[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control – 04

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



It’s here where this series really shows that it’s more than just another pokemon clone. At least, until Pokemon starts turning into a series about economics. I mean, first of all taking away a guy’s kids when he goes bankrupt: that’s some pretty hardcore stuff, but this episode also really looked into why people go into the financial district, plus the difficulties in raising children.

The second half of this episode meanwhile was about reliability, something you also don’t see a lot on these fighting series. The best players are often just one-sidedly strong, while here it’s a bit more nuanced: the best players are the ones who are able to minimize their losses. It’s definitely a series that’s full of interesting ideas.

I have two complaints, though. First of all this episode introduced a lot of new characters who I doubt will able to get their depth within 11 episodes. Also, I’m still not sure why Kimimaro is the main character. He lacks… motivation. I’m still not sure why I should root for him, especially when he keeps winning through either dumb luck or other people helping him.
Rating: * (Good)

Showa Monogatari – 04 – AGAIN

by psgels, posted in Showa Monogatari



Ah, finally this thing appeared. It’s about bloody time. Seriously, I have been blogging anime for a long time, but I’ve only encountered one show where the raws took even longer to show up (some of the episodes of Porfy no Nagai Tabi). This series is not a kiddie show! It actually has very good characters!

In any case, this episode mostly shed lights on what would happen to Kanako in later episodes. In terms of romance, it was actually pretty good here. I mean, in this episode she fails, but she does actively try to ask him out. It’s not like she’s in denial about her feelings. It’s refreshing to see a romance that is more about the question “when will he/she grab the courage to confess”, rather than “when will they realize they’re into each other”. It’s also interesting how in the future episodes, she still is struggling with her feelings later on with the series.

Also, in this episode Kouhei wanted to watch a show called 8 Man. Yeah, that 8 Man. Heh, I nearly forgot that this took place in the year after the debut of Astro Boy.

On a side-note: it’s ironic that Kouhei’s friends have better voice actors than him.
Rating: * (Good)

Steins;Gate – 05

by psgels, posted in Steins;Gate



In this episode: the clear hint that the main characters aren’t what they seem. Makise Kurisu apparently did something to Suzyha Amane but this was somewhere in the future so she didn’t actually do that yet. In other words this episode was foreshadowing things that are about to happen. The interesting thing is that we were promised an dimensional time conspiracy thriller, and here this series is going “screw that for now, first I want to set everything up correctly!”

Now, the people of Cern are a bunch of idiots for storing reports that could cause a public outrage… on an unencrypted mail server. I mean, all you need is one hacker who is crazy enough to try and break into a world famous organization (which, let’s face it, is very likely to happen), and you’re screwed. It’s a good thing that Okarin is such a proud idiot that he refuses to let anyone else in on his discoveries. At the same time though, the way in which this show keeps talking about them but never shows who they actually are is definitely good for the mystery in this show.

Mayuri meanwhile… got on my nerves in this episode. It’s both that her voice actress is very monotonously ditzy, as well as how she hasn’t really been useful, has she? Amongst Makise and Okarin’s banter, and the knowledge of the other characters, she feels out of place. All she has is this sad past and all, but so far the plot would be exactly the same if she was simply removed. I hope that the creators are building her up for something other than just a damsel in distress.
Rating: * (Good)

Supernatural The Animation Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Supernatural The Animation



Supernatural was definitely an interesting experiment: produce 22 straight to DVD episodes, based on a popular American TV-series. Supernatural adapts the first two seasons of the Live-Action series, and delivers quite an excellent storyline in the process.

The series is episodic, and follows the “First half Random stories, second half plot”-format. In the first half it takes a look at all sorts of supernatural phenomena, and it always tries to make things more or deeper than what they seem at first. Some stories are better than others, but they always make sure to also build up to an overall storyline in some way, or give mode depth to the main characters. It really gets going however when the second half arrives and the characters and main plot go and stand into the spotlight. There is a ton of character development and every episode just finds some way of making things more interesting.

It’s a series that loves to give its own spin on familiar concepts. At first you might think that this show has a lot of tropes, but it always uses them significantly different from what you’d expect. This series is fresh, and makes use of it.

