This week: anime-original characters in Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!, memories as a storytelling device in Shin Sekai Yori, the persistent use of humor in Medaka Box Abnormal, and a duplication of colors in K.

Oh right, was supposed to reverse the order of the anime last week but it slipped my mind.  So yeah, the anime listed below are in reverse alphabetical order now as has always been the case once the series passes its halfway mark.

Best episode of the week: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Anime trending up this week: Shin Sekai Yori

Anime trending down this week: Medaka Box Abnormal

Sword Art Online (Episode 21) – Though Sword Art Online has committed numerous destructive errors and critical flaws, perhaps none are more atrocious or grievous than one that has appeared recently. And what makes this blunder even more vexing is that it will likely never be addressed, corrected and apologized for.  I’m talking about the missing tails from the catgirls.  Sure, yeah, that one Cait Sith leader, Rue, had one in the previous episode but a quick scan through the streets of the capital city Arun shows various catgirls with no tails.  Like, seriously, how do you mess up this badly with something so simple?  It’s ridiculous is what it is.  It’s a thousand times worse than the tentacle whatever that went on, too.  It’s like they’re getting lazy, forgetting the best part, and leaving these characters incomplete and lame.  Kinda like this anime, it’s like they’re purposefully removing all the good parts and leaving us with just this incoherent, incestuous disaster.

Shin Sekai Yori (Episode 9) – The use of characters recalling forgotten memories as a storytelling device has always been and always will be a wearisome and worrisome cliché except in the instance that they are forcefully blocked or removed from the character’s mind.  If that is the case for Shin Sekai Yori, as I am expecting provided that the enigmatic society and unsettling setting would allow for such a device, then it might actually serve as a bonus to the anime.  Why?  With the theory that individuals have the power that can repress or disperse certain memories, it serves the anime well for how society weeds out failures and other oddities without causing an internal uproar or revolt.  Given the example with how Saki potentially lost the memories of her former family members, it shows that the leaders of this society do their best to deceive its citizens for their own self-interested purposes.  The parents, however, must understand these details given the commotion Saki’s mother showed in the first episode, which makes the whole process even more intriguing, especially if it is done again and again to the children throughout their childhood and schooling years.  However, if it’s not a part of a grand system nor if the altered memories are explained, then there’ll be some jeers for Shin Sekai Yori on this missed or fumbled opportunity.

Psycho-Pass (Episode 7) – Kougami has a knack for knowing the right things to say at the right time.  Whether he’s clarifying the cryptic mind of a serial killer or encouraging Akane through supportive words, everything he does seems to be just the right thing.  And while this may ultimately be good or fantastic for the characters of Psycho-Pass, it damages his character by making his character bland and devoid of personality.  It’s as if he’s a robot placed in the Public Safety Bureau to answer questions and assist in solving crimes.  Beyond that and the brief snippets of his past, he really doesn’t possess any hint of emotion nor does he express any interests in anything besides solving crimes, smoking cigarettes and punching robots.  And those minimalistic details on his character aren’t enough to piece together a profile or personality for which to understand Kougami.  It doesn’t help that Masaoka is already the old mentor type and that Ginoza is the serious manager with a short-fuse since those kinda render those traits on Kougami nullified due to their defined personas.  If I had to assign an archetype or personality to Kougami, I suppose I’d say he’s the quiet and reserved type but he seems too interested in his job and others for that to stick.  And if I were to say he’s like the knight-in-shining-armor, I’d have trouble convincing myself since he has only flashed that once or twice all season.  Really, profiling Kougami is rather difficult given what we’ve seen thus far.

Medaka Box Abnormal (S2) (Episode 7) – Despite being well underway in a series of decisive battles, the humor in Medaka Box somehow survives.  It doesn’t matter how serious or dangerous the opponent is, the writing in Medaka Box finds a way to wedge in some joke or comedy in order to help retain the charm of our protagonists or to keep the anime from seeming too dark or dramatic, aspects which the anime seems to perform poorly with given its attempts this season.  The humor and amusement, however, is one of the better qualities of Medaka Box, often showing precise timing and intelligence to make a joke work given the situation and circumstances.  It also helps reinforce the lighthearted nature of the anime which has unfortunately taken a backseat to the story in this sequel.  Nevertheless, the humor has found a way to survive and make a difference in these episodes which has been one of the brighter and better moments of Medaka Box Abnormal.

Little Busters! (Episode 8) – In every decision-making scenario, risk is weighed against reward whether conscious or not.  In the event of Kudryavka accepting the stern and unforgiving Kanata as her new roommate, she’s weighing her risks and her rewards.  And though this may seem way too risky for the kindhearted and naïve Kud to live with Kanata, something that seems like the most ill-fated pairing of all the students thus far, it also has the potential for the greatest reward, too.  Although Kud may be bossed around by Kanata more often, she will be able to develop a friendship with the person who is the most opposite of her.  Not only will she gain one new friend in the process but she will open new routes of access to create more friendships with Kanata’s friends.  Furthermore, if Kud can find a friendship in the person more polarizing to her personality, then it shows that Kud can make friends with anyone she wants.  And for Kanata, she is also evaluating her risks and rewards, too, in deciding to live together with Kud.  Without much known about her and her motivations, there isn’t much to say, but it shouldn’t be surprising to see Kanata see more rewards from inviting Kud to her room than whatever new risks develop.  Hopefully we can find out soon what Kanata hopes to gain from living together with Kud.

Kamisama Kiss (Episode 8) – I can’t help but feel bad for the girls who want a little beefcake or ‘manservice’ in their anime.  Sure, there are gorgeous shots of bishounen constantly being shown in Kamisama Kiss but the first examples of semi-nude males in the series are rather crudely drawn and largely unappealing.  Hell, we even had a zoomed-in pantyshot before any dudes were in speedos or skintight clothing so that’s gotta be a sign of how disappointing the fanservice has been for the female audience.  Still, it’s not like the whole point of Kamisama Kiss is to be the female-audience version of whatever ecchi harem anime are out there, not the mention I’m guessing the general female fan enjoys sparkly bishounen over topless, tan guys in swimsuits, but the shots in this beach episode were pretty disappointing.  Guess I should consider myself lucky or fortunate that there isn’t a whole bunch of fanservice in this anime intended for female viewers.

K (Episode 8) – The whole coloring system in K has been pretty simple thus far with reds being reds and blues being blues, but now something appear that might complicate things: we now have two whites.  Although Adolf K. Weismann is considered the Silver King or the first King, his name clearly has the word ‘white’ in it much like our protagonist Yashiro.  With both characters sharing the same colors, not to mention a little bit of history, too, it’ll be exciting to see how things play out, especially with Weismann assuming the color ‘silver’ and Yashiro being without a color for now.  It certainly seems like there is some conflict between the two characters, so there’s something already going on there, but how it unfolds in regards to the colors scheme will be quite interesting.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Episode 8) – JJBA is an anime without any sense of moderation, always going well beyond the bounds of restraint and reaching out into the extraordinary.  And with this episode, it also seems to have no real sense of pacing either, quickly encompassing the final battle of this arc in the entirety of an episode.  Of course, with such a lengthy manga series, the allotted time of the anime must be appropriately budgeted in order to fit the specified stories in but that is no excuse for having the anime feel as rushed as it did in this episode.  The whole scene with Dire fighting Dio lasted only slightly longer than a heartbeat and was over before anyone wanted.  Like, I’m assuming the time in the manga didn’t last much longer than what was shown in the anime but at least the reader could continue at their own pace and allow the death to sink in and make its lasting impact before moving onto JoJo’s turn.  And though I am conflicted with wanting to get as much JJBA in before the anime’s time is up, I feel that it is a misstep by the series to continue at its current pacing.  And though this is only the first real flaw with JoJo’s, it’s kind of a big one.

Girls und Panzer (Episode 6) – Following the victory by Ooarai over the Saunders, Kei apologized to Miho over Arisa’s inappropriate eavesdropping for providing an unfair advantage to their team.  However, didn’t Yukari provide Ooarai with an unfair advantage, too, by slipping into the Saunders school and spy during their meeting?  Was that detail simply forgotten or is Kei simply inconsistent with her stance on cheating?  Yeah, she addressed the issue with Yukari in the fifth episode, ultimately brushing the situation off and inviting her back to their school sometime, so it seems like she’s indifferent about it, but then she goes out of her way to apologize and then punish Arisa for virtually the same infraction.  Maybe she holds her teammates to a higher standard?  Or, as was my impression, the Yukari spying incident was, like many fine details in anime, simply forgotten.

Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! (Episode 8) – It has come to my attention that Touka Takanashi, Rikka’s older sister and current guardian, is an anime original character.  Same with Kumin and Sanae; both are new to the series, only joining the series when it made the jump from light novel to anime.  Considering their impact on the series and how they’ve influences the characters and the story, I have absolutely no idea what the light novel could possibly be like.  Sure, it still probably shares the same core concepts and themes and whatnot, but I couldn’t imagine this anime without Touka, Kumin or Sanae.  Nor do I want to.  The fact that these three characters (and whoever might be new) are in the anime is something that I find positive for the anime and am ultimately happy to have these three characters included.  There might be benefits or advantages for them to not be in the anime like in the original light novel and I have been known to voice complaints about anime adaptations switching or changing too many things around, but the inclusion and participation of these three characters have had a huge impact on my enjoyment of the series and I can say, without a doubt, that their addition is a definite plus for the anime.

This week: issues of diplomacy in Magi, unintended hilarity in Robotics;Notes, questions of love in Shin Sekai Yori, Speedwagon’s unappreciated knoweldege and observation in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, the two distinct art styles of Sasami-san@Ganbaranai, and some remarkably brilliant writing and storytelling in Kotoura-san, Senran Kagura, and Zetsuen no Tempst.

Just a quick note that I decided to drop GJ-bu after the second episode.  The main problem with that anime is that there’s no real reason to watch it; nothing about that anime is original.  The set-up is unoriginal, the characters aren’t unique or interesting, the comedy is nothing more than recycled jokes (it’s bad when you know the punch line for every scene as soon as they start), and there is no plot in this anime.  Everything about this anime is derivative and after two episodes, it doesn’t appear that this will improve.  It does have some redeemable values but not enough to entice me to keep watching.  Dropped.

Also, since I forgot this last week:

Best episode of the week: Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo

Anime trending up this week: Kotoura-san

Anime trending down this week: Robotics;Notes

Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 2)

One of the central themes in the first season of Chihayafuru is how every member of the Mizusawa Karuta club found their own unique love and own distinct motivations for joining and playing karuta.  This essential element has returned again for the two new members, Sumire and Tsukuba, who are discovering their own reasons for playing karuta.  Again, we, along with the characters, are learning of how different backgrounds and differing perspectives of the game bring this diverse set of characters together for a game of cards and poetry.  Given that Tsukuba is experienced at Second Verse karuta from his native Hokkaido (fascinating stuff), the series has decidedly focused on Sumire who still doesn’t understand why she wants to play this game besides trying to nab Taichi as her new boyfriend.  I’ve always found these stories where characters discover something new about themselves to be quite inspiring and rewarding, so returning to this theme again so early in the sequel to Chihayafuru is a fantastic way to begin this story again and to introduce the two new club members.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Episode 15)

Despite Robert E. O. Speedwagon possessing minimal fighting qualities (well, anymore considering he did fight Jonathan back in episode 2), he certainly is observant, knowledgeable and quick when it comes to understanding these battles and how enemies use their attacks.  It always seems that Speedwagon is the first to recognize and understand each of an opponent’s attacks, which explains why he’s always shouting and showing more emotion than JoJo or Cesaer; Speedwagon knows just how powerful and deadly these attacks are just from a fighter’s pose and preparation.  And given that these are often the first time we’ve seen these fighters, their styles and their techniques, it really speaks to Speedwagon’s observation and intelligence.  Although his character can no longer fight in battle, he is still a valuable character to JoJo because he can see everything and understand it before anyone else.  The only question left for him now is if he can see why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

Kotoura-san (Episode 2)

The writing for Kotoura-san is simple, straightforward but amazingly efficient and effective, making the story somewhat light and meaningful without ever becoming too convoluted or unnecessarily complex.  For example, take Yuriko’s character and how well her character is designed and how it performs.  Yuriko wants to world to recognize and appreciate ESP powers since her mother was a revered psychic.  However, Yuriko and her mother faced constant doubting, torment and harassment that her mother was eventually driven to suicide.  Wishing that the world would understand psychics, Yuriko is promoting ESP with her club and cajoles Haruka to join and to use her powers as a surrogate to provide recognition to her mother.  However, when Haruka receives the same harassment as her mother did and ends up indirectly harming her new friend in Haruka, Yuriko relives that familiar pain that she experienced watching her mother be bullied.  Everything about her story is present, ordered, connected and appropriate and we have an excellent understanding of Yuriko’s character, her motives, her challenges, and how she’s growing as a person.  Her purpose in the story is apparent as well, being one to show to Haruka that there are people who appreciate psychic powers and how they can be fun and useful.  Like, everything is there in her story and her character.  It’s fantastic at how comprehensive and thoughtful the writing is in Kotoura-san and how successful it is at communicating it to us.  It is an excellent example of how to use storytelling and characterization effectively in an anime.

Little Busters! (Episode 15)

Ever since the beginning of Little Busters!, I’ve always thought that Riki would make a great trap.  I never expected that we’d actually get an episode like this where he’s invited over to a sleepover in the girl’s dorm and is forced to put on one of Yuiko’s uniforms (question: did he get to keep his own underwear or did they supply the panties too?) as part of the festivities.  Well, we finally got to see Riki crossdress as a girl and it turned out to be pretty fun and entertaining (and not totally fanservicey or sexual either).  Not only that but it made all the girls around him more fun, too, such as how everyone else teased him or how Mio kept taking pictures.  I kinda hope he dresses up like that again since that was actually one of the best episodes of Little Busters! yet.

Magi (Episode 14)

Considering how lengthy and elaborate diplomacy and negotiations are and how intricate and tangled the situation is between Balbadd and the Kou Empire, seeing Alibaba and Kougyoku Ren finish their conference in the matter of minutes is nothing short of surprising.  However, when examining each as representatives of their nations, with Alibaba being a temporary leader of Balbadd following the coup and with Kougyoku disinterested in marriage and conquest, it’s not shocking to understand that they both wanted to end the talks here and focus on other immediate and pressing goals.  It will be interesting to see how the remainder of this conference goes considering that Sinbad is requested in the Kou Empire’s capital to discuss the debts that Balbadd owes Kou and how the Seven Seas Alliance will handle incorporating Balbadd when Kou seems to be keen on annexing the port nation as a gateway to the southern seas.  Maybe we’ll find out eventually but it seems like the story will part here with Aladdin taking Morgiana back home to her continent and with Sinbad traveling to Kou for some continuing negotiations.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (Episode 3)

What makes Maou’s reformation (har har) possible is some part her privilege of class, some part her astute education and even some part her charming and tranquil appearance.  However, what allows her to educate, innovate, and enact this transformative campaign is through her wealth and how it allows her to concentrate on her objectives without worrying of her finances.  Maou’s fortune has not been touched upon nor discussed to this point but you must figure that she possesses immense wealth considering that Maou and Yuusha have lived in that manor for a year now.  It is worth noting that with Maou’s insight and fiscal understanding, she must have enough finances to complete this endeavor or she never would have started it, meaning there is plenty of money left for the events to come over the following years.  However, just what exactly is her wealth?  One has to wonder if the riches are being funneled through the backdoors of the Demon Kingdoms to finance her adventure (without the knowledge of the leaders or the common folk) or if it was already transferred to her estate in preparation.  It is doubtful that the series will ever cover the finances of Maou, (where it came from, how its being spent and her returns on these investments) but it is something to think about, especially when you consider how economics is a fundamental role in this anime, and it seems that Maou has broken the system with her mysterious, infinite wealth, removing the obstacles and challenges of costs for the convenience of the story elsewhere.  Maybe instead of all this agriculture and reeducation, Maou could just buy everything she wants with her immeasurable fortune and solve things that way.

Pscyho-Pass (Episode 13)

Will Sibyl ever be perfect?  It was a point of emphasis in this episode, brought up during the conversation when discussing the possibility of the almighty criminal justice system Sibyl being ineffective or flawed when faced with a potential lawbreaker.  If you think about it as it is, the Sibyl system is far from perfect, though as it is, it is an ideal system.  One reason why it is not perfect is that it requires detectives to operate these Dominators and to seek out the criminals for Sibyl to judge them with.  If Sibyl were perfect, it wouldn’t require humans to act as the middleman in this operation.  However, if that were the case, Sibyl would still be imperfect.  Another reason is that humans, and mankind as a whole, are always changing and always changing in different directions and in different ways.  Sibyl as a system would need to account for these changes and need to anticipate, recognize and understand these changes and implement updates to itself to match this evolution.  But wouldn’t this require human input or some other exterior system separate from the core Sibyl System to perform this duty?  Or, taking another approach to the problem, wouldn’t the perfect system be on in which crime is always prevented or never occurs?  As it stands now, discussing the perfection of Sibyl is a laughable matter since the structure of the system and its role in society show various weaknesses and faults.  Hell, remember back to the beginning of the series where the industrial site governed by the Ministry of the Economy jammed the frequencies of the Dominators so that Sibyl wouldn’t work in that facility?  Yeah, how’s that for your perfect system?  As long as there are humans around, Sibyl will never be perfect.

Robotics;Notes (Episode 13)

Okay, did anyone else find it hilarious when Frau was showing Kai all those secrets and clues hidden in the leaked video of the Gunvarrel finale?  Like, okay, finding all those subliminal messages isn’t hard because I often go frame by frame to find the best screenshots for my fanservice folder for this blog and adding those images in to the video could be detected by any keen observer or zealous anime fan.  But then taking these images and denoising them and correcting for levels to get completely different images is a too bit much.  Who would ever think of that?  Then finding the alphabetical letters hidden in each one?  Finding a random link on a dead blog from 4 years ago?  And then using these letters, typed in the correct order, to access this hidden website with a mysterious jpg of someone’s notes about world domination?  Okay, the whole thing brought to mind two hilarious videos about how ridiculous and unrealistic these situations are.  Not only that but the two people who are onto this mystery are the people who figure it out and then use that information to their advantage.  It’s laughable is what it is and it doesn’t really help Robotics;Notes with its lethargic and vague storyline.  Then again, this is an anime where we’re supposed to believe a secret organization is taking over the world with a robot anime…  Oh well.  The one positive from this is that I haven’t laughed this hard during a Robotics;Notes episode in a long time, so at least it did that.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (Episode 14)

If you know me well enough, then you’ll know that I am very specific and selective whenever it comes to romance in an anime.  Nine times out of ten or more often, I will not enjoy the romance or subtle attractions or relationships in an anime.  More often than not, that’s the case for Sakurasou, too (just check my post from last week on this anime).  However, that doesn’t mean that my opinion is negative all the time which happens to be the case for this episode.  The three/four individual romances illustrated throughout the episode showcased some brilliant writing, genuine emotion, and proved some authentic and unforeseen development that allowed each to progress in a way to show the characters grow and mature.  I found this episode to be easily the most enjoyable and most meaningful of Sakurasou because it finally understood how to demonstrate its romance and make it worthwhile and rewarding to watch.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see the anime revert back to its usual self in the following episodes but at least I can appreciate this episode for what it was able to do and hope that a similar one, or perhaps an even better one, will appear sometime soon.

