Birdy the Mighty Decode – 10

by psgels, posted in Birdy the Mighty Decode



Short Synopsis: Senkawa and Nakasugi go on a date and Natsumi and Muroto go after some rumours about Syamalan.
Highlights: Yet another episode that delivers.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
And here I thought that this would be a simple intermezzo, where the series takes a small break, and takes its time to introduce the next arc. Instead, the creators managed to turn this episode into both an intermezzo and an episode that yet again pushes the plot forward. Especially the mysteries around Syamalan continue to tighten as this series goes on.

I must say that I like this series more and more with every episode, and it’s really one of those examples of a series that starts off rather weak, and only picks up later in the story. In fact, I see the entire first season as just one big introduction for the second season. My guess is that this first season takes care of everything around Syamalan (consider him as a sort of mid-boss), so that the second season can focus on Capella, and the guy with shades and his boss.

I’m really curious to how the creators planned to end the first season. It’s probably just going to be an average climax, where Syamalan gets stopped, but I can’t help but think how both Noein and Escaflowne’s thirteenth episode were absolutely amazing. I wonder whether the director has the same in mind for Birdy the Mighty, or would he rather provide a solid introduction for the second season instead?

Telepathy Shoujo Ran – 11

by psgels, posted in Telepathy Shoujo Ran



Short Synopsis: It’s back to the regular arcs as Ran, Rui, Rin and Midori help one of Rin’s classmates find out what happened to her brother who disappeared.
Highlights: Interesting premise so far.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Well, the past few light-hearted episodes did make me hungry for the serious arcs again, so even though they were fun to watch, I’m glad to see that this series has switched back to mystery. It seems that the brother of one of Rin’s classmates’ went after some strange rumours about an old guy, after which the old guy attacked him with an axe.

There seems to be much more to the story than just that, though. Said classmate (Reika) gets kidnapped at the end of the episode, supposedly because she reminds the old guy (Shimotsuki) about his daughter whom he lost decades ago. But then again, who wants to kidnap a girl, just because she resembles someone from your past? There are also these telepathic abilities of Shimotsuki, along with the strange telepathic abilities of Reika’s brother. Reika’s brother also made a note about how Shimotsuki is related to his roots. I’m not sure if I picked this up correctly, but I suspect this Shimotsuki to have some major influence on Reiko’s parents’ death.

In terms of characters, the past few episodes have put a really high emphasis on putting Ran and Midori together. That really became apparent in this episode where they split up, and the two of them ended up in the same group, but also their bickering at the table. It’s interesting, because their characters often shine (when not counting their banter, of course) when they’re apart from each other. There’s this interesting rivalry going on between the two of them: when they’re together, they form a perfect team that complements each other’s weaknesses, and when they’re apart they get fired up to be the most helpful to solve the case.

Detroit Metal City – 03

by psgels, posted in Detroit Metal City



Short Synopsis: The president visits Krauser II’s apartment.
Highlights: Just when you thought that this series couldn’t get much worse…
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
Okay… I think we explored some new depths here at this episode of DMC. Finally there’s another episode with 100% original content, and the result is an episode that goes even further than the introduction went… And here I thought that the image of death metal-fans couldn’t get more butchered…

In the first half, Aikawa attends one of the concerts of DMC to report on how awful their music is, and subsequently Negishi calls her a pig slut whore. This caused Aikawa to develop a deep hatred for pigs, and Krauser to feel even more sorry for himself. I also love the voice Negishi adapts when he slips into his Krauser II-role.

There’s just one thing that’s really bugging me in this series, though: the music is beginning to sound tamer and tamer. I can understand why the creators did it, to focus more on the dialogue, but it sortof misses that heavy-feeling of heavy-metal (or as Aikawa calls it: death metal).

The second short was awesome, in which the president turns the owner of Negishi’s apartment (an average middle-aged guy), where in the end three guys ended up stripping and dancing very strangely to DMC’s music (really, haven’t those creators ever heard of head-banging?).

