Letter Bee – 15

by psgels, posted in Letter Bee



Oh boy, it’s been a while since I blogged a series with this many anime original fillers. Or at least, this episode had nothing to do with the main plot, was poorly animated and was very much a standalone story. The Irony is however, that the anime fillers are actually better than the manga fillers. That is to say: the stories in the manga about characters who are only going to play a role in their respective arc and completely disappear after that were much less interesting and atmospheric than what the anime came up with. Of course I’d rather see the main storyline animated, but seriously: I’m not exactly regretting watching the past number of episodes.

This episode was of course nothing spectacular, but it could have done a lot worse with the ingredients that were given to it. Right from the start it was obvious that the woman was deceiving her boyfriend; her acting was shallow enough for that. The pacing of this episode, along with Lag’s usual meddling made it interesting to watch, though. And the ending was actually pretty nice in the way that the creators cleverly stayed away from a forced happy ending, and that the two just broke up after Lag’s powers revealed Bonnie’s lies.

These fillers aren’t perfect of course. This episode was badly animated, and the creators clearly didn’t have the budget for it. I’m also not that happy with how Lag just “happened” to run into them. Still, for a filler it was pretty good. My only hope is that the creators aren’t going to let them take over the show in order to wait for the series to progress, especially since the manga is still relatively short. In most cases I really advocate long series lengths, but thanks to Studio Pierrot this is turning into an exception: I really hope that this series closes off at 25 episodes, only for a second season to be animated in a few years time.
Rating: * (Good)

Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – Simple People OVA

by psgels, posted in Full Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood

There are no screenshots because it’s a pain to take them from a streaming site and I’m feeling lazy

Well, because you kept bugging me about it: Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood seems to have a set of OVAs episodes, of about 13 minutes in length, which deal with some background issues here and there. The second one talks about Winry’s earrings. At the latest episode I was already wondering what was up with them. I never knew that she had that many of them.

And as it turns out, they were gifts from Ed and Al in order to make up for how Ed kept breaking his metal arm. It makes sense for Ed to hold on to them, and actually have it as a meaningful symbol for the danger that she has put herself in.

During the first twenty episodes of this series, I really disliked Winry, as some of you may remember. Now I see that this wasn’t just her character there that got on my nerves, but also the way that the first Full Metal Alchemist used her series. For some characters, it actually created a very interesting story opposed to the manga, but the other characters received such pathetic roles that it completely prevented them from getting any depth, and Winry was one of those. I never really understood why she kept tagging along, and the situations and adventures that the creators put her in were uninspired and lazy.

I think that the biggest mistake that the first season made was that it tried way too hard to give every character something to do. It’s one of the strengths of the Brotherhood series, but the first series did that up to the point that these reappearances made no sense whatsoever, or like with Kimblee, Winry and that Library girl, just felt so out of place and pointless. The overall story was good, and isntead of the politics that Brotherhood has it instead was much more about morals and values.

But yeah, I like the Winry of Brotherhood much more than her first season version. She feels much less ditzy here, and especially in this episode you could see that she really cares about Ed and Al. She really ditched her old earrings, and instead kept all six of them on at all times. At least until the latest episode.
Rating: * (Good)

Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – 16

by psgels, posted in Armed Librarians - The Book of Bantorra



That was awesome on so many levels! This might actually have been my favourite episode of Armed Librarians yet, even though it’s vastly different from its usual formula, and mostly just an episodic story. But the ingredients! There was hardly anything in this episode that I didn’t love to bits.

The two new characters… you can count on this series to actually turn them immediately into something awesome, in the very first second of their introduction. What kind of nutcase visits an exotic and warm country… in A WINTER COAT?1Especially that woman was beyond hilarious. Her antics, especially when she was drunk were just full of creativity. This show just succeeds at just about everything it attempts, doesn’t it?

Also, I love Minth after this episode. Out of the Armed Librarians, he’s probably the most down to earth character: he’s manly and mature, unlike the inexperienced Mirepoc and Noloty, he’s not over the top like the other ones. And yet despite his manliness he has such an elegant power, one of looking into the souls of people. This episode that dealt with his background, and shows how he came to be the character he is now really established him as one of my favourite side-characters. In most other shows characters like him hardly ever get this much attention (he actually becomes the main character for an episode), but here you can count on every one of them to get his or her share of attention.

I also wonder how this episode was done in the light novels. There was a ton of visual comedy in it that I can hardly imagine to have been written down in text. The witty direction really was one of the things that made this episode work so well.

Oh, and about that main plot: what’s up with that tree? Why does it eat books? Why do the Armed Librarians take care of it? What an interesting twist we have here.