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 2)

There are two distinct art styles employed in Sasami-san: the one used in Sasami’s bedroom and the one used outside of it.  And although I raved about and still adore the art style within Sasami’s bedroom, that is the fuzzy, warm and comforting watercolor aesthetic that dominates the background and permeates through the characters, I prefer Sasami-san to have the outside world art style more.  While it is true that the bedroom art style is unique, distinguishable and meaningful (it certainly is expressive for a setting to have a specific art style!), I prefer watching Sasami-san with the crisp, clear and meticulously detailed visual style that predominates the appearance of the outside world.  It’s just that intense detail, gorgeous scenery and use of shapes and colors is something that I’ve always loved and appreciated in anime.  It invokes more emotion from me than the soothing, tranquil interior of Sasami’s bedroom which is certainly saying something.  Not only that but the characters appear more vivid, too.  It is a visual masterpiece and, aided by some masterful cinematography, I find myself wanting to see more of the outside world rather than staying boarded up in Sasami’s bedroom with Sasami.  The one clear advantage that the art style of Sasami’s bedroom has over the outside world is that it allows for more creativity and fun as seen by all the different designs Sasami’s character went through while panicking over the arrival of the Yagami sisters.  Regardless of personal preference, the art and animation of Sasami-san are always picturesque and stunning, making every scene and every shot a heavenly delicacy for our eyes to savor. [On an unrelated note, anyone else notice that Kamiomi started with 20 HP but died to a 2 HP attack?  Poor guy has no luck at all…]

Senran Kagura (Episode 3)

Considering that this is an ecchi fanservice anime, it is somewhat surprising to see such an emphasis on character backstory and development in Senran Kagura.  You’d figure with an anime that exists solely for being sexy and having fun, there’d be no character development of any significant or notable merit. Yet, in the third episode of Senran Kagura, the anime focuses on Ikaruga’s past and her family in a simple though hurried fashion.  The story wasn’t handled particularly gracefully and felt incredibly rushed, but it was straightforward and effective at expressing Ikaruga’s dilemmas and incorporated in a way to link Yomi’s attack with her troubled family and with her newfound appreciation for her friends at the Hanzou Academy as her ‘family’.  Yeah… Senran Kagura did a fine job of using a character’s backstory to connect various points in the storyline together and do so without wasting too much time or making it unnecessarily complicated.  Not only that but there was plenty of action and fanservice in the episode to please the majority of the audience, too, though the action has been somewhat deficient and the comedy completely underwhelming.  Still, I find it impressive with how Senran Kagura used some unexpected character development to its advantage and did it effectively, too.

Shin Sekai Yori (Episode 16)

After reading Maria’s farewell letting and evaluating her choice to flee with Mamoru rather than return home with Saki, one begins to question who she loves more: Mamoru or Saki?  It would be unfair to use this episode or this arc by itself when analyzing their relationships since the characters have been together for years and been through so much.  Additionally, there are other factors that influenced Maria to flee besides her love for Mamoru and her love for Saki.  Still, it does raise some questions and makes you pause and think for a moment who she loves more.  I’m not going to lay out my thought process here but I will take a stab at it and say that Maria loves Mamoru more than Saki despite their intimate and sexual relationship.  I’m interested to hear what others think about this question.

Space Brothers (Episode 41)

After Mutta arrived at JAXA and was briefed on the situation currently affecting his brother on the Moon, I found his advice to be very presumptuous.  His suggestion was to send the remote controlled vehicles to a distant side of the crater figuring that Hibito would find a slope in the crater, hike up the side and emerge there.  Mutta’s thinking, however, is full of assumptions that would otherwise be unknown to him.  For starters, neither of the stranded astronauts have contacted the Moon base or NASA, so it is unknown whether Hibito is well, injured or unconscious.  Who knows if he’s able to move or how much he’s able to move after that crash.  Next, Mutta and JAXA are using a 3-D scale of the crater to evaluate their plans.  Hibito, however, does not have the map and does not know which is the best route to take out of the crevasse.  Another assumption in Mutta’s plan is that Hibito is the one leading the duo out of the crater.  If both were alive and well, then Damian would have some input in their rescue situation and they may not necessarily decide on the same path out of the crater; they could be scaling the walls instead of walking out.  There are many more assumptions in Mutta’s advice that is not necessarily correct, but for the sake of this story and this anime, Mutta seems to know exactly the right situation and how to fix it accordingly.  Too bad NASA has standard protocols for situations like these and is following them based on the limited information they have.  I’m not saying that Mutta’s input is necessarily wrong, it’s just given the lack of information and the stress of this situation, Mutta made an presumptuous but lucky guess on what NASA should do next.

Tamako Market (Episode 2)

The themes of community and entrepreneurship are quite strong in Tamako Market.  With the opportunity of Valentine’s Day approaching, Tamako’s idea of decorating the stores, selling festive merchandise and promoting the market through a video advertisement, shows how the community functions effectively as a whole but with individual input and participation.  While each individual has their own personality and motivations, they’re often seen together as a group, like during the meeting, or working alongside each other, as they did with each participating in the Valentine’s Day celebration together.  Not only that but the innovation and participation by the vendors shows some entrepreneurship in this anime with each business taking on various tasks to differentiate their businesses for the holiday in hopes or promoting new business and hopefully profits.  Though the episode did not focus on each endeavor pursued by these characters, the commercial that was produced by the kids was an effective substitute.  Not only that, but considering how strong the community theme is in this anime, showing a handful of examples means that it effectively shows everyone without wasting too much time going over every unique case.  As the anime continues, these themes should continue to be in the forefront of this anime or should be, at least as long as this anime stays in Usagiyama and not that mysterious tropical locale.

Zetsuen no Tempest (Episode 14)

Zetsuen no Tempest is clever in is presentation of the Mage of Exodus and how it really is unknown who this mysterious individual exactly is.  With Hakaze’s group, it seems like Megumu is the enigmatic mage given his abilities to wield magic.  From Samon’s perspective, though, it is actually Yoshino who is the mage and that the Tree of Exodus is using him to deceive Hakaze and eventually get back at the Tree of Genesis.  The episode provides thought and clues that could lead to both but the call at the end to Evangeline seems to dispel the notion of Yoshino and place it solely on Megumu.  However, that cannot be confirmed given Samon’s theory, so should it eventually pivot back around and it turns out that Yoshino is the true Mage of Exodus, then the whole bait-and-switch in this episode was executed to perfection.  Not only that but should it turn out to be someone completely different, then this episode was done brilliantly though quite deceivingly since it never directly hinted at any of the other characters as possibilities in this puzzling search.  Guess it’s only a matter of time before we find out for certain just exactly who the Mage of Exodus really is.

This week: why I don’t consider Senran Kagura an ecchi anime anymore, wondering about the comedy in Zetsuen no Tempest, the diversity of karuta opponents in Chihayafuru 2 and remembering the forgotten Reiko in Shin Sekai Yori.

Best episode of the week: Space Brothers

Anime trending up this week: Senran Kagura

Anime trending down this week: Sasami-san@Ganbaranai

Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 4)

Although karuta may seem like a simple game, seeing whoever can slap the correct card away the fastest, Chihayafuru does a remarkable job in making every opponent a distinctive, challenging, and above all, interesting character to watch.  Dating back to the first season, the various competitors show a vast diversity in personalities, appearances, backgrounds, and perhaps most importantly, playing-styles to give each match a fresh, new feeling rather than an exhausting, repetitive one.  As we saw in this episode, Taichi’s opponent offered a unique perspective with her playing style and how it matched up well against Taichi’s weakness.  Showing Taichi overcome this flaw and eventually win helped make the match be more interesting and meaningful to watch, and that can be traced back to the distinguishing opponent that Taichi played against.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Episode 17)

Considering how fundamental the Ripple is to the story and the fighting in JJBA, I’ve always been curious about its physical, material form.  Often depicted visually by electricity or represented through other physical phenomena, the Ripple is never presented in its purest form, so its exact physical composition is still an enigma.  Given the information compiled over the series to date, we do know that it utilizes energy from the sun and is conducted well through various liquids (water) and organic material (vegetable oil, wool fibers, or proteins, like Straight’s beetle hip scarf).  Users who are able to manipulate the Ripple for their own purposes must meet a certain criteria first before being able to train in its discipline and must amplify it through proper breathing techniques.  And… that’s about it.  Although we’ve seen various fighters and teachers, the Ripple, unfortunately, is not fully understood as a physical component of our world.  It seems that people are able to understand how to control it and utilize it for various purposes, but that’s it (then again, that’s all they really need to know). It seems as though its physical composition is still unknown and will be a mystery to us, unless the series decides to be generous and explain this awesome power to us in detail.

Kotoura-san (Episode 4)

It is rather amusing to see how inexperienced and naïve Haruka is at inferring information or understanding the thoughts and feelings of the minds she reads.  As we saw in this episode, Haruka can be easily influenced by others when using their thoughts in intelligent or innovative ways.  Haruka is still rather immature when it comes to social relationships and how people interact, so she was easily mislead and manipulated by people’s thoughts with them knowing that she would read them and respond to them.  It’s like an unspoken form of communication that Haruka cannot help but receive due to her powers.  And since people are aware of this, they are using it as a way to control Haruka or to bias her in some way to their advantage.  Although the tactics may be mischievous or even cruel, it seems to have ultimately positive effects on the characters.  If not, it’s always there for some laughs considering Haruka’s exaggerated reactions in these situations.

Also, I feel bad for the crab at the beginning.  It got buried alive by Haruka and then, after escaping from her tomb of sand, was immediately swept out to sea by a violent wave.  Poor thing.

Little Busters! (Episode 17)

So… the family tradition is to have the daughters of the family take two husbands and to start a family like that?  I fail to see how the family could sustain such success over the course of… however long it’s been around, seeing as that this situation is ripe for conflict, stress, and how it would be emotionally taxing on the members involved.  I’d wager that the situation with Haruka and Kanata is just the latest in a string of marital and familial problems that plagues the family as long as this tradition has lasted.  Not only that, but I fail to understand how the family could retain its prestige throughout this time considering how frequent these internal feuds and fights would be.  Really, it’s probably best not to think about how and why this tradition works.  It’s best to just sit back and accept the fact that this is incredibly stupid and there are much better ways of developing a story about twins than what the current story is.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (Episode 5)

While I am fond of the mosaic, watercolor-esque background employed throughout Maoyuu, my appreciation for it immediately disappears whenever it is used in the foreground or anytime it is the focus of a shot.  The aesthetic appeal of this visual style is at its best when used as backgrounds, helping provide a distinguishing feel to the anime with its rather crude style and help establish some of the setting and atmosphere with its colors and blocky textures.  However, when it is the subject of the shot and what our eyes are drawn to, it doesn’t look nearly as complimentary and is sometimes even quite disappointing.  What this art style does is capture an attitude and translate it into the physical setting but without any distinguishable details.  But when that’s all we see, it comes across as messy and incoherent, such as when we saw the zoomed-in cityscape or the various buildings.  Those shots were admittedly an eyesore seeing as that’s what our eyes were able to focus on and analyze.  When the art style is used in other backgrounds, such as for the sky or trees or the interior walls of a building, it comes across as a remarkable and distinctive art style that benefits the series visually.  Hopefully the series will limits its use of establishing shots like the two dismal examples earlier since those were rather unpleasant experiences.

Pscyho-Pass (Episode 15)

There’s just something so unsatisfying about the way Kougami brings up his theories.  Like, there really isn’t any build-up or development that really assists in these segues, more like “hey, look at this, I think we should do this” and that’s it.  What makes it even worse is that he’s always correct in these situations, too.  It’s like he’s grabbing the script from Gen Urobuchi, reading ahead for a few pages, and then tells everyone what they should be doing.  I would go as far as to say he’s cheating the story; it just doesn’t feel right.  What’d make me happy would be for him in the briefing sessions to be wondering about the purpose of these riots, to get a map beforehand to see the geography of the present situation, to mull over his thoughts during the car ride over and then to bring it up as a suggestion for others to confirm and then buy into it.  I don’t know, maybe I’m never happy with stuff like this, but I would appreciate it had there been more time showing Kougami think about these plans rather than going off on some short exposition and cracking Makishima’s plan in the matter of a minute.  It probably is just me but it’s something I’ve come to dislike in Psycho-Pass.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (Episode 16)

What is the point of Yuuko’s character besides being annoying and completely pointless?  Like, everything about her character is meaningless in the story and she really doesn’t affect any of the other characters besides making Sorata more annoyed than usual and creating some tension and conflict with Mashiro and Nanami.  Removing her from the anime would change nothing besides probably making it better.  Maybe there’s something else that’s going to happen like she donates her kidney to save the life of one of the characters or something, but even then, I fail to see what purpose she’s had besides making Sakurasou worse as an anime.

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 4)

That doujin/otaku store, Uzume-no-Ana (a parody of Toranoana), that Sasami-san featured in this episode brought back a flood of positive memories from my trip to Japan from this last year.  Although I probably only entered 2-3 of these anime/manga/otaku themed stores total (and only really remember my trip to Animate), I found those retailers to be a glorious haven of merchandise that caters specifically to the fanatics in us all.  It’s just the density and atmosphere of these stores and energy inside that resonates with our own, it just feels so wonderful.  There’s just so much in there, that you could spend your whole day (and your whole bank account) in just that one shop.  I can’t wait to go back and walk through those stores and those aisles again.  And for those of you who are wondering, no, I didn’t go into those shops to buy any cast-off figures or hentai or anything (although I did buy Needless which sometimes is close enough).

Senran Kagura (Episode 5)

You know, for being an ecchi anime, Senran Kagura really isn’t that ecchi of an anime.  Rather, the show seems to assign its fanservice to specific times and particular events rather than incorporating it throughout.  For example, you never really see any upskirts or shredded clothing or ridiculous fanservice when the girls are in their normal school uniforms.  Even when given a golden opportunity, like Katsuragi having from the ceiling upside-down in her miniskirt… there’s no pantyshot.  In fact, the skirt defies physics to cover her striped bikini bottoms in order to prevent any fanservice in that scene whatsoever.  That’s not something a normal ecchi anime would do.  Oh, and that’s another thing, no one wears panties in this anime.  Every upskirt and shot of ripped clothes shows a swimsuit underneath rather than underwear.  I suppose that’s a step up in terms of sensibility (the smallest of steps, really), but swimsuits are less ecchi than panties.  And even in then, you only really see them when the girls are in their battle uniforms fighting each other or during their brief transformation sequences.  The only time you’d ever seen fanservice outside these battles are when the boobs would randomly jiggle but even that has stopped in recent episodes (maybe the specialty-ordered super bras they ordered finally arrived?).  In fact, it’s rather surprising at the lack of fanservice in these episodes considering that the fanservice was supposed to be a selling-point for the series.  Well, the fanservice is still there and there’s still quite a bit, but this anime is rather mild compared to the other panty-fighters of the past.  In fact, I don’t even really think of this as an ecchi anime anymore considering that the baseline level of fanservice in Senran Kagura is now considered normal these days for late-night anime.  Yeah, I mean, maybe my standards are just atypical (I admit, they are) because it still is an ecchi anime, but it feels like it should have more fanservice than it currently does and that it’s holding itself back.

Shin Sekai Yori (Episode 18)

You’ve got to feel bad for Reiko.  If you’re like Saki, Satoru or pretty much the general audience of this anime, then you’ve already forgotten who Reiko is.  Well, poor Reiko was ‘removed’ from the village in the first episode after showing signs of weaknesses and inability in controlling her Cantus back when Saki first joined the group.  Anyway, the point being is that whenever Saki or Satoru or anyone brings up their group, they always leave Reiko out.  Always.  Okay, besides one instance back in episode 11 when they tried to recall the sixth member of their group, no one ever seems to think about or remember her.  Instead, it’s always and only Saki, Shun, Satoru, Maria and Mamoru.  Shun didn’t live for too much longer nor did Maria and Mamoru stay in the village long after that.  Really, the group spent only a few years together and the main five only stayed together for 2 short years.  You’d figure Saki might not recall too much about Reiko since she only knew her for about a week or so, but she was together with the other characters for a couple years before that.  In fact, by the time Shun, Maria and Mamoru left, they had all spent more time with Reiko than with Saki.  And yes, I do know that they all had their memory wiped from that event, but it’s still somewhat distressing to see Saki and Satoru struggle over the faceless boy whereas they have no recollection of Reiko at all.  In fact, that’s something I find more disturbing and horrifying than trying to remember Shun seeing as that the memories of Reiko are completely gone from everyone in this anime.  Hopefully after this, it won’t be everyone watching this anime, too…

Space Brothers (Episode 43)

Given the time, speed, distances and positions used throughout these past few episodes, I fail to understand the geography of the Moon and the relation in which all these places and events occurred.  I’ve gone back and tried to compile some of the data provided from the anime in trying to make sense of it all but there are just some things that don’t add up.  Understanding the geography of the Moon would help but trying to make a map out of everything and making sense of this whole situation isn’t quite that easy.  I suppose it really isn’t too big of an issue considering that the main purpose of these past few episodes was to instill some remarkable drama and character development in the series, but it still bothers me that I can’t properly visualize the region in question and play out the events as they occurred in order to better understand and appreciate what just happened in Space Brothers.

Tamako Market (Episode 4)

You know about that urban legend where if you feed rice to birds, they explode?  Well, maybe it can be modified to be feeding mochi to birds since Dera has been expanding wider and wider every episode.  Tamako Market has already offered us a surplus of fat jokes for Dera’s pudgy character, so I wonder if they’ll ever take it to the next level where he eats one bite too much of mochi and explodes.  “Tamako, that wasn’t mochi you feed Dera, that was plastic explosives!”  Okay, I’m not being serious here, but it is what comes to mind whenever I see Dera now.  That and I kinda wanna see him explode, too, get him outta this anime.

