Reideen
Oh my. This is interesting. Very interesting, actually. I originally dismissed this because I watched the first episode of Chouja Reideen, probably another remake of the 1980s classic, which was horrible in every single way. Thank goodness, Reideen managed to fix a lot of this, and comes with a believable, touching and big-budgetted mecha anime. I originally never expected anything from this, but if the other episodes are as excellent as this one, It’s going to be quite the series. The character animation is wonderful, and for one of the first times, we have mechas who actually fight slow, instead of the incredibly fast and unrealistic ones we usually see (after all, how the heck to those huge giant robots move their limbs so fast?). The male main character actually is interesting, and he’s actually unique, compared to other shounen-series with their copy-and-paste male main character. I’m pretty enthusiastic about this one. Perhaps, if both this series and Giant Robo turn out really good, I’m going to blog the two of them. 🙂
Yes! PreCure 5
There’s one thing that this series did: it made me appreciate the greatness of other Mahou Shoujo. Not because this show is so incredibly good, it’s actually pretty bad. Whereas most Mahou Shoujo have learned to be a bit original, this one is just full of clichés. First of all, the heroine doesn’t even know why she’s fighting. She’s the legendary PreCure who is destined to save the world. Come on, please, at least give her a goal or something. Sakura got her powers because she actually let all the Clow-cards escape. Sasami was born with her powers. Rain and Fine got their powers in order to save the sun’s blessing which was deteriorating. And to make matters worse, our main characters are the only people in the entire friggin school with obscure hair colours, and they fit all the stereotypes. Ignorant, talkative impulsive main heroine? Check. Best sports athlete of the entire school? Check. Pop-idol? Check. Main librarian? Check. Student president? Freakin Check. Seriously, couldn’t they really think of something more original? Please, if you’re looking for a mahou shoujo, go and check out a show like Card Captor Sakura, Futago Hime or Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club, and stay far away from this one.
Moonlight Mile
This actually turned out pretty good! Okay, i didn’t understand 50% of the dialogue, but I really like what I saw of this. It’s a science-fiction show, which somehow manages to combine mountain-climbing with astronauts. The character designs may be a bit awkward, but the CG is gorgeous. It’s got a great atmosphere so far, and the music definitely sounds interesting. I wish I could say something about the story, but I’m going to watch the subs first before I’ll actually get a good picture out of it.]]>
Master of Epic – 05
Short Synopsis: Angelica falls in love with a male Elmony; Chuu is being cute again; Deep in a dungeon, two brave*cough* adventurers struggle for their lives.
Good: Hilarious, probably the funniest episode I’ve seen this year; even more characters are returning; the two adventurers were SO INCREDIBLY CUTE; Actually good animation!
Bad: Some Gonzo-advertising managed to slip in at the video-file I watched (from Saiyaman). Usually, this wouldn’t be a problem, but please chose some better series than Garasu no Kantai and Witchblade.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10
First of all, I finally found out a few more names of the characters in this show. Very handy, especially in this show, which has the nasty tendency to recycle most of its characters into other ones with different hair-colours and outfits (but what else did you expect? This IS an mmorpg-based anime, after all ^^). A quick rundown:
– Angelica: she’s the blonde Newtar in a pink school uniform. It seems to be quite a popular costume. ^^; Anyway, I’m glad to see her return. It’s better to see recurring characters than new ones at this point.
– Karen seems to be the Warage Green clone with Warage Pink uniform. I’m not sure why she keeps following Angelica, though. They’re probably two very good friends.
– Fuu-chan is the monster that keeps accompanying Karen. I’m not sure if this Fuu-chan is the same monster that’s accompanying Chuu when she’s in Warage Pink-mode.
– The Pandemos in traveller’s clothes we always see with Chuu appears to be named Pukotsu.
– The white-haired Cognite seems to be called Phillipe, though that’s his chibi-form. I’m not sure whether Philippe also plays the role of the other white-haired Cognites we’ve seen.
– Philippe’s Newtar companion gets called by Syozo (I bet that’s spelled differently).
