orange – 09

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

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

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

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.

Thunderbolt Fantasy – 07

This week our band heads up to the evil mountain and needless to say they possess absolutely no teamwork spirit whatsoever. It’s as you would expect from a group of seven egocentric members. Our main character Shang Bu Shuan repeatedly gets teased by their comrades, as he finds himself fighting the enemies alone without the help of others. But I have to note that it all comes from his carelessness to begin with, and all the ignorant from others towards him play more as a comic relief than anything else. Still it’s hilarious to see Sha Wu Sheng the Screaming Phoenix Killer just sits down, relax in his conform zone without helping our main guy out, or that the band continues to praise Shou Yun Xiao the one-eyed archer like nothing happen after he misses the target deliberately and only manages to save Shang Bu Shuan when he fell off. But really to no surprise of no one, our MC passes the obstacles with flying colors. It’s all child’s play for the group it seems.

In terms of plot, there is nothing special in this episode as we know how it head several episodes before. Like I mentioned last week, the main boss Mie Tian Hai appears in front of the group truly for a little chit-chat (everyone sure loves to chit chat in Thunderbolt Fantasy), even feels so generous that he ‘allows’ the group to proceed. The person who has the most development this week is Dan Fei, after she was directly ridiculed by Mie Tian Hai. She fires up and practices too hard, but Juan Can Yu sees through it and even figures out the defect in her technique. Now, this is an interesting bit. Usually from your typical wuxia show, it’s either the swordsman is already skilled or he tries his best to master the skills. There’s never a situation where a swordsman was pointed out that his techniques are ineffective, moreover because the techniques are not suitable for girl. This is something you don’t see so often. It’s much more in the same vein of learning sports’ skills and I have to applause for Gen Urobuchi for actually gives it a thought and makes it interesting.

There is another refreshing nonsense little details in this episode that I find myself enjoy it tremendously. It is the condition of a lullaby to put the undead to sleep. Apparently you have to know which era the undead comes from, and “There’s a subtle pitch shift in the song that depends on when they died” as Xing Hai the necromancer puts it. Talking about perfection in art! I mean this bit of details come from nowhere, but makes totally sense the way they explain it. Even more ridiculously, Gui Niao steps up to be a lullaby conductor (or lullaby composer, depend on how you look at it). It feels like the creators must be on some sort of drugs when they think about the script.

So how things going to happen from now on? From the pacing of this episode, I’m guessing next week they’ll pass the third obstacle and then on their way to face off the main antagonist. This week we learn that the zombies were created 200 years ago, the same time of the War of Fading Dust, and the divide between the two countries. I know it’s absurd but the one who actually feels or those undead is none other than the heartless Sha Wu Sheng. This guy really cares much more about the dead than the living. I guess that the great event has something to do with the powerful sorcerer who used to own the Seven Sin Towers. My take is that mysterious sorcerer is someone we already know, but at the moment only Gui Niao seems like a good fit. Mie Tian Hai, on the other hand, doesn’t even acknowledge Gui Niao so I’m not really sure if he knows much about his true identity. We will, however, have a much better idea about his identity next week, as the title is “The Enigmatic Gale” – one of Gui Niao’s alias. Anyway, we still have 5 episodes to go and with that much refreshing in terms of ideas and its campy sense of humor, I am sure that this Thunderbolt Fantasy train won’t stray off its track anytime soon.

Berserk(2016) – 08 [Reunion in the Den of Evil]

Episode 8 starts with a cold opening that retreads the fateful rendezvous of Guts and Casca. I actually thought that this was a good move, as this is a very big moment in the overall story of the last few arcs. After the Golden Age section we get very few deep character moments, and a lot of the pathos of the story has been replaced by mere action. I’ll take the time to reiterate my opinion that the Golden Age Arc is quite honestly the very best part of the story. The focus on the characters and their relations, combined with the world building which masterfully portrays a dark fantasy realm that borders close to our own, yet at the same time concealing an inundation of supernatural evil slithering under the surface, are what have made Berserk the masterpiece that it is. After the events of the Eclipse a lot of that imperative was washed away, and replaced by a revenge story which is heavy on plot, yet slim on thought-provoking ideas with deep emotional impact. This little scene of reunion hearkens back to those glory days, even if ever slightly so.

