High School of the Dead – 08

by psgels, posted in High School of the Dead



I still believe that these are some really strange zombies. I mean, usually from zombies you’d expect the mindset of “humans tasty. rawr”. The zombies here however… they only respond to certain sounds, and even then they just have this tendency to not move for any period of time. I guess that this is a bit of a problem that came from adapting this thing from manga to anime: I imagine that it may have been plausible in the manga, but in anime form it’s getting a bit ludicrous.

The climax of this episode was a bit weird in more ways than just that. I mean, beyond the zombies: the characters could easily have jumped over the fence and run away. Sure, they would have lost the car, but at least they would still be alive. What kept them from doing that? Sheer fear? And yet… the soundtrack in this episode and especially in the final quarter of this episode was the best of this series so far. What this episode lacked in sense it actually made up with its tension.

This episode also put a lot of attention on the guns this time, especially with the way in which Hirono had to explain the workings and details of all of them. The fanservice… was just crazy. Ah well, at least it was creative. My main problem with fanservice is that it often is cheap, completely pointless and annoying, but that was nowhere near the case here.
Rating: * (Good)

Which Autumn Series do you want me to Blog?

by psgels, posted in Special Articles

Every year, about a month before the fall season, I hold this poll in which you can force me to blog one of the upcoming autumn seasons. In this contest, you can either force me to blog an awesome-looking series, or a series that I normally would never consider covering. I’m a bit earlier than usual this year (blame impatience).

Either way, during the previous years I asked you to simply drop a comment with the series you voted for. Unfortunately, because last time people cheated I had to find a different way to do it. I didn’t want to post a simple poll (I really want this contest to be between my readers, instead of people who visit random sites and click on random polls), so I settled with an online survey, which can be found here:

http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=KBDEML_aef4ec97

Here are some concrete rules:
– To make a valid vote, visit the above link and leave the titles of your selection. You can select up to two series from the upcoming Autumn season.
– The anime with the most amount of votes in the end will be blogged for at least 12 or 13 episodes.
– Here and here are lists with the shows that are scheduled to air.
– This year I also decided to drop the “No direct sequels”-rule, so you can also nominate series as Index II and Sora no Otoshimono II.
– I haven’t tested this out yet, but at the online survey you should be able to modify your answer after having voted.
– I accept any series with an airdate between September 20th and November 11th.
– The poll will end at September 30, 23:59 GMT. All votes that arrive after that will be ignored.

You can find the results here:

http://www.kwiksurveys.com/results-overview.php?surveyID=KBDEML_aef4ec97&mode=4

Counted together, it makes for this list:
Bakuman : 83
Psychic Detective Yakumo : 82
Togainu no Chi : 57
Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai : 53
Toaru Majutsu no Index II : 44
Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto: 41
Kuragehime : 37
Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt : 25
Iron Man : 24
Tegami Bacchi Reverse: 16
Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru: 13
Otome Youkai Zakuro : 12
Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai : 11
Sora no Otoshimono Forte : 10
Arakawa Under the Bridge 2: 7
Shinryaku! Ika Musume: 7
Yosuga no Sora: 6
Hakuouki 2: 4
MM!: 4
Motto To Love Ru: 2
Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector: 2
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes: 2
Fortune Arterial: 1
Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls: 1
Pokemon Best Wishes: 1

nb: the series in italics are invalid (why Kannagi?)

Giant Killing – 21

by psgels, posted in Giant Killing



Oh, I’m loving this series more and more. Even though this was meant to be just a building up episode (its goal was to create as much despair as possible without making the match nearly impossible to win again), it still rocked and I enjoyed every minute of it. That’s really what I’m looking for in an awesome series.

At this point, the entire cast is just so fun to watch, and not to mention that the creators really have put them against an awesome opposing team that sparkles with personality as well. This episode also really took its time to flesh out the team, and explain the biggest reason in why they’re so dominant: Kubota. Quite an interesting character. And the interesting thing is this: yes, Osaka was completely dominant in this episode. And yet this episode gave away a few hints at how the second half of the match will not be as one-sided. I’m talking about the point at which Dulfer says that the guy didn’t have the stamina to really stand out as a defender. And yet here he was running all over the field. My guess is that this guy is going to get tired, and I think that that’s what Tsubaki is waiting for.

