As if the end of the previous episode didn’t look hopeless enough, Kaiji, Furuhata and Andou get into even more trouble when the latter runs off on his own and throws away the last paper-card and one of the precious stars. It was interesting how the guy tried to talk himself out of things by using a fake story about wanting to bring back the total amount of stars to five, when it was clear that he was going to abandon the team if he won three stars. It’s been a while since an anime featured an in-depth look into betrayal (probably the first season of Higurashi was the last one), which is why I like this series so much: it really delves deep into human nature.
You can also really see that in the match that this episode focuses on, when Kaiji manages to gather two stars with only four paper-cards. The opponent was someone who has been praying on the weak. It’s a nice, but very fragile strategy: he’s screwed when he runs into an opponent that knows what he’s doing. Because he only goes after down-hearted people, he doesn’t expect much of a strategy. Because of this, he only has a counter for the most basic strategies, and doesn’t think about the whole picture, which is why he lost.
Still, something tells me that the real fun hasn’t even begun. At the moment, Kaiji has five stars, and he still needs to buy four more of them if he wants the entire group to survive. After all the matches are played, the people with more than three stars will turn into ruthless hyenas, and try to make as much money as possible. Even with 14 million yen, it’s going to be hard, and how on earth is Kaiji going to pay off such a debt if he actually does manage to pull it off?]]>
Dennou Coil – A Circle of Children – 21
Whoa… I expected a quiet episode to introduce the final arc of this series, and then it comes with this! The amount of development that Isako gets is astonishing, and while the production-values may have dropped a bit, this was one episode not to be missed. It all starts when the building for the school that Yasako and the others go to gets demolished, so all the students move to the other major school, in the middle of the city.
This is especially disadvantageous for Isako, as the guys from a few episodes back attend this school too, and quite easily they manage to turn the entire school against her. Things go much deeper than just that, though. Remember the orange cat? Its master is behind everything, and it ends up erasing 4423-s room in the hospital! It seems that Isako was just used, and 4423 never had a chance to live in the first place! That room in the hospital was just an old cyberspace!
Apparently, there was something that happened in the last episode that made Isako lose her importance, so the decision was made to terminate her. My best guess would be that Nekome was behind everything, as he refuses to answer Isako’s calls. I don’t however think that he’s alone in this (after all, he’d never know which children beared a grudge against Isako), and there’s quite a large possibility that Takeru is his ally.
Then there’s also the question of why Nekome is doing everything. What are his true goals? And why did he approach Haraken in episode fourteen?]]>
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 62
It’s episodes like this that make me regret switching back to the raws for this series. I’ve often noticed that I’m usually able to follow an episode without subtitles if it’s around the middle or end of an arc, since you do somehow know what to expect. With introductions, the story is entirely different, though. I doubt that there was any episode in Saiunkoku Monogatari that introduced more new characters than this one, apart from episode 1, perhaps. I’m really reminded back to when I first started this series, and was virtually the only one who was following it. Back then, I really had no clue what was going on. ^^;
In any case, the previous arc was really there to introduce Suou, who seems to be a major character for the rest of the series. I think it’s because of him that Shuurei ended up back in the palace, to help him work off the punishment for what his father did, though I could be wrong. One of the few things I did understand of this episode was when Shuurei got fed up by all the males surrounding her and discovered that her supervisors were into pornography.
The truth indeed is that Shuurei is a bit uptight, and she definitely had an idealistic image of males, due to being together with Seiran and Eigetsu so often. It’s nice to see her witness some more… average males when they’re together. It’s a good thing Suou was with her, otherwise she would have lost it. ^^;]]>
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – 41
And here ends the second and final half of Takano’s background. Like expected, it was a bit bland, and not that interesting, but it was necessary to give Takano some kind of background. I’m just a bit disappointed that we still don’t know why she’s doing everything. I mean, professor Takano never talked about using the Hinamizawa-syndrome as a biological weapon. What caused Takano to create that vision? Did she stumble on it on her research?
I also didn’t like the head of the orphanage. The guy was just pure evil without any reasons at all, and seriously lacked development. It’s hard to take him seriously when you hardly know anything about him. Also, where did he get so many henchmen from? Didn’t they find the things he did to the children strange? It would also have been interesting to see a bit more about what happened to the other children who ran away. If I understood things correctly, at least one of them got caught back, but did they really all die?
