Star Crossed Anime

xxxHolic – 23 – Awesomeness

September 25, 2006 by psgels, posted in xxxHolic

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I think we may have caught our first real Tsubasa Chronicle-reference. At least, if you ignore Fye’s staff who keeps showing up at random places. Remember last episode, in which Yuuko was away for a long trip? This episode shows a small shot of her, while on a boat, heading for a strange, rocky island, wearing her Tsubasa Chronicle-dress. This probably means that somewhere in the future of Tsubasa Chronicle, Yuuko and black Mokona will be coming in action, to help Syaoran and Sakura. I can’t wait for it. ^^

Anyway, about the real meat of the episode. I’m very delighted to say that this was the best xxxHolic episode yet! The previous episode has been building up for this perfectly. It’s just so sad. I think the creators saved so much time for this on purpose, and it works out awesomely. I really thought that Watanuki would listen to Yuuko, and stop seeing the woman. Instead, it gets even better. Watanuki feels so much for the woman that he actually goes to meet her, even when he knows that he’s going to die if he keeps seeing her! Talk about awesomeness!

Maru and Moro also were exceptionally cute when it seemed that even though they were soulless bodies, they id feel sympathy for Watanuki. They actually tried to take care of him, and at the end of the episode, when Watanuki was resting, they actually tried to be very quiet, in order to not wake him up. This episode also was meant in order to bring Watanuki and Doumeki closer together. After all, when Domeki shot the woman, he did it on his own. Yuuko didn’t tell him anything that time.

This also was one of the few times in which Yuuko decided not to explain certain events to Watanuki. It also happened with the snowball fight, though that was because of different reasons than during this episode. I’ve actually got a small, totally speculated theory about the identity of the woman. What if she was Watanuki’s mother, who took on a different form in order to meet him, and somehow swore not to give away her identity? Still, I’ll say it again: this is just something that came up in my head for some strange reason.

Now that this, and most other series I’m watching are coming to an end, I can’t help but wonder how this series will end. I wonder whether xxxHolic’s ending will be able to stand out in some kind of way. I think that there are two possible options: Watanuki stays with Yuuko, or Watanuki gets cured and cuts ties with Yuuko. Regarding Himawari and Doumeki, I don’t think that their relationship towards Watanuki will change much. They likely continue to be friends. The Vestal Sprite could go all kinds of directions, though. That’s why I think that she’ll be a major actor in the actual ending.

Blood+ Review – 82/100

September 24, 2006 by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

Blood+ is a 50-episode action drama. It follows the battle between two vampire-like girls: Saya and Diva. It’s a rather epic tale, Diva is almost the equal of a killing machine, and Saya made it her life-goal to kill her once and for all. They both have their own allies, Saya has the friends she spent happy times with, while Diva turned a number of people in monsters, making them completely devoted to each her.

This anime definitely is worth watching. The episodes 26-36 are so incredibly good. They even had me crying at times, which does not happen often. The first half of the series, or episodes 1 to 25 are interesting to watch, though they might be a pain to get through due to their huge length. They do, however, build up perfectly for the sheer awesomeness that follows afterwards.

Though I’m afraid I have to say it, but after episode 36, the overall quality of the anime gradually drops. From that point, it’s like a straight line to the finish. There are some entertaining moments, but it’s clear that the creators already played all of their trump cards in episodes 26-36. Still, it does remain enjoyable. My complaint, however, is the last two episodes, in which the series ends. They really work anticlimactic, as they somehow manage to destroy everything the series has been building up for.

The characters are very enjoyable to watch. As this anime has 50 episodes, there are lots of opportunities to really flesh out each of the characters, and the creators gave a very good attempt in doing so. The character development in this anime really worked out. The characters are also very interesting to watch in all of their struggles. Whenever an important character dies, (that does happen at certain points in this anime) the effects this has are great to see. Except, perhaps, when the ending comes near. By that time, these deaths become rather predictable.

As this is an action-series, be sure to expect lots of battles. The creators also made sure that our heroine Saya stayed alive through all this by giving her the ability to regenerate her wounds, so that if she’s slashed once, she isn’t really killed. Even though I can see why the creators chose to do this, I find it also a bit weak. The battles themselves also don’t really try to be original, or something. While they are exciting, they’re nothing special. Still, the normal humans do not have the ability to regenerate. The battles in which humans play a role are mostly the most creative ones.

In terms of music, this anime also tries to be epic. At some times, it really works, but when you compare it to other anime, then the soundtrack of Blood+ isn’t really anything special. It doesn’t really try to stand out. Same with the graphics. They’re good, they really work, but they don’t try to stand out. Only Lewis and the Schiff ended up with memorable character designs.