On a whole different note, I loved this episode! First of all, it finally has a bit of decent animation. People move fluently, there are lots of close-ups and we see a few high-quality drawings, and some actual CG is used with the submarines to simulate the particles in the “ocean”. It definitely makes the characters look a lot better. I also appreciated that the unimportant bystanders actually had some original character designs this time, instead of being recycled versions of main characters. I knew this anime could do well if it tried.
The first sketch: Angelica and Karen return, like mentioned above. In this episode, she finds a new obsession: making clothes for the boy she has a crush on. She yet again gets a bit carried away, scaring this boy in the process, when she manages to create a huge pile of different clothes for the two of them to wear. I really liked Karen’s role in this, as the bystander who watches and tells the story a bit. And who eventually gets chased because Fuu-chan ate Angelique’s wallet. ^^;
The second sketch: yet another adult in the real life acting funny. I think I finally know the meaning behind these scenes. They’re supposed to be real-life events, with a mmorpg-element added to them. This time, a shop. I loved it how the shop-menu was opened when the guy tried to buy something. ^^
The third sketch: Pukotsu and Chuu again. This time, his backpack is broken, and Chuu managed to find a new one for him. Obviously, it’s an extremely cute elephant rucksack, not fitting his character AT ALL. It would be funny if he’d be wearing the same backpack in the next episode as well. ^^:
The fourth sketch is about two male Elmony. I’m really not sure whether we’ve seen these two figures yet, seeing as their particular character design gets recycled in many, many other characters. The only difference is the outfit, hair colour and the colour of their cheeks. In any case, in this time, we see a red-haired Elmony do all kinds of cool stuff and blow up enemies, and there’s a green-haired one who wants to either copy him, or hit him with the same method that the red-haired one uses. Obviously, he fails. ^^
The fifth and last sketch is the funniest of the episode. And the cutest. We return to Philippe and Syoso in chibi-form. They’re inside a scary dungeon, trying to get to the centre. Obviously, they fail in a horribly cute way. They first have to beat the dangers of travelling underwater, which is followed by a highly amusing talk under water. This really makes for the funniest accent. XD Next up, they reach the lair of the boss of the dungeon, who’s been sealed in a very eerie place and who gives off some very strange voices. Obviously, Philippe and Syozo ignore him and go for some more challenging enemies: the ordinary bats. They’re quite fearsome, as they weren’t even hurt by Syozo’s Miner Burst, lv1! This calls for Philippe to put on his super invincible armour! It gives him unfathomable strength, but it has one major disadvantage: he’s unable to move. XD
I’m not sure whether someone who has never played an mmorpg would get some of the jokes, but for the people who do have played their share of them, this anime is pure gold. It’s so full of the most hilarious parodies. A definite recommend.]]>
Ghost Hunt – 14
Short Synopsis: A school is being haunted by lots and lots and lots of spirits.
Good: New OP! It’s even better than the first one; This case has lots of potential.
Bad: A bit too much comedy at times.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
The new OP looks SO cool. It’s definitely something else than the usual OPs in which you see characters running around, trying to be cool with a semi-smart look. This one just looks freaky. A great way to start the series.
Let’s first start with the bad part of the episode: the comedy. It’s not that I don’t really enjoy it or anything, this show is actually extremely funny. But these small moments of comedy do sortof ruin the overall atmosphere, not only in this episode, but also in the entire anime. Now that I think about it, episode five didn’t have that much comedy. That’s probably why it turned so great, it was nearly non-stop tension. The comedy may be great, what this show really excels in is its tension and mystery.
Anyway, now the good part. This arc is filled with lots of potential. We’ve got a really evil ghost this time, who’s been luring spirits inside the school. Some of these spirits have even taken up the form of a huge dog, attacking and actually hurting students. He’s the ghost of a boy who committed suicide, because the teachers in his school were extremely oppressive. Especially when students keep playing Kokkuri-san, this effect only gets strengthened.
Also, what role does Yasuhara have in this story. The fact that he’s being put in the spotlight must mean more than just him being eager to work. He must have had some relation to the guy who committed suicide. I suspect that they were in the same class, seeing that not everyone knows such detailed knowledge about him such as what he wrote down on his very first career assessment. I’m suspecting that Yasuhara had some kind of role in his suicide, he just doesn’t mention this.]]>
Death Note – 16
Short Synopsis: In order to avoid getting killed by Rem, Light must save Misa. In this episode, he executes his brilliant plan.
