Tag: anime

Berserk(2016) – 11 [Shadows of Ideas]

by Bam, posted in Berserk(2016), Currently Watching:

The cold opening retreads the ending of the previous episode, with Casca being set on the pyre. In the spirit of the last few ones, this episode is also quite a fast-paced and action heavy. We have a very brief reintroduction of Zod, which serves more as a cameo than anything of substance. After the opening the series has officially moved unto volume 21 of the manga, covering the final stretch of the Incarnation Ceremony.

We see the Egg Apostle climbing the Tower of Conviction in preparation for becoming the Egg of the Perfect World. It stumbles upon the Demon Child, and resumes to take it in itself out of pity. This chapter delves a lot into the topic of social outcasts, and the alienation that sets in them due to the ostracization. We see this with Mozgus’ elite torturers, Luca’s gang of mistresses, The Egg Apostle, and to some extent the Demon Child itself.  Suffering is a recurring motif in the Berserk saga, and the aforementioned subject is one that comes up quite often. It was a central theme in the Lost Children chapter, which much to fans’ dismay was omitted from this adaptation, as well as the steward of the mansion featured in episode 3 of the tv series.

Isidro proves himself as one of the less useless characters of his stature, actually managing to save Casca from the lynch mob. Diving down that height with a non-elastic rope will realistically result in his spine being snapped in half, but given some of Guts antics this comes off as a really minor gripe. There are a lot of characters featured here that do nothing but stand around and gawk, and with the exception of Jerome and Puck to some extent, Isidro at least manages to be active in the proceedings.

Guts cuts through the soul phantasm and makes his way to the tower, and the effects here are again of especially low quality. The bigger the soulmass gets, the uglier the CG looks. We also see Mozgus transform to his true apostle spawn form, which similar to his regular model is quite unremarkable. The Dragonslayer CLANG! does make sense here, but they really should’ve recorded some more sword sound effects. The entirety of the sound mixing of the series is very sub-par, and only the voice acting is of adequate quality. We hear the Skull Knight’s voice-over during the first part of Guts and Mozgus’ battle, and this also comes off as unnecessary since it’s just a reiteration of the same thing he was telling Guts in their earlier encounter.

We see the masses praising Mozgus as an angel who will deliver their salvation, and throughout this whole episode their sheepish nature is highlighted over and over again. I was never a big fan of this trope, and it just happens to be a quite reoccurring theme in anime. Speaking of tropes, Mozgus is saved by his bible, but the somewhat interesting point here is that he is not evil for evil’s sake, but a very misguided true believer. What is absurd however, is that Mozgus is not only adept at using his brand new apostle form and its abilities, but has also somehow managed to name his moves in the little time that he’s had. Guts finishes Mozgus off in a resourceful way, and it was good to see that they included the little detail of him guarding against the explosion the very last second.

Nina continues to be annoying, and I was glad that she was quickly written out of the episode. Guts and Luca are the only characters who remain reasonable throughout this chapter, and their dialogue is pretty much the only interesting ones. This is a problem with the manga as well, and another sad reminder of the superiority of characters and writing during the Golden Age Arc. On that front, there is a sad tender embrace between Guts and a reluctant Casca, which manages to be a brief but poignant moment, although admittedly not by virtue of execution, but rather relying on the backstory of the characters.

Down by the bottom of the tower Azan is engaged in a brave but foolish struggle, and after Mozgus’ demise the ceremony is now well underway. We see that the gang equip themselves with torches, and Farnese finally moves to reassure us that she hasn’t turned into a complete CGI statue. This part is just developing her disillusionment with her faith, and the payoff doesn’t arrive until after the ceremony. There is a quick mention of Serpico not being too fond of fire, which is a nice little nod to later in the story.

This was a fast but utterly unremarkable episode, since the action sequences in the series are not at all handled proficiently. The next episode is “Those Who Cling, Those Who Struggle” and appears to be the final episode of this cour. It is not clear if they are going for a continuous 24 episode season or two separate cours, but I am guessing that there will be a break after the next episode. Well at least things will be a bit clearer by next week, so we’ll have to wait and see where we are headed.

~Bam~

Berserk(2016) 09 – 10 [Blood Flow of the Dead & Hell’s Angels]

by Bam, posted in Berserk(2016), Currently Watching:

Greeting my fellow Berserkers. I know it’s been quite a while since the last post, and it is understandable if you thought that the series has been once again dropped from the blog. But I gave my word that I will see this to the end, and well intend to keep that promise. I originally planned to cover every single episode with its own separate entry, but after completing episode 9’s review came to the realization that due to the action-oriented nature and fast pacing of the episode it became a much shorter post than the previous ones. Hence I planned to do a multi-review that covered both episodes 9 and 10. But between the premier on Friday and tonight I had a series of setbacks that caused another unforeseen delay, and pushed the whole thing back over a few days. But better late than never I guess, so here’s the review to at least catch us up before the release of the semi-final episode.