Overall, Blood+ really is a series with its ups and downs. It’s got some totally amazing moments, but at the same time, some elements are doomed for mediocrity. Still, the awesome moments were definitely worth it.

Otogi Juushi Akazukin – 13 – Fandavalians have “interesting” rituals

September 23, 2006 by psgels, posted in Otogi Juushi Akazukin

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Finally we have the Akazukin-episode, though she didn’t get any character development like Shirayuki, Ibara and Ringo did when they got their own episode. This episode was rather meant to show what would happen to Ibara and Shirayuki if Akazukin was absent from the three musketeers. Well, they’d get their ass kicked. ^^;

Basically, what happens is Akazukin getting sick due to the poisonous spores of another Nightmarian. Then it seems that Souta and the others ended up in another village with its own legend: Salamandra-sama. There’s a huge statue of a dragon at one place in the village. The villagers believe that it’s actually a good spirit who protects the village from all sorts of harm. In order to show their appraisal to Salamandra-sama, the villagers have come up with a very strange ritual, they perform in front the statue. Even if there’s a bloodthirsty monster right next to it.

Gretel then gets to be the one to track the group down, with the same basketball Hansel used in episode 6. She comes in, breaks the statue and remodels the rubbish in order to turn it into a giant seahorse, who charges after Shirayuki, Ibara and Baru. The interesting part in this episode was the way the villagers reacted. Taking into account that the spirit they believed for so long suddenly turned into a giant seahorse, destroying everything on its path, it’s no wonder that they’d get angry.

In the end, the Souta and Akazukin (who managed to wake up in the end) are able to concince that Salamandra still is a good being. Gretel then gets defeated, with a little help from Salamandra-sama himself. It’s quite ironic. While it was clear that Akazukin beat the Nightmarian at the beginning of the episode, the glory gets put to Salamandra-sama, while when Salamandra-sama destroys the giant seahorse, Shirayuki and Ibara thought that Akazukin had become so good that she was able to shoot huge fireballs in the form of dragons. ^^

It’s also strange that Gretel was the only bad guy who appeared in this episode. The villains from the previous episode are nowhere to be found, even Randagio and Cendrion were absent. Ah well, it does add some versatility. It’s great to see a villain again who’s been absent for a couple of episodes.

Also, never let Akazukin, Ibara and Ringo sleep at one place. ^_^;;;

The Third – 18 – The Return of a Certain Blue Mecha

September 23, 2006 by psgels, posted in The Third

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It seems that we’re dealing with probably a three-episode arc. This one probably set up preparations, so that the next one can finish with a bang. It was pretty amusing, as some rather comical elements have been thrown in. These worked really well. ^_^

Anyway, a quick rundown on the important things that happened:
– Rona Fauna is a member of The Third.
– It’s better to charge in fast than try to take out every guard at Rona Fauna’s place.
– Ikus is back.
– Blue Breaker is back.
– Honoka will be coming in with an airplane. Both the airplane (Honoka named her Juliet) and Blue Breaker have been proven not to be taken over.
– It seems that Rona Fauna relied too much on the fact that The Third wouldn’t attack her base because Joganki was in it.
– Someone erased the data of Rona Fauna from The Third’s main database. Only a representative of “the House of Commons” could have done it. No idea what that might be.
– Rona Fauna has two helpers. One with purple hair, and one with very light, violet hair. They could be the same person, though.
– For some strange reason, Rona Fauna has the same face and hair as her helper (the one with light violet hair).

Night Head Genesis – 09 – How Far Will This Anime Go?

September 23, 2006 by psgels, posted in Night Head Genesis

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Hmm, the current arc isn’t really that good. Not enough pain and suffering. Except for the vision with the little girl. That one was great. It seems that the main plot is something else than the dangerous disease which spread, and if things all go well, the woman who attacked Naoya will be killing Kurahashi and end up in jail. With that, things are solved. I hope that the creators can bring some kind of twist to this, and I’m secretly hoping that the virus will be escaping in the end.

You could wonder whether the things Kamiya Tsukasa did are good or evil. From his point of view, he saw numerous of things, and I think that he couldn’t bear just telling nobody about them. But because of this, he does have influence on people. If he never spoke of anything he saw, then the woman who attacked Naoya would have never attacked him. I think he does realize this, but keeps telling himself that it doesn’t matter that much.

