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To be honest, until a week ago I still wasn’t quite sure how to review this series. I mean, there obviously was something wrong with it, but I just couldn’t put my finger to exactly what. Nevertheless, with the final two episodes (which were very exciting, by the way), I finally know where this series went wrong, and why it went from a very promising series to just… boredom.
Imagine yourself as the villain: you’re placed high in the military. A certain kid escapes your clutches, and this kid happens to hold the evil godmode powers of doom, and it is vital to get these powers back, so you are assigned this task. You’ve got a number of competent henchmen and you youself also are an experienced commander. It shouldn’t be too hard to come up with a plan to capture a 14-year old boy, right?
Well, this guy here sits on a chair for more than 20 episodes, looks evil and hardly does anything, and the plans that he does carry out hardly can be called the most effective ways to get to his objectives. In a lot of series, a good villain can really make a series, and really, Ayanami would have made an excellent villain if this guy actually stood up and DID SOMETHING.
the major problem with 07-Ghost is that it drags. Horribly. The plot here could have been carried out in one quarter of the time it actually used. So in the process, the lead characters have to find ways to keep them busy. Sometimes this is meaningful, but often it’s just way too angsty, melodramatic and shallow. Not really worth the investment of 25 episodes.
Which is a bloody shame, because this show definitely has some right ingredients. The direction during the action scenes is actually quite good: with an excellent soundtrack it knows how to entertain by pushing the right buttons at the same time. The series is full of creative shots and camera-angles, and the animation also hardly has any distorted faces. This is exactly why I was excited about this series: it sounded like an epic premise, but in the end the creators could have done so much more with this premise.
This series takes place in a church for the most part, so there is a unique religious feel about this series, so it’s really a bit of a shame of this wasted potential. Unfortunately, it’s really typical of the director: he did the same one to Hatenkou Yuugi, ruining it by an abysmal pacing. This guy really knows how direct technically: he knows how to make things exciting. However, in terms of content and especially pacing he still has a lot to learn. The best episodes in this series really ended up being episode 1 and 24. That has to say something.
| Storytelling: | 7/10 |
| Characters: | 7/10 |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 |
| Setting: | 8/10 |
Let me start this review by saying that I’m usually not much of a fan of slice of life comedies. In my experience, they’re often boring, repetitive and stereotypical, and just look too much like each other. However, there are of course always exceptions. Hyakko last year for example was great example of a series that hit all the right notes for me, and here’s another one: GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class. This really is everything that a good slice of life comedy should be.
The way this series stands out is that it’s not only enjoyable, it’s also very informative. In every episodes the creators put these nice facts about rt, art techniques and equipment that also made it a very interesting series to watch. I raraly run into a series that actually teaches me something, but this series is one of those rare exceptions. Especially if you like art, there are enough details put into this series to keep you interested.
On top of that, this also is a really well written and directed series. Even though it follows the daily lives of a bunch of characters, it hardly ever repeats itself: every episode is distinctly different, and about a different topic, it hardly ever repeats jokes, and when it does it builds further upon them, rather than milking them out.
This really is a comedy for those who like fast-paced series. The creators really jump from one scene to the other, to keep the show fresh and from dragging. However, that does lead to a bit of a chaotic pacing, and you really need to pay attention in order to be able to follow it, so if you’d like your comedies to be more straightforward you’ll probably be turned off by this series.
Nevertheless, with a lovable cast, an excellent script and a very good portrayal of a bunch of high school girls, this really is one of my top picks in terms of this year’s comedies. It’s always consistently fresh, enjoyable and interesting, and even the parts that aren’t funny are still enjoyable or informative. It’s really a shame that it flew so much under the radar, because it’s definitely among my top 5 series of the past summer season.
Excellent episode to close off the series. There’s no real climax or conclusion, but it’s not like this series ever needed one. I’m looking forward to that OVA in March, and it’s definitely been fun blogging this show. At this point, it’s got a very good chance of being my #3 of the shows that debuted the past summer season, but that’s still going to depend a bit on how Spice and Wolf II is going to close of.
In any case, in this episode we first see Nozaki missing a day at school due to sickness (strange how you rarely see regular flues in anime, right? When a character gets sick, it’s often some sort of life-threatening illness or something). Kisaragi was as cute as ever trying to worry about her.
But what I absolutely loved in this episode was how the cast would eventually visit Nozaki’s house (after she got better), in order to eat dinner together, which eventually lead to the creation of the evil stew of doom, in which Noda and Tomokane threw in a bunch of horrible, horrible ingredients, like sweets, cookies, chips and melon bread. The horrors that resulted were… hilarious.
In terms of art, this episode the characters had to create these mood boards, and they had a bit of fun trying to draw the mood of the characters behind them. This also resulted in a bunch of awesome jokes. Especially when Noda turned into an evil witch because of this.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]> 
Strange use of budget this episode: a lot of still shots, far-away shots, distorted faces, and yet absolutely stunning backgrounds, and a really great fight between Guin and that strange kid, who turns out to be some sort of strange monster. With this however, I’m certain of my Top 3 of the past spring season: Phantom, Shangri-La and the Guin Saga comes in third. Sure, there are still a bunch of shows that aren’t finished yet, but technically the same also goes for this series.
