Tag: 2016 Spring season

91 Days – 05

by AidanAK47, posted in 91 Days, Currently Watching:

I think by now many of you have noticed that my 91 days reviews take significantly longer than the others and I will admit that part of the reason for that is that this show is hard to write about. Not that any of this has been bad, on the contrary the writing and direction has been very solid. Rather I find myself with surprisingly little to say about each episode. 91 Days is a slow burn and in that way it holds a different kind of interest for me. It doesn’t have me waiting on the edge of my seat like a new Re:Zero episode but still has high value in the season.This series seems to me to be a kind that can only be fully appreciated once it’s story has hit its conclusion. Then instead of seeing bits and pieces of it’s plot we can look at it as a whole and come to appreciate it’s value. Of course what value that may be all comes down to how this all plays out and I hope that it manages to end on a good note. I can hardly say that the animation in this episode was great as Shuka does have rather shaky production values, however a good story can make up for lacking visuals.

After the Orco’s attempted to kill Fango, a truce has been signed between the Orco’s and the Vanettis which means that Avilio’s and Nero’s road trip has come to an end. Unbeknownst to Nero, Frate neglected to inform the family that a term of this truce was the death of Nero. The Galassias are also pushing for Neros death and have stepped in to put Frate into being the leader of the Vanettis family. Likely because Frate happens to be sucking up to the Galassias and they would prefer a easily controlled lapdog in the seat of power. However I happen to notice that Frate has gained some dark circles under his eyes. Is that because he ordered a hit on his own brother or is there something else going on behind the scenes?

Do the Galassias have something to keep Frate in line? I have a small theory over who the last persons is that Avilio wants to get revenge on and I think that it is his friend, Corteo. He did nod to the gangsters in the first episode when they were going to Avilios house and it’s possible he was being used as a scout. I highly doubt he knew what would happen and chances are he regrets it deeply if I happen to be correct. However considering Avilio’s mindset, I doubt he will let him live even if his part in the murder of his parents was small. It’s possible that Corteo knows this too and that’s why he is trying to get Avilio to give up on his revenge.

One of Nero’s men has been shot in the failed assassination attempt which puts him in trouble. Avilio, after being warned otherwise, has gone to an unlikely person for help. That’s right, Fango returns in all his loony toon glory. I will at least say this, it looks like Fango has a fetish for heavy women which is quite rare in anime characters. Either way he’s broken off from Orco and formed his own gang with the intent of overthrowing Orco. Avilio seems to have latched onto this and agreed to help Fango in this endeavor. I am not sure if this is part of his revenge plan by getting Nero to team up with someone likely to kill him or if Avilio is truly trying to save his subordinate in order to curry more favor with him.

Considering that Nero is now being hunted by his own family makes it seem like a wiser choice would be to lead him into a trap and use that to get him close to his final target. Or his second final target. Perhaps Avilio thinks Fango could be useful in carrying out his revenge? Fango does seem to be up for something as long as it’s interesting. However his loose cannon nature is what caused him to split off from the Orco’s in the first place. The show doesn’t give us privy to Avilio’s thoughts so I can only speculate as to what he is thinking with this move. Maybe it’s a plan just to get through the current predicament. Maybe it’s a calculated move to further his revenge. Or maybe he is actually interested in some kinky play with Fango’s lady? Who knows. Guess I just need to wait as see how this all works out.

~AidanAK47~

orange – 06

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Orange

What a development! It turns out that Sowa’s also receiving letters from the future as well, presumably his future self (there’s no way the future Naho would send him letters, right?). From the look of it I think the entire cast receives letters from their future self too, the way they act very supportive lately. Does this development work? I don’t know, it all depends on the direction it goes from now. Personally I would prefer that Naho asks for their help, and then tell them herself about the letters. That twist makes me questions every actions from the group back then, and if those actions are ‘genuine’ genuine (like Suwa’s selfless actions last week). If it turns out those kids behave the way they did just because of someone telling them already what would happen, then I feel a bit manipulated. But there must be some good reasons to make that twist, right? For now, I will reserve my comment to see how all this play out. I guess after all we just finished the first phase (Naho and Kokeru dating together) and proceed to the second phase now (the group try to help Kokeru out of his attempt suicide). Naho also points out in this episode that there are two things that she couldn’t follow the advice from the letters, and those lead to unchanged consequences. The first being the group asked Kokeru out on the ceremony day, which directly lead to the suicide of the mother. The second time she couldn’t talk to him how she felt face-to-face, and Kokeru decided to date Ueda. Although the letters become less and less relevant, it seems that the outcome of those important events doesn’t always change, which makes me wonder if they can really save Kokeru from committing suicide. But I have a feeling they gain too much information from the letters which give them somewhat unfair advantage, like how Naho already know the time and place of his dead. Whatever you do orange, just remember that relying too much on those letters to progress a story is a dead wrong decision. Those letters can’t solve everything; it needs to be from the characters themselves.

