Aquarion Evol – 09

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

With this, Mix and Andy (Andy W. Hole; seriously?) have gotten their episode as well. Because yes, this series has decided that the two of them are going to be a couple. We already knew that Andy’s power was to create holes. Now, it turns out that Mix’s power is to fill them. Truly a match made in heavens.

In any case, this episode was as fun as the rest of the show. The romantic tensions between Mix and Andy in particular were just hilarious. All of the bizarrely epic ways which the creators found to symbolize holes were also hilarious. Yes, of course donuts are like the galaxy we live in. Makes perfect sense!And why is that headmaster still upholding the “no romance”-rule?

In any case, the series progression has been pretty solid so far. The cast here is fairly large, so it’s only natural that we get a string of episodes about the different cast. There are only a few left: that fangirl still needs one, Mikono’s brother is still left and the nun will also probably get one. It’s basic build-up, but it’s tried and true for a reason: it works and this this makes sure to create an engaging cast. The most important thing right now is that while it’s doing this build-up, it’s really fun to watch.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mirai Nikki – 20

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

When that cop suddenly started to propose to Ninth, I was a bit baffled. I mean, can you possibly find an even worse timing for that? It was obvious that he had a crush on Ninth, but the sheer randomness of actually proposing was a bit too much here. And then the rest of this episode aired, and I understood. Of course: in fiction, proposing to someone in the middle of a story is the equivalent of signing your own death sentence. It’s not really a plot-hole this time, but more like a really bad twist.

The cheese is what sets Mirai Nikki apart from Guilty Crown though: Mirai Nikki knows full well that it’s supposed to be over the top, and to its credit: this was exactly that. This was very entertaining, whereas Guilty Crown on top of being full of bad twists and plotholes is also completely stupid, very badly written, poorly built up and has atrocious characters. Here though, I liked Ninth quite a bit, and I have to admit: Yukiteru’s appearance in this episode was excellent.

This really is the Winter of WTF. First we had Milky Holmes, then Aquarion Evol also took the bizarre train, followed by Danshi Koukousei, Nisemonogatari, and really: Mirai Nikki also caught it. I’d also include Guilty Crown, but that unfortunately is in a bad way.

This was what I’ve been hoping this show would be: straight-up entertainment. It’s nothing much more, and it’s a shame that the first half of this series didn’t really impress much, but with episodes like this I’m glad to have continued.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Rinne no Lagrange – 08

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

A building up episode, which was used to expand a bit upon the background of this series (ad it’s good to have a bit more information on what the Vox actually are), and to introduce the probably final major character of this series: the boss of the whole organization returns. So obviously she’s a a young-looking blond girl.

At the very least she’s proactive and gets things done, but we’ll see what the creators have in store for her and for that bizarre cross-dressing maid for the rest of this series. What also was a major point in this series is that Madoka isn’t going to be a pilot anymore. Now, that’s the kind of twist that really has me wonder why the creators pulled it. It’s not really going to make a point if Madoka just ends up ignoring all this, piloting her Vox anyway.

Overall, the direction that made me praise the first episodes of this shows has weakened a bit for the past few weeks. There were still some points where this episode was rather sharp, like with the maid, or the point where Madoka agreed to not pilot anymore (hence my worries for the next battle), but I don’t know… it lacks that energy that made it so addictive. Is this just a matter of building up (this is a Tatsuo Sato series, after all), or is this Xebec being lazy?
Rating: * (Good)

Phi Brain – 21

by psgels, posted in Phi Brain

This episode… was full of flashbacks. And with that, I mean a lot of repeated scenes of previous episodes. At first I thought that this would mean that this would just end up being another build-up episode. And here it ended up being one of the most genuine episodes of this series so far. I actually got a bit teary-eyed near the end of it. Yeah.

Nonoha. She’s at the moment doing exactly what a token female who has no talent should do. Instead of just standing there and be useless, the emotional support that she’s giving Kaitou is just getting better and better. She has no talent in solving puzzles, and even if she had, she would always just remain in Kaitou’s shadow. This way though, they turned into a very engaging couple here.

The side characters too are also just getting better here. I really didn’t expect this series to head this way, but Kaitou losing himself to that bracelet of his turned out to be a wonderful central conflict of this series. Cubic and Ana also finally returned here, and I also the twist that Jin has been reduced to some vegetable state also has a lot of potential, especially for the headmaster.

There were a few weird things going on in this episode, though. First of all there were those weird spy cameras. I do admit: I kept wondering how POG kept getting such accurate footage of Kaitou, but to think that both POG and Cubic came up with these is a bit… random. Also, I do have to wonder why that headmaster was allowed to roam the POG island freely. I mean, I get that he can’t exactly leave, but with Jin on that island as well, it’s like Rook wanted the two of them to meet or something.

