Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru – 18

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



Whoa, Luka. This was quite an episode for him, and it had a really good atmosphere here. This episode shed a big light on what actually happened to this guy, and the relationship between him and his kin. The exact reason for this is still left for the flashback that’s going to show the past between him and Yuki, but this episode really showed his loyalty towards his decision to betray his own kind.

Interestingly this episode also explains why Luka kicks so much ass with his powers, and it turns out that in-breeding Duras only leads to stronger species, with him being the best example of this, safe for perhaps Reiga. I really suspect that he hated this kind of upbringing.

At a certain point the villainess also pulled the “I can create illusions and therefore transform into your loved one and you completely fall for it”-card. This was one of those few cases in which it actually worked. Usually you’d see completely through such a trick with enough common sense, but Luka did have his nostalgia to blame for falling for it. I mean, how many hears has he been waiting to see the girl Yuki back?

Also, I really want to praise the background artists of this episode. The use of colours and CG really made for some beautiful artworks. Elegy herself didn’t have the best character-designs, but heck, that could be just the creator’s intentions. All of the Duras have looked rather silly in this series, so it might just be that the demons in this series have a strange taste in fashion.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Giant Killing – 19

by psgels, posted in Giant Killing



Ah, yes. The creators are really intending this to be a major match. Just look at the huge amount of time that went into this episode, just leading up to the kick-ff of the actual match. Considering that we’ve only got six episodes left, this might just be the start of the climax of this series. If that’s true, then we’re really in for an awesome climax. Six episodes will be plenty of time to really build up the tension, and progress the match. This series has already shown that its attention to detail is superb, it’ll really be able to show this off with a time in which you can actually fit ninety minutes.

This is also one of those details, but I love how the Dutch people don’t have typical Dutch last names, like “de Groot”, “de Wit”. That isn’t needed either: there are enough Dutch people walking around with strange last names (or German for that matter). This really establishes that this series is dealing with actual people, and doesn’t really care about stereotypes, while at the same time they do make sure to establish these people as foreigners. The Dutch people really are freakishly tall for Japanese standards. Tatsumi’s question about the bikes is bound to have been intended as a subtle jab at this (and yes, for the people who are wondering: we do indeed have more bikes than people. Everyone and his dog seems to have one).

In any case, this episode didn’t feel wasted at all: it really established how the Osaka team is one of the nation’s favourites, with four national players, they’re the tournament’s top scorer and have yet to be beaten. But that’s the beauty of these stories about professional soccer: it doesn’t make them unbeatable. If this were a high school series, one loss would mean that they would be out of the tournament. Because of this, the creators really were able to play with this losing streak of the ETU where despite two wins, they’ve mostly played in a draw or a loss.

I also feel that this is one of those very few series that can end anywhere. Obviously I’m hoping for a second season for this thing, but the lack of ultimate goal here pretty much enables the creators to wrap up the story after any arc, since there pretty much can’t be an actual ending that closes off all of the subplots: life will always go on, and times will always be hard for the ETU. The more we get to see of them of course, the better, but I doubt that this series will leave that empty feeling that other series do when they suddenly stop with their manga still ongoing.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Sengoku Basara – 17

by psgels, posted in Sengoku Basara



This was a bit of the problem with the first season: it spent so much time on building up that it forgot to actually deliver. This episode was bugged by a bit of a problem: there were no fights at all. There was just one point where Masamune and Uesugi crossed blades, but that was more as a sign of friendship than anything else. Oh, and there were some cannons who destroyed a bunch of ships, but that too was just build-up for the next episode.

The build-up is nice and all but this is supposed to be a hot blooded action series that really needs its time of 12 episodes. I know that Sengoku Basara in total has 25 episodes, but it’s still a bit different compared to your regular 26-episoded anime. I really hope that the creators know what they’re doing here.

Either way, another reason why the first season was so boring was because the battles that it did feature were rather boring. I think the biggest offender here was the battle around Tokugawa. I mean, here the creators had the founder of modern Japan, but the huge fight around him never really was interesting. With all of the battles that this episode has been building up for, the next episode seems like the perfect place to make up for it.

