant to cross light-years, which is a clever way to again flesh out this setting.

Marika is also really getting the hang of being a pirate captain. She takes initiative when she needs to, but also listens to advice when she needs to, and this episode once again balanced this out really well.

I also liked that anti-climax that was used when the princess’ new dress was delivered. The two servants really looked dangerous and the music that accompanied it was really well chosen, and yet nothing really happened other than a few things being delivered. After all that build-up, it seemed kindof odd, but in a good way. We’re definitely going to see those two again, but this was a very interesting introduction for them.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam – 20

by psgels, posted in Last Exile - Ginyoku no Fam

Hah! Now this is more like it. This episode had really little action, and yet it’s my favorite Ginyoku no Fam episode in quite a while now. It had this genuine warmth that I have been missing for a while now, it was different from the previous episodes and offered some variety, there was a lot of focus on the different politics of this series and again Fam knew her role and wasn’t shoved at the center stage.

With this episode I realized that the previous episodes of this series have been a tad monotone, and really needed a bit more variety than what they have shown so far. Probably the big culprit of that was how this show had to focus on cute girls and all. This episode also finally developed the themes of war further. Thins really got resolved now, yet at the same time the ending of this episode showed how fragile peace can be. It was a particularly good twist to have the Gracien girl try to assassinate the big bad guy, and Lilliane’s death definitely made an impact, especially considering how she consciously sacrificed herself. Also, Fam is a princess.

The next episodes have a tough question to answer: why was that necessary? I mean, with Shangri-La it always was obvious that Kuniko was special in the way that the villain was intereseted in her. Here though, I’m not sure what the purpose of all of this is other than making Fam feel special. This is episode 20, there are only three or four episodes left. It feels tacked on at this point.

What also worries me a bit is that we still haven’t gotten any new information about new Gonzo projects. The sales of the second volume of the DVD were about as much as the first volume (around 3000 copies), which thankfully isn’t the disaster that was Shangri-La’s record, but still means that Gonzo probably made some losses, having also financed a lot of this project themselves. However, what are their plans for the rest of the year? They’re awfully quiet, considering taht they should be nearly done with Last Exile here.

The impression I get from watching Last Exile is that most of Gonzo’s talented animators went over to David Production, along with a bunch of producers (you can really see Gonzo’s boldness in a lot of David Production’s projects), while Gonzo’s 3D department, the part at which they were the most innovative, remained at their side, along with most of their bad animators (the badly animated parts of this series are animated in the exact same way tht other badly animated Gonzo shows were). It’d be a shame for them to go bankrupt anyway.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes – 21

by psgels, posted in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

The premise of this episode was a bit boring, and it took a while for it to get going near the middle, though it was as bizarre as expected once it indeed took off. Kokoro is a bit of a stale character at this point, so at this point having her as the center of an episode that adds something to the entire police force except for her is a case of misplaced priorities. Still, showing the other three police girls on their days off finally shows a bit more about their characters.

The weirdest part of this episode started when the bank robbers arrived. Their character designs were just brilliantly silly considering how they tried to look like serious police officers. The weird vehicles they chose also had me in stitches. Why do bank-robbers ride on Segways and where did they get that rowboat from?

In fact, this entire episode was just full of the weirdest yet surprisingly varied character designs. That’s a problem I have with a lot of anime nowadays and of which Milky Holmes is also partially guilty: all of the characters designs and styles just look way too much like each other, especially compared to how things were around ten years ago. At the very least though, this episode contained a ton of different character designs in a ton of different styles.

Also wtf, what kind of a live concert was that?

Also also: good luck watching Saki after this.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Black Rock Shooter – 05

by psgels, posted in Winter 2012 Kaleidoscope

Well, since this was the best BRS episode so far I might as well dedicate this week’s kaleidoscope entry to Black Rock Shooter and share some of my thoughts on it. This really is a show that symbolically links stories together. It’s not just the battle world, but there also is the picture book about the bird that keeps returning, and this episode also showed a brief scene of a class that was about literary analysis (or “the protagonist in this book died because… etc”). That could have been very good, really.

My big issue with this series is: why? What does everything boil down to in the end? Unfortunately, the answer to that seems to be forced teenaged emo. The entire plot basically revolves around this mentally deranged character. I can live with that, but the reasons that pushed her in the situation she’s in now… I failed to buy them. The blond girl is one thing, but that teacher in particular is just a walking plot device.

Emo of course doesn’t have to be bad. I’m personally a big fan of Narutaru (or in any case the anime of Narutaru, having not read the manga), which also was a very dark show about teenagers and the issues they can have. The big difference between the two lies in the build-up: Narutaru first created relatable characters and showed scenes in which… they weren’t actually emo. Yomi however, is poorly fleshed out to me: all she has been doing in this series is be mentally depressed. In fact, every character in this series is very one-sided. They’re more plot devices than actual characters and their issues are all just so simple when you boil down to it.

