Last Exile Review – 87,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




Okay, so I finally managed to finish this series. I can now understand why when it first aired in 2003, it made quite an impact. It had this unique charm and excellent CG animation that actually still holds up today. It’s got a few problems, but overall it’s a unique adventure series.

The big strength of Last Exile is that it’s inspired and imaginative in just about every single way: it’s heavily influenced by the Miyazaki flying movies, but it managed to build its own original setting around that: there are original ideas behind just about every facet of this show, the designs too are just completely unique (with excellent CG to back this up). This is a wondrous journey from start to finish.

Now, beyond the ideas, this show also has the execution to back it up. I want to specifically praise the characters and the acting, who too feel unlike other shows of its kind. To best explain this: the dialogue feels much more natural and balanced than what you usually see in anime, making good use of pauses and nonverbal communication as well. The drama in particular is really well delivered thanks to this.

In terms of the story, this is a bit of a strange one, though. It’s the kind of series that really dislikes exposition, and keeps most of this as brief as possible. Because of this, a lot of the stuff in this series is left to the imagination as to “how and why” they happen.

Due to the acting, another interesting effect is that some characters go completely against their supposed archetypes. The one big exception is the main villain who really is an evil megalomaniac no matter how you cut it, but characters like Lavie, Mullin, and even Alex Rowe: they really know their characters and don’t try to be anything more for the sake of some extra forced drama. I really appreciate that, but because of that this series does have a few points where it drags because of that. It does come together wonderfully for the ending, though.

The strange thing with this series is that it may not be the most exciting series. And despite the solid acting, there are certain moments in the story that do feel forced. And yet, now that I’ve finished watching this show, it feels so complete. The end of this series really feels like the end of a long journey, and yet I can fully see a second season that focuses on a completely new cast work; the setting is more than rich enough for that. I wouldn’t call this amongst Gonzo’s best; they made too many classics for that, but it still makes the top 7 and it’s definitely a great show to watch.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Lots and lots of style. A bit one-sided at times, but never really drags.
Characters: 9/10 – Characters who fit the setting incredibly well. Very natural dialogue and voice acting.
Production-Values: 9/10 – This show is eight years old and still looks unique and amazing. You don’t often get to say that about 3D CG in a tv-series.
Setting: 9/10 – The setting still stands on its own with great ideas and a detailed description. It leaves things unexplained, but gets a nine because it really speaks to the imagination.

Suggestions:
– Shangri-La (just note that while Last Exile is really subtle, Shangri-la most definitely isn’t).
– Simoun
– The Third

Tiger & Bunny – 12

by psgels, posted in Tiger & Bunny



This episode was depressing to watch. I mean, it was almost completely one-sided the way in which some of the best heroes were just pummeled down like it was nothing. This episode did make sure to not god-mode that villain, and an obvious turning point was built up for the next episode, but damn: this episode put a big dent into the glory of these superheroes, especially with Sky High beaten so easily.

Also, the set-up where two main characters have to work together despite their differences is quite a cliche. Often this starts off with tension, leading to them getting to know each other and becoming friends for the rest of the series. This episode toyed with that really well, as it showed that there still is no full trust between Kotetsu and Barnaby when Kotetsu screws up Barnaby’s plan, right after he was asked to trust him (even though Barnaby did the same to Tiger a few episodes ago, only Barnaby didn’t screw up).

This arc is the halfway point of this series. It’s a really unusual place to show how damn flawed the main character is. Previously, this series built him up as this heroic guy with the right ideas, powers and mindset, and yet he hasn’t done anything well here, even compared to the other heroes who also were outclassed. The only way in which he was useful is due to a mistake he made that exposed the bad guy’s weak spot.

Overall, with Tiger and Bunny, Sunrise have finally done what I’ve been hoping of them: return to their string of awesome science fiction series of ten years ago. For nearly ten years, they just kept coming with imaginative action shows that just kept coming with original ideas that were really well executed, and yet for some strange reason this trend stopped around 2005/2006. I’ve got really mixed feelings about their next series, Sacred Seven though. The big thing with that show is that it has the most amazing staff members behind it… and yet it looks completely generic. These are the people whose resume includes the direction of Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto, the animation direction behind Berserk, the script of Zone of the Enders, the original concept behind Karas and Argento Soma… and they end up doing a high school battle series that looks just like all the other high school battle series out there. WHY!?
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 12

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



And yet again, Hana-Saku Iroha delivers an amazing episode. This… was sharp. It was bloody sharp. The entire episode was pretty much a string of characters doing the complete opposite of what you’d expect them to do while somehow still remaining perfectly in character. Mari Okada: how the hell did you manage to write three original stories and two adaptations in just half a year, and how the hell did you manage to create such sharp dialogue for just about all of them, save for Fractale? Heck, delivering the best screenplay for slice of life dramas is one thing, but doing it multiple times across different series. what the hell has she been taking? This hardly isn’t human anymore…

Okay, so Ohana completely gives a different twist to the love triangle by flat out telling Tohru about her crush, after this show starts to give off hints that he’s now interested in her mother instead. Meanwhile Tohru spend an entire day doing a rather morbid date that really doesn’t sound pleasant, ending. Ko’s co-worker meanwhile reveals herself to be really direct, Tohru forces Ohana to kidnap Ko and Ohana’s mother whom she first wanted to kidnap herself suddenly decides to take a few days off to go to a certain inn.