And it’s not like this episode was boring in the way that the first season was. It’s just that we hardly learned any new information here: everything that happened here was just meant to flesh out the different subplots: rather than getting from A to B, this episode described the road between A and B. It’s cool, but the creators really have to use it in the rest of the series. The part I liked best probably was that scene in which we saw Masaune’s men take care of their own injuries and see then recovering. Now THAT’s more than just build up.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Heartcatch Precure – 26

by psgels, posted in Heartcatch Precure



An adorable episode to close off the first half of this series. Nothing really major happens, though we get to see more about one of the members of the fashion club, which is always nice. It’s a simple story about a shy girl who has trouble talking to the person she looks up to, but quite effective.

The battles in the meantime are getting a bit boring at this point though. It’s clear that at this point the creators still are very much building Itsuki’s role into the team, but the battles have now a bit degenerated in to the Precures spamming attacks until the other side either goes down or teleports away. In her first few episodes you could really see Itsuki using her martial arts background into the fight, but this episode this wasn’t really apparent. Kumojacky in the meantime feels like he attained a new ultimate technique for the umpth time.

Instead this episode was all about Naomi and the rest of the gasshuku. Not a lot to say, but still really charming.
Rating: * (Good)

Introducing the forums

by psgels, posted in Special Articles

So, for the people who haven’t noticed yet, since about a week the forums are back. You can find them at psgels.co.cc. I know that the first time I tried putting forms to this site it rather failed, but I’ve learned a lot from it and hopefully set it up so that it won’t die out after a few weeks. It’s already looking pretty good with a lot of activity, you can also find the latest updates on the side-bar at the right.

Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu – 06

by psgels, posted in Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu



“Oh, you guys are fighting a lot, so you must be very close to each other”. …Well… so it turned out to be this series to drop this bomb. I guess it had it coming and all, but seriously: was it really necessary to reduce the chemistry between Ferris and Raina to a stupid cliche like that?

I have more problems with the creators actually using such a cheesy line than with Raina and Ferris themselves though. I mean, that line sucks because it suggests that a girl seemingly hates you is actually secretly in love with you. Sure, with enough development you can make this work, but there are too many tsunderes who only reaffirm how incredibly shallow their personalities are.

With Ferris and Raina this is different, though: none of them really are tsunderes; they’re just acting and they both know it. From the first minute they met, they have been constantly trying to playfully piss each other off. They simply grew into two good friends… and yeah. If romance develops from that it’s going to be a bit annoying, but at least plausible.

Anyway, the rest of this episode continued to develop Miran as a bit of a villain. Nothing really special, though the fight scene was pretty nice. It’s just a bit of a shame that the character-designs are rather generic here (either that, or I just don’t like Zecxs’ style of character-designs…), but it’s nothing major. This was a building up episode after all.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Kuroshitsuji II – 06

by psgels, posted in Kuroshitsuji II



“I will now use this ladder in order to try and defeat this almighty demon butler”. “I will now use this bowly thing that produces music in order to brainwash everyone around me”. Now that’s what I’m talking about. Screw those god-mode powers: anyone can give that to their characters. But when the creators put those hilariously ridiculously executed ways to achieve their goals: that’s really something of the Kuroshitsuji franchise.

Especially the way in which Sebastian ended up countering that brainwash device: creating his own concert of water-filled wine glasses, even though he… could have just smashed the entire thing.

Anyway, the plot. Finally we get some stuff explained. So… why did Sebastian revive Ciel? Well… it turns out that he wanted to give Ciel a second chance at revenge. Okay. So apparently, this all has to do with the fact that somehow, Ciel is special. Special enough for Sebastian to want to steal his soul twice, and Alois to collect him like a stuffed doll. The problem here is Ciel’s memory loss, which somehow complicates things. I admit, it’s quite a decent explanation. Here’s the thing though: Ciel’s hidden powers, or whatever it is that makes him special, are still a complete McGuffin. They’re just there to give this second season a plot, nothing more.