The Ninth episode starts off with the high priest informing Farnese of her orders to withdraw. We get the Vandimion namedrop yet again, and aside from backstory, this also serves to illustrate the great influence of her family in both the affairs of Midland, as well as the Holy see. The Vandimion family is a noble house of Vritannis, which happens to be the seat of the Holy See.  Their standing with the church allows her father to demand her return from the perceivable dangerous situation in Albion. She is hesitant of leaving, and snaps on Serpico, who she rightfully believes to have spied on her on behalf of her father. She hates losing control, and relieves her stress by going off on the only person who would unconditionally follow her.  Yet as events unfold she won’t get the chance to comply to her father’s will, even if she was convinced of doing so.

As mozgus tries to “cleanse” Casca in the iron maiden, all hell breaks loose within the basement of the tower, prompting everyone to flee towards the higher levels. The CG used here for the animation of the ectoplasm is actually effective, as it gives the entity an unnatural ghastly quality. It also features a violet hue, which admittedly lightens up the scene quite a bit. Guts, having just entered the tower, kidnaps the only person of authority which he happens to recognize right away, and Farnese is forced to come face-to-face with the source of her misery. It’s strange how Serpico would miss this, given his established sagacity up to this point. Guts doesn’t give Farnese much time to ramble, and again showcasing his ability to make any scene more enjoyable by vicariously carrying out the sentiments of the viewer.

Next we get the displeasure of another scene with Nina wallowing in her misery. These are taken directly from the manga, and although the series has been keeping them brief, they always come off as slightly irritating, to say the least. And then again on mark, Luca comes to her rescue, surely making everyone wish they had someone like her to care for them. At least Nina is aware of her undeserving kindness, making her a bit more sympathetic. She might seem like a hopeless failure, but to be fair, who wouldn’t despair faced with such dire circumstances. Jerome is featured here as well, serving as a reminder that not all knights of the Iron Chain serve the same unreasonable sadistic ideals. Berserk is a mixed bag of characters who inherit different levels of depth and likeability, but at least they are not all made of the same simple mold.

Down in the basement we see that Mozgus is not being so rational, and challenging the creeping phantasm with a ‘come at me bro!’ level of bravado. There’s a quickflash of the Egg Apostle, as he stings Mozgus and his elite torturers with the protruding stingers. I’ve noticed that some viewers had various degrees of confusion regarding this, so I try to clarify the point: Mozgus and the torturers were not apostles. They were just ruthless tools of the Holy See, and it is this quick instance of injection that sires them to the level of Apostle Spawns; similar to the Great Goat of the cave cult. The next scene features a pillar of flame that blasts thru the gate of the cell, which much to my surprise, was animated traditionally.

Luca’s sacrifice of letting go in order to spare Nina, is just one more attempt at resurrecting the proverbial horse so it can be beaten to death once again. Her rescue by the Skull Knight might be a nice surprise to tv viewers, and hence a nice little development. The term she actually uses to describe Skull Knight is ‘Shinigami’, which they translated to “death” in the subs, but most anime fans will recognize to actually mean the Japanese entities known to be gods of death, comparable to the western grim reaper. Given his visage and abilities, I don’t really blame her.

Episode 10 starts off with Guts facing off against the newly-transformed Mozgus party. We’re now starting volume 20 of the manga, again reminding us of how fast the new series has been adapting the manga. I always enjoyed the designs of the Mozgus Apsotle Spawns, but the CG depletes a lot of that charm by obscuring details and making all models simple and symmetric. The undertone of evil beings with angelic features is one that has a longstanding tradition within the Berserkverse, and quite frankly one of the more interesting and subversive aspects of the original manga. This has somewhat been diminished by time and latter imitation, yet it is a testament to the potency of Miura’s iconic style.

After a quick scuffle between the Egg Apostle and the Skull Knight, we see it retreat while managing to snatch Luca at the last moment. I feel that Skull Knight’s hesitation to follow is due to the desire of tracking its lair, and reassuring of its purpose. The Apostle brings Luca to a creepily romantic candlelit vigil by the foot of a Hawk idol made from disposed bodies. It then proceeds to confide in her his backstory as a rejected feral child, that upon coming into the possession of a Behelit, offered the world as a sacrifice in exchange of becoming the Egg of the New World. I personally envisioned him as a twisted child, so it was a bit jarring at first to hear Hiroyuki Yoshino’s voice coming out of him. If he sounds familiar it’s because you have most certainly heard him as a VA in one series or another; given that you’ve watched more than a few anime series. He has done everything from Meow in Space Dandy, to Favaro in Rage of the Bahamut. It doesn’t take long to get used to this however, and instead intrigued by the peculiar order of events that has led to this moment. There is more than just coincidence at work here, and I will hopefully get much deeper into that in the following reviews. Last thing of note in this sequence is the Skull Knight swallowing the Behelit, which comes into play at a crucial moment much further down the line