All that said, after the opening we are thrown right back into the action. The fight choreography is taken directly from the manga, but turned up a few notches. As intricate and detailed as Miura’s drawings are, it’s still sometimes hard to follow his action panels. Compared to Tezuka, or the more contemporary mangaka such as Naoki Urasawa and Takehiko Inoue, Miura’s panels seem to be displaying the key frames, and leaving out the dynamics of the action to the readers’ imagination. So at least here we get a more direct interpretation of the fight scene, which while completely sufficient, fails to really enhance on its source, as say a studio like Ufotable would’ve managed to do. We even get the near miss of Guts almost losing his only functioning eye, but he manages to use a little bit of strategy to neutralize the Goat before resorting back to brute force and finishing the job.

We next get to see Farnese using the situation to try and kill two birds with one stone, and coercing the troops of taking care of Guts along with the rest of the ghouls.  Azan tries to be the voice of reason, but is soon shut down, and being well aware of his rank, simply continues to follow the orders. Azan reminds me of a certain knight in Final Fantasy IX named Steiner, who while taking himself seriously, is still relegated to comic relief; although both characters aren’t exactly push-overs.

It’s brought to Farnese’s attention that Serpico is missing. This leads in to our next action set-piece, which proves to be a bit more personal. This duel has been long in the making, since although Serpico has no qualms with Guts, his devotion to Farnese compels him to remove the threat that has been plaguing her mind. There also seems to be a bit of a clash of egos at work here. Serpico is a pragmatist, using the best tactic to set up the match to his advantage, with no apparent regard for honor. He has always somewhat reminded me of Griffith, and I think the parallels are too striking to be completely coincidental. The fast fighting style, the cunning calculation, the pride, all point to a resemblance in their world-view and personality.

The narrow landing prevents Guts from drawing his sizeable weapon, but he isn’t particularly new to being in the corner either, and starts the face-off with a flurry of arrows and explosives. Serpico manages to regain his footing and then precedes to send a wave of rapid thrusts. Guts catching the rapier’s blade with his hand is again reminiscent to the surprising way he caught Griffith off-guard by biting the edge of his sword. Looking at the hilt of Serpico’s rapier, it resembles a German Pappenheimer, which means contrary to common belief the blade is not only pointed for thrust attacks, but also edged for slashing. It’s also somewhat historically accurate that such fine rapiers were often quite brittle; making the shattering of it not much beyond the realm of possibility.

Down in the valley we have Farnsese going off on her men. The prospect of Guts surviving is taking a toll on her, and we see her scabbard-smashing her men in front of a concerned crowd of knights. On the other side we see that Guts nearly pushed to the same limits over Isidro losing Casca, but he manages to subside his rage. I feel that this is in part due to what took place at Godo’s house, and how this situation was quite similar to his unwarranted outburst against poor Rickert.

At the end, the gang heads towards the Tower of Conviction, as the Skull Knight vague ramblings foretell an ominous encounter. Inside we get a glimpse of Nina and Casca, and a small window into Uncle Mozguz’ House of Terror.  The stage is set, and the pieces are assembled. The next Episode is titled Blood Flow of the Dead, so I’m guessing that it will be the first part to a double, or perhaps triple, episode, that will be covering the main part of the chapter we’ve been waiting for. These recent episodes have been following the manga extremely closely, and all the while moving at quite a rapid pace. My only issue is still the execution, and how the show has yet to go beyond what they are directly drawing from. One could only hope that there is some budget being set aside for a more memorable finale, and at least now we can anticipate the trajectory of the rest of this cour. Until next Friday and more Berserk, stay tuned my friends.