Either way, I enjoyed this episode a lot. The way in which it it made such stupid stuff so epic. The soundtrack was especially good at this. I also love how the entire episode was pretty low-budget, with the sole exception of some of Claude’s hand movement. I mean, out of all the things to spend the most animation frames on, this is quite an interesting idea. Or do fangirls nowadays have hand fetishes?
Rating: * (Good)

Shiki – 05

by psgels, posted in Shiki



This show just continues to up the body count here. We’ve really reached a point in which nobody is safe. But with this episode, it feels like the prelude is finally over, in the way that Natsuno is actively getting involved with the plot.

I’m not exactly sure what was up with that dream. So far, most of the events here could be explained through this vampire attacks, but with Toru in Natsuno’s dream things are a bit different. Somehow, a vampire attacked Toru somewhere, but not on the place we saw Megumi bite him (bite-marks were missing). So either Natsuno can somehow dream about things that happen around him, or the vampires are able to transmit their actions into other people’s dreams. The latter would be quite an annoying restriction.

Either way, Toru died. The strangest thing about this episode was what happened afterwards though, when the series suddenly decided to focus on Masao. And really, it did what it was supposed to do, and Masao became a lot more interesting to watch, because his character was just so goddamn flawed. He feels more out of place amongst his environment than Megumi did because somehow, he really doesn’t know how to be polite to people, even when someone close to him died. I actually thought that the creators would continue his plot a bit further… and then he died too. He’ll probably also be turned into a vampire, but we’re still not exactly sure what that means. I can imagine his vampire character to just be insane though.

What amuses me is that the town doctor… travels by bike. You’d expect in a village like this, that everyone would have the possession of a car and yet he chooses to just use a bike. Can’t he save at least minutes if he got himself a car? In a situation between life and death, it could make a huge difference. I’m also interested in how, even though the town is full of old people, you hardly see any of them using the local bus (which Natsuno strangely does use. In order to get to school or something? Then how do the other teenagers in the village travel?). This episode also shows a businessman and businesswoman making use of it. You’d expect them to have cars as well…
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Nana Review – 92,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




Back when this series first aired, I remember dropping it after only one episode because “the premise didn’t look interesting”. Now, I really am not sure what I was thinking back then, having just failed to give one of the best romances of its entire decade a fair chance. Now that I finally watched it, I fully get the praise this series has been getting. This isn’t just a good romance, it blows away just about every other romance I’ve seen away.

This series has 47 episodes, right? Well, it puts just about all its time into its character-development. The main characters here are truly dynamic: they just keep changing and evolving and despite the huge focus on drama within the series, it remains realistic and believable. The side-characters in the meantime also receive their fair share of development throughout the series, with all of them being varied, interesting and portrayed far away from stereotypes.

With all the silly shounen romances out there, this really is one of those series that is a breath of fresh air with its mature outlook on romance. The characters here have quite a number of flaws, but it always manages to stay away from a cheesy shoujo drama because it really treats all of its characters like adults, and gives them enough time to really show why they’re worried, why they behave like they do, and why they make the decisions they make throughout the series. And seriously, this just goes on for forty-seven episodes and instead of keeping a slow pacing, it always manages to keep its plot flowing, and keep the balls into the air. Even the best romances have their moments in which they’re rather boring or tedious. Nana doesn’t.

If I had to mention a flaw, then I’d mention that the portrayal of rock and punk bands is a bit simplistic here, compared to the realism of the rest of the series: this series never really claims to give a good insight about the music industry, and instead it just uses what it needs for the sake of the characters. Also, the ending. It’s not like the series ends without a conclusion: it actually wrapped the story up pretty neatly, but it also ends with a “there’s going to be a second season so let’s make you as hungry for that as possible”-note. That’s nice and all if that second season actually came, but now I’m just hungry for something that was probably just a publicity stunt.

But seriously though, Nana really showed the power of josei-series. It really is one of the most well rounded romances I’ve ever seen. Whether it’s THE best, I’m not really sure yet (Maison Ikkoku also was extremely good and twice as long), but I do want to say that I have never seen a romance show that went on for more than 13 episodes, and had such a tight plot, and yet it never feels like it’s forced.