Oh, and POG must be very confident if their sole security is based around on solving puzzles. Heck, it’s like asking Kaitou to break in when he finds out about it…
Rating: *** (Awesome)

OVA Impressions: Black Jack Final – 01

by psgels, posted in Black Jack Final, OVA Impressions

In case you haven’t noticed: the final Black Jack OVAs have finally been subbed. Yes, two episodes of 50 minutes, which were the final things that Osamu Dezaki worked on before his death. I’ve been waiting more than a month for these to come out, because even though I sometimes watch raws, there is no way in which I’m going to try that with a series that’s so chock full of medical terms as this one.

And holy crap, this first episode was worth the wait! I was a bit weary at first when the episode immediately started by promising that it would center around Pinoko, but seriously: her background is amazing. This episode seriously gave me a totally different perspective of her. This is much, much more than just another nostalgia remake.

The whole concept of having her be a Zyst who for more than 20 years lived inside this actress’ body, which was afterwards taken out and reassembled by Black Jack. Holy crap, now that’s something else. At this point I thought that I couldn’t be surprised by Osamu Tezuka anymore, but this episode did it.

And yes, this episode was 50 minutes long, and told in the same style as the other OVAs. Because of this we got a long and detailed look at the actress in question and who she is, and what the impact of her illness was on her life. This lead to an amazing ending and I loved the bond between her and Pinoko.

And yes! This really still has Osamu Dezaki’s influence all over it. The graphics and especially the multiple drawing son one screen are really typical of his, and I’m really glad that we can see them for one last time. He was by far one of the directors with one of the most unique styles out there. It’s something that I’m missing with a lot of debuting directors nowadays: they seem too afraid to put a bit of their own style in. This really shows that you can very faithfully adapt a story, while putting plenty of your own style in it as well.
OVA Episode Rating: 9/10

Towa no Quon – 06 Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

As the final movie of the Towa no Quon series, it indeed closes off with a nice action-packed finale. The action s very solid, and the animation also is overall the best out of all the six movies so far. Overall I like it much more than the Break Blade movies, which was just a collection of uninspired movies. This movie has personality and the themes to back it up with. On the downside however: it was just too much run of the mill.

And with that I mean that this finale did succeed in creating a satisfying climax, but not really much more. It really is the standard finale against an overpowered bad guy that every other series ends with. In the meantime it did wrap up its storylines, but that too was done in the most obvious way. This series of movies is well laid out because of this, and there is nothing rushed or dragged out. That’s good, but I would have wished that the creators took a bit more risk. But then again: this was made to commemorate the death of Umanosuke Ida, so the creators probably focused more on delivering a solid portrayal of his vision.

With the last episode I noted that the villain had become a lot more menacing. And yeah, this was done with this typical ending in mind: he needed more power to actually be a threat, and that was the purpose of Movie 05. In the end though, he’s your typical villain with hardly anything original to him. The big cliff-hanger he ended the fifth movie with? In the end he never really did anything with it and the whole point of that scene was probably the most underdeveloped part of this movie. For the sake of the epic finale, it did focus much less on the themes of the other movies. On the other hand though, the bad guy’s subordinates suddenly got characters and started thinking on their own. That was a surprise.
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Storytelling: 8/10 – Solid climactic ending. No rush.
Characters: 8/10 – Enjoyable characters throughout the movie, though they remain not very deep.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Best animation overall of the six movies.
Setting: 8/10 – Solid for what the movie is trying to do, however could have tried more in the end.

Towa no Quon – 05 Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

The fifth Quon movie is meant to be a typical preparation for the finale. Standalone it definitely should not be watched, but it’s essential for building up the atmosphere and storyline for the sixth and final movie to close everything off. The major villain gets a lot more threatening as well, and the entire cast continues to head into the direction in which they had been built up to.

Overall, Towa no Quon isn’t exactly anything new, but what made this series work is how it stayed true to its themes. The characters in this series are all hunted for their powers and because of that they had to abandon everything if they wanted to be able to live happily. This movie actually makes great use of this.

The main villain was both the best and worst part of this movie. On one hand, he really turned into a threat, and became more than just someone who sits into his chair and gives orders, making excellent use of the above-mentioned themes. On the other hand though, he remains a very typical villain, still without any background an still very one-sided. Plus, I have no bloody clue why any of his subordinates still dare to follow him after what he did in this movie.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Solid build-up, the atmosphere and overall themes made this work.
Characters: 8/10 – Consistent character build-up, though there still are too many undeveloped characters left..
Production-Values: 8/10 – Solid and expressive enough.
Setting: 8/10 – Albeit nothing new, the themes are well explored.

