Tamayura – Hitotose Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Tamayura




It’s a common premise: you have a series that’s about a bunch of high school girls and you follow their daily lives; it’s that simple. It’s far from my preferred genre though, and I find myself bored with most of them. There are, however, exceptions. Having the guy who directed all of the Aria series behind this also helps.

The cast does need a bit of time to warm up (especially if you haven’t watched the prequel OVAs), but for me, this was one major step above the usual series in this genre. For one: it spends a lot of time on fleshing out and developing its characters. Every episode is dedicated to showing different sides of the cast, or having them develop as a character. This is all very subtly done, ad the characters themselves are all very believably acted, with some very impressive and fluid animation that remains very consistent throughout the entire series.

Sato Junichi also uses this one trick that also worked really well with Aria: well written dialogue and voice overs, containing subtle morals that all of the characters can relate to. It again works very well, and all of this leads to a very heart-warming series with a genuine cast of characters.

It’s definitely a series that needs to grow on you, because the characters definitely do not show themselves off right from the start. This does lead to a few annoyances that you just need to sit through, like a really big crybaby, or a character who does nothing but whistle. Plus Sato Junichi’s habit to go with the weirdest looking cats imaginable.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a heart-warming slice of life series then this is a very solid choice. This is very relaxing and heart-warming, and it’s short and to the point with only 12 episodes and 4 ovas.

Storytelling: 8/10 – It’s slice of life, yet things happen here. Excellent at creating a heart-warming atmosphere.
Characters: 9/10 – Well developed in a short time, excellent acting, although you do need to get used to the cast.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Lots of animation, fluid and consistent, and a very good soundtrack.
Setting: 8/10 – The town in which this all takes place is actually very detailed and fleshed out.

Suggestions:
– Aria the Animation
– Windy Tales
– Hitohira

Tamayura – Hitotose – 12

by psgels, posted in Tamayura

The first part of this episode was pretty much what we expected: celebrating the end of the year by organizing a large exhibition, restaurant, shop and theater for the lead characters. Although it still was weird to see people celebrate the end of the year in a completely different way from what I’m used to. (What I’m used to is mostly staying inside, watching random television and everyone massively igniting fireworks all at the same time after the clock hits 12).

What this episode showed me was that Japanese really treat the end of the year as another festival, where you can informally visit a lot of places, hosted by all kinds of different people. Is that true, or was that an exaggeration by this series? Last episode there were perhaps a bit too many people who came to just view Maon’s performance, and this episode too had the characters acting like magnets for other people.

And then, this episode suddenly closed off with Sayomi taking them on another trip, and her car getting stuck. I must say, that was quite a creative way to end this series with. It was fully on-topic, giving Potte a reason to remember her father again, but at the same time it was so random and whimsical that it’s definitely going to be memorable, rather than the usual carefully built up ending or aftermath. I like it.

The past half year, Sato Junichi has really delivered. First with Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, and then with Tamayura. They filled in for each other perfectly: Tamayura didn’t have an as interesting setting as Croisee, it on its turn did not have the forced drama and had much better acting. I’d count neither among the best slice of life series I’ve seen, but at the same time both were really solid and interesting.

I tried following other slice of life series this year, but that didn’t work as well as here. I’m still not exactly sure why, but these two series did not try to be funny: they just let their characters speak for themselves. Nichijou could have been nice if its jokes weren’t so hit and miss. A Channel just degenerated into boob jokes, while Yuruyuri went down even faster with its lesbian jokes. Those just aren’t the shows I want to watch. These two series however had characters who knew who they were, a solid setting to back it up, meaningful dialogue. That kept my attention.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Nurarihyon no Mago Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Nurarihyon no Mago




I really was not pleased with the first season of Nurarihyon no Mago. It started off decently, and then it went on… and on… and on… and eventually it forgot to actually deliver. As a shounen jump adaptation, its source material had plenty of time to carefully build up its story, and this show actually ended up dragging that out even more. That definitely was not fun.

In any case, the second season looked promising: the pesky build-up was over: we now know the major characters, and it’s finally time to get to the meat of this series. So of course this show dives into multiple training arcs that are dedicated to making the characters stronger. Do you see the problem with this franchise?

However, I have to give this sequel credit: it is much, much better than the first season. Studio Deen put completely different staff members on it, and they fit this kind of story much better. The direction in particular is excellent and delivers some impressive characterization. The graphics also got a significant upgrade: just about everything looks better here. The animation is more detailed, but in particular the art and camera angles are much more detailed and imaginative, to the point of actually turning this series into a show with a ton of eye candy (this show also has one of the best character designers out there, and with this season, you can finally see why).

The storyline for the sequel is also far from as flimsy as the first season was. It’s deeply rooted in the past of many of the important characters, and it actually means something to the cast. It’s much easier to sympathize with both the main characters and the villains (also rejoice: Rikuo’s annoying classmates are much more bearable and play a far less prominent role, to the point of actually vanishing for most of the airtime). So if only it didn’t break up its pacing so often.

Yeah, most series have an average arc-length of around five episodes. This arc lasts a whopping 24 of them. That’s just way too long, and by far its most nasty habit is that Rikuo just randomly gets pulled out of the action, in order to train, get stronger and acquire a new power. These training arcs are way too bloody long, and really prevents this show from getting going until near the end of the show. But at that point, it really takes off, and delivers a solid semi-ending. It doesn’t wrap everything up, but the emotional closure is really well done there.

Is it worth it to sit through 48 episodes of this thing though? Nah. All I can say is: it will get better. But the problem with shounen jump adaptations is that they just have way too much time to waste. The currently airing Hunter X Hunter is the first in a long while to actually avoid this flaw. I’m giving it a solid rating for its execution, but that’s only because I don’t include the first season in it, which you unfortunately need to have seen in order to get what’s going on here. Go for this if you’re really bored.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Takes way too bloody long to get to its point and breaks up its flow too much with training arcs. Otherwise very solid, though.
Characters: 8/10 – This arc finally is dedicated to the characters, and gets some good things out of them.
Production-Values: 9/10 – A surprising amount of eye candy in this show.
Setting: 8/10 – There has gone quite a bit of attention to youkai lore into this series.

Suggestions:
– Tactics
– Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi
– Pandora Hearts

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)