Really, I’m not sure what to think of this series… this episode kept hopping back and forth from interesting to “WTF!?”. In this episode, Mayuki’s favourite director gets influenced by Byakko so that he plants a terrorist attack in a tall building in which Mayuki happens to be. I liked that point, where he basically tried to use the explosions for inspirations for his final movie. He also put enough thoughts in his plan, so it was quite interesting to watch.
But really, the way Mayuki tried to convince him to stop with a cup of tea was just a bit too ridiculous. This wasn’t a good episode for him anyway, where all he did was whine over and over. What I liked was how this episode didn’t feature his classmates, but Seiga and the two maids. It’s good for a bit of variation, though I facepalmed when Sanae started frisbeeing with a random camera. You’re on top of a building about to collapse, so the last thing you’d want to do is fool around. Also… where the heck did that giant robot come from!
I think it’s safe to say that this is one of the strangest series of the season. It does have one of the more unique premises, despite being so far-fetched. The thing I’m interested in the most is what this series is going to do once it hits its halfway-mark (assuming it’s going to have 26 episodes). I wonder what’s going to happen when the characters are fleshed out enough. And Mayuki grows a spine or something similar.]]>
Gundam 00 – 06
Ah, I’m glad to see that Setsuna is finally about to get some development after this episode. He was just too annoying in this episode before he ran into the guy from his past. I know the guy is silent and all, but at least give him some actual dialogue, instead of “My Gundam…”, “GN Blade…” and “Exia…”.
I liked the majority of this episode, though. We learn a bit more about the other members of the cast, and we see Lockon’s father, who seems to be one of the main technicians for the Celestial Beings. Sumeragi also turns out to be older than I expected, and she seems to be in her thirties, despite what her character-design seems to suggest. Her two female workers (the brown-haired and the pink-haired one) also get fleshed out a bit. I can understand why the pink-haired one is with the Celestial Beings. She’s serious about her job and some kind of a perfectionist, though I’m not sure why the brown-haired one is with them. She seems a bit unrealistic, with her playful attitude, despite being one of the best hackers in the world.
The next target seems to be Moralia, a new nation in Southern France, which tured into one of the major military trading-companies, after they start taunting the Celestial Beings by having a massive military demonstration. Sumeragi gives as the reason why the nation wasn’t attacked earlier is because they would have gone out of business in the end, though on the other hand, if Moralia would be gone and destroyed, the other countries would have lost an important military trading-partner, which could benefit the CB’s in the long run.
Another interesting detail is how the long-haired guy who works for the scientist who works for the Union (at least, I think that’s what he worked for. It could also be the EAU, I’ve lost a bit of track of that) is an old acquaintance of Sumeragi. Something also seemed to have happened between the two of them, which could explained why she joined the CB’s after graduating.]]>
Whisper of the Heart Review – 84/100
After watching some various Takahata-movies, I’m glad to see a Ghibli-production that does know to keep a slow, yet addictive pacing. Whisper of the Heart, or Mimi wo Sumebasa tells the story of the twelve-year old daughter of a librarian, as she meets the boy she falls in love with. Just like how Ocean Waves was an example of a high-school romance with a male main character done right, Whisper of the Heart is how a romance-story with a female lead should be.
This also remains a Ghibli-movie, and the amount of detail that has been put in both the animation and the script is top-notch, and the degree of realism is excellent, as expected. The characters also speak with voices that match their ages, instead of a thirty-year old voice-actress trying to do it. When they start singing, they really sound like the singing-voices of average people, when compared to other anime where characters suddenly turn out to have the signing abilities of a J-Pop idol in similar situations.
The story is quite simple, and not as intriguing as Ocean Waves, though it’s enough to make you connect with the characters. The first half introduces them and their relationships, while in the second half the love story between the two main characters gets developed. Basically, if you liked Ocean Waves, you’ll like this one. It’s a nice movie to watch and relax, with still enough going on to keep you interested.
Regarding the flaws, at one point, there’s a side-story about two side-characters that just disappears from the screen without getting resolved at all. It’s strange, because I would have liked to see how it developed. Another thing that Ocean Waves did better than this movie is the character-development. Sure, the characters change, but it’s nowhere near as interesting as the time-skip we saw in Ocean Waves. Be also aware that the main character remains a twelve-year old girl, and she will feel annoying at times.
Still, Whisper of the Heart makes up for this by being more than just a romance-story, where a lot of time is also spent on a cat statue named Baron and some fantasy-sequences where Hayao Miyazaki worked on. Overall though, both are movies worth the watch for anyone who doesn’t need testosterones every fifteen seconds.]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 45
And so we start with the aftermath of the revolution. I think that with this, we’ve passed the best part of the story, though that doesn’t mean that the current episode wasn’t excellent. We see Jean, escape from the sewers, Gavroche, waking up and finally getting to see Cosette again, and Cosette, who afterwards returns to the scene of the battlefield, discovering that everyone died. I do have a few points of critique for this episode, though.