Steins;Gate – 25

by psgels, posted in Steins;Gate

So, a number of people wanted to know my views on the Steins;Gate OVA that recently came out. I finally had some time today, so I finally got the chance to check it out. And really: to be honest I found it rather boring.

I don’t mean the episode in its entirety: the way it ended obviously was quite good and a nice lead-in to the movie to have Okabe and Kurisu finally become a couple, and the revelation of Daru’s future wife added to that made this definitely an OVA with a point, rather than the usual DVD specials we usually see. I liked that.

Apart from that though, the rest of this episode was just random banter while everyone went for a trip to America. And that random banter still was quite annoying to sit through, and it just wasn’t fun to watch, having Okabe act like an ass throughout the entire episode. This is already something that got on my nerves a lot throughout the TV-series, and at the very least Daru wasn’t as annoying this time.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Mouretsu Pirates – 08

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

So, I expected that the mysterious girl at the end of the previous episode would set the actual plot of this series in motion. The timing and mystery around her character seemed just right at this point in the series. What I did not expect however, was that we’ve suddenly got ourselves a princess among the main cast.

Obviously the show wants to go somewhere with this, but with this episode I can’t yet say exactly what. It also doesn’t really help that that princess has been very mysterious about what she actually wants of the Bentenmaru, causing her to actually stow away, leaving everyone around her behind. That’s not something that princesses are known for.

So this episode was mostly clever building up. I admit that the creators did find a good excuse to somehow have her appear at school, especially considering how half-assed these reasons usually are. As by the series standards: she feels very natural as a princess: you can see that the way she acts is princess-like, but at the same time she also just feels like a normal girl. I also liked how the first person who Marika suggested to escort her was Schnitzer. The creators are really building up this guy as the lovable tough guy of this series.

Another big mystery of this episode is why the princess was allowed to board the Bentenmaru while it was known that they would head into a combat situation. Again, a princess is about the last type of person that you’d want to bring there. It probably has to do with whatever she wants from the Bentenmaru.
Rating: * (Good)

Nisemonogatari – 08

by psgels, posted in Monogatari Series, Winter 2012 Kaleidoscope

If I had to give this season a label, it’d be the Winter of WTF. Seriously, Nisemonogatari: you as well?

Anyway, for the reason of this post: there just wasn’t anything interesting this week. Danshi was more miss than hit this week, Ano Natsu continued with that boring beach arc (though admittedly it was much better than the week before), Inu X Boku was the same as what it’s always been and I don’t want to repeat myself on it yet again, Black Rock Shooter has completely descended into forced emo and Smile Precure still is in that boring introduction arc of its. Which brings me to Nisemonogatari.

To my complete surprise: I actually liked Nisemonogatari this month. Heck, for the past weeks, it did exactly what I hoped it would do. Something actually happened, and I actually really liked the way the Karen Bee arc was resolved. It was an anti-climax, but it worked well and was very well built up. Finally I actually got the chance to enjoy this series for what it was and marvel at its animation without being bothered by everything else.

However, the fact remains: this show is just way too long. The first episodes of Nisemonogatari were pretty much Araragi walking around until something happened, and passing the time with tons and tons of fanservice. And it lead to this episode. I have very mixed feelings for this episode. I really want to praise the creativity here. The toothbrush scene was just weird in every single way. The animation and direction were also excellent. At the very least: this was a great piece of animation. But this show has also just completely turned into a farce. Is this show too going for the incest? I thought we finally dropped that dead horse. If this was an attempt to be subtle and clever, that part of it at least failed, because it 1) has already been done by a ton of other shows and 2) exactly went back to the themes of the first few episodes in which hardly anything happens aside from tons and tons of fanservice.

I really consider Nisemonogatari better than Bakemonogatari at this point. Another great annoyance that’s gone now: the series no longer feels like watching a bunch of voice actors narrating over a slide-show. They actually animate the characters here. This episode had some of those “ahoge-shots”, but they were far more balanced than before.

I really noticed that after Bakemonogatari, the animation in the Shaft series improved significantly. They seemed to have especially invested a lot in inbetween animation, and the first series where this really stood out was with Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru. For once, this series actually doesn’t feel rushed. Now that they actually have a period of one year in which they release just one series, they can actually focus much more on making that show good. It’s just a shame that it wastes so much time on pointless fanservice over and over. If it was just some random fanservice I would not have minded, especially with the creativity that this show had been doing it. But there were just large parts of this show were nothing just happened aside from the characters talking about random smutty topics. It’s just too much. Still, this episode did show the most amusing ones, even though in the bigger picture it was just blah.
Rating: #%&! (???)