Zetsuen no Tempest (Episode 16)

So what’s with all this humor in the second half of Tempest?  Considering that the first half dealt with the constant themes of revenge, death, deception, isolation and mystery, it seems very strange that the current episodes of Tempest show their characters to be somewhat wacky when placed in a calmer, more relaxed environment.  Remember those people turning to iron and dying whenever those giant eyes arose from the sea?  Remember those battles with the supersonic speed and blue defensive barriers?  Yeah, they’re gone now.  It’s like the two halves of Tempest are two completely different anime with one being serious and somber while the other is zany and amusing.  Sure, certain elements have been retained but the silly humor is somewhat of a jarring impression for Tempest that gives these current episodes a completely different and unrelated feel compared to the first half of the series.

This week: Robotics;Notes losing credibility, identifying with a character in Chihayafuru 2, the decentralization of the township in Shin Sekai Yori, the distinctive and original school uniforms in Tamako Market and why Zetsuen no Tempest is a fanservice anime.

Best episode of the week: Psycho-Pass

Anime trending up this week: Maoyuu Maou Yuusha

Anime trending down this week: Robotics;Notes

Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 5)

Whenever watching Chihayafuru, I always find myself taking the perspective of the club adviser, Taeko Miyauchi.  No, no, it’s not because she doesn’t actively play karuta or because she’s always a spectator during matches, observing them like how we, as an audience, watch them.  No, the reason why I habitually return to her perspective over every other character is because she continues to discover new aspects and new avenues of karuta that continue to impress her.  Her continuing appreciation of karuta, beginning as a skeptic and now evolving into a supportive adviser, mirrors my own.  I originally had my doubts with Chihayafuru because it was an anime about ‘a card game’ but, after watching the anime and experiencing karuta matches, I’ve grown to appreciate and understand the game and the anime.  The parallel between us leads me to identify with her character more than any other in the series since we have had similar paths in regards to karuta.  So whenever we see Miyauchi-sensei realize something else she can enjoy from karuta, it reminds me of myself in how I have grown to enjoy karuta, too.  And what’s special about her character is, I’m sure plenty of other fans of Chihayafuru can identify with her, too.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Episode 18)

Whenever I hear the word ‘hamon’ (Japanese for ‘Ripple’) in Jojo’s, I always think of Mark Hamill.  And whenever I think of Mark Hamill, I always think about the Force from Star Wars, a power that resembles the Ripple in a number of ways.  Although there are plenty of differences between the two, I find myself often having side-thoughts of Star Wars whenever I’m watching JJBA.  How fitting is it that these two concepts are linked serendipitously through some simple and similar names?  Well, probably not all that much considering the roundabout (yes, a pun) way I derived this connection, but whenever they’re talking about their Ripple, I always think about the Force.

Kotoura-san (Episode 5)

Who is this doppelganger who has usurped Moritani’s character?  Seeing as she was still a bitter, jealous and sinister character just one episode ago… just one episode ago… it feels incredibly rushed and awkward to see her character be a sobbing, luckless, and friendly member of the ESP Society.  Like, her character had no transition or development at all to show or mark her character growing.  Instead, it’s like she evolved like a Pokemon, going from one form to another in the matter of seconds.  It feels wrong to see her character like this, particularly since her previous self has completely disappeared from her current one.  I wish there were an episode dedicated to her coming around to being a new character, to show her reject her previous ways and try to warm up to being friendly toward Haruka and Manabe, especially since I like her better now than before.  Unfortunately for us, Kotoura-san handled this character development in the worst possible way.

Little Busters! (Episode 18)

I’ve mentioned before that Little Busters! solves its problems away too quickly considering the character emotions present, the magnitude of the problem, and how it ultimately ruins a golden opportunity for meaningful character development.  I just want to reiterate that point, again, seeing as this episode repeated the same problem.  It goes to show how Little Busters! has failed to develop or improve over the last 12 episodes and why the anime continues to be a disappointment in multiple factors.  It also indicates that it’s unlikely that the anime will improve at any point as the series continues toward its finale.  It really saddens me to see the same mistakes be repeated over and over again in this anime and how the plot of the anime is becoming increasingly fragmented and disjointed as the series has continued.  Little Busters! has been a huge letdown.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (Episode 6)

Watching the assembly and then subsequent crossing of the ice bridge in the sixth episode of Maoyuu lead me to wonder how many people died during its construction and when the armies were trekking across its slippery surface.  The reason I bring it up is based on three observations: 1) the leather boots the soldiers wore were probably very primitive and offered no grip or traction on their icy surface and 2) the ice looked slippery, uneven and unstable, so that soldiers on the ice were prone to slip into the icy, demon-infested waters below, and 3) it was night, so it’d be difficult to see where people were walking or stepping on these blocks of ice.  Although we never saw anyone slip off these icebergs, it did seem that there were ships in the water, probably to help transport people to the ice and to help steer it to the base of the bridge, I would assume that there’d be some support or rescue system in place for people who fell into the water provided there were any accidents.  Still, the whole process seemed too safe and too easy considering how difficult a task it was but I suppose it wasn’t in the interest of the anime to show stuff like this happening considering we saw how dangerous it was when the monsters attacked the armies on the bridge.  Either that or because Maou always seems to invent something new, she could have developed new shoes for the soldiers or something to prevent that from happening.  Who knows.

Pscyho-Pass (Episode 16)

There’s always something big, something special, something significant buried deep, deep underground.  Doesn’t matter the story or the characters or the anime, there’s always something important underground.  I love what Psycho-Pass is doing now, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.  This sudden development has really opened up what the anime can be and I hope it achieves the most of its potential.  I am both excited and enthusiastic about what will happen next.

Robotics;Notes (Episode 16)

An anime can lose its credibility in a number of ways.  Having two absolutely stupid, completely preventable and downright crippling scenes to end its episode is a damn good way of quickly butchering the series. The falling robot and falling cliff scenes literally blew my head at how pitiful they were, how regrettable they were.  It was painful watching them because 1) Subaru couldn’t move for 15 seconds (and he gasped after 12 seconds) when a giant robot was falling on him… 15 full seconds, go back and count that, and 2) no, just scrap that whole Mizuka death scene because fuck that scene, there were literally a thousand things wrong with it.  Seriously, those two scenes cost the series a substance amount of respect and enjoyment.  There’s a suspension of disbelief and then there’s this.  I’m going to have trouble with the remainder of Robotics;Notes now because those two scenes were just so poorly written, so terribly executed and felt so incredibly forced that it leaves an awful, regret-filled aftertaste for everything else that will follow.

Senran Kagura (Episode 6)

Senran Kagura is an anime that hardly takes itself seriously.  Instead of choosing to be dramatic or profound about its riveting story (ha) and mesmerizing characters (ha ha), it chooses to be fun and humorous, helping lead the anime to be one of the most entertaining this season.  One reason why it’s so amusing and how you know the anime is just playing around is in how it treats its abilities and character development.  For example, the abilities the ninjas use to fight are the “secret ninja arts”.  The most powerful, however, are the “super-secret ninja arts”.  Yup, simple and straightforward.  And whoever receives this goes from being a regular, old, boring “ninja” into the super coveted, super exclusive… “super ninja”.  Yeah, “super-secret ninja arts” and “super ninja”.  The writers were having fun when they came up with these names and it shows in how these awesome, almighty powers and this title are named.  Not only that, but the character development in the series is reduced to being the absolute minimum, just having the narrator talk over everything and go, “here’s this character’s backstory, blah-blah-blah, and now back to the action/fanservice.”  Yeah and that’s great.  Senran Kagura knows it doesn’t have a great plot or intriguing characters but it knows that it is amusing and tailors itself to be as entertaining and enjoyable as possible.  As a result, Senran Kagura has developed into one of the better anime this season for doing so well with its entertaining and not trying to take itself seriously.

Shin Sekai Yori (Episode 19)

When surveying the geography of the human village, it becomes increasingly apparent that the township is decentralized, in that many buildings and neighborhoods of their settlement are located in distant regions of the valley.  Consider the location of the hospital in relation to the town square, where the festival was being held (quite a ways away, especially for what could be emergency services).  Consider the route that one takes from the town square to the hospital (a river that requires a boat).  Consider the residential areas that were separated into seven distinct villages that lay around the valley (discussed in episode 11).  Time and time again, we see that the urban or centralization aspect of this civilization has been deemphasized and that the human village is separated into many separate villages that are loosely connected.  So the question becomes, why do they live in such a sparse, decentralized township and for what reason?  Perhaps this is an expressive detail written into the series to show how the people of Shin Sekai Yori have distanced themselves from our technology and lifestyles.  Whereas we are becoming increasingly urbanized and centralized, the people of Shin Sekai Yori are not because they rejected their past (which happens to be our present).  Perhaps the reason for the design of the township is to heighten the sense of horror or fear in the setting, integrating nature (the unknown) closer to their homes in a way to spice up the suspense and mystery.  Or, perhaps it is something completely different; that the author wanted a rural setting and designed this to match their personal preference.  For whatever reason, though, it is strange to see how decentralized the township is in Shin Sekai Yori, considering that the setting for virtually every other anime is more dense and urbanized than this.

Tamako Market (Episode 5)

School uniforms are a staple clothing of anime.  Often times, an anime will show its uniform as being a mishmash of colors and patterns over a sailor uniform or a blazer and miniskirt for the girls and then something for the guys (I never look at what guys wear in anime; they could be naked for all I know).  Not only that, but there are summer and winter uniforms too, and the prospect of multiple schools, so the styles of school uniforms in anime can be quite numerous.  They can also be quite unoriginal or derivative considering that they have a preset design to begin with and that there are so many styles, something has probably been done before.  For Tamako Market, the pink dresses that the girls wear for their summer uniforms strike me as both incredibly distinctive and highly original.  Rather than return to the tried-and-true designs of a sailor uniform or blazer/miniskirt, Tamako Market utilizes a stylish new cut in a dress as its school uniform.  And while a few anime employ dresses as a design for school uniforms, most choose to use the standard palette of colors and go for blues, greys, and neutral, cooler colors.  In fact, the winter uniform of Tamako Market is a blue dress, something that really doesn’t stand out considering the number of blue sailor uniforms in anime.  However, it does help the bright, showy pink dress stands out as even most distinctive considering how average the other uniform is.  The pink summer uniform of Tamako Market is quite a sight to see considering how different and unique it is when considering other school uniforms in anime.  It isn’t necessarily my favorite (I still prefer the blazer/miniskirt first and serafuku second) but it’s something I appreciate in this anime for trying something different.  I’d like to see more anime try something like this where they go for a more original uniform instead of just mixing and matching colors over a standardized top and bottom.

Zetsuen no Tempest (Episode 17)

Although it doesn’t jump out at you like other fanservice anime, Zetsuen no Tempest has quite a bit of fanservice in it.  No, it’s not like one of those ecchi anime where there are bouncing breasts in everywhere or pantyshots around every corner, but it is a series where the main heroine was naked on a desert island for half the series.  Not only that but certain conversations, especially those between Aika and Yoshino, have been focused on the topic of sex (whether she was wearing panties during the festival or not in the previous episode).  Not only that but the choice of clothing for the girls are rather fanservicey too, seeing as everyone wears tiny miniskirts and how Evangeline always shows off her cleavage.  So yeah, there’s quite a bit of fanservice in this anime that seems to go unnoticed or is simply ignored by the audience.  In reality, Zetsuen no Tempest is one of the most fanservicey shows this season although it gets virtually zero recognition for it.  Just something to ponder about the next time you see Hakaze bathing naked in a hot spring bath.

This week: questions about who the real big bad in Psycho-Pass could be, some thoughts on why I continue to watch Little Busters!, social cliques in character pairings in Senran Kagura, and some earth-shattering omissions in Maoyuu Maou Yuusha.

As I do at the midpoint in every season, I reverse the order of anime in this list, so that’s being done in this post.

Best episode of the week: Chihayafuru 2

Anime trending up this week: Sasami-san@Ganbaranai

Anime trending down this week: Kotoura-san

Zetsuen no Tempest (Episode 18)

So, who do you root for in this anime?  Given the progression and recent developments in Zetsuen no Tempest, the various factions have seemingly merged and the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ has faded into varying shades of grey depending on your perspective.  What was once a story with two clear sides going against each other, Tempest now features a rather complex network of partnerships that barely reflects the relationships from the first half of this anime.  Furthermore, the stances and motivations for these characters have changed, too.  If you were rooting for a specific character or a certain side during the first half, you may not necessarily be choosing the same now given how different they are and how the situations have changed.  The difference and disparity between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in Tempest has blurred to the point where they’re almost indistinguishable now and, provided the variety of perspectives and opinions of the audience, it’s become rather abstruse to choose a definite side or character to root for in this anime.  Actually, I really appreciate that in an anime like this and find that the way the story is evolving to be beneficial to how Tempest wants to narrate its story.

Tamako Market (Episode 6)

There are a number of distinct and individual personalities in Tamako Market.  You have characters like Tamako, Anko, Kanna, Shiori, and Dera all having strong, developed and definable personalities.  Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the shopkeepers and vendors of Tamako Market.  Instead, the various merchants and store owners of Tamako Market share a collective group personality which happened to be the focus of this episode.  Although each character within this specific group has their own appearance and separate personality, these characters share a surprising number of similar qualities and characteristics to form this ‘shopkeeper group mentality’.  Not only did they all share the same worries about the haunted house and share in the same gags throughout this episode, but this entire season has shown these characters share the same enthusiasm for the common marketplace, all be friendly and welcoming to Tamako and her friends and partake in certain defined roles in conversations or jokes (usually being straight-man or an onlooker with a funny reaction).  In fact, it seems as though the shopkeepers are a specific personality in this anime that just rotates between a number of replacement characters depending on what shop the girls happen to be in front of.  It’s as if the anime sees these various characters for one specific role like we see for Tamako or Dera or Kanna.  Because of that and because of the sixth episode of Tamako Market, we can consider all the shopkeepers in Tamako Market as one personality comprised of a bunch of similar characters.

Space Brothers (Episode 45)

Receiving the uniform is always a huge deal.  Although Mutta successfully passed a rigorous series of tests and exams through JAXA, enough to be hired on as an astronaut, no one would realize it or recognize him just through his appearance alone.  However, by putting on the special blue jumpsuit provided by JAXA, anyone who looks at him and his uniform will immediately recognize his new occupation and his recent accomplishments.  That’s why obtaining the uniform is so rewarding and so cherished; it’s how other people see you and how they recognize you.  And now for Mutta, people will finally recognize him as an astronaut almost immediately (or so we hope).

Shin Sekai Yori (Episode 20)

During the scene where Saki was blown up into the sky and falling to the Earth below, I found it odd that the entire valley was covered with farmlands that were all plots of green with some grasslands and forests out in the distance before the small mountains.  In fact, the only thing that wasn’t green besides the river and the irrigation canals were the lone field of sunflowers in a secluded corner of the valley.  And though the fields were divided by simple dirt roads, there was not real clear organization to the crops being grown or even clear indications to what crops were being grown.  Although I imagine their cantus is enough to plow and plant and irrigate, I’m now increasingly curious about their agriculture practices, what crops they’re growing and what foods the characters eat.  And only now did I realize how little we’ve seen the characters eat, especially compared to other anime where you see character snacking or eating meals or going to restaurants and whatnot.  It’s rather surprising how little we’ve seen in the way of food in this anime but, after gazing at these green landscapes and simplified farmlands, it’s pretty clear that this anime doesn’t seem too concerned with food or its physical setting considering how lazy these landscapes were.

And for what it’s worth, I’m imagining all those fields were growing mint.  So they have several tons of mint every year for no reason.  Well, mint and sunflower seeds.  Yup, that’s their nutrition in Shin Sekai Yori.

Senran Kagura (Episode 7)

Although the main protagonist cast of Senran Kagura is only five girls, they seem to have developed into specific cliques.  What this means is that we often see the girls in specific pairings or groups.  Two of the most obvious are Ikaruga and Katsuragi and of course, Yagyuu and Hibari.  There are some variations between them and with the other characters but the anime does not seem to concern itself with making the characters interact with everyone and making the group feel as one.  Although Asuka does converse and talk to all the characters, you never see Katsuragi talk to Hibari nor do you see Ikaruga start a conversation with Yagyuu or vice versa.  And given that there are only five characters, it seems incredibly strange and unlikely that the characters would be paired off and seemingly segregated from each other but that’s an unfortunate reality with Senran Kagura.  I almost wish that we saw the character groupings switched in this episode with the Ikaruga/Katsuragi pairing and Yagyuu/Hibari pairing broken and flipped so that way we’d see genuinely new character bonding and development in this anime.  In fact, you see that with the cast of villainous characters who seem to function more as a group of five rather than a group of two, two and Asuka.  But on the flip side, the pairings as they are currently are logical and appropriate, and they probably are better than just randomly mixing characters together just to see what they’re like.  Still, I’d love to see the character pairings mismatched for some time just to see how they interact with each other, especially since I want to see how the other girls would respond to Hibari’s constant dependency and timid nature.

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 6)

Wanna know why this was the best episode of Sasami-san@Ganbaranai?  Yup, it’s because there was no brother character.  By removing the incestuous, aggravating and worthless brother character, Sasami-san immensely improved as an anime.  Hopefully the anime learns from its success and effectively reduces his role to… well, in a perfect world, to nothing.  Too bad we know that won’t happen but, yeah, might as well enjoy Sasami-san when it’s at its best right now.

Pscyho-Pass (Episode 17)

With the revelation that the Sibyl System is a mass collection of various brains functioning in sync to immediately observe, judge and control the population, you have to wonder if that’s a system in control of these brains that overruns everything.  What we’ve seen of the Sibyl System in a throng of brains in their own individual containers being moved and connected to various computers to interface with the world and run the Sibyl System as form of a legal justice system.  But what runs the computer?  Who decides which brains to use for which purposes?  Or maybe, who designed the machine so that it would function the way it does?  I really wonder about the collection of brains being the ultimate top in Psycho-Pass given how the system is employed and that the machine ultimately dictates which brains go where and which ones do what.  I’d love for it to turn out that someone is controlling the machine for their own purposes or that the machine has a mind of its own and runs the Sibyl System according to its own sense of justice but it doesn’t seem that Psycho-Pass is heading down that path.  Oh, wouldn’t it be grand for there to be another bad guy above this level like a super computer or another villain of some sort?  Better yet, have the guy running the Sibyl System computer system be someone viewed as ‘good’ or ‘ethical’ to be the ultimate antagonist of the series.  Now that would be an appetizing and satisfying twist for the end.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (Episode 7)

The earthquake scene in the seventh episode of Maoyuu Maou Yuusha was absolutely unanticipated and inconceivable.  No, not because of what it was but because of what it wasn’t.  How could Maoyuu have an earthquake and not dedicate one full scene or even a single shot to Maou’s boobs bouncing all over the place?  I mean this is a golden opportunity for her breasts to jiggle again and you didn’t show it off during the earthquake scene?  This is a mistake of seismic proportions.  You have to wonder whose fault this is.  My world has been shaken by this one motion on Maoyuu’s part; you couldn’t even predict this from happening, and just when I was getting some good vibrations from this anime, too!  Well, maybe it’s for the best that this anime didn’t dedicate a scene (or knowing Maoyuu, scenes) to some unnecessary shaking, but man… giant earthquake… massive boobs… I wonder if they realize the magnitude of this oversight.  And sorry for all the puns, they made this episode review kind of a disaster.