Good: Definitely a unique episode; I love it when my favourite anime start using memory loss as a plot device.
Bad: Didn’t Light write down the names of criminals for four weeks in advance in case he’d end up in the hospital for some reason? Did he stop doing that?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
Before I start, I’m sorry for the delays I’ve been having. My studies came with a pretty obnoxious deadline, so I haven’t been blogging as much as I’d like to. Right now, I’m going to try to catch up with my backlog, though I’m fearing that some shows are going to have to be dropped.
Anyway, about the episode, I loved it! Light’s plan: turn yourself in, pretend to be Kira subconsciously, and get locked up. Beforehand, bury the Death Note somewhere where nobody can go, and leave some hints that only you can understand, so that only you can find it back, also give Rem’s Death Note back. Once in prison, wait a few days, and then forfeit ownership of your own Death Note. Because of this, you’ll lose your memory and start blabbering nonsense because of the situation. Get released, find clues and get back your Death Note.
Still, there still remain a few questions, which will have to wait till the next episode to get answered. How will Light get out of prison? The end of the episode showed a nice twist, but will it really be enough for L to release him? Also, why did he have to go through such huge lengths to save Misa? Why is him being confined necessary to free her?
Still, this plan may have been nice, the really good parts were the mind games the characters played with each other. This episode was one of the most emotional Death Note episodes yet, and it made great use of the memory loss to confuse the heck out of L, while L turned the Light without his memories crazy in his turn, by confining him for two weeks. Light’s father also was brilliant in his worries about his son.]]>
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – 17
Short Synopsis: Finally, all main actors are in the same area again and the story can go back where it left off.
Good: Finally this anime is heating up again; Soutetsu looked SO evil during the climax.
Bad: The episode took a while to get going
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
Before I start, two new characters are introduced this episode. they’ve got rather small roles, and I’m not really sure what kind of significant part in this story they’re going to play. They’re called Momata Kai and Souma Kazue. They seem to be working under Hijikata. If I had to guess their roles, they are probably going to play the same ones as the ones who got attacked by Soutetsu in the first episode. They’re going to be insignificant, but present, in order to give the soldiers who’re working under Hijikata a small personality.
I’m glad to see that this story is back to its main tracks now. Soutetsu, Kanna, the four English knights, Enomoto and some others who didn’t appear for the past two episodes finally return, while characters like Katsu and the troupe still remain vanished without a trace. Still, for most part, this episode was more of an introduction. It’s focused at a few major events.
First of all, Hijikata noticing Soutetsu. It seems that the former rather hates the latter, and after finding out that he’s with Enomoto, this feeling has only become worse. Speaking of Soutetsu, he’s been a complete mistery for this episode yet again. We see him at some kind of meeting which was probably meant to celebrate Hijikata’s return, along with the French commander. We later see Hijikata returning to him, and Soutetsu makes some kind of proposition for him. Hijikata must have something that Soutetsu’s after, since I think he’s trying to provoke him. But what?
The second major focus of the episode was the relationship between Akizuki and Kakunojou. Akizuki still remains as thick as ever, and he keeps getting more annoyed at Kakunojou. Probably because Enomoto is close-by. In any case, Kakunojou doesn’t give up so easily, and after being yelled at by Akizuki, she runs to the local inn they’re staying at, grabs her sword and challenges him to a duel. Obviously, she’s disarmed instantly, but I’ll eat my hat if that didn’t make any impact. 😉
Meanwhile, while Kakunojou and Akizuki and Soutetsu and Hijikata are busy with each other, the Englishmen launch an attack at Enomoto’s ship, though they’re forced to retreat when Enomoto appears to be a tad too dangerous when possessed by the lord’s head.]]>
Jigoku Shoujo – 40
Short Synopsis: A Kikuri-episode. A former actor is determined to get revenge on his neighbours.
Good: Great killing scene; nice twist in the ending.
Bad: A bit of a boring antagonist this time
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Hmm, dammit. This time, it wasn’t the usual formula which was the worst thing about the episode, it’s the antagonist this time. He just lacks a bit of depth, comparing to the other ones we’ve seen so far. I never really understood his reason, even after reading Memento’s summary. Okay, he’s pretty evil, though he doesn’t grab me like the most other antagonists of Jigoku Shoujo did.