Thenardier returns! Finally! It could have used a bit more foreshadowing, though. The guy almost literally appeared from out of nowhere, and we’ve got no clues as to what he’d be doing in a sewer in the first place, especially when he just happened to be where Jean found his exit, with none other than Javert waiting on the other side. Did the novel explain this better? I mean, the potential for the next episode is huge, but it’s a tad too coincidental. 😛
I’m also still hoping for Thenardiere and Azelma to get released from prison, but with seven episodes left, I think that they’ll get some more attention, as it seems that the creators are going to have to fill the remaining airtime with a few fillers here and there, because the book doesn’t seem to have enough material left to fill them. That’s also why I found Thenardier’s appearance so strange, for a series that was always so careful with building up.
Another thing that bugged me in this episode was the animation: it went everywhere! It’s not something that I’m used to of this series, which has always had very consistent graphics. Did something happen over at the producer’s side?]]>
Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji – 06
Hmm, I’m feeling myself to more and more inclined to agree with Kacpy… Sure, Kaiji is intriguing and exciting. This episode again showed some pretty interesting plot-twists and clever plans. But I’m noticing more and more about how slow this series actually is. I remember watching the first arc of Akagi, which took up just three episodes, which was perfect in length to delve into the character’s minds and not drag on, though Kaiji may be going a bit too far in this.
Episode five and six could have easily been combined into one episode, and it would have been quite an interesting roller-coaster ride to watch, though it perhaps would have been rushed a bit. One thing tat I can imagine that would have gone wrong is the transition from manga to anime. I haven’t read the manga myself, but I can imagine how the chapters don’t divide well into anime-episodes. Because of this, the creators of the anime end up repeating the same scenes about teamwork and the narrator’s reports over and over. It’s a common problem with manga-transition, unfortunately.
I’ve also finally looked up the name of the director of this series, and indeed, he did the storyboard for Death Note and Claymore. This really shows. Both series had some amazing moments, but were plagued with a few weaknesses, and it seems that Kaiji will be going down the same path: it’s a great series, but the slow pacing prevents it from becoming a classic. It’s strange… usually I don’t mind slow pacing, for example El Cazador. Still, El Cazador made sure that there was enough interesting stuff going on. Kaiji keeps repeating itself, which… isn’t really that interesting.
Anyway, regarding the episode, it seems that we’ve got two major antagonists left in the final fifteen minutes of the game: Funai and the guy who seduced the older man, in the beginning of the series. I knew that the latter was going to reappear at some point, because otherwise the creators wouldn’t have spent so much attention on the guy. If I had to guess, then this means that there are at least going to be two more episodes in this arc: one more to take care of Funai, and one (perhaps even two) to conclude the old man’s story.
One thing that Kaiji could have done in this episode was to start playing with Funai. The guy actually offered him a star for a bunch of cards. If Kaiji could have gotten the guy to offer another star, then they would have made it out of the ship. If Kaiji indeed has five or six million yet left, al they needed to do next is use this money to buy up another star, and they’d have nine. One thing that also fell to my attention was how Funai reacted when his stars fell off his chest. Well, it’s only natural of course, but something tells me that the creators are going to use that scene later on.]]>
Shion no Ou – 05
I’m not sure whether it is because all three series have an excellent soundtrack, but by now I’ve managed to pin down my three favourite series for this season: Kaiji, Ghost Hound and Shion no Ou. Especially the latter two have been getting more solid with every episode, and I’m always looking forward to when a new episode airs.
This episode of Shion no Ou showcases the final match of the tournament between Ayumi and Saori, and yet again I was captivated by the match, despite not understanding 50% of the moves that were made. Yet, I did notice how I’ve been getting better and better at following the matches as the series went on. Surprisingly, Ayumi loses, despite his determination to win the prize money for his mother. And finally we get to see his teacher again, who scolds the guy because he was starting to play shougi for the enjoyment, instead of the money, but does give him a decent sum of money.
Saori also gets quite a bit of development in this episode. I liked how she too was trying to adapt her own style. Something also tells me that Hanimeji knows fully well that Ayumi is actually male, due to a very obvious hint he gave away. I’m curious how this anime will develop further, now that the first major tournament is over. I didn’t quite get whether Ayumi received enough money from his teacher or not, and we’ve also yet to see the yellow-haired dude in action.]]>
Dennou Coil – 23 – II
This episode was absolutely amazing! Seriously, I was a bit pissed off at the sudden recap-episode, but the real 23rd episode was SO WORTH THE WAIT. I was already satisfied by the hilarious chase of Daiichi in the first half of the episode, but I still can’t believe the awesomeness of the second half of the episode.
I remember noting earlier how similar Haraken and Isako are, and this episode again confirms it, as Isako gets taken to the other side on her own will as well. The only difference here, though, is that she didn’t just do it to meet 4423, but it was also to piss off Nekome and protect Yasako and Densuke. With only three episodes left, how will Dennou Coil conclude? Will the final three episodes be just about finding Yasako’s grandfather and Nekome, or are there people who have been coiled away who are going to make some kind of appearance? The thing also is that Densuke is gone now too! He was “killed” by the humanoid illegals. How is Yasako going to get to her grandfather? I’m assuming that Nekome is going to play a role in this.
