Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 43

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou

Oh my god, Natsume. Are you really delivering another brilliant episode? Seriously, even the previous seasons had episodes that slightly disappointed or didn’t work out as well as the others. This season has delivered one amazing story after the other.

Interestingly, this wasn’t necessarily about Natsume’s development. Instead, we’ve got a story entirely dedicated to a youkai here. In this episode it still was apparent how much Natsume has grown over the past seasons, but it really was about this quirky youkai that runs into him, along with a story of what happened in the youkai’s past.

For one, the Youkai was delightful to watch. He really nailed being funny, while also not getting lost in his own quirk. This guy is funny, but also surprisingly complex for a youkai. All in all it was a really interesting twist on the usual “youkai versus human romance”. It masterfully stayed away from cheese, despite an arranged marriage being used, along with “we can’t meet because we’re different!”. The ending in particular was delightfully light-hearted, yet incredibly charming. For the girl, it probably was a very nice experience, after which she went on and lived the rest of her life doing who knows what. All we see here is the side of the story of a youkai who is full of guilt for what he did.

I also realize now that the third season had surprisingly little of the book of friends. Because of this it’s also been quite a while since we last saw Reiko. With these opening episodes, you’d think that this season would be more about Matoba and Reiko, but with this series you’ll never know what the next story will focus on.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Phi Brain – 16

by psgels, posted in Phi Brain

So… Phi Brain is getting a second season. I did not see that coming. Despite that though, I’m pretty thrilled for it: Sato Junichi is going to do another 52 episode series. That is a lot to look forward to here. Now all that’s left to hope is that the source material is also up to it.

The most boring course of events will be that Rook will turn into some sort of damsel in distress after Kaitou saves him at the end of this first season. I really hope that there will be more to it than just that. It’s not just the predictability, but what’s more important is that that just throws away a perfectly good villain here. And there is also no way in which the creators will be able to top him. It would really suck if Rook’s role was reduced, because of how much he already did for Kaitou’s character development.

In the meantime we have yet another very good episode here. At this point, I have given up on the believability of this series. Heck, the creators just went ahead and completely rewrote the city map of Venice. Seriously? And that wasn’t even the weirdest part. that came with one of the POG givers coming up with a scenario where that organization was actually able to hijack and crash dozens of planes at the same time. The worst thing… is that I nearly believed him.

As a Gammon-centric episode however, it really rocked. Gammon stands out as a character because he is the only one here who gets more and more pissed off at Kaitou. These past episodes were all about developing the side cast in different ways. Cubic got a kick on the ego (on top of losing his pet robot… sortof…), Ana’s change was more positive as she grew closer to the rest of the cast with her episode. All of it put Kaitou in a good light, though. This episode instead show how he keeps standing in the spotlights of someone with such a huge pride as Gammon. The guy is talented, yet people never take him seriously and every time he has the chance to prove otherwise, Kaitou just bursts in from out of nowhere. I like where this is going here.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Rinne no Lagrange – 03

by psgels, posted in Rinne no Lagrange

And this is why you should never leave a teenager in charge of intergalactic negotiations. “Long term? Who the hell cares about long term! You attacked us so I’ll attack back!’. Also, this is something that I’ve been noticing in quite a few other series as well. I mean, I get stylizing things as “there is no sound in space” and stuff. But it’s a bit bizarre to have the dark parts of the moon translucent…

In any case, I like what this series is doing here. Once again this episode placed a lot of focus on continuity. The battles aren’t just destroying random buildings. They’re destroying random buildings that people live in. It shows that everyone is involved.

Also, my fears of Madoka being too perfect also turned out to be ungrounded. Her aforementioned stubbornness is an interesting way to show her flaws. The enemy was willing to actually negotiate, and yet her pride for her hometown was an interesting way for her to ignore that. The big danger for this is taking it too far. Flawed characters are of course great to watch, but when these flaws make them mindlessly stupid then it’s just a sure sign of bad writing. So far though, Madoka isn’t really stupid. Just mindless and really impulsive. On top of having some bad ideas, she also balanced this out with some good ideas. Part of the fun of this show is how she perplexes everyone around her aside from her cousin. That cousin who really needs a bigger role here.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

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)