Ghost Hound – 11

by psgels, posted in Ghost Hound


Ah, finally Ghost Hound is back after its holiday-hiatus, and it did a good job of reminding me why it turned into one of my favourite series for the fall-season. It’s so delightfully down to earth, and doesn’t try to force anything. This episode also made things even better when it finally provides lots of answers. And of course, even more questions. ^^;

First of all: the mouse finally appears! Turns out to be an experimental rat from the female scientist (name?), she uses it in this episode in an experiment where she connects the brain to a little robot, making the robot move, based on the rat’s though-patterns. Quite interesting, though I wonder whether it’ll play any future role for this series. Speaking of this doctor, the end of the episode sees her making out with Masayuki’s father. Now that I mention it, we haven’t seen the guy’s mother, have we? Perhaps that would explain why Masayuki hates his father so much, because he forcefully separated him from his mother when he divorced.

In any case, the real meat for this episode was about Makoto’s parents. It all starts when an unidentified corpse shows up in the dammed lake. News like this travels fast, especially with a bunch of psychics like Tarou and Miyako in the neighbourhood, and very soon half of the town is gathered around the site of the murder. One of these people was Makoto’s mother. I actually thought that she died as well, but it seems that they too divorced at some point. Makoto hates her as well.

After seeing this, Miyako’s father (by the way, what happened to his wife?) decided to let the main characters know a few things about his past with Makoto’s parents and the mayor, as they used to be good friends in the past. They too went to visit the old hospital, just like Makoto, Masayuki and Tarou did in episode four. At one point, they found one very strange looking entrance, where Makoto’s father was the only one who entered it. Miyako’s father and the future mayor were too scared to go in, and prevented Makoto’s mother from following her future husband. In the end, Makoto’s father ended up somewhere that made no sense at all, though I didn’t quite catch the exact spot. Still, it has to be quite strange if this is the only thing that Miyuki’s father managed to find weird about the time he spent with the guy as a teenager. Still, he doesn’t know why Makoto’s father committed suicide, but I think that the Mayor can answer those questions.

I liked the small details in this episode as well, like when Masayuki’s bullies returned with their sempai, and this sempai turning out to be the guy from the convenience-store in the previous episode. I also like how he made friends with the fourth guy, and basically involved him with the story. I don’t think anyone would have guessed that the guy would get so much screen-time when he first appeared, and just got bullied by his classmates.

Oh, and it also seems that Tarou can now transform his entire body into his out-of-body experience, instead of the strange babboon-like creatures. I also liked how when Miyuki’s father told is story, Tarou and Makoto (but not Masayuki) got sucked right into the story, as if they were there themselves. It’s interesting how Masayuki didn’t come along with them. After all, he’s probably still in babboon-form in his out-of-body experience, and apart from his little video-game weapons, he hasn’t really tried to search for the borders in these experiences, unlike Tarou, who went to the other side and Makoto, who basically has been running around as a giant ghost hound. The thing also is that we’re only halfway up the series now, so there are still lots of directions that this series can explore.

Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji – 14

by psgels, posted in Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji


Now I know for sure: Kaiji is one of these anime that has a lot of things to like, but also quite a few points to dislike. The looks it gives at human nature are astounding. Ishida was amazing in this episode. Same with Sahara: the two of them were absolutely amazing to watch. The amazing intensity of the past few episodes is unbelievable and Tonegawa’s commentary was as fascinating as ever.

But still, don’t tell me that you didn’t see this episode coming. At one point, everyone falls off the beams at once, apart from the special Sahara, Kaiji and Ishida. When the series started, I remember noting how Kaiji was in no way special from the others. He was just another loser who wasted away his life, and I loved that part. Still, I can’t say that about this series anymore. Another problem with this series is the soap-opera-like cliff-hangers. They just don’t fit the series at all, and all they make me think is “god, not another week”, though that may be because this series is better watched as a marathon, rather than once every week.

Another small point of critique is that I didn’t quite buy the sense of balance of the characters, and how Kaiji kept his balance at all times, despite everything that happened. This is just a small detail, though. Overall, this was a very good episode, but really, the creators need to gear up the pacing very soon now. Slow pacing is just something that doesn’t fit this anime.

