Holy ****!
I kindof knew what to expect from this episode, but it still turned out really good. Poor Luna, Wyrdwad was right about how dark this episode was. I originally thought that her mother would turn against her, but now it seems that every water spirit has been turned into a dark one. I’m not sure whether they can be returned or not when Zephys is destroyed, but the fact remains that some of them let themselves get killed in order to save Luna.
I’m looking forward to the next episode, as I can imagine that the aftermath of this episode is going to be really emotional. There’s also this matter of the curse, that can only be undone when Zephys is defeated, and that she’s about to unite with her forest-part. I’m eager to see some more development on her part as well, which I assume we’ll be getting in the next episode too.]]>
Popolocrois Story 1998 – 24
“If you, too, are a real man, then you will protect Hyuu.”
Wooot! The next instalment of Popolocrois has been released again by Wyrdwad. The current episode wraps up the story-part of this anime. It fills in the parts of the story that were still left unexplained, and it set the stage for the final episode, which will be very character-centric, if things go on. I do wonder what exact path it’ll take, though. Popolocrois is unique as an RPG adaptation in the sense that it’s focused on characters, instead of battles.
Gamigami was definitely one of the highlights again, and his speeches were the epitome of manliness. Even though he stopped being significant to the story, his “Otoko no Roman!!!” remains truly memorable. ^^; (Notice how Pietoro just literally drops Gamigami on the ground as soon as he’s done talking? :P)
Anyway, the major revelation in this episode was the reason why the Wind-kind were travelling in the first place. It’s like this, when the Anemoritos blew up, there had to be something done to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. The solution was to split all kinds. The Dragon-kind would settle in the heaven, the Human-kind would settle on the earth, and the Wind-kind would continue wandering from place to place without destination, basically taking their biggest wish of freedom away. Right now, Pietoro and Hyuu are struggling with these decisions that were made.
That was really deep, and I loved it! ^_^
Still, it’s sad that there’s only one episode left. At this point, there is no other series that I blogged longer than Popolocrois 1998. It feels strange to let it go, especially Gamigami, who turned out to be one of, if not THE most original and likable male character I have ever seen. Let’s hope the final episode closes off with lots of Otoko no Romaaaaaan!!!!]]>
El Cazador de la Bruja – 13
Yay for plot advancement! I knew that the creators were going to devote episode 13 entirely to the plot, and it doesn’t disappoint. This episode features tons of revelations, and finally we get some character-development of Ellis. After this episode, we should probably get a few more normal episodes, but if Noir taught us anything, it’s that the second half is probably going to be much more plot-centric than the first one. 🙂
Basically, Ellis and Nadie arrive at the place where Ellis was created. It’s all abandoned now, but it’s of course the perfect place to find out a few things. Ellis gets separated from Nadie, and then she runs into our good friend LA, who finally makes contact with her again. He then explains a few things about Ellis and the witches.
It seems that there once was a family of witches that could manipulate flames and wind (I was surprised about the wind, but it does make sense, as Ellis used wind in order to put out the fire in episode 11). They were, however, destroyed. Probably due to the witch hunts that episode eleven talked about. Because of that, artificial witches were made, and Ellis is one of them. To make things even better, LA is also one of them, explaining his obsession over her. LA doesn’t have any magical power, though his physical abilities exceed that of a human. There were originally five witches created, though Ellis and LA are the only ones left at this point. It’ll be interesting to see what happened to the others. The professor was assigned to take care of Ellis, while people were probably doing experiments on her. When LA tries to take Ellis along with him, she refuses, though and goes back to Nadie. It’s definitely clear that Ellis has grown after this, and this episode definitely brought her closer to Nadie.
Regarding the side-characters, things get even more complicated as another party appears: hunters with gas-masks. The woman we saw in the previous episode seems to work for Blue-Eyes, and has been ordered to trail Nadie and Ellis. Ricardo and Lilio keep protecting the two of them as well on orders of Rozenberg, who in this episode meets a new character with whom he makes a mysterious deal and Blue-Eyes is meanwhile in some sort of helicopter. The question, though, is where did the green-masked guys come from? Blue-Eyes seems to think they come from Rozenberg, but that doesn’t make any sense, since he hired Ricardo. They can’t be allies with the Blue guys, since they can only have total freedom at night, and this episode took place during the day.