Even though this episode was rather bad, I do have hope for this show. Lots of times, we see a small reference to a future arc, which is afterwards never mentioned again. We already know that Night Head Genesis is great with toying with these things, so I’m looking forward to the episode in which the doll girl, the woman with the umbrella, Shouko and many others return. The next episode will also be a good chance to find out about the nature of the events foreseen. Shows tend to use them in two ways. The first way is show a vision of the future in which bad things happen. The one who saw the vision then rushes to prevent the bad thing and everyone’s happy again. The second one I like more. A vision is shown, and no matter what, it does happen. It’s like destined to happen.

Ningyo no Mori/Mermaid’s Forest Review – 92/100

September 23, 2006 by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

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You don’t often her people talk about Ningyo no Mori, or Mermaid’s Forest. It’s a shame, as it’s pretty darn awesome. You could call it a mystery romance with lots of morals and ethics, though it’s way more than just that.

Ningyo no Mori has chosen an extremely strong theme to be centred around: immortality. You can do so many fun things with it. The case is like this: there’s a legend about mermaids. Whenever you eat their flesh, you have the chance of becoming an immortal being. Still, only once every century someone manages to actually become a true immortal. Most people become disfigured, berserked humans, destined to spend the rest of their lives in agony. The story focuses at two people, who did manage to become immortal (after all, you wouldn’t have much of a story if they didn’t, right? ;)). One has been roaming around for 500 years, until he met up with the other, who had just been fed some mermaid’s flesh, in order to become food for the mermaids themselves (watch the show in order to know the reason for this. ;)). Right now, they’re travelling the world, in order to find a cure for their immortality.

With this concept, the show is able to do some amazing things. It consists out of a number of arcs, each focusing at a human who had some kind of experience with either a mermaid, or mermaid’s flesh. Each and every one of those arcs manages to drive to the boundaries of right and wrong, with amazing results. The fact is that being immortal isn’t that fun, and certain people become obsessed over the mermaid’s flesh, without even knowing that most people just get turned into hideous monsters for the rest of their lives. This anime really is excellent in toying with morals, ethics and most importantly, human lives. Most often, we run into people who have been suffering from the direct or indirect effects from the mermaid’s flesh for over 40, 50 or 60 years. One extreme case even lived as long as 800 years!

I have to say that each and every one of the cases, introduced in the different arcs were just awesome to see. They really belonged in the category of incredibly unique stories. Each episode, plot twists happen which you SO wouldn’t expect, only making each of these stories better and better. My favourite arc remains the one with the face-changing woman. So many original concepts are used.

And I haven’t even started about the art yet. Even though the characters look rather blend at first sight, the creators do know how to make characters scary. Evil characters are portrayed in such an amazing way, and during the climaxes of the show, the art really contributes to the overall feeling. The creators also came up with an extremely fitting soundtrack. By itself, it isn’t really special, but somehow, it really fits with the overall themes of this show.

Still, there’s one bad thing about this anime. The ending is rather anticlimactic, and left me with a rather bad feeling. Nothing really is resolved in the end, it’s really like some kind of open ending.

Overall, I really recommend this anime. It’s only 13 episodes, so it’s perfect if you have a bit of spare time. Especially if you like shows that really toy with human lives, it’s worth to check this one out. I greatly enjoyed watching it. ^^

Popolocrois 2003 – 14 – Whoa, Good!

September 22, 2006 by psgels, posted in Popolocrois 2003

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Wait! Wait! Wait!

Since when did this series become so much better? It suddenly feels that the new arc has brought a sudden increase in awesomeness. It just suddenly feels like this series has technically become a lot better. The pacing was great in this episode. Lots of things happened, though things remained clear and understandable at the same time. Not to mention that Pinon’s and Marco’s reaction to their parents being petrified worked out great. This really showed their care towards their parents.

Sure, the first half of the series was entertaining and all, but it wasn’t really anything special. If we are to believe the translator’s notes, the current half will turn out to be awesome. I’d love to find out. A good start has already been made. Hilda’s back, and more awesome than ever (her singing is as good as usual ^^), and the newly introduced characters work out great. ^^

Ayatsuri Sakon – 12 – So, why did he do it?

September 22, 2006 by psgels, posted in Ayatsuri Sakon

That was a great episode. It’s another arc split in three parts. The first episode served to introduce the problem, the second to solve the problem and the third to explain the problem. Sakon has solved the problem, all that’s left now is to explain it. A quick rundown:

– Someone used red paint to paint all sorts of scribbles on the walls of the study-room.
– Nobody walked up to the scene of the crime at the night of the murder, except for Sakon and the others and a certain policeman.
– Someone killed Akazuki, then brought him to the scene where he was found.
– Something which can influence pH was or is buried under the hydrangea, growing behind the Byakko Shrine.
– A statue was stolen, about as large as a child, but very heavy. It was returned to the police station, all muddy, though.
– Sakon reckons that the murderer used this in order to test out how the body would fall.