Some quick first impressions: Spice and Wolf, Noramimi and Hakaba Kitarou

by psgels, posted in Hakaba Kitarou, Some Quick First Impressions

Spice and Wolf

So… this is what you get if you hand an award-winning novel to an animation-company like Imagin: an authentic atmosphere, interesting characters, and a main female lead who spends nearly the entire episode without any clothes whatsoever and basically ruins the entire series. Still, I do admit that this series turned out better than I originally expected. I can see the potential here in this series, and this episode also took its time in telling the story. At times, I’m just not sure whether the creators’ minds were on storytelling or cheap fanservice, and seeing their reputation (Love Love, Cosmopolitan Prayers, Smash Hit…) there is enough reason to worry about this one to fall into a fanservice-fest.

Noramimi

Ooh, this reminds me so much of Tetsuko no Tabi! Not in terms of story, but in terms of execution. The graphics again are simple and again there’s great chemistry between the characters. Basically, in this series people live together with things called mascots. Noramimi is about a sort-of dating-service company, which basically matches people and mascots so they can live together. It works quite well, but yet again, I don’t see this one getting any chance of being subbed. Still, any series that features a hamster smoking a cigarette deserves to be watched.

Hakaba Kitarou

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! I can’t believe I was wrong in my entry about Shigofumi! The best first episode of the season definitely belongs to Hakaba Kitarou, and yes, I’m serious about it. Gegege no Kitarou, which aired last year, got dull quite fast, but Hakaba Kitarou turned into a really well-done and freakish horror-series. Whether it can keep up with the same quality for the rest of the series remains another question, but still the fact remains that this episode absolutely ROCKED. If you’re tired of all the moe-shows, you should definitely give this one a chance. I LOVE what noitaminA has been doing for anime for the past few years!!!

The Wings of Honneamise Review – 88/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Oh, the irony. The wonderful irony. The Wings of Honneamise is Gainax first major production. While I haven’t seen all of their works, I have seen quite a few, and I must say that Wings of Honneamise is Gainax’s only production without any reliance on moe-stereotypes, there’s hardly any useless or stupid fanservice, and it also has a pretty good chance to be one of their most down-to-earth work. I’m not certain whether one thing comes from the other, but for me, it also was among the best that the studio has ever shown me. Oh, the irony.

Basically, The Wings of Honneamse is about space-travel. Sending the first man into orbit, to be exact. The main character feels real and likable and not overly GAR for his own good. He’s pretty stupid at times as well, but make no mistake: the script is very clever at times. There’s lots of symbolism, and this is one movie that makes you think without trying to shove its message down your throat.

While it isn’t a comedy, there’s plenty enough to laugh at, and especially for major part of its airtime, this movie knows exactly when to be funny and when to be serious. The side-characters also do a wonderful job in supporting the main character. For a movie, there’s also a relatively large amount of character-development. Regarding the bad points, well, the creators seemed a bit too keen on making the climax as perfect as possible, and didn’t quite get it right. The result feels a bit weird, but by no means bad.

One thing that should be noted is that you do not want to go into this movie, expecting standard Gainax. This is absolutely nothing like their other works. The pacing is slow, the characters are nearly all adults and none feels out of place. There’s no outrageous animation and everything feels much more life-like. It’s a shame that Gainax went into such a different direction after making The Wings of Honneamise, as this movie is a pretty damn good one!

Sky Girls Review – 82/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


The original Sky Girls OVA was just a tasteless fanservice-fest. Needless to say that I wasn’t that keen on checking out the full-length-series for the concept. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the creators had no intention to make this end up as the failure that was the OVA. Sky Girls is definitely one of the surprises of 2007.

The show does have its issues in the beginning, though. In the first half, it just doesn’t succeed in making its setting believable. A giant war against invaders called WORMs in the past caused a lot of deaths, especially for adults, so because of that under-aged children have been allowed to join the military as well. Fair enough, though at the same time you see enough fully grown males parade the screen as mechanics and other similar jobs. You’d wonder why they didn’t do the piloting as well, as the bodies of young girls just can’t take that much strain when compared to fully grown adults.

The world was also supposed to have been nuked years ago, in an attempt to get rid of the WORMs, and again we hardly see any of the damages of these nuclear attacks. The first half of the series also consists out of a string of random episodes without much coherence; at one point, the characters also have nothing else to do besides comparing breast-sizes.

Still, as the series went on, it becomes clear that the creators knew fully well what they wanted with this series. Sky Girls isn’t about seeing cute girls in questionable outfits pilot mechas against giant invaders. It’s about living in the military, and how people deal with the relatives and loved ones that they leave behind. The main characters all have family, and they all have different relationships, and this anime does a very fine job of portraying this.

