Break Blade II Review – 75/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



I apologize for the lateness of this review. The biggest reason for that is pretty much a lack of motivation, and that’s pretty much my biggest issue with Break Blade: yes, it’s solid. Yes, it’s got good and realistic battles, and yet it just failed to catch my attention. I do realize that these issues are very subjective, but I still want to try and explain what’s bugging me about this series. And really, it’s not like Break Blade is bad, it’s just… not as good as I expected it to be and that’s what’s getting my goat a bit.

Xebec (or… Zí bek…) clearly got help from Production IG, because the one thing that I do appreciate of Break Blade is how well the action scenes are coordinated. They’re far from your usual mecha bash-fest, and are instead kept on a believable scale. There are a few details that could have been more thought out (like why the mechas don’t have wheels for long-distance travel), but details like those dwarf by the details and movements that a lot of other mecha anime lack. Another thing I really liked was the array of beautifully drawn landscapes.

I’m a lot less enthusiastic about the characters, though. Especially the lead character. Of course I do appreciate that he has his background, and how he’s an actual adult, but the latter is also the only thing that really sets him apart from your average male lead. I had hoped that this second movie of Break Blade would define his character a bit more, but instead it felt like the creators were still running down the “generic male lead checklist”: he learns how to pilot a mecha from out of nowhere, he’s still the only one who is able to pilot what seems like the strongest mecha in the world, he tries not to kill anyone, and let’s not forget at how he formally enlists in the army after considering for a few days to leave everything and not get involved: this guy is just so standard and there’s nothing that sets him apart. He doesn’t feel fleshed out enough, and after two hours of airtime, he still feels pretty flat and shallow as a character. That’s not good for a male lead.

In terms of politics, this episode was solid, but here’s the thing: most of the politics in the second episode were just meant to build up. We know a bit more about the different countries, and why the people are at war with each other, but most of the build up wasn’t really used in this episode, other than turning the lead character’s queen love interest into a bit of a damsel in distress. If the upcoming movies are able to use this build-up, then I’m really willing to hand out high marks for them, but here I have to be honest: this second movie was like the first tedious to watch for me.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Realistic and detailed battles, solid build-up, but I see little use of the build up at this point.
Characters: 7/10 – Generic male lead and a decent side-cast.
Production-Values: 8/10 – For movie standards, this looked great, but nothing really special.
Setting: 7/10 – Lots of build-up but most of the potential is left for later.

Suggestions:
– Guin Saga
– Visions of Excaflowne
– Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu

Nurarihyon no Mago – 16

by psgels, posted in Nurarihyon no Mago



A few episodes ago I complained about how a building just disappeared after it was destroyed. Okay, so never mind: this episode revisited the site at which Yura and Nurarihyon had been fighting, and it was shown that people definitely noticed the mess, and blocked it off to fix it at a later time. Yay for continuity!

In any case, this episode focused on information warfare, in which the bad guys sent a spy to get some inside information about the Nura-clan. It’s also interesting that the Nura clan has actually suffered some fatalities, while their guys are still all alive.

In the meantime, the good news is that Nura’s classmates have stopped being annoying. I’m surprised how much I liked the few scenes in which they try to kill time inside the mansion, and I have to admit that it’s a nice twist to have Nura keep them safe. I mean, the fact remains that they’re very easy targets as soon as those youkai find out that Nura cares about them.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Shinryaku! Ika Musume – 03

by psgels, posted in Shinryaku! Ika Musume



This episode had a few less sketches than last week, so it was a bit slower than the first two episodes. It was still hilarious though, it came with new material, and I can really see that the creators were going for a fear-themed episode: first of all we see the things that scare the human characters, then we get some sketches on the things that scare squid girl, only for the episode to close off with someone who’s actually scared of her.

I liked how this episode showed in what kind of a different environment and culture Squid Girl grew up in, in the way that she had completely no concept of the meaning of ghosts, and instead of ghosts, she’s scared of the big predators that are roaming around the sea. There was also this point at which actual ghosts show up, and I loved how many different ghosts the creators actually put there, from disgruntled authors, surf accident victims and even a bunch of samurai. I love the deadpan delivery of these guys.