The big flaw of Supernatural is that at times the acting is a bit stiff, that leads to a number of cheesy scenes at times, especially in the first half of the show. As the series goes on though, the character development more than makes up for it. This series especially rocks in how it shows many different stages of the lead characters’ lives, This show doesn’t just have one flashback that shows about who they were when they were younger: it has a ton of them, and you can really see how the events they went through shaped their characters.

With very stylish visuals, Madhouse surely delivered on this series, after the disappointment that was Iron Man. The show looks gorgeous despite a tight animation budget, and it really has the plot and characters to make for an amazing watch.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Excellent version of the “first half random stories, second half plot”-format. Knows how to tell stories with twists and uses them really well.
Characters: 9/10 – Terrific character development.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Not consistent and has problems with making characters move believably, but the visual style is definitely impressive.
Setting: 8/10 – Re-imagines folklore in quite an interesting way, and some parts are looked at with a surprising amount of detail.

Suggestions:
– Witch Hunter Robin
– Rainbow
– Night Head Genesis

Supernatural The Animation – 22

by psgels, posted in Supernatural The Animation



The lead up to the climax of this episode was utterly amazing. Dean’s character in particular went through a leap of character development. “Getting shot right before the ending”-twists are common, but this show has actually been building up to. Sam actually died back there, and like, immediately, however, the previous episodes made it very clear that it’s possible to revive someone with your own life, and Dean had to beg for it even more than usual. Dean made one heck of a decision to just live one year for the sake of his brother, especially after his father gave his own life so that he could keep living. That really made this episode for me.

As for the actual climax: Jake indeed was a great villain here. After that though… the creators unfortunately did pull a number of Deus ex Machina. Sam now got his powers much more under control, but the most notable was that ghost of their father showing up at exactly the right time to get rid of the yellow eyed demon. It’s a tad too conventient for a) the Yellow Eyed Demon not firing off the final bullet (he only wanted the Colt, not its bullets), b) their father knowing where the gates of hell were, INSIDE of hell, and 3) the yellow eyed demon being scared of ghosts. Sam coming back and his powers: okay. Those were built up. Unfortunately we never really got an in-depth look into the yellow eyed demon himself. We never really learned about the nature of hell. That hurt this episode.

Overall, the thing I hated about this series the most is its release schedule: airing at these batches of six at a time was… a bit too much at times. It is that this was a great series, but the next time such a thing happens I’ll probably write some sort of compilation post. And don’t get me wrong: it’s great to have three series with an irregular schedule in half a year (Mitsudomoe 2, Moshidora and Supernatural): these are the series that need to be successful in order to get rid of that weakness that anime tends to have, when they are too constrained by having a fixed amount of episodes. Just don’t make me blog 22 episodes in three months anymore…
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Supernatural The Animation – 21

by psgels, posted in Supernatural The Animation



Oh, this really was an excellent semi-final episode, which subverted quite a few tropes in the process. This really was fresh and imaginative. It came with great twists and yet it delivered even more in terms of the characters.

I loved how down to earth this episode was. Usually anime use these semi-final episodes to build up for an epic finale, but this episode instead was quiet and slow-paced, even though it did build up for the bad guy trying to take over the world. The atmosphere was excellent because of that, especially because this episode brought back some of the best side characters of the series. It’s just a bloody shame that so many of them died so quickly. Not because it’s bad storytelling, but rather that I’d love to have seen more of them. That’s a compliment here.

I also really like how this episode toyed around with the “chosen one”-tropes: at first it indeed seems that Sam was the chosen one, where his powers would be the strongest of all characters in the series. But here we have a girl who can kill people on touch, and… a guy who is so strong that he just punched a hole in Sam. Sam may have been able to blow up a deer and all, but in terms of actual control he’s pretty much the most useless of the bunch who were transported to that ghost town, destined to fight to the death.

The question for the final episode has suddenly gotten much more interesting. Jake is an excellent villain here to use there, especially because it still remains the question what he’ll end up doing. He only was introduced 2 episodes ago, but his military background actually worked out really well here.

I really love supernatural’s plot. My only criticism for this episode: stop talking triumphantly about your evil plan when there’s still a gorilla of a soldier walking around!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Supernatural The Animation – 20

by psgels, posted in Supernatural The Animation



Ah, the episode where a character gets possessed and is forced to live in a completely different world. I have to say, Supernatural did an amazing job on it. This was definitely among the better episodes of Supernatural.

