Ao no Exorcist – 22

by psgels, posted in Ao no Exorcist



This series still had a chance of closing off well. But the ending of this episode pretty much ruined it. With that, Yukio showed that he was Letter Bee’s Cabernet: the major flaw of the anime original material.

For the majority of this episode, it didn’t feel 100% right, but at least I could finally understand what had been up to Yukio during the past episodes. Yeah, the potential to turn Rin back into a human makes sense for him to completely change in order to achieve this. Not telling his brother anything fits him perfectly, and it’s a good twist that he had been doing all of this behind his back. Him becoming a paladin was a bit forced, but ah well: gramps must have pulled a few strings behind the scenes.

So let me ask the creators this: why the heck did you suddenly back down? The twist at the end rendered all of his development useless. Having him deceived and turn into a demon himself… what an incredibly cheesy twist. If you wanted to do that, then build up for it. Don’t just indecisively throw a deus ex machina there in order to get a soap opera ending. At this point there was more than enough conflict between the two brothers. Yukio trying to save his brother would have made for a compelling finale. This however, just sucks.
Rating: – (Disappointing)

Tiger & Bunny – 24

by psgels, posted in Tiger & Bunny



Now, this episode did pull a bunch of cheese balls for its penultimate episode. With that, I mean common tropes and cheesy cliches that get pulled over and over. Because of that I had a few problems with this episode, and unfortunately it’s been the least impressive Tiger & Bunny episode I’ve seen in a while.

Basically there are two main points that annoyed me. The focus on the power of friendship had its cheese moments, but it was perfectly in line with this series. What wasn’t in line was the robot guy. The creators have such an interesting villain with Maverick, and here this episode focused instead on this stereotypical evil guy that the rest of the series did so well to avoid, and who also pulled a number of strange actions that made it a bit too easy for the main cast to just escape I mean, if you’re an evil genius, at least remember to have more than one guy in your security department.

The second thing that bugged me was the end of the episode, which pulled the dreaded “let’s pretend to kill off our lead character”-twist. This twist annoys me in particular because hardly any show who pulls that actually pulls through with it. At the very least though; this episode did put a lot of meaning behind Kotetsu’s “death”: the decline of his powers has been building up for ages. It was a nice moment for this to really show.

At this point, I doubt whether this series will really have one of the best endings of the seasons, but it’s still possible to end with a bang. It really needs to use the build-up of this episode, plus give a good part to everyone involved. A standard ending however isn’t going to cut it for me at this point.
Rating: * (Good)

Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou – 10

by psgels, posted in Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou



Oh heck. It may not be the Alice arc, but once again this was really good. Ayaka’s brother’s introduction gave a completely different light on her character and I have no doubt that the creators can make something nice out of it. Especially that ending: at first I thought it was some sort of flashback. Then I accidentally caught a glimpse of next week’s preview (I always really try to avoid those). Yeah. This will be an awesome finale.

Now, I do want to hi-jack this post for a bit for some general observations of this entire summer season, especially considering that this series has a pretty big part in this. I remember noting at the start of this season that this might be the best summer season so far. Now, the season of course hasn’t ended yet, so anything can still happen, but I do not think that it will end up like this. My favourite Summer Seasons so far are the ones of 2006 and 2007, and I do not think that this season overall can beat them.

And the biggest reason for that is in my opinion the trio of No.6, Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou and Kamisama Dolls. I mean, Penguin Drum and Natsume Yuujinchou are both doing fantastic. They are more than enough to make this season awesome at this point. Blood-C although it is not as great as it could have been still looks to be rock-solid, while the slice of life series of Ikoku Meiro no Croisee and Usagi Drop are also doing really well. Meanwhile there is the big surprise of Blade, and Dantalian no Shoka is also very charming. The Kamisama series and No.6 should have been the icing on the cake, and while they are really good series: they could have been pure gold if they were longer. It’s by far the biggest weakness of this season.