The only interesting character really is the main character, because she is the one who links everything together, in a much more extreme way than usual. She connects all of the different stories together, she is the only one who knows all of the other important characters well. Everything in this series revolves around her, and even the things that don’t at the beginning, end up doing so because of how her symbolic character in the other world ends up fighting everyone.

In this episode things got interesting, as all of these different stories started to intertwine. I admit, I did not expect Yomi’s part to be resolved this early. At the very least the show still seems to be building up to something, so let’s hope that at least that part of its buildup will be good. I adit that I liked the action and the soundtrack in this episode.

I can understand what Mari Okada is doing: the OVA was so dull, something had to happen to it to make it actually worth watching as a full fledged TV-series, and if the build-up was better then this episode actually would have worked really well, however I do think that she took the wrong approach. This type of characterization definitely isn’t her best, and I also believe that the characters in the action world should have… actual personalities and characters. I don’t care if it offends the fanbase of Black Rock Shooter. The creators are already raping the fanbase of Noitamina, so why stop there?
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Hotarubi no Mori he Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

The essentials that you need to know for Hoturabi no Mori he: it’s from the creators of Natsume Yuujin-Chou (same director and same original writer; heck, it’s even done in the same style and the cast of Natsume Yuujinchou even makes a very small cameo here), and for a movie’s standards, it’s very short: only 40 minutes. Most OVAs nowadays have episodes of just that length. Now, Natsume Yuujin-Chou was really, really good at telling short standalone stories. This movie is too.

This movie is perfect for if you’re interested in Natsume Yuujin-Chou, yet don’t have the time to sit through 52 episodes, because it is a delightful self-contained story. Because it’s short, it can’t do as much as other movies can, but the story that it does tell is incredibly well executed. It’s heart-warming from start to finish, and never has a weak scene. The beginning is captivating, the build-up is excellent and the ending is incredibly solid.
What surprised me the most about this movie is the amount of character development. It actually takes place over multiple years, allowing the characters to gradually grow, instead of focing its entire scenario into the timespan of just a few days, like what most movies do. It’s perhaps not the most unpredictable movie, and it definitely isn’t for those who are looking for a lot of action or drama. Apart from that though, it is really an accessible movie with a wonderfully told story.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Excellent script, great build-up and ending.
Characters: 9/10 – Excellent character-development, especially for just a 40 minute movie.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Very good animation, though perhaps nothing impressive for movie standards.
Setting: 8/10 – Pretty much the same setting as Natsume Yuujinchou. Uses it well enough, but doesn’t add much to it either.

Suggestions:
– Natsume Yuujin-Chou
– Mushishi
– Zettai Shounen

February Summary

by psgels, posted in Monthly Summaries

At first I thought that this would be a season that would at least be exciting. In the end, what stood out about the most is how many series make me go wtf this time. And they just keep increasing. And really: while there aren’t any absolute classics here, it does make this season really fun to watch and keep up with.

