Short Synopsis: Now that everyone has reached Kinka, they rejoin with each other. Lin Senya, meanwhile, reveals his true name and makes his move.
Good: Great fight, thanks to Ran Ryuuren. The scene between “Senya” and Shuurei had an amazing impact.
Bad: Too bad I saw “Senya”‘s identity coming.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Haha! I knew it! Senya had to be Sakujun, he’s the only character who’s been mentioned a few times, but refused to show his face. Still, luckily his revealing-scene went way further than that, when he actually starts to seduce Shuurei. The thing that made the impact so huge was that Sakujun and Ryuuki have a scaring amount of similarities, and whether he’s aware of this, Sakujun uses the same sentences that Ryuuki used for Shuurei. Still, there’s one major difference between the two of them: Sakujun liked Shuurei with her hair down, while Ryuuki never even mentioned it.
Sakujun also is quite the bastard. He was the one who introduced Seiran to the Satsujinzoku, he killed a large number of family-members in the past, he killed his older brother, he’s after Shuurei, he’s planning to make a second ring of the Sa-clan, and he’s probably up to a lot more nasty things. He was quite fearsome this episode. Still, he’s going down in the end. Here’s why:
– We still have Sho Taishi who is on his way to the Sa-province with the real ring of the Sa-clan. I doubt that Sakujun’s aware of this. ^^
– He’s trying to go against Shuurei. Come on, she came all this way by herself for a reason. She’s not going to let such an idiot take advantage of her once more. ^^
– At one point, he’s going to have to deal with Ran Ryuuren. Seeing as Sakujun is the enemy of Bosom Friend Number 1, Ryuuren isn’t going to be easy on him.
– Is Sa Chuushou really just going to just forgive Sakujun for killing his grandson?
This also was the first time that We Suck got a sub out sooner than Shadow Dreams did. It’s a good moment to compare the two. Overall, I like Shadow Dreams better. I like how she left certain terms untranslated. “Tale of Saiunkoku” just doesn’t sound right, in some way. The Satsujinzoku also sounds much more fearsome than “The band of murderous thieves”.]]>
Master of Epic – 03
Short Synopsis: The search for true love! Warage Five Versus Groups of Punks II! What the heck is up with the main character?!
Good: Is incredibly cheesy, knows this, and fully utilizes this. Probably the best episode so far
Bad: Gonzo… animation…
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Seriously, this show uses its main character in one of the most original ways I’ve seen in a while. Over the past few episodes, we’ve seen lots of different characters, the orange-haired Newtar actually looks like an extra right now, even though she’s on the top spot in the promo-art and the OP. During the first episode, we saw a girl who looked like her, just with pink hair. In the second episode, we saw a very small flash of her, falling down a castle, and right now, we get to see even more of her when she runs past the screen for about one second, wearing black angel-like wings. Oh, and she also appears later in the show, and she actually has a short line, after disappearing again, as fast as she appeared. ^^;
Also, after watching this episode, I’m starting to notice more and more patterns. Apart from the Waragetcha sketch, the fishing scenes, the news and the introduction, the major part of the first half of the episode focuses on some girl who has some kind of problem, with the silver-haired bishie-Cognite appearing in some way. We also have a scene in which the Pandemos tries to impress Warage Pink (or Chuu), and she ends up doing something entirely uncute afterwards, which in turn, makes that such a cute scene. ^_^ There’s also this very strange scene, in which we go back to real life and see some weird man/men do something ordinary in a very, very, very strange way. I still don’t understand it.
Still, I’m having more and more problems figuring out who is who. Not only because of their lack of names, but because some characters show up in different clothes or hair. The Warages only made this more confusing when it seems that they’ve all got a second identity (Warage Black OMG O_o). And it indeed seems that Chuu is Warage Pink. But the Elmony newscaster, is he the same as the one who does the introduction? But I’ve also seen a green-haired male Elmony. He must be someone else. I think. A copy of the silver-haired male Cognite with blue hair didn’t make this easier. ^^;
Anyway, this episode yet again was loads of fun. Some of the jokes were incredibly creative, other were just too cheesy that they became funny, while other scenes were just too stupid for words. I’m also a huge fan of the smileys this show uses. ^_^ (Also, is it me, or was the female newscaster working on her accent during this episode? ^^;)]]>
Otogi Juushi Akazukin – 29
Short Synopsis: Inside a valley full of giant strawberry bushes, Souta and Gretel end up together.
Good: Gretel; Gretel; have I already mentioned Gretel?
