Katanagatari – 01

by psgels, posted in Katanagatari



Whoa! I didn’t expect Katanagatari to have episodes of 50 minutes. That seals the deal for me: I’m going to blog it. I very much approve of this longer pause between episodes. Series like Votoms’ Pailsen Files, Figure 17, Blade of the Immortal and Marie & Gali also had this, and they became very entertaining to watch in their own ways, simply because the creators had more time to refine their episodes.

My biggest fear before starting this series was obviously the director of School Days who got appointed behind this, not to mention that the animation company behind it has only done Tears to Tiara, which apparently was mediocre at best (though I dropped it after 1 episode). Still, for now I’ll just see this as another case of Casshern Sins, in which the director of various Dragonball Z movies ended up making such a beautiful series. And yeah, I guess that we should at least be glad that Shinbo didn’t also get this series. This episode wasn’t just “okay”; I very much enjoyed it.

This series is a bit of an homage to the shounen genre, it has many elements of a shounen series, and yet it isn’t exactly a shounen series. It includes fights, it makes fun of the “Hah! I’m about to kill you but let me just stand here and let you finish whatever conversation you’re having!”-trope, it also pokes fun at how fights like these tend to go on for ages just because the characters won’t shut up talking, it features teenagers who fall in love with each other quite quickly, but at the same time there are also tons of quiet scenes, in which people just sit in a room talking for more than ten minutes, straight on; which is something you won’t find in any other shounen-series, and is actually more seinen.

Overall, what I liked most about this first episode was the build-up: I’m really surprised at how well this episode built up its tension through the incredibly long dialogues in the beginning, and the more action-packed yet still dialogue-filled second half. The animation was also simple where it needed to be, and detailed where it needed to be, though aside from its crispness and unique look nothing special. What I did like was the subtle sense of humour oft his episode, in which the creators liked to insert a joke right in the middle of a character’s speech. It keeps you on your toes and it adds an interesting flavor to the whole script.

It was quite a bit of a challenge to follow this episode raw (to all the fansubbers and typesetters planning to go for this series: good luck), but i like challenges like these once in a while. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but I seem to have some weird fascination with watching dialogue-filled series in raw, trying to keep up with the Japanese even though my own Japanese is far from perfect.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Sora no Oto – 04

by psgels, posted in Sora no Oto



Great to see that it’s indeed the creators’ intentions to flesh out and develop the characters in the first half of this series. Sora no Oto just has one less annoying character. Noel got a lot of depth in this episode, without making it too predictable of an episode. In this episode she really showed that she’s more than a sleepy airhead, but has a passion for what she does.

As for the setting, my guess would be that we are in the French part of Switzerland. The fact that the characters speak in Japanese is probably done out of convenience: even series as Red Garden and Chevalier, which have nothing to do with Japan, are spoken in Japanese. Another hint of why there is now way that this show is set in Japan is how the saleswoman didn’t mind to be called by her first name. These cultural values are very common in Europe, but I don’t see it happen in Japan, even with a number of centuries in the future. It’s also very plausible for French countries to have English software, especially in the military. Heck, I live in the Netherlands and about half of the software I use is in English.

One big question that I still have is: what happened tot he architecture? My guess would be that the buildings we see here are built by by the locals after something wiped out all of the modern buildings, and that they were modelled after local architecture and resources that were available. That must also mean that most of the futuristic technologies like the giant robot were completely annihilated for some reason.

Also, in this episode Kanata learns to play the trumpet. It was a bit fast and too much of a change, but I know the feeling that the creators tried to portray: for a long time you’re struggling without improving in the slightest, despite knowing the basics, and sometimes it just takes one realization to significantly improve yourself. I practice Karate myself, and I’ve had tons of these moments. In this episode it was obviously exaggerated, but it worked nicely.
Rating: * (Good)

Hanamaru Youchien – 03

by psgels, posted in Hanamaru Youchien



So overall this show turned out enjoyable enough, though not anything special. There’s one thing I don’t like, though: Yamamoto. Seriously, I’m surprised that she hasn’t sprouted wings and flown to heavens yet. I know that there’s purity and all, but that woman really takes the cake. It would have been nice if her total cluelessness was some sort of a novelty, but just about every love triangle in anime has it. What does this show hope to achieve by following this completely pointless bandwagon?