The forwards were also interesting here: a few attacks were made, but it looks like Natsuki isn’t really sharp, while Gino has trouble placing his shots well enough for Tsubaki to take advantage of them. Is this on purpose? I suspect the latter to be the case. The final minutes of the episode were also nerve-wrecking. The characters finally had this chance… and yet the whistle blew. It wasn’t as cheesy that they would have definitely scored if it wasn’t for that whistle, but still, it could have turned the tides.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru – 20

by psgels, posted in Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru



Holy crap! I’m impressed here. This could pretty much be the best episode of Uragiri so far. It’s really amazing how this episode stood out when it mostly involved characters we only really got to know one episode ago.

When Yuki ran off for Luka I expected another silly conflict. But instead this episode just kept building up its tension more and more. Every time at which I thought that the episode hit its climax, it just went even further. The build-up here was absolutely terrific, there was no minute wasted. The episode started out really quiet with actually some really effective piano music. After that point, there was hardly any break to allow the viewer to catch a bit of breath.

Looking back, the point at which Kuroto told Senshiro to quit was really powerful. After four years of hardships. This choice between protecting someone or protecting yourself from getting involved is nothing new in anime, but because it’s such a major theme in this series it’s really working here. I mean, half the cast in this series is struggling with that exact question, but all under different circumstances.

Also, during the second half, I really like how the creators subverted the “sudden save”-cliche. I’ve seen so many of those scenes in which characters are driven to the brink of defeat, only for someone who was looking for them to arrive at the exact right time. The second half of this episode had three or four of those moments, and yet Luka arrived too late to do anything here. Every time, the save was made by either Yuki, Kuroto, Senshiro or Reiga; all of which were fairly believable. Reiga’s appearance at the end. He may have just been sitting in the shadows. Really: what were his intentions back then? Doesn’t he want Yuki to die or something?
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Sengoku Basara – 19

by psgels, posted in Sengoku Basara



Well, I think that this is the curse of this series: build up. This was another episode with just four minute of fighting, with the rest of the airtime devoted to building up. We know at this point that this has awesome results: just look at the previous episode. Unlike the first season, the build up here actually gets realized, and is more than worth it. But yeah, this episode wasn’t much special.

I mean, seriously: it’s obvious right now that the creators are preparing themselves for the showdown between Toyotomi, Masamune and Yukimura. At this point it’s really making sure that these guys have enough to show in that final episodes. Those are two episodes that I’m really looking forward to. At the same time, what could have made this series even better was if the creators would have found a way to make these kinds of episodes exciting as well. That is what really would have made this into an awesome action series.

I’m not sure what to think of that guy with the really weird haircut. At this point, I’ve seen too little of him, though the fight against him was a bit disappointing. As an ally against Toyotomi though, he might prove to be interesting.

Oh, and there’s a new ED. It’s a shame that the singer has this really cheesy voice because I like the visuals. They fit the series well, and it captures the different subplots of the second season very nicely.
Rating: * (Good)

To Aru Majutsu no Index Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



To Aru Majutsu no Index and Kagaku no Railgun. They’re both two series that I dropped very quickly when they first aired, though for completely different reasons. Railgun to me was genuinely annoying; I really don’t want to watch anything more of that. Index however… yeah. I dropped it because I had no idea what it was trying to be. “You want an interesting setting? Well, we’re too busy with action right now.” “You want action? Well, here are some long dialogues full of exposition.” “You want dialogues? Screw that! Here are some cute girls to annoy you!” It feels like all of those parts tried to cockblock each other.

Still, I have to admit: this series is based on some neat ideas, in which people can either have naturally born powers, or have to learn them as magic. The creators seemed to have put a lot of attention in coming up with interesting scenarios and backgrounds, so in another one of those “why not”-moments I gave this show a second chance. Overall, it’s a series that definitely has its moments, but as a standalone series I wouldn’t recommend it unless the upcoming second season really gets significantly better.

The series consists out of a number of different arcs, often completely unrelated, in which Touma (the lead character) saves a bunch of people (often cute girls). These arcs really vary from surprisingly good to completely pointless, and they can all be pretty much seen as separate entities. The worst for me were the Deep Blood and the Imaginary Number arcs. Both felt too forced, featured the worst characters of the series and felt completely pointless in the end. My personal favourite was the Angel Fall arc, because it’s that arc in which we actually learn the most about the lead character, Touma. I really liked what that arc added to his character.