Ah well, looking forward to the second half. The 26-episoded series of Bee-Train have had the tendency to be slow for their first half and then explode during their second half.]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 25
Just like Toward the Terra, Les Miserables is in dire need of a new OP and ED. It feels weird to see the characters still in their child-forms. ^^; Still, I suspect that either with episode 26 or 27, we’ll get a new one. Speaking of which, I wonder what the creators have in store for us to close off the first half of this series. Now that I think of it, I have reason to believe that the current episode was slowly paced on purpose, in order to save a big event for episode 26. After all, it seems that Eponine will be breaking into the house in the next episode, and something tells me that something’s going to happen to her.
This episode, meanwhile, slowly spends its time developing the relationships between Jean, Cosette, Marius and Eponine, yet again we see how the events of seven years ago still haunt Cosette and Jean. I didn’t realize it, but Jean continuously stayed with Cosette up to this episode. This episode, we see him go out and buy a present for her, and she immediately begins to feel lonely again. Jean, meanwhile, learns a bit more about Cosette’s feelings, as it seems he’s been quite oblivious to them. Javert also still is heavily on his mind, since he actually moved out when he suspected Marius to be a spy of the police!
I’m also curious at the amount of money that Jean possesses. Obviously, it’s a lot, but it’ll have to run out someday. Especially when they’re living in such an expensive building with an expensive dinner every night, I really wonder how much money he still has left. I’m looking forward to the next half of the series, and I can’t wait to see for the fourth arc to arrive. Right now, the anime is still building up, but based on the things I’ve heard about the second half, I can’t wait to see how Cosette and Jean will turn out.]]>
Some quick first impressions: ICE, Dash! Kappei and Tetsuko no Tabi
Maria, who asked me to blog about this series and it was a nice opportunity to wrap up the quick first impressions before the start of the Summer-season, since I needed one more series for that.
ICE
This is probably the first anime of the past few years to actually look like it’s made in the nineties, based on the characters at least. If you’d look just at them, you wouldn’t suspect that we’ve got ourselves a 2007-OVA here. This anime really gives the unique experience of mixing old character-designs with new CG, but unfortunately the fact also remains that the characters just look ugly. The animators also really screw things up with the random nonsensical Engrish that passes the screen, so the visuals shouldn’t be a reason for you to check out this anime. The characters themselves could have been more interesting. Still, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy this episode. The story and voice-acting really made up for the flaws. Especially the story, this OVA carries the concept of a world where all men have died out way beyond its basics, and it provides a nice number of plot twists and imaginative concepts you don’t quite easily think of. I also loved how the characters who died or got injured where remembered and taken care of. The voice-acting is unique, most characters have some kind of unique voice, which really works well if you get used to it.
EDIT: I wrote this blurb about a week ago, and now that I think back at it, my opinion of this show has become even better, and I’ve kind-of forgotten all the bad parts. This definitely is an OVA that needs a bit of time to sink in, which always is a good thing.
Dash Kappei
Dash Kappei is quite an old anime, it’s about a small boy named Kappei with extreme sports skills. In this episode, we see him get recruited for the local basketball team at school. Unfortunately, I’m not really enthusiastic about this show. It’s got nothing to do with the age, but rather the main character. In fact, I found myself liking every scene in which he wasn’t featured, and hating every scene in which we did see him. The dog was brilliant, and the team captain was adorable, but Kappei was horrible. He likes looking at the panties of girls and dedicates himself to the girls with white ones. He’s arrogant and he’s skilled in basketball with no signs of training whatsoever. He’s arrogant, his goofy facial-expression looks horrible, he never takes things seriously at all and his chemistry with the other characters is awful. I know that this is supposed to be a comedy, but with a character like Kappei it’ll just be impossible for me to enjoy this series. If you like panty-jokes and don’t mind old graphics you may give it a chance, otherwise: avoid it.