Next we are taken back to the Tower of Conviction, as a heated battle is taking place between a lonesome Black Swordsman and the entirety of the Mozgus party. This is old news to Souls fans, but I’ll take the moment to note that the original inspirations for the Titanite Catch Pole, Saw Cleaver, and the Logarius’ Wheel are all featured here within the same shot. The choreography is actually nice, but again the editing does its best to make the fight as incomprehensible and disjointed as possible. I will give credit however, that in this one instance the infamous Dragonlayer CLANG! Is used in the right situation for once, as the blade violently clashes against the breaking wheel. The beating that Guts endures after that is frankly quite ridiculous, as that places his durability even beyond some of the Apsotles that we’ve seen in the series, let alone an already beaten up human being. Guts has been brutalized so many times that an X-ray of his chest will resemble that of a suitcase full of dog-treats under the airport’s luggage scanner. Unfortunately this will only get worse as the story continues. The use of the handcannon although predictable, is always satisfying. I however was incredibly disappointed at their portrayal of Guts’ signature canon-spinning-slash, which was damn near impossible to discern through the horrible editing.

Finally, we get to see the camp dissolve into chaos, as the encroaching evil makes it a hellscape that holds back no punches. This escalating horror and familiar imagery is a clear indication of what is about to take place here. We see Mozguz boasting about his powers that he deems as ‘divine’ and calls out for Casca’s burning at the stake to uproot the evil. Unfortunately the CGI phantasm looks much less pleasing here, as the bigger size stretches the textures to a bare minimum. Mozgus says he will be granted a “miracle to defeat the Hawk’s power”. I saw people confused about this line, since the Holy See idolizes the Hawk as a sign of the divinity. They have done a poor job at explaining, but the religion believes in the duality of good and evil, and envision a Hawk of Darkness that stands in opposition to the will of the Hawk of Light. That is what Mozgus is referring to in this instance.

The episode comes to an end as Guts realizes the nature of what is about to happen, and slashes past the augurs of the Godhand to rush and save Casca. I was lucky, as these two episodes were of very equal pacing, content and overall quality. The tone has slightly improved, but continues to be hit-and–miss, with great disparity in quality from scene to scene. I still believe that the use of traditional animation has been on a steady rise, but this only makes the switch to basic CGI models that much more jarring. The next episode is titled “The Shadows of Ideas”, and appears to be the first half of this cour’s finale. This would be a good chance at another dual review, but due to the tardiness of my last few posts I will cover the next episode separately as soon as possible. Expect things to heat up even more, as we move towards the climax of this entire arc. Let’s all hope that it manages to surprise us, and shine a redeeming glimmer of light on the show, instead of further derailing its quality.

 

orange – 10

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Orange

Orange has a much better episode this week compare to the shipwreck last week, mainly because it has a much more solid material to dance around with this time, and the animation is actually good enough to carry the emotion abroad. I have mentioned last week that I’m no fond of the way the group forced Kakeru to feel happy. Even if those actions come from good intention, it doesn’t mean that he himself feels happy, because he doesn’t actually do any damn thing to earn it. Indeed, in this first half Kakeru is rather melancholy, because his mother just passed away and he thinks that he’s here having fun is an irresponsible act to his mother. In a sense, this is a valid thought. Kakeru is an insecure kid, he has always feel responsible for his mother’s death, blames himself for what happened and is unable to talk about his problems to his friends. Kakeru can only get better if he can be able to talk about it with his friends and let his regrets all out…

Well, if you have followed my orange’s weekly posts, you’d realize the last sentence was originally from my previous episode 7 post, which brings me to my main point: While that scene itself is satisfying, they basically repeat the same notes over again. We have already seen the group pushing Kakeru to lay bare about his inner feeling before with a greater emotional impact, in a sequence when Suwan and Naho directly confronted him about his suicide thoughts. In addition, it doesn’t help either that the metaphor they try to convey becomes as obvious as it gets. Here in the middle of the festival run, Kakeru and Naho have to do an errand by carrying the mattress. As they themselves realize that it’s a hard task for just two people, the group appear to help them carrying the burden, both literally and figuratively. This is as in your face as you can get, thus making the final result much less impactful.

Finally, the moment we had been waiting for the last few episodes arrives: the relay, which not-so-coincidently the final, decisive game in the festival. I originally worried about the relay, considering how the animation quality dropped drastically for the last few episodes. But I’m happy to say that the sequence is very solid. Kudos again to the director’s decision of focusing on the emotional impact of the group rather than the race itself. The relay is a perfect set-up for the group to explore their chemistry because they have to reach to each other, again both literally and figuratively. The metaphor again is too on-the-nose, as each member of the group tries to send their heartbeat message to Kakeru: “Don’t lose. Promise me. We’ll always be together. Even ten years from now. We’ll be waiting”. This is a whole other level of subtlety! Again, I don’t hate the relay sequence and I think it does its job, but I will put it simply: the more obvious the feeling they try to convey, the lesser the impact.