This isn’t the roller coaster of emotions that the previous episodes were, but instead it juggled the different characters around and fleshed them out brilliantly. It threw all of them in new situations and it just kept coming with detailed dialogues. This episode was also wonderfully paced.

Now, the question is: what is the plan for the creators? Do they actually have what it takes to keep up this pacing across the entire series, or are we simply at the mid-way climax here? Either way though: what an improvement over the first third of this series!
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Ao no Exorcist – 10

by psgels, posted in Ao no Exorcist



So, with the season almost ending, it’s time for the short series to conclude and for the long series to raise the stakes for their halfway climax. Ao no Exorcist instead takes a detour into the story of a cat, with next week looking to be a beach episode. Okay, I did not expect that.

While I hold my breath for that beach episode though, this episode was really good. It was both something different, surprisingly heartfelt and found a very interesting way to focus on Rin, Yukio and their father again. It’s a simple and quiet episode that has a really small focus, but it really made things work.

Plus, that cat was just adorable. Its story is just that it’s sad that its master is gone, but relating this to Rin, added to some undeniable charm to it. It’s going to be interesting to see what it can do as Rin’s familiar.

Also, this episode had some of the best chemistry between Rin and Yukio so far. Compared to for example Soul Eater, the latter may have been funnier or more enjoyable in its first episodes, but it just had no content, and quickly got boring once the characters’ novelty wore off. With this, the creators are taking their time, but right now, it’s starting to pay off more and more.

However… beach episode. You’d better know what you’re doing!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Karigurashi no Arrietty Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




Oh heck, Studio Ghibli did it again. With this, they created yet another must-watch for all ages. If you like family movies, it really is a must-watch.

Now, Ghibli makes two kinds of movies: epic adventure movies, and slice of life movies that often have fantasy adventure themes. Arrietty belongs to the latter, as it shows how a young boy meets a fantasy creature known as one of the borrowers: tiny people who borrow small stuff from humans in order to survive. That kind of set-up is common, but rather than “boy meets fantastical creature”, this movie makes it “fantastical creature meets boy”. Unlike the vast majority of these kinds of movies, we follow Arrietty, how she lives, where she lives, and what she does. And dear God, this movie is good at that.

This movie is meticulously detailed in order to make its setting come alive. Nearly the entire movie just takes place in one house in a small forest, but the creators put a ton of small ideas and detail into just about every scene. The amount of things that these borrowers create from the stuff that they borrow from the humans is immense, the movie is full of all kinds of different kinds of animals, ranging from bugs to mice and birds. It’s a lush movie that just sparkles with life wherever it goes.

Also: the animation. Let me say that out of all of the Ghibli movies not directed by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, this one has the best visuals. The backgrounds in particular are just gorgeous, but what feels unique about the animation is how the creators succeeded in showing the difference between large and big. I mean, the main character is about ten centimetres high. When big things are around her, they really look BIG. Especially the way in which humans are animated next to her: that was done in such a way that I have never seen before.

There’s only one major weakness in this movie, and that is some forced conflict near the end of the movie. I’m not talking about the actual ending (which really was great), but the climax before that, in which this movie suddenly turns into one of those preachy environmentalist movies for ten minutes with a conflict and villain that just don’t fit the mood at all. It’s an act that feels like it doesn’t belong in the movie in terms of tone and themes, not to mention that the ‘villain’ is pretty pathetic.

The rest of the movie is environmental, but not at all preachy. Instead it focuses on the subtle tensions between coexisting species, not pointing a bad finger but rather letting everything resolve itself naturally. It’s got some wonderful characters to back this up with (again, the animation really brings these guys to life) with really good voice acting. Despite that one hiccup near the end, it’s a wonderful watch.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Down to earth, well paced and mature, with perhaps one forced bit near the end.
Characters: 8/10 – There may not be much interesting development, but the acting is excellent, and the characters really come to life. It’s got a bad villain, though.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Gorgeous artwork, detailed beyond belief, not to mention the wonderful soundtrack.
Setting: 9/10 – Immensely detailed in describing the life and environment of the main character. There are a ton of ideas in just about every scene.