The main weakness of Index isn’t the fact that all of these arcs are unrelated. In fact, this way the series can neatly show different kinds of aspects in its setting, explore its own magic system and show what its world looks like. No, my main problem with this series is that it’s so caught up in its own exposition that it often forgets its character.

So because of this, half the cast in Index is just a collection of walking plot devices. The creators are just so focused on progressing the story, and explaining the details behind the stories of the different arcs that they often forget the characterization, and half of the scenes that are allocated to fleshing out the characters have no idea how to do this so instead they just focus on the cute girls of the series and have them participate in really annoying antics. Granted though, the scenes that don’t involve action, tension, exposition or any of the cute teenaged girls are well written, and actually quite charming.

This show really does have some very neatly animated action scenes. You can also really see that the creators tried to spice those up to make them more than just a bunch of people zapping their powers at each other until one goes down: the battles here require some crazy tactics, and they really force the lead characters (the good guys, anyway) to think on their feet. I do have a big beef with them, though.

This is another one of those series in which characters can really have extreme powers: there are a ton of people walking around that can kill someone in the blink of a second, and the series itself reminds us of that very often. This brings along an extra layer of suspense of disbelief however, which is something that this series can’t live up to. I mean, it’s great that the series is trying to build up this atmosphere of serious business and all, but when Touma just keeps jumping into certain death situations, only to miraculously survive due to sheer luck that he couldn’t possibly have foreseen, it really destroys the tension a bit. I mean, the sheer amount of ludicrous saves in this series was just too much for my standards.

Apart from that though… it’s entertaining. There were a few episodes in which I really edged to just stop watching this series, but they were overshadowed by the episodes that did manage to keep my attention. I like this show for getting completely crazy at times with its ideas and scenarios, while I dislike it for having too much moe and one-dimensional characters. If the second season can use the build up that this season provided, I can easily see it get better. But it really needs to do something about these characters…

Storytelling: 8/10 – Interesting script, knows how to create tension.
Characters: 6/10 – Too many walking plot devices and annoying teenaged girls.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Very neat animation, especially during the action scenes. Nice soundtrack too.
Setting: 8/10 – Interesting concepts and ideas. Don’t go here for realism, though.

Suggestions:
– Betterman
– Night Head Genesis
– Hunter X Hunter

Heartcatch Precure – 28

by psgels, posted in Heartcatch Precure



For an episode that was about such a seemingly dull subject (summer homework), the creators somehow did it and made the characters even more adorable than they usually are. I mean, wow. You often see kids worry about summer homework in anime, but I like the twist this episode gave to it, when Cobraja got the chance to collect the desatorians of hundreds of kids who were worrying about not finishing it.

I mean, I’m really surprised at how well this episode worked, as it pretty much is a staple of the more cheaper kids’ series: a character is really lazy, slacks off and postpones this homework for way too long, or has some other fit saying how he or she hates homework. At the end of the episode then some message follows preaching how good it is to do your homework, etc. This episode handled it very tactfully though: instead of talking to the viewers, it talked to the characters. It was instead about this bridge that all kids their age need to cross: just doing the homework already.

Erika really was adorable in this episode, especially in the way that the creators portrayed her. I mean, there are so many different characters in anime complaining about homework, but this energy of her made her so enjoyable to watch as she throughout the entire episode tried to run away from it.

And by the way, this could be me because Cure Marin was having a bad day, but am I the only one who is seeing Cure Blossom changing? I mean, to me it really seems like she’s more and more able to follow Cure Sunshine, and actually learning from the way that Cure Sunshine fought. She feels much more controlled now. I think that’s because as a shy person, she often gets caught up in the pace of the one close to her. Previously this was Erika, but now that she really has gotten close to Itsuki it feels more and more like she feels closer to Itsuki now, compared to Erika. It may just be this episode though, which went out of its way to set Erika apart from the two others.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu – 08

by psgels, posted in Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu



This episode was mostly centred around politics: the revolt of the nobles of Estabul. The revolt itself doesn’t seem to have that much of an impact on the story, and it seems more of an episode for the characters. we get a new character added to Shion’s group (whose character-designs unfortunately made that plot twist a bit too predictable), and Miran now is seen as someone who just disobeys Shion’s orders, causing Claugh to probably hate him for the rest of the series.