Seriously though, if the rest of the episodes of this series are going to be as good or better as this one, and it’s also going to close off with a good finale, then it’s going to be already one of the top contenders for my favourite shows of 2010, and I can’t even see Durarara topping it at this point in time. In such a dry season as this one, it’s great to have at least one series that pushes all of the right buttons for me.
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Seikai no Monshou – 02

by psgels, posted in Seikai no Monshou



So this episode is a more formal introduction of the characters, while the previous episode showed more what the history of the setting was. Again, it has a lot of ingredients that you see in other anime as well, which mostly centred around Lafiel: she’s a young, cute girl of an exotic race that everyone hates.

But the characterization is done so well!

At first this episode took its time to show how Jinto has grown up after the previous episode, and how he kept his nobility secret from the friends that he grew up with. It already added a lot of depth to the guy by showing him close off his childhood, and his anxieties for his future. He’s already someone with his own identity, and who doesn’t have to rely on cheap stereotypes in order to stand out.

And then Lafiel. I really like how direct her questions are. This episode did an excellent job in showing the cultural differences between the humans and the Abh: Jinto has never met one of the Abh, since they hardly ever bother to show themselves among the humans, and at the same time Lafiel has grown up, never meeting a human. This episode portrayed the Abh as a very direct race: it’s common with them to be to the point, to the point where they’ve developed a culture that’s completely void of human laziness.

And again: Lafiel is not just a caricature of this culture. While this episode showed the general traits of the Abh, Lafiel also had her own personality.

It’s also interesting that this series was produced, right at the time where CG became actually possible to include in anime. You can see that there are no 3D models, but the creators do make use of the smaller stuff, like lighting, shadows and some computer screens. It was before companies got too confident and started to overuse it. Turn A Gundam which was produced around the same time as this series showed this as well: it was mostly CG free, though the eye-catch in the middle of each episode experimented with it.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Durarara – 02

by psgels, posted in Durarara



I first want to confirm something: AniDB labels this series as one with 24 episodes, but it’s also the only source to do so (no MyAnimelist doesn’t count, they don’t double-check their sources when putting up information). Can someone confirm that we’re indeed going for 24 episodes here, because AniDB usually tends to be correct with these things, it’s not like them to base information on something that hasn’t been confirmed yet.

In any case, Durarara already was my favourite show this season, and this episode only made it better. I really see no way in which this series isn’t going to work out well. The direction is incredibly solid, the way it combines the dialogue with the visuals, and the way it intertwines the different stories. There are many different characters here, and this episode made it clear that the creators aren’t going to be biased for the main ones, and intend to give every one of them attention. This episode actually showed many scenes of the first episode, but from a different perspective, and so they get a totally different meaning because of that.

Overall, this season is really dry and unimpressive. THIS is one of the few exceptions. It takes overdone tropes, like teen-aged angst and suicide, and gives them a fresh and original feeling. The city it’s placed in feels alive, especially in the first episode.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Some Quick First Impressions: Nodame Cantabile – Finale

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Nodame Cantabile – Finale

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is studying hard.
Well, the big question with this series is of course: is it going to recapture the magic of the stellar first season, or is it simply going to turn into a nice though uneventful romantic comedy of the second season. The big problem here is Chiaki Kon, as she’s well on her way to become Shinbo II in the way that she’s been directing way too many series for the past two years. This episode started off pretty nice, setting up the premise for this season: Nodame getting her own concert. It’s about time for her to really develop, though, because I’m starting to get annoyed with her antics.
OP: Decent, but not very impressive.
ED: A quiet ballad, but again nothing special.
Potential: 60%

Ookami Kakushi – 02

by psgels, posted in Ookami Kakushi



Of course, when I first learned about this new series that was going to be written by Ryukishi07, I was very excited. But Nobuhira Takamoto? God, talk about a double-edged sword.

Technically, this is an excellent director: he knows his characterization, he’s excellent at building up, his climaxes are always very exciting with the way that he combines music with his in-your-face direction. However his pacing is terrible. His series are either too fast or drag on for way too long. Hatenkou Yuugi would have been a pretty charming travelling series if it didn’t keep flying over all the important bits (you also have to love its completely chaotic and disastrous final episode), while 07-Ghost would have been an exciting show it if actually would have gotten anywhere. However, he has made some good stuff: with Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club, he had the exact right amount of episodes to work with, and it became a really charming series. That’s what I’m hoping for here.