As for the rest of the cast, we learn a few of the phobias of them, like the lifeguard is scared of the dark, while a newly introduced surfer girl has this strange fear of squids. Or whatever squid girl makes her think of. The way in which she instantly believed that Squid Girl was a threat to humanity was a bit too much, but I can understand the creators of having some kind of character for Squid Girl to scare. She was indeed hilarious once she found that out. This episode also introduced a few quirks that could become overused running gags, like that classmate’s obsession over Squid Girl, and the lifeguard’s crush on Chizuru (though I like how subtly this was introduced in this episode). Those are the biggest potential pitfalls for this series.
Rating: * (Good)

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo – 03

by psgels, posted in Shinrei Tantei Yakumo



Whether a series follows its original source material exactly, like High School of the Dead, it takes its time telling its story and even adds a bit here and there like Nurarihyon no Mago, or whether it tries to put 180 pages into just one episode: it all has the potential to work out well, as long as the creators have a vision and manage to capture the essence of the source material they’re dealing with. Yakumo is a pretty good example of this: it’s indeed rushed but that also gives it its charms. Making a 13 episode anime is completely different from making a 26 episoded one: with the latter, you can take your time and flesh out the cast and the setting, and carefully build up everything. With the former, you do not.

This show has its flaws. This episode was probably the least interesting one so far due to the time it wasted on that rather long car chase scene, on top of this weird coincidence of Haruka being in the exact same car as the bad guy here as he got possessed (that’s something I also really wonder how the manga made plausible…).

Still, I liked this episode, and especially the chemistry between Yakumo and that detective Kazutoshi. At first Yakumo seems a bit of a clone of Ghost Hunt’s Naru-chan, but it’s these things that form the subtle differences between the two. This episode also established that he isn’t perfect, and that there are also cases in which he fails to make a difference. That’s always nice.

What also impressed me was the soundtrack here. Sure, this series’ soundtrack is nowhere near Bee-Train’s better works, but on its own it really is excellent. It’s not all over the place like usual with Bee-Train, and yet it’s varied, creative. It’s really the soundtrack that saved that car chase scene here.
Rating: * (Good)

OVA Impressions: Black Lagoon – Roberta’s Blood Trail – 02

by psgels, posted in Black Lagoon, OVA Impressions



In terms of television series, Madhouse is currently having its worst season out of all of the seasons that I’ve been blogging, so thankfully Black Lagoon delivers one bright point for them this way. This episode was all about building up, but it did this really well.

Basically we had half an hour of dialogue, leading up to the inevitable clash between Roberta and the US Army, which will probably start on either episode 4 or 5. This episode established who the new maid was, it showed the implications that Roberta’s little adventure will have on Roanapur, while still keeping a few things a secret (for example why Balalaika and the favour that Dutch did to her, and what it had to do with anything here). It showed a lot of new stuff about the setting, like all of the different cartels that are operating in the city.

It’s clear that the creators are intending this to become a chapter in which all hell breaks loose. The previous episode explored how much of a monster Roberta had become, this episode did the same for the other fractions involved: the FARC and the US Army, mainly by not showing them and instead having all kinds of people talk about them.
OVA Episode Rating: 8,25/10

Star Driver – 03

by psgels, posted in Star Driver




Hell yeah, this is looking really good: like Utena, Star Driver, beyond focusing on the main villains, also focuses on the people close to them. Right now, it may seem a bit random, but I’m betting my hat that these guys will return over the course of the series. It’s not like the cast of this series is infinite, and something really is telling me that the main villains will get plenty of time to show themselves.

As for the accusations of this series being formulaic: well, I guess it is partly. However, that’s the entire point of the series: Utena was the same: it had a ton of stuff that happened in every episode. The thing is however, that beyond that formula, you couldn’t predict it at all. The repetition caused it to become a bit ritualistic, which provided a beyond excellent framework for the characters to work with.

Star Driver looks like it’s going to be the same: every episode has the meeting of the council, it sets up someone to become Takuto’s opponent, it shows this person open the cybercasket, the caged girl starts singing the same song, Takuto transforms, and after a fight Takuto wins and the opponent hands in some kind of badge. Beyond that, though: it’s new and fresh. It’s one of the very few series that’s willing to try out new ideas, half of the characters are unique and unlike anyone else, and even the characters that fit a certain archetype are fun to watch.

I’m also really glad to see that the graphics still look really impressive. This is the third episode in a row that ha d a really exciting battle here, and on top of that the creators have made every match different. This one centred around sword battles, and even beyond that the style of animation also was a bit different here. Again: just think of the potential for the future of this series when the creators just continue to up the ante here.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Heartcatch Precure – 36

by psgels, posted in Heartcatch Precure




Awesome idea: when it’s finally time for the school festival and the fashion show, the creators call in the help of the local light music club. Again it’s within the whole theme of Tsubomi and Erika not being the only ones with stress and nerves, and on top of that it was also a nice excuse to make the fashion show even more awesome than it already was.

