Rejoice! Saiunkoku Monogatari is finally back! This episode is indeed like I expected: lots of introductions, lots of talking, and lots of marriage-issues. Surprisingly, Kouyuu didn’t participate in it, but Shuurei got two marriage proposals (one by Santa from Kochou and one from a newly introduced character), while Ryuuki meets another new character in the form of an energetic old man who keeps bugging him about his own marriage.
About Shuurei’s new admirer, it seems that his father is forcing him to marry just because of the money. God, I hate that guy already. The guy himself is strange though, in a god way. It seems he isn’t keen on marrying either, but he’s also reluctant to defy his own father. He also buys some strange gold and silver-tanuki-merchandize from a mysterious merchant who’ll probably end up important somehow in the next few episodes.
Oh, and Tei Yuushun did something special, though I have no idea what. Too much talking for me to understand, I’m going to have to go with Impz’s summaries to try and understand what went on this. This episode wasn’t anything special. It wasn’t bad either, but at the moment, with so many quality-series about to finish, Saiunkoku Monogatari isn’t really on my list of priorities.]]>
Seirei no Moribito – 25
What a magnificent and incredibly well-executed finale! Seriously, it’s awesome to see that the building up of the entire series has paid off so well. The fight against Rarunga was definitely one of the most exciting long fights I’ve seen in a long while, and seeing the actual climax of the entire series work out so well was in one word awesome! At this point, I’m very well inclined to call Seirei no Moribito a successful experiment, and I definitely hope that it set the standard for more future anime to come.
Even though the fight against the ever-increasing population of the Rarunga already was awesome, the definite highlight of the episode was the egg finally being born. Chaggumu felt so much like a mother at that time, and the inclusion of the insert-song worked brilliantly. It’s a strange family-situation between Barsa, Tanda and Chaggumu, but that only makes it better.
All that’s left now is the aftermath, which is probably going back to the overall mood of the midle episodes. It’s going to be interesting to see which path Chaggumu will decide. Will he decide to become king, or will he stay with Barsa? It could be interesting, though I think that this episode closes off the awesomeness of this story.
Then there’s still the matter of the other books in the series that this anime was based on. If I recall correctly, the author wrote a bunch of other … no Moribito-books. It would be awesome to see these animated as well at some point. Let’s hope for the best.]]>
Baccano! – 07
As if the current amount of characters wasn’t enough, this episode introduces yet another shipload of them, literally. And seriously, with every episode, my respect for this series is growing. This was an entire episode, dedicated to 1711, the place where everything began. The crew on the ship was looking for eternal life, and they found it, connected to a guy who looks surprisingly like Rail Tracer.
This guy offers the companionship the drink of immortality, and he explains the rules. If you want to die, just go to another immortal and let him or her suck you in, just like we saw Szilard do. You can also share information the same way. Then there’s one final rule, though I failed to pick that one up, unfortunately.
In any case, most of these guys are unimportant to the story of Baccano, but there were a number of key-figures present, most importantly Szilard and Maiza. The way Szilard spoke over Maiza, I originally assumed that Maiza betrayed him, but it’s exactly the opposite: Szilard betrayed Maiza! Maiza was the original leader of the project, and he managed to convince everyone but Szilard in sealing away the information about immortality. Szilard, however, became obsessed with the power and tried to retaliate.
Then there’s Maiza’s brother: Gret and his fiancé: Sylvie. Maiza has actually been the only one with the full knowledge of the immortality-drink, and he decides to seal it by placing half of it in Gret’s memory. Szilard, however, absorbs him, explaining how he was able to create the second immortality potion. He probably recruited Barnes for this by sharing his knowledge with him. The reason Barnes was immortal was probably because he drank the incomplete immortality-potion before (the one that just makes you able to regenerate, but doesn’t prevent you from aging). Oh, and Ennis is a homunculus, created by Szilard as well. This explains why she doesn’t have a last name.
Sylvie was nearly sucked up by Szilard as well, though she got saved in the nick of time. I don’t think she plays any role in the rest of Baccano, though, and she seems to have become some sort of singer. There’s also a new guy named Herman, who seems to have stuck with Maiza, and they both became member of the same mafia-family. Maiza has changed a lot over the years, though: he’s much more friendly and relaxed now. Herman, however, was more relaxed back then than he is in 1930.
