#1: Hunter X Hunter – 35: Holy crap! What happened here? Suddenly the fight animation has turned incredible. I was fearing that the creators would put the shading overdose with the Hisoka fight again, like what they’ve been doing many times now when he comes into the spotlight, but the movements were amazingly fluid and dynamic here. – **+ (Excellent+)
#2: Natsuiro Kiseki – 11: Again, this was very impressive. The audition scene in particular showed a completely different side of Yuka, but the rest of the cast also got its share in the spotlight. The rock will probably pull one more nasty trick, which is probably what the final episode will be about and on top of covering the audition, this episode also built up for that wonderfully. – ** (Excellent)
#3: Kimi to Boku – 24: The best romance this season doesn’t come from any romance shows, but instead of shows that happen to have romance in them. Kimi to Boku, I applaud you with such a subtle portrayal of Kaname’s romanc. The implied love triangle with the younger sister was a bit pointless, but Kaname and his romantic interest were really well acted. – ** (Excellent)
#4: Legend of Korra – 10: This episode was meant to show the character development, especially on Korra’s part, as well as starting up the actual climax of this “Book”. The action scenes were still good, even though not among the best, but the plot twist at the end was a big one and I like how far the creators went with that. – ** (Excellent)
#5: Jormungand – 11: The bad guys of this episode were better than usual. Their personalities combined together better than usual, and they were actually built up as a threat, rather than just some more cannon fodder for Koko&co. Valmet’s backstory also helped. – ** (Excellent)
#6: Shirokuma Cafe – 12:: An entire episode dedicated to trolling pandas. Oh dear god, Panda really was more sadistic than usual here to Hand, and yet it again had quite a few hilarious moments, the best probably being the point where they took over the zookeeper’s office. – ** (Excellent)
#7: Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – 24: Amidst random sketches about passing the time while it rains, this episode stood out because of that giant frog. After nearly two seasons, Poyopoyo can stil manage to find new ways to be adorable. – *+ (Great)
#8: Nazo no Kanojo X – 11: This episode was indeed better than expected considerng the build-up. The creators didn’t go into the corny love triangle route, but instead kept tihngs fresh. I do have a different complaint about this episode, though. Nazo no Kanojo is all about the subtle tease: saying a lot with relatively little fanservice. this episode was all “Screw that! Here are naked girls over and over! Let’s have wacky hijinks ensue when the male lead accidentally sees them!”. – * (Good)
#9: Sankarea – 11: I have no idea what to make of this episode. On one hand it had some really good partsand twists, it used a few anti-climaxes nicely and all. and on the other hand there was the really weird decision of the creators to randomly dress up Rea for no particular reason (not to mention the question how these maids managed to dress up Rea when she was in shackles and all), the incredibly silly tone after all that build-up, the return of the cousin with her really bad dialogue and the uncanny ability of the creators to focus on her boobs and ass whenever she appeared. Sankarea: you have potential. Why do you have to be so goddamn annoying as well? – @#*% (?!?)
#10: Saint Seiya Omega – 12: This was watchable fodder in which Kouga shows yet again that he’s the chosen one, though it was interesting to see some more back-story revealed of what I presume was the first season. In order to put the spotlights on the new cast, the creators had to pull some tricks here and there to get the old cast out of the picture, and yeah, I guess being defeated to the point of being crippled for life is a good option. – * (Good)
#11: Medaka Box – 12: And Medaka Box closes off with a return to the mundane “character of the week” routine while waiting for Medaka to heal and the new bad guys to arrive. It had some merits, like showing what the cast would do when the lead character is absent, but this isn’t really the kind of episode you’d want as a mid-season finale while waiting for that second season. And yeah, this one got a sequel. I didn’t expect it, but it does help, considering how little the first actully got done. – * (Good)
The BGM for the Hisoka fight was also great.
BGM? 3/4 of the fight was sound effects only
Holy crap HunterxHunter 35 was amazing… I was waiting for the usual cliffhanger right before the start of the fight and yet they went full on with it right away… Best fight scene in the series so far
The thing that made it so awesome, aside from the animation, was that for the first time there were no words at all, no stupid explanations etc it was just nonstop fighting from the start… If only shounens were more like this instead of “I am about to kill you but not without first telling you the story of my life”
Oh yeah! like the dragonball episode – Saber vs Lancer
This! HXH!
that was an awesome fight.
About the Hisoka fight, I figured that was what they would do because they crammed the explanations of Hisoka’s powers were working earlier than they were supposed to. It gave one episode that was overloaded with explanations but I figured it was an editorial decision to make the Hisoka fight run smoothlessly.
And so they did. Still shocked by the quality of the fight though, that was even better than I expected.
As someone who was being negative towards the new HxH, I have to say, the fight was amazing. They went all out, it was really enjoyable to watch. Let’s hope they keep it up for the next episode.
I’m in exactly the same boat! I had really good fun watching that fight, this week–and I need to sing the director’s praises for that battle, because it alone dispelled all my frustration at just how inelegant the presentation of the Nen type explanation seemed earlier in the episode. Good stuff!
That was the first time I rewound an HxH 2012 episode to rewatch a fight. The moment it started I was suddenly on edge at what I was seeing. Everything was done really well and what I remember most is just a face shot of Gon as he’s being spun around after Hisoka’s kick. The angles, fluidity and lack of words was just perfect.