The sports event seems to be the end of this middle arc and we head off to the final chapter with its 3 remaining episodes. It is clear from those 10 episodes we have seen that the story has stretched a bit too thin for a full cour season. We spend nearly 2 episodes for the sports festival for example and I could easily cut 2-episode material to make the story tighter. Yet 3 episodes remain and we still have the Valentine day, and the day after that when Kakeru in the original timeline has committed suicide to cover. As for the theme I can see that Kakeru has gotten much better than himself of the original timeline, so I don’t know how he’s going to end up in this timeline. At the same time, I feel that the current development is too good and light-hearted to be true. Well, at least that is something I’m still looking forward to see in next couple of weeks. Surprise me orange!

Mob Psycho 100 – 09

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Mob Psycho 100

When watching this I really cannot help but draw comparisons back to One Punch Man whether I like it or not. I can see that Mob Psycho is trying to be it’s own thing but when I see the members of Claw gathered around a table I am instantly reminded of the S class heroes of OPM. The Claw members are equally as diverse a set of characters. The big shots of the organisation are referred to as scar’s and this seems to correspond to the scar each member has. The scars themselves were inflicted by the leader of the organisation and it appears the number of scars corresponds to the number of times that member has challenged him. It’s debatable if we shall see this boss in this series or if he is someone who will show up in a sequel which is uncertain to exist after this. This episode for the most part is inbetween time before Mob and Teruki take on the group in earnest.

As the two make their way to save Ritsu, Ritsu himself is dealing with imprisonment within claw as they attempt to brainwash them into working for the organisation. Ritsu looks to have lowered self confidence due to his dose of humble pie and without dimple he isn’t certain he can control his powers as well as he could. It’s nice to see his ego trip end and him move on but I really must question were all that dark personality went. He’s practically a completely different character now as he’s putting faith in the members of the awakening lab who previously he looked down on. Though it’s nice to see he’s not simply sitting back and waiting for his brother to rescue him.

I was greatly surprised with just how easily Mob wiped out the man he previously fought. Before Mob essentially had to go super saiyan to fight with him yet here he easily just pinballs him around the room and calls it a day. Mob makes a comment about not having time to waste, suggesting he wasn’t using his full power on him before but this doesn’t really make sense. Mob was very emotional before when fighting him and it didn’t seem like he was holding back there. Yet the man still managed to withstand it and steal his brother. If Mob could so easily do away with him like this, it begs the question of why didn’t he do it when the man was taking away his brother? It could be a matter like Terada’s first encounter were the two boys simply took him down when he wasn’t ready. But Koyama most certainly looked like he was giving it his all. I’m a little disappointed as this person was the first to give Mob an actual fight and show that he wasn’t as overpowered as thought. This however seems to suggest that Mob is as strong as the situation calls for. The plot needed his brother to be kidnaped so he struggled against this guy.

However here we need to get to the real fighters so Mob can just snuff him out in a second. It’s a little too convenient for my liking. Dimple appears to have taken a position of good guy now as he tags along with Mob and Teruki in the body of a claw member. My guess is that even with his dubious morality, he’s going to be an ally for now on much like how villains turn over in a shounen series. This episode was a weak one for the usual standard of the series but it does provide buildup to what could be Mob’s best battle yet. Still even though this series has be particularly noteworthy it appears to be overlooked by the anime fanbase. Many are citing it’s unconventional artstyle for turning most people away though that may be only one part of what makes this series overlooked in this season. Personally I never saw this series reaching the heights of popularity of it’s predecessor but it is rather unfortunate that it be passed over like this.

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 23

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

With another week gone I get my fix of Re:Zero and yet again I have to wait a week to sate my need. The cliffhangers really kill me on this matter as I am leave hanging till the buzz from the last episode runs out and then it gets me again. To future anime viewers, know that you did not have to suffer as an ongoing watcher of this series has and the joy of being able to marathon a show without the wait in between weeks. Quite honestly I don’t know what I will do when this show ends two episodes from now as I cannot binge on the source material and it appears the anime has finally caught up with the light novels. Looks like production of the light novel has sped up with volumes coming out monthly but to gain the amount of material needed for a second second would take a year at the least. I am concerned over just how this series will conclude if there’s another volume of material but I think White Fox won’t trip up at the finish line.