Suggestions:
– Kiki’s Delivery Service
– Furusato, Japan
– Porco Rosso

Deadman Wonderland – 10

by psgels, posted in Deadman Wonderland



I’ve heard that the anime skipped a lot of content, so where exactly are we at this point? Have we reached the halfway point of the manga, or did this thing race so fast through the story that we’re already at the end?

I don’t read any manga, so I can not comment on how good that manga must have been, but at this point I consider Deadman Wonderland to be a good adaptation. I disagree that cutting out a lot of material makes it a bad adaptation: that’s just something that was unfortunately inevitable considering the difference in length of both mediums. Instead, I’m much more interested in whether the creators actually managed to tell a story, or whether or not they’re just randomly copying and pasting events without thinking of how they’d translate over to animation. What Manglobe is currently doing with TWGOK, for example, or the way in which Yumekui Merry tried to resolve itself last season, or an even better example: Togainu no Chi; those are what I consider to be adaptations who seriously missed the mark. They just don’t come together at all. I do admit that this series doesn’t show Manglobe at its best, though: they really need to make another original story again, because that’s what they really shine at.

Having said that though, this episode wasn’t as good as the previous ones due to Ganta being a bit too emo through its course. And angst on its own isn’t bad or anything, but it rather prevented him from doing anything. The beginning of the episode also created drama using failure in communications, which really aren’t my favourite. I can understand that it wasn’t obvious to everyone that the microchip was bugged: they clinged to it as their ticket out of the hellhole that is Deadman Wonderland, and with everything that was thrown at them, an extra explosion doesn’t sound weird. But why didn’t Shiro just say that the chip was bugged? There would have been much better ways to keep her out of the scene that followed it, although that bit of tension between her and Ganta was really good.

Also, surprisingly this episode did what I hoped: it brought life to the surviving members of the resistance. It didn’t show their background or anything, but in the aftermath scene this series surprisingly treated them not like disposable test dummies, but rather as actual characters. The kind of people you can have a nice chat with.

And really, apart from Ganta and perhaps that information leaking dude (who lost his mind a bit too much here), I enjoyed all of the characters here. For me, they’re a huge strength of this series, remaining genuine despite the madness that gets thrown at them.
Rating: * (Good)

X-Men – 11

by psgels, posted in X-Men




Hostages are a very common trope, but then again it’s no big surprise because it’s often the most logical thing to do. You have a bunch of people who don’t want to listen to you? Just threaten to kill their best friend and they’ll squeak differently. With all tropes, there are a ton of ways to do this, whether good or bad. The first half of this episode of the X-Men showed a bit of a strange version though.

The guy with liquid powers could have killed Cyclops, Sasaki and the others that he caught easily if he wanted to. the result was that Storm and Cyclops just stood there while they easily could have zapped everyone, and the only one who did something was Hisako, being the only one stupid enough to not understand the implications of her actions.

This is where Wolverine (the TV-series) stands above the X-Men. Wolverine’s storyline was simple but effective, and was really just a bunch of powerful men duking it out for the sake of romance and stopping at nothing until they achieve their objectives. In the X-Men, the plot is dictated by teenaged emo. That’s just… less impressive.

Having said that though, this episode once again looked absolutely gorgeous, and the adults here were as good as ever. In terms of building up this series only manages to increase its tension and atmosphere, exactly as an action series should. Compare this to Sengoku Basara Two, which spent a ton of time building up to a final episode that ultimately was a let-down. Despite its plot issues, this show remains engaging and well told.

Oh, and this episode also showed a new trailer for Blade, and unfortunately it seems like the acting is going to be a problem again. That’s the thing with Madhouse: they always have great and unique visuals and character designs, but because of that they get really hard to animate consistently. The footage was only a few seconds long, but that was enough to show that the animators didn’t avoid this and the show will be full of stiff acting again. It’s a shame, because the X-Men avoided this really well.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Gosick – 22

by psgels, posted in Gosick



When I first saw that Inspector de Blois guy, and I really thought that he would be just this silly side-character. Especially the way in which he behaved in the first half of this series. But whoa: he’s actually become a great villain here. This episode just showed that he resents Victorique quite a bit

In any case, the creators chose a fitting backdrop for the finale of this series: the legend behind it is fully devoted to the bond between Kujou and Victorique, playing with the prophecy from that old guy, plus the stakes here are the involvement in the second world war. It’s good, epic and not too mundane for the sake of epicness, so it’s definitely a good start for the finale of this series.

I also liked the quiet bits in this episode. Christmases in anime tend to look a lot like each other, so it’s interesting to see all kinds of new rituals and traditions here. The dress-up party was especially nice because for once everyone just forgot their prejudice to Kujou and Victorique. It’s more symbolic than that it actually makes sense, but it’s definitely a nice touch.