Anotehr known face was our lovely Chezlaw, which explains why he became immortal and acquainted with Maiza. He was on the ship along with his father, though the two seem to have separated at one point. Still, I could have sworn that I’ve seen this father before, but I’m not sure where…
Surprisingly enough, Huey Laforet is also on the ship. He was merely there because it sounded interesting, but it seems that he decided to create a cult after he left it. Then he somehow ended up in jail, and the rest is known: his allies tried to take over the flying pussyfoot. I originally thought that Chane was his sister, but right now “daughter” seems more likely.
This means that Isaac, Luck and Firo are part of the so-called second generation of immortals. Probably because of the two bottles they obtained from Dallas. Still, the question remains: why aren’t there any traces of Szilard in 1931? He should have been with Ennis, but it seems that something must have happened to him, that united both Firo with Isaac and Mirio and with the Gandor-family (speaking of which, I’d love to see some more development from Luck) and with Ennis, while perhaps even sucking up Szilard. If I had to guess, then Maiza is probably planning something to take care of the guy in secret.
This also confirms that neither Ladd nor Jacuzzi are immortal as well. Their story is just another one in the collection of stories for this anime, and they just seem to be mixed up with the other ones as soon as they choose the flying Pussyfoot as their target.
Seriously, these writers of Baccano are absolutely brilliant for making all these different stories come together and back each other up.]]>
Tekkon Kinkreet Review – 89/100
Tekkon Kinkreet is, apart from Eien no Hou, the last of the big movies of 2006 to get released on DVD. As it has been produced by the Studio 4C, I was obviously looking forward to it, and I must say that it turned, along with Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo into the best of the movies, released in 2006.
Don’t be scared by the strange look of the series. What we’ve got here is a heart-wrenching drama between two brothers, who have been abandoned to the streets in the neighbourhood of Tekkon Kinkreet, or Treasure Island. In here, a strange culture has developed. The oldest of the brothers (Kuro, black) lives through fighting others, and yet the two of them are on good terms with the police due to the younger one(Shiro, white), who seems to have some kind of mental illness: even though he’s eleven years old, he acts like he’s six years younger.
Tekkon Kinkreet is chockfull of symbolism. It just shows how living on the streets can be incredibly fragile for young children, and yet the two boys somehow manage to mentally survive by depending on each other. The younger brother often holds entire monologues, which can either be totally random or incredibly deep. Also expect these monologues and the dialogues to be written with a great deal of care and attention, to make it feel as natural as possible.
For the past month, I’ve been watching a lot of different movies, though none of them really found enough time to develop both its main and side-characters well, though Tekkon Kinkreet finally shows an exception t this rule. The side-characters, a bunch of policemen and yakuza go surprisingly deep, and some of the saddest scenes in the movie are between them. I think that the main problem is that none of them really has any background, but they way they’re fleshed out and developed totally makes up for it.
The only real bad point comes from some supernatural elements that get introduced near the end of the movie, most importantly the final bad guy. Their symbolic value is huge, but I would have liked to see a bit more development in this department, as it feels a bit strange and out-of-place.
Overall, I can imagine that not a lot of people are going to be picking this up by just looking at the promo-art, but beyond waits a gem of a movie. Studio 4C are really one of the best movie-producers out there, and their unique style and originality proves to be a true delight. These guys know what it takes to make a good movie.]]>
Ooedo Rocket – 25
Torii definitely redeemed himself in this episode! I often saw him as the most boring member of the cast, but the scene with him and Ginjiro, wrecking up the missile we saw in the previous episode was hilarious, especially when combined with the huge production-values of their fight!
And I must say, the past few episodes have built a very good base for the ending, showing that the creators knew exactly what they’re doing. Even though the storyline isn’t simple, they managed to make it feel as unforced and focused as possible, something only few other anime managed to do. That still leaves the question whether the ending will actually be enjoyable or not, but for now, I’m positive.
Basically, the worst thing you can do as a comedy-anime is completely abandon your comedy in favour of drama. That works rather disappointing, doesn’t it? For the final episode, there seem to be three threads in the storyline left: Akai’s revenge, Kagiya’s worries, and getting Sora in the air.
Especially the first one surprised me. I realy thought that Akai would hate Seikichi by now, but instead he went after the Blue Monster from the Sky, who has cleverly disguised her(him?)self as the member of the warriors whom she(he?) ate/absorbed. Kagiya also should prove to be interesting, and I wonder what role she’ll be playing in the next episode. But yeah, the real highlight is going to be launching that rocket. This series has build up for this rocket for twenty-five episodes now, it’d better end with a bang, one way or another.]]>
School Days Review – 49/100
Now that it looks like that the final episode is going to be a DVD-only episode, I decided that I didn’t want to wait for such a long time just to close off this series. After all, it’s not like a bloody ending is going to save this series and heck, we all know what’s going to happen anyway. Shows like Red Garden and Zombie-Loan who also have a few DVD-only episodes have shown me that by the time they’re finished, my memory will have become too fuzzy to write a good review of it. I may edit this post after watching the final episode, but for now I just want to get over with this series.