Tetsuko no Tabi
Tetsuko no Tabi definitely had the most peculiar premise of the spring-season: we follow a mangaka who records her travels along with a train otaku and her assigner (Ishikawa), and the entire anime is completely non-fiction. So, after having seen the first episode, how does it turn out? Well, awesome! The entire anime just sparkles with energy, perhaps even more than with Manabi Straight. It’s a perfect example of a feel-good anime, and the chemistry between the three main characters is excellent. Basically, they travel down one trainway, and make a stop at every train-station. The mangaka, who expected something entirely different when she first took on the job (aka, lots of delicious food), just keeps getting freaked out by the otaku’s antics, and Ishikawa’s fascination at them. Lucky Star had better watch out, as it’s not the only series focusing on modern Japanese culture and otaku anymore, and as things are looking right now, Tetsuko no Tabi will beat it in every department apart from parodies. Unless you need battles or cute girls with obscene hair-colours in your anime, you should definitely check this one out.]]>
Kaze no Shoujo Emily – 12
Seriously, it’s going to be extremely difficult choosing a number one for my upcoming June summary. This episode was once again excellent, and really heart-warming. One thing’s for sure, though: Kaze no Shoujo Emily definitely is the best slice-of-life series of the season and I urge every slice-of-life fan to check this series out as soon as it gets subbed. Seriously, why are shows like these unpopular with the fansubbers?
When it comes to feel-good humour, Kaze no Shoujo does a much better job than Lucky Star, in my opinion and on top of that it provides some excellent drama. This episode focuses on Emily’s relationship with Jimmy, and her poetic character causes some misunderstandings again. Jimmy shows her the local newspaper where every week a different poem from a reader gets featured, and he urges Emily to enter as well. Obviously, the poem wouldn’t make it, but Emily spends lots of time, fantasizing about what would happen once her poem appeared in the newspaper.
It’s strange. Usually when we see people fantasize it gets annoying. People fantasize about ridiculous things as a means of comic relief, but with Emily, it’s really a part of her character, and therefore very well developed, resulting in me, loving these scenes. Things get even better when Jimmy tries to prevent Emily from finding out that her poem didn’t make it, by buying up all of the newspapers from the local store.
Jimmy really was adorable. He seems to really enjoy seeing the energetic Emily happy, and every time he saw her enthusiasm, we saw him with a smile on his face.
Another thing I love about this series is how it takes place in Canada. The thing with anime is that most of the series just take place in Japan, while it’s fascinating to see other cultures portrayed. That’s why I usually dismiss anime that have Japanese high-schools as their setting: it’s been done so often, what can possibly be added by the umpth series focusing on it? The Canadian setting of Kaze no Shoujo therefore is really appreciated, and the difference is really noticeable. This episode introduced the winter-clothing of the different characters, and it may be me, but I never saw such outfits in Japan before. That’s probably because the winters in Canada are so much colder than those in Japan.]]>
Toward the Terra – 12
Toward the Terra continues to push forward one of the most complex plots of the season, and it does such a good job at it. I especially love the current Nazca-arc, and I can only imagine what the second half of the anime has in store for us. For this episode, there is another time-leap: three years. I advice you to pay attention from the beginning, since only two episodes in the episode another person dies, and quite sudden as well.
It’s Yui, the father of the first child born on Nazca. Sam, meanwhile, turns out to be alive, but heavily brainwashed, up to the point of insanity. Mother’s influence turned out to be too much in the end. Swena also saw him again for the first time in years, and it seems that Shiroe is still on his mind. I also loved how much Swena has changed since she was in love with him.
Later, when he arrives on a space-ship, he meets a Myu that didn’t get picked up by Blue. He’s already able to read people’s thoughts, and Keith was really scary when he found out. In the end, though, Keith takes the Myu with him, since his ability is useful, after all.
Back at Nazca, the conflict between the old and the new Myu finally escalates in a fight. The younger ones have nothing to do with Terra, they haven’t been oppressed like the older ones, who want to return to the planet of their dreams.
Overall, this was typically an episode to progress the plot. Along with Seirei no Moribito and Saiunkoku Monogatari, this is the series where I look forward to episode 13 the most, as most story-focused anime try to have a big spectacle at the end of a season, and the story in these anime already is awesome.]]>
Dennou Coil – 07
First, before I start with the entry, another summary of the new information revealed in this episode. I can’t believe that we’re already at episode seven and there’s still new information coming in. Either that, or I missed a lot of information in the previous episodes.
– Illegals can be found in old buildings.
– The current episode introduces Kirabugs, or stronger versions of metabugs. They seem to emit a bright light.
– Isako is a very good drawer.
– Illegals seem to live longer when they’re in ordinary pets, instead of old buildings.