~Bam~

Berserk(2016) – 07 [The Black Witch]

I apologize for this very late review, but due to circumstances I didn’t have the means of watching the episode, and hence the week-long delay. I’ll try to at least leave a notification in case of such issues in the future, but otherwise will try to keep the posts steady. So let’s get right to it, shall we?

We get a recap of the ending scene of last episode, with the Demon Child warding off the spirits, and in turn making Casca the hailed princess of the cult. It appears that in these times of desperation, the cult members cling to anything that they can praise as a deity. The noteworthy thing here is that Casca shows a maternal instinct for the Child, as she tries to reach for it before it disappears. This stands as a stark contrast to Guts, who sees the child as a curse and an ugly reminder of his past.

Next we have a scene at the camp, with Luca being brave and assertive as ever. I always disliked Nina’s characterization, but she appears to be even more annoying in this series. Her selfish ways are highlighted here in an attempt to create some sort of a character arc for her in the future. The duo’s discussions are interrupted, as they are notified of an impending trial of another one of their compatriots.

Looks like we have ourselves a classic witch hunt here. Not unlike such similar occurrences in reality, these hunts are more about silencing unrest and class warfare than anything else. There are few tools more effective in oppression of a population, than an appeal to divine authority. Thankfully the masquerade is cut short by the sudden appearance of a certain Black Swordsman.  Guts has well established himself as the king of entrances, and this instance is not any different. I really do enjoy his no-nonsense approach to information gathering, and when pushed he proceeds to lay down the authority very swiftly. Fans often forget that Guts is truly an antihero, with his mercenary background defining his sense of morality. He is single-minded in his approach, and not afraid of taking any necessary measures to achieve his goals. I like to note that the digital blood splatters were bearable in this scene, and did little to distract from the action.

Next we have a rush back to the campsite in order to fetch Casca. There is a quick overview of the state of constant fear that has enveloped the camp, as people are quick to sell each other out in order to avoid punishment. The knights’ preoccupation with the situation in Albion can only mean that the news of the full-scale Kushan invasion has not reached their ranks yet. This is exacerbated by the show jumping the gun, and expediting the assault on Windham as early as four episodes ago.

Nina proceeds to panic when Luca doesn’t make it back to the campsite, and makes another stupid decision to seek refuge in the cave of the cultists. I guess this can be excused, since from her perspective the chance of Luca being caught by the knights is actually very high, and this decision is made out of pure desperation. I never liked the “princess is in another castle” shtick, but here it serves to move the plot towards the eventual encounter.

I never fully understood the mechanics of Puck’s visibility to mortals. It was implied that those of closemind and narrow worldview would find it harder to see him, but here we are told that larger crowds further hide his presence. I guess things are more easily concealed when there is more commotion. There is also a shallow attempt at explaining Isidro’s backstory, but given the rapid pacing of the episode this can be excused, as it would’ve bogged down the flow if it was given too much focus. He might be a silly kid, but at least he’s honest and to the point. From his view it definitely seems as if he’s found himself quite a master in Guts, and there’s safety in being under his wing. Little does he know how much of a magnet Guts truly is to danger, and considering that he learned his skills firsthand in a mercenary camp, Gut’s utility as a sword instructor is at the very least highly questionable. Nevertheless, he pursues Nina and Casca towards the cave.

Next there is the reappearance of Joachim, as he spills the bean about the location and activities of the cultists. A soldier also breaks the news of Guts to a visibly shocked Farnese, as the main thing she was trying to avoid has finally come to find her. Her reluctance in facing Guts definitely plays a part in their decision to give priority to hunting the cultists. There is some irony in the fact that the gravitation of the common people to these cults is directly related to their struggles under the Holy See’s oppression. The tighter the grip, the heavier the backlash against it.