Bad: Why didn’t Hansel chase them while he could fly?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10
Ooh, I’ve been waiting for this! This episode was all about Gretel. Not only was she incredibly CUTE during the entire length of the episode (I especially loved it when Souta tried to protect her just like the young Hansel), she’s also getting very interesting for the future episodes. I really liked how she still didn’t end up joining Souta in his travels, but instead, she’ll be acting independently, just like Hameln. I wonder when she’ll make her move. ^^
Randagio also is turning into an interesting character. He’s stepped away from your usual criminal goon long ago. That became clear when he unconsciously spoke a bit to casual when Ibara caught him. He’s adorable, even though he’s generally an idiot. ^^; I also loved how he opened the episode so forcefully for the past two episodes.
Also, something’s telling me that we’re about to get a good dose of development from Akazukin’s side. That expression on her face when she saw the road to the Village of Mist (?) was just too suspicious. Also, what will Turude’s role be in the rest of this anime? Has she become that scared of Akazukin in princess-mode that she doesn’t want to face her directly?]]>
Deltora Quest – 03
Short Synopsis: Lief and Barda take on the first guardian with the Topaz, they witness his story, and his downfall. Jasmine also returns.
Good: A surprisingly huge amount of thought put behind the story of the forest and the guardian.
Bad: Lots of talking + my level of Japanese = X_X; Strange use of recycled scenes
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Deltora Quest keeps amazing me when it hugely deviates from your usual shounen-adventure with its well-developed characters and thought-out plot. Despite the concept, this anime cleverly stays away from all of the clichés that plague this genre, and delivers a great tale about Lief, set out to collect the seven gems.
I was surprised when I learned that the guardian had an actual back-story. When he appeared during the previous episode, I just expected he was a brainless goon, and that this episode would focus a basic fight. Boy, was I wrong. During the fight, it seems that he’s been protecting something else. I couldn’t pick up everything, but this is what I think what went on:
In the middle of the forest, there are some flowers which can produce the elixir of life. When the gems were stolen, this guardian was sent to that place, in order to protect it, along with his three comrades. When they saw the flowers, though, they started to fight about them, and the guardian ended up killing his two comrades. Over time, he began to get confused about his original goal, and in the end, he told himself he had to protect the flowers, instead of the gem. I’m not sure why he didn’t know who Adin was, though. It seemed like he’s been there for a lot longer than 16 years…
It also seems that Jasmine has been after these flowers for some time, and she finally got the chance to get it when Lief and Barda arrived. She’s interesting, as you wouldn’t expect her to be the one to save Lief and Barda. It often goes the other way around when the main female lead turns into your usual damsel in distress.
The next gem seems to be hidden inside a lake. Probably the water-country. In there, there’s a fearsome witch. She’s apparently famous, as even Jasmine has heard of her, and she’s been living alone for almost her entire life. It seems like she’s going to be quite interesting, perhaps even more than the armoured one we saw in this episode.]]>
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – 15
Short Synopsis: Now with just the two of them, Akizuki and Kakunojou travel together, when they receive an interesting message, meanwhile, the war between the supporters of the old and the new government keeps escalating.
Good: Very interesting song, Kakunojou can become very interesting in the future-episodes, the results of the war.
Bad: The file I watched had a botched-up sound quality. If you’re planning to watch this episode raw as well, stay away from FeelLicks’ version
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6,5/10
Very interesting. This episode was a bit different from the usual episodes. Usually, a standard Bakumatsu-episode has about 15 things happening at about the same time, but this one was surprisingly focused. Kanna, the troupe, Parkes, and most other characters are just cast aside for a bit, and basically the only two purposes of this episode were for Kakunojou to find her new sword, and to develop the ongoing war between the supporters of the old and the new goverment, and especially the effects this has on the local people.
I wonder whether the three shamisen-players will return again. They’ve got interesting characters, but it seems that their only purpose was to deliver a letter to Akizuki, explaining about the location where a jar which looks an awful lot like the one Soutetsu used to snatch the lord’s head from Juubei. (I wouldn’t be surprised if Soutetsu was the one who sent that letter in the first place). Still, there’s a good chance they’ll appear again, seeing as Bakumatsu has never really had characters who’d only appear for one episode.
You’d also have to wonder about Kakunojou’s new sword. How did that thing end up in that shrine in the first place, along with the jar? Also, is this an area familiar to Akizuki? He seemed to know exactly how to move the statues in order to reveal the shrine. Did Akizuki also react in the same way as Kakunojou when he got his own sword? And where do these swords come from? It’s clear that the two swords are related, but in what way, exactly?]]>
Ghost Hunt – 10
Short-summary: Inside the hospital, Naru-chan reveals the real culprit, and her case is revealed.
Good: A good move away from the predictable mystery in this case.