– Kirabugs seem to be rather mythical. A legendary hacker is supposed to have obtained one once, though it broke and died afterwards. This suggests that the kirabug was a living thing, according to the legend, at least.
– After the kirabug died, it turned into what we now know as Metabugs.
This episode mainly focused on the relationship between Yasako and Isako. The two of them are in the same building, Yasako searches for a lost pet, while Isako tracked another Illegal. In the process, Yasako accidentally set off a trap that Isako set, and gets locked inside a sound-proof chamber, along with Isako who fails to stop her. In this episode, it again appears that Isako loves to feel superior. The chair she sits in just screams that she has total control. In the middle of the episode, she scares Yasako by telling her a fake story about the illegals (which would have been awesome if true, by the way), and she really feels uncomfortable when she’s on her knees to try and fix her error.
I’m also beginning to warm up to Kyoko more and more. Why? Because she really gets portrayed as a little girl. Unlike other anime, the creators do not make any attempt to make her character better to swallow, and the sister-relationship between her and Yasako feels extremely realistic and life-like.]]>
Seirei no Moribito – 12
You know, my prediction might actually come true. It’s quite possible that this has been the last of the quiet episodes for a while. Either that, or the next episode is spent on the transition from the first half of the series to the second half. The reason I believe this is because of two very subtle hints that were given near the end of the episode.
Basically, this episode was about a local festival. It mainly focuses on Chaggumu’s relationship with his new friends, though the more important issue is that lots of people are attracted to this festival, and there’s no way of knowing whether some of these people have something to do with Chaggumu. Barsa, of course, forbids Chaggumu to go there, but in the end, Chaggumu remains a kid, and not to mention that he placed a bet with one of the local village kids. This kid insulted both Chaggumu and Mikado, and Chaggumu challenged him to a fight during the festival to make him apologize. If he were to lose, he and his friend would have to eat slugs.
The thing is, that for the first time in the entire anime, Barsa makes a mistake. There’s actually nothing suspicious about a bunch of kids fighting, but when Chaggumu actually wins (by use of his brains, rather than muscles), the guy refuses to apologize and uses his father, who happens to be the strongest fighter in the village to get out of things. Barsa then decides to teach this guy a lesson, and if you pay close attention to the audience after the fight (she obviously wins), e see one ronin-like person who gets surprised at the huge skills of this woman, who just beat the strongest guy in the village with ease. Something tells me that he heard about the woman with incredible skills who protected Chaggumu before he died, and I suspect he’ll go and investigate.
The second hint backed this up even more. Notice the frog and the snake at the end of the episode? Well, if that isn’t symbolic foreshadowing then I don’t know anymore. I’m looking forward to the next episode to see if my theory on this is correct.
Also, it’s great to see some actual fighting-scenes again. While they weren’t as spectacular as episode three, they were full of detail. Chaggumu may not have the largest amount of strength, he fully utilized the strength of his opponent. I also love Chaggumu’s determination. He’s not scared at all to take risks to achieve his goals, and this episode did a god job in fleshing out his character.]]>
Ayatsuri Sakon – 23
Okay, it didn’t turn out as good as episode seven, but it sure as hell was enjoyable! I’m glad to see that the past few arcs have been way less predictable, as I never really confirmed the culprit until he was revealed. I also loved his backstory and character-development. I liked how he didn’t really turned out to be evil, he just wanted to have revenge for the things that people did to him. His miserable state of two episodes ago was an act all along.
I loved both Numata and Tsukiko, and how the ending wasn’t a 100% happy one. Numata will be serving in Jail, and Tsukiko has forgotten the things that he did, in exchange for her previous memories. It’ll only remain a question whether she can forgive what he did, and whether she’ll still want to be with him after the years he served in prison.
I think the only really evil person here is the major. He’s nothing but a greedy bastard who framed his son into killing Tsukiko, and he probably made him do even more. Even Kobayashi acted because he didn’t want to disappoint his father, which probably was because of the way he was raised.
Overall, it’s either me, or the arcs are getting better and better. There’s only one arc left, and let’s hope that the creators saved the best for last. I’m intrigued as to what they were planning to do to resolve the series. Sakon will obviously be in the spotlight more than he’s ever been, and I do wonder what part of him the creators will use for this.]]>