The series really picks up its pacing once the second half starts, and the characters start boarding a ship that was specifically designed to take care of the WORMs. With every character far away from home, and without much contact to the outside world, there are quite a few episodes dedicated to the characters, trying to brighten up their situation and trying to forget about the loneliness. What surprised me the most about this series is the final quarter, though, when the plot starts to kick in. Believe it or not, but the entire setting gets satisfactory explained and developed.

Overall, the pacing may be quiet, but this is one series that’s a pretty good recommendation if you want something light, yet engaging and thought-provoking. The first few episodes may not seem that much, but they’re building up pretty well for the second half of this series. It may not be the best, but it’s a great example of how you don’t need to have the hugest storyline in order to be good.

Wellber no Monogatari ~ Sisters of Wellber – 15

by psgels, posted in Wellber no Monogatari ~ Sisters of Wellber


Wow, I must say that the new ED is a major improvement on the previous one. It’s a very nice idea, and definitely among the best EDs of the season. In any case, I’m very happy to see that the creators have increased the pacing another gear. The first half of the first series had a few random fillers amongst it, but it’s only the second episode of the second season, and we’re already into some major background info on Tina, when she reaches her birthplace. This shows a lot of potential for the future episodes, and the episode itself was quite good as well.

The place basically lies in ruins after the rampage, ten years ago, with no attempts to rebuild it. The only purpose of it now is for ex-soldier to rob unexpected by-passers. This episode also showed that these three killers weren’t alone and basically brought along an entire army, which explains how they were able to cause such a huge disaster ad get away with it.

A lot of time was also spent on fleshing out the relationships between the characters, especially Tina and Jin, Jin and Galahad and Galahad and Rita. I sense a new couple forming at the latter. ^^;

Suteki Tantei Labyrinth – 14

by psgels, posted in Suteki Tantei Labyrinth


Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!

Don’t get me wrong. This episode was really good; probably the best of the entire series. The plot finally got pushed forward a lot and the production-values were just better than they’ve ever been. But at one point, a brainwashed Sanae carries away an unconscious Mayuki… you guessed it. She gets changed back by his love. Seriously, the romance is really going to ruin this series unless it gets developed very fast.

Thankfully, the rest of the episode made up for it. We finally know a bit more about Mayuki’s strange power. A number of years ago, a strange thing called “Hyugake Gentoushu” (yes, I have no idea what that means) struck down earth, and hit the young Mayuki, just after he was born. Because of this, he can see with his “mind’s eye”, in other words, he when he does into Hyugake Gentoushu-mode, he doesn’t see regular things, he sees truth, hence why he was so easily able to solve the different mysteries. This episode also showed that there’s more to this, though: a strange low-voice appeared from out of nowhere and somehow a dragon-like thing manifested for a second. We still don’t know what’s up with them, and Mayuki’s mother also has some kind of connection to everything…

One thing that I must praise this episode for, though, is the fight-scenes: they were really well-done, and kept me at the edge of my seat, and it seems like the budget went all out on them. Also, I had to find Seiran’s combat-outfit amusing. ^^;

Now that this series has entered its second half, it really needs to pay attention to properly develop the different characters. I want to be able to see a change with the first half in the second half, and I want to see the characters evolve, just like in El Cazador. The creators will really need put in effort and move this show into an interesting direction, in order to make up for all the humps and bumps we’ve seen up till now. This episode was good, but can they keep it up?

Some quick first impressions: Strait Jacket, Minami-ke Okawari and Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino

by psgels, posted in Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino, Some Quick First Impressions

Strait Jacket

Well, this OVA has been pretty dull so far. The biggest reason for this is a rather dull cast of characters. None of them really stands out, and they’re all rather stereotypical. On one hand, the creators want to be all serious and dramatic with gruesome deaths and killings, and on the other side the biggest priority of the cast of main characters is whether or not they look good. So far, the first episode did introduce the concept, but the overall storyline (which should be important for an OVA like this) is dangerously ignored. The premise is solid so far, but the creators do need to try harder in the next episodes if they want to make this work out.

Minami-ke Okawari

I dropped the original series after two episodes because it just wasn’t that funny, but I became interested in this series when I learned that this season of Minami-ke would be handled by an entirely different production-team. The three main characters still aren’t that interesting, though. They’re all a bunch of stereotypes. I do admit that the side-characters are quite funny, though, when they stand in the spotlights. The OP is quite interesting as well, though I don’t think that these factors will make up for the rather lacklustre lead-characters, so I doubt that I’m going to continue watching this series. If you were a fan of the original, though, you might want to check this one out.