This episode further highlights the insecurity of Kokeru. Several times in this episode, he asks Sowa if it’s really okay for him to date Naho, not because he fears that would hurt Sowa (maybe a little), but because he fears that dating Naho would turn out to be a disaster and he will bounce for more regret. Moreover, he always feels guilty about his mother’s death. But really, he should understand that moving forward is way better than don’t do anything at all, and he shouldn’t blame himself on the death of his mother. It is really a good call from Naho to ask him about the mother, because this guy needs to share it to his friends. Keeping it to yourself and the pain will never go away. The two lead’s chemistry is engaging and intimate so far, kudos to the fireworks scene, which for me is a bit cheesy but overall effective.

This episode is also a return-to-form quality in terms of production values. As mention above, the firework sequence is animated very well, and I love the shot’s choices of many scenes. Many of the shots focus on the pair with their backs on us, either when them watching the fireworks, or later when they sitting in a park, it creates their very own atmosphere: just the two of them witnessing things together, but perhaps never really see things eye-to-eye. I also like the shot when Kokeru needs sometimes alone and sits in a different chair. The shot (included in the screenshot above) really establish the distance between them and moreover the isolation of Kokeru. To conclude, this episode marks the end of the first half and wheels forward to the latter stage in which the group attempt to save Kakeru from committing suicide. I’m overall happy with the first half and hope it continues to be a rewarding ride. But seriously Naho, get rid of that hairpin. It brings you no luck at all.

~SuperMario~

Thunderbolt Fantasy – 05

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Thunderbolt Fantasy

This week’s Thunderbolt Fantasy runs a much slower pace compared to last week, which has only one main development: Sha Wu Sheng the Screaming Phoenix Killer agrees to join the band, as we can probably figure out last week. That’s my only complaint though, because the episode still provides a lot of gold moments. I can’t help but laugh at the ridiculous “it is already a sitting fight before the sword fight” situation or campy lines like: “I thought as much. I knew you’d be the one who come”, because when you really think about it, our main character is the LEAST likely person who would’ve come. It will be more reasonable if Gui Niao pays a visit to the guy, or the three who fought him in last episode. Even Dan Fei would make more sense if she’d come. Prior to this episode, we see the story through Shang Bu Huan point of view- a somewhat ‘normal’ guy, compared to an eccentric cast around him, and I come to really love his stunning reaction whenever something absurd happens. The world around him is too crazy for him to comprehend, apparently. But it’s nice to see that he has a lot of room to develop this episode, and he actually turns out to be a very sincere guy at heart who decides to turn up because he doesn’t want to see his new friend getting killed the next morning. At first I thought he and the Screaming Phoenix Killer knew about each other, judging by the way they already anticipated the moves of the opponent, but it was not the case. Shang Bu Huan hints that he come from Xi You (the other side of Wasteland of Spirits), which apparently is impossible to cross over. Well, at least we know now that he is not an ordinary guy, his skills are even on the same level as Sha Wu Sheng. The fighting scene, although brief and anti-climax, is still very impressive.

You see, the band heading to the Seven Sin Towers with very different goals in minds; Dan Fei has to achieve the legendary sword; Xing Hai the demon necromancer concerns about that sword that might affect her world; Juan Can Yun the spear wielder wants fame. Sha Wu Sheng wants revenge and Shou Yun Xiao the archer follows the gang because he just wants to help out Gui Niao (I know it’s a lame reason but in the world of wuxia, where you are skilled and you have nothing to do beside screwing around, make yourself useful by helping your friends out surprisingly makes a lot of sense). It’s the more dangerous that we don’t really know the motive of Gui Niao. Seriously, he’s the worst allied friend you could ever wish to have in your team. He really needs to keep Shang Bu Huan on the team to the point of offering his head to the Screaming Phoenix Killer, despite that our main guy doesn’t have much role on the plan. But in fact, everyone here pretty much has pretty solid purpose in this journey: The demon girl for The Village of the Dead, the archer for The Valley of the Doll, the Screaming Phoenix Killer for Labyrinth of Darkness; Dan Fei retains a part of the sword and Juan Can Yun for killing the enemy guards. What role would it be for our main character then? My guess would be Gui Niao needs him to be the one who control and wield the legendary sword when the parts are finally in place; so that he could kill the main antagonist and everyone on the way, including Sha Wu Shang and save his head at the end of the day. Sounds sinister, right? But it might not be as far-fetch. Next episode is called “Seven Comrades”, which will be about our seven characters head towards the Seven Sins Tower, and we will have seven days to wait for that journey; and now I’m head off to drink Seven-Up.

~SuperMario~