We’re welcomed back to the cave, and it seems that this episode has given it a livelier look, as a bright magenta color palette prevails the tone of the scene. There also appears to be some improvements to the textures, with the ground and the cave walls having a more detailed look to them. I personally always enjoyed the symbolism of the crown of thorns that they place on Casca, although I admit that it is more for show than pertaining to anything deep. Nina is being prepared to be sacrificed for the union of the Great Goat and Casca, who as we remember is being worshiped as an idol of the cult. The world of Berserk heavily revolves around the concept of sacrifice. The cave seems to be located within a certain interstice, as a place where the barrier between the physical world and the astral realm is particularly weak. This is further intensified by the presence of Casca, which yet again summons the ghosts of those who were sacrificed to possess the cultists.

Next we get a full-on zombie brawl, as the Iron Chain Knights converge on the location of the cave. Well, in reality it’s more of a slaughter than an actual battle. I like to take the time to say that I really enjoy the design of the visor on Farnese’s helmet, here portrayed with an even more exaggerated length than the manga. Isidro proves his worth, as he buys some time until Puck can fly and get Guts. It is revealed that the Great Goat is not really of any supernatural essence, but just a man donning a ceremonial goat head. This quickly changes as the Egg Apostle sires the Great Goat, and makes him a true apostle-spawn. I’ll be getting into the Egg Apostle’s story in later reviews.

I seriously thought that what ensues will be toned down, but lo and behold, we are greeted to yet another demonic rape attempt. I guess after the infamous Rape Horse I should be expecting the series to stick close to these specific elements of the source material. Here we have some familiar workaround female nudity, as well as a peculiar censorship of some violence. I think this is a good place to delve a little bit into the strange censorship laws placed on the Japanese media. The regulations regarding anime censorship are strangely specific, with varying levels of rationalizations. There is much leeway in the graphic portrayal of violence when the subject is considered “otherworldly”. This means that a zombie, monster, or any evil creature can be shown to be straight ripped apart, while human victims need to be toned down to either simple stabbing or details being subject to black bars and omissions. There are similar laws regarding nudity, and more specifically the male reproductive organ. As Toshio Maeda of Urotsukidōji fame came to realize back in the 80’s, a regular human penis can under no circumstance be portrayed in media, while any phallic or “penis-like appendage” is completely acceptable under article 175 of the Criminal Code of Japan. And hence, the inclusion of the snake penis.

As things seem to be reaching a critical level, we are greeted to another badass Guts entrance, this time in the form of what can only be called a ‘Batman moment’. He emerges from the shadows, swiftly maneuvering down to the pit, and making mince-meat out of the possessed cultists. The Dragonslayer dances with little resistance, as the cavelight gives a Sword of Moonlight blue hue to its blade. As we get passed the nasty goat circumcision, we are thrilled by a much-awaited reunion of our two estranged lovers, as their meeting gaze speaks much more than anything that could be uttered here.

Overall this one was a faster, denser, and dare I say better episode than the last few that we’ve had in Albion. There are many confrontations in store, and the stage is nearly set for one of the most iconic moments in the history of Berserk. I have my work cut out for me, as I’m jumping right into the next review as soon as this one is posted. Stay tuned for more, as I rush to make up for lost time.

~Bam~

91 Days – 06

I would say this is the strongest episode so far of 91 Days as it essentially revolves around what makes Mafia drama at it’s best. Betrayals, scheming and deceit are what fuels organised crime and what a scheme this was. When looking at the three family leaders I suppose it’s no surprise that Orco is the first to be knocked off. After all the Galassias still hold the reign of the Vanettis and the Vanettis can’t go down until Avilio has his revenge. They used the fact that they have something that Orco wants and I particularly liked how they kept presenting him with risky handouts that turned out to not be genuine. This really caused him to relax his guard and when it came time to drink the real drugged drink he downed it without hesitation. Not to mention Avilio revealing himself to Orco in order to gain his trust. Thus the full plan comes into play.

