Dororon Enma-Kun – Meerameera – 07

by psgels, posted in Spring 2011 Kaleidoscope



Dear Brains Base,

What the HELL have you created here?!

This show is sneaky. I mean, it is written and directed by the director of the crack-fest Hoshi no Umi no Amuri, so I was sort of looking forward to this series. It then commences to have a terrible first episode and an even worse second episode. I nearly gave up on it because of how uninspired those two were. But no. This show waited until the third episode to reveal its true colours. It’s completely bizarre true colours that are wrong on so many levels.

And don’t get me wrong, this IS a fanservice show. But the fanservice is the most bizarre fanservice I’ve ever seen. Stuff like Seikon no Qwaser is just thinly disguised porn. Series as Hoshikaka just use horribly uninspired and forced fanservice as cheap ways to sell dvds. This… is on a completely different level. This show is crazy. It’s absolutely crazy. The fact that it has a character who walks around completely naked save for a hat and a cape is just the tip of the iceberg.

this show is episodic, and beyond the fanservice it also has the craziest ideas to base its episodes around. Episode six was the most surreal by far, having the entire cast bounce around the world chasing a youkai who blows up everyone he touches like a balloon. This episode? You know these scenes where a character tells a bad joke and as the punchline, everyone falls over? This episode turned that into an art form by introducing a youkai who does exactly that. Some of the visual gags based around this were just beyond weird.

After the first episode I really wouldn’t have guessed at all that I’d say this, but I love this show. Sure, the only show that has more fanservice this season is Seikon no Qwaser and all, but I love its limitless energy and creativity that goes with the most creative ideas it can think of, no matter how stupid or wrong. This really is a breath of fresh air compared to the shows that are either just complete porn or just use the same kind of out of place fanservice over and over again.

Also, what also completely surprised me about this series is how good the background music is. I mean, it completely fits with the energy of this series, and actually creates even more energy this way. The songs are all catchy beyond belief and make sure that there hardly is any time to catch a breath. And you know what? It has the composer of Tokyo Godfathers doing the soundtrack, and the same guy will also do the soundtrack for the upcoming Noitamina series No.6. There’s another reason to look forward to that one.

Beyond that, I also chose this week to blog Enma-kun thanks to a very intriguing news item that popped up. If this is what I think it is, then the summer season is looking even better than it already has. For starters, this means that it’s going to break the record for the most amount of TV-series to premiere during one summer season (Anime is dying? Hah!), but more importantly: the director of Utena is finally going to make another series!

It looks childish, just the story of a bunch of penguins. But it all just seems too…strange. First of all you have to wonder why Emna-kun of all things is going to air promos for it (promos that I unfortunately have yet to be able to find), because it airs in the middle of the night; a really weird time to advertise kids’ shows. Second of all, kiddie shows hardly ever introduce themselves like this. In particular the fact that this will be 24 episodes has me intrigued. I could be wrong here, of course. This could be just another show aimed at 3 year olds. But something’s telling me that this show is pulling a Kaiba.
Rating: ** (Excellent, as wrong as it was)

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai. – 06

by psgels, posted in Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-Tachi wa Mada Shiranai



I absolutely love how this show delves into the minds of its characters. This episode yet again had me teared up, and again it’s not just because of one character, but a whole bunch of them. I mean, most series pick one or two characters do develop each episode: this show does this with nearly every character for nearly every episode. Even Yukiatsu and Chiriko, who had a relatively small role in this episode, were great. I especially love how honest Yukiatsu has become.

The real meat of the episode though was about Jinta finally going to school, Naruko suffering through endless gossips about what happened in the previous episode and Menma only worrying about others. With all these, this show has a nice habit of not just showing characters, but it also keeps showing characters telling how they feel about other characters. Whether right or wrong, it’s actually a great way to flesh them out by showing how they seem in the eyes of someone else.

As for Menma, this episode could have given a really big hint as to why Menma is staying behind as a ghost. Running away is a huge concept of this series. The most apparent is of course Jinta, but the rest of the cast also tends to have this. Menma keeps avoiding talking about herself. I mean, did Jinta ever apologize for what he said to her, right before she died? It’s of course not going to be this simple, but I do think that something in that direction is her wish.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control – 06

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




This was by far the best episode of C yet, and that’s a great sign, especially considering how this was the point at which Eden of the East started to dull in. It’s here where this series really shows off its messages as a social commentary and I have to say that I really like how thought-provoking this is getting.

With this episode I have finally found something that makes up for the status of the main character as the “destined rookie”: this episode actually made great use of this by having three people with completely different views contact him and try to influence him to join, and they all have their valid points here. Seriously, in terms of background and motives this series is definitely among the best of the season. Based on the first episodes, this is not something that I saw coming.