#20 (24) – Guilty Crown – (6,25/10) – In its first half, Guilty crown was offensively boring. Right now however, it’s just plain offensively bad. The plot twists it pulls just are consistently pulled out of its ass, and yet at the same time it’s not really going anywhere. It’s not fun; the characters are obnoxious and Shu is still a terrible character who randomly changes every episode, yet remains consistently obnoxious. Please Noitamina, don’t make writing of this level to be the new standard for your new shows. I know it sold well and all, but for god’s sake this should never become the norm!
#19 (new) – Smile Precure – (7/10) – Here is the thing, Smile Precure: I know you’ve got a big audience who will watch you no matter what, but that’s no excuse to just be completely boring at the start. You can be amazing halfway through, but if you don’t give us a reason to keep watching, then that’s all for naught. All I’ve seen so far are a bunch of dull introduction episodes. There are no major side-characters whatsoever other than the Precure, the standard bad guys and that mascot thing. This show is nowhere near as bad as Suite Precure’s opening, but at the same time I also see no hints that it’ll get better later on.
#18 (new) – Black Rock Shooter – (7/10) – Halfway in, and I’m not very impressed by this series. The biggest reason is because of how incredibly forced the drama and angst is. I could have lived with relatively little focus on the Black Rock Shooter world (because really: that one has even less depth), but the angst is way too forced, and just there for the sake to create drama. It’s gotten very annoying now. Mari Okada, you disappoint me.
#17 (17) – Listen Girls, I am Your Father – (7,5/10) – This show is not like Kimi to Boku. That show used it annoyance to somehow become good. Papa however, is annoying, only to become heart-warming afterwards. It’s nowhere as neatly meshed, especially when the girls take a bath for the umpth time. This show is worth it for the small moments that really are heart-warming, but the rest of the airtime tends to be rather boring.
#16 (15) – Ano Natsu de Matteru – (7,75/10) – Ano Natsu got dominated this month with that cliche-filled beach arc. Sure, the characters developed a bit, but it was all predictable and the fanservice was pointless and obnoxious, not to mention that the annoying harem subplot also didn’t really steer this show into a good direction. I will have to say though that I am at least glad that this show is heading somewhere.
#15 (11) – Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam – (7,75/10) – I’m very iffy about Last Exile at the moment: it’s not like Fam is badly developed or anything, and I want to like her, but most of the time she just doesn’t belong in this series. Overall the “war is bad themes” of this series are starting to get a bit boring, and the world building isn’t really bringing anything new to the table at this point. I really fear whether this show would be able to deliver a solid climax.
#14 (19) – Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou – (8/10) – This show is a hit and miss comedy: it’s cringe-worthy when a joke falls flat, but it’s also hilarious and very creative when it actually works. The ration at the moment seems to hang steady around 50:50, and at the very least I admire it for this creativity here. It’s not the best comedy of the season, though.
#13 (14) – Inu X Boku SS – (8/10) – Inu X Boku is nothing special, especially for David Production’s standards. And yet, it’s consistently able to put a smile on my face. Even though the characters are simplistic, they are also heart-warming in a way. It’s a bit shallow, but very charming.
#12 (7) – Rinne no Lagrange – (8/10) – Out of the three big mecha/sci-fi shows this season, Rinne no Lagrange is the only one who dulled in a bit this month. This is mostly due to time spent on building up, but the fact remains that lately it hasn’t been as sharp as it used to, though it did offer solid character building. Now all that’s left is to use it.
#11 (18) – Nisemonogatari – (8,25/10)

I actually really liked this month for Nisemonogatari. Fially the plot was about something meaningful other than mostly fanservice, and the animation really is gorgeous as well. I also really liked the way in which the Karen arc ended. And then there was the toothbrush scene. Just… wtf.

#10 (10) – Mirai Nikki – (8,25/10)

It’s about bloody time, but the character development has finally kicked in. And indeed: this show has become a lot more entertaining compared to the first half. In particular Yukiteru has become much more interesting to watch now. It’s nothing deep and it’s still full of plotholes and bad twists and all, but it’s just so over the top entertainment that at this point, I don’t mind.

#9 (13) – Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – (8,25/10)

I love this show. In only five minutes it consistently tells fun little stories about the entire cast, and really brings them alive. The creative jokes just keep coming, but on top of that: it also fleshes out who the characters are in a really fun way by showing a very good look at their everyday lives. half of the jokes don’t even involve Poyopoyo but instead are about how they live their lives.

#8 (8) – Aquarion Evol – (8,25/10)

The romantic comedy really is not a genre that I’m often into, and I find the vast majority of these series to be dull and trite. Aquarion Evol is a major exception though. It just has this energy, on top of its just bizarre context and sexual undertones. This month has continued to explore the “males versus females”-themes and it did so with some solid character-building arcs that made the collective cast very enjoyable to watch. The music still is completely awesome, and the graphics still look incredibly flashy.

#7 (9) – Mouretsu Pirates – (8,25/10)

This really is the stand-out series in terms of characters feeling real. In this series, there are hardly any stereotypes, and the acting is very believable, and this only solidified more this month. It’s clear that Tatsuo Sato is behind the helm of this series, because it really takes its time to let everything play out. Because of that it’s not the most exciting series yet, but in terms of character and world building it really is excellent. This month also put a lot of focus on politics and really took its audience seriously when it discussed everything involved in being a pirate.

#6 (6) – Hunter X Hunter – (8,5/10)

This month featured the conclusion of the Hunter Exam arc. As usual there were things that I liked and things that I liked a little less when comparing it to the 1999 series, but the things I liked are getting better and better. I am disappointed that this adaptation didn’t spend the same amount of care to Gon’s final fight (an episode that I considered in the 1999 version to be absolutely fantastic), and the cast of side characters is noticeably weaker and less interesting, but the character development on the main cast is still really, really good.

#5 (12) – Another – (8,5/10)

What really makes Another stand out as a horror series is how down to earth the characters are. The acting here is top-notch, and because of that the contrast with the brutal gore really stands out. This show has some very interesting build-up and the atmosphere is still excellent. \

#4 (5) – Phi Brain – (8,5/10)

Phi Brain has yet again just gotten better and better this month. I’m really surprised at how engaging this show has gotten, but the character development just continues to push the characters forward. I just have to wonder: how on earth are the creator planning to top this for the second season?