Why can’t all tournament fights be this dynamic? I get that it’s “the fight” that’s been building up since the end of the first Opening, but still, would like some more of this!
Excellent action with good length too
You’ll be surprised how much of a go to strategy “get naked/things on her naked body” is to Urabe in the manga. Not that Tsubaki ever gets to see it. Despite the lack of touching between the two of them, a lot of things Urabe thinks of to prove their “bond” are rather direct and forward and tied to body arousal, it’s part of her characterization of a girl inexperienced with love that she does things a little recklessly and extreme whenever she’s threaten in love
the difference in the direction has been noticed since last coupple weeks…
Nazo no Kanojo X 11 not only went a little overboard with the nudity, but the censoring-by-random-shadows was a bit clunky, especially considering how nicely the series usually treats both natural and artificial lighting. In short, if you can’t show that much nudity without weird shadows, you shouldn’t try.
We also didn’t quite understand Hayakawa’s motive for inviting Urabe to the festival. Wouldn’t it have been easier to win over Tsubaki if Urabe wasn’t there to butt in? In any case, with Urabe there, this episode didn’t really need Oka at all.
Finally, color us surprised when Urabe didn’t go with “Scissors” in the Rock-Paper-Scissors game…
Hayakawa was sure she could seduce Tsubaki, if not, at least manipulate him enough for Urabe to see him act unfaithful, thus raise jealousy or drive a wedge between their relationship. Though things went a little differently than she imagined since Urabe actually came in and raised the stakes, and Tsubaki was rather adamant in not wanting to break his bond with Urabe.
Strangely enough, since this is published on a seinin magazine, the author really had no qualms about using nudity, though he uses the artistic trick of glossing over the details and only showing the curves to keep it tasteful. The crispness of color animation does not allow the same tricks to work. They did a great job in the second episode using the setting and angle to cover up the full nudity, but the setting of broad daylight in this episode made it rather impossible to play the same tricks, it’d have been much better if they’ve chosen to change the setting to a closed curtain room. There is a moment in a later arc, where Urabe’s proof of her “bond”, was to write “I love Tsubaki” in big acrylic paint in big letters that covers the front of her body. It’s a rather integral reveal for the moment, but would have definitely been impossible to animate(Since it’s ending soon, I doubt it’ll ever be animated)
“In short, if you can’t show that much nudity without weird shadows, you shouldn’t try.”
They can’t show that much nudity in the broadcast but you can bet that it will be in the BluRay/DVD. After all the only reason they broadcast is to advertise the disks. TBH I think the censorship was handled fairly nicely in the broadcast version. They could have done much worse such as blurring everything.
I have to say the animation of this episode of Korra wasn’t as good as the last one but even that the plot move a lot. The end was exelent. I was the same with the Legend of Aang those season finale have a super build up and show how the hell can break lose in a moment. This got my exited and know how was the other series I don’t espect to fix anything to the season finale.
I thunk the problem with Jormungand is that the main cast are essentially invincible, and the writing never really tries to put on much of a facade that they are not like most other anime, therefore the dramatic tension is not there
Damn man.
If only you knew who was Iroh.
When that sailor said “As you wish, GENERAL IROH”, I swear to God I was like this O__________________o
Watch the first series before the second season.
I guess Omega’s episode might have been a bit dull to newer viewers as it was mostly aimed at older fans. Shun used to be the most soft-spoken and gentle member of the gang, seeing him as a serene and independent man brought proud tears to the eyes of many fans. However, to people unfamiliar with the franchise, he probably came off as a generic Retired Hero.
Omega will have to work a bit harder to please both new and old viewers alike.
There has been been huge development between kaname and the younger sister in the manga.. Sadly, I doubt that it would be animated. What a waste. This series deserve another season.
First, I was like, “Shuuuuuun~”
But then he was crippled and I was like, “Noooooo…!”
And then he unleashed his chains and I was like, “YEEEESSSSSSS!”
And then it was over and I was like, “Okay. So where’d the real plot go?” XD
Kimi to Boku really has stepped it up this season (and I liked the first one). I’m wondering how they’ll close it off….
For me, the jimbei part of this episode of poyopoyo was the funniest, though I did like the toad quite a bit
The flashbacks shown in Omega’s episode were also new for old fans. When the original anime ended, they had just defeated Hades and the Bronze Saints were more than a little banged up.
This was clearly a fan-service episode. Apart from that, the actions scenes weren’t half bad, definitely a lot better than the disaster that was episode 6…
ahhhh Kimi to Boku… I’ve really loved it this season. It’s been my go to anime for chilling at the end of a long day.
“This was watchable fodder in which Kouga shows yet again that he’s the chosen one”.
I think those scenes are not to show that Kouga is the chosen one, but to hint that Kouga is Seiya and Athena´s child.
The original series often did something similar with whether Eagle Marin was Seiya´s sister or not.
Jormungand’s last two-parter in particular (with the warlord and his militia) wasn’t quite as satisfying as it could have been because it was so _easy_. This latest episode introduced assassins with more potential than Orchestra (who were just undiciplined bullet sprayers). These new assassins proved themselves worthy adversaries by carefully observing their prey, noticing a chance to strike, and taking it, utterly surprising Koko and her crew. Her decision to massacre the mafia looks bad by the end, because while they were small fry against her team, they did exert physical and emotional energy. Jormungand is great when all the joking around stops and Koko & Co. are forced into a corner.