To lure Orco to the distillery, fool him into thinking Avilio betrayed Nero and drug him with a congratulatory drink. How this was presented is really how any anime should handle a good plan. No inner monologues before or after the act to perfectly spell out what Avilio was thinking and only slight clues alluding to what he intended. One small line about gathering Chickens was enough to figure out where they got the blood to fake Neros death and because we didn’t know the full particulars of the plan we were as in the dark as Orco was. It gave a chance for the audience to be fooled along with him while giving a reward to those who paid close enough attention. Now if only Shounen battle anime could take this to heart and realise that maybe we don’t need someone mentally choreographing an enemy’s moves to understand what’s going on. Maybe in a manga that’s necessary but in a show it’s just a pacing killer.

This may be the first time Fango’s craziness has actually benefited the show as he takes notes from Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus and feeds the remains of the Orco Head to the family members. Now I see why previous episodes put such focus on how the Orco leader had a obsession with perfecting Lasagna. This does show just how putting this guy in the top position is a really bad idea though as Fango is far too impulsive to be trusted. The test he gave Nero before accepting his deal is evidence enough that he’s far too unpredictable to keep a stable partnership. He’s playing along for now because it benefits him but the moment it suits him to have Nero killed or even if for a moment he just feels like killing him, he will not hesitate.

Plus as Avilio pointed out, Fangos enemies are now their enemies. Knowing Fango, he’s bound to have made a lot of enemies. As far as I am concerned I think Fango  is a ticking time bomb ready to self destruct so it’s really a matter of whether this is part of Avilios plan or merely a temporary deal to give him time to plan. Maybe he intends to get Nero involved with someone ready to run the family into the ground and abandon him when things get truly dire. A question I ask when I finish the episode is whether the lasagna Avilio and Nero were eating is the same as the one fed to the family members. Knowing Fango, he would be twisted enough to present them with it without them knowing.

orange – 07

This episode is a winner. It hits all the right notes on what make orange so appealing. Upon knowing that Kakeru will attempt his first suicide after talking to his Tokyo friends over the weekend, Suwa and Naho confront him and tell him not to go. Kakeru is an insecure kid, he’s deeply troubled by the death of his mom, blames himself for what happened and is unable to talk about his problems to his friends. But as Suwa points out correctly, close friends are supposed to share pain together, and his mistake was not his fault. I once had a real friend who told me that she had thought about attempt suicide and it was nasty. The real ugliness of it is once you had it, the thought of suicide never leaves you away and there’s always an urge that push you to do it whenever you feel depressing. Kakeru can only get better if he can be able to talk about it and let his regrets all out. The last sequence is a very nice moment, and I tip my hat off to the direction of that sequence. When Suwa confronts Kakeru, there’s no music cue between those exchanges and it’s the silence that makes us feel the tension and weight behind each conversations. Talking about these things is never easy but at least all three can be able to speak out what they really want.

Suwa steps up to become a big bro for the group. I mentioned last week that I had my concern about feeling cheated if all Suwa did was just followed what were written in the letters. Well, he did follow the letters but thank god the show never sells him short. The thing is that Suwa is not a selfless kid who pull back his feeling to see Naho and Kakeru happy. He did it for the sake of them, yes, but he also did it for his sake as well. It’s a hard role for him but he can pull it off because he’s the most mature and most emotionally honest of the group. There’s still unclear if the rest of the cast also receives the letters like Suwa and Naho did, but they fulfill their supporting roles very well this week. Scenes when they asking Kakeru what he wants for his birthday, or when they stand up to protect Naho from Ueda (Ueda sadly remains the only sore thumb in this episode) are all genuine that showcase their great care towards the leads. And I love the way the two girls stand behind the door, overhearing the sincere conversations from the leads. That small moment speaks more than thousand words, and suddenly they become much more layered in that single moment than they were for the last 6 episodes. Yes, those friends might not be the ones who could change things significantly, but they will always be there whenever you need them.

