Ah, screw it. Guilty Crown is hereby dropped from blogging. I’m still going to watch it, but I don’t want to blog about it anymore. Here’s the thing with it: it’s perhaps not as bad as say Majikoi or Maken-Ki, but it’s Noitamina. Not only that, but it has been given the rare privilege of 22 episodes. It should be more ambitious with that. My standards for this timeslot are very high, and I unfortunately have to say: these past three episodes were the most generic opening episodes of any Noitamina series I have seen.
As for a replacement: I’m not going to do Bakuman because of how it’s shounen jump, and I have some rather bad experiences with Jump adaptations after Gintama, Sket Dance, Toriko and Nurarihyon no Mago… and in any case there is the rare slice of life series that’s not based on any kind of manga or original material, and has Sato Junichi behind it. It’s also a good opportunity for me to find out why I have such a bipolar taste when it comes to the “group of girls living their daily lives”-genre. Seriously, I like shows as Tamayura, Aria and Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru a lot, but shows as A-Channel, Nichijou and Working never caught my attention.
In any case, what really helps is how much time this show focuses on fleshing out its characters. It doesn’t just have its cast do random stuff, but always tries to put meaning to what they do, fleshing them out in the process. The animation on top of that is really good, bringing the characters surprisingly to life. This episode was the same, and it was dedicated to Mao. She got a lot of depth here, which is great to see.
What I really hope to see in the second half of this series is that this series will make use of its format of being anime original, to really play with some of the conventions of its genre. It has the staff to do it; Sato Junichi will be able to pull it off, so I really hope that the creators will try this. It’s already doing a great job here to bring its characters alive.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Guilty Crown – 03
Seriously, what is this show doing in Noitamina? I mean, if this was going to be an experiment for another 2-cour series, there would have been much better series for that: Chihayafuru, Fate/Zero or even Last Exile.
I know that series need time to build up. I’m not expecting series to immediately deliver right from the start. Instead what I’m looking for in the opening episodes of a series is hints that it knows what it’s doing: hints that it knows what good storytelling is, that its characters are well acted. Those kinds of things. I’m not seeing them here.
In fact, this episode showed even more that this show is wasted potential. There are two main reasons for that. First of all, this episode shows the main character running around and drawing weapons out of everyone. In the end, this just turns out to be him random props out of people and moving on to the next. This show doesn’t do anything with them. Or, take the point at which the male lead and his best friend make up and promise each other not to tell about each other’s secrets. The main character conveniently tells him that he did that, instead of the creators showing how he did it. It’s a pretty big point here, as only second later it turns out that the friend did screw him over in the end. That’s just lazy storytelling.
And yeah, then there was the fact that this episode was full of cliches. I mean, even Fractale wasn’t this bad. The fanservice was incredibly pointless, the jokes were the same you see everywhere (and of course the same old boob joke couldn’t be missing). Oh, and why did the female lead move in with the male lead again? I mean, what exactly has she actually done in this series? She’s been completely useless so far!
There really isn’t anything that really stands out in this series. The whole drama around Shu’s friend is very inconsistent: on one hand we have these terrorists who know perfectly well that they will be tortured to death if they get caught, and they act surprisingly calm to one of their comrades (who has vital information and weapons for their plans) gets too naive and gets caught. Shu meanwhile is a wimp in the bad way. To compare him with Mirai Nikki: there the lead is a wimp, but he knows he’s a wimp, and at the same time he has legitimate reasons for trying to survive. Here, I have no idea what it is that the male lead wants. On one hand he wants to be left alone, then he wants to help the terrorists again, but then he’s too scared to look people into the eyes… he doesn’t really seem to understand the situation he’s in.
The thing is also that I praised the first episode for looking gorgeous. The thing is, that even in this area this show can be eclipsed if it isn’t careful. Last Exile is well on its way to show better graphics than this series, Un-Go is well on its way with much better artistic direction, and the same goes for Chihayafuru. This show has the budget. It has the inbetween animation, but it doesn’t seem to want to do anything with it.
Rating: — (Lacking)]]>
Un-Go – 03
Oh, I loved this episode! In fact, I’d even argue that it was my favorite episode of all of the new series this season so far. The thing that this series has above all other shows this season, is how much details it has put into its stories and episodes. It’s incredibly creative; not just in its themes and setting, but also in how it sets up its stories.
