Nurarihyon no Mago – Sennen Makyou – 24

by psgels, posted in Nurarihyon no Mago

Bah, the creators couldn’t go through with it. In this episode, Nue is defeated… and retreats, along with the other evil youkai around him. It’s a shame: this would have been a great point to just close off this series.

But this also settles it: for me, this series has ended right now. The thing is: Abe no Seimei retreated in order to recover. This will take about 1 year. So yeah, we’re going to do the bloody cycle all over again, and train for a full year to get stronger in order to be able to fight him again. I do not have patience for that. Even if there will be a third season, I’m not going to watch this. This is just right for a conclusion, I don’t want to watch this drag out any longer. This shows that even with a director who really fits this series, there’s only so much you can do with this kind of source material.

And besides, this episode was really good apart from the retreat. With this, this show at least left a good taste behind, rather than what happened last year. The fight against Nue was the action packed climax I had been expected, and Rikuo came with a very good way to defeat him: just use the power of all of his comrades at the same time. Things got even better in the second half, in which a dream sequence reunited all three generations of the Nura-clan. That kind of closure, I can live with.

Also was this really Studio Deen? I mean, the animation throughout this entire episode was really good here. The camera angles were just excellent, the use of colours was really good, and especially the sparring match between the three Nura-commanders was quite nicely animated.

After this though, I really do hope that Studio Deen will get back to what they were good at. They once were the studio that might be bad at animating, but made up for it by picking up a lot of shoujo and seinen, daring and original premises and deliver a lot of bold and new storytelling ideas. The last show that had that was Giant Killing, and even that show came after a long drought. Nurarihyon no Mago was nice, but it wasn’t why I became a fan of them. It’s such a shame to see talent go wasted like this, especially after how Gonzo is showing that you CAN crawl back up from these depths.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Phi Brain – 12

by psgels, posted in Phi Brain

You know, with episodes like this, can I really stay mad at this series for not making any sense? This episode formally introduced this series’ main villain. And suddenly this series wastes no time to inform us of who exactly he is, and what he means to Daimon Kaitou. The characterization acting was really good all the way with this guy.

Also, I’m starting to see what this series is doing with its puzzles here. I mean, due to the nature of Shinto, anime has had a tendency to give a lot of different things a soul: robots, computer programs, shrines, cards. But puzzles? That’s a first. I really understood that this show actually considers its puzzles as sort-of characters, rather than just a means to get to an end.

Also, the music. It stayed in the background for most of the series, but it feels like this episode introduced a ton of new tunes here. And what’s more: they all fitted within the atmosphere, and contributed to it. This was meant to be a bit of a nostalgic episode, and the music definitely portrayed that same feeling. The feeling of finally seeing a really good friend again after many years.

I originally looked forward to this show because of Sato Junichi. After that, when I learned how little sense this show made my interest waned a bit. But really: you can see Sato Junichi’s influence through this adaptation: the characters are just rock-solid. Now that they’re starting to develop, they’re getting more interesting with every episode. So yeah, it’s for kids. That doesn’t need to be a bad thing at all, as long as the creators don’t treat their viewers as mind-numbed idiots (which unfortunately is often the case). Thankfully this turned out to be the other side of the coin.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mirai Nikki – 11

by psgels, posted in Mirai Nikki

This show is fun, but it just makes no sense at times. Yuki has no problems with falling down a height that would have easily killed him (its a miracle they survived it even with that truck there), but gets incredibly scared to cross a ladder over just one floor, from which he just could have lowered himself.

Also, with all those unfunny skits at the end I didn’t thin it was possible, but this show actually made me laugh during that scene. Yukiteru was completely stupid there, but because of that the comedy actually worked. That was really refreshing after sitting through all of these bad skits at the end of each episode.

I’ still hard pressed what to exactly think of Yukiteru. I mean, he’s not as bad or dull as Shu from Guilty Crown (tip: if you want to make someone the next Shinji, at least get his characterization right!), and instead he’s the exaggeration of all wimpy male leads out there. This leads to scenes where he randomly shoots police officers (wtf?), and scenes where he keeps whining about being hungry and completely fails to understand the situation he’s in.It has its fun moments, but it’s exactly that latter part that bugs me a lot, and I do think that that’s holding this show down a bit.

As for Yuno, she’s a lot mote fun, although there is one thing that this anime did that I don’t really like, and that is the way they used the “vaant eyes” of in this episode. I mean, at least try to create some suspense here. Right now they’re like this “psycho-switch” on this computer. It’s too un-subtle. I often dislike the way this is used in anime. It’s like hanging a sign over the character saying “oh look, I’m acting strange!”. I get that this is supposed to be over the top and all, but even over the top series can become better through subtle acting.