This episode featured a bunch more cliches that you’d usually see in high school romances, but I guess that that was necessary to flesh out the characters. As long as the future episodes aren’t going to repeat it, I don’t see much of a problem.

One thing that I’ve noticed from this series is that it likes to put tropes of other kinds of series into its setting of a kindergarten. I also recognize some parts of Great Teacher Onizuka in Tsuchida: he too makes friends with his students by placing himself on their equal level. At least, with everyone aside from Anzu.
Rating: (Enjoyable)

Macross Plus Review – 87,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



Yeah, this is it. Macross Plus has without a doubt turned into my favourite installment of the Macross Franchise. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, it turned into an amazing character-study of its three lead characters. It’s much less chaotic and whimsical than your average Macross series, and instead it is a very focused story about fully grown adults and the relationship between them.

These three lead characters are the ones who make this series, but what also supports them is a rock-solid sense of storytelling, who knows exactly how to use its airtime to the fullest, giving a great balance between action, drama and build-up. Especially the final episode, in which everything comes together, is an amazing episode that allows the best of these characters to rise.

If I had to mention a flaw, then it’s that some of the side characters just seem… shallow. And I mean that in the way that they only seem to exist or do stuff, for the sake of advancing the plot. Sharon’s executive, for example. His actions had great result, but the guy himself was just a stereotypical evil villain who was evil for the sake of being evil. And while the ending itself is amazing, I’m a bit disappointed by the lack of an actual epilogue to wrap everything up.

For a Macross Series, the animation is perhaps not the most impressive out there, but still very good and fluid, especially considering the year in which this was produced. The animation is very smooth and the artistic direction is also very powerful. The soundtrack is an awesome one as well.

So yeah, now I finally understand why the Macross Franchise is held with such a high regard. The other Macross series I’ve seen had their charms here and there, but for me they mostly stood out through their eye-candy, not their substance. I’d probably rank them in the following way, from least favourite to most:
5). Do You Remember Love? (Lacks the charms of the series it recapped)
4). Macross Zero (Great visual direction but a chaotic story)
3). Macross Frontier (Great middle part but disappointing beginning and finale)
2). Original Macross (Great insight on the Zentradi)
1). Macross Plus (Great character-study and storytelling all around)

Storytelling: 9/10 – Focused and powerful.
Characters: 9/10 – Very well detailed and fleshed out lead characters with an excellent chemistry.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Very smooth animation, great soundtrack.
Setting: 8/10 – Some things exist just to forward the plot, but otherwise a good addition to the Macross Universe.

Macross Zero Review – 77,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



The Macross Franchise has always been one of eye candy, and Macross Zero does not disappoint in the slightest. As the first Macross of the new Millennium, the graphics are utterly gorgeous. The CG is a bit unrefined at times, but the way it’s animated and contrasts with the background; the huge explosions and vivid and detailed animation. If anything, you should be watching this OVA for its amazing visuals. The audio? Again, beautiful. The best of the Macross franchise that I’ve seen (meaning the Original Macross and Macross Frontier).

But what about the rest of the OVA? Um… yeah.

I think it’s best described as “chaos”. Macross Zero is typical of Shouji Kawamori; both the good parts and the bad parts. The story has some interesting parts; there are a number of interesting characters, but at the same time it just feels so incomplete. I found it very confusing to try and figure out what everyone’s motives and ideals were throughout these five episodes. The creators like to introduce things without any build-up whatsoever and overall the storytelling feels very unbalanced.

As for the characters: I loved native side-characters. It’s just too bad that they hardly got any airtime. The lead characters didn’t impress me too much. The male lead is yet another bland teenager who somehow is authorized to fly a jet fighter. The female lead character is just way too naive. Their whining often gets in the way of the story and especially that female lead just keeps going on and on about her ideals and how you shouldn’t mess with nature and stuff.