Compare that to 2006, which had four 2-cour series which made brilliant use of their length (Bokura ga Ita, Chevalier, Night Head Genesis and NHK ni Youkoso), some rock-solid 1-cour series who knew exactly how long they were (Flag, Kemonozume and Honey and Clover), added to some awesome light-hearted shows (Akazukin & Power Puff Z).This season unfortunately wasn’t enough to really match that and it still stands as my favourite Summer Season ever. As for 2007, it is slightly more difficult. The thing with that season is that it had five absolutely amazing and ground-breaking series (Baccano, Higurashi Kai, Shigurui, Mononoke, Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei), but hardly anything memorable aside from that. This season has definitely beaten it in terms of quantity and it has many more series worth watching, but unfortunately only Penguin Drum really matches up to these best series, with perhaps also Natsume Yuujin-Chou San if the ending is really good. If Kamisama no Memo-Chou, Kamisama Dolls and No.6 were longer however, they actually would have stood a chance to also stand in that tier. In that case this season would have also blown Summer of 2007 out of the water.

As for third place though: I’m pretty confident that this season will take that. 2008 had some really good series with Xamdou, Ultraviolet, Blade of the Immortal, Natsu no Sora and Natsume Yuujinchou I, but that just doesn’t match up to the huge array of excellent series that are aired right now. 2009 meanwhile had a select number of classics (2009 had Tokyo Magnitude, Aoi Hana, Spice and Wolf II, GA and Umineko, but in the end this season is just richer, has more variety consistency. 2010’s only noteworthy series meanwhile were Shiki, Kuroshitsuji II and Occult Academy, with perhaps also Denyuuden added. That also just doesn’t match up.

However, I am very happy with this season. The thing is that 2006 and 2007 were near godly years for anime, in which so much stuff happened at the same time. This was the summer season that came closes to those years, and who knows. This upward trend might be continuing. At the very least, the next season is one that isn’t bothered at all by short series lengths. I’m quite hopeful for the future.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hyouge Mono – 21

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono



Next in line of brilliant tactics: Hashiba Hideyoshi’s plans of this episode. Build the front face of a huge house in order to intimidate the enemy. It’s hiariuos, but very cleverly found and it fits this series to a T. Always thinking outside of the box.

Now, I do wonder when this series is planning to shake things up again. We’ve now had quite a few amount of episodes of relative stability, where Hashiba Hideyoshi was pretty much allowed to do as he pleased (aside from that one episode where Sennou Soueki pushed him perhaps a little too much, which indeed was one heck of a highlight). Something is about to happen. If my limited Japanese understood correctly, he is about to bet his hands on the third of those legendary pots, in the current hands of the Akizuki clan. My gut says that something major will happen to it. Either Sasuke will get his hands on it, or it will spell the start of his decline.

The characterization was again as rock-solid as ever, far beyond all of the other stuff this season. I still love those scenes where the creators try to make their frames as smooth as possible; this episode did that especially to people changing facial expressions. The highlight though… was without a doubt Tokugawa. What a quirky way to portray a man falling in love.

Oh, and I also love those little details that nobody seems to even mention. I mean, why did Hashiba Hideyoshi forget his left mustache at the beginning of this episode? (That line is probably going to sound really weird for anyone who hasn’t seen this series)
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Blood-C – 09

by psgels, posted in Blood-C



Once again Blood-C delivers an absolutely stunning episode. As if the previous episode wasn’t bad enough already, this episode goes even further.

Usually when a large amount of people need to die, you often just see one big explosion or otherwise very destructive thing, followed by a heap of dead bodies. That latest episode of Number 6 is a good example of that. This however was much, much more nerve wrecking as an entire classroom gets murdered out, and we actually see the monster maul each of his victims separately. This creature just kept chipping away everyone until there were just two people left. Now that was incredibly intense. With this I’m also sure: this series has the best fight choreography of the entire season. It’s a shame that the animation couldn’t remain as good as the first episode, but each action scene still is incredibly well crafted.