Anyway it appeared the cliffhanger of the previous episode has been defused pretty fast as Ram mistakenly though Subaru betrayed them only to be convinced otherwise within a minute. The letter Subaru sent them which was supposed to explain the situation was just a blank piece of paper which makes me question if Subaru made the boneheaded mistake of misplacing the letter or if someone in the mansion intercepted it. Both scenarios are equally plausible though it is an unfortunate coincidence that a blank letter in this country is a symbol of the messenger deciding to cut off communications. This tradition seems like it could give rise to a lot of misunderstandings as I see it but well the mistake of sending a blank message is rather rare. The village looks to be pointing the finger of blame directly at Emilia for the witches cult coming to attack and what makes this interesting is that despite it being blatant racism, they are not wrong. Emilia really is the reason that the village is going to be attacked by the witches cult. It’s not her fault, that is for certain but it’s hard to deny that if she wasn’t there then no one would be in danger at all. As a matter of fact, the main cause of all of these events that have lead to everyone dying is Emilia herself. The mabeast incident of the village is a matter for debate but Emilia really is the one drawing these events. Which points the direct origin of all of Subaru’s suffering being Emilia herself and perhaps the very reason Sattella has brought Subaru here is to keep Emilia alive till the time she can serve Sattella’s purpose

Ferris and Julius got a bulk of the screentime this episode which is reasonable considering how the episode ends. Ferris is still leaving people in doubt about whether his claims to be a boy is really true but I like that they made it that there is more to him than his trap gimmick. For you information I will let you know that when the merchant witch’s cult member blows up his cart, he did technically kill Ferris with the blast. However Ferris’s healing magic is so overpowered that he can reconstruct his body even if it’s destroyed. Yep, in Re:Zero even the white mage is twenty times more powerful than our protagonist. Still to give Subaru due credit, it was very smart of him to use the Mabeast’s of the forest to take out one of the fingers. At times I really can’t tell if Subaru is smart or stupid but maybe he works better in the moment. It’s nice to see him almost make old mistakes only to have someone give him a push in the right direction. That was a problem with Rem in general. She stood by Subaru’s side but she always went along with whatever he did, rather than provide the kind of support Wilhelm and Ferris have been giving him. But it’s likely the Subaru of those episodes wouldn’t have taken the hint like he does now. Julius also reveals that he is the one who saved Subaru twice by putting him under the protection of one of his spirits and does point out that Subaru does seem to have a high affinity with them. Despite his introduction being typical of the kind of villain in a Light novel, he proves that he is actually a good guy. I applaud that as I find those one shot weak villains to be a poor excuse of empowering the protagonist.

My theory from last episode looks all but confirmed as a number of Betelgeuse’s pop up to attack Subaru and co. I really have to give credit to the number of voice actresses who act out his mannerisms to a great degree. I may not know Japanese but there does seem to be a lot of talent in this series. The end of the episode was brutal in that just when you think everything is fine and maybe this week won’t have a cliffhanger, we have the series throw a gut punch. I was well on my way to believing this was Subaru’s successful run and then this comes out of nowhere to prove that no matter how much Subaru accomplishes, he can still have it all undone at any moment. Well I do think that the remaining episodes are not enough to do a run through of the White Whale again and I think two possibilities exist here. One is that Ferris will find some way of reviving Subaru without Betelgeuse coming with him and the other is Subaru’s save point being moved up to after the White Whale is defeated. Number two seems the most likely as undoing the events of the White Whale and Rem’s confession would be a bad move.

There is just far too much character development there to just do away with. Likely the save point will be before the first attack on the witches cult as that is the point Subaru could make the most use of his knowledge. Still this does put him in a bad spot as simply killing Betelgeuse isn’t going to stop him from possessing his body again. There could be other factors that allow Betelgeuse to take control of someone, with the gospel being a big factor. However if what allows Betelgeuse to take control of Subaru is just the smell of the witch then I don’t see how Subaru can beat him without getting possessed. There are likely more conditions for Betelgeuse to meet before he can possess someone as it is odd that he didn’t choose to take over Subaru on his first death. Perhaps the choice of who he can take over is not up to him and he simply goes into a random person who happens to have the smell of the witch. Though one thing that seems apparent here is that the witches cult is not operating under Satella’s instructions and seem to be acting in what they believe to be what she desires of them in order to earn her love. What is in store for the climax of this series is still a mystery to me but while I doubt it will be completely conclusive, I at least hope it ties up the particulars of this arc and doesn’t leave a cliffhanger for a next season. A week is something I can put up with but making me wait over a year for a continuation of the story would truly be slothful.

Thunderbolt Fantasy – 09

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Thunderbolt Fantasy

“Three to test, five to press, and the final ninth strike”

That’s the number of moves Mie Tian Hai will put Sha Wu Sheng to eternal rest. Sha Wu Sheng, never loses his cool, attacks him anyway despite knowing full well the outcomes. I suspect that this fight is some kind of self-fulfilling prophecy in play, the way he still leaves his back exposed after that eighth move. Or I think he would be sensible enough to kill Gui Niao BEFORE propose to fight with Mie Tian Hai. He tags along all the way just for the sake of Gui Niao’s head, and now he misses the chance and vows to wait for the guy in the afterlife. Oh well. I can sense the master thief’s chuckle there.

