Mouretsu Pirates – 03

by psgels, posted in Mouretsu Pirates

So, interestingly enough Tatsuo Sato decided for both this series and Rinne no Lagrange to just completely cut the romance. I like that. I believe that adaptations nowadays are too scared to make concessions, and instead either do them half-heartedly, or try to adapt a story, only to run into huge pacing problems at the end. Mouretsu Pirates in particular is different: it’s both faithful to the spirit of the original source, and yet it also tries to be itself. By cutting out the romance, it can focus on the other parts of the story. And I must say, it takes balls to drop the romance of all things. In most stories it just gets inserted for the hell of it and because it sells better.

In any case, after three episodes Mouretsu Pirates turned out to be a completely different series than what I imagined it would be. The big reason for that is that the main character isn’t even a pirate yet. Heck, if you didn’t know the title of this thing you could be fooled into thinking that this is going to be a show about a yacht club. Instead,, this show is carefully building its world and concepts.

The big danger of this is it becoming boring before the build up can pay off. Unlike Rinne no Lagrange, which immediately started off exciting, this show is really taking its time… and therefore isn’t the most exciting. The key for this series will be to remain interesting while it builds up. Right now it still is because of the details on the yacht club, but that can’t take forever.
Rating: * (Good)

Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam – 14

by psgels, posted in Last Exile - Ginyoku no Fam

And then.. this show suddenly comes with one of its best episodes so far. Talk about a pleasant surprise here.

The battle against Gracies turned out to be really well portrayed here. Heck, at this point it’s pretty clear than when Gonzo was forced to let go most of its staff, the one department that was not compromised was the 3D department. In terms of CG, these guys still are amongst the best of the industry. This episode didn’t just look absolutely gorgeous. The 3D animation was just stunning. It’s bizarre how rushed the 2D animation looks in comparison. And yet, at the same time I’m also really glad that they didn’t turn this into a full 3D series, and this series really knows what parts should be CG, and what parts should be normally drawn.

That giant wall that appeared in front of Gracies also was a neat idea. Oh, and this episode also explained why all pilots of Gracies are females: it has to do with their religion and culture. That’s also why people looked up to that girl last episode: she wasn’t only popular, but it was more like her position of being able to fly in the sky is a core part of the theology for these people.

I also liked how Fam&co were kept out of the picture here. Last episode seemed to suggest that again Fam held the key to getting out of this mess, but instead she just gave them a temporary advantage. Afterwards, the contrast between the huge battles, and Fam trying to get back to the Space Pirates’ home worked really well in this show’s favor. Next episode we should go back to that flying brick of an Exile, which could prove to be even more interesting.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hyouge Mono – 38

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono

And so it has finally happened: the beginning of the end. I’m still quite surprised that it completely revolves around Sennou Rikyuu, rather than Sasuke. Still, Rikyuu having to perform Harakiri: it makes for a great ending. The end of this episode also showed that it will be Sasuke’s turn to try and stop things, which is actually something that will put him into the spotlights again one final time. I know Koichi Mashimo. He really finds a good ending important. Even the mother of all incomplete shows, Blade of the Immortal, still tried to leave with a good feeling. This build-up really can leads to some excellent finale that will be really hard to beat by the rest of the year.

This episode finally finished the thing that this series has been building up for months now: Sennou’s death. Bit by bit, ever since that bald priest got executed, things have slowly been building up to this point. There was the statue, the many scenes of high tension between the two, and last episode showing Rikyuu destroying one of those three legendary pots. This time with the assassination, it was the final straw, and I especially liked how Hashiba made the conscious decision, yet was partly pressured to do it.

I mean if you read it in a history book, things like Harakiri and Seppuku seem so incredibly distant. Were these people really so crazy to just order people to kill themselves? It’s really hard to imagine the state of mind that these people were in when they made these decisions, and especially reading about them quickly makes them feel like they were made on a whim or something. With that in mind, I really have to congratulate this series for deliver so many solid performances. Despite the over the top moments, the acting of this show is really top-notch and believable. With such an in-depth look at the mindsets of these people at these times, I really can say that this show gave me new insights about the history of Japan.

And really: it’s been a while since a series taught me something. Especially as extensive as how this series has been doing.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes – 15

by psgels, posted in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

…

How do they come up with the premises for these episodes?!

Until now, there at least was some sort of semblance of logic of what each episode was about. Despite all the weird things that happened, at least at the core you could get why it was included in the series, and how the creators came up with. Even the previous episodes makes sense when you see it as an episode that tried to parody as much as possible.