Himitsu ~The Revelation~ – 22

by psgels, posted in Himitsu ~The Revelation~




Short Synopsis: The members of Daiku have a day off when a rather urgent case pops up.
Highlights: Just about everything in this episode!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 9/10
What an awesome episode! Really, I can’t believe that in the end, this series is coming together wonderfully. Seriously, it feels like this series has only just started for real after the biologica-weapon arc. It really feels like the cast’s introduction finished there. The past two episodes have that hard to describe feeling, where you really feel the chemistry between the different characters. If that makes any sense. It’s that very vague point that the characters reach, when they just feel like normal people, instead of two-dimensional ones.

I must really say that the creators have a very interesting way of fleshing out their characters. It’s very strange, I first labelled it as bad characterization, but as it turns out, this series has shown us many sides of the Daiku team. This episode fleshed them out even more, by showing how the Daiku members are on their days off. You really see different sides of them, than when you compare them in their business suits.

And the new character who kept bugging to join Daiku was hilarious, especially after the way he got pwned by Maki like that. But then again, just about every scene in this episode stood out in some way. From the light-hearted moments, to the amusement-park bombing that turned out to be just a simple fireworks show. I’m probably just rambling here (which usually happens when I run into a series I really, really like), and this episode definitely isn’t the easiest to explain why it’s so awesome. I think that it’s one of these episodes that has the x-factor.

I’m really curious: are there still people apart from myself that are watching this series? It really feels like everyone seems to have given up on it, either after the first episode with its gay undertones, or after the subs stalled. It’s a real shame: out of all the episodes the creators could have chosen, they stopped right before the best episode of the entire series.

Also, it’s strange, but I’m starting to really like Madhouse’s sense of visuals, especially in this series, even though the graphics budget is incredibly small. It’s the way that the creators use their filters and lighting-effects, along with the down-to-earth character-designs (no girls with hair in rainbow-colours = win). A great example is the gorgeous shot with the fireworks.

Overall, there were often times where I lost faith in this series, but now that it’s finally coming together, I’m confident that after Kaiba, Himitsu is my favourite series of the past spring-season.

Macross Frontier – 22

by psgels, posted in Macross Frontier



Short Synopsis: A calm before the storm things are set up for the finale.
Highlights: Ozma and Catherine.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
Okay Westlo, you’ve proved your point. At the previous episode, I declare Sheryl standing no chance at Alto’s love, only for the two to sleep together in just one episode later (at least, that was very much implied). For now, I’ll refrain from making any predictions about this love-triangle until the show’s actually over. I’ve never been that good with love anyway.

In any case, this episode set things up for the finale of this series. Leon gets the Macross Fleet ready to chase after Ranka, if I understood things correctly, and Sheryl started singing again. It turns out that her disease can be cured, in the same way that Ranka’s currently suppressing her own disease. Ozma and Catherine also successfully managed to escape and allied themselves with the rest of SMS, who now know too that Catherine’s father was assassinated. And about that ending… did Ozma just force Alto to be abandoned by the rest of the Macross-fleet?

My problem is, though, that with three episodes left, I’m really not sure whether Macross Frontier can pull off a good finale. I mean, I’m not really curious to see Ranka’s past, and this series will have to end with the death of Leon, where both Ranka and Sheryl will be saved and Alto choosing one of them. I really don’t see any potential for the creators to spice up such a predictable ending. This also isn’t the most solid series, so a straightforward ending also doesn’t seem to have much success.

Bonen no Xamdou – 08

by psgels, posted in Bonen no Xamdou



Short Synopsis: Akiyuki finally gets the chance to meet Haru.
Highlights: So that’s who that mysterious guy in the OP was.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
Excellent episode, among the best of the series so far. Although I spotted some strange coincidences in this series for the first time (like how did Akiyuki know exactly where Haru would be?), but these were small enough to be ignored. Especially since that scene of Akiyuki and Haru’s re-encounter resulted in some great character-development, now that it turns out that Furuichi became to hate Akiyuki for letting the white-haired girl blow up the bus, along with his classmates. It’s quite sad that he never allowed Akiyuki to properly talk to Haru in this way, but at least this way, Haru will have nobody to rely on. I predict some great growth from her.