Basically it comes down to this: if he can get his pacing right, then this is a good rival for Durarara as my favourite show of the season. If not, then… yeah. If there’s going to be anything wrong with this series’ pacing, then it is that it’s going too fast: lots of stuff happened in this episode, and while it actually worked well right now, there’s no guarantee that it will also go well when everything has to come together. The series composition guy also isn’t helping much, because this is the guy responsible for the incredibly fast pacing of Allison to Lillia.

The success of this show basically comes down to one simple question: did the creators plan out the right number of episodes for this series? With those things, I’m never sure who’s actually responsible for making these decisions, but whoever you are: I really hope you put some thought into it, because you’re going to decide whether or not this show will rock or flop.

Anyway, about this episode: it did a great job of fleshing out the main cast. Letting everyone meet each other, and increasing the tension even more. We’re slowly getting a look at what’s going on here: there’s something really strange going on with the lead character’s new girlfriend, and my suspicion is that this is the central part of the plot. however, what’s the role of her brother, her classmates (why are they incredibly friendly with the lead character)? Is the decision for the lead character’s father to move to the town important to the plot? and what about that strange food advertisement? At this point, I have no idea how many different parties there are in this series.

For now, this series is doing its job: I’ve gotten very excited with this series during the small climaxes in this episode. Now let’s keep it that way!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Kobato – 13

by psgels, posted in Kobato



Oh, screw it. I was going to blog Dance in the Vampire Bund instead, but its second episode was so underwhelmingly generic that I see no point in it. It was just another chance for Shinbo to draw more naked little girls and while the first episode was an interesting enough spoof on a Japanese TV-show, the second episode degenerated into a generic teen-aged love story in high school where the lead characters have generic superpowers (you can’t really call them vampires anyway: they’re just another one of these lead characters who have superpowers and who just “happen” to have spiky teeth. Catgirls have those too!). Nothing whatsoever caught my interest in it and I’ve gotten really sick and tired of Shaft and Shinbo at this point.

So yeah, why not? Kobato is definitely in need of more love at this point. It started off a bit iffy, but it has evolved into a surprisingly likable series. Amidst all of the melodrama, moe and stereotypes of this season, it’s good to see such a simple series with genuine drama. It’s a great thing that there are 24 episodes in this series, and at this point the series has really grown on me.

The problem with a lot of stupid characters like Kobato is that it’s very easy to make just stereotypes of them: make them always clueless, limiting their development. But Kobato turned out to be such a lovable character. Sure, she’s an idiot but there’s a lot more to her character than just that. What many people seem to forget is that she also is someone who takes action, and has a lot of passion for helping people. I can respect that of her.

Compare that with the idiots of Baka to Test to Shokanju: The characters are either too “smart” to fit in the characters or just blind sheep who follow behind the smart ones. Beyond one or two quirks, there’s nothing else that defines them. That will remain fun for a one-episode OVA, not an entire series. Series like Kobato on the other hand definitely have an uneventful start, but in the long run they amount to something much more worthwhile.

In this episode, we probably see Kubato at her best so far. Most of the episodes so far have presented some case that would always amount to a happy ending, however this time it’s different. The tree in this story was sick, it was being a nuisance to the neighbours, the people in the neighbourhood found it impressive, but at the same time didn’t support Kobato while she tried to save the tree, and she actually got nearly crushed by it.

Also, as for the thing s that happened earlier in this series: I love that bear. A black bear that has his own Baumkuchen shop as a punishment of some sorts. I have to give Clamp credit for such a great idea. But seriously, even the creators, even though they’re not particularly the best that Madhouse has to offer, did a very good job of bringing these characters to life.

And of course, what also rocks about this series is that it’s not necessarily a show about teenagers, but it’s one of those rare series that’s about people of all sorts of ages: there are little kids, middle schoolers, teenagers, college students, young adults, adults and even the elder. It’s got a bit of everything, and Kobato is actually one of the few teenagers here, without making it seem that the world revolves around them. While from the outside, you’d never suspect it, but this series has a lot of things that other anime can learn of.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Gag Manga Biyori Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews



Okay, so I got interested in the rest of the Gag Manga Biyori after watching the first episode of its fourth season, so I tracked down the first season (unfortunately, the complete second and third season are nowhere to be found). I’m glad I did, because it really is an awesome comedy. Good luck finding a series with more energy than this one.

To give a bit of an indication of the chaos of this show: imagine one of the fast paced episodes of Gintama. Make that pace twice as fast, and you’ve got your average episode of Sexy Commando Gaiden. Double the pacing yet again, and you’ve got an average episode of Gag Manga Biyori. It’s just insane in every single way. After watching this series, I actually tried watching an episode of Hetalia Axis Powers in between. While that usually was an energetic comedy, it suddenly became incredibly boring and slow paced in comparison.