Little Busters! (Episode 19)

Although I complain and complain and continue to complain about Little Busters!, I continue to watch and enjoy the anime for one simple reason: the girls.  Well, that and there are a few other things, but I keep finding myself enjoying the episodes of Little Busters! thanks to its cast of amiable and amusing characters, their comedy and when they get together to have fun and play baseball.  You know, if the anime weren’t so concerned with its shoddy, half-hearted drama, the anime would be pretty fun as a pure comedy and a pretty decent anime overall.  In fact, due to the time and budget constraints on this adaptation, the comedy has been the best aspect of this series since it has been uncompromised throughout.  The girls are shown to be much better and much more enjoyable through the comedy scenes than through their drama scenes.  And because of that, I continue to watch Little Busters! and enjoy it as best I can.

Kotoura-san (Episode 6)

You know, since Haruka has no control over her mind-reading, psychic powers, shouldn’t she be constantly bombarded with thoughts at any public place?  Like, shouldn’t she be hearing the unceasing voices of hundreds of students when she goes to school every weekday?  And on the weekends, whenever she goes to a store or crowded public space, shouldn’t there be a constant noise in her head from all the voices going on and on and on about whatever is on their minds?  Unless Haruka has developed the ability to tune everyone else out, I have trouble imagining how or why she’s only able to read the minds of her friends and only at select times, too.  Not only that but is there a range or any specifics on how to read other people’s minds?  I think we’ve already established that she doesn’t need to look at them but she always needs to be near them but at what distance?  And since proximity seems to be factor in reading minds, you really have to wonder about how she managers herself in crowded areas with tons of people broadcasting their minds to her brain.  Well, maybe there’ll be an explanation later but I kinda wonder if she’s like Yukuhashi from Medaka Box Abnormal or a similar character.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Episode 19)

So falling for 5 seconds equates to 3 minutes of fighting, thoughts and dialogue in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure?  Well, I suppose that this is necessary considering all the development and action that occurred during that situation, but it just seems hilarious considering that it is given a time limit and then goes over it by about four thousand percent.  Then again, it’s not like JoJo’s is the only offender when it comes to this rule considering that just about every action or fighting anime does the same, especially since it’s just bending the rules of physics to perform its primary function: to tell a story.  I mean, the whole purpose of JoJo’s or any anime or any show for that matter is to tell a story, so when placed in situations like these, it’s perfectly alright for time to be distorted for the situation to be fully and, most importantly, properly explained.  Still, it is hilarious that so much time occurred in the anime when in reality, only five seconds of time was supposed to pass.

Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 6)

The comments that appear above the characters, just those quick little messages that pop up near the sides of their heads, is a lovely touch in Chihayafuru that helps explain or reinforce a character’s reaction in a subtle but humorous way.  The choice of message can be diverse from something simple, like showing a character mildly irritated with some accompanying silent words or complex enough to explain a character’s motivations which remain mysterious to the other character or counterintuitive given the recent dialogue or the character’s personality.  Either way, the comments that appear with these characters is a wonderful inclusion to the anime because it has a purpose and is also entertaining.

This week: appreciating the evolution of Akane’s character in Psycho-Pass, thoughts on how others face anxiety and pressure in Chihayafuru 2, the perspective and surprise of tricks in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and thinking about the story going full circle in Zetsuen no Tempest.

Best episode of the week: Psycho-Pass

Anime trending up this week: Shin Sekai Yori

Anime trending down this week: Tamako Market

Zetsuen no Tempest (Episode 23)

It’s rather amusing to think back to the first half of the series with what Samon and the Kusaribe Clan were doing, attempting to revive the Tree of Exodus and bring it against the Tree of Genesis.  Now, after twisting and turning through the plot that is Zetsuen no Tempest, we’re nearly back at our original starting point albeit using the conflict against the Tree of Genesis.  Considering how similar these two plot points are, one could consider that the anime has gone full circle, especially with the original plotline for Mahiro and Yoshino being completed just a few episodes ago.  Wouldn’t it be something if Samon’s original plan was the correct course of action all along?  I think so.

Tamako Market (Episode 11)

So the entire operation of finding a bride for the esteemed prince of this island country, one that needed to be initiated during his teenage years well before he ascended to the throne (a sense of urgency) and would significantly impact the direction and future of this country were left to a, what, 9-year old soothsayer and her klutzy, unreliable bird?  Like, who okay’d this?  Who even thought this was a good idea?  Hell, even if it was tradition or something, you’d figure there’d be someone out there to oversee the whole operation to make sure everything goes smoothly, not to mention is done in an acceptable timeline.  If you were ever wondering why it took so long for this tiny island nation to find a suitable bride for their young prince, look no further than the child and her pet being sent alone on an expedition to lure a girl back home to an island she’s never heard of to marry a stranger she’s never met.  Yeah, this is probably the best way to decide the fate of the kingdom for decades to come.

Shin Sekai Yori (Episode 25 [Finale])

Rather than going on about the ending, how the line between humans and queerrats is a blurry one and how the final scenes inspired themes of hope and perseverance, I want to take about 24 steps back and question the education system in Shin Sekai Yori and how the kids were learning about advanced genetics and literary research techniques.  The main reason why I have this question is because everything we saw the kids do in school was related to strengthening and developing their cantus and learning about fiends and other scary things.  The schools never showed scenes where the kids learned the basics of mathematics or the fundamentals of language nor did we see them do any advanced schooling which both Saki and Satoru seems to have displayed in these final scenes.  Besides the field trip that the five children participated in during the infancy of this series, we never really saw the kids do anything besides play around with their cantus all day.  So just when did the kids learn about everything else like math and science and language and arts?  What about topics like law and medicine?  And considering that most of the technology and knowledge was retracted from this society, just how much do they know about concepts like genetics and evolutionary biology?  You know, as satisfying an ending as this was, I still have a thousand and one questions remaining about the setting that I fear will never be answered.  Ah, ‘tis the sorrow behind anime and storytelling in general.

Senran Kagura (Episode 12 [Finale])

I always wondered why the girls wore their bikinis underneath their battle uniforms after a Shinobi Transformation.  You’d figure underwear would be more comfortable, more supportive and be easier to move around in than those really awkwardly shaped and skimpy bikinis.  And considering that this is a fanservice anime where the amount of clothing lost is directly proportional the amount of damage received, you’d figure it could get away with a high number of pantyshots and whatnot considering its style, its themes and its target audience.  But for this episode, one following the conclusions of all the final battles, ones where all the girls lost pretty much every article of clothing, it makes sense for them to run around in their bikinis rather than their bras and panties.  For one, it’d be a bit too much for this franchise, in terms of fanservice, to have 10 girls be running around in their underwear for the entire 24-minutes.  Senran Kagura seems to be only mildly to moderately ecchi in its presentation and styling and having everyone in their underwear the entire episode would be a bit much for even then.  It’s still quite a bit of fanservice to have the girls run around in their swimsuits for 24-minutes, too, much more than you see in any beach episode of any anime, but that’s about the limit for Senran Kagura.  Another reason seems to be is that when the game first came out, bikinis were the standard attire under the battle uniforms, too.  As the franchise has released more and more games with more and more costumes, it seems that it has developed its fanservice a bit more and added more in the way of bras and panties, so it seems like these are more recent developments in the franchise than swimsuits under clothing.  So yeah, after being confused and curious about the choice of underwear for these girls all season, after watching the finale of Senran Kagura, it seems to make a bit more sense why the girls are going with bikinis instead of bras and panties… they can at least keep some of their modesty when completing their missions, even if they’ve been stripped naked by their enemies.

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 11)

The letter ‘J’ is invaluable to Sasami-san.  The characters Juju Tsukuyomi and Jou Edogawa were introduced in the middle and the latter parts of the series and both proved to be tremendously positive additions and significantly elevated the series beyond my initial expectations and preliminary assessment with the series.  Since I’ve already detailed my thoughts on Juju, I figured that this review could be geared toward Jou since she has recently become a favorite for me in this series, especially with episode 11.  Her character really compliments Sasami’s in that she provides a burst of energy rarely seen outside of Tama and a perverted Tsurugi.  What this does is it helps break up some of the monotone scenes in Sasami-san and making them a bit more meaningful and entirely more entertaining.  Not only that but Jou has some interesting friends and an even more interesting perspective on people.  Her behavior and reactions to everyone, always treating Sasami as a suspicious rival and acting all villainy around her, really created a lasting, positive impression of her character on me.  Not only did she enter the series later than she should have and have an extremely positive effect on the series like Sasami’s mother but she really carried the weight of the comedy in the second half of the series and made these final few episodes enjoyable and amusing to watch.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (Episode 23)

Through the series, Sakurasou focused on the tenants of the decrepit dormitory, showing their dreams and struggles and conflicts and emotions.  These final few episodes have effectively turned the focus toward their home and the sudden struggles to keep it standing following the end of the school year.  These last few episodes have shown how the residents of Sakurasou have been working tirelessly and endlessly to save their beloved home with discouraging results.  However, throughout this process, Chihiro-sensei has been working her tail off too, to support the students behind the scenes and in a way that only she, as a faculty of the school, could perform.  And really, she’s been working hard for the students throughout the entire series but never really had any focus on her character nor her actions.  Really, Chihiro-sensei has played an essential and necessary role throughout all of Sakurasou but never has received the recognoition or thanks for what she has done.  It’s rather sad to note that we never really will know the extent of her kindness and efforts but at least we can now appreciate her role in everything that’s occurred at Sakurasou and how she, like all the other residents, is a part of Sakurasou, just as much as anyone else.

Pscyho-Pass (Episode 22 [Finale])

Although I’m fascinated with just about every aspect of Psycho-Pass, undoubtedly my favorite is the evolution of Akane’s character.  Throughout the twenty-two episodes that comprised Psycho-Pass, we saw Akane grow from a young, naïve and scared rookie to a seasoned, mature and respected detective.  This was highlighted in the final scene of the finale, illustrating the contrast between her former and current self, shown openly when Akane met Shimotsuki Mita, a rookie like Akane in the first episode.  However, what makes the story of Akane’s character and her development one of my favorite is that she still retained her humanity and her responsiveness after everything she’s been through.  It isn’t hard to see a character change as an anime goes one, especially a protagonist, but seeing Akane go through all these challenges and all these trials, with some success and some failures, it’s great to see Akane remain ‘human’ and, perhaps most importantly, to remain ‘Akane’.  I figured by the end of the series that Akane would be similar to how Ginoza was throughout the anime but, with our understanding of Akane’s character, you know that she’ll remain herself for some time to come.  And unlike other characters who develop with new attributes overlapping or replacing old ones, Akane’s character developed by structuring everything around her initial self.  Whether it was erecting new qualities and fashioning new traits, Akane’s character build upon itself to give us the fantastic character that we saw in this finale.  Really, there may be a number of fascinating details or intriguing stories or a functional and developed plot in Psycho-Pass, but the story of Akane growing up and developing in an astounding, magnificent character is absolutely the most remarkable, and my favorite, part of Psycho-Pass.

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (Episode 11)

Have you ever wondered how different Maoyuu would be had the Mage, Onna Mahoutsukai, been present the whole time?  Or better yet, how much easier everything would’ve been for Maou and Yuusha in implementing their various plans and developments around the various villages and kingdoms?  The lack of magic besides Yuusha is rather stark in a series like this, so it means the trio of female mages is that much more valuable and desirable.  Not only would Yuusha be able to assist Maou in certain capacities but the three mages would use their magic to assist the serfs or merchants or whoever with their awesome and seemingly limitless power.  And not only that, but considering how awesome those three characters are, you can’t help but wonder how much better the anime would’ve been too had they been around the whole time.

Little Busters! (Episode 24)

As I’ve mentioned previously, I believe Rin would make a much better protagonist to Little Busters! than Riki does.  This episode further reinforces my thoughts on the matter considering how it showed Komari to be the perfect lead female… erm, lead supporting character for which to augment and facilitate the development of Rin as the leading character.  Had Rin been the main character of Little Busters!, the series could have focused more intently on the friendship between these two girls, how Komari was able to overcome her crippling depression and how Rin was able to and is still conquering her distressing shyness.  The two work well together, fantastic even, and having the series spend more time with these two together, especially with how well they compliment each other and allow the other to grow and mature as a character, would certainly improve the series as a whole.  You know, rather than being a straight adaptation of the popular Key visual novel, I wish this anime had a twist so that Rin were the one solving everyone’s problems, including her own.  And if that wouldn’t work, then I wish we had crossdressing Riki the whole time instead or normal Riki because then Riki wouldn’t be so boring.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Episode 24)

In anime and storytelling in general, the audience is often allowed to see various events and objects that the characters are unable to see.  This is frequently used in ways to show the beginnings or hints of a trick or misdirection that will befall an unsuspecting character.  However, in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, you often never really see these hints or clues when Joseph Joestar is playing the trickster.  What this does is it places the audience on the same level as the villains, thus creating an authentically surprising and a substantially more satisfying conclusion to the trick, too.  It has been developed in recent episodes, especially with Joseph taking a more central role in the fights, so there has been in increase in the need for the series to take a generalized perspective in order not to spoil the stunning or shocking tricks that Joseph is able to pull off.  It has really helped enhance the fighting in this final arc of Battle Tendency while also highlighting JoJo’s intelligence and ingenuity.

Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 11)

Given that the Mizusawa Karuta Club faces drama and anxiety before and after every match, you can’t help but wonder if all the other teams face similar circumstances before all their matches too, just that the electricity and tension occurs off-screen.  We’ve seen it happen with the Hokuou Academy Karuta Club earlier in the series, either in the form of Kinashi selecting their line-up or with Sudou placing an uncomfortable burden on the members, but almost all the other clubs appear to be calm, cool and collected before every match.  Hell, the most drama we’ve seen in this tournament outside the Mizusawa team was the international school trying to speak English for whatever reason.  And you figure with such a weighty and important tournament going on, that there’d be more drama and excitement going on with the other teams.  Well, given that we’re nearing the championship for the team tournament, we might see the drama escalate rather quickly, especially with the opponents being given actual backstory and development unlike the past few challengers.  It’s clear that the pressure will expand as the tournament comes to a close but the question remains whether we’ll see it manifested in the characters playing against Chihaya and friends.

This week: thoughts on the lack of an education system in Suisei no Gargantia and how it impacts its society, making the best character in Railgun even better, the surprisingly intelligent and effective humor in Shingeki no Kyojin, and my fascination with the audiences in Chihayafuru 2.

Best episode of the week: Chihayafuru 2

Anime trending up this week: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S

Anime trending down this week: Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai 2

Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 18)

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Chihayafuru, more amazing than even the karuta players themselves, is the audience members that observe and commentate over the matches.  For the finals match occurring in these recent episodes, this role has largely been reserved to Kanade, among others, who is sitting out with an injured, swollen finger.  What I find absolutely astonishing about these audience members is that they are able to watch all five concurrent matches simultaneously and provide commentary for each.  What’s more, their commentary is always accurate, appropriate and insightful.  And whenever something significant or special happens to one of the players, such as after their internal monologue about how they need to correct themselves, they are right there to back up that moment with some worthwhile claim or commentary.  So while all these characters are subjected to sitting in the back of the playing hall, these characters are all eagle-eyed spectators who create roles for themselves in the anime despite being coaches, benchwarmers or other fans of the game.  What these characters are able to do, to watch, understand and commentate on 5 individual matches occurring at the same time, is nothing short of remarkable in Chihayafuru.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (Episode 6)

Given the frequent reminder that Iwai’s hair is virtually indestructible, appearing to be susceptible to only a select variety of the Killing Goods, you’d figure that Iwai would learn to use her hair to her advantage.  That is, you’d hope that Iwai would learn to use her hair as an insurmountable shield or barrier during all these attempted murders.  Then again, from what we’ve seen in the story, it only appears to work against blades that try to cut, trim or shear the hair, but you figure that it would expand to other forms of attack given its role and purpose in the story.  Now, I’m not saying that the characters should test this theory out and try to fire bullets at her hair or burn it with fire or acid, but you figure that Iwai’s hair would defend against even those forms of assault.  So given the nature and indestructability of Iwai’s hair, you would think that someone would devise a plan to train Iwai in how to use her hair to ward off attacks and attackers to increase her survival.  And if any of the characters were intelligent enough to implement such a crazy and cunning strategy, who knows, maybe one day Iwai will be able to repay Kiri back for everything when she uses her hair to block a bullet or blade to save his life.  Then again, you figure Kiri would want something else from Iwai given his infatuation with her, but I’m sure saving his life is fine with him, too.

Hataraku Maou-sama! (Episode 6)

Given the duration of their extended stay and their acquired knowledge of urban Japan’s elaborate and perplexing society and structure, you can’t help but wonder why Sadao and Emi haven’t landed better jobs yet.  There are a number of factors present that would suggest the two could and would find better work, too.  From what we’ve seen in their decorative pasts, both characters are intelligent, charismatic and dynamic, skills that they could put to much better use than managing a fast-food restaurant and dealing with angry/stupid people on the phone all day.  Not only that but the two characters have both shown a desire to move up in this world, though Sadao is narrow-minded in his approach and could reconsider for something more along his goal of world domination.  And while it’s true that neither has any education, training or work experience, you could consider a host of jobs that Sadao and Emi would potentially qualify for if they just sought employment in those fields.  For example, Sadao would definitely earn more money working in the construction or manufacturing industries provided he demonstrated his competence, diligence and industriousness, not to mention that either would be better suited for his theme of world domination.  As for Emi, a career in modeling doesn’t seem outrageous given her appearance and charisma, though advertising herself like that would make her an easier target for assassins or something.  If not, Emi would also be aptly suited for construction or manufacturing too, among other occupations, considering her history as the Hero of an entire world.  But enough about trying to pigeonhole jobs to these characters based on the limited information we’ve been given, the point of this review was to highlight the fact that they’ve been living in Japan for several months now and have yet to find better employment than what they originally secured.  After learning, adapting and assimilating to Japanese culture, you’d think that Sadao, Emi and all the other characters from Ente Isla would be readjusting their position and moving up in the world.  Oh, and they have magic too, so why not use that a couple of times and fabricate a degree or some cash cards or something?