Still, I’m looking forward to the next episode, and how Keiichi and the others will try to outsmart Takano. One thing I did like about the past two episodes is how they showed that Takano has an iron will. That is the reason why everything turned out the same way for every arc, apart from the second and the fifth, perhaps. The strange thing is that even though Rika died, Rena and Keiichi were still fine. I think that this is because Takano really needed to create some kind of fear within the residents, and I think that at that point, Keiichi and Rena unconsciously trusted each other, and didn’t hold any harsh feelings against Shion and the things she did. It would have been interesting to see Takano’s reaction to this.]]>
Shugo Chara – 03
The Chara-Changes are awesome. Not only are they hilarious (in this episode, we get to see the Chara-changes of Nadeshiko and Hotari), they also do reflect on the hidden and real desires of the different characters, albeit exaggerated a bit. Amu wants to be acknowledged because of her talents and not her reputation (hence the blue and green Shugo Chara), and she wants to be able to act beyond the facade she puts up every day (hence the red Shugo Chara). Nadeshiko wants to be seen as a strong girl, so with a Chara-Change, she turns into a hyperactive swordswoman. I can actually see her, jealous of Amu, who is known for her tough character. Hotari meanwhile has unconscious desires for power, which is why his Chara-Change turns him into a maniacal overlord who wishes to rule the world. That does make me curious about the Chara-change of neko-guy. I think it’s more than just growing cat-ears. ^^;
This episode also revealed the ultimate goal of both the god guys and bad guys: Embryo, an egg that allows you to fulfil any wish. We also see the first sparks of romance between Amu and neko-guy, in typical shoujo-fashion, while Amu also spends a part of the episode baking cookies for Hotari. I wonder whether the creators can turn this into a good love-triangle. This can be especially good for neko-guy, as it seems that Amu and Hotari are pretty much destined for each other.
Still, I like the relationship between the two of them so far. In this episode, Amu learned that she’s not the only one who’s ashamed of his or her Shugo Chara. I’d also love to see the Chara-Change of the final female guardian-member, by the way. Will that turn her ten years younger or something?]]>
Baccano! – 11
Hmm, not as good as the previous episodes, but that’s probably because this episode spent most of its time building up for the finales of all the different storylines that have yet to be resolved, apart from Isaac and Miria’s role on the Flying Pussyfoot (after all, Isaac still has to be stabbed in the ear) and surprisingly: Lua.
In 1930, things get heated up when Szilard himself pays a visit to Maiza, right after Firo’s promotion. He kills every mortal in the room, and gets his hand on the box that has just been emptied by our lovely Isaac and Miria. The Gandor-brothers are also at the scene, and they decide to check out what’s going on, and it’s getting clearer and cleared how they became immortals. Firo also finally gets more screen-time when he sees Ennis again, and the two of them get to know each other. That just leaves the question: how did Isaac and Miria become friends with Firo? I guess we’ll see that in the next episode. This episode also convinced me: Szilard is going to die, or sucked up. If I had to guess, then Firo is going to do it. Also, what role is Dallas, who suddenly appeared near the end of the episode at the same scene, going to play?
In 1931, on the Flying Pussyfoot, Rail Tracer does a few things that were quite hard to understand why: he interrupts the fight between Ladd and Chane without killing any of them, and he keeps killing Czeslaw over and over, despite knowing the guy is immortal (how did he know this and Czeslaw’s name in the first place?) I’m not sure why he’s been killing people on the train in the first place. Wasn’t his purpose just to meet with his brothers? I think that the thing to blame for this is my lack of Japanese, instead of bad writing. In fact, I’m sure of it. 😛 Oh, and Jacuzzi manages to seize back control over the dining train, while Nice and Nick are pointlessly questioned by the black-clothed guys.
Then, at 1932, it seems that Gustavo’s boss, the head of the Runorata-family has decided to accompany him, and they actually talk about Dallas in front of Eve. It was a bit of a strange reaction, after all, that was the same guy who was behind the gun-fest of episode one. Still, if I had to guess, then it’s because both families would be happier with Dallas gone.]]>
Some quick first impressions: Shion no Ou, Koharu Biyori and Ghost Hound
Shion no Ou
Okay, so here’s one that’ll never get licensed: the creators assumed that the viewers know the basic rules of Shougi, which isn’t really the case for most western viewers, now is it? Still, this series rocks, despite this, and it actually motivated me enough to learn more about the game in order to understand it better. I’ve said this before, but I really like Studio Deen, in the way that they’ve got an eye for great concepts, and there is a chance they’ve struck gold here. The murders only turned out to be a very small part of all the mysteries surrounding this series, and I’m so going to watch this.
Koharu Biyori
The OVA-format can be great for those stories that are too short for their own series, yet have the potential to turn into excellent stories. And then came Koharu Biyori where a perverted teenager buys himself a maid-robot and puts her in different dresses. Seriously, this is just one big excuse for fanservice; it’s especially obvious when a big octopus appears from out of nowhere. I admit, there were some funny moments here and there, like the selfish-joke, but that’s nowhere near enough to make up for the shallow plot, bad writing and nature to milk money out of the perverted otaku.