Bad: This arc just doesn’t match up to the second one.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6/10
Before I start with the usual episode review, a little something about the above lines. It’s a small experiment. I tried to include some new kind of feature to my blog, and since I love statistics, I tried thinking of some statistics I could add to every post. Well, I couldn’t, at least not without some completely far-fetched, nonsensical and doomed-to-fail ideas. Then I got the idea of including a small short blurbs, which summarized my thoughts a bit. When I read other blogs, I often catch myself skimming for short summaries, or episode ratings, so I figured to have a small experiment, to see whether this would work for my blog as well.
I’m not sure whether I’m going to keep up with it, seeing as I already dropped the idea of including some additional information in the post title, but who knows. It’s also a good way for me to force me to be a bit more critical, and it may be good for when I want to skim back to previously seen episodes. Also, about the rating. I’m planning to have a very high standard for it, so that’s why this episode only got a 6/10, despite being good. The average episode ranks 5/10, when it doesn’t really have any interesting points. By adding some interesting points, like this one did, it gets a rating of 6/10. Needless to say that 1/10 is total garbage, while 10/10 ranks among the best episodes ever. Both don’t appear often, possibly once every few months.
Anyway, about the episode, I’m glad it turned out good, despite the predictability. Luckily, it decides to focus on something other than mystery this time: the relationship between psychic abilities and the mass media. The episode brought Ubusuna-sensei’s case in a really good way. It’s a really interesting one, seeing as even during her confrontation, she kept smiling, thinking that her actions are the only things that matter.
The mass media can be quite a bitch at times. Especially the gossipy ones are all after stories, and aren’t afraid to hurt people. What they don’t realize is the huge effect this can have on children, with a good chance of causing a post-traumatic disorder, like what happened to Ubusuna-sensei. I guess it isn’t necessary to mention that I hate these kinds of reporters in real life.
Also, Naru-chan is quite a trickster. He fooled me yet again, thinking he had psychic powers, but as far as things look now, he’s the only main without any powers in this anime. At least, if Matsuzaki really has them and Naru-chan isn’t hiding something from everyone. Still, why was Lin so worried when Mai told everyone about Naru-chan’s “powers”?]]>
Death Note – 14
Ah, this episode reminded me again why I love this show. It’s different from most series. Sometimes, I’m in for the story, others have me drooling for the characters, and yet others capture me with its tension. But not Death Note. For me, Death Note is all about its plot twists. These plot twist are so brilliant, and unlike most other shows, you absolutely won’t see them coming. That’s what I love about this show. Good for me that this episode had a LOT of juicy plot twists. 😀
Twist one: Light can’t kill Misa, otherwise he’ll die. This is going to be quite a problem. ^^ We see him theorize about how he’ll use her and kill her afterwards, with a big smirk on his face, and then Rem comes and ruins his entire plan. This is going to be quite a bitch for him to solve, seeing as the only way to kill Rem is to endanger Misa. Unfortunately, Rem will only suspect Light when that happens, so he’ll get killed.
Twist two: “Light-kun is my first friend.” That was so brilliant and cheesy at the same time! And to make matters worse, I don’t even know whether L was serious or not. You would expect L to be tricky, sly and clever, though this confession was awfully genuine. Light’s response also was so incredibly cheesy, though. I wouldn’t suspect that if that really was an act of L, he’d start to suspect something after that. XD
Twist three: Light manages to get Rem to kill L. When I saw it for the first time, that was such a brilliant moment. Easily one of the best plot twist of the entire anime. But as I’ve been writing this entry, I started to think how L could get out of this one. After all, there wouldn’t be much of a challenge left to this anime if he didn’t, would it? And I think I finally realized how he’ll get out of Light’s plan. I’m suspecting that L doesn’t have a name to begin with. Seeing that he considers Light as his very first friend, he’s always been lonely. There’d be a good chance that something happened with his parents, and he never even got a name. It’s not likely, but apart from that, I can’t see how he’ll be able to stop a friggin shinigami who’s after his head.]]>
Figure 17 – Tsubasa and Hikaru Review – 94/100
I think some people may have noticed by now, but for the past few months, I’ve been watching some 13-episode series I’ve always been wanting to see, but never got around to. I went to AniDB and made a list of all the interesting-looking series (right now, the list has 17 anime, this one not included). I watch them based on how interesting the concept sounds, with the least interesting to go first. If Figure 17 is any indication of the overall quality of the rest of the list, then I’m really looking forward to them, since this anime is awesome!
You see, the problem I have with slice-of-life series isn’t their slow pacing. It’s the fact that nothing happens. I want to sympathize with the characters, but for that, they need to be put in danger. I don’t really care about characters who spend their time eating cakes at a summer-festival, or something. Same with romances. I want to see the different characters face challenges, put their lives on the line, that’ll make me care about them, if done well.
This anime seems to have heard my calling, as it flawlessly combines slice-of-life with action scenes. You’ve seen those 26-anime who got crammed into 13 episodes? (Good Witch of the West, Narutaru, etc). Well, this anime shows that you can also can do it the opposite way when it increases its episode length with factor 2. Because of this, Figure 17 turned into the most un-rushed series I’ve seen in a while.