This week though, I’m blank. What crazy mind came up with the following: an island, in which a big muscled man wearing a shark hat and riding an octopus commands a bunch of sea otters who keep people prisoner in order to have them harvest sea cucumbers. What? Why?!

Even so, this episode again was utterly hilarious. The entire context was already completely bizarre, but the extreme hyperactive pacing made it even crazier. The sea urchin song in particular was hysterical, but also Henriette’s disguise in this episode was completely priceless. Other highlights include the scene in which everyone got separated and got stuck with a member of the opposing team and the creators actually managed to make all four of the cases hilarious, again with a ton of self-parody as well. The Toys in the first season were the only serious part of the show. Here, they get played completely for laughs. And then there was the ending. That was awesome as well.

And on top of that: what also shouldn’t be overlooked is how great the animation in this series is. I mean, holy crap. Usually comedies tend to use a lot of still frames and simple animation. Here, the animation was just all over the place. It was full of varied poses and there were a lot of visual ideas and expressions put into it. One of the reasons why the comedy works so well is because so much energy has been put into bringing these characters to life.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Inu X Boku SS – 02

by psgels, posted in Winter 2012 Kaleidoscope

Okay, with this I’m going to put Hunter X Hunter on hold for a while. At least until Hyouge Mono ends, and if Black Rock Shooter and/or Smile Precure turn out to be interesting, it’ll be for even longer. Some of the comments from my last entry gave me a lot of insight of what I want with this series, especially Machi’s. I can not blog this show like what I do with my usual series. Looking back though, what I enjoyed the most while blogging that series was comparing how the two different adaptations chose to portray the manga, in order to gain more insight in what they both tried to do. However, with that I have a really big dilemma. I cannot really talk about those things in front of people who never watched the original series. I know from blogging manga adaptations that overly nitpicky reviews like that are only annoying to those not familiar with one of the things you try to compare it to. It worked with Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood because the recap only took about 15 episodes. This though will look like it’ll take trice as long before we’ll get to the original content. And for that, there really isn’t much I can say about it if I’m supposed to ignore the fact that I already watched this story before.

As for the replacement, the dilemma was whether it should be Inu Boku or Ano Natsu. They’re actually pretty similar. They’re both the usual wish fullfillment: Ano Natsu is about getting to live together with a cute and big breasted girl. Inu Boku is about having a butler. Both are well directed. Both have good characterization despite these cliches. Both have things that just have to be supernatural in some way, though they’re mostly about slice of life and mundane conversations. Ano Natsu is shounen that can be enjoyed by all genders, while Inu Boku is shoujo, but can also be enjoyed by both genders.

The big advantage of Ano Natsu is that it’s anime original. With staff like that, it will develop somehow. What made me go for Inu X Boku, despite it being an adaptation of a manga that still hasn’t finished, is… um… actually pretty simple: I like the cast better. In the end, Ano Natsu just has too many annoying characters, and comparing the wimpy lead to Inu Boku’s cocky tsundere… I have to give it to Inu Boku. I can’t believe I just said that I like a tsundere.

It’s obviously not the tsundere part that makes me like her better, because in general this is a stereotype that still needs to die. Instead, it’s her acting and the way she’s portrayed. On one hand she’s witty and eloquent, but her weaknesses and especially her feelings of loneliness were well portrayed. On top of that is a colourful side-cast, where especially the main side cast is quite likable, and I’m interested. I also like how in essence, everyone in this show is a youkai. Nobody really is special here, ignoring the butler thing obviously. There are some issues: some of the minor side characters do have some acting issues. The blond woman in particular needs to learn that a character is more than just one quirk that you need to repeat over and over.

Now, this episode wasn’t as good as the first episode. The direction and pacing was less inspired, and in particular there was not as much emotion stuffed into it in comparison: most of the time just had the main character snark her way through its airtime. Yet, the show knows how to build up. The finale in particular was quite heart-warming. The episode also had some nice moments, though I really would have liked to see a bit less monotone tone for the first half of the episode. Out of all the new series I’m blogging, this one did end up the least interesting after episode two, but I have hope. Especially now that it’s clear that there’s a good end point for this series so that it won’t need a bad ending.
Rating: * (Good)

Chihayafuru – 15

by psgels, posted in Chihayafuru

Holy crap; the creators actually intended for Taichi to steal the show this time. Chihaya was meant to lose badly, but he actually made it pretty damn close here to actually winning the entire tournament. It’s not often that you see these tournament series that allow for competing amongst different tiers of skills, but this is actually a pretty good idea here: this way you can also get the new guys and the ones who aren’t as good as the main characters show off. Taichi would have lost badly if he went up against the people that Chihaya went against, but this way his match really made for an awesome closure to this arc.