The thing with Blood-C is indeed that its cast lacks complexity. But dear god, for me it throws around more and more things that just completely make up for that lack. I mean, i like character development and all, but it’s not as black and white that I only like characters with character-development, and hate the ones who don’t. I’m growing more and more fond of Saya, and the biggest reason for that is how the mystery uses her. This really is one of the few series of the Summer Season that isn’t rushed, aside from Penguin Drum and Natsume Yuujinchou, and BY GOD it shows. Heck, I’d even argue that out of all of the series that are going to end this month, this one is the one I’m looking forward to the most aside from Steins;Gate.

The second half of the episode again had me on the edge of my seat because of this. The horror here too was very effective in just building up tension, and using the build-up of the entire season. Bit by bit throughout the series, Saya remembered a bit more and we’ve now reached the point where the inconsistencies really start to show, and she’s finally starting to think for herself.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Mawaru Penguin Drum – 09

by psgels, posted in Mawaru Penguin Drum



I loved this episode! It’s the kind of episode that goes for something completely different, and I really love these gimmicky episodes like this. It’s been a huge while since one appeared, especially in series that have a continuous plot. Those complaining that Himari was a mary sue? Hah, this episode is there to prove you wrong. In 20 minutes this show gave a heap of depth to her, after strangely ignoring her for so many episodes.

This was both in the obvious, and in the subtle ways. For example, amongst the books that she returned in the library, one was about learning to earn ten times more. Apart from that we never see this confirmed, but she too is well aware of the money problems that the siblings have. I have no idea why she was interested in “Sputnik Weirdo”, though.

The direction also was just fantastic. Even better than usual. This episode didn’t have any action whatsoever, but the camera angles and plot twists alone just completely made up for it. Everything just seemed to fit, not to mention the wonderful music. This series really can get me excited unlike any other series this season (even Steins;Gate), and this episode only increased this.

After a bit of research, I found out that this episode was storyboarded and directed (both the episode and animation direction) by just one guy: Nobuyuki Takeuchi, and I can see the influences. Probably his most notable works are as one of the chief animators of the Utena Movies, and as the visual director of Bakemonogatari and Moonphase. It’s especially amazing what he can do when working together with an actually good director (Kunihiko Ikura was the one who wrote this episode). This episode felt like everything that Shaft should have been: strong direction, no wasted time on random blabber, no repetition of the same scenarios over and over and gone is the poor build-up.

Also, I applaud the use of the two friends. That was very clever use of symbolism. I think everyone thought that the two girls at the ED were supposed to be female versions of the two lead brothers as some sort of weird joke. Instead it’s all about Himari and her two friends. And the subway signs. I’ve seen Utena, so I really should have known that there was more behind them than just that. On top of that the story of Himari’s past too was just wonderful. It gave her depth, flaws, personality, and I really like how the creators used the first episodes to show little of her on purpose, rather focusing Shouma. Saving the best for last, eh?

Also, I have to praise this show for using the pink-haired guy. The thing is that whenever series introduce characters halfway through, they almost always forget that they also appear in the OP, so they just start with these random shots that just show the characters, that don’t really say anything other than: “I’m about to appear”. This episode really pulled his introduction out of the blue. We know that he’s important due to that OP, and this episode made great use of that.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

No.6 – 10

by psgels, posted in No.6



Seriously, ignore the huge holes that will be left in the plot next week, and this was another amazing penultimate episode. Heck, even though it in no way closes off the series, this looks to be an amazing climax. This episode was chock full of strong emotions and bold revelations.

The best of which was the thing that Nezumi warned about, at the end of the previous episode. I mean, we knew by now that Number Six had to be kidnap a huge amount of people: you have doubts and are of a lower class, then you’re out. That had to happen often. Instead of taking the time of burning these dead bodies, they just dump everyone on one huge pile and stop worrying about them. It was disturbing to see to say the least, but what really made that scene was that it indeed changed Shion’s character significantly. It was really well portrayed, and happened before he knew it.