Overall, I really like adventure series, and Gosick’s second half really fueled that interest for the past season. As a series overall it definitely has its problems, though. The second half introduced wondrous stories, interesting legends and all sorts of interesting ideas and places. In the first half, there were only two arcs that did that too. The others were just uninspired. I can understand the characters taking their time to grow (but even there their stupidity’s absence would have made this series even better), but what was the reason of not using these episodes in the first half to experiment a bit? Tell imaginative and creative stories, rather than just waiting for the second half to arrive. In fact, most of the build-up was done by the two major arcs of the first half: the ship arc and the village arc. The others just fleshed out the cast, and that’s something that they could have done much better.

Overall though, against my expectations Gosick was worth it in the end. The wait was very much rewarded by these past arcs. The ending is probably not going to be the best part of this series, but I’m nevertheless intrigued in how far this series is willing to go.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hyouge Mono – 11

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono



What the hell? Another new OP?

I could understand the first OP change, after the break up of the band who performed the first OP. The second OP was a pretty logical choice seeing the time constraints. The third OP though… is just pure madness. It’s like the creators went “ah, we’re doing these random songs anyway, so we might as well roll with it”. The new song is just completely bizarre and random. Talking about something completely different. This really sounds like they let a cat walk over a keyboard and constructed a nice melody around it. And yet for some reason I like it a lot. It’s been a while since an OP this pleasantly surprised me.

Anyway, this episode continues with the aftermath of Oda Nobunaga. It’s clearly build-up, but it nevertheless retained that great atmosphere, and did a great job of getting everyone to prepare for the inevitable chaos and run for power that will ensue. Mitsuhide realizes that his position is very frail, and Sasuke meanwhile gets a new position offered by his brother. I couldn’t exactly pick up what he’s going to do because the dialogue is so freaking complex, but I understood enough that this could very well become the glory that he always hoped for.

Also, more wtf-news on this series: it just distanced itself from the manga it’s based on. What the hell? Wasn’t this supposed to be an incredibly accurate adaptation? From out of nowhere, the official site lists the manga author credited as “original scheme”, instead of “original story”. They refuse to say exactly why, so did they get into a fight or something? I mean, I can understand why Clamp got angry at them for Tsubasa Chronicle and all, but with such an accurate adaptation?

The weird question right now is of course: what’s going to happen to this series? Will it just continue adapting the manga like it has always had, or will it in a few episodes go into its own direction? It’s here where those 39 episodes really are going to be interesting, because it’s got plenty of time to resolve all of these issues. With Bee-Train, it’s definitely going to be interesting.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control – 10

by psgels, posted in The Money of Soul and Possibility Control



Yup, the ending is going to be really important for this one: how will this get solved? That’s the big question. That will be the biggest factor in whether this show will leave a bad taste or not. The thing is that Mikuni is not one of those stereotypical villains who are evil for the sake of being evil: he made the decision to drastically alter the country and tighten the grip of the Midas Money on Japan, because the alternative would be even worse. What can Kimimaro and the information broker offer to prevent bankruptcy?

If it hits the right marks however, then this will end up as a really good series. The interesting thing with C is that we were all obviously expecting the same directional style as with Mononoke and Kuchuu Buranko, and yet it was very different. And yet, the direction in this episode was once again really good. The use of music got even better than it already was, it kept changing and keeping things dynamic while at the same time keeping things together and developing its plot in one direction. This climax so far has been rushed, but not random, and yet it was packed with neat ideas worthy of a climax, rather than just let everything devolve into just “more power!” like anime often pull this.

I am still surprised that this show hasn’t self-destructed yet, though. Lately, I’ve gotten very sceptical of series that try to stuff too much in too little. Especially adaptations suffer from this (Togainu no Chi, Yumekui Merry, Kuragehime, Sengoku Basara, Durarara), but also original stories like Fractale and Sora no Oto tripped up pretty badly in their final stretch. Interestingly, the cause of this seems to generally be half-assed pacing: the shows misuse their time, plowing on slowly and forgetting to build up vital plot points, or suddenly force a huge increase of pacing when they suddenly realize that they need to end on something epic, ending up with too little time to actually pull that off. C doesn’t have that, or so far at least.

It will depend on the next episode to see whether the creators really knew what they were doing, but so far I can see the layout of this series: first it took its time to flesh out the world with its random cases, showing a different part of is concept with every episode, while it actually started in time gaining momentum for its finale.

I mean, this show has still flaws: there’s a lot of stuff that came out of bloody nowhere, and that lack of ability to explain this stuff is unfortunate due to the short length. That black card in particular came out of nowhere and while it’s understandable that that clown would have some sort of trick like that, it would have been nice to have seen that announced beforehand. This episode also again has Kimimaro winning against all odds and I’m still not sure how he exactly did it. This was a flaw that had it coming from the beginning, and unfortunately wasn’t avoid. But those action scenes looked damn cool though.
Rating: ** (Excellent)