This episode in particular was really well constructed, and it made perfect use of its time to play out; everything was perfectly foreshadowed. The characters involved were all interesting, and at the same time this series just continues to throw in interesting tidbits about its world. I like how the creators chose to evolve smartphones, and how people make use of technology after nearly the entire country has been demolished with little efforts to restore actual structures.
Smart androids are of course nothing new, but the context in this episode was excellent. I especially loved the ending of this episode. As the episode went on, I kept thinking: aren’t we nearly done yet? Why hasn’t this been resolved yet? The murder of this episode suddenly gets resolved in like 20 seconds and the episode ends. That was a very neat idea that really broke away from conventions.
Inga’s powers, I’m beginning to understand their appeal: at first sight they’re just a cheap plot device to resolve mysteries quickly, but they’re much more than that. This show really plays around with certainty: because of her, there’s always one thing that’s certain of each episode: the fact that her question will be answered in truth. It’s something that Osamu Tezuka also loved to play with.
The reason I’m a big fan of episodic series, is because they really have to create a compact and standalone story, for every single episode. They can’t just take one episode as a build-up or aftermath: they always have to be interesting and this format allows much more for experimentation than regularly paced anime. And seriously, Un-Go has been the best version of this in quite a while so far. Each episode so far has been different and very detailed. Every episode has been fun and interesting, to the point where so many details become clear only after a second watching. And in the big picture, it’s creating a very interesting post apocalyptic science fiction world, based on modern technologies. Which it then uses again as the basis for its individual stories.
This episode also was the first that wasn’t just standalone. This still was pretty much the story of one murder that got resolved at the end, but there still is the question of who originally murdered the father, and why the victim here got burned. That’s up for next week. I like this: instead of just focusing this week on build-up, the creators decided to deliver every single week, while building up at the same time.
The worst part of this series is its cast of characters. Most of the time my favorite series of a season has really dynamic characters that are fun to watch. In Un-Go however, they take a back-seat. They’re well acted… but pretty much static. They do their job so that the storytelling and setting can shine, and as long as they don’t get in the way of those, I doubt that I’ll mind them.
Rating: *** (Awesome)]]>
Legend of the Galactic Heroes – Spiral Labyrinth Review – 85/100
The first Gaiden series was pretty much what you’d expect it to be: small and big side-stories focusing on Reinhart’s past. The second gaiden series promised to focus on Yang Wenli’s past (who by the way was my favorite character of the main series). It however did not turn out to be as I expected.
First of all, in Yang’s past there was always one event that really kept mentioned over and over again: the things he did on the planet of El Facil. It was one of the core themes of the series as it looked at what it means to be a hero. I expected a very detailed look at it, but instead the creators end up breezing through it in one single episode.
This is just a small nit-pick, though. Spiral Lbyrinth starts off with a huge 14-episode arc, and in that arc is invaluable for Yang’s character. It shows who he was as a kid and how he ended up in the military, along with how he grew. Where the big arc in the first Gaiden Series was typical LoGH, this one is far from it, and it turns into a historical analysis that’s very interesting to watch unfold. When the arc ended, I was really looking forward to see some more small back-stories of the guy to close off the series…
… and suddenly the show goes back to Reinhart again. In fact, Yang only appears in one more episode after that. It’s like the creators were thinking “No! The people want more Reinhart!” The last number of arcs of this series are still good, but overall they don’t match up to the rest of the series, especially when you compare them to the short arcs of the first gaiden series. They’ve got nice ideas, and especially the retriever has an interesting premise, but a little too often they just deal with Reinhart trying to deal with dumb nobles and officers. It doesn’t add as much as the first gaiden season. Thankfully the final two-episode arc is a great point to end the series with, and connect everything together.
Now, this series actually has a different animation team than a Hundred Billion Stars, A Hundred Billion Lights. The two Gaiden series were at one point actually produced right next to each other. The team behind the main series seemed to have taken care of the first, while the second has a noticeably different art style. This art style unfortunately is a bit less successful in hiding the animation flaws in the character models, and it’s also a bit too full of intrusive CG (yes, this was produced around the year 2000. 12 whopping years after the series started).
Overall LoGH can be divided into six major arcs, including the Gaiden series. Unfortunately, the final one seems the weakest one to me due to its reluctance to fully embrace its premise and how it didn’t set itself apart as much as the other arcs. I do have to say that the first half is a must-watch due to Yang’s background and I’d actually consider that one better than the big arc of the first Gaiden series.
| Storytelling: | 8/10 – The second half suffers a bit too much from repetition of morons surrounding Reinhart. |
| Characters: | 9/10 – Excellent background on Yang Wenli |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 – Flawed, but thankfully not flawed enough to really impact the storytelling. |
| Setting: | 9/10 – Still the same brilliant LoGH setting. |
Chihayafuru – 04
I already suspected that the music in this series would be awesome when I realized that this show would have the same composer as Shion no Ou, but I’m really glad that in the end, this show did end up with an amazing and very strong soundtrack. This show is very emotional, and this soundtrack fits it perfectly.