Still, that doesn’t mean that this episode didn’t have some very juicy bits. The background music was as good as ever, and Kikuri gets some development as well. I’m still not sure what the little brat is trying to do. And why does Ai approve of her so much? Could the spider have ordered her to take care of Kikuri during her missions? And what is Kikuri after? Does she want to take Ai’s place?
It’s also a good thing that in this episode, people actually died. You don’t get to see that often in Jigoku Shoujo. People either die outside of the episode, they get sent to hell, or they just end up living, though badly hurt. The deaths in this episode made quite the impact. Especially the one of the mother. The death of the father had an especially nice after-effect, seeing as the antagonist suddenly disappeared, leaving the main character, the son of the mother and the father, with the blame of the murder. I just would have liked to see a bit more of what happened after this, though. We see the boy in a police car, but that’s all.]]>
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 29
Short Synopsis: The journey from Kinka to Koren. And Ryuuki, Kouyuu and Shuuei are back!
Good: Ryuuki, Kouyuu and Shuuei are funnier than ever, they cleverly decide to remain in the shadows, instead of the stage
Bad: Their timing was a bit too perfect.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
The focus of this episode was entirely different from the previous one, due to the addition of Ryuuki and his two companions. It seems that he couldn’t resist to come after Shuurei after all, with the excuse of inspecting the Sa Province. They really were hilarious, and I’m wondering what their part will be in the upcoming arc. Also, I might be wrong, but could Kouyuu have the same voice-actor as Baru from Otogi Juushi Akazukin? The way they yell is just too similar. ^^
I also loved how Shuurei still doesn’t know about Ryuuki’s plans. She never knows that she has an emperor behind her. Because of this, she’ll be forced to rely on her own strength, instead of Ryuuki’s. And that’s where she shines most. Her mother also gets mentioned again in this episode, just as the story of the Rose Princess. It seems to be a tale Shuurei’s mother told to her, and now Shuurei keeps telling to others, to help the story remain alive. It’s interesting, though. The story seems to suggest that her mother knew that she’d be taking over Shuurei’s sickness beforehand.
Sho Taishi, meanwhile, gives us the first opportunity to see Eiki outside of a flashback. It seems that she’s going to be the first person he’ll be visiting with the ring. For some strange reason, he took on his young-form, instead going like an old-man. I think he’s going to test out all the possible candidates for the ring before letting Sa Enjun decide who is to take it. Speaking of which, it’ll be interesting to see how Eiki will react when she sees her deceased husband again.
I’m actually curious whether the subbers will succeed in subbing the rest of the first season before the second season starts in April. After this, there are ten episodes left. In theory, it should be possible, especially if you look at the rate they’ve been distributing the past few episodes. Though let’s hope they don’t go into a sudden hiatus.]]>
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 28
Short Synopsis: The second part of the intermezzo. While the previous episode was rather gloomy, this one was more laid-back.
Good: The scenes were either incredibly cute, or incredibly inspiring. There is no third.
Bad: Like mentioned before, intermezzos don’t have too much tension.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10
Sorry about the lateness, but I was waiting for Shadow’s subs to appear, though it seems that We Suck has overtaken her. I still like Shadow’s subs better, but the fact also remains that I’m inpatient with these kinds of things. After the climax of episode 26, we’ve got ourselves an intermezzo again, preparing for the episodes to come.
We also see Shunki for the first time, outside of a flash-back. Ensei has asked a couple of ex-mountain-thieves to take care of her. It’s indeed a great hiding-place for her. Nobody would think to look at their place, since they’re rather goofy. You wouldn’t expect them to hide such an important person. I’m suspecting that the two thieves did something in the past to warrant Ensei’s trust. I also like how Shunki lost her voice.
Kourin and Eigetsu also were way too cute this episode when they were together. Kokujun, meanwhile, has set out to Koren, in order to stop his brother and grandfather. I’m not sure what he can do against the two of them, but I’m suspecting that it’ll be something significant. Shuurei also confesses to Seiran that he’s the second person she loves most. That’s indeed quite a strange thing to say, though it appears that the number-one person for Shuurei is her father. ^_^]]>
Soukou no Strain – 11
Short Synopsis: Ralph’s story gets continued, and preparations are made for the finale of this show.