I admit that at times she has interesting points about war versus nature, but at others we just see Kawamori taking another chance to shove his enviromentalistic ideals down your throat. On the other side, the main villains are also pretty shallow. There was just nothing that made me interested in them.

So no; as substance, this OVA rather failed. However, as entertainment it more than succeeded, it only because of the beautiful visuals and its amazing visual direction. Especially in the final episode this stands out like no other: the story becomes just ludicrous at that point, but oh, did it look pretty.

Storytelling: 8/10 – The story is poorly balanced, but the visual and technical direction rocks.
Characters: 7/10 – Unappealing teen-aged lead characters whose whining often gets annoying.
Production-Values: 9/10 – CG looks a bit out of place, but other than beautiful.
Setting: 7/10 – Way too little back-story and too preachy at times.

Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – 41

by psgels, posted in Full Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood



Whoa, that was intense. It’s one thing to show gore and decapitate random goons in the most gruesome manners, but when it’s done 1) to a well loved character 2) very detailed and 3) doesn’t make the gore too extreme and actually tries to make it believable… it makes so much more impact. Just as this episode showed. That scene in which Ed was entirely impaled by a small steel beam was hard to watch at times, that’s how well it was portrayed.

In any case, about the rest of this episode, I’m getting more and more excited about this series. The past number of episodes have really been a roller-coaster ride. In this episode, Kimblee also stops being nice, and reveals that he’s seen through Ed’s plans (probably in the really bad way in which eh tried to cover up for Al).

The two remaining chimera also gave a bit more insight into why the first two deserted: while they’re obeying Kimblee and all, they do seem to hate the guy. Quite reasonable, I can imagine how many people must be unhappy with their bosses. Since their lives have basically been ruined, I can imagine how they’re easy to desert if they run into someone whose ideals they support (like what happened with Ed in this episode). One thing that I’m noticing in a lot of anime is that the random goons have no personality whatsoever. It’s great to see that this series is trying to change that with characters like them: some of the guards indeed just carry out their jobs and are loyal, but there are others who have a different personality and set of ideals.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Cross Game – 42

by psgels, posted in Cross Game



I think this was the calm before the storm. After this episode, it’s just going to be gasshuku and tournament. I’ve said this many times before, but I think that it’s after this that this series is going to get less interesting again, simply because the baseball in this series has always been inferior to its slice of life.

In a way this episode felt different from the previous ones. It seemed much more… focused. It picked out various couples of characters, and pushed their relationships a bit further, rather than the more random pacing of the usual Cross Game episodes. We have Kou and Akaishi, Aoba and that female baseball player who made her return, et cetera. It all was about preparing for the upcoming tournament, and getting mentally ready, while the second years kept fantasizing about what would happen as soon as the third years would leave.

Overall it was a very enjoyable episode despite its slightly different style. At this point, there are nine episodes left. At this point I’m not expecting anything of this series anymore: it has already showed off its best for me. For the baseball part, I’m just looking to be entertained. I know that if I’m going to take the baseball games too seriously, I’ll just end up comparing them endlessly to Touch, whose matches granted were much more superior than what we’ve seen here. For me, this show has already been a success. And if it does manage to get the baseball matches right, then that’s just a nice extra.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Cobra the Animation – 04

by psgels, posted in Cobra The Animation



Oh gawd. This show is so ridiculously masculine that I can’t help but enjoy it. Remember last episode, at the end of which Cobra was about to die from poison? My prediction was that Cobra would find some cheap way to escape his certain death. Well, as it turns out he sort-of didn’t. The poison just… disappeared, never to get mentioned again. He just gets his memory back, and for some reason this is so awesome that it automatically neutralizes the poison. Also, what was the point of having this “unique key” around, when people from the underground city could just walk into the control chamber whenever they’d like to?

This turned out to be quite the ludicrous series, but it does have this strange kind of charm that I’m missing with most other series this season. It’s just so unpretentiously enjoyable: it knows what it is and delivers on this. There are also two points at which it deserves genuine praise. The first is the soundtrack. After four episodes of listening to it, I’m sure: Cobra has the best soundtrack of the new season. I’ve always been a big fan of Ike Yoshihiro, and he yet again delivers a great soundtrack for this series.