It was a pretty nice episode, though I do feel like it could have used a bit more build-up. It feels a bit… stereotypical right now, just meant to show how that new character is very righteous and gullible. I guess that with the rest of the cast, she is different from the rest of the characters, and I guess that the creators wanted a saint-like character like her, but I don’t like her yet.

In the meantime, the creators are continuing to build up Miran’s character, and they can’t just keep doing this for the entire rest of the series. I’m curious what the creators have in mind with him. Having said that, though, after five episodes I still have yet to see anything that matches up to episode 3. At this point, that’s the most dangerous for this series: what if it ends up never surpassing that particular episode? It’s an episode that created a lot of expectations, but will the future episodes be able to live up to them?
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Kuroshitsuji II – 08

by psgels, posted in Kuroshitsuji II



…

It’s like the creators made the first episodes crap on purpose.

Seriously, the creators had pure gold with Alois, and yet for some reason they dedicated for consecutive episodes on the silly adventures of Ciel&co. I mean, this episode was awesome. It’s hard to imagine that it came from the same creators as the ones who wrote that silly random flood in the second episode.

I mean, where to begin. This episode was all about Alois’ back-story, and it fully played with the insanity of this character, and how it came to grow. On top of that, the whole backstory behind everything also reached the point in which it actually gets interesting. Alois wants Ciel because Sebastian killed his younger brother in the past? It’s quite interesting to see that he has completely different goals from Claude. Not to mention Alois ACTUALLY DYING at the end of this episode. Bloody hell!? What purpose is that ring going to make in the rest of this series?

Not to mention… Yuki Kajiura!? It’s awesome to suddenly have an insert-song of her appearing again. It also looks like this is going to be the new ED, which makes it even more interesting.

2010 really has been a major year for A-1 pictures. It’s not exactly their best year (heck, they made Birdy the Mighty in 2009), but I really like how their series have been so experimental this year: they’ve been trying out a ton of different things, not just in Anime no Chikara, but also in Ookiku Furikabutte with its unique direction, and Kuroshitsuji as well. Alois may be insane, but he’s one heck of an interesting character to watch. At this point, I somehow understand why there isn’t going to be an Anime no Chikara in the upcoming fall season, though. My guess is that it has more to do with manpower than with popularity. I mean, how many series are they working on in 2010? 7? (including the long-running Fairy Tail). I’m amazed that they kept up such a good quality for most of them: despite a number of hiccups here and there they all had their own parts in which they’re memorable (Fairy Tail excluded perhaps because I’m not watching that one anymore and Togainu no Chi because it hasn’t aired yet).
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Shiki – 07

by psgels, posted in Shiki



One thing I love about horror series is how consistent they are: once they’ve got an atmosphere built up, they can keep this one going for episodes and episodes. This episode yet again was excellent in the way that it progressed the plot, and this solid atmosphere really helped in bringing up the creepiness factor even though this isn’t really scary. That’s the entire point of Japanese horror: it doesn’t intend to freak you out (that’s also why there are so few anime that are genuinely scary), instead it attempts to captivate its audience with exactly that atmosphere.

This episode focused on three different subplots: an exposition part Masao rising from the dead as a vampire (I knew it!) and receiving the explanation behind the nature of vampires in this series, a build-up part in which Seishin and Toshio prepare to try and catch the vampires, and a character-centric part involving Natsuno teams up with Kaori and Akira, and prepares to dig up Megumi’s grave. The latter was where most of the depth in this episode was, mostly thanks to Kaori. I mean, being forced to dig up the grave of your dead best friend. Who wouldn’t be disturbed? Natsuno in contrast is completely different: he hated Megumi when she was still alive, and he doesn’t really care for others’ feelings, allowing him to take such measures that a lot of others would find insane. Akira meanwhile… is just an idiot. He’s impulsive, but I don’t think that he really realizes what he’s about to do.

As for the exposition, I’m very curious why the creators chose Masao of all guys to show all of this. I mean, I keep feeling like his existence in this series is with a very clear future purpose in mind. He’s weird, what kind of a different vampire is he going to become because of that? There has to be something. Either way though, the vampires in this series are weak against sunlight, they can die when a stake is run through their hearts. And there are very rare vampires who are able to just survive in the middle of sunlight. I’m glad that this series is returning to the roots of vampires, rather than the generic schlock that they have evolved into in the past ten years. But yeah, the irony is that the vampire genre came to evolve the way it did, probably because the classic vampire stories were getting overused at the time.
Rating: ** (Excellent)