It’s also good to see that Chihaya didn’t make some sort of miracle comeback. She did improve as the match went on, due to the decrease of cards that she needed to remember, but she didn’t suddenly became so good that she somehow caught up to her opponent. Karuta isn’t the type of game for that, especially on the high levels. Instead, she made quite an impression, in a way that she surprised the queen, who thought that she could get away from this match with zero caards given away. Chihaya actually lost with a bigger difference than that tall guy, but from him, she probably played a lot safer because she expected that he was really good.

Okay, so now, it will really become the question: how the heck are the creators going to be able to upstage this? Next week we’ll likely have some sort of aftermath. After that, it’s time for the thing that I’ve been fearing the most for this series: the conclusion. Which somehow is going to have to be stuffed into 9 episodes. In theory it’s possible.. if this was an original story. It is however a manga adaptation that will go on for much longer. And it’s especially frustrating: these past few episodes have promised so much. So how much of it will actually make it in this series? The creators would have to immediately skip like, one year to make everything fall into place in time.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Another – 02

by psgels, posted in Another

As for the series I’m not going to blog:
– Brave10 is too much stupid action without a good storyline. I mean, I understand that it takes on its own version on history, but even then I at least expect to be convinced that these are the guys who helped to create an empire. Not random bishies who try to look cool. Oh, and I take it back what I said about the female lead. She really is annoying.

Another perhaps isn’t the best horror series out there. Its big flaw is that it tries too hard at times. Get rid of those random doll shots. Get rid of those scenes that just scream”find this scary!”. Trust your atmosphere; trust your pacing, and let things evolve naturally. That alone is good enough for this show, and it’ll lead to a much more natural pacing.

A good example for this is the beginning of this episode, in which that classmates drew The Scream of all things. The symbolism is a little too obvious here. The doll shots are also like the cats in Kimi to Boku: completely pointless, and a waste of a good budget that could have been used to animate the characters more fluidly, which is a bit of a problem with this show. The doll shop in this episode was plenty to create a creepy atmosphere.

Don’t get me wrong though, I like this show a lot. However, I’m a big horror fan, and I’ve been really spoiled with a ton of great horror series, so my standards for it are quite high, especially for the type of atmospheric horror that this series is trying to go for I really love it if a show can really build up an increasingly tight atmosphere using its own mystery and intrigue, combined with either a little gore, or some psychological games. Another probably won’t bring anything new to the table, but so far it has been quite solid. The atmosphere worked, and in particular the use of music is done well.

I unfortunately also have to give this show the “worst animated television series of PA works”-award, though. They usually are very careful with their cleanup and inbetween animation, but here they seem to go for the money shots, and don’t bother to fix awkward movement. Granted though: these dolls really look great.

Also, there was this one scene in this episode, in which the lead character suddenly broke off a conversation with his classmates, closing a door right in front of their faces, acting like they weren’t even there (also, main character can walk through chairs!?). I really wonder how those classmates felt after realizing that he wasn’t coming back out.
Rating: * (Good)

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 42

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou

Well, there you have it. The third episode, and yet again this show delivers. Heck, I did not expect this, but out of the four Natsume seasons, the fourth actually had the most consistently excellent opening three episodes. I really hope that that’s a sign for the rest of this season, because this show already is better than anything else that airs right now that I’m watching.

This episode really toyed with the heartwarming type of stories of Natsume Yuujinchou. Natsume has taken care of cute things before, but this one had a bit of a twist here: it was poisonous and easily startled. It’s much more like a wild animal than the others that Natsume took in, and for a long while it didn’t reveal how sentient it was exactly, especially with it disappearing around the halfway mark of the episode. Because of that, it was really heart-warming to see how it felt sorry for hurting Natsume. This episode was completely adorable, though in a different way from the other cute episodes so far.

My one criticism of this episode is that it had some obvious continuity errors. One scene Natsume’s room is full of holes and blood, the next it’s finished. Also, it’s implied that Natsume went to sleep right on top of dirty berries. Of course this is nothing minor. It’s easy to assume that he cleaned all of that up out of camera, but here I believe that it would have made this episode even easier to relate to if there was just one small scene spent on Natsume actually doing this.