The second is the creativity. I have to admire the BALLS of this series, to go with such a crazy idea of giving Cobra amnesia so that he leaves his female companion inside a gravity trap for two whole days. The idea of having a woman fall down a cliff, get her head impaled to so become the controller of the planet’s propulsion system also was a pretty nice find.
Rating: * (Good)

Letter Bee – 16

by psgels, posted in Letter Bee



Another filler.

But holy crap, who cares?! This episode was so good that even the main storyline of this show so far was inferior to it. It’s quite possibly my favourite Letter Bee episode so far. It’s true that it’s a bit of a pity that the main storyline isn’t getting anywhere at this pace, but damn. With episodes like these I can really forgive this show for it.

The story in this episode was beautiful, with a rich characterization and gorgeous music. It tells about a pianist called Matilda Rein… who isn’t like what you’d expect as a pianist. She’s down to earth and honest, however very talented when she’s motivated. And it’s her manager who is able to get that potential out of her. The problem however was that the two just continue to bicker when they’re near each other. Cue the manager’s best friend, who puts on a little show to get them together. The previous fillers all had the problem of being a bit shallow, and having characters who were just too simple, but this was different: all three of them were very well coloured and diverse. And the main cast made it even better with their subtle additions, without taking too much screentime for themselves. I loved it when Nichi compared that manager to Matilda’s Dingo. That’s so true. ^^;

And here’s one thing I’ve noticed: there’s a clear distinction between the main storyline and the fillers. At this point, it’s too early to tell what the main storyline has been building up to, however you can see that the fillers have taken up clear themes of truth and honesty and they’re actually exploring these themes really well at this point! They’re actually turning this series into a pretty decent episodic series and at this point the fillers are just going to turn into anime-original material, where they stop being pointless and actually contribute to the storyline!

Seriously, Studio Pierrot has learned! To be honest, I really feared the worst when I first found out that this show would delve into fillers. Remember Naruto and Bleach? Aside from the usual flaws, like how the fillers were shallow, dull and either just silly comic relief or they just told a story for the sake of telling a story and filling up time: the creators couldn’t do anything interesting because the Studio Pierrot executives wouldn’t let them screw up the story of the manga. They just never added something to the series, but these Letter Bee fillers are different. When I first started watching this series, my biggest fear indeed was these Studio Pierrot executives.

Around ten years ago, studio Pierrot made some amazing series with awesome animation (Key the Metal Idol, Kaze no Yuojinbo, GTO, Juuni Kokuki, Fancy Lala, Area 88, et cetera). But after they discovered Naruto, and later Bleach, something seems to have changed with them. I’m really glad that they intend to change the tide this season. Yumeiro Patissiere was a tad to cliched for my tastes, but you could see that it wanted to put a lot of effort into its scenario. And Letter Bee is the same: the writers could have just as easily come up with a number of bargain-bin episodes to fill up time and keep the fans waiting for the main storyline, but the fillers at this point have created something worthwhile on their own.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Seikai no Monshou – 03

by psgels, posted in Seikai no Monshou



Oh, I love this. I love it when a series can take nearly an entire episode and fill it with nothing but dialogue, especially the meaningful kind. I now understand why people were praising this series for its romance, and this episode really showed what a well written dialogue can do to your characters. I sometimes hear people say that one of the most important rule of storytelling is to “show, not tell”, but I disagree with that: the combination between what you show and what you tell should be important.

Despite being a relatively uneventful episode, the chemistry between Jinto and Lafiel already rocked after only three episodes. It’s also not line one of them is so much smarter or talkative to the other: they basically strengthen each other: whenever Lafiel asks a difficult question, you can see Jinto think hard about it, come with an answer and reply with a question that’s just as hard or confronting.

I think what I liked best was that part in which Jinto discovered that Lafiel used a fake name, and tried to apologize like hell about making her uncomfortable and actually calling her by her real title. He of all people should know how annoying it must be to have everyone regard him as nobility. At this point, I’d now love to see Lafiel together with some of the other crew members. We know how she thinks that they treat her, but I’d love to see their side of the story as well.
Rating: ** (Excellent)