The creators do need to pay attention to not let Akiyuki’s and Furuichi’s rivalry become overly cheesy, though. I’ve often seen such an attempt at drama fail, where childhood friends come to hate each other (Dragonaut, anyone?). Sure, I can understand how two close people can grow apart from each other, but for the rival to become one of the top officials of the evil empire (or something similar), it gets a bit hard to believe. One example where the childhood rivalry did work was Area 88, where the rival basically ruined the lead character’s life out of jealousy.

In any case, I loved this episode not just because of that, but everything that went on around it, from the crew of the Zanbani who was worried about Akiyuki and Nakiami, to the father and daughter that Akiyuki met in the previous episode to those strange people from the northern lands, who helped the southern government. I personally love a series with a huge amount of characters, where each of these characters has his or her own agenda and issues, and Bonen no Xamdou is also doing really well in that area.

Also, is it me, or did the background art in this series look better than ever in this episode? I’m also glad to see that the guy with the camera from the OP finally appeared. It’s obvious that it’s been a long time since he shaved, but I’m surprised that he was Raigyo, the Xam’d that Nakiami saved before Akiyuki.

RD Sennou Chousashitsu – 22

by psgels, posted in RD Sennou Chousashitsu



Short Synopsis: Kushima didn’t only go brain-down, but his entire cyber-brains went missing. This episode shows attempts to recover it.
Highlights: Lots of metal-eye-candy.
Overall Enjoyment Value:8,5/10
This episode was much better than the previous one. Not only because I actually was able to follow what was going on, but also because the focus returned back to the characters. The thing is that RD really is a series about its characters. Most of the episodes had absolutely no plot whatsoever, so any attempts to introduce an overall plot would fall a bit short.

So, basically Kushima was attacked and his brain was removed off-screen, because he posed a threat to Jennie’s plans, whatever those may have been. Souta manages to find this out with the help of the secretary general, who she still turns out to have feelings for. It was pretty brave of Souta to show up in front of her, along with Holon.

In any case, now that this show is about to end, I do have to say that this series has disappointed a bit: it wasn’t the masterpiece you’d expect from such a stellar director. Overall, it’s still a good series, but I expected better (damn those expectations again). Now that the main storyline has started, and this series is done with most of its building up, I realize that this has been a very unbalanced series.

I don’t have a problem with the episodic cases (in fact, I love them), but you have to know how to use them. RD spent way too much of its early episodes on Minamo, which left too little time for the other characters. As the result, Minamo has turned into a downright excellent character. Holon, Souta and Haru also were fleshed out enough throughout the series, and they too are great characters.

Kushima, but especially the secretary general and Jennie needed a lot more screen-time than they actually got. I absolutely feel no connection to Jennie, even though he’s supposed to be the upcoming bad guy. The scuba brothers also are really underused characters. I think that if the creators scrapped the haunted school-building episode, the book episode and perhaps the blind girl episode, and used these episodes to flesh out Jennie and the scuba-brothers a bit more, this series would have greatly improved. The result right now is that two absolutely useless characters are fleshed out more than most of the important ones. As funny as Minamo’s classmates are, they’re really not that important to this series.

In any case, the thing that stood out in this episode was the metal itself. Because the concept of the metal is so original, the artists in this series really could do with it whatever they pleased, which resulted into some very nice eye-candy. Souta, screwing up at the end of the episode and basically erasing Holon’s entire memory also had a lot of impact. Such a tragic love-affair.

Mission-E – 09

by psgels, posted in Mission-E



Short Synopsis: A calm-before-the-storm episode, mostly aimed at Maori.
Highlights: Maori’s development.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Aah! It’s been too long since I’ve watched Code-E. To think that Maori actually made a small appearance there. It was hardly a moment that stood out: a dog ran into Chinami and she freaked out, but now that this series has mentioned it, I do vaguely remember how Chinami once zapped a strange building behind fences. It’s nice to see that the creators managed to put such a cross-reference in this series. It makes the series feel more complete.