Kakumeiki Valvrave (Episode 5)

Every time you see A-Drei, you see H-Neun.  And every time you see H-Neun, you see Q-Vier.  Oh, and you also see X-Eins, too.  Like, any time you see one of these characters, you see the other three, too.  All four of those characters are always together… always together, whether they’re waltzing around a school during a mission, saluting their supreme leader or sitting around the longue watching highschoolers sing about how much better their lives are than their friends and families who are living under an oppressive military occupation.  It’s as if they’re all joint at the hip with each other, creating some awkward circumstances of a quartet of dudes walking in a square facing outward (and don’t even ask how they’d go to the bathroom, let alone sit in a chair).  But whenever you see those four characters, you only really see one: A-Drei.  Pretty much what I’m getting at is that these 4 characters are pretty much one personality at this point, which is dominated by A-Drei who has a personal vendetta against L-Elf.  The other three characters, though proficient soldiers and spies, have done little to establish their character in this series and are effectively just another piece of A-Drei’s character.  Sure, every time you see A-Drei, you see three other characters but, at the same time, you only see A-Drei since he’s the only one of the four that matters.  It’s kinda awkward at this point but all that needs to happen for these other characters to establish themselves is to break away from the group and have the anime spend some time on them individually.  But until then, I’m going to think of this quartet as some chimeric beast with four heads where only one matters, almost like a Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy boss.

Shingeki no Kyojin (Episode 6)

Despite Attack on Titan constantly dealing with fear, torment and death, the series has some surprisingly good, intelligent humor embedded throughout.  Furthermore, the comedy is spread nicely throughout, even incorporating it into more serious or dramatic scenes.  And the types of comedy presented in Attack on Titan are incredibly diverse too, ranging from the wacky, nonconformist characters, to the visual sight gags (I am positive some of those Titan designs are done on purpose for this season), to the clever one-liners.  What’s more, is that the constant feeling of dread and danger throughout has a further enhancement of the comedy since it feels less predictable than when comparing it to straight-up comedy or slice-of-life anime.  For example, if this were a comedy, you might expect to see a silly Titan run down a narrow thoroughfare and not be as surprised.  In Attack on Titan, however, when you see the little girl point back and ask her mommy what’s going on, you figure it’s going to be some heinous, bloodthirsty monster ready to pounce on the crowd and devour the girl or her mother.  Nope, instead it’s some silly Titan speeding down the road without a care in the world.  It is moments like these where the humor in Attack on Titan is most effective and further enhances the entertainment aspect of this anime.

Suisei no Gargantia (Episode 6)

Even though Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet is debatably the best school anime of this season, with Ledo being the mysterious transfer student who can’t quite fit in at his new high school which is the sandbox that Gargantia represents, there is a surprising lack of generalized and specialized knowledge among the seafarers of this floating flotilla.  But then again, given the structure and functionality of this ocean-crawling society, is an education system really necessary?

The issue was originally highlighted when Ledo questioned Chamber on why all the children were running around and playing on the deck when they should be diligently studying in a military academy.  The fact that there is no education or training system in place on Gargantia (except for maybe a system of apprenticeship) means that this human society is largely uneducated and unskilled.  For example, there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of industry or manufacturing on Gargantia.  Instead, virtually everything obtained and used in this anime, from the skimpy bikinis the girls wear to the giant, underwater robots to the metal used to repair the ships, comes from whatever source the people are able to successfully salvage.  Ah, but this brings up a good counterargument to which one would address that an education system would be unnecessary on Gargantia.  Why would the people need to study and train when virtually every occupation on this ship is selling goods, providing services, and the trio of fishing, farming, and salvage.  There really isn’t any capacity for people to work in any industry on Gargantia given its unique situation nor is there a need for people to study and research the world given what’s going on.  Suppose that if the people were somehow educated enough to develop an electrical system to harness the energy of tiny, electric ocean bugs, these people wouldn’t have the resources or equipment to create such devices.

The fact of the matter is that an education system is largely unnecessary in Gargantia and that society is surviving and functional as it currently is.  The problem, however, is that this lifestyle is unsustainable and that they’ll eventually run into issues of scarcity, especially if there are issues with salvaging goods and materials.  But again, at that point, would an education system really be appropriate to addressing the problem that stems from a lack of resources?  Really, the topic is entirely debatable, but my stance on the issue is, even though it is somewhat surprising to see an advanced society exist without any form of an education or training system in place, it makes sense given the unique setting that is Gargantia.  Of course, it is worth noting that this argument is based off my own observations of this anime and that there is no industry/manufacturing on Gargantia, unless we want to believe that there are factories onboard creating nylon and spandex for revealing swimwear and others creating microchips for the variety of aquatic robots among other products.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S (Episode 5)

Misaka Imouto has always been the best character in the Index/Railgun franchise and now they’ve made her better.  Not only was Misaka Imouto 9982 clever, amusing and enjoyable as a character but her story, from conception to extinction, was very expressive and endearing, something that I greatly appreciate in an anime.  Watching her go from an indistinguishable and featureless clone, incubating in a status tube in some research facility, to whatever range of emotions she left before being crushed to death, was a character story that came across as disturbing, depressing but also entirely satisfying.  You can’t help but feel some compassion and empathy for the young girl, who makes a genuine friend with her original, before fulfilling her purpose and dying in a dubious experiment.  The whole story felt complete and appropriate, forcing Misaka to change and act in regards to the experiment, and with the added bonus of comedy that helped make Misaka Imouto 9982 both hilarious and engaging.  It is a shame to see such an enjoyable character meet such a premature demise, but hopefully we’ll see some other clones appear to help fulfill her void and continue to expand on the curious role that is Misaka Imouto.

This post reviews: Kirino Mosaic, Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou, Monogatari Series Second Season, Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi, and Uchouten Kazoku.

Looks like there’ll be three parts for my First Impressions posts for Summer 2013.  After this, I might post a couple of Weekly Anime posts before I go on hiatus, though I might try something different for the month of July.  I guess we’ll see once these posts are finished up.

Watching:

Kiniro Mosaic (Yellow Mosaic)

Easily the cutest anime of the season, Kiniro Mosaic is a delightful and entrancing anime full of endearing moments, heartwarming skits, and a style of adorable comedy that makes you want to hold and hug the characters instead of laughing at their jokes.  It also helps that the art and animation are presented in a way to compliment these elements, always in a bright pastel style and frequently featuring chibi characters and simplistic, cartoony faces.  It’s easily the most charming anime of the season and I couldn’t help but find myself smiling throughout.  As for the substance of this anime… well, let’s just say it really isn’t the strength of Kiniro Mosaic.  I doubt that Kiniro Mosaic will have much in the way of a plot or character development, though you figure that something will have to happen for this anime to fill a full season.  You figure the anime will be primarily comedy and slice-of-life, something which this anime seems to succeed at, though you figure there will be stories throughout.  It’s hard to say exactly what this anime will be like since most of this first episode was reliving a flashback when Shinobu lived with Alice in England and then introducing Alice’s arrival in Japan.  I hope that the anime stays as cute as this first episode, but I wouldn’t mind sacrificing some of that cuteness for an original plot and expressive, emotional characters.  That being said, the captivating and charming nature of this anime is reason enough to watch Kiniro Mosaic and any sort of meaningful plot and character maturity will be an added bonus to what is already a delightful anime.

Monogatari Series Second Season

I’ve always loved the Monogatari series, though lately, I’ve been a bit disenchanted with the series.  I feel in love with the first few episodes of Bakemonogatari, specifically Hitagi Crab and Mayoi Snail, but the remainder of the series kinda pattered out when it became obvious that the show was following a repeating pattern and offered nothing new besides another addition to the harem and another unique obstacle to solve.  I immediately forgot all this by the time Nisemonogatari started and dove head-first into the series only to otherwise regret my decision by the time the incest reared its ugly head and the Tsukihi arc was almost forgotten.  Nekomonogatari rekindled my interest for the series by recalling some of the more favorable aspects of the early episodes of Bakemonogatari, but it never recaptured that magic that caused me to fall in love with the franchise in the first place.  Enter Monogatari Series Second Season which begins the series again by revisiting all the girls of Bakemonogatari with follow-ups to their original issues which spawned the stories of the original anime.  Hoping for something different or, at least something to differentiate it from all the others before it, I have to say I am somewhat happy with what the first episode of Monogatari Series did though I’m reserving my opinions until more of the series and the sexualization reveals itself.

That being said, I absolutely love that the series began again without Araragi appearing and instead, focusing on Tsubasa, the evolution of her problem and her complicated but amazingly engaging relationship with Senjougahara.  It certainly helps Monogatari that this was the first time to see the series through the perspective of someone other than Araragi and that we were able to witness a wonderful conversation between two of the girls, so I was pleased to see that.  Furthermore, I found the writing and the use of those unique ‘Scene Cards’, particularly the ones that read ‘It didn’t hurt at all.’ ‘Yet it hurt a lot.’ to be brilliant displays of character expression and self-reflection.  And I do like how the girls have changed too, with Tsubasa having short hair, ditching her glasses and with Senjougahara also wearing her hair short.  Oh, and having Senjougahara playing around with Tsubasa in her underwear, this time with crab panties instead of the distinguished stapler/scissors/boxcutter panties from before, was a nice tribute to the original Bakemonogatari.  That being said, the only real negatives from this series are that the art, cinematography and directing for this series feels the same as all the others before it and, while still entirely unique and often breathtaking, it has become a bit anticipated or expected.  Like I mentioned before, I want something more from Monogatari to differentiate it from the series or to do something that replicates the magic from Hitagi Crab/Mayoi Snail that I loved so much.  Either way, you probably get the point that I’m expecting a lot from Monogatari, so hopefully it can deliver in either one of two ways that I’m looking for with this new season.  And even if it doesn’t, it still will probably be my favorite of this Summer.

Uchouten Kazoku (The Eccentric Family)

Uchouten Kazoku is an anime that has featured quite a stunning and gorgeous visual style but left me feeling unimpressed with its story thus far and its limited cast of characters.  The strengths of Uchouten Kazoku lie in its illustrations and its animation, both featuring a distinct presentation that rank among the best of this year.  The first episode featured numerous scenes with large amounts of seamless, dazzling animation which is certainly pleasing to my eyes.  I wasn’t really certain whether I’d like the character designs or not, but after seeing them move around in the elegant world that they reside in, I’ve grown to like these character models, especially since they facilitate the high-quality animation that this anime should be known for.  The setting, mixing together the heritage of tanuki, tengu and humans in Kyoto is certainly something that appeals to me.  However, that’s about where my praises for this anime stop, as all that really remains are the story and the characters.  I can’t say I find any of the characters particularly interesting or engaging, though I do enjoy Yasaburou Shimogamo’s sense of individualism and adventureism by running around the city dressed as a trap in that serafuku.  However, I fear that once he looks like a guy again, I probably won’t like him as much, so hopefully he crossdresses for the remainder of the series.  As for the story thus far, I can’t say I’m particularly interested in it either.  I do seem to enjoy the storytelling thus far and how the story has evolved, but the romance isn’t really all that enjoyable, at least not as much as seeing the tanuki and tengu sides conflicting with each other.  I hope that the anime begins to take another direction soon with its story.  Otherwise, Uchouten Kazoku had a fun first episode with its magnificent art and animation, so I’m looking forward to watch more, even if the story and characters don’t evolve the way I want them to.

Undecided:

Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou (Il Sole Penetra le Illusioni/Day Break Illusion)

Although Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou featured enough positives in its first episode to warrant watching a second, there’s still that sinking feeling based on its PVs and its Opening animation that this anime just won’t be that good.  The main reason why I have doubts about this anime is not because this strongly resembles a poor man’s Puella Magi Madoka Magica, but that this series will try too hard to make itself seem serious despite it having no emotions or progression to validate its depressing and thoughtful nature.  For example, the whole tentacle plant attack and murder of her friend were done without much in the way of expression or significance, but rather came across as cheap and petty shock tactics.  The same can be said for the runaway truck and the mansion on fire, too.  And while it is unfair to compare this to Madoka, it’s almost like someone explained to them some of the highlights of that magical girl anime but forgot to mention the character growth, the writing and dialogue that made that anime so enjoyable.  The PVs and the Opening animation seem to reiterate this point with scenes of blood, tears and despair, so all the warning signs are there, after watching the first episode, to think that this anime will be little more than a frustrating plot told through substandard storytelling.  That being said, I did find a few aspects of the story to be enjoyable, particularly the day after Fuyuna died, with Akari going on as normal, so I can’t say that everything about this story is terrible.  I do figure that with everything introduced, we’re in for a bit of an explanation in the second episode, so hopefully then I’ll understand the direction of this anime and whether it’s a positive or a negative.  The art and animation aren’t too much more than mediocre and it is super loli (though with the number of loli anime this season, it really isn’t that significant), but I do like the cutesy, colorful style that was featured in this episode and I thought that the battle sequence at the end was visually appealing with its use of colors and animation.  I’m not sure what to think about the characters right now, but they seem to be a pleasant group of girls.  I guess I’ll have a better idea about them and the story of Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou after the second episode and, by then, I should know whether this is worth keeping or not.

Dropped:

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi (The Sunday Without God)

Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi is one of those unfortunate anime where the negatives simply outweigh the positives.  What was particularly damning about Kami Nai is that none of the characters were enjoyable, with Ai being another tiresome, lackluster loli and Hampnie being an absolute dick.  The comedy and chemistry between the two seemed to be lacking and the whole situation that Ai was placed in, with the whole village being slaughtered like that, came across as detached and confusing.  I can’t say I really enjoy the setting of this anime either with no births and zombies predominating the world but it did show the potential to grow depending on the various villages and settlements Ai visits.  The art was one of the few positives of this series, though I did run across a few scenes where the quality dipped and a few others where the quality nosedived.  And really, I just kinda felt bored throughout the first episode which left me with a poor impression of what’s probably to come in future episodes.  I mean, if I’m already feeling apathetic to the characters and the story at this point, there really isn’t much reason to continue, especially when the other aspects of this anime fail to differentiate themselves to me.  Hopefully this anime will improve but I won’t be sticking around to see whether it does or not.

During whichever week this belongs to: complaints on the detective/mystery work in Danganronpa, how Index continues to undermine Misaka’s character in To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S, excitement over distinguishing Fu’s character in Tamayura ~more aggressive~, and a slight but refreshing and welcome change in Monogatari Series Second Season.

Best episode of the week: Monogatari Series Second Season

Anime trending up this week: Tamayura ~more aggressive~

Anime trending down this week: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S

Danganronpa the Animation (Episode 2)

Although I don’t have much in the way of complaints with Danganronpa thus far, I do feel the need to voice my disappointment with how the anime is handling the material between the murder and the trial.  In the game, this time is intended for the player to create a foundation before going into the trial: to hunt for clues, to gather evidence and to begin to construct an idea about who the murderer might be based on how they interpret the material before them.  This process allows the player to understand the case before them.  In the anime, it’s pretty much glossed over with a quick montage of characters finding items for less than a minute and off to the trial!  I figured that translating this material from the game to the anime would be difficult, but I never thought it’d be painful or meaningless like this.  Instead of creating value or meaning behind the items picked up, the anime just gifted them to us without requiring or stimulating any thought or perception.  Rather than actually letting us connect the dots, the material was literally thrown at us.  It’s like the anime wanted to avoid this perceived down time and tried to minimalize it as much as possible.

And since I never like it when someone complains about something without offering their opinion on what would make it better, my thoughts on the matter could go in either two directions to improve this aspect of Danganronpa.  First, the one I’d prefer of the two, would be to show the characters searching for clues but to not explicitly show the items being picked up.  Since the anime wanted to gloss over this section quickly, why not have Makoto standing over a dead body, make a remark about some evidence without stating it explicitly and then move on, only to finally present it during the trial.  In this situation, the anime isn’t teasing us or giving it to us effortlessly but instead, puts the sleuthing solely on the characters rather than the viewers.  The second option would be to spend more time on the detective side of the story; to have the characters talk and think through the evidence they’re gathering and attempting to build a case before the trial.  In this situation, it uses the characters and the evidence together to help guide the viewer in the murder mystery.  Either of this changes would shift the perspective of the detective work and the mystery significantly, clarifying the issue of how the audience is supposed to perceive their role in the murder mysteries of Danganronpa.  Right now, the material between the murder and the trial is handled awkwardly in Danganronpa, giving us a minimal amount of detective experience and a quick overview of the evidence about a minute before heading to the trial.  It could be significantly improved with a little more care, so hopefully the anime will learn from its mistakes and go in one of these directions in future episodes.