Also, as for the bad jokes in this episode outside of the skit: how did Yukiteru smell donuts from outside… inside a closed window?
Rating: * (Good)

Hunter X Hunter – 12

by psgels, posted in Hunter X Hunter

The first half of this episode was just amazing. That was just an episode that could never happen in any other shounen out there, even though it’s a genre known for wasting time. Just seeing the characters waste 50 hours was an amazing way to flesh these guys out, and I especially love how the creators took their time to show that for half an episode, before the characters could continue. Between the lines, this show really is a battle of endurance, and this part nailed that.

I also love that the creators remembered that the organizers provided daily meals for the different contestants. These are the fun details.

As for the second half, that probably worked better for the people who didn’t watch the first series.It went all mysterious about the way in which they would make it, but having seen the first series I knew exactly the way they’d do it. This is the big disadvantage of watching a different adaptation of a story you already know: every single surprise is gone, taking away a crucial part of the suspense. In fact, this is something that I’ve kept wondering about people who often watch anime adaptations of mangas or light novels that they already read: is it really fun to watch something, knowing everything that’s going to happen in advance? Especially the ones that rely heavily on suspense.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Ben-To – 11

by psgels, posted in Ben-To

This episode ha lot of very good parts, and a few parts I didn’t like about it. As for the good parts though: finally Orthros are getting some good characterization, which is really great to see. With this, they actually pose much more of a threat than what they were when we first saw them. Especially the way in which they were inspired to become wolves was just completely hilarious. That actually was a very clever parody to the usual motivation tropes.

Also, Yarizui was really good here. First of all: so far this was the most realistic depiction of a cold I’ve seen in a long while: the creators actually remembered that heavy breathing are completely different symptoms, and finally someone doesn’t just realize they have a cold when they collapse. On top of that, her characterization was just damn awesome. And while this show is completely over the top in terms of fanservice at times, the creators have been very consistent with Yarizui’s fanservice: here it actually feels very natural. She’s not parading naked all over the place, but instead you can see why Sato is getting attracted to her through the camera angles. Which for one don’t just focus on her boobs or ass.

The part that I didn’t like is the classic example of fleshing out the main villain… by inserting an even bigger villain. Of course, this makes sure that the villains are fleshed out. That’s not the problem. The problem is that this bigger villain is very often a complete stereotype and powerhouse that can only go down in the usual ways. The characterization of these guys is very often below average because they’re all introduced so damn late.

Also, again there were no food battles here. I think that this has to do with expectation management, though this is very difficult to do. The creators are definitely going for the “climax”-climax, in which they carefully build up tension, only to release all of that at the same time for the final episode. This can become awesome, if they actually manage to pull it off. I remember last year, with Sengoku Basara Two as an example of how this can backfire on a series. There too the creators put everything on the final battle, and actually had a ton of different animation directors working on the final episode. And yet, the production took shortcuts, fights were skipped, the action didn’t really come together, and things ended with a bit of a downer. Episodes like these really need someone who knows how to make these over the top battles work. This needs to be the crowning moment of awesome for this series.

Also, the joke after the credits. How wrong can you get?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Fate/Zero – 12

by psgels, posted in Fate/Zero

I’m a bit confused here by the nature of those hand seals. First of all, it really appear that Assassin died last episode because Kotomine Kirei fulfilled his duty to spy on the five other masters, which already seems a bit strange to me on its own: this is a battle to the life and death. Are these mages really that good to have anticipated exactly every possible outcome or tactic that could be employed to kill them? It seems really early to just abandon Assassin like that.

Then this episode goes and out of nowhere makes Kotomine Kirei a potential master again… because apparently “the grail says so”. At this point I find that more like a Deus ex Machina, to be honest. Where did those seals come from? Are they from Lancer? But didn’t that red haired woman take them? So are they the remaining seals from Assassin? Does that mean that you can just continue to participate in the holy grail war as long as you don’t die, as long as you can capture another servant? Then why didn’t people worry about this when they learned of the first Assassin death?

Also, I fail to see the true importance of the seals here, and why having one extra counts as a tremendous advantage. Sure, it’s indeed handy if you’ve got a servant who won’t listen like with Lancer or Berserker, but with servants like Saber and Assassin they’re pretty much useless, while Caster and Rider drag their masters around so much that it would be impossible to control them with just three commands.

What I also wonder: what’s in it for the holy grail to see a bunch of magicians fight for it? I get why everyone’s fighting, but why was the holy grail created in the first place, and why does it have to have a war once every few years to hand out a wish? If it wanted to achieve something, couldn’t it just use that wish and achieve it anyway?

Oh, by the way: this episode is starting to work better than the casual talking episodes of early in the series, because we’re getting to know more and more about the characters. Seeming them discuss the plot becomes a lot more interesting this way.