The strange thing is that this episode pretty much wraps up the current arc… and there’s still one episode left. Heck, it has already started to introduce the upcoming arc in which Scar heads off to Nosferas, Amnelis gains the favour of the kingdom that captured her and Istvan returns back to Guin, Remus and Linda. The next episode should probably continue these introductions.
And with that, Guin Saga joins the long list of series that still need another adaptation. I think the most annoying thing is that at this point, there is no way to know whether it’ll actually get one. With the announcements of new seasons of series as Inu Yasha and Harukanaru no Toki no Naka de suddenly appearing from out of nowhere, it could even take years for the next season to be announced.
Rating: * (Good)]]> 
This episode was just… amazing. As cheesy as the drama was around Mildred, Randolf and Henderson, this episode was the exact opposite: powerful and subtle, and a very fitting end to one of my favourite characters of this series. I’m really happy with this series: there really were times when my patience had completely ran out because of said cheesy drama, but the past two episodes have actually made up for that. I’ve seldom seen series that start off great, then turn out disappointing, and yet manage to pick up themselves back to their previous level eventually.
the star of this episode was to my surprise Horace. While he was the oldest of the family, he was able to still remain a little kid because Anne was there to take care of his siblings. With this however, it really occurred to him that he is the oldest man in the family. His character-development from such a bratty little boy to an older brother who desperately wants to be dependable really was one of the best parts of this episode.
And yet for Johanna, it’s the complete opposite. It’s ironic: I kept wondering why Anne would be forced out of the house, because the series has shown that she’s able to support her family, if only barely, with the help of Anne. However, this episode fully explained that: she may have hated her husband at times, but she still really cared about this good for nothing drunk. His death completely sapped the life out of her, and who knows how long she might take to recover from it?
So yeah, the next episode yet again promises to be something amazing: thankfully Johanna’s parents have agreed to take her in, and take care of her children. Anne however, doesn’t fit in there, and so she’s going to have to find a new family. The next episode is going to be a major episode for Anne, and I’m really curious to see what the creators can do with her at this point.
Aside from the next episode, I have absolutely no idea what the final third of this series is going to be like. Is it going to be good? Bad? This series has proven to be so brilliant at some times, and yet so painfully annoying at others. It can really go anywhere, especially since I suspect that the final third is going to focus on a whole new cast, and we’re soon going to say goodbye to the Thomas family.
In a way, I like this: I really like series in which you won’t know what to expect. There really have been few series that have had such a large contrast between their highs and lows. It’d be awesome if this series could keep this up, but even if it doesn’t, it doesn’t change that this episode was an amazing one.
Rating: *** (Awesome)]]> 
Here’s another Clamp-adaptation, the anime with one of the least descriptive titles in existence: X. It tells the story of a bunch of people who have been destined to fight over whether or not the earth is going to be destroyed. And I must say, it hits the mark surprisingly often. Recommended for anyone who likes a good character-study.
There are very few series that can claim that they only get better and better as they go on, but X sure as hell does come close to this. It starts out a bit mundane, but for nearly every successive episode as you get an idea of the plot, and the different characters show their backgrounds and stories, it just gets more intriguing with episode. Especially in the second half, where all hell breaks loose, this series just continues to keep the balls in the air.
What impressed me the most about this series was the maturity of the cast of villains. These guys are miles away from your stereotypical evil overlords, and despite the fact that they’re trying to destroy the world, they’re all surprisingly calm and down to earth which is very refreshing to be honest. The protagonists also receive plenty of attention, which allows each of them to grow beyond stereotypes, and actually develop a bit. A major theme in this series is loneliness, and I really liked how each of them chose to deal with their feelings in a different way.
With all that however, it’s a shame that the least interesting character in this series is the main one: Kamui. With such a colourful cast of side-characters, he fails to stand out and is yet another one of those angsty teenagers with huge powers with the task to save the world. He does develop throughout the series, but it’s all just too predictable and shallow. It’s because of him that the finale of this series turns out to be really cheesy. A pitiful exception to how everything in this series just gets better and better.
Overall, X is a bit too angsty for my tastes. Too often, we see characters stare pointlessly into nothingness instead of actually doing something, and the lackluster lead character and ending prevent it from really standing out, but aside from that there’s a lot to like in this series. It’s an interesting effect you get when half of the series’ plot twists have already been prophesized (especially if you watched the special episode 00, which is basically a very cryptic recap of the series). With a strong soundtrack and very solid animation by Madhouse, I definitely don’t regret watching this.
Whoa, I must say that this episode really caught me off-guard. It really is one of those episodes that’s a perfect example of how good this series can be: fun and tense at the same time, hardly impossible to predict and full of some very surprising plot twists.
Where to start? Because the creators killed off Marcoh in the first season, I really expected the same here… yet he is merely kidnapped. It does make sense: whatever the Humonculi are after is somehow related to the Philosopher’s Stone, so it would make sense for them to recruit the help of someone who is very knowledgeable about it.