#3 (4) – Tantei Opera Milky Holmes – (8,5/10)

This month had both the most and least entertaining episode of the second season, so it’s a bit hard to judge. When at its stride though, it was absolutely hilarious and without a doubt the biggest WTF of the entire season (and with this season, that has to say something). In particular the train episode was just glorious.

#2 (2) – Natsume Yuujin-Chou – (8,75/10)

Not as strong as the previous month, but this series still stands on top of the season with its well thought out stories about youkai. The fourth season is really dedicated to develop everyone around Natsume, and it’s doing a great job at that. My one complaint is that some parts (like Nyanko-sensei) are getting a bit repetitive.

#1 (3) – Chihayafuru – (8,75/10)

This series has been as solid as ever. Where it lacks in varietyk it more than makes up in character development, giving every major character enough time to play out, and it always finds something meaningful for every character in every episode. Now that’s good writing, especially considering how it’s been doing that throughout the entire series now.

Chihayafuru – 21

by psgels, posted in Chihayafuru

With this, Chihaya finally learned the lesson that she needed to learn: there’s more to Karuta than just timing. The thing is to also feel the flow of the cards. Humans are only human, and therefore they only have a fixed amount of time it takes them to react. The challenge for Chihaya was to 1) time her movements better and 2) use her trademark speed with that. After all the previous episodes, it was very interesting for her to run into a player who played the same way she did, with a focus on speed.

Also, these people here are harsh: talking down to this nine-year-old girl for not being as good as the second-best karuta-player in the country when she loses one match. It’s interesting how you usually see these child stars being pushed too much by their parents, but this is a nice subversion of that, in the way that her mother is putting so much effort into letting her daughter play Karuta to get her to cope with bullies.

Overall, I must praise this series for piquing my interest in Karuta. It’s not like when I watched Hikaru no Go and Shion no Ou, which made me immediately want to play the game, but that’s probably also because of how incredibly steep the learning curve is at the start: you can play Shougi and Go as a complete beginner and still do something with it; it’s as you start to think about it more you realize how incredibly complex these games are. It’s impossible for a beginner at Karuta to even play: for that you first need to spend a lot of time memorizing cards. After that, it’s not going to be a matter of depth, but rather combining strategy, speed, memorization and timing together. It’s much more a physical sport.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Another – 08

by psgels, posted in Another

Thank god this wasn’t just another copy-paste beach episode. This episode felt unique, which just shows that beach episodes are usually terrible in how often they just boil down to the same thing. This episode didn’t bother with suggestive camera angles, and didn’t make a whole spectacle of “what will they be wearing?”, but rather showed the characters as they were. My only complaint here is that twintail girl suddenly turning abusive tsundere. Where did that come from?

Because of this I enjoyed this episode for its variety. With so much death around the corner it’s good to have episodes where the scenery is completely different. That’s something I miss in a lot of anime nowadays: they often feel rather monotone. Another obviously is too, but this episode definitely helped there.

I also loved the use of red herrings i this episode. There first was that truck, the cast catching a puffer fish and suggesting to actually cook it, and then there was that swimming scene. It got a bit surreal when that motor boat appeared right from out of nowhere. With this it’s clear that the ghost has some magic Deus ex Machina powers that can bend all common sense.

This is just a detail, but it does make me wonder: to their trip (which by the way actually had a purpose), the cast came in two cars. One of them was driven by Reiko, but the other one? We hardly see any shots of this random old man, as if the camera tries its best to ignore him. Also, when they arrive, Misaki Mei was already at the beach. Why didn’t she just come with them? It’s a bit weird to not have introduction scenes like that.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 48

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou

And we’re into another two-part arc for this series. This one is focused on Hiiragi and Natori, with a few hints that Matoba is involved as well.

The focus on this episode was about Natori actually having to seal away a god, rather than a youkai as he gets a very strange request to do all this within one day. I think this was the first time in which we’ve seen him uncomfortable.

Natsume in the meantime is of pretending to be the opposite of said god, and with this he seems to ignore one thing that I find rather strange: his smell. In the past he has been very often sniffed out as a human when he tried to dress up. I find it weird that he still doesn’t seem to have learned after all that.

Also, someone mentioned it in the comments last week, but with this episode it again caught my attention: the creators are having trouble to separate Natsume and Nyanko. In this episode Nyanko wanders off and something happens to Natsume. After that Nyanko accidentally gets touched by one of Natori’s exorcist-thingies, and afterwards something again happens to Natsume. As much as I like this series, it is starting to get a little repetitive this way.
Rating: ** (Excellent)