Gatchaman Crowds (Episode 1)

Is it a bra and panties or just some fancy, frilly two-piece swimsuit?  The clothing choice for Utsutsu in Gatchaman Crowds is definitely the eye-candy of the series, but rather than enjoying her for her shameless sex appeal, I find myself curious about what exactly she’s wearing.  Given just the appearance of her clothes, the shape, style, cut and color, I originally thought she was walking around comfortably in her underwear.  However, when Hajime meets Utsutsu, she comments on her clothes and calls it a swimsuit.  Now correct me if I’m wrong, but you usually don’t see a garter paired with a bikini, nor is it common to see a bow on a top.  Then again, it’s not like it’s impossible given the variety of styles of clothes seen in anime, especially for one like Gatchaman Crowds.  Perhaps the only way to answer this question, underwear versus swimwear, would be if the series was kind enough to focus on Utsutsu more and provide more of her in terms of screentime and detail.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who would appreciate such a change, even after we settle the whole bra and panties versus bikini paradox.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou (Episode 2)

One thing I don’t get about the new school in Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou is… why is there a new school?  The entire student body of Sephiro Fiore, the combat unit of tarot card using magical girls covering as a school for lolis with disproportionate heads, is an astonishing 6 students, which increases to 9 if you include the trio of Tendou sisters (but let’s not include them, shall we?).  What’s the point of this school exactly, especially if all they’re doing is taking the same classes as regular students with nothing in the way of training for combat?  Why not have these various girls attend their regular schools and call them together when there’s an emergency or something?  It doesn’t make much sense to set up an entire school for half a dozen students, especially when their courses are perfectly normal like music, PE, and chemistry.  It doesn’t seem like the girls are doing anything special there than besides building their own chemistry together, but couldn’t they be doing this as an after-school activity or some special club?  Or better yet, Sephiro Fiore should integrate combat, tactics and magical girl history into their curriculum, alongside the likes of mathematics and literature.  Regardless, I do enjoy the aesthetics of their school more than the cookie-cutter designs of Japanese schools and it does have a dormitory for the girls to live in, so it’s not like I completely hate the new setting of Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou, I just question its purpose as a school for these girls.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 2)

Unlike the previous anime in this franchise, an impressive collecting spanning Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari and Nekomonogatari, this new season of Monogatari has been devoid of its protagonist, Koyomi Araragi, and given the series a refreshing change of perspective that bodes well for the series moving forward.  Whereas the previous three series repeated the pattern of Koyomi aiding a female character with her particular quarks, a pattern that was growing weary and tired after such frequent and constant use, Monogatari Series offers the series through a different perspective in that we’re seeing what happens when Araragi isn’t around.  That’s where I find the charm and enthusiasm in this new anime.  Rather than having Araragi bike around town and talk to various girls in one-on-one conversations, we’re seeing the story through the eyes of the affect girl and seeing how she lives with her problem.  It’s a fascinating turn of events and one that I wish had occurred earlier in the series since it changes the dynamic of the characters and the storytelling to a much greater degree than anything that Araragi could do on his own.  I hope to see the eventual problem with Tsubasa resolved without any aid or appearance by Araragi but I can’t say that Senjougahara has been much in the way of help besides providing a roof over her head and so much needed friendship that has crossed the yuri line on several occasions.  Oh, and that’s the other thing… even without Araragi around, the series still manages to retain its renowned sex appeal with a stimulating shower scene, some suggestive sleeping poses and the return of Senjougahara’s school supplies panties.  I’ve got to admit, this season of Monogatari is off to an incredible start.

Shingeki no Kyojin (Episode 14)

The series of walls that surround the human civilization in Attack on Titan has been referenced multiple times as a marker to denote wealth and especially safety.  But with the fourteenth episode of Titan, does it also signify a difference in time periods?  You’d always hear about how people would want in the Wall Sina, the innermost fortification, since it offered the most safety… but maybe there’s more to it than that.  After a few scenes, showing of the city within the deepest walls, you notice how very different this society is from those inside Wall Rose and Wall Maria.  First, and probably the most noticeable, is probably the clothes, with people wearing suits, top hats and bowties.  Compare that to the tunics and trousers worn by the citizens outside of Wall Sina, and you notice a stark difference in clothing patterns that spans several hundred years, from Middle Ages to the 19^th Century.  If there was anything to reiterate the gap of wealth between the two, this would be it, but it does hint at a more advanced society, too.  Another major difference between the two is that the people inside Wall Sina were looking at newspapers whereas the others were reading a notice in a village square.  Although it doesn’t say anything about the difference in education, it does highlight the difference in wealth again and that the people inside of Wall Sina are more advanced than their counterparts.  One more aspect that might denote a difference in the time periods between the two is the horse-drawn carriage.  Virtually everywhere else in Titan, have we seen crude wagons and wagonettes used but here, within the wall of Wall Sina, did we actually see a large, stylish, painted carriage.  Again, this may just be another sign of the wealth behind the walls, but it does show yet another difference in the technology between the two sides.  Of course, the idea that the people behind Wall Sina are in a different time period than everyone else was merely in jest, but there are enough instances of a difference in technology, culture and society to believe that the one within Wall Sina is more advanced than those outside of it.  I doubt that there’s any meaningful reason as to why there is such a blatant difference between the two beside wealth, but it might be interesting to see what happens if these are all hints toward a greater conspiracy going on.

Silver Spoon (Episode 1)

Say, what about fishing?  Or more better yet, what’s the deal with the lack of ichthyology in Silver Spoon?  We know that Ooezo Agricultural High School is renowned for its curriculum involving livestock, especially since the anime has primarily focused on horses, cows, and chickens with crops being second and everything else third, but what does this rural, agriculture school offer in the realm of fishery studies?  You’d figure that since Japan consumes some of the highest amounts of seafood in the world that an agricultural school like this would house a department or offer courses in aquatic and fishery sciences.  Then again, with the school situated in the middle of Hokkaido, the question becomes, where would you teach these kids about fish and fishing?  I suppose a school near a body of water would make the most sense, probably one on the coast as to teach techniques and science about properly fishing the oceans, so maybe there’s a sister school or a satellite campus where students can learn about that food industry.  Still, I’m surprised that there hasn’t been any mention of fish or fishing at this school, especially since they seem to eat it during breakfast alongside the eggs that they harvest during class.  It might be a niche interest here in rural Hokkaido and an afterthought to these students, but I hope to see some fishing (especially how it contrasts farm life) here in Silver Spoon.

Tamayura ~more aggressive~ (Episode 2)

One of the issues I had with Tamayura ~hitotose~, the series prior to this one, is that Fu’s character never really established her own identity as an individual.  Instead, it always felt like she was just the figurehead of the quartet that was Fu, Kaoru, Norie and Maon.  With the new season establishing the photo club as a fundamental subject that highlights the ‘more aggressive’ theme, there’s hope that Fu will begin to distance her character from her friends.  Not only will this help differentiate her character from the others and put her in a position for her character to grow but it will also provide new opportunities for her to expand and understand her love for photography beyond snapping photos during excursions and hikes with friends.  It’s rather amazing how just a few episodes into this new season that Tamayura has begun to address the issues that I had previously with ~hitotose~.  All that needs to happen for this to be the perfect sequel will be if Kou and Komachi can mysteriously disappear and never be mentioned again (although I’d gladly settle for just Kou if the opportunity presented itself).

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S (Episode 14)

Although my memories of this Sisters Arc in To Aru Majutsu no Index tend to be positive or favorable, I can’t help find myself irritated and distressed at it now after going through so many episodes of To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S.  The main reason for this change of heart is solely based on how the writing and storytelling of Index undermines and belittles the Misaka we’ve grown to know in Railgun.  A major reason why this problem exists is because Index was written well before Railgun was and, as a result, Railgun is required to revisit the writing of Index in order to recap this story arc.  However, between the time that Index was written to the time that Railgun began the story again, we’ve seen Misaka’s character grow and develop independently of Index’s variables and become a remarkable protagonist on her own.  We’ve grown to understand her personality and her motivations, how she responds to various stimuli and seen her power grow from a simple manipulation of electricity into stupidly overpowered feats of imagination.  But now, after all that growth and maturity, Misaka’s character was stunted, reduced and retarded.  Her powers were meaningless in Index as compared to Railgun.  Seriously, she was able to hack into some of the most impenetrable security networks in Academy City and now we have to expect that she can’t operate or control a simple vending machine?  And don’t get me started on her personality and dialogue toward Touma now after seeing her through about 30 episodes of Railgun.  Really, I appreciate the fact that Railgun is going back to revisit this arc and explore it through Misaka’s perspective.  Really, I absolutely love the idea to show this story again but through the eyes of the other protagonist and show how it affects her and integrates into her character.  The main issue I have with this is that, at this point in Index’s story, Misaka was still in her infacy and everything that she did was experimental to see where her character would end up.  Now that her character has fully matured and became well defined, it feels stupid and silly to force her to revert back to this infancy stage for the sake of completing this story arc.  Now I can only hope that this Sisters Arc ends rather quickly and that the series can return back to what Railgun is supposed to be: Misaka kicking ass and taking names.

Uchouten Kazoku (Episode 2)

The mother of the Shimogamo family, simply referred to as ‘Mother’ by her children and ‘Prince’ by her fellow billiards buddies, is an outstanding specimen of a character if I’ve ever seen one.  Her flamboyant personality is charming and sophisticated.  Her choice in clothing not only matches but enhances and accents that personality perfectly.  Her style and her presentation is engaging and entertaining.  And her look is simultaneously both beautiful and handsome.  And all that without mentioning how she’s a caring single-mother for her four luckless sons, can transform into an adorable red-furred tanuki and is scared of thunder and lightning.  I typically don’t obsess about characters like this right off the bat in a new series (okay, I’m lying, I do this all the time), but the Mother in Uchouten Kazoku is such a fantastic and fabulous and flashy character, that I love how she contrast everyone else in this series by punching it up with fun and amusement without becoming silly or losing her meaning in the series.  I’m looking forward to whatever role she plays in the series moving forward, not only from an entertainment perspective but from a story perspective, too, particularly if she plays a pivotal role in the lives of her four sons moving forward.

About 2 weeks ago: why I’m bored with Uchouten Kazoku, the impact of alternative hairstyles in Monogatari Series Second Season, how Zoe’s character contrasts everyone and everything in Shingeki no Kyojin, and why the clothes are my favorite part of Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou.

Best episode of the week: Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!

Anime trending up this week: Servant x Service

Anime trending down this week: Uchouten Kazoku

Danganronpa the Animation (Episode 3)

I’ve always kinda wondered that if they made a Phoenix Wright anime, based off the franchise of popular videos games, if it would be better to follow the mechanics of the game when it came to the investigations and trials or if changed the structure to match a looser, more liberal approach to dramatic lawyer action.  Danganronpa provides us with a glimpse at what it’s like to take the mechanics of a detective/trial video game and put it into an anime which was the former of my two options.  The style comes across to me as having mixed opinions.  While it does capture the style of Dangranronpa and manages to work well within the context of the trial, the downside is that it feels almost too blatant and automatic, helping to ruin the fun and mystery of the trial by putting so much emphasis on the bullets and accusations.  I mean, having the wrong text just blow up on the screen before the audience has time to even read, let alone think or react, pretty much spoils to you what’s supposed to happen.  Nonetheless, it does hold that Danganronpa-style to it that helps keep the game’s charm in this anime and helps differentiate it from, say, a Phoenix Wright-style objection.  And speaking of that, if I were to reevaluate my opinion of a Phoenix Wright anime after witnessing a trial in Danganronpa that mirrors a ‘true to the video game approach’, I’d almost actually rather have it be a more liberal approach that doesn’t feel all video game-ish, but one that still captures the style and themes of Phoenix Wright (for clarification, having the objection come out after a witness is done speaking, then revisiting the fallacy rather than having GIANT TEXT appear on the screen and Makoto using a bullet).

Gatchaman Crowds (Episode 2)

3D-CGI has always turned me off, especially from an early age when the medium began to debut and the graphics and apperances were still in their primitive state.  The form of using 3D-CGI has developed greatly over the past couple of decades and, with its growth and maturity, I’ve warmed up to the style, though I still tend to dislike shows that are entirely in 3D (a reason why I’m such a fan of anime is its resilience to remain 2D and gorgeous).  That being said, I find the use of 3D models and animation in Gatchaman Crowds to be one that I can’t help but like.  The use of these 3D models, the appearance of these models and the animation used to seamlessly integrate them into a 2D world is nothing short of spectacular and a testament to what 3D-CGI has become and what it can do.  I think this is the first anime besides Tiger & Bunny that I actually like and enjoy the CGI in.  Perhaps now, with the technology reaching new levels and finding forms that keep fans (like myself) happy, that 3D-CGI will begin to find more applications in the field of anime.  It still doesn’t mean I prefer it over 2D animation but that it isn’t an eye sore or a reason to dislike an anime like with so many previous television shows and movies.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou (Episode 3)

Perhaps the greatest attribute and strength going for Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou right now is the dazzling and magnificent selection of clothes the characters wear, particularly the magical-girl forms whose costumes tend to be more elegant and extravagant versions of their traditional everyday clothes.  Hell, even their pajamas are cute and stylized and you can only wonder what they’ll be wearing when the inevitable beach episode occurs around episode 7 or 8.  But compared to other shows with similar themes, stories and characters, you always get a mirage of school girl uniforms, either a serafuku or blazer and miniskirt, and then a skin-tight, sexy uniform or frilly, frilly, girly outfit for the magical girl transformation.  And while I still enjoy those styles for the most part, Gen’ei Taiyou has done a remarkable job at selecting the outfits for its cast of characters, making them all vastly different from the each other and helping distinguish and accent each character’s personality, color, and Tarot card-themes (like the little suns, stars and crescent moon motifs that dot their clothes).  I think, right now, that the design, variety and quality of clothing is my favorite part of Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 3)

Since the setting of Monogatari is a sparely populated metropolis that barely breaks double digits, one populated by a single teenage boy and a handful of horny teenage girls, you’d figure that there wouldn’t be salon or hair stylist to provide the characters with alternative hair styles for this new season.  So unless a traveling barber visited the two and gave all the girls special discounts, I’m kinda curious how all the girls got these new hairstyles.  Never mind that, the new hairstyles are easily the biggest difference between this and the previous seasons of Monogatari with many characters having improved hairdos (Tsubasa, Senjougahara, Karen), some characters having different styles (Kanbaru), and some just having an outrageous style hair that makes me miss their former (Tsukihi).  Because I am me and have a thing for short hair (who would’ve guessed), I have to admit that I am loving these alternative hairstyles and that, as a result of seeing them with this slightly altered appearances, I’m having to reevaluate how much I like and enjoy these characters now.  It’s really amazing how such a simple and mundane procedure it is, to change someone’s hairstyle like this, can have such a profound effect like it has had on me and other fans of the series.  And while I still enjoy seeing Senjougahara wearing her hair long or Karen wearing her ponytail, I find it refreshing and inspirational for this season of Monogatari to change the styles of just about every girl, to give this season something new.  I’ve got to say, I’m really enjoying the cast more with these different hairstyles, though I wonder how long this effect will last or how it varies from character to character.  Either way, I’m glad to see something like this happen in Monogatari and I’ve got to find and thank whoever did these wonderful haircuts.

Shingeki no Kyojin (Episode 15)

Even though Zoe’s character is portrayed in a comical, almost wacky manner, I absolutely love how she contrasts the rest of the cast in regards to Titans.  Hell, even her portrayal as a whimsical and humorous character helps reinforce that contrast since that itself is a distinction of her character, too.  Regardless, it’s refreshing and stimulating to see a character of her caliber being interested in the Titans to such an obsessive degree whereas the remainder of the cast would gladly trade anything they had to live another day without seeing a Titan.  And going one step further, Zoe is the only character to really show genuine compassion to the Titans though you could argue that her experiments are rather cruel and painful.  Still, you’d never see a character in Attack on Titan cry over the death of a Titan like Zoe did when she found her two ‘pets’ were murdered.  I can’t help but find her character to actually be my favorite as a result, finally seeing a character who breaks the common mold of the series over scared or fearless people who hunt or run from Titans.  Zoe is different.  And not only that, but she’s portrayed in a comic light that makes her character fun and amusing while also being intelligent, informative and able.  It’s great to have a character like Zoe in Titan, especially now after having the same or similar character archetypes through virtually every episode before.  My only hope from here moving forward is that she’s featured frequently, that her character grows along with the story and that she doesn’t find a premature end like so many other characters in this anime.

Silver Spoon (Episode 2)

Teachers in anime are kinda a neglected bunch of characters, often portrayed as comical or motherly background characters that really don’t do much in the way of inspiring or stimulating their students unless they’re one of the five members of a shitty harem anime.  That being said, I find the new equestrian teacher in Silver Spoon, Nakajima, to be just the opposite.  He’s a teacher first and foremost but he also assumes that mentor role with Yugo and his other students.  But especially with Yugo, who’s not really sure he wants to be in the equestrian club or even wants to be at a rural high school in general.  I have a feeling that considering his presence (alongside Mikage in the equestrian club), that Nakajima will have a substantial effect on Yugo’s character at various points throughout Silver Spoon.  He has that certain air, that certain quality to his character that hints that he’ll have a significant impact on the story of Silver Spoon and on Yugo’s character.  So with that, I’m looking forward to what Nakajima will do in Silver Spoon, especially considering that none of the other teachers have made a noteworthy impact to date.

Tamayura ~more aggressive~ (Episode 3)

How quickly do my opinions change.  I remember enjoying the Tamayura OVA, struggling and disappointed with Tamayura ~hitotose~ and considering not even picking up Tamayura ~more aggressive~ after remembering how discouraged I was after the 12-episode TV run.  But with just three episodes into Tamayura ~more aggressive~ and I find myself in love with the franchise like never before.  Perhaps it’s because the new characters, Kanae and Shimokamiyama, provide refreshing roles in the series in how they assist and develop Fu’s character and that the two biggest problems for me (Ko and Komachi) have had minimal screentime.  Or maybe because the series is focusing on the newfound Photography Club and on photography in general as compared to previous episodes of ~hitotose~ which alternated between charming stories and boring snorefests.  But with this new season of ~more aggressive~, Tamayura has taken a more aggressive approach to its characters, its story, its themes and its presentation and the sequel to this franchise is off to a fascinating start.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sequel score more than one point higher than an original, especially since Tamayura ~hitotose~ places last in Autumn 2011, but this has been the biggest surprise of the season, especially since I was considering skipping the series after my disappointment two years ago.  Thank goodness I gave this anime a shot and have felt rewarded ever since.

Uchouten Kazoku (Episode 3)

Despite being the most popular anime of the season according to anime bloggers, I can’t help but find myself bored with Uchouten Kazoku and I think I know why.  My main issue with the series is that it deals too much with politics.  Between the Shimogamo family’s internal struggles and those with the other Tanuki clans of Kyoto to the internal rumblings between the Tengu clans to the ‘Friday Club’ to Incident A and Incident B and just everything that everyone talks about… it’s all political and it’s all a bit peculiar at this point.  It’s a little hard to develop connections with these characters and these events when they all happened in the past and all are interwoven to create the complex and extravagant setting that is Uchouten Kazoku, but it’s all that every really happens.  Everyone is focused on the past and virtually every dialogue is tied to one of these prior events or are political in nature.  And, as a result, I can’t help but find myself uninterested when characters are talking about some event that happened in the past, especially when it’s all that ever happens in an episode.  So while I do appreciate the level of detail and complexity in Uchouten Kazoku, I have to question its relevance and purpose to the story and to question to what degree does it necessitate, especially since it’s reached the point where it’s begun to negatively affect the story and the characters.  But then again, maybe that’s only the case for me seeing how it has unrivaled popularity among other bloggers to date.

And before I forgot, while I’m on the subject of the past in this post, doesn’t Yasaburou’s male human look kinda remind you of Ted “Theodore” Logan’s look from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure?  I mean, that black vest on that white T-shirt and that mullet-style haircut with tight jeans… doesn’t it just scream 80’s fashion whenever you see Yasaburou?  I think he needs to go back to being a trap with that serafuku like we saw in the first episode.