You might have notice that in previous posts I didn’t discuss much about the romance between Naho and Kakeru, mostly because I found it the most ordinary aspect of orange. Although they share great chemistry together, there’s no denying that “boy gets girl” part is the most cliché part of them all. But even so, this week’s moments between them are goddamn effective. The reason why Naho and Kakeru in the original timeline couldn’t get together was because they were unable to express their feeling to each other. Kakeru always hides his feeling deep down, and Naho is too nervous to say what she really thinks. In this timeline, however, with the help of Suwa and all these friends, Kakeru has a chance to confess to her and she replies him back. Call me cheesy but I found the flowers scenes are heartfelt. They were used twice but each sequence conveys different feeling. When the adult Naho receives the flowers from Suwa, it feels deeply poignant, but when the young Naho accepts the flowers from Kakeru and his confession to her, it feels sweet and genuine. On other notes, there are many nice visual motifs in this episode: the flowers, butterfly (butterfly effect?) and the fluid-est scene transition that fit to the opening credit (go see it!). Based only from this episode, things are about to get better after Kakeru confesses his deepest regrets, but I’m not sold. The theme and the tone of orange always firmly head towards the melodrama territory, so things going to be sad. I’m for once keen to see how they pull this off but at least this episode is a solid example of what orange can do best.

Neon Genesis Evangelion – 03

Let me just start by apologizing for the delay of this post. I guess the only privilege of covering a retrospective show is you can cover it any time you want. I kid, I kid. The truth is I just binge-watched many series so I don’t have time to do this review. While I’m enjoy writing reviews, it’s no secret that it has eaten most of my free time and sometimes I miss a good old time when I still have time to watch everything and not to worry about review. Anyways, my ranting ends now and I hope I will review this piece more frequently. Now, moving on.

This episode shows us another facet of being a hero. It’s not all shine and glory, and Shinji proves to be as atypical a hero as you could imagine. Told through the point of view of new Shinji’s new classmates Toji and Kensuke, Shinji at first appears as a thorn to their eyes. His sudden spotlight for being the one who save the city strikes a wrong note to those guys, and to make it worse Toji’s sister was injured from that fight, something which he blames for the fault of the hero. To add salt to the wound, Shinji himself confesses that he did not choose to protect the city. Seriously if I were Toji, I would not stop with just one punch. Shinji’s submissive seriously gets on my nerve! But when the Angel attacks again, Toji and Kensuke has a real chance to witness what it really means to be a hero and save the world. It’s all messy. Eiji got suffered, both physically and mentally. It’s a life and death matter where you could end up death with just one wrong move. Shinji pushes himself to the limit that it borders on insanity. Kudos Gainax for creating a battle that gripping, on-the-edge and terrified, instead of going over the top like most mecha action sequences tend to do.

The original Japanese title really nails another theme of this episode. “The Phone that Never Rings” best described about Shinji’s character. The more I think about it the more I see him not really fitted for this type of job. He’s a loner, he’s submissive (look at the way he talks to himself “aim in the middle”) and worse he sees no point for himself to fight. Even in his normal school life, he has no friend. As I mentioned above the battle was gripping because we witness Shinji nearly breaks down, but the worst thing of them all is the whole mess is still working. As we learn in consequential theory, if one still produce a desired result then nothing is needed to worry about, right? In this case not in a long shot. If Shinji keeps pushing himself like that, eventually he’ll break. Everyone breaks, it’s biology; as they say in the (in)famous torture scene in Zero Dark Thirty. Seriously I think saving the world is too much a burden for our Shinji. Not that I blame him really since it’s already a very obscure idea to rely on 14-year-old kids to fight the alien. Well, we still have plenty to go but as far as 3 episodes, EVA has already established its strong grasp on the ruined and shattered theme. This time I will try to get the next episode review quicker so stay tune. Until then!