Also, this episode showed sometihng very interesting about Nyanko-sensei: he got sealed off in this episode and walked around through most of the episode with this strange eye-patch. It’s implied that he can’t get it of on its own, and yet he easily dispatches of it near the end of the episode. He could have chosen to do it immediately to just get rid of an unthankful youkai, but instead he agreed with Natsume to first try to solve things in a peaceful way by allowing Natsume to reason with it.

I mean, at this point it must also be obvious to him that that book of friends will be mostly empty when he can finally get his hands on it. I sense the same loyalty here to Natsume as the other youkai that Natsume befriended. He keeps teasing Natsume to hide it, but I doubt that the book of friends is his biggest reason to stick with Natsume at the moment. Heck, even Natsume teases him with that in this episode.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Aquarion Evol – 03

by psgels, posted in Aquarion Evol

I have not watched the first Aquarion, but I want to test whether it’s possible to watch this series without having watched the prequel. The reason for that is that this season of Aquarion has a very different staff from the first. And really: there are a lot of great people working on this thing.

I have my issues with Shoji Kawamori, but I consider him to be a very good director. He’s at his best though, when working together with other talent. I got really annoyed with Macross Frontier, but in the end the writers for that show, along with the other director, weren’t really that impressive(as a frame of reference, the writer of Macross Frontier is currently writing Guilty Crown…). This series though? The director under him is the guy who directed NHK ni Youkoso and B Gata H Kei. The series composition? None other than Mari Okada. And amongst the other scriptwriters for the episodes are the guy who wrote Senkou no Night Raid and adapted The Third and the guy who wrote Argento Soma, Betterman and Yukikaze. There really is a lot of talent involved in this series, not to mention Yoko Kanno behind the music.

In any case, this is by far the best looking series of the season. In particular the architecture is impressive here, with the kind of grandeur that’s very typical for Satelight (for example Macross Frontier, Guin Saga and Basquash). This definitely aims to be the epic of the season. And heck, I have no idea why Satelight picked the winter season of all things to go all out, but heck, it’s definitely an interesting twist.

As for the plot in this episode… it was weird. We have a main character who starts to fly whenever he’s turned on, and we’ve got a lead female who is turned on by failure. I like the themes of males versus females, although there are still a few things I’m a bit iffy about, like the forced fanservice of tihs show. I don’t mean those transformation scenes; I’m more referring to that one scene where the male lead and his companion were trying to tunnel under this show’s version of the Berlin Wall and picked the exact spot to surface that allowed them to look up the lead female’s panties. That’s just bad; but ah well, at the very least I hope that we won’t get an episode like in Macross Frontier, which was entirely dedicated to getting Sheryl’s panties back…

In any case though, this was solid build-up, meant to get to know the characters. We got a good feel for them here, and this includes the side-characters. And at the very least, the creators realize that the two leads are useless idiots. This allows the rest of the cast to stand out, compared to Guilty Crown, where the entire universe revolves around that darned male lead…

Obviously the show isn’t there yet, but I see potential for growth here. Comparing this to the other of the big three sci-fi action shows (Mouretsu Pirates and Rinne no Lagrange), it only stands out with its better graphics, but with the right script it can get quite interesting.
Rating: * (Good)

Mirai Nikki – 14

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

Well, now this is something I didn’t see coming. I mean, the last episode hinted to this, but I didn’t think that the creators would actually deliver exactly what it promised. Things… are bound to become much different now.

Still, I liked such a crazy turn of events a lot. This is the point where Yuno just drops all pretense and flat-out drugs Yukiteru. It’s a bit of a shame that the uninteresting classmates seem to now have become major characters here. Also, I didn’t expect Deus ex Machina to be such a cheater by randomly appointing new diary holder. And to what extent? To save four random bystanders? Is he so much on Yukiteru’s side that he thought that he wouldn’t win the game without the help of these four? Also, if he’s a god, can’t he just randomly zap people he doesn’t like?

That returns me again to that scene earlier in the series, in which Yukiteru’s destiny got majorly changed apparently, after he looked at the room with the corpses. After watching this episode, I’m still not sure why it was that big of a deal. Heck, it probably just delayed things. If Yukiteru never looked into the room (which is pretty unlikely, but still), Yuno would probably have taken him even earlier on that little trip of hers.

In any case though, I liked how crazy this episode was in terms of plot development. The halfway point is a great point to go into a different direction, and now it’s really time for this show to pull all brakes, while also using the build-up of this first half.
Rating: ** (Excellent)