I loved the different characters in this arc. Especially the way that each of them has a unique role to play, and that some of them even assisted Sakon in his research. It’s great when you have more minds, seriously thinking on one case. One person may see something the other didn’t, and opposite. The sister’s worries about their father also worked out in a great way. They all react differently, but it all comes down to the fact that they’re sad that their father’s gone.

I have to admit. When the episode ended, I still had no idea what went on. I was still struggling between the police officer and Oki. During the previous episode, both he and the officer were acting suspicious. The fact that a certain police officer drove up to the road also confused me a bit. It could be any of these two, but I wasn’t really sure how the body ended up where it ended up in the first place.

But then, as I was typing this, it suddenly hit me, and I suddenly understood how the culprit did it. After looking at Yoshida’s bike, I suddenly realized that it would never be able to carry a body such as Akazuki’s. Oki is the murderer after all. He killed Akazuki, and stuffed him inside his van. He parked the two cars tightly next to each other, in order to make sure that nobody would be able to look at the back of the car, where the body was hidden. He then rushed inside the house, and played his little act, directing the people to the way he wanted to. Somehow, he set it up that the phone went off. He probably grabbed a second telephone in the house and called while everyone was looking the other way. He then rushed in, and pretended he had a conversation with Kyouichi and hang up. Although he was told that Akazuki was in his study room, he as so focused at the plan he made, that he forgot about it, and that´s where he made the mistake. Anyway, the three sisters went in their car and headed off, while Oki, Sakon an Fujita left afterwards. Oki made sure that both of them didn´t get a chance to look at the back of the car. He then kept a reasonable distance from the sister’s car, and then he crashed, right above the scene of the crime. The back of the car wasn’t entirely shut, so it flipped open and dropped the body at its designated place while Oki blamed the fact that he didn’t know the road too well. A couple of days before, he also experimented a bit with dropping the statue, in order to know the right angle at which he should crash his car in order to make the body drop at the right place. I think he chose that location in order to try and fool everyone. I think he wanted to have a crime scene in which he wouldn’t be thought as suspect. He worked very fastly, and he actually rushed to come to Akazuki’s house as fast as possible, so that his alibi would get as little doubts as possible.

Nice one. Very nice one. Now the question remains, am I right? But more importantly, why did he do it? What’s Yoshida’s role in this? Why were the previous murders nessecary? And what happened to Kyouichi?

Ergo Proxy – 21 – Let The Finale Begin

September 22, 2006 by psgels, posted in Ergo Proxy

And we’re finally back in Romdeau, in which Ergo Proxy has three episodes in order to conclude its story. So far, strange things have happened, interesting things have happened, twisted things have happened, but these things haven’t been anything amazing yet. Let’s hope that the final two episodes will be able to deliver.

Anyway, we start the episode in the Usagi. It seems that Vincent left first, after he didn’t return after a while, Real went out in order to check up on him. That was Thirty thousand two hundred thirty three Usagis ago. Pino then gets sick of waiting and goes out on her own. It seems crisis struck ever since Raul launched the rocket, and more and more autoraves have been infected with Cogito. It seems that the citizens of Romdeau are fiercely battling against the infected autoraves. For some reason, the autoraves are now referred to as “entourages”.

Back to Real, she’s been wandering around in Romdeau, meeting different people At times, she saw glimpses of Vincent, though he was in Proxy-one-mode at that time. Even after the episode ended we still have no idea why this happened. Anyway, she first meets up with the Autorave Control Department, otherwise known as the department where Vincent started working at the beginning of the series. Next up she meets some kind of government official, who acts a little strange. He just sits behind an empty desk, thinking that it’s full of paperwork, a computer and a keyboard, and he actually moves like he would move if they were actually there. In any case, he mentions the ADW-project.

Next up, she meets with Daedalus. He’s been getting weirder ever since. Meanwhile, Pino is seen, running through the streets and we switch to Vincent. Not as Ergo Proxy, but as Proxy One, mentioned above. He finally arrives at Monad Proxy. He finds the things Donov has done to her horrible, even though he was the one who killed her. He then realizes she has a name tag: Proxy #13. And it indeed seems that every Proxy has its own number. Ergo is #1, Monad is #13. And now that I think of it, remember the late Kazkiz Proxy? He mentioned that each Proxy is some kind of emissary. Ever since that episode, I never saw any traces of those emissaries again. What’s up with them?