Okay, let’s get started with this train-wreck now, shall we? School Days is another one of those hentai-game adaptations, but it’s a special one: the original game became notorious for a few of its rather bloody endings. Because of this, it’s become a fan favourite: you can’t go to any on-line anime-community where you won’t find tons of fans rambling about various death treats towards the main character. In the end though, this series became an utter failure.
Let’s start with about the only good point of this series: the male main character, Makoto. I know it’s ironic, but this guy actually finally deviates from some of the clichés that plague all of his colleagues, and most important of all: he’s realistic. It’s a sad thing, but in real life there are tons of idiots who just date girls without caring about any of them. You’ll love to hate this guy, and the things he does to all the poor girls in the series.
I wish I could say the same about the female characters though. The story is just so incredibly fixated on that bloody ending that it turns every single female character into a plot-device to get toward that ending. Actions are forced, characters conveniently run into each other, and most of them are a tad too often in too much angst, preventing them to connect with the viewers.
Still, at the halfway point, I would have actually considered School Days decent enough. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but the love-triangle that develops was interesting enough to make me keep watching. And then, as the series draws to its end, everything falls apart with some of the most forced and blatantly obvious plot twists I’ve ever seen. I won’t mention them for the sake of spoilers, but you should be able to guess their nature, with School Days being a hentai-game adaptation and all.
And then the setting! Seriously, it nearly looks like Makoto is in a school with only TWO GUYS in it. There is another guy (the so-called “rival” that you see in nearly every hentai-game adaptation) but he’s just good for one minor plot-twist and he just disappears afterwards without leaving any trace.
Seriously, if you were planning to watch this one: don’t. The scriptwriting and plot twists are just too forced and artificial to really form a connection, not to mention that 75% of all the scenes are incredibly annoying to watch, due to the characters being teenagers and all. While I admit that it could have been good, the scriptwriters just ruined it completely.]]>
Claymore – 25
Okay, that turned out better than expected. Claymore is still nowhere near its old level, but I liked how Claire only played a relatively small role in this episode. I didn’t like how Priscilla didn’t just kill everyone like she did with Teresa and the others, and that power-up of hers wasn’t really necessary at all (she already was the strongest, what’s the point in making her even stronger?), but Raki, Jeane, Miria, Helen and Deneve were great to watch. But yeah, you know you’ve got a problem when the side-characters turn out more interesting than the main ones.
Still, the big question remains: is the next episode really going to deliver? The episode ends with Raki screaming, which obviously is going to have some effect on both of Claire and Priscilla. Still, I do fear that the next episode is going to end with a dead Priscilla. It’s not like the current fight against Priscilla is bad or anything, but it just looks way too much like those other overblown fights in shounen-series where the two strongest X end up fighting, taking way too much episodes to do so, only for an even more powerful enemy to appear later.
This isn’t the first time I’ve been whining about Claymore, and every time I’ve been proven wrong by the climax of each respective fight. Now that the creators have deviated from the manga-storyline, will this trend continue, or do they just lack the skills to come up with a gripping storyline that the manga-writers had?
It’s just a shame that the anime is going to end in one episode. There’s so much potential in the characters who haven’t been developed yet. I actually don’t mind waiting a few years for the second season. Gunslinger Girl did it, and I’m really looking forward to its second season right now.]]>
Bokura no – 23
I’m not sure why, but my mood seems to be extremely random and unpredictable when it comes to final episodes. Bokura no, though, still had me as pumped as ever with its semi-final episode, and I’m really looking forward to see the end of this. I actually remember making a few predictions about the next episode, and surprisingly enough NONE of them came true. Obviously, this episode is going to be filled with spoilers. DO NOT READ this entry if you haven’t seen this episode yet.
Seriously, Bokura no started off with so many characters, and only three of them are alive right now: Jun, Kana and Seki. The rest of them: all dead, because yes, in this episode, Yoko kills Koemushi and takes Kana’s place as a pilot! I remember predicting that the giant tower would bring some kind of major plot twist: it didn’t. Yoko just destroys it, along with the building of Kanji’s mother. I also never expected that she indeed would be a pilot as well!