During sometime, whenever Week 4 happened to be: the brilliant aesthetics and visuals of Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou, the magnificent and expressive use of creativity and imagination in Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu, the appropriate use of mild comedy in Tamayura ~more aggressive~ and Karen being the only stupid character in Monogatari Series Second Season.

Best episode of the week: Uchouten Kazoku

Anime trending up this week: Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou

Anime trending down this week: Hyperdimension Neptunia

Danganronpa the Animation (Episode 4)

I think the fun and entertainment of watching Danganronpa (and the whole point of playing Danganronpa) is to put yourself in Makoto’s situation and think about what you’d do to escape Hope’s Peak Academy.  I’ve come to the conclusion already that if I were to commit one of the murders in order to get out, the best time to do it would be to commit one during the investigative periods when everyone else is focusing all their time and energy on another murder.  That or just kill everyone all at the same time so then you automatically go but it’d be pretty hard when they’re spread throughout the school.  Either way, I’m kinda thinking we might see a murder like that sometime soon.

Gatchaman Crowds (Episode 3)

Hajime is already a personal favorite given her genki, positive and jovial personality that always brightens and energizes every scene of Gatchaman Crowds that she’s in.  And though we’ve seen her surprised and pout and wearing her grumpy-pants, we never really see Hajime stray her from constant emotion of smiles.  I do wonder if or when we’ll ever see her hit other famous emotions, like sad or mad or confused or anxiety, but I do hope we see her character challenged somewhat in Gatchaman Crowds.  I’d especially like it if something like this happened soon, although that depends entirely on the story and how her character reacts to whatever events occur.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou (Episode 4)

The more I watch of Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou, the more the series grows on me and the more I enjoy watching this entertaining anime.  And as the series continues on, I realize more and more that the aesthetics to this anime, that is the combination of artistic details (Tarot Seira’s eyes), color, style, presentation and theme, are what I am enjoying the most.  With this episode featuring multiple Madoka-isms (to put it simply and politely), I found myself paying close attention to the use of artistic motifs and textures and colors to express the contrast the Tarot/Daemonia world has from the real world and how this gives it a personality and feeling that’s both expressive and substantial.  Combine that with the costumes and clothes, the very same ones I obsessed about in the last post, the use of colors and symbolism (especially with each girl’s Tarot card) and the cutesy, charming nature of the character designs and the anime comes together as something special, even beyond its visuals and adorable art style.  And as the series moves on with its story and characters, perhaps down a road that I might not enjoy or want, the one reassuring aspect is that the aesthetics will continue to dazzle and impress.  So even if the anime begins to tumble downhill or take a nosedive, something which I’ve always feared from the beginning with this anime, I’ll know for sure that I will enjoy the aesthetics of Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou throughout.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 4)

Is Karen the only ‘stupid’ character in Monogatari?  Considering that every character say something clever or meaningful or significant at some point in the series, it always seems as though Karen is the one who doesn’t think long enough or hard enough and let’s her personality or aggression get the best of her.  Like, back during the Karen Bee arc, it was her foolishness and naïve nature that lead to her burning fever.  In the previous episode, Senjougahara tricked her, and rather quite effortlessly, to take Tsubasa into her home.  And just in this episode, when questioning about ‘fire’, Karen gave her opinion on it (meaning justice) only to retract her position when Tsukihi countered with ‘love’.  You could even count Karen’s aggressiveness, like forcing Tsubasa to play cards with her and her little sister, as part of this problem.  Hell, throw in her meager attempt to stack cards as part of this problem too, especially in light of Tsukihi and Tsubasa’s majestic and stable castles.  Either way, it always seems as though Karen’s character is a little bit slower than the rest or her mind doesn’t move as fast as her mouth (or her legs for that matter).  It might just be that her character is never in the right place or the right time for some meaningful or deep or profound monologue or statement of self-reflection or one life, but it just seems to me that Karen is the stupidest of the characters in Monogatari.  Then again, it might not be that she’s stupid but that she’s a bit too energetic, a bit too hyper, or a bit too aggressive with her personality, that she acts before she thinks.  And if that’s the case, then it’s nice that she’s smart, although you’d hardly know it with the way she talks and acts.  Either way, it’s always fun to see what’s going on with her, whether she’s stupid or not.

Silver Spoon (Episode 3)

Watching Yugo’s transition and transformation, from starting out as an urban kid who’s developing and maturing into a rural expert, is rather quite remarkable considering the stark contrast he’s facing from where he was to where he is now.  The thought of that made me question how often these teachers see kids from outside the rural catchment area that the school draws from and how these teachers handle these kids.  Furthermore, how do the teachers handle kids who are experts in certain subjects based on their prior experience and what their family farm specializes in.  If I had to guess, I’d wager that the school doesn’t see too many kids from urban settings or ones who have no prior experience or interest in agriculture or farming, and that students who venture out there are motivated by something, such as veterinary sciences, food processing or civil engineering.  And as for students who specialize in certain areas, you’d figure they might just take the class as an easy ‘A’, though you never know what they already know and that some aspects of the class might be beneficial, especially if there are other techniques or technologies to farming that the kid has had no prior experience with.  Either way, I suppose everything works out just fine for all the students of the various backgrounds, especially since the teachers thus far have had an exceptional interest in helping the students with their struggles and adversities so far.

Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu (Episode 4)

Yura’s imagination, often somewhere on the border of dreams and delusions of grandeur, really took a giant leap in this episode, and really captured my attention right as the series was beginning to stagnate and level off in mediocrity.  But the wild and expressive dreamscape she had, combined with stylized art and beautiful imagery, really differentiated this episode to me from the rest and shifted the course of the anime in a whole new, positive direction.  Just the story, the symbolism and the use of her delusions finally came to fruition and meaning for her character.  Not only that but seeing that imagery and that significance add some missing creativity and purpose to the series that moved beyond Yura wanting friends or the C3 Club wanting to win more survival games.  I hope the anime can continue to build off these dreams that Yura constantly has since it provide some spice and variety to the series.  If the anime continues to do that and find meaning or demonstration in these dreams, then I’ll have to reevaluate how much I enjoy C3-bu and how well the anime is performing, beyond the airsoft battles and girls chit-chatting over tea.

Tamayura ~more aggressive~ (Episode 4)

The comedy of Tamayura is very quite appropriate for a healing anime.  Considering that the humor is tailored to shorter, quicker jokes, often accompanied by chibi characters or cute expressions, the reaction from the audience is often smiles or chuckles rather than bouts of laughter or needing to spit out your drink all over the screen.  If Tamayura were like that, it really would distract from the healing, feel-good type atmosphere and theme the anime has going for it.  The brief jokes with simple smiles are all this anime needs.  And those smiles go a long way to help with the healing aspects of the anime, too.  So while I always enjoy comedies for making me laugh and enjoy myself, I do enjoy the comedy in Tamayura ~more aggressive~ for being applicable to what the anime needs and how it fits in with everything else in the anime.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S (Episode 16)

If there’s one thing this arc achieved in Railgun S, it is that Misaka Imouto has reinforced her position as my favorite character in Railgun/Index’s universe.  More importantly, it’s that Misaka Imouto’s sense of humor and personality were put on further display and meaning than what we’ve seen before and that her character is one of the most humorous and adorable in this extensive anime/light novel franchise.  I can only hope that we continue to see these clones wandering around Academy City in the remainder of Railgun’s second season, especially since my favorite episodes were the ones where Misaka Imouto was featured prominently and had ample time to make jokes at her older sister.

Uchouten Kazoku (Episode 4)

Without a doubt, the best thing in Uchouten Kazoku is the internal dynamic of the Shimogamo family.  Watching the family partake in the Obon festivities in Kyoto has been the highlight thus far of Uchouten Kazoku and it was in large part due to the dysfunctional family finally spending time together as a unit rather than as individuals occasionally meeting up with one another at various points along Yasaburou’s story.  But with the Mother’s flamboyant behavior and charming personality, Yaichirou’s stubborn yet anxious nature, Yashirou’s timid and dependent character, and Yasaburou’s determined (but only sometimes) style, the family fits pleasantly together as a unit and really brought the episode to life, from start to finish.  I can only hope to see more of the family together as the anime moves forward, especially if they can put in situations like this again where they’re all together for something both spectacular and crazy.

This week: appreciating the visual aesthetics of Uchouten Kazoku, the use of emotion in Shingeki no Kyojin, pink blood in Danganronpa, and the team failing to act as a team as a strength for Gatchaman Crowds.

Best episode of the week: Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui!

Anime trending up this week: Love Lab

Anime trending down this week: Silver Spoon

Danganronpa the Animation (Episode 6)

I don’t know what it is about the pink blood in Danganronpa, but I don’t like it.  Whether it’s intended to make the deaths more cartoony or kiddy or simply less frightening, it’s an aspect that seems to distract from the overall mood and theme of the series with death and despair as major hallmarks.  But pink blood?  If anything, the pink blood almost laughs at the whole notion of despair, doom and gloom that the series seems to love.  Why not just go with red and have everything line up?  Really, what’s the deal with the pink blood?  Unless they’re robots from Key the Metal Idol, I don’t get it.

Gatchaman Crowds (Episode 5)

Although the six Gatchaman heroes from a team, complete with their own secret hideout and badass leader (J.J. Robinson), they rarely act or function as a unit.  Really, besides meetings, briefings and general hangout sessions, when have we ever seen more than 3 or 4 of them together for a mission or objective?  Instead, it’s like it’s a collection of misfits who just so happen to share some similar interests but go about as individuals.  It’s rather quite pleasing to see some dysfunction and disconnect between the characters and their leaders in Gatchaman Crowds, so seeing them work like this, with the possibility of them acting like a team later on, is a strange positive for this series.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou (Episode 6)

Look at their heads.  Then look at their necks.  Unless their necks are reinforced with steel rebar and concrete, I don’t understand how their necks work.  Like, not even from a physical standpoint of trying to understand how it supports the weight of their heads, if you think about it anatomically, it still doesn’t make sense.  And no, I’m not trying to be funny here; I’m legitimately concerned about their health.  Fortunately, it appears as though the adults in this series don’t suffer from severe cases of ‘moe gigantism’ in their heads, but still, the anorexia in this anime is just as disturbing as the Daemonia who kill little girls for fun.

Shingeki no Kyojin (Episode 18)

I have trouble recalling an anime with such a distinct and constant use and expression of emotion like what you see in Attack on Titan.  Every character in every episode has distinguishable expressions on their faces and in their voices.  You can clearly see how every character feels whenever they’re on the screen.  Just the art and aesthetics of this series do so well to convey their emotions, especially with how strong they are at times.  It’s almost overwhelming at times, the amount of passion and excitement you see in just about every scene.  And it’s really quite entertaining too, especially since you can share in the experience or mock the series for being too over-the-top.  Either way, the constant onslaught of overpowering emotion is one of the best things Attack on Titan has going for it, especially now that the action has picked up to match the already-established emotions.

Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu (Episode 6)

How do the girls get away with bringing guns in the school?  And how does an all-girls school even allow them to cosplay in bikinis for a ‘wet paper contest’?  I realize I’m not supposed to be thinking about stuff like this, but still… suspension of disbelief only goes so far… that and I despise having school themed episodes like this in anime like C3-bu, a show where the interest and excitement clearly lie beyond the borders of Stella Women’s Academy.

Uchouten Kazoku (Episode 6)

I’ve always been a fan of the art, color, lighting, animation, aesthetics and cinematography of P.A. Works, always hailing it among the best in the industry, but Uchouten Kazoku raises the bar for what P.A. Works is capable of and what a quality anime should look like.  Almost everything in Uchouten Kazoku is visually appealing, thanks to a careful combination of the above qualities, and this episode seemed to highlight this anime’s strength in a select few scenes.  Really, the words right here, right now don’t do this anime the justice that it deserves and only can truly be appreciated by the fans watching and studying its beautiful illustrations.  I can only hope that these screenshots do the series credit, especially after the masterpiece that was episode 6.

This week: how Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu is really an anime analogy of drugs, thoughts on the origins of the walls in Shingeki no Kyojin, the weakness of friendships in Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou and the adorable tanukis of Uchouten Kazoku.

Best episode of the week: Stella Jogakuin Koutou-ka C3-bu

Anime trending up this week: Love Lab

Anime trending down this week: Gatchaman Crowds

Uchouten Kazoku (Episode 11)

The art and animation in Uchouten Kazoku has always been a favorite aspect of mine; the way the backgrounds are illustrated with intricate details in the lighting and subtle movements to the abundance of motion and fluidity in the animation.  However, what I find underappreciated or overlooked is the art of the tanukis.  With their cartoonish and sometimes silly look, the tanukis of Uchouten Kazoku feel slightly out of place compared to the rest of the visuals of this anime.  Nonetheless, the tanuki art style is another favorite of mine for a number of reasons.  First is that, though they’re all tanukis, each one has their own individual appearance that is traced back to their standard human form.  It not only gives each character a much needed distinction while in animal form but also helps keep characters consistent between their appearances.  Second is the four suites motif on the bellies of the four sons.  You have little patches of off-color fur in the shapes of spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs on these tanukis.  It doesn’t mean much in the way of symbolism unless you’re trying to draw tangents to each character but it is a lovely motif for each son to have.  But perhaps the most notable and imperative aspect about the tanuki art style is that they’re all cute.  Even with all this familial and societal drama going on, not to mention the constant threat of being boiled alive and eaten, the tanukis are all still incredibly cute creatures.  And isn’t that the most important thing to have in an anime, having cute characters?  Well, if it isn’t, then I’m watching Uchouten Kazoku for all the wrong reasons.

Tamayura ~more aggressive~ (Episode 11)

Even though this episode of Tamayura ~more aggressive~ was unquestionably the most heartwarming, encouraging, inspiring and emotional episodes of the entire franchise… I still can’t get over how short their skirts are.  Like, I know pretty much every anime has schoolgirls in incredibly short miniskirts… but this isn’t like most anime.  Tamayura is supposed to be a healing anime, not an ecchi anime.  It’s supposed to be aimed at a wider audience.  So why do the skirts struggle to reach the girls’ fingertips?  I mean, shouldn’t the skirts be down around the knees instead of arriving just short of their mid-thighs?  Or has anime become so universally fanservicey that every girl in every anime wears a miniskirt that does enough to just cover their panties? (Or in many cases, doesn’t even do that.)  That’s not to say I’m complaining about it, especially knowing my history with anime… it’s just that it doesn’t seem appropriate in an anime of this style and this caliber.

Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-bu (Episode 11)

So, does anyone else think C3-bu is an analogy of drugs?  Think about it for a second, and it all becomes clear.  It would explain all of Yura’s obsessions and delusions, how they all seem to be realistic and how they compassed her life at the beginning of the series onward.  The drug analogy would also works with the finer details about airsoft, too.  It started out innocent with Yura joining the group with the club’s intent of getting her addicted.  After her first ‘hit’ (getting hit with a pellet… or taking a hit OF DRUGS), she was hooked.  And let’s not forget those little pellets look like small pills, too.  And since that moment, airsoft (OR DRUGS) took over Yura’s life, turning every aspect of it into her obsession.  It would also explain why she went to hang out with a bad crowd, looking to get her fix with her former enemies when her former friends were unable to satisfy her anymore.  And the airsoft guns?  Why, those represent guns of course, further demonstrating the violence and carnage associated with drug culture.  So you see, C3-bu has really been an anime analogy of drugs this entire time.  It’s too perfect not to be.  Now all that remains is Yura to find herself in rehab of some sort and come out clean or something to complete the anime.

Silver Spoon (Episode 10)

I blame Silver Spoon for the 10 pounds I’ve gained since I started watching this anime.  Every episode makes the food they’re eating look so delicious, I can’t help myself but go out and buy some bacon or pizzas or cheeses or whatever.  I mean, how could you not when the entire anime is about delicious food and the animals that provide them to us?  Oh well, at least we’re getting a 3-month break in the series for me to lose some weight.  Now, all I need to do is find some exercise anime that isn’t Issho ni Training (Training With Hinako).

Shingeki no Kyojin (Episode 23)

The idea that a select few have the ability to transform themselves into titans is integral and fundamental to Attack on Titan.  Not only does it give the setting a direction for which to explore but it helps mystify the struggle of humanity given these undermining spies bent on eradicating humanity.  However, from this idea comes a tangent in regards to the struggle the titans are having in wiping out mankind: the walls.  The walls Maria, Rose and Sina have kept titans out for more than a century and, even after Maria was breached, have been enough to safeguard humanity after their most recent assaults.  But what exactly is the origin of these walls?  How were they able to construct such colossal and broad walls during a time when humanity was quickly becoming extinct from titans attacking?  It’s very peculiar, especially since some people treat the walls as goddesses that save them from certain death.  My thoughts on the issue?  That these walls were originally people, too.  Maybe not people named Maria, Rose and Sina but that the walls are also the byproduct of human transformation.  My thoughts are that, at the time of the titans attacking were experiments that were able to transform people into titans and people into anti-titans or the three walls that we see standing currently.  There must’ve been some conflict going on but that caused the two sides to split and ultimately began the struggle that we see before us, titans versus walls.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou (Episode 11)

Like every anime ever, the theme of friendship is prominent and studied in Gen’ei wo Kakeru Taiyou.  Unfortunately for the girls in Genei Taiyou, the friendship shared between the girls has been revealed to be incredibly fickle.  Although they spent most of the series together as a team of four (living together, learning together, eating together and fighting together), all that was needed to dissolve the bonds of friendship were some simple persuasions by one shady character.  Seira taking that knife against Daemonia Luna is just one example but so too is Akari’s sacrifice to go with Cerebrum.  Hell, you could even throw in Luna’s mistakes that led her to her demise at the hands of Cerebrum as another fault in the theme of friendship in Genei Taiyou.  Whatever the reason, the relationships between the girls has been largely superficial, often due to underlying conflicts or incompatible personalities.  It’s rather interesting to see an anime of this theme and this style to have such a degree of hardships in relation to its relationships, but I feel that the anime will have a very anime ending and that everything will be wiped clean, forgotten, and lead to the girls being best friends again without much in the way of intelligence, action or audience satisfaction.  Of course, we shouldn’t expect anything like that from the writing or storytelling of Genei Taiyou given what’s happened throughout the entire series.

Danganronpa the Animation (Episode 11)

Why couldn’t more of Danganronpa be in the same style as those execution scenes?  You know, the scenes where the art style shifts so dramatically that it looks as though we’re watching an entirely different anime?  Why couldn’t we have that more than a select few times?  I know, I know, it’d lessen the impact felt during these scenes where an unlucky cast member makes their final appearance but wouldn’t the anime just look better as a result?  I get that the anime is being adapted from a game and so the visual styles are matched accurately, but why not spice up the detective scenes or classroom trials with an improved style of animation?  Well, I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much since the normal visual style of Danganronpa is actually pretty fun, with its smooth character designs and brilliant use of colors, but still… that animation style is quite unique and fun to watch.  You almost feel a slight bit cheated knowing that you’ll only get to see it a half dozen times throughout the course of this anime.  Then again, I guess we should be lucky we got to see it at all.