But the really fun part in this episode was the part that took place in the forest. Overall it was a very creative action scene with this series’ trademark style of delivering comedy, action and drama all at the same time. Especially Gluttony got a bit of depth: we learn that he at least has half a braincell, and isn’t a complete berserk. Yet again, this guy is developing so completely different from the first series.
We also get our first glimpse of pride… who turns out to have powers of either invisibility or telepathy, and I also really liked the parts that featured Lan Fan, as she was unable to do anything for her master due to her losing her arm. My favourite of this episode was Envy, though. He was a very nice villain, and it’s a bloody shame that he died in this episode. there was so much potential left in him.
This episode ended with Roy Mustang, finding out that the problem isn’t just that the Fuhrer is a Humonculus, but he also has a ton of allies at his side. Thinking back, the first season never mentioned any of this, right? Now that I think about it, it would indeed have been a bit strange for just one or two humonculi on their own: one screw-up and everyone knows who they are. With enough allies on their side, they could cover up for them in those cases (such as, right now with Roy).
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]> 
Glad to see that throughout the tournament, there still is plenty of time for a bit of slice of life that this series is so good at. The first half of this episode was that, combined with a bit of building up for the upcoming match, which started in the second half of this episode.I do ope though that this match isn’t going to drag on this series.
But yeah, the gist of this episode was: Kou should have practiced more at fielding. The opponents in this episode did their homework, and managed to find out that Kou relies on his high pitches too much, and so they just bunted everywhere in order to confuse him, which indeed earned them a point in the first inning. Their mistake however was to assume that Kou had no stamina… which didn’t turn out to be the case.
It’s not like Akaishi and Aoba didn’t think of ways to counter Kou’s weakness, so the opposing team ran a bit behind the facts this time, though they were helped by how Kou just forgot to practice fielding. Still, for such a team they did pretty well: instead of randomly playing, they really took their time in analyzing their opponents, even though the persons they used to spy on Kou’s team were… unsubtle to say the least.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]> 
Oh boy. It took two calm before the storm episodes to get here, but damn. This was such an awesome episode. The style it was told in was completely different from what I expected, but this episode was SO WORTH THE WAIT. It really reminded me why, despite Tokyo Magnitude, this is my favourite series of the past half year.
With finales like this one, you really expect something over the top: really fast pacing, an epic gunfight or a very long action scene or something. Instead, this episode just played out very sloooowly. The background music was calm and quiet, and instead it very slowly moved to the inevitable: Cal’s death. It was really focused at getting the best out of the characters. Instead, Ein was delivering on the action, while Reiji and Cal’s fight ended in just one shot. The two of them are great marksmen, so it would indeed have been strange if the gunfight would have lasted any longer.
Cal’s eventual motive, to just be noticed, was a nice twist at the end. In the end, the Scythe Master managed to manipulate her, but not to the point at which she would hate Reiji with passion, but rather that she desperately wanted to be noticed by him, instead of Ein. Because of those talks from Scythe Master, she didn’t get convinced that Reiji was a horrible person, but rather she fully believed that Reiji didn’t care about her. That makes all her actions even more irrational than they already were, but I believe that that’s the point this series is trying to make: while we would like to make the best decision 100% of the time, those pesky emotions and especially love tend to get in the way a lot.
The next episode should prove to be an action-packed finale, at this point, it’s easy to think of what to expect. At this point, I can see no way in which the creators are ever going to be able to screw this up anymore. I personally suspect that the creators are going for an ending similar to El Cazador’s: simple, but effective.
Rating: *** (Awesome)]]> 
Well what do you know? Even though this episode was anime-original, it was actually really good. I’m very impressed by the creators here: they showed that they don’t just know how to adapt a good manga, but they also showed that they can write on their own, keep in the same style of storytelling, don’t ruin the Kanon and yet they don’t entirely waste time by making everything irrelevant in the end. Really Xebec, that was a job well done.
Of course, I’m not exactly sure whether this episode ruined the canon of the series, but it seems pretty unlikely. the creators here create an epic scenario that makes sense within the context of the series. The Will of the Abyss feeling lonely, that seems like a perfectly acceptable scenario at this point and it provides a nice epic conclusion for this first season. It’s a bit of a shame that the creators couldn’t afford a whole new set of character-designs for huge amounts of chains running around, but nevertheless that Bunny Dragon looked really impressive.
This episode was also very good at fleshing out the characters: it didn’t provide any new information, but it let the information we already know about them sink in: Oz with his development, Alice with that fragment of her past, and Break who recently dropped the wall between him and the others. But what really surprised me was that there was a point at which they even improved on the manga. One of my main problems with this series is that Oz’s moments of self-reflection tended to go on and on and on. They were often way too long and cheesy. This time however, he’s short and to the point, and it makes just as much impact.
the animation also was very good in this episode, and you can really see that Xebec invested time in it. I only have one problem with it, and that’s basically a problem with just about every series who lets hordes of monsters roam around. These monsters individually proved to be clear threats and very hard to take care of, and yet when they’re in a group their IQ suddenly gets divided by 10. Especially the way they react to guns seems… random. But then again, that can also be because of Oz’s lousy aim. ^^;
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>