Ghost Hound
For me, this was the big title for the fall-season for me, and so far it doesn’t disappoint. It’s nothing amazing yet, though, but that’s because this clearly was an introduction-episode, with the purpose of giving the viewer a small taste of the different characters and the setting. One of the interesting things about this episode is how the creators managed to make a male main character of about fourteen years old who actually doesn’t feel annoying. I also like how his sister died, when both of them were kidnapped when they were young: it shows great promise for the future episodes. The graphics also look awesome, but what else do you expect when the character-designer of Jigoku Shoujo and Production-IG team up together? The voice-acting is also quite good and realistic; this is going to be a major series once the plot really gets fired off.]]>
Umi ga Kikoeru Review – 83/100
And I’m finally back with my movie reviews, and next up are going to be the Ghibli-movies. I’m not sure whether they’re going to be as frequent as before, due to my studies and all, but I’ll try to do one whenever I have a quiet day. Anyway, the first on the list is Umi ga Kikoeru, or better known to the English community as Ocean Waves. It’s a high-school romance, and while it may not be the most original genre, it does show that with quality-writing, any concept can turn out worthwhile.
With the start of the new season, I’ve been thrown to death by all the new high-school romances that came out, but still Ocean Waves turned into an enjoyable and relaxing anime for me. The degree of realism really helps: yes, it is a love-triangle, but the events flow well and don’t feel forced. The characters are developed well, they’ve all got sufficient background and make perfect use of the couple-of-years-long time-skip that takes place near the end of the movie (the latter was the real highlight for the movie for me). In the end, I found myself really caring about the three main characters, and I doubt to be the only one who did.
Still, don’t go for this movie if you want an exciting storyline. The pacing for Ocean Waves is really slow, and it should be used to relax, not to be blown away by. It’s not the best movie ever because of it, but it’s good at what it does.
I’ve also noticed that I tend to spend very little attention to production-values in my latest reviews, so I’m going to force myself here to write a whole paragraph about them. For a movie dating from 1993, the art looks really crisp and clean. The character-designs are simple, but they look very pleasing to the eye, with a degree of realism that all harems nowadays don’t even care about. It gives the movie a nice, down-to-earth feeling. The animation is detailed, but it’s a bit too simple and static for a Ghibli-movie. The background music is also well-chosen, albeit unspectacular.]]>
Suteki Tantei Labyrinth – 03
Yup, this was a clear building-up episode. In here, we get to see the real introduction of Mayuki and how “awesome” and cute he’s supposed to be. This episode’s purpose was really to flesh out the different characters and setting a bit. I’m not sure why, but it was actually quite enjoyable. For some reason, the series that take place in the so-called middle school work more often than the high-school ones. But that may also be because the harems and uninspired anime often chose the latter out of laziness…
There were a few bugs in this episode, though. Why haven’t there been any attempts to revive the Tokyo Tower after it got destroyed, thirty years ago? Why did the bad guys know that Mayuki was going there? How did they make the elevator operational again? I can’t really think of any logical explanations for this, and that’s rather in a bad way.
I’d also wish that the black-haired girl wouldn’t get left behind in everything and actually starts to do something. Also, why doesn’t Mayuki wear the same school-uniform as everyone else? Still, despite all this, I like this series so far. It’s got a nice combination of innocent middle-school adventures and mystery. I think we shouldn’t expect too much of the next coming episodes, as it’ll probably take a while to flesh everything out properly.]]>
FREEDOM – 04
Koharu Biyori temporarily made me lose my faith in OVAs. Thankfully, FREEDOM managed to restore it. This is everything a shounen-adventure should be: fun, creative and most importantly: innocent.
And seriously, I love the OP and ED for this series. I finally realized that the OP consists out of rendered images from previous episodes, and it really looks excellent, and this really gives this series an even more unique style. The ED also still is catchy, even after hearing it a few times.
This episode was really different from the previous ones, and it mostly consisted out of the males, having fun and making idiots out of themselves. I laughed quite a bit, though, and some of the banter between both Takeru and Biz and the truck of idiots they run into was priceless. Takeru is one of the few shounen-leads that made an impression on me. Simply because he actually has a dream, albeit a little childish one (meeting the girl he fell in love with and all) and he doesn’t stop until he reaches it.
This is so much better than your average shounen lead who doesn’t have a goal beyond “score a girl”, or “become the best X in the world”. To me, it just shows that they just go in brainless random directions without any real goal in mind, and that’s not really that exciting for me. It also helps that this show is quite well written, with perhaps a few bugs as where the characters get their water from.
I also laughed when Takeru and Biz were really planning to show themselves to Ao in gold and silver alien-suits they received from the guys who provided them a ride. You think that the encounter would be the most romantic thing ever, but no, the writers had other ideas. ^^; Perhaps it’s because of that that the climax worked again so well, despite the predictability (I mean, they had to find the girl at the end of the episode, didn’t they?). It is going to be fun to see how he’s going to talk himself out of it, the next episode should promise to be fun, and I’m interested in how the creators decide to portray Ao.]]>