Now, I have no idea why, but for some reason anime around board games in generally turn out to be amazing, so it took a lot of balls for Chihayafuru to try and challenge them. Overall, compared to Shion no Ou’s first four episodes it’s more exciting. However, Shion no Ou eventually turned into one of my favourite series thanks to its fantastic characterization. Compared to Hikaru no Go’s first four episodes, Hikaru no Go was better, but then again, Hikaru no Go did have some of its best episodes there, and became a bit stale in its middle part. Let’s see how this show managed to evolve once it enters its second half.
And god dammit that cliff-hanger! It wasn’t that it came from out of nowhere: you could see this twist coming based on the first episode. We don’t all stick with our childhood hobbies. That was a strong point it made here. In this episode, Taichi got pulled back in by Chihaya’s spirit. Arata however had something happen to him that made him lose interest. This episode gave no hints as to what that was, however. We’re going to have to wait a week for that?!
The big challenge for this show will still be to keep all of its matches interesting, and the relationship between the three main characters will be a key in this. This episode was still wonderful because of how it showed how Chihaya has grown. This series still needs to convince me what’s so great about Karuta. This isn’t a prerequisite: while watching Shion no Ou, Giant Killing and Hikaru no Go awakened my interest in Shougi, Football and Go, Touch, Ookiku Furikabutte and Cross Game didn’t really make me want to learn more about baseball. It would be a nice side-effect, though.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Mirai Nikki – 03
Okay, I can see why people said that you shouldn’t pay attention to the plotholes in this series. If you’re trying to lure a terrorist bomber out of her shell, then don’t do it in a theme park full of innocent people who can get hurt!
In the first half, you could really see that this came from the same direcor as Shuffle (I have no idea why I fully watched that show). Heck, that fanservice scene was directly copied and pasted here. Here though, it was more than just a boring waste of time, because an episode like this was really needed to take a step back. The characters were nicely fleshed out, while at the same time the plot didn’t come at a stand still because enough went on with Uryuu Nenene. And holy crap that ending!
The gore in particular was disturbing, but in this episode we got confirmed what was hinted at in the first episode: that Yuno has killed before. Heck… since there is only one way in which “Happy End” could have been interpreted: if they started to live together, there is no way in whichi that room would have been unconcealed. She actually tried to kill her new boyfriend.
It’s good suspense and makes great use of its insane cast of characters. I also do wonder a bit about Deus ex Machina’s intentions regarding Yukiteru. I mean, from the looks of it he grabbed the most psychopatic characters he could find, and handed them the future diaries. So where does Yukiteru come in? I wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually becomes some deranged mass murderer or something.
Rating: * (Good)]]>
Phi Brain – 04
This show is full of nutcases!
This show pretty much concludes the introductions, for as far as the characters shown in the Promo material goes. And it’s still weird, yet undoubtedly creative and enjoyable. After this we should probably getting some more side characters (like the ones shown in the OP), and the plot is probably going to take off.
But seriously, that new character gives a new meaning to the term airhead. And in the end, her…um his biggest problem turned out to be one of the reactions she..he evoked on another member of the cast. She… he was interesting to watch. But the love triangle this ended up creating was really annoying, especially on Nonoha.
The puzzle this week convinced me that the POG is the most bizarre evil organization in existence. So we have this old widow whose late husband was a famous painter. Their butler (a member of said organization) ordered this painter to lock up his most precious painting in a safe, solvable by a puzzle. Okay, I have to give it to the creators: it’s creative.
The thing is though, that the story of the old couple DID work. When at the conclusion it was revealed what the painter’s most valuable paintings were, we got into this wave of nostalgia about the past of how the two met. The music also helped here really well.