The fight also was one of the most exciting ones in the series, as it was also one of the most challenging ones. It really looked like a battle between titans, though in the end, it was Yoko’s experience that managed to finish the fight in her favour. This episode also was the first time we saw the government really involved with their bombardments of the city, around the fighting Zearths. It was actually a pretty weak strategy, as it would place both mechas at an equal disadvantage, not to mention the huge amount of homes that were burned in the process. The next and final pilot is going to be Jun.
The obvious question remains: How the HECK are the creators planning to finish this series?! Who were these people dressed in white? Are they really the ones behind everything? Will Bokura no attempt to rush its ending by killing off these guys in the end, or will it just close off the story of the current world, where the giant robots of other worlds will remain killing each other. Will the reset-button truly be pressed, or is this just a piece of false information. I’m dying to know!!!]]>
Code-E Review – 84/100
Toshiyuki Kato is probably one of the most versatile directors out there. He’s the genius behind Full Moon wo Sagashite and yet he also did its polar opposite of Ginga Densetsu Weed. Heck, he even worked on a few episodes of Simoun! For Code-E, he goes back to his slice-of-life roots, when he, combined with Simoun’s director Junji Nishimura, he delivers a charming love-triangle about a girl who can disrupt electrical equipment when startled.
The thing I like most about Code-E is the direction, interestingly enough. Every episode follows about the same pattern: the first major part of the episode is fairly dull, where the different characters are fleshed out. Then, when the end of the episode comes near and the climax starts, the production-values increase, a catchy tune starts playing and the entire anime becomes ten times better in just about every area. It’s here where the characters will connect with the viewer, and turn out to be pretty touching.
There isn’t much that this anime did wrong, actually. The only “real” flaw is that the major bad guy is the only underdeveloped character of the cast. But then again, we never see him much anyway. The biggest problem with Code-E is that it’s held back by its premise. It’s enough to be fairly satisfying, but it couldn’t really have reached the epic heights. I’d like to see this as an exercise in storytelling by a bunch of talented writers, and if you asked me, they succeeded, though I’d rather have seen them handle a storyline with huge potential like Simoun. Ah well, perhaps their future projects will arrive next year. It’s definitely going to be something to look forward to.
While it’s not the most neglected series of the season (that title goes without a doubt to Tetsuko no Tabi), the fact remains that it’s one of the more under-looked ones. The characters are touching and fun to watch without getting boring, the climaxes are exciting, I like to call this a success of an anime. Just be careful that the character-designs take a while to get used to. Especially that one particular male character (you know who you are…). In two weeks, the timeslot is going to be taken over by Mokke, and I’m already looking forward to it. With such a mediocre-looking season ahead, there’s a good chance I’m going to end up blogging it.]]>
El Cazador de la Bruja – 25
Whoa! This episode is THE climax of El Cazador, and I’m not sure why, but it was absolutely cheesy and I absolutely LOVED IT.
I think we can thank the huge focus on both Ellis and Nadie for this. I seriously must give Bee-Train credit in developing its characters so that they can even be awesome with plot twists as cheesy as we saw in this episode. I mean, in the end, Rozenberg did everything not for revenge, but because he LOVED Ellis. You can’t get cheesier than this, but somehow I ended up loving it. 🙂
Still, there’s another thing I love about this series: it’s so delightfully down-to-earth. It’s an adventure-series, but for once the fate of the world doesn’t have any part in the climax. This is just a small part of the world that tells its story: the story of the artificial witches. The entire series also has only a few recurring characters in the same style of Noir, and somehow this causes this series to become incredibly focused, with excellent results if I say so myself.
And Lilio! She did have a role after all, although the reasons and background for it aren’t clear yet, we should see these in the next episode, which should be a full aftermath. I personally like this, in this way, the ending isn’t going to be rushed at all, and I’m actually looking forward to it, especially now that Rozenberg is DEAD. I’d love to see how Ellis and Nadie spend their lives afterwards. The most awesome thing would be if the creators pulled a Simoun: show all the characters, X years after everything. (note I didn’t watch the next-episode preview).
Blue-eyes also turned out quite interesting, and I liked how she was able to save Ellis, after she was shot down by Nadie. It seems that she has been unconsciously holding back her powers, which is why they didn’t want to work.
Overall, I’m never sure what to think of endings, and often my mood with them is as random as can be, especially compared to the rest of a series, but I’m definitely enthusiastic about El Cazador’s one! In any case, I adored this episode. Especially Rozenberg’s end was magnificently directed.]]>