Storytelling: 9/10 – It can really get depressing, but the dialogue, pacing and atmosphere are all really excellent.
Characters: 10/10 – Just brilliant. The cast is dynamic and constantly evolving.
Production-Values: 9/10 – The style of this series is off the charts. A grand soundtrack, and Madhouse makes just about every scene look cool.
Setting: 9/10 – Its portrayal of the music industry is rather simplistic, but apart from that it is a very realistic series with characters who really feel part of this setting.

Suggestions:
– Maison Ikkoku
– Asatte no Houkou
– Macross Plus

Space Battleship Yamato Resurrection Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews




So yeah, they made a Space Battleship Yamato movie last year. It’s the brainchild of the actual producer of the TV-series, along with most of the movies and it seems that more than 35 years after the start of the series, he still wanted to give the franchise one more chance to shine. Apparently, this movie was due to be scheduled way earlier but got cancelled due to licensing issues with Matsumoto Leiji. That seems all cleared up now however, and this movie sure as heck doesn’t show any signs of this.

I’m always interested in these remakes, as their creators tend to put in a ton of effort to really do justice to the shows they’re based on, which often stand as cult classics. Yamato Resurrection went for the homage: it really wanted to create the feeling of the original Yamato tv-series, and put a modern coat on it.

Unlike the remakes that take the ancient mecha series in general, this movie really is a homage to Space Battleship Yamato, and nothing more. This makes it quite a bit different from the other mecha remakes, because for its time, Space Battleship Yamato was incredibly different from the likes of Mazinger and all of the other giant robot shows. Its atmosphere was dark, lonely and melancholic, and that was exactly what this the creators did here: epic space battles with a dark atmosphere that instead with its energy tries to captivate the audience with just this atmosphere.

The plot is typically something that you can expect from the Yamato franchise: the earth is in danger, the Yamato ends up playing a key role in saving humanity. It’s stupid, of course. But that’s the point: the original Yamato also had some of the most ridiculous plot twists, especially near the end. The plot really is just there as a vehicle for the atmosphere and the epic space battles. Although I did like how this movie aged all of the characters more than twenty years here. I mean, the movie hardly uses this character-development, but it certainly does contribute to this movie.

The graphics… well, the money shots really are a visual orgasm here. The creators got some amazing CG artists for this movie, and they really went all out here. The CG looks absolutely beautiful, and at the same time the 2D characters really tried to stay true to the original style of character-designs from Yamato (so yes, don’t even expect Matsumoto Leiji’s trademark characters here: Yamato aired before the days of Captain Harlock). The 2D characters may look a bit plain, but they’re actually animated really well: whenever they move, they do this smootly and nearly without any cut corners. The problems with this is of course that the two styles don’t really combine together: there is always a very clear border between the 2D and 3D in this movie. The worst though was when the creators actually copied and pasted some of the footage of the Yamato TV-series and movies. Yeah, those who were animated in the seventies and eighties. Needless to say… it looks incredibly out of place. Though I have to give props for this movie being the first to be stupid enough to actually do this.

Of the Yamato franchise I have only seen the first TV-series, but I enjoyed this movie for what it is. However, I’m not sure whether you can enjoy this movie if you haven’t seen anything from the Yamato franchise: you’ll miss some of the references and homages it makes. Still, if anything you can watch this movie for the soundtrack, which for some reason is filled with compositions from FREAKING BEETHOVEN. Now if that isn’t awesome then I don’t know anymore.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Pretty good atmosphere. If you’re a Yamato-fan at least.
Characters: 7/10 – Um, yeah. The characters are there, the development is awesome, but that’s about everything there is to them.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Ah, the visuals! Gorgeous graphics that don’t mesh well. But Beethoven makes up for everything.
Setting: 7/10 – It’s stupid. It’s Yamato. Who cares?

Suggestions:
– Night on the Galactic Railroad – Fantasy Railroad in the Stars (don’t expect a mecha epic for this one, though; it’s actually the entire opposite)
– Space Fantasia: 2001 Nights
– Cobra The Animation