The desatorians in this episode were even more on the background than usual. The real climax of this episode was the fashion show, and combined with the performance of the light music club it really was a wonderful end to all of the effort that Tsubomi, Erika and the other members of the fashion club put into it. And I usually have no interest in fashion whatsoever! Also note how the creators tried to insert as many family members as they could: the only one missing was Yuri’s mother.

Overall, the school festival was a very interesting detour here. Directly it had nothing to do with defeating Dune and Sabaaku, but it was a really excellent way to flesh out both the main cast, and the people around them: it allowed some of the previous characters to make a reappearance, and overall it was just really fun to watch. After this we should probably get a few more random stories, and I am very curious, both in what part Cure Moonlight will play in it, and what the creators have in mind for the next arc. We’re nearing the final quarter here, so they should start to develop the bad guys by now.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Letter Bee – 28

by psgels, posted in Letter Bee



I’m not sure whether this was a filler or an original chapter from the manga: it could be either one, because it was a random story and yet it had some small relevance: it related back to Lag’s desire to see Gauche again, and his difficulties in expressing his thoughts. Either way, it was in no way a wasted episode.

This episode was a tad predictable, but its charms more than made up for it. I’m not sure what exactly it was that made this episode stand apart from similar stories. Perhaps it was how easily that old maid’s plans, which could have dragged on forever, were thwarted, or how the childhood friend of that rich woman actually sold the treasure that she received when they last met, and always wanted to make up for it somehow.

Usually, bonds between two characters that are just based on one event feel shallow, however this time I could really buy it. It was that hairpin who saved that girl from her debts, and I can see how it made an impact on both of them. That girl, I find it very interesting that she said goodbye to her siblings when they were old enough to take care of themselves. It actually shows a lot about the world they’re in, and how Lag and the other bees aren’t the only children who are working, away from their parents. It’s interesting how in the Letter Bee world, it’s normal for children to develop themselves very early.

Also, the people in the world of Letter Bee have really weird watermarks. 😛
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Katanagatari – 10

by psgels, posted in Katanagatari



A really good episode this time, whose entire purpose was to relate back to the past: for Togame it showed her childhood, and Shichika related back to his past matches. On top of that, it was quite an interesting episode in the way that the sword this time was one who produced illusions, making it an interesting one for the mind games, plus an actual sword with a self-consciousness.

I also feel like this series is getting better and better at pacing itself. Really, these episodes have more dialogue than you can shake a stick at, yet I wasn’t bored for a second, even though I my broken Japanese didn’t understand everything that was said. That’s exactly what I’m looking for in a “tons of dialogue”-series. I mean, it’s easy to read an entire essay that goes on for ages (just look at that recent Musashi movie from Mamoru Oshii), but it’s much more difficult to make the dialogue blend in with the animation and storytelling. I’m glad that Katanagatari found a way to keep itself from getting boring or tedious.

The thing I also like a lot here is that Togame and Shichika feel just like a real couple. Very refreshing in anime where half of the creators don’t know the meaning of that word at all. Finally we can see some actual intimacy, rather than people beating each other up at the slightest romantic tension.

As for the final episodes, I think we’ve established the final bad guys at this point by now. The next two episodes should resolve everything. With two hours left, that should be more than enough time, considering how easy it was to plan in this series over 12 episodes. My biggest worry right now is that Hitei might prove to not be the most interesting opponent. It’s all going to depend on how that final episode can give her more depth than she has now.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Bakuman – 03

by psgels, posted in Bakuman



Okay, so when Moritaka’s uncle was in high school, he had this girl he was semi-dating, and exchanged letters with. This girl eventually married someone else, and became the mother of Miho, who looks exactly like her at that age… Even Death Note’s romance was more plausible than that…

This episode was pretty much similar to the previous two: the parts that focused on the mangas were interesting, and it’s also good to see more depth on Moritaka’s uncle, but the romance again was pretty dull. Using these coincidences is always a bit of a matter of walking on a tight-rope: if they’re small or the rest of the series makes up for it, they can often be forgiven, but this was just too much, especially considering this series is still introducing itself. I especially don’t like the cliche that you see everywhere, in which a mother and daughter look exactly like each other. That’s called lazy character-designing!

In any case, I’m now beginning to understand why Moritaka’s uncle is such a big focus of these first three episodes, because it allows the lead character to already have a bit of experience with the manga industry, and how it works, and yet there’s going to be a lot of contrast, since the manga that Moritaka is thinking of is a lot more sophisticated than the gag manga that his uncle became famous for. Most of the times with anime like these, the characters involved start out as total rookies, so it’s definitely a refreshing change here.
Rating: * (Good)