But before all that happens, the trio of legendary anti-foes (that would be Xing Hai the necromancer, Shou Yun Xiao the archer, Sha Wu Sheng the Screaming Phoenix Killer) reveal the initial plan of Gui Niao: the letters he sent to them explicitly said that he requires assistance to swindle the legendary sword from a helpless girl. They then proceed to actually LEAVE the two good-heart comrades behind to pursue for their shares. At the same time inside the tower, Gui Niao is trading with Mie Tian Hai. The sword handle turns out to be fake (with his “10-second look, 5-second touch” technique), and Gui Niao intends to sale the real thing with big golds. But for me this isn’t a simple trade-off. As he said so himself he always aims for more challenging goals, so this trade could simply be his front for something more ambiguous. And I know that I might so boring here but things might go EXACTLY like what he had planned, yes including the Phoenix Killer sudden appearing and Shang Bu Shuan’s jailbreak (literally!). In the next episode I’m pretty sure we will get to know Gui Niao true intention on keeping our main guy and his main goal from all of this.

If there is any specific theme this episode is going for, it is how they explore the ego of many characters. Juan Can Yun the spear wielder learns a hard truth for his mentor Shou Yun Xiao, as being a hero means you have to sacrifice and moreover hide the mistake/ dirty stuffs that you made. I understand that it’s mind-blowing, dear Mister Spear Wielder. I feel for ya. The Screaming Phoenix Killer still tries to push forward despite knowing that the duel will end up in defeat, he still does it because his ego won’t allow him to back down. Even the big boss’s hobby of collecting swords makes him feel invincible whenever he’s taking hold of the power of destruction itself. As I mentioned above, Gui Niao admits that he enjoys stealing because of “ethos of a champion” – the feeling of superior when you steal something considered invaluable. Also, our poor Dan Fei’s ego is shattered when she learned the truth about the identity of Gui Niao, as well as feeling guilty for dragging Shang Bu Shuan into the whole mess. That emphasis on ego furthers demonstrate the rationale and the way of thinking from each characters, and I say this is a successful approach to this story, especially when the characters in Thunderbolt Fantasy are already too over-the-top and often act like they’re performing a play. Letting them stick to their ego and their roles till the very end is of course the most appropriate course of action.

orange – 09

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Orange

Unfortunately for us, this is not a good orange episode. Hell, I could say this is one of its worst episode. orange has always relied on the regrets of the main cast, and the foreshadowing suicide of Kakeru as their main emotional impacts. When they steer away from those, this episode just loose its punch. While the character’s interactions are still there and those moments are one of the only high points of this week’s viewing, there is an issue with it as well. You see, there is no damn fun when everything goes entirely according to plan, when all the moments are just too perfect. I have no problem if this was about making Kakeru talk honestly about his suicide thoughts couple of weeks ago, but creating every moment with Kakeru too flawlessly (like the umbrella incidents this week, the “good morning” exchanges) make the whole situation feels rather forced, and to make it worse I feel Kakeru was manipulated by the group here, even if the intention comes from a good place.

But my biggest problems with this episode lie in its pacing. Last week we dedicated half of its episode for joining up team for the upcoming relay events, and this week the episode strangely drops any of the preparation phase, instead focuses on the revelation that all the cast has their own letters, worries about Azusa’s birthday, cares so much about the weather, and concerns about whether or not Naho and Kakeru should hold hands. Then they jump STRAIGHT to the events. The inconsistency of plotline occurred before in one of the episode when Naho pushed Kakeru to talk about his mother for the first time. After that Kakeru and Naho had a rather uneasy tension until it was revealed that Suwa had received the letters himself, then suddenly Naho and Kakeru again talked to each other normally like nothing happened. Well, I understand that they have to jam in many plot details to both heighten the relationship and carry the emotional weight, but I am not quite fond of letting the story just moving on its own like that.

As I mentioned in my last episode, orange is a weird shoujo production, and I will say in more details this time. For a shoujo romance-drama anime such as orange, they have an unusually high quality director and an equally unusual below-the-standard budget. So what we have here is a show that stands out in its artistic merits, as many of the director’s choices shine through this week. For example, the sequence from Asuza’s point of view is nicely displayed, as the characters are more colorful, childlike and whimsical than Naho’s point of view. In another case, the director displays Kakeru’s feeling of detachment from the rest of the events by showing him standing awkwardly among a disappearing crowd, with the wash-out color background and a slightly disorientated sound designs. Those are great moments because we really know more about these characters just by experiencing the same thing they do. The art designs of other background characters though, are just too rough and inconsistent. As a result, what we have in the end is the episode that glorious at certain important scenes, but meh and below quality in general. The sport events haven’t concluded yet, as we still have that relay to look for. Here’s hoping for a rewarding relay (and episode) ahead.