Also, this episode just rocked in terms of production-values, and it may be the most visually pleasing one of the entire series, while the rest of the episode was also among the best that this series has to offer. This really has been one amazing anime, but can the creators keep it up for the final three episodes? I definitely hope so!]]>
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 65
I’m still surprised at how short the different arcs have become now. There are only three or four episodes for each one. Ah well, not that I’m complaining. It’s refreshing when compared to the thickly atmosphered first half of the second season, where the pacing was really slow. This episode marks the end of what I’d call the Seiga-arc, because it indeed turns out that he was using Shuurei all along.
The episode was as good as usual, and I really enjoyed it, but it also was one of these episodes with a lot of complicated talking, which led to me, not understanding 50% of it. If only the subs for this series weren’t coming out so slow…
Anyway, from what I understood, Tantan went to his mother, and Shuurei now has a job with Ki Kouki, and most of the other low-ranked officials that were with her found a position with Reishin, it seems. Kouki was quite a bastard, by the way. He called Shuurei all kinds of nasty stuff before offering her a job. The other things that went on at Tantan’s mother’s home were beyond me, though. I’m still not sure what Seiga was after, and what Tantan’s role was in it.
The end of the episode also shows some very interesting developments with Ryuuki, as small Riou appears right in front of him in the throne room. We also learn the identity of the guy who was behind the counterfeiting and the salt: it’s the noble we saw a number of episodes back, and complained about how the nobles are getting more and more insignificant.]]>
Shugo Chara – 06
Last episode featured a character related to Kuukai, this week it’s Yaya’s turn. This time, however, the character in question is much more talented to Yaya. The episode was enjoyable, and her case was built up well. But seriously, someone do something about the extreme predictability of this series. The script itself is nicely written, but whenever time gets spent on the storyline, this series provides nothing original. Random kid gets down-hearted, meets the teacher, hatches a batsu-chara, with Amu conveniently being in the neighbourhood, the character in question then utters how everything is impossible, only for Amu to shout “NO, you’re wrong!” and beam the batsu-chara back into its egg and the character has magically learned from his or her mistakes and has stopped being evil and down-hearted.
I have no idea how this could have happened. The director did some episodes of Noein and Boogiepop Phantom for god’s sake, two series which didn’t suffer from this problem at all. If I had to guess, then he’s being held back by the original premise of the manga and the guy behind the series composition. Even though the latter may have been behind the fantastic Kaze no Shoujo Emily, the other series he’s worked on are rather mediocre and often even notorious (Koi Suru Tenchi Angelique, Nanatsuiro Drops (which also sucked at its storyline attempts) and Ie Naki Ko Remi (the final old World Masterpiece Theatre Series after which this went down for ten years)). It’s a shame, the story has so much potential, but I feel like there’s too much holding this potential back.
Thankfully, the script was fun to watch. The story about ballet was nicely done, even though the animators couldn’t take it at times. ^^; I liked the focus on Yaya, and how she turned into more than a cheerful crybaby. I’m just a bit annoyed at how her chara-change turned her into a crybaby who can’t do anything. The “weapon” she threw had no affect on the Batsu-chara, so that Amu would be the only one to take her out.]]>
Ghost Hound – 04
I think that this episode marks the end of the introduction for this series, and next episode should really start this series off. I’m also glad to see that Ghost Hound has been getting better and better with every episode, and I loved the things that happened in the current one. The horror-elements really work.
The one who surprised me the most was Masayuki. Due to the phobia-exposure, all three of the main characters have an out-of-body experience, and you could see how Oogami and Tarou were used to it, while the experience was entirely new for Masayuki, and this showed. Once he loses his control over the situation, he freaks out and doesn’t know what to do, but follow the others. His personality seemed to have developed in quite an unstable way, though this could also be because he suffered from his trauma only a few months before, instead o Oogami and Tarou, who’ve had their horrible experiences since childhood, and have learned to live with their fears a bit.
There were a few moments in the animation where the animators took a bit more than they could chew. The breathing-scenes may have looked god on paper, they looked kind-of fake to me. The rest of the animation for this episode was nice and crisp, though, but perhaps the CG was a bit intrusive here and there.
I also wonder why Masayuki was so scared to get his hair cut off, at the end of the episode as a cleansing ritual. He could be just scared of all the things that happened to him, or is there something to his background that has yet to be revealed? I loved Miyako at that moment, though, when she scolded the guy. Her role can become quite interesting for the future episodes. She also reminds me of Jigoku Shoujo: not Enma Ai, but Tsugumi. The only difference between the two of them would be that she’s way more serious and less playful. Apart from that, though: she lacks a mother, has out-of-body-experiences and knows what happens at locations, miles away from hers, while she does, she freaks out and gets comforted by her father, and the two do have similar character-designs as well.]]>