This lead to a really emotional climax at the end when Shion actually kills another human, while Nezumi stands by with shock of how he lost his innocence. Oh, and some excellent animation also helped here. And that wasn’t even the only character development in this episode. Inukashi also got quite an interesting role when that baby suddenly got dumped on her. I think the reason why nobody doubted her gender had a lot to do with that flashback they showed of Nezumi when his tribe got murdered: there he also looked like a girl and nobody found it strange.It probably has a lot to do with cultural values and how women usually dress in these slums.

As for the next episode, I wonder how big of a disaster it’ll be. Knowing Seishi Minakami, it’ll probably just end. We get a nice climax between Safu and learn how overly powerful she has become, combined with a huge hook to a second season that will never arrive. This unfortunately had it coming ever since this show got announced.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Steins;Gate – 23

by psgels, posted in Steins;Gate



OMG! WTF!

Right from the start I knew that this would be the point that I had been looking forward to the most: the explanation of what the heck happened during that first episode. And yeah. It pretty much was my favourite episode of Steins;Gate yet. But for the love of God, that plot twist in which Christina’s killer is revealed was awesome!

This episode really was amazing. Everything came together wonderfully. The twists that the plot took here were brilliant, and I even loved the characters. Okarin’s future self’s message was awesome in how well his past version understood what he had to do.

I really thought that Moeka, FB and CERN were the central villains: that they too were somehow involved with the third world war somehow. Instead though, they are just vital for Mayuri’s death, and they only come in action when they actually intercept that D-Mail. They probably participated in the arms race for building the time machine, but without Kurisu they actually didn’t get the upper hand.

And holy crap this thing only has 24 episodes. It’ll be over next week! Okabe is going to have to save Kurisu in one single episode. It actually is possible if the creators play their cards right. I’ve said many times before that an ending can make a huge difference on how I view a series, and out of all the series that are going to end this season, this one has the best papers for it. The most important thing: do not rush too much!

Also, who put the OP through a blender?
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 36

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou



Here’s an interesting one: this is another two-episode arc, but this time it is not connected to the plot of youkai politics or anything. Instead, it again is about Natsume and his friends. Once again, this season is really dedicated to character development, character development, and more character development.

The thing also is, that it’s been entirely dedicated to Natsume. Every single episode was focused on him. If an episode happened to develop a different character at the same time, then this always was in order to also give extra depth to Natsume himself. This lead to the strange effect that Nyanko-Sensei is rather left behind: he really feels like a side-character now, and not the second main character that he was in the first two seasons. He’s still pretty fun to watch, but that’s pretty much it. There’s nothing of the charming stories like that time when he walked around as a giant cat for a while.

Beyond the obvious things as his friendship and finally getting the confidence to confide in the people he trusts, I also love how the creators portray Natsume’s worries. He still has them, though they’re completely different from what they used to be. At this point, most of the youkai who want their names back have already gotten them. Instead though, the huge amount of hostile youkai have made a great impact on him, to the point where he unconsciously tries to blame everything on them. If Tanuma would have caught a real cold, he probably would have thought the same.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée – 10

by psgels, posted in Ikoku Meiro no Croisée



Now, this was just heart-warming. This entire episode felt just like a warm blanket in the middle of winter and it was incredibly charming. It basically showed two parts right through each other: Claude’s father, and Oscar entertaining first Yune and Alice, and then the whole neighborhood. They meshed together wonderfully.

There really seem to be a lot of hints that Claude is as cold as he is thanks to his father. In those flashbacks, he actually hardly ever talked to Claud. I actually felt that Claude also grew a tiny bit in this episode, especially after how fast he calmed down after he got offended after being compared to his father by that customer of his. It’s subtle, but he would not have been that diligent at the beginning of the series.

What has also surprised me about this series is Satelight’s animation quality, and how consistent it turned out to be. Two years ago, especially when they were working on both Guin Saga and Basquash at the same time, they really had this trouble to keep their faces consistent and keep their art crisp. Heck, even Macross Frontier had a lot of strangely drawn faces and inconsistencies. Nothing of that shows here: nearly every part of this show is detailed.
Rating: ** (Excellent)