Thunderbolt Fantasy – 08

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Thunderbolt Fantasy

This is yet another typical Thunderbolt Fantasy episode, in which our MC Shang Bu Shuan just had enough with these guys and headed to the evil tower alone, but somehow still find himself tricked by Gui Niao and then gets captured near the end of the episode. Maybe the main reason Gui Niao needs him to stay so desperately is just for the sake of bullying the poor guy. There’s one interesting bit about Shang Bu Shuan that other members of the group figure out and that is while he’s a skilled swordsman, he’s not really confident with his skills; in a way he’s more natural with defensive skills than attacking. Still, leaving our main character literally to fight those monsters alone just to test him out is way too hilariously cruel; and I can see his frustration towards the group that he just heads off by himself. But as fate would have it, Dan Fei and Gui Niao just won’t leave him alone, and the three immediate find a shortcut to get through the tower without passing the magical labyrinth, just to find themselves heading directly to a trap.

Gui Niao’s true identity has finally been revealed to be a master thief. It’s about a goddamn time if you ask me. Master thief is also a common character’s trope in wuxia, but as far as I see he’s no Saito Kid or Robin Hood. Gui Niao is sneaky as hell and he’s also a master of manipulation. In order to advance his plan, he tricked the emotional outburst Dan Fei into having a fight with Shang Bu Shuan (by using hallucination smoke or whatever it’s called) and thus single-handed assist the enemy to put them in cage. At first, I find myself hard to believe that Mie Tian Hai would be stupid enough to trust this guy, but upon a closer look, it’s apparent that Gui Niao already gets a hold of the legendary sword’s handle and it’s a matter of time for him to negotiate with Mie Tian Hai. But there is a plot hole regarding all this ‘masterplan’ though as I find it hard to believe Mie Tian Hai actually forgets about the other members and keeps his guard down like that.

For next week, we will have two main developments: on the one hand there will be a negotiation between Gui Niao and the big boss and until then we can find Gui Niao’s true motive and whatever relation between those two guys. The 200-year history is a good starting point to keep delving into and I believe the main development for its last arc will be around the sacred sword, the War of the Fading Dust, and that cursed wasteland that split the two countries. It will be no surprise for me if Shang Bu Shuan might be ‘the one’ who can control the legendary sword. On the other hand, our main character and the rest of the group will keep heading to the main tower to catch up with whatever results that caused by Gui Niao. It still remains a big question regarding Gui Niao’s true intention: Is he friend or foe? Or is he just a league of his own? Time will tell, my friends.

Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World – 22

by AidanAK47, posted in Currently Watching:, Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World

Well the battle against the witches cult has started and…ended. I didn’t quite expect my words in the last episode review to turn out prophetic as Betelgeuse and his minions are taken out so quickly and anticlimactically considering how much this arc has built them up to be the main villain. Through Subaru seems to share my concerns as things go too smoothly that even he is suspicious. This feeling is throughout the first half of the episode as the white whale taught us that when things are going too well then there is a gut punch coming up. I commend Subaru from learning from horror movie tropes and inquiring as to whether Betelgeuse is really dead after Wilhelm chopped him in half. Prompting the little animal girls to incinerate his body to ashes. Despite this it seems Betelgeuse comes back in the form of his follower which is a girl who has his unseen hands and his rather eccentric mannerisms. However it isn’t long before he’s cut down by Wilhelm yet again and props to the clever idea of using falling water to allow Wilhelm to see the hands. Subaru and Co dismissed this as this girl being the true sloth archbishop and the first man was a proxy or the possibly that all members are the archbishop.

I however have my own theory that Betelgeuse doesn’t actually take to the field himself and instead sends his followers and has the ability to possess one of them. It fits with the sloth theme in that the sloth archbishop stay home while controlling others from afar and it leads me to have an interesting thought. When Betelgeuse number 1 got immensely aggravated with Subaru, he started convulsing and blood came out of his eyes which suggests that his body is breaking down. I think it’s possible that all of Betelgeuse’s spasms and erratic moments may actually not be because of his personal insanity but rather because Betelgeuse’s control of the body lessens as he gets more emotional. Thus in these moments the original owner wrestles to gain control of their body. So the biting fingernails, the arching of his back, the self inflicted harm is all the screams of someone trying to remove Betelgeuse’s dominance. There is a question of whether Betelgeuse himself has an original body or is some kind of spirit jumping between bodies. Though this is all just purely speculation.

