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)

Togainu no Chi – 02

by psgels, posted in Autumn 2010 Kaleidoscope



Ah, you know what? The World God Only Knows is hereby dropped. I thought about it a bit more yesterday, and realized something here:
– Panty and Stocking pokes fun at cute girls and American cartoons. It’s characters are thin, but it is a better comedy and parody than TWGOK.
– Squid Girl may not be a parody, but it’s still a much better comedy than TWGOK and its entire cast is far more down to earth and likable than Elcea.
– Milky Holmes has a great time taking the piss out of moe shows and the detective genre, and is also a far better comedy and parody than TWGOK.
– Kuragehime has a cliched premise, and yet it’s a far fresher and better comedy than TWGOK.
– When you look at the series that are carried over from previous seasons, you have Marie&Gali 2, which again with its creativity is far a better comedy and parody than TWGOK.

I didn’t realize this back on Wednesday, but damn: that show is redundant.

As an alternative, I’ve been considering Togainu no Chi and Otome Youkai Zakuro. Even though Togainu no Chi is much less well produced, it does have the potential that I don’t feel at Otome Youkai Zakuro. Until that changes, I’m interested enough in covering this series. This episode still was pretty poorly produced and acted, but the script was pretty solid, providing some much needed introductions and a much more varied cast. Mystery does remain one of my favourite genres, and this episode, unlike the first, had me intrigued.

It’s clear that the lead couple is gay at this point, but that was not one of my worries for this series. Instead, the bad bishie series are just like the bad moe series, in which they have this really weird and unnatural way in which they portray their characters. These are the series like Hanasakeru Seishounen and Miracle train, in which the characters act like a bunch of catalog models, or how everyone and his dog is suddenly gay. Most of this can be blamed on bad actors, who try way too hard to catch attention. Togainu no Chi has a few of those, but it’s not the entire cast here. This episode showed that the main couple knows how to at least be a bit subtle, That guy in the bar kept hopping back and forth between hammy and reserved, though that kid that was introduced in this episode is trying way too hard.

If a bunch of characters are gay, but well portrayed, I have no problems with them. Just in the same that moe girls get really annoying when they only try to pander to their audience without doing anything more. But really… that dog. I’m not really sure what to think about him…
Rating: * (Good)

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu – 16

by psgels, posted in Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu



Recap. And not a good one either: most of it was told from the perspective of Ferris’ sister, so we had to endure a really annoying voice-over throughout this entire episode. Only the final part was amusing, when they tried to tally the amount of dango that Ferris has consumed throughout the series. At least that was creative.

Still, there are just nine episodes left. Withthat, I really am going to have to compare this to Koukaku no Regios: that too had a lot of potential for its storyline. It was built around a concept that was possibly even more interesting than Denyuuden’s, and yet for most of its airtime it just kept focusing on a bloody love triangle that went nowhere: out of everything that it could have chosen to focus on, it chose the most boring part, leaving the rest of the story as a giant rushed mess. That’s what I’m starting to fear that Denyuuden will turn into: I am really willing to believe that this series gets really awesome in its second half and all, but I’m not sure whether the anime creators also believe this. We’re talking about the same guy who wrote the adaptation of Kurogane no Linebarrels here… Will 9 episodes really be enough?
Rating: — (Lacking)

Shiki – 12

by psgels, posted in Shiki



It’s taken three weeks, but it’s worth the wait. This episode was mostly one that was delaying the inevitable, but it did so really well, with the same atmosphere that made the first half so good.

The focus surprisingly fell on Kaori and Akira, especially in the second half, since Natsuno was too busy dying and his father was being an asshole. Still, I thought that Natsuno might have tried to escape the Shiki, but to me that seems like it’s going to be Toshio and Seishin’s role. Throughout this episode, Natsuno focused more and more on getting Tooru back, and in the end he seemed to have just accepted that he’s going to be a vampire. Speaking of which… what the heck happened to Masao?

But those vampires are really shrewd: they systematically aim to disable parts of the village, they take over the entire village council, so nothing will go outside the village, they try to stop anyone who tries to go to Toshi’s house, and they’re really thinking of exterminating the entire village.