Throughout the series Dean’s character has always been about how his family changed as he grew up: first he lived happily along with his parents, then Sam was born, then his mother died and he was forced by his father to become a hunter, then Sam grew up and went to College, only for Jessica to die, his father to disappear and him to travel together with Sam, with eventually his father ending up dead. Before he already got a chance to change this fate, but this really takes the cake, showing exactly what would have happened if none of that took place.

It’s got nothing to do with the plot, actually. It’s just there to give more depth to Dean, and it’s definitely an interesting way to spend the episode before the big finale. It’s especially interesting that Supernatural indeed will only have a two-episode climax. That will make it either short, but sweet, or a complete rushed disaster. If the creators can pull it off though, it can get an amazing ending. The big question is whether the creators will find a fitting end for the now God-Moded Yellow Eyed Demon.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Tiger & Bunny – 05

by psgels, posted in Tiger & Bunny




Oh, I loved this episode. It was quite silly, but it poked fun at a lot of superhero cliches in the process, and yet at the same time it gave a lot of depth to Barnaby’s character. This show understands what makes a good episodic series!

The banter between the characters especially was priceless here. The tension between Tiger and Bunny is of course great, but the side characters actually all support this. In this episode especially the designer was hilarious in the way that he kept the team together, but Skyhigh too was great. I love how the best hero for once isn’t the main rival to be overcome, but instead is this guy passionately helpful yet simple guy who you just cannot dislike. Barnaby meanwhile, the guy you’d expect in this position, instead keeps getting harassed by his partner.

Then there were the weapon upgrades during the battle at the end. I loved the way in which they poked fun at superhero upgrades: first they cleave diamond, and then they just turn out to be fashion accessories that furthermore don’t disappear, making Barnaby walk rather wonky. They’re these neat touches that just keep popping up.

Also, this is what I want in an episodic series beyond a solid execution: variety. Every episode so far has been different and unlike the other. In fact, that is THE advantage of episodic series over shows with a continuous story: they allow the creators to fastly switch from one premise to the other to show many different stories and flesh out the cast from many different views and moods. A lot of series that use this formula unfortunately forget this and just go with strings of episodes that look like each other.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 05

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



Misunderstandings in anime are annoying. Especially when they can be solved by just… talking to each other. Unfortunately this episode didn’t escape that. What’s worse, is that the creators tried to hide the fact that Tohru was just filling in for a day, yet it was obvious from the start that nothing was going on. Seeing this only fueled up by the novellist, who was the most annoying character of this series anyway, made things even worse.

At least this episode fleshed out Minko and Ohana. This arc established Minko’s character as a hard-working yet lovestruck girl, and it developed the friction between her and Ohana better, and we also have a good basis for a romance as well. Ohana also finally sent a message to her boyfriend as well, so it’s not like this episode was wasted.

What I want to see right now is variety: instead of making the next episode focus on romance yet again, make it focus on something completely different again. The bets example of this was the transition between episodes 2 and 3.
Rating: * (Good)

Ao no Exorcist – 03

by psgels, posted in Ao no Exorcist



I must say: whoever designed the magical academy and especially its buildings did a mighty fine job. Everything looks grand, but beyond that there’s also a lot of creativity put in the different buildings. It’s also really well detailed.

Now, I did find it a bit far-fetched that Yukio turned out to not only be a genius exorcist at the age of fifteen, but also an actual teacher already. It’s in any case rather strange for him to wait until downright appearing in front of his class to reveal all of this, involving the rest of his classmates who should have nothing to do with him at this point.

The first half overall wasn’t really that interesting: it was just your average introduction. Then the second half came, and the brothers actually got to talk to each other, and it really made up for that. The creators of course had to make it exciting by suddenly unleashing a herd of random goblins on the characters, but that gave it a really nice charm. It’s been established by now that this is a pure shounen series, and considering that it does a very good job.

The main characters’ reason for trying to become stronger: again it’s typical shounen to put so much emphasis on this, but his reasons aren’t for revenge, trying to become the best, or trying to save a girl he likes, and instead everything here comes back to his father: wanting nobody else to die because of him. On top of that, the creators also used his brother to give the same reason. It’s actually a very good motivation, and I especially liked how this episode kept tugging at the relationship between the two brothers.
Rating: * (Good)