Also, I know this is nit-picking, but this bothered me when I saw Archer with his hair down: how can he have his hair up in the ED?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam – 10

by psgels, posted in Last Exile - Ginyoku no Fam


Um… a recap.

Yeah, this had a bit of a context, with Giselda writing to home and all, But damn, watching this reminded of how long ago it has been since one of these appeared. I think the last was with with the Armed Librarians and Phantom. That obviously says that recaps in no way make shows bad, but still…

I will say this at least: it really seems like Gonzo is struggling to put this out. Although this episode fit in the context of the story, this was obviously meant to give them a bit of a breather. But still: the most important thing here is that they still haven’t lost their ambition. I mean, despite the production issues, they are putting down an incredibly solid production here with a lot to like. Just look at how AIC is currently trying to handle the same thing with Persona: that too has major production issues, but at times it just looks like the creators aren’t even trying. Seeing all of the gorgeous and well acted parts of this episode definitely showed how hard the creators of this show are trying, despite the obvious shortcomings of this series.
Rating: — (Lacking;It remains a recap, after all)

Hyouge Mono – 35

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono

The death scenes in this show are truly un-rivaled. No other show does them as well and as creative as this series. This episode finally had another one, and even though the one who died wasn’t one of the main characters, it still was really refined and well acted.

Still, with Toyotom Hidenaga, who once was Hideyoshi’s right hand man, another chaptr of this story is closed here. What’s so bizarre here is that we’re leading up to the finale, but this point in history is relatively short on battles. I really expected these final episodes to include some more of the battles that this show did so well, but instead it has been all about the characters lately. Sasuke in particular: he once was a messenger, but right now as a daimyou, he is getting more and more removed from the battlefield. As shown by how he’s now actually selling some of his pottery designs.

In fact, this whole series structure has been bizarre. The big reason for that is the sheer difference between Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The former was the definition of coolness, while the latter had much more strange and lame sides, while at the same time also being this capable ruler. If anything, he lacks the charisma of Oda Nobunaga, but what do you expect with that ridiculous getup he walks around in?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Mawaru Penguin Drum – 23

by psgels, posted in Mawaru Penguin Drum

Okay. It’s time for answers. Finally the plot is coming together!

This episode really had me at the edge of my seat. It’s not just the plot that revealed some huge secrets: the characters themselves are also getting pushed on the main stage, and the drama around them is worthy of a finale so far. The big twist came right at the beginning of the episode: the bad guy of this series has pretty much been a dead guy. The rabbits were actually what he turned into. The two penguin hats? They’re part of Momoka.

Momoka actually tried to stop Sanetoshi from fully blowing up the world, although she failed partially. Somewhere in this half-spell, both parties got the abilities to play with the dead: My guess is very much that Mario would also be dead if it wasn’t for that hat of his, or at least that would explain why Natsume is so worried about him. The thing is however, that Sanetoshi’s healing powers are surprisingly long-lived, compared to what the Penguin hat could do. Heck, I’m very much inclined to say that Sanetoshi is currently deceiving Kanba, with the few healing powers that he still has left.

Penultimate episodes do have this tendency to focus too much on plot and too little on characters. This show actually didn’t! In this episode, Shouma was sorting out his own feelings, Himari tried her best to get Shouma and Kanba back together, Kanba got really sinister in the part where he cold-heartedly shot Shouma. And holy crap Ringo and that fire scene! Her role had already changed completely in the second half of this series, but this really brought her character to a different level.

Now, the ending of this series will definitely be the type of ending where the creators will try to put as much as possible into one episode. For these types of endings, the most important thing to remember is balance. There is no doubt that at this point, the creators have more than enough ideas to fill that last episode with. It’s bound to be awesome. but what would rally make it this series’ crowning moment of awesome is if every one of those ideas get just enough time to play out, while still making everything flow well into each other. Let’s really hope that the creators can pull this off, because this show deserves it.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Hyouge Mono – 34

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono

If you’re wondering why this entry is so late (yes, all three of you), it seems like the raw providers have nearly completely abandoned this show, and I couldn’t find it for a long while.

In any case, this is the episode where Riyuu went nuts. The first half though, was unfortunately a part where the animators screwed up. I know that it sounds a bit strange to complain that his facial expressions looked silly with the nature of this series, but up till now, all of the silly faces in this series were really well drawn. Here though, they weren’t.

But really, Sasuke has turned into a bit of a side-character with this. He really is being guided around by Rikyuu at this point, and despite his good intentions, he does miss the point of the “Wabi Sabi”, as it seems to be called. After the badly drawn faces, this episode really grabbed itself back together as it showed Rikyuu trying to get back at Hideyoshi, especially with that large statue of his.

Also, did Date Masamune just try to poison a few people?
Rating: ** (Excellent)