Gunslinger Girl – Il Teatrino

One thing that should be noted first: yes, the character-designs changed. Is it me, or are animators getting lazier nowadays, with hardly any attempt to look different? In any case, the second season of Gunslinger Girl starts with an action-packed episode. While it was definitely exciting, it’s not what the original series great, and I hope that the new staff realizes this for the second season as well. But there’s no need to worry for now. The first season also started with the most action-packed fight of the entire series, and this episode gave enough hints to the deep characters and dialogue. Fans of the series will have to get used a bit to the new style, but apart from that this episode couldn’t have been a better introduction to the second season, and I’m glad to see more of the concept. The new soundtrack also is great. Along with Porfy’s Long Journey the best of the season.

Gundam 00 – 13

by psgels, posted in Mobile Suit Gundam 00


Oh great, another Setsuna-episode. Still, the guy has been getting better, and he’s not as annoying as he was at the beginning of the series. Still, he remains pretty stupid and seriously needs to talk more to people. Here he is, in a middle-eastern country, undercover and all, and he apologizes like a Japanese. No wonder that the guys from the Union saw right through him.

Also, I know that language-issues have always been tricky for international series like this one, but please, at least try to be a bit believable. What the heck happened to the Arabic language? It’s a shame, you can see that the creators did research for this series, and I appreciate that, but still small details like this continue to slip by.

Ah well, at least the episode built up well enough. The civil war in Azadistan is progressing along nicely, and indeed it’s not that easy to just change an entire nation, even though the leaders have no intention to fight. I do wonder how the creators are planning to solve this, though, but I guess there’s only one way to find out.

Now that the first quarter of the series is over, we should be seeing a bit more of the direction where the creators plan to go for with the rest of the series. It was at this point that Code Geass really began to decline, with its pointless emo-scenes, and I really hope that the creators for Gundam 00 don’t try to do the same and instead just continue with what they’re good at: politics.

Arete Hime Review – 89/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews


Before I start with the review, I have a small announcement to make. Anyone who’s looked at my blog for the past two weeks will probably have noticed the heap of movie and OVA-reviews. Well, with the review of Arete Hime, this special holiday-schedule has ended: every show should be getting out of their hiatus by now, the Winter-season has started as well, and tomorrow my studies will start again as well. I must say that it was a great way to spend the past two weeks, and this was probably the largest amount of activity you’ll see from me in like, ever (according to animeblogger, I managed to churn out more than fifty posts over the past two weeks ^^;). I also managed to greatly reduce my movie-watchlist, in fact, there are only nine titles left of movies and OVAs that I still want to see (three OVAs and six movies, to be exact), and I should be finished with that list in about two months, depending on how busy my studies will become.

Anyways, onto the review. For the past two weeks, I’ve seen a lot of good stuff, but the definite highlights for me were Tokyo Godfathers and this charming movie called Arete Hime, or Princess Arete. This movie really restored my faith in Studio 4C. Every thing has its bad points, and I guess that for Studio 4C this was Spriggan. Still, Arete Hime showed me that these guys remain a bunch of very talented storytellers.

Let me get one thing straight, though: boredom is a major theme of this movie, so yes: it’s slow. Don’t even dare to expect any action in this movie. Still, one flaw that I found in a lot of movies is that they tend to rush things along a lot, while forgetting to build up properly. Arete Hime delightfully avoids this flaw, and makes sure not to rush one minute of its storyline. Of course, the premise of a princess, locked up inside a tower has been done many times before, and yet the creators managed to create a setting with this that stands apart from the rest. The storyline and setting may be simple, but that makes sure that they’ve gotten sufficient development. It was definitely interesting to see the customs and habits of the people who live in a fantasy-influenced medieval setting, without any clichés or stereotypes.

The cast of characters is also well-developed, from the main characters to the side-ones: everything fits, and most of them are smarter than your average anime. You may not suspect it from first sight, but Arete is quite clever for her age, and the major villain too has one of the most interesting back-stories I’ve seen in a long while.

To be honest, if I were asked about the best movie-creating company, I’d answer Studio 4C instead of Ghibli. Sure, Hayao Miyazaki has made some great movies, but they all felt like they were missing something. That final spark to become truly interesting. The works from Studio 4C feel complete, varied and nearly all of them have a terrific sense of storytelling. Both studios try to be different and don’t care about popularity and mainstream. Princess Arete is yet another great example of this. Sure, I can imagine how it’ll put people to sleep, but the storytelling definitely makes up for all of the slow pacing.