Rating: * (Good)]]>
Hunter X Hunter – 04
Whoa. This episode was actually really well done. The creators actually nailed this episode, and despite the fast pacing, they did not rush through the running part, in order to really make it feel like a test of endurance. And the creators actually used it for the main cast to get to know each other. I actually think that this episode was better than the running part in the original series, however…
The main reason was that Donpa surprisingly didn’t do anything. Instead he got rid of the computer kid (I already found it weird that I didn’t remember this kid). This made this arc into more of a standalone story, because the part where Tonpa originally revealed himself to the main cast… just felt a bit weird and forced. It however did lead to a very interesting Donpa in one of the later arcs, because that part fleshed him out as a villain. At this point in the original series, he already changed his purpose. In this show however, he still is the same. What will the results of this be?
But yeah, the characterization here was damn enjoyable. I love how in this series, the characters don’t seem destined for each other, but instead just bump into each other and make friends. Especially Gon and Killua connected with each other in a very natural way. Leorio and Kurapica are also a wonderful duo together who play of each other wonderfully. The one person I still can not get used to however is Hisoka. In this episode too: he’s just hamming it up. His character probably changed the most compared to the first season, and I really hope that the creators know what they’re doing with him.
But yeah: how many other shounen were THIS varied and imaginative, after only four episodes? This really shows how you can build up and deliver at the same time.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Ben-To – 03
Seriously, Ben-To has a lot of elements that I at first sight often dislike. I mean, this series could have just as easily picked the path of Majikoi: I really was behind that series after its first episode, but by god… how abysmal it turned out in the end. I tried giving its fourth episode a small chance, but it was exactly the same as its third episode! The more I watch Ben-To though, the more I realize how lucky we are with this series. Three episodes in and this is still showing no signs of dulling in. But most surprisingly: I can’t believe how well acted these characters are. Just about every character in this series is really likable, and together they make for a really entertaining series.
If this show was just hilarious, it would be one thing. However, my problem with most comedies is that when they’re not funny, they feel empty. Here though, you’ve got a bunch of people who are enjoying simple dinner (the loot in this case), or doing simple things as spending time in a clubroom. I really find this show to have a charm that most other moe shows lack because they focus more on moe antics. I personally prefer this show’s more down to earth approach. It makes them much easier to relate to.
On top of that, I love how David Production says “screw it” to conventions. This also was visible in Level E, which in the end never really stated the name of its main character, even though it was a hilarious one. Here too: three episodes in and the only hint we saw to the main female lead is a random flashback. It’s delightful to see such creative ways to introduce cliches like the childhood friend. Especially after Haganai’s third episode. I also love how the beginning of this episode started with hints at what was going to happen, which only made sense at the point where the creators came with the delightfully random punchline.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Fate/Zero – 04
Ah, now I’m beginning to see what this show was trying to do with its long build-up: the introductions may be long, but the battles themselves take up a lot of time as well. This entire episode was about the fight between Saber and Lancer, and at the end of the episode it was hinted that things had only just begun.
With this set-up, it’s really necessary for this show to not devolve into a string of random battles, but instead give a clear meaning to all of the fights, and not just have them end with everyone retreating and restoring the status quo. A lot of people were involved in this episode: there were a bunch of spectators, and a total of four servants present. This battle needs to have a meaning besides just introducing powers: the previous episodes had enough time to do that.
The biggest reason I’m saying this is because this series’s episodes lack one important thing: variety. The individual episodes are very different form each other, but each episode so far has had a pretty homogenous mood, and this show doesn’t make use of sudden plot twists or mood changes. The result is that the fight in this episode took place at the same location for 20 minutes, while the characters stood and talked to each other for more than half of the time. That’s very easy to make boring if you’re not careful. This episode however evaded the Bleach syndrome quite nicely by having enough to make up for it.
The animation was excellent. The spectators had interesting potential roles, and the battle itself was really well choreographed, considering that it just took place in one spot and the mages apparently have healing powers. Yuki Kajiura also created a good atmosphere, although I do want to elaborate a bit more on what I said after listening to the first episode: in that the soundtrack of this series isn’t among her best work.
The thing with this soundtrack is that, unlike most of Yuki Kajiura’s works in her early days, I don’t think I would listen to it as a standalone soundtrack. It’s great at creating an atmosphere, and the soundtrack definitely has a bigger budget behind it compared to her work when she was younger, but I don’t know. It lacks a bit of creativity compared to those. It’s not just this series; in fact I do consider this soundtrack better than the ones of Madoka Magica (I have to be honest here: I completely forgot what that show sounded like; that’s very unlike her). But back in her days with Bee-Train, she used to use all kinds of interesting instruments, and the contrast with her different tracks in particular made it stand out. Her new work has been much… smoother and to the background, while instead she should make more music that can stand in the foreground.
Rating: * (Good)]]>