In any case, it also seems that every Proxy has a pendant, with its number engraved on it. That explains why last episode’s Proxy had one. Then, the fake Real runs into him. For some reason, she isn’t scared of him at all. Proxy One does show that he still knows Real, when he’s surprised when the girl has the same name as she does. The fake Real then suddenly claims that she also loved Monad Proxy. And she suddenly runs away. I think it was because she was about to lose confidence.

Back to Real and Daedalus. Real apologizes to him that she couldn’t do anything that she set out to do. Strangely enough, Daedalus has really convinced himself that the fake Real has become the real Real, and he sees the real real Real as a traitor. Daedalus then reveals that a mysterious thing called the Eumesis was destroyed. No idea what that might be, but Vincent seems to be behind it. Because of that, the “Aus Der Wickel”-project was started, the human restructuring project. It was bound to fail, and I didn’t really get this explanation. Anyway, the light Raul sent at episode 17 appears to be “Rapture”.

We then switch to Vincent, who plans to invades the city council room. For some reason, the statues refer to him as “The Creator” in a rather cryptic near-monologue. Could it be that Proxy One has created Romdeau in the first place? Anyway, some references to Descartes later, and Proxy One attempts to strangle Donov. Probably in order to get revenge on Monad. Meanwhile, we see Pino arrive at the house where she used to live, hearing someone play piano. Nothing is shown about her afterwards, but when you consider some events that happen at the end of this episode with Pino’s original master, before she got infected with Cogito, things shouldn’t be that hard to figure out.

Anyway, Real has also arrived in the same room, and she sees Vincent, attempting to kill Donov. She tries to shoot her, though she can’t save her grandfather. She’s also very hesitant to shoot him. Vincent then turns to her. Then, Raul comes from out of nowhere and shoots from yet another Proxy-killing pistol. While Vincent is slowly dying, Raul begins to laugh maniacally.

So they did turn him into the main antagonist after all. I wonder what they’re planning to do with the final two episodes. Without a doubt, some huge revelations are about to come. After all, this story has so many unanswered questions left that I won’t even bother to try and list them. But what about Vincent? Surely, the dying process can’t take two whole episodes, or can it? Will he really die, or will he be saved miraculously?

The Third – 17 – An Excellent Episode Once More

September 21, 2006 by psgels, posted in The Third

Heh, I loved this episode. Even though it’s just the introduction of the next arc, The Third somehow makes these kinds of episodes always very interesting to watch, and this one’s no difference. I like how each arc selects a different number of main characters to focus on. The Gravestone arc featured Honoka, Paife and Ikus, the Desert Fairy Arc featured Honoka, Millie and Ikus, while the current arc will feature Honoka, Paife and Joganki. It’s very interesting, though I think that with this, I found a slight disadvantage of The Third. I’d just love to see some of the minor characters in more detail. For some reason, every single character in The Third is awesome, but some of them nearly don’t get the airtime they deserve. ^^;

Anyway, the case this time focuses at a crisis in The Third. Some thing took over Wormhole Driver, fired it at the surface, took over lots of other weaponry of The Third managed to kidnap Joganki when he came to investigate. The woman, who apparently is named Filla Marique, then chooses to resort to desperate measures: ask help from Honoka. It’s interesting. When the series started, I really saw her as a bad guy, but this show that she’s also just trying to keep the world going. Sometimes, it works in favour of Honoka, other times, it works against her.

In any case, it seems that we have two bad girls this time. Both are kept rather mysterious, so I haven’t been able to determine whether one of them is the woman on the ED. Based on the few flashes we saw of them, I think they’re other people, and if I had to take a guess, then I’d say that the creators are reserving that woman for the final arc. In any case, one of these women (Rona Fauna) keeps Joganki company and hacked into Wormhole Drive, while the other tried to kill Honoka with the automatic soldiers. The strange thing is, though, that Joganki seems to be on their side. Of course, he disagrees with some of the extreme measures Rona took, but judging by most of his reactions, it seems that he actually talked to them as if he had the same goals they have. Still, that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t been tied up.

In any case, the different characters and their interactions this episode were awesome. Especially Honoka, Paife and Kevin worked perfectly with each other. Especially the scene in which Honoka mistakes Filla Marique for Joganki (Joganki + drag = ouch!) was very funny. But then again, The Third has always excelled in its rich and versatile characters.