On a side-note: is the manga actually finished at this point? If not, then we’re having a potential pitfall here, because this is just one of those stories that would suck if it were cut off in the middle (pun not intended). Of course, the novel has an ending, and I really hope that the creators manage to blend in this ending well enough with the manga’s storyline. That really seems much more complicated than simply adapting a straight-forward manga story.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
OP: Better visuals, but the song isn’t as good as the first.
ED: This one’s really good, though: haunting soundtrack, beautiful visuals. Much better than the first ED.

Kuragehime – 01

by psgels, posted in Kuragehime



Ah, first impressions for those really late airing Noitamina shows are pointless. Over the course of 2009 and 2010, there has been only one Noitamina series that I didn’t blog: Nodame Cantabile’s Final arc. Apart from that, it really evolved into a top-notch time-slot over the past two years, in which just about every premise was creative, well thought out and varied. The sea creatures are really top notch this season.

I was looking forward to this series less than usual, though, but that all laid in the premise, which was full of things that are usually horribly abused in anime. While it’s true that this is the first series about fujoshi, series that focus on otaku are a dime a dozen, and I’ve really found that those shows, instead of trying to portray otaku, they instead try to glorify being an otaku way too much. Considering myself not really an otaku, there really have been very few otaku shows that I ended up liking. The same goes for cross-dressing: a lot of anime cross dressers are turned into some kind of fetish, or are just completely pointless in the series they’re in.

Still, my fears were completely wrong. Kuragehime is a series that’s full of life, and the comedy isn’t just funny: it plays around with a lot of other emotions. Basically, what I wanted to see in this episode was more than just a bunch of random jokes, but also a lot of character. This episode had its bits of drama, which really convinced me that this series will be more than just a bunch of random laughs. It introduced the lead character well, showing that it won’t have paper thin characters, and due to its slice of life nature, it can just stop at any random moment, avoiding Noitamina’s biggest weakness: its short length.

The thing I liked the most about this episode was its energy, though. It’s also really well directed, which always is a big plus. On top of that, I also loved how nonchalantly the creators introduced the cross-dresser in this episode. Most cross-dressers try not to get found out or something, but this guy just didn’t seem to care. I love how he is completely unlike any other anime character I’ve seen: straight-forward as hell, grown up, nonchalant, and someone who actually looks like he has a normal sex life. Really, since it seems like only 1% of all major characters in anime aren’t virgins, this really is a very potentially interesting guy.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
OP: Hollywood classics? Awesome!
ED: Interesting kid theme. A pretty nice song as well.

The World God Only Knows – 02

by psgels, posted in Autumn 2010 Kaleidoscope



Okay, so this one will be blogged, mostly based on how many people were looking forward to it. I’m going to take your word for it that this is supposed to be a parody, rather than something that doesn’t know it’s using its cliches. Overall, this series has some similarities to Togainu no Chi: both are series based on very popular franchises. Both weren’t the best at adaptations and both have rather bad directors. In TWGOK’s case, it’s been saddled with Shigehito Takayanagi, the guy behind Hime-Sama Goyoujin, a series whose entire premise was nothing but stupidity. You can really see those influences in Elcea, or was she also such a moe blob in the manga?

Still, the reason why I chose this series over Togainu no Chi is that it does have some decent characterizations. The main character is far from your average lead character and I’m expecting that this will continue on for the entire series. I especially want to see this series pulling off its female characters correctly, instead of making this into yet another series in which the lead characters makes a bunch of stereotypes fall for him. The twist at the end of this episode was a good start, but far from enough. A big problem is that there’s also no continuity: one moment there’s a hole in the house, the next moment that hole is gone. That stands out especially after a series like Squid Girl did this right.

Parodies are my favourite genre in anime comedies. To me, what constitutes a great parody is a series whose entire premise is made around making fun its subject material, and exploiting its flaws. With its premise, TWGOK made a good start, but at the same time I feel like it plays too many things straight, again, especially with Elcea. I really hope that her stupidity will be used to prove a point in the near future, because the cooking scenes, the scenes in which the classmates act like a bunch of dogs over the hot girl near the lead character, and the scenes in which Elcea immediately believes that sisters and brothers should bathe together: those aren’t parodies, they’re overused cliches and stereotypes that plague the moe genre. Obviously, if this series keeps that going on for too long, I’m going to switch over to Togainu no Chi or even Index if that too turns out to be a disaster.
Rating: (Enjoyable)