The guy of this episode had some pretty harsh criticisms to Minuki, and this really seems to be a harsh criticism to modern day Japan’s economy as well. And yet at the same time this show doesn’t pretend that that view is 100% right or wrong, but instead it offers a lot of different view. Mikuni also has a very interesting defence for his actions. The same goes for that woman that contacted him.

Also, the animation of this series has always been choppy. I’ve heard that the creators were hit hard by the earthquake, so I guess that there’s no avoiding it. But holy crap, the fight scene at the ended was animated wonderfully. Kimimaro was bound to win such an outclassed match and all, but the direction and animation there totally made up for that. It was a wonderful climax to an awesome episode.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

OVA Impressions: Norageki

by psgels, posted in OVA Impressions



Okay. So while I decided to stop giving each OVA release a separate post due to time restraints, I really want to make an exception for this one. THIS is what they need to make more of: a short but sweet and interesting story contained within just 25 minutes that takes optimal use of its time. This format is perfect for those who just want to tell short stories or try out interesting projects.

Norageki was an excellent mystery story that knew exactly how to build itself up. It starts with an introduction that can only be understood if you watch the entire thing, only to continue on with the main characters all trying to figure out what’s going on. There obviously was too little time to develop the characters, but they work for what they’re supposed to be: they all have their mysteries that get answered throughout the course of the episode, and this episode did a good job of using their curiosity to get me to relate to them. The twist ending wrapped everything up neatly and was actually quite interesting.

As for the animation, the creators chose an interesting blend of 2D and 3D graphics, but most of it was 3D. Overall it did a pretty good job of not looking as out of place or ugly as I suspected. On top of that, the creators did make use of this: the characters move around a lot in this OVA. That’s the advantage that 3D animation has: it’s easier to use non-verbal communication. Yet, I still prefer 2D over it: when done right, it can make its characters much more vibrant than 3D animation can. My best guess as for why that is is because 3D is still too constrained around its models.
OVA Episode Rating: 8.25/10

Steins;Gate – 07

by psgels, posted in Steins;Gate



This episode reminded me of why this show originally caught my attention: the atmosphere. It’s what ties the story, dialogue, characters and visuals all together here. And looking back, it’s this that was missing from the previous episodes. My guess is that it had to do with the silly dialogue not blending in with the story: it was well written, but disrupted the mood. And admittedly, it started to get repetitive.

this episode though knew exactly when it needed to be laid back and when it needed to be serious. The repetition of the dialogue didn’t even matter here: as soon as Rintarou started to send that message about the lottery to the past, this episode had a tight atmosphere that never went away. Beyond that I also liked that this episode cleverly used the time that Rintarou waiting for John Tytor by sending in calls from the other characters, and how that little chat with the part timer downstairs about brainwashing lead to her getting in trouble with her boss. Now those are well timed and very nicely blended into the script, as opposed to the “let’s now devote X minutes to building up and goofing off so that we can focus Y minutes on something serious”.

On top of that, I also really like it when a series only reveals parts of a characters actions, yet leaves enough hints to give us viewers a clue of what he’s been doing. We never got to see Rintarou’s reaction to the message he received about the Lotto, at the same time he probably got pretty excited about it, so much that he delayed his other plans for about half a day.Because of this they were only at the stage of trying to think of what to send back in the new timeline.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Showa Monogatari – 06

by psgels, posted in Showa Monogatari



Okay, so as it turns out episode four did not take forever to show up as a raw. It was just on a hiatus for a week. Then, the fifth episode that aired a week ago was one of the four preview episodes and now we finally can get to some more new content with episode six. Seriously, I have never seen a show with such a complicated airing schedule since the time where one of our Dutch television stations suddenly decided to air the final episode of Medabots’ Second season in the middle of its run…

In any case, half of this episode was about Kouhei destroying windows while playing baseball. Aside from being about Kouhei, it was also one of those “been there done that”-scenarios. The only fresh thing is that he just kept on going even after things went wrong two times. It’s typical and I can understand the nostalgic reasons for putting this in, but I was already bored by the “broken window-plot” when I was a kid myself. It’s probably because I couldn’t relate to it at all (I grew up in a small village, so there always was enough room to play and not bother adults).

The rest of this episode was really good though. This time it was about the business of Kouhei’s father taking a nasty hit when they get conned. They lost a lot of money with it and therefore really needed to put in effort in order to prevent to not fall down into debts, and at the same time it was nothing major: it’s a thing that could have happened to anyone; both today and back in those days. It’s also here where Kouhei’s antics made the most impact (heck, he’d been destroying windows at such a stressful time).

I think that Kouhei is at his best when he’s in the background, pretty much like what his sister was in this episode. She had this nice subplot about reading a sad novel ad popped up twice or trice, was nice to see, got fleshed out a bit, and then disappeared a bit. Kouhei also had these kinds of episodes for him, and that’s where he really works as this nice annoying brat. The stories around him though… they just don’t feel as interesting as the rest of the cast.
Rating: * (Good)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 07

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



So, this was a silly episode. Still, I enjoyed it. Considering what this series is doing at the moment (building up for its second half), this was an episode well spent.