Every episode is five minutes long and shows a standalone story that shows a bunch of random people doing something random. About half of them take place in the past and show famous historic people, while the other half takes place in modern times and parodies something to the extreme. Every episode is funny in its own way, and three in particular were absolute classics for me (the sticker, the end of the world and the death episode). There are a few episodes that drag on a bit too much, but the set of brilliant episodes more than make up for it.

This type of humour of course isn’t to everyone’s tastes, but if you liked Sexy Commando Gaiden then you’ll also like this, because it’s taken its randomness much, much further. I really urge people to at least not ignore the fourth season that’s currently airing. Somehow get it subbed, because it’s a unique comedy. I also loved how every episode has a different ED, where only the… um… lyrics… remain the same. I really wonder what mindset the performers were in when they recorded them…

Storytelling: 9/10 – Insane. Just insane.
Characters: 8/10 – Nearly every episode has completely new and unrelated characters.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Looks simple, but the animation is surprisingly fluid for a comedy.
Setting: 8/10 – Instead of taking the more obvious historical figures, this chronicles the people that most western anime fans have never even heard of.

A Quick Look and Review of AnimeTV

by psgels, posted in Special Articles

If you’re wondering what’s up with this post: I was actually asked by the marketers of AnimeTV to review their first episode. It’s awesome to see such a request from a professional company, but at the same time that’s not going to stop me from giving it a fair review. AnimeTV basically is presented by Johnny Yong Bosch and Christina Vee, and it shows reviews of mainstream anime and interviews of important people in the American anime business. Right from the start it’s clear that it’s aimed at teenagers, rather than a wider demographic, so I’m not exactly the target audience, but here’s what I think about it:

Episodes are split up in three parts. The first part is called the “Hima segment”, where a panel of four people basically discusses what they’ve been watching, reading or playing. Basically a round of quick recommendations. The first part is a pretty nice recommendation for the Strongest Disciple Kenichi; it discusses why it’s more interesting than your average shounen, and even though it would have been interesting to see them discuss some of the lesser parts of the manga, it piqued my interest. After that there was a nice part about a new manga from Clamp and how they refuse to do cute stuff.

The segment completely derails after that, though. An overly obsessed Naruto fangirl starts rambling a completely incoherent story that clearly wasn’t prepared beforehand. In about one minute, she basically did just about everything that you shouldn’t do when making a quick recommendation: it’s incredibly disjointed, nonsensical for people who aren’t familiar with the Naruto franchise, instead of talking about what makes it good, she starts shipping her favourite couples, she imagines herself in the storyline and she actually spoils part of the storyline (way to go in a segment that’s meant to get people interested in a franchise…). This is the kind of talk that you’d expect in a bad fanfiction forum, not in such a professionally produced video like this.

After that another guy talks about the Yugioh trading card game, but he never really says anything about it. If I watched this video without knowing about it, I’d still be clueless. He just rambles on and on about how he pwns at the game, but that’s about it. People from Revision3: you wanted my opinion on this bit, and here it is: dump these two dimwits and replace them with two people who do know how to voice their opinions properly. You’ve got such a great opportunity to record a program to promote anime in a professional environment. You can’t waste it on these two people.

The next segment shows an interview, as we get to see inside the Bang Zoom studios (the same that was invaded by Conan o’Brien a few months ago, apparently), and an interview with a voice actors and one of its executives. This may just be me being outside of this show’s target audience, but that interviewer got very much on my nerves. He placed too much emphasis on himself, and too little on the actual people he tried to interview. I’m not sure whether teenagers would appreciate that style of interviewing more, though. When the interview actually gets to business, I guess it’s interesting enough, though not anything special. The second interview was a bit cheap, because the guy who was interviewed also worked as the producer of AnimeTV. It must not have been hard to get an appointment with him…

The third and final segment is an actual review of a mainstream anime, and I think that this is the best part of AnimeTV. What makes it more interesting than your average review is that the creators basically put four people in one room, and all of them have different opinions on what they watched. This is actually a pretty good way to collect different opinions. The fanboy and fangirl are back, though, and while they’re a bit better here, they pretty much stated the obvious and the girl again couldn’t resist to comment on the hotness on one of the male characters.

My basic issue with AnimeTV is that while they have nice ideas, a lot of the reviewers and interviewers don’t really make use of the unique opportunity here. They’re part of the Invision 3 network, which also has many other shows that are not about anime, and thus it has the potential to get non-anime fans curious into the franchise. If you then have a rambling Naruto fangirl going on and on about how she’d like to marry one of the characters, then that’s only going to have the opposite effect. With good reviewers however, it has the potential to be an interesting show.