Good: A very interesting plot twist over at the Deague-ship. Even though this episode mostly showed preparations, it was well worth watching.
Bad: The first half of the episode was extremely dialogue-based, which meant a whole lot of trouble for me to understand it.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7,5/10
Ah, finally Souko no Strain is back. And with this episode, I totally understand why the explanation of the previous episode felt so incomplete: it was meant to be continued into this episode. When Ralph held the dying Emily, who begged him to save her sisters, she showed him something like the back-star gate. I have no idea what that might be, but she also showed him the story behind the Emilies. Afterwards, a piece of stray debris hit his eye, causing the scar he bears now.
Also, if I’m not mistaking, it was Deague who first discovered the Emilies and started experimenting on them. That’s probably why Ralph ended up working with them. At one point in time, a majority of the Emilies blew themselves up, leaving only the ones in the Strains who fought Ralph, the doll-Emily and the Emily who was stored in the academy of the first episode. Deague wanted to retrieve the only two Emilies they had left, and that’s why they needed Ralph, because they recognized his talent. This story still sounds a bit vague to me, though at least it makes a bit more sense.
Meanwhile, over at the Deague-ship, an interesting development happens. The purple-haired lady actually manages to escape from Ralph, who seems to have a heart-attack. I’m not sure where this came from, though it did give her the chance to push the self-destruction-button of the ship, and flee along with Emily, in order to reach the space-ship Sara is on. This can become very interesting for the final two episodes. 🙂
Oh, and on a side-note: the background music is starting to get more addictive every time I hear it. The use of violins and cellos really worked well in this episode.]]>
Taiyou no Mokushiroku/A Spirit of the Sun – 02
Short Synopsis: The second episode of Taiyou no Mokushiroku focuses on Japanese who fled from the Japanese camps in Taiwan. Obviously, when a select number of Japanese starts killing others, the entire number of 80000 refugees who have nowhere left to go will be kicked out of the country.
Good: An amazing amount of morals and values as expected.
Bad: While it was a great episode, the first episode was better.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
It’s been quite a wait, but finally the second part of Taiyou no Mokushiroku has been released. This one really brought Gen forward as a guru, following people like Ghandi. During the previous episode, we got to know his ideals. In this episode, he has to make them true. In order to stop the Japanese-turned-to-terrorists, he starts a silent march, of no less than 80000 people.
The terrorists would have been convinced to stop in the end, if it weren’t for the Taiwanese government which was sent out to kill the terrorists, against the president’s orders. Apparently, these orders were issued by the ones who were behind the terrorist attack in the first place. During an announcement by the president in order to take responsibility of the things that happened and which has about 200000 Taiwanese gathered, Gen finally manages get the guys behind it arrested.
Gen being a messiah-like person and all may have been nice, it isn’t really what makes this anime great. In my opinion, his purpose is just to be the main character of the story, centred around what’s really important: the relations between the Japanese refugees and the native Taiwanese. This anime depicts civilians of a nation, who have never really had the need to seek major refuge elsewhere, to turn to other countries, in request for help. They stood above the poor Asian countries for a huge amount of years, though with the earthquakes, the tables have suddenly turned. Because of this, the Japanese and Taiwanese have turned so nationalistic that they just can’t seem to understand that nothing’s wrong with living together. Only the people as individuals can realize this. This part of the anime has been done magnificently. Definitely something to remember.
So why was this episode worse than the first one? Probably because of its impact, and that it didn’t deliver as much to the before mentioned themes as the first episode, and focused a bit too much on Gen, instead of what’s really important. It’s not that Gen isn’t a good character or anything, but he pales in comparison to the struggle between the Japanese and Taiwanese.
I’m also not too sure what to thing of the ending. The atmosphere was perfect. It’s great as a conclusive, yet open ending. But at the same time, it was so horribly cheesy. Especially when the threesome stands side-by-side, smiling on top of their boat. I’m also not even sure why the third guy ended up going. He could have used a bit more development for this.
Despite these flaws, I really recommend this episode, because it’s first episode just was pure win.]]>