My big problem with the previous episodes was not that they suddenly turned into slice of life. Instead, I got the impression that they just didn’t have any inspiration to fill their time. The drama was forced, the new characters, and the scenarios and settings that were used to spice up these episodes actually just backfired. The soldiers in this episode was as flat as a pancake, but for the first time in ages I got the feeling that the characters were genuine again.

By far the most annoying part about this series is the innuendo, which really feels out of place. What have the creators already done to Ohana at this point? Tied her up? Put her in a china dress? Having middle aged guys peep on her? This is the kind of fanservice that I dislike: it’s not about how explicit it is or not, but it’s just consistently out of place and consistently breaks down the mood.

The most important thing though, is that this episode showed a nicely different side to many of the characters: beyond the silliness it actually did a great job in fleshing out the cast without making them go out of character. It’s not just Tomoe: the rest of the cast also got these tiny scenes that revealed more about their characters, and this time the episode actually made good use of it. This show seemed to have struggled a lot with keeping its characters enjoyable and interesting to watch, and this episode was well spent, despite the very stereotypical guest characters.
Rating: * (Good)

Ao no Exorcist – 05

by psgels, posted in Ao no Exorcist



So this was the episode that the OP and promo art kept building up to: the episode that focused on the new classmates of Rin, and in particular the proper introduction of the angry punk-like guy.It was an episode that was bound to have annoyances, but at the same time it also did a lot of things right.

Rin who just kept dozing off for example was… rather annoying. The lead character flunking tests and not paying attention in class to the point of extreme has been a bit of a dead horse by now, and this episode did not offer anything new for that. What it did offer anything new for however, was the way the relationship between these two hotheads developed. I really liked how, when Punk Guy taunted Rin with a dare that was bound to happen with the way it was set up, Rin outright refused. That was quite good, and a breath of fresh air around the constant bickering of these two.

What also helped here was the bunch of other classmates. They don’t feel like cliches or stereotypes, and were actually quite likable in this episode. They’re all quite down to earth in their own way, and feel more than just necessary straight men for the main characters (that role was for Yukio anyway).
Rating: * (Good)

Tiger & Bunny – 07

by psgels, posted in Tiger & Bunny



It’s episodes like this that show that this series is excellent at creating action scenes. The gorgeous architecture really shined in the aerial battle of this episode. And overall, this was a really big episode for this series, as it showed the formal introduction of what really looks like the main villain here: a judge posing as a superhero who is firmly against the practices of the main cast.

The interesting thing is that this episode toyed with what his intentions might be. If his intentions are to pull a Light and to indiscriminately kill all bad guys, then his murders in the prisons don’t make any sense: they’re way too selective. While at the same time if he meant to silence people, then his actions seem way too random. It’s probably that his work as a judge has something to do with his real intentions.

Meanwhile, the part where Tiger and Blue Rose were forced to partner up for a while was also hilarious, showing that Blue Rose is an even worse team player than the two main characters. The way she just danced around Tiger and the way in which Tiger just let everything happen was just adorable. Oh, and that mechanic also never fails to crack me up. His voice actor is hilarious for one thing, but this episode also showed that he talks in a completely different tone in front of Barnaby. This episode was chock full of not-really-subtle foreshadowing, but that was a definite nice touch.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Deadman Wonderland – 05

by psgels, posted in Deadman Wonderland



Okay. That was just insane. This was by far the best episode of Deadman Wonderland yet.

You know how usually series blow their biggest budget on the first episode of a series? This episode showed that Deadman Wonderland was not one of those series. The animation was by far the best and most consistent of the series so far. Of course it’s still nowhere near Manglobe’s usual characters, but for once there were no distorted faces getting in the way, the action scenes all looked gorgeous and most importantly: the inbetween animation at times really brought in this extra bit of life out of the characters.

Usually the characters like Ganta are really annoying: the ones who don’t do anything. But heck, in this context the creators actually made his character work. He actually does try enough things, and yet every time he does he only gets pummeled down again by this series, which always manages to find some way to become even harsher than it already has. I mean, this episode was absolutely brutal, both for Ganta and the Crow Character. I really have to praise this show: gore alone gets boring really easily; the characters here are the ones who give it its impact and keep this entire series together. Of course they lack depth compared to other series, but they’re all great to watch, and especially diverse. The creators did an excellent job of getting us to sympathize with this fourteen year-old kid, the type of character who usually is really unlikable.

Now, the big flaw here still is the way in which the creators keep shooting themselves into the foot: yeah, the series is brutal, so it’s going to be really hard to keep Ganta alive. Still, this episode was nowhere as bad as episode 2, and instead was very shounen-ish. In other words, cliched, and we can thank the animators and writers for doing a really good job on it to generate enough suspense of disbelief to actually give it impact, rather making it tedious.
Rating: ** (Excellent)