In any case, I’m glad to see that the creators clearly knew what they were doing with this series, because Maori finally starts to develop. The past few episodes have really pushed her character in a different direction, and she finally has the ability to let go of her doubts. At the same time, Adol’s doubts only increase. I’m glad to see that the foundation is also suffering from inner struggles, by the way. Even Adol’s boss has trouble with his superiors, which is a nice little touch.

As it turns out, Mission-E is only going to have 12 episodes, which means that there are three episodes left. It’s here where this series needs to prove itself. I think that the reason why the ending of Code-E felt so weird (apart from the questions it left behind) was that it went into a completely different direction from what it had been building up for. After watching Mission-E, it makes perfect sense, but I wonder whether the creators are going to pull the same for Mission-E. I think the best way to end this would be straight-forward action, though.

Overall, I must say that Code-E and Mission-E both have their great points and weaknesses. Code-E’s climaxes were much better than in Mission-E, but at the same time, Mission-E has much more solid characters and it doesn’t get held back by annoying romance. Overall, I admire the guts of the creators to go with something entirely different for Mission-E. It’s often tried, and I really like it when a series does attempt this, but it does have a nasty tendency to fail (with the most notable case Nanoha StrikerS), but it worked out pretty well here.

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 09

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou



Short Synopsis: Natsume meets a famous TV-star, who grew up in the same town as he did.
Highlights: Natsume learns that not everyone deals with the problem of seeing spirits in the same way.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
A quiet little episode, which mostly focuses at Natsume as he finally meets someone who can see spirits as well. The TV-star (Natori) turns out that forgetting about youkai when you grow up isn’t the only option. He’s become a lot more confident when compared to Natsume, and I guess that Natsume wasn’t the first person he met who could also see youkai.

If I understood correctly, he came back to finish a job to get rid of a youkai he met twelve years ago. There’s an interesting bond between the two. At first sight, it seems that he’s forgotten that meeting, but it turns out that he does remember her, but his attempts to get rid of her rather failed, and he was forced to forcefully exorcise her. He did care about youkai somewhat, he just didn’t show it at first. And as a result, when the youkai is freed, she keeps following Natori.

I’ve been noticing about this series: a lot of the youkai and ayakashi that appear in it and look like humans have masks. Episodes often end with this mask partially or fully shattered. In this episode too: we don’t even get to see the youkai’s face in this episode. An interesting use of symbolism, if you ask me.

Which Autumn Series do you want me to blog?

by psgels, posted in Special Articles

Next up in the category of “ah, why not?”, I figured that it might be interesting to revive a little contest I held a year ago. Before the start of the spring and autumn-season of 2007, I ran a small poll where readers could nominate an upcoming series. The one with the most votes would be blogged, no matter what, which resulted in me blogging first Claymore and then Gundam 00.

I decided to not do the same for the past spring-season because I needed a small break from it, but it’s a fun thing to do about once a year. Especially since this time I’ll have no idea which show I’ll be forced to blog until I watch its first episode.

Anyway, here are some concrete rules:
– To make a valid vote, drop a comment leaving 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 (in the unlikely event that the series in question becomes way too much of a chore to cover).
– Here‘s a list with the shows that are scheduled to air. (At least, that’s what I assume. Notify me if it isn’t complete).
– No direct sequels; that’s just boring and predictable.
– Apart from that, I accept any series with an airdate between September 25th and November 11th (yes, those were the first dates that came to my mind)
– Please refrain from spoiling synopsises or staff lists. I’m still trying to enter the Autumn Season with as little information as possible about the upcoming shows, and I’d like to keep it that way.
– The poll will end at September 30, 23:59 GMT. All votes that arrive after that will be ignored.

Here are the current scores:
Tytania – 23
Michiko to Hatchin – 20
Skip Beat – 14
Tales of the Abyss – 11
Chaos Head – 10
Hakushaku to Yosei – 9
Shikabane Hime – 8
Kuroshitsuji – 7
Toradora – 6
Kurozuka – 6
Casshern – 6
Yozakura Quartet – 5
Today in Class 5-2 – 3
Ga-Rei-Zero – 3
Mouryou no Hako – 2
Macademi Wasshoi – 1
Bihada Ichizoku – 1