So it seems that the cult of the witch recruits people by sending out a gospel to those suitable and it’s uncertain as whether this gospel brainwashes people into joining or it contains information that encourages people to. Betelgeuse made a particular interesting comment when he said that the gospel did not mention Subaru at all which seems to suggest it’s some sort of book foretelling future events. Which might explain as to how it could get people to join, after all if it states that the Jealous witch will take over the world or enact some sort of judgement day then people would prefer to join the side that doesn’t get slaughtered in the future. He also insinuates that Subaru is Pride once again and considering that Subaru picks up the gospel it may very well be something to come into play in later arcs. It’s nice that despite apologizing for fighting Julius, Subaru still has a petty grudge against him. As I said before you don’t put a bandaid on trauma and call him cured.

Subaru came close to falling back into a stupor after getting four people killed in the cult attack but Wilhelm managed to keep him focused by telling him to fight and be strong. This speech will likely act as determination for later and I like how when Subaru said he needed to get stronger WIlhelm interrupted to say that he doesn’t need to get stronger but instead be strong. This seems to suggest that what Subaru needs is not physical strength but instead mental strength. This is true as it’s is not Subaru’s job to beat the bad guys but instead to lead the right players to the right places to get the job done. In this the only thing stopping him is his own mental fortitude. When you have the power to try again infinitely then victory is certain. It’s just a matter of how many times you can bring yourself to try.

Our episode ends with Subaru separated from his group with a grim looking Ram looking down on him. The nature of this twist confused me on first seeing it as it seems to suggest that Ram was betraying him. Though considering previous loops and Ram’s history with the cult this is a nigh impossibility. However whether Roswell is a member of the cult is another matter entirely and Ram would obey his orders, regardless of what they were. In fact it is odd that he tends to disappear when the witches cult is about to make a move. He didn’t seem to be present when Puck froze the manor and if he was then taking out the cult members would have been an easy task. In fact taking into account the combat potential of Emilia, Beatrix and Ram it is rather odd that they lost to the cultists. Possibly because Subaru caught them off guard that they didn’t have time to put up a real fight but I still think that with how easily they were killed by Wilhelm and the others that they is likely something else at play here. Perhaps Betelgeuse was only one part of the group coming to attack the manor or there is another enemy to deal with in this arc. WIth three episodes left I think Re:Zero has something entirely different planned for it’s season finale.

orange – 08

by SuperMario, posted in Currently Watching:, Orange

This week, Naho and Suwa face a dilemma of whether or not they should follow what written in the letters. The relay is coming and Kakeru is appointed to be an anchor. They have been followed the letters very closely, but the original reality becomes too different from this reality that the content is not really relevant anymore. Should they follow the letters because clearly the older-selves have all the answers, or should they rely on themselves to act according to Kakeru’s happiness? Naho and Suwa at first decided to ask him not to join the relay team, since the relay could affect badly to Kakeru. But Kakeru, being himself, feels insecure that he might let the team down so he’s agree to pull out, but he’s clearly not too happy about either decision. Kakeru has been afraid to make a choice. He doesn’t want to repeat the same problems and have more regrets, even to the point where he confesses his feeling towards Naho, but too afraid to date her. Naho and Suwa realize they have been way over-protective to Kakeru, because really without taking a step forward, how could Kakeru move on to his next stage? The rest of the group pick up on that as well, and they together make an awesome decision: let the group run for the relay, so that Kakeru can run and moreover they can run together. Now I understand the running part in the Opening Credit. Yes, it has its purpose and this is not some cliché opening credit where everyone runs for no reason from all over directions, right? RIGHT?

But as I mentioned in previous posts, some of the incidents can’t change and those lead directly to the sad outcomes. Because the group invited Kakeru on the first day, his mother commit suicide. Because Naho couldn’t bring herself to talk directly to Kakeru, he dated Ueda. This time they ignore the letters, but could it be the reason the letters don’t want Kakeru to join the relay is because of his health? Earlier in the episode he passes out and with the stress he’s currently building up, his physical gotten weaker and weaker. I’m not imply he’s in some kind of terminal disease and I really hope the show won’t go that way, but it’s possible that they might not be able to ‘save’ Kakeru the way they want to.

This is now confirmed that the rest of the cast also receive the letters from their 26-year-old selves. All they want is to support Naho and Suwa to save Kakeru, and all Naho and Suwa have to do is to share it with them. Now this lead to a fundamental issue of the show: all the developments emphasis on the same united purpose: saving Kakeru. For that I say they’re trying a bit too hard for the sake of Kakeru (really? 5 adult people sent letters to their younger selves so that they can do their best effort to save him?), and other aspects of friendship will be ignored. Now, every time Suwa and Naho talking to each other, it’ll be about Kakeru. They grow through their interaction with Kakeru, not wuth themselves. I kind of miss the interaction between the group in the first episode where I can see more angle about their friendships, see how they bound off each other in a natural way.

But really, the more I see orange the more I think this is a kind of weird production. The director Hiroshi Hamasaki is not well-verse in shoujo drama, the budget is tight and that hurts. The rough quality and still-frames are more prominent now than ever. It’s a shame because orange works best if the production values can express those emotions, but the level shown in orange simply couldn’t match it.