Like I said, this show could also have been done in half of its time, but because it took its time so much, it has some great opportunities for fleshing out its characters, and it gladly takes them. Through the course of the series, we get to know Tsubasa and Hikaru, our main characters, through and through. The fight scenes really put them in danger, and because of that, I found myself always rooting for the two of them to win. I’m also glad to say that this show has added itself to the very small list of shows that made me cry and weep. Yes, it’s that good.
The problem, of course might be that this show could drag on horribly, but surprisingly, I almost never felt bored while watching this. Perhaps only episodes 3 till 5 felt a bit tedious to get through, but these episodes did make sure for some amazing scenes, later in the series. I also must praise the battles in Figure 17, which were one of the reasons it turned so good. Even though the antagonists are a bunch of monsters, they can actually think for themselves. They’ve got some amazingly tricky battle tactics, and they don’t only get stronger each episode, they also get smarter each episode. This turns the battles more and more strategy- and skill-based, than power-based. Still, I do admit that some battles weren’t as good as others.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with such a solid piece of work. I thoroughly enjoyed it, not to mention that it actually has a great ending. Still, this isn’t an anime you’d want to marathon. I think it’d be very hard to concentrate after four episodes of the slice-of-life events. But, if you watch this one in a while (like I did), it’ll be an amazing watch. Definitely recommended. You also have to love the soundtrack that comes with it.]]>
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 25
This episode showed a flashback, in which Ryuuki told Shuurei and Eigetsu that he hid the seal of the Sa-clan at a very safe place. He didn’t say what that place was, but Shuurei would know immediately if she saw it. It made me wonder what Ryuuki might have meant. What could be safe enough, when the Satsujinzoku checks even checks all steamed buns? Then the next episode followed.
That most definitely was one of the most awesome scenes I’ve seen in a while! While it’s already at this extremely high quality, Saiunkoku Monogatari only keeps improving with each episode progressing! Of course Ryuuren would be the perfect person to trust the seal to. I should have known. ^^ But that’s not the only thing that made this episode great, seeing as Shuurei finally had the chance to display her strength again, being away from “Lin Senya”. Go Shuurei! ^^
Speaking of that bastard, I think I’ve got an idea who he might be. There’s one member of the Sa-clan who keeps getting mentioned, but never gets shown on the screen. It’s Sa Soujun’s younger brother, Sa Sakujun. There has to be a reason why he hasn’t been mentioned yet. Something’s telling me that both Sa Chuushou, as Sa Soujun as Sa Sakujun as Sa Kokujun have their own plans they want to get executed.
Also, Eigetsu and Kourin are into a bit of trouble now that they’ve been discovered. I wonder how they were discovered. I’m suspecting that Sa … had some kind of role in this. Eigetsu also revealed quite an interesting thing. He isn’t really a genius at all, just someone who studies. Still, he did find a number of creative ways to study. Just for that, the guy deserves credit.]]>
Red Garden – 13
Ooh, a new OP. At least, an enhanced op. The still frames from the original OP now have a bit of movement added to them. Makes for an interesting effect, I like it. Anyway, about the episode, I’m beginning to love this show more and more.
Especially Hervé. I love this guy. Especially when he he’s near Lise, he really is too mean against her. ^^ It may be a bit mean, but I loved how he told her that he was meeting Kate, in that extra-mean voice. It’s been quite an eventful episode for him. First the date with Kate and at the end of the episode, … collapsed. He’s quite pitiful, seeing as it now seems that the two girls aren’t really necessary anymore for the survival of his family, so doctor Bender starts ignoring the two of them more and more. It really gives Hervé a good reason to hate Lise.
Apart from Hervé, the episode focused mostly on Kate. Rose also made some interesting development, and we learn something interesting about Lula and her companion. It seems that they’ve got connections with the school’s headmistress. That might explain how they learned about Rachel and the others in the first place, and something tells me that a lot of their victims come from the same school.
Meanwhile, the inevitable happened: someone told Rose about how useless she is. She finally gets inside a situation in which she has no option of running away or hiding behind others, and she gets too scared. While Kate, Rachel and Claire grew while they fought, there actually was no real need to have Rose around. Because of that, she didn’t really have a reason to grow as well. Though things got a bit tougher with two monsters appearing at the same time. Still, I like Rose. Instead of sulking on what Rachel said, she actually immediately goes to train herself.
Kate, meanwhile, found out something interesting: how to use their special powers. Great scene, great scene. Still, her problems at school are becoming worse and worse, now that a note has been sent to her parents. I’m looking forward to the moment in which she finds out about Hervé, by the way. :)]]>