This week: trying to find a weakness in KILL la KILL, complaints about the endless backstories in Kyousogiga, splitting the characters to revitalize Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, and trying to figure out what’s gonna happen in Gingitsune.

Best episode of the week: KILL la KILL

Anime trending up this week: Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta

Anime trending down this week: Blazblue: Alter Memory

BlazBlue: Alter Memory (Episode 2)

After two episodes of pretty much nothing but Ragna and Noel, is now the time we begin to worry about the remaining cast of characters in BlazBlue?  Well, if the anime’s dedication to its story is any indication, yes, now is the time to start worrying.  After two episodes of virtually the same material and characters, I have a feeling that BlazBlue will continue its focus like this from start to finish and use the remainder of the cast of fighters as background characters who pop up periodically with no reason to their appearance.  How they’ll even fit everyone in is still an area of concern for me, considering that the cast of BlazBlue is extensive and only two characters have had significant screentime in the first sixth of the series.  To me, the series is taking a step in the wrong direction and I can see the anime going downhill in a hurry.  Then again, it’s typical to start off slow in a fighting adaptation like this, so hopefully we can part ways with Ragna and Noel soon and focus on everyone else.  But then again, if the preview at the end of episode 2 is any sign, looks to be more of the same from here on out.

Coppelion (Episode 3)

I don’t like the whole aspect of contamination in Coppelion.  While it’s decent for the story, creating this inaccessible and secluded deadzone, the science behind it is largely suspect.  The mention of genetically engineered ion channels indicates that the contamination is particle based, that there are chemicals floating in the air that cause toxicity in everyone but the Coppelion girls.  However, if it is particle based contamination and the chemicals are known enough to design specific ion channels to create immunity, why not provide more information to create a clearer picture?  Why stop half way and only provide a half-assed answer to probably the most stimulating question of the series?  And if it is a chemical that’s causing the contamination, why isn’t it spreading from the epicenter and dispersing to other environments?  Sure, we know that this was all caused by a meltdown at a nuclear plant but how are there still certain areas with drastically higher concentration than others (unless the source of the contamination is still leaking materials)?  And what’s this about their other superpowers too, like super-sight and super athletic abilities?  Really, the scientific information here is suspect at best for a series that seems to enjoy using science as a significant point of emphasis.  However, I don’t intend to relentless bash the use of science in this anime since the idea of genetic engineering specific to the contamination is a pleasant sci-fi idea, like how microbes develop resistance to specific antibiotics.  And I’d love for Coppelion to go the full-mile in its answer to the contamination since it would help strengthen the anime overall.  Instead, it feels like Coppelion is quitting halfway with its explanations provided in episode 3, and it’s starting to leave a negative impression on me as a result.

Freezing Vibration (Episode 3)

Freezing Vibration is a substantial improvement upon Freezing, but what aspect of this sequel is the most meaningful or responsible?  Last week, I touched upon the change in aspect ratio, going from 4:3 to 16:9 (widescreen) as a noteworthy difference but that alone does not credit the improvement seen in the story or characters.  Could it be the reduction in ecchi fanservice?  Well, the fanservice is still considerable in this series and much more than anything else I’m watching, so it can’t be that though the series has gotten better at restraining itself.    Perhaps it’s the lack of a male presen… ah, yup, that’s it.  That’s why Freezing Vibration is so much better.  Not only was Kazuya’s character a boring waste of space in the first season, his role or importance was only ordinary or unexceptional besides being the penis every girl wanted to have.  So now with Kazuya’s presence effectively reduced to 30 seconds each episode, Freezing is able to focus on its performing or accomplishing characters, ones that actually perform in the story, moving it forward and accomplish tasks, like winning fights or having important conversations with each other.  It’s like the series realized what it needed to do to get better and it’s checklist consisted of widescreen anime, reduced/better fanservice and cutting the deadweight in the series… which just so happened to be Kazuya and whatever other male characters appeared in the first season.  Now, with Freezing moving forward with only its most important characters, the anime has seen significant developments and upgrades all around.  Hopefully the anime will continue on this path beyond this story arc since this is easily the best Freezing has ever been.

Galilei Donna (Episode 2)

Although the three sisters are promoted as the main characters in Galilei Donna, it’s clear that after two episodes, it’s Hozuki… and then her older, more useless sisters.  But as the series has progressed thus far, it’s not like the other sisters, Hazuki and Kazuki, have had any opportunity to shine.  So while it feels like the youngest sister is the sole protagonist of the series, I can’t help but wonder if the series will proceed in phases, where a certain sister takes the role of ‘leader’ and the other two fit the billing of ‘leader’s suitcases who she carries around’.  That is to say, maybe as the series progresses, Hazuki’s knowledge of law will aid the sisters where Hozuki’s mechanics and Kazuki’s karate are ineffective and, at a different time, it’s Kazuki who saves the sisters by kicking ass without much in the way of help from sisters #1 and #3.  I certainly hope the series finds more use out of Hazuki and Kazuki shortly since those two seem to be rather interesting as characters themselves but they seem ineffective and unimportant through the first two episodes.  It doesn’t have to be that the series progresses in phases where the sisters rotate the role of protagonist, just that they’re able to provide some use to the series besides being Hozuki’s older sisters.

Gingitsune (Episode 3)

So what’s gonna happen in Gingitsune?  Is there going to be some sort of conflict?  Some sort of antagonist?  Will there be some evil, villainous corporation who’ll try to demolish the shrine and Makoto and Gintarou need to work together to restore everyone’s faith in religion and save the shrine?  Or what?  What exactly is the central storyline moving forward for Gingitsune?  The first three episodes of Gingitsune have been episodic in nature without much in the way of establishing or developing a main storyline.  And considering the nature and characters of this anime, it doesn’t seem like this anime is a slice-of-life series with random, fun episodes either.  You almost feel as though this anime would have a singular, major plot that progresses through these twelve episodes but there’s been nothing thus far.  It’s a glaring chunk that’s missing from this series.  And even if the series does develop a storyline in the next couple of episodes, this first quarter of the series will feel like wasted space or a missed opportunity.  Then again, maybe Gingitsune is different than most anime and will follow a less traditional route with Makoto and Gintarou.  Maybe it doesn’t need a huge story to work through and it doesn’t bill itself as a silly slice-of-life anime.  But then, if that’s not it, then what exactly is Gingitsune?  I suppose as the series advances, we’ll slowly find out.

Kakumeiki Valvrave (S2) (Episode 14)

Now that Akari’s backstory has been explained and seemingly resolved, you can’t help but question whether we will see a change in her personality and see her more sociable as a result.  After all, the origination of her social anxiety was derived from Satomi, her older brother, ignoring her when she was bullied by university officials and classmates alike.  This left her emotionally scarred and damaged mentally, which led her to being secluded and isolated from everyone but Shoko.  But now that she’s sorta/kinda resolved the outstanding issue with her brother, you figure this will spur a change in her personality or activity.  No, I don’t expect her to be outgoing and making friends and striking conversations with everyone, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see her more proactive and talking more, especially with Haruto and the other Valvrave pilots now.  Then again, that silent-girl personality is a popular archetype in anime and it’s what has led to Akari’s character gaining popularity, so why would you tarnish her character’s strength?  Maybe if there’s some happy medium that the series can offer in terms of character growth and silent-girl archetype, then hopefully that’s what’ll happen.  If not, I’m willing to part with her older personality if it allows her character to make more of a presence or significance in this series.  After all, we had plenty of episodes with her shy/quiet personality already, so why not allow her character to develop like everyone else?

KILL la KILL (Episode 3)

Does Kill La Kill have any weaknesses?  After three extremely manic, enthusiastic, spirited and sexy episodes, Kill La Kill has immediately become arguably the most dynamic and entertaining anime of the season and perhaps, even for all of 2013.  Every episode is fun, thanks to its inane comedy and ridiculous fights, and the sex appeal is excessive but somehow feels appropriate or justified.  The characters have rich, vibrant personalities and fit their roles perfectly, performing their pieces with outstanding results.  And the setting is exceptional and unique; exceptional in its style and presentation with one versus a million and its unique with these living school uniforms that are the origin of power and authority in this world.  But what about the story?  What seems to be the limiting factor in Kill La Kill thus far, the story is well established and clearly understood, but it seems to be lagging behind every other facet of the series in its rather tame and ordinary plot.  Sure, specific aspects of the story have done wonderfully, such as the writing, pacing and dialogue, but the subject of the story itself seems like a snoozer.  It’s just very average compared to everything else in the series which ranges from astonishing to brilliant to incalculable.  But to return to the original point of this review, if Kill La Kill has any weaknesses, I’d have to say no.  To call the ‘story’ a weakness would be inappropriate considering how it supports virtually every other outstanding aspect of the series.  Furthermore, the story does have exceptional writing thus far, especially with its dialogue.  And while I do consider the story to be lagging behind everything else, I do appreciate a simple story done right.  To me, Kill La Kill does not have any weaknesses or deficiencies and is pretty much perfect just the way it is.

Kyousogiga (TV) (Episode 2)

So… when are these flashbacks and backstories going to end?  Since the original OVA aired in 2011, everything since (the 2012 OVA, the OVA revisited and these first two episodes of the TV series) has been a flashback or retelling of an older story.  Where is all the new material?  Where is the series moving forward?  I can understand why the series wants to establish its history before it gets too detailed in its current story, but why did we need all this upfront?  Couldn’t the series have made some progress and done its backstory when it was needed to explain details or events?  That’s typically how most anime document their story and it’s a pattern that works wonders.  Take Mawaru Penguindrum for example and its ability to infuse a gorgeous and impressive history into an anime without needing to pause the plot for hours at a time.  What Penguindrum did was it linked everything in the present to events or situations in the past and used it to propel the story forward with reason and relevance.  In Kyousogiga, we’re given everything all at once and we can’t find its significance or relevance until… whenever (or maybe never).  However, if the preview is any indication, it seems that the series will finally move forward for the very first time, since the release of the original OVA back in 2011.  Hopefully now we can finally see this anime develop like what was promised two years ago.

Magi: The Kingdom of Magi (S2) (Episode 3)

Splitting the main trio of characters and each pursuing their own path is exactly what’s necessary for Magi to rekindle the hype, excitement and adventure that was lost long ago.  When Magi started to grow stagnant and stale during the whole Alibaba/Kassim love story in the middle of the first season, the anime lost its sense of being a journey and its adventurous enthusiasm.  The characters were content with solving socioeconomic and political issues rather than exploring dungeons, meeting fascinating djinns and learning about the world they live in.  And so, the latter half of Magi became largely mediocre and wearisome.  So with the prospect of the three main characters each going their own ways and pursuing their own goals, I have a strong feeling that Magi will relearn and re-experience its sense of exhilaration and adventure.  The characters will each be traveling to new areas of the globe, meeting new characters and learning more about themselves and others in these exciting places.  After getting a quick dose of this split in the first half of Magi S1, I’m excited to see it again though on a much bigger and grander scale.  I’m looking forward to seeing what happens to Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana now that each will be away from each other for an unspecified amount of time.  And when they return back together, it’ll be interesting to see how this changes affect not only themselves but the series as a whole.

Nagi no Asukara (Episode 3)

Although the rule of banishment from Shioshishio is derived from a logical and practical conundrum, the idea of enforcing banishment in this modern era seems asinine and laughable.  The whole idea of banishment stems from the lack of ena, the special material used to breathe and survive underwater, of the child between a couple from above and below the sea.  Without the ena, one of the parents and the child will need to remain on land since neither could possibly live underwater in Shioshishio.  So, instead of tearing apart the family and living it to a single-parent, Shioshishio forced the responsible party out and excommunicates them to live on the land.  But why does this underwater society need to ‘banish’ these people?  Why not allow them the possibility of returning if things don’t work out, or if they want to return to visit their family for a weekend?  The idea of banishment is certainly extreme and unjustified, especially with the notion that it effectively reduces their dwindling population.  I understand why the practice came about and I understand why it’s present with the themes of this series being on multiracial societies and their conflicts.  But being set in this modern age, I fail to understand how this unwritten rule hasn’t been altered or modified to address how the current societies operate and intermingle.  Then again, maybe it’s used to show how asinine or silly these old rules are, even when it’s the consequent from a rational and actual problem that keeps people alive and families together.  It will be interesting to see how this applies to the characters of the series, especially Manaka, moving forward.

Samurai Flamenco (Episode 2)

The addition of Mari Maya, the popular idol from Mineral Miracle Muse, is certainly intriguing because of her prospects of joining Hazama’s ‘hero’ side of the anime.  Not only that but the idea of her becoming a sidekick or a member of Hazama’s hero team is thrilling and promising.  I had wondered about there being other heroes to join Samurai Flamenco and his pursuit of justice but never figured Goto would join given his occupation as a policeman and his rationale sense of justice and society.  However, in comes Mari who seems to be somewhat obsessed with heroes, similar to Hazama; she’s obsessive enough to recognize the Red Axe song during work but not obsessive enough to be a heroic vigilante herself.  However, after watching Hazama’s interview after her shower that night, you figure it’s only time before she creates her own costume and hero and fights crime on the streets like Samurai Flamenco.  I’m already looking forward to the moment when Hazama and Mari meet up on the street in their hero costumes.  I’m also looking forward to when they discover each other’s identities, too, since that should be priceless.

Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta (Episode 2)

The characters in Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta are an exceptional strength.  Not only do each of the characters possess their own fun personality that work extremely well with each other but their appearances, whether it’s their unique costumes or their subtle youkai/beast details, are a significant reason why I enjoy this cast so much.  Yes, of course, you have the generic male lead with short, black hair and a handful of schoolgirls, but the wild assortment of costumes beyond them are wonderful.  And the cohesion between humans and youkai is a pleasant aspect that allows this series uses to its fullest advantage, allowing catgirls(satori) and ogres(oni) to walk alongside your normal, everyday humans with superpowers.  Not only that but the casual demeanor of the cast and their collective mentality bring out the fun in this series, like how Hime, Kotoha and Ao acted during their practice brawl before it almost turned ugly.  I’m not too sure what to think about the other aspects of this anime like the setting and story, but the characters are an unquestionable positive and their impact on this anime is indisputable.  But just how much of an impact they have and whether that’s enough to make up for the other aspects remains to be seen.

This week: why Flamenco Girl is evil in Samurai Flamenco, appreciating how Kyousogiga is reusing its material by expanding on its recaps, why the storytelling outdid the unique visuals in Monogatari Series Second Season, and questioning the schoolgirl uniform attire in Coppelion.

Best episode of the week: Monogatari Series Second Season

Anime trending up this week: Nagi no Asukara

Anime trending down this week: Galilei Donna

BlazBlue: Alter Memory (Episode 4)

Although this was expected, based solely on the cast of characters prior to the start of the anime, I want there to be more villains in BlazBlue.  Everyone is just so nice and friendly to each other, like how Taokaka wants to play with Ragna instead of fighting him, how Rachel is content watching everyone do whatever and now, most recently, with Noel talking her way out of a fight with Litchi Faye-Ling.  Those are at least 3 fights that could’ve happened in this episode alone.  These guys are all too nice and friendly to each other for a fighting anime.  Thank goodness there’s Hazama to create chaos and disorder, forcing the characters to fight each other instead of talking things over… and this gets back to why I want there to be more villains in BlazBlue: for there to be more fights.  Hopefully Relius Clover appears again soon or Jin Kisaragi finds someone because the series is going to be pretty dull unless some decent fights start up.

Coppelion (Episode 5)

Why the schoolgirl uniforms?  Why not something more… appropriate, for being a medical/rescue team?  Well, maybe appropriate isn’t the word I’m looking for since this is an anime and everyone wears school uniforms in anime… but maybe, something more professional or applicable is what I’m looking for.  Why not wear something more recognizable as a rescue worker?  Why do they need to show off some skin in those miniskirts like they are now?  Certainly those clothes aren’t ideal for running around, carrying people and trying to save the lives of those trapped in Tokyo’s nuclear epicenter.  I mean, seriously, are miniskirts the best thing to wear when running, climbing, fighting and whatnot?  And what’s not to say those blazers or skirts might get caught on some twisted metal or debris or something and get damaged?  Or what happens when it rains and their clothes get wet?  You’d figure that for a team as important as the Coppelion team is that they’d be given clothing suitable to aid in their job.  And yeah, sometimes they do switch clothes but they always revert back to the blazer and miniskirt combo.  I guess the only logical explanation is that this is an anime and schoolgirl uniforms are the only form of fanservice they’ll go for.  Still, this show used this as an opportunity to differentiate itself from the rest and try out military uniforms or something for the same level of fanservice but be more appropriate for the setting and be different than all the other “school uniform anime” out there.

Freezing Vibration (Episode 5)

I can’t tell who is worse, Elizabeth for leaking the documents to the Mably Corporation and then remaining close to her enemies or that Chevalier tortured Elizabeth and then nonchalantly placed her back amongst friends thinking this wouldn’t backfire on them.  Like, did either side really plan ahead for what might happen if things took a turn for the worse?  For example, Elizabeth should have anticipated what the backlash would be if she was discovered to have leaked crucial documents, an act of treason.  She probably should’ve left the E-Pandora facilities and returned to Japan or Britain where she’d be in touch with the Mably Corporation and away from Chevalier.  And for Chevalier, why wouldn’t they send Elizabeth back home after torturing her?  Allowing her to go back among peers, even if she was completely traumatized and couldn’t start a rebellion, is that the others around her are going to be pissed off and want to rebel against this cruel organization.  I suppose the right answer is that they both made terrible, terrible decisions but I figure Chevalier has more to lose than Elizabeth, so I’ll pick them as the worse option provided there is a rebellion and the girls fight back at the defense of Elizabeth.

Galilei Donna (Episode 4)

Galilei Donna… I want to like you, but… can you just please stop being so stupid?  Not only does the treasure hunt storyline really suck featuring a host of problems (it doesn’t make sense to search for hidden documents and obscure clues to find a treasure left by a man 500 years prior… what if this were lost or destroyed or deteriorated over time?) but the content of the show is slipping from adequate to subpar.  For example, the daughter of Herman Hans needed a special surgery for an unusual disease but no one know how to do the surgery.  So in order to address this issue, he began to create a robot to do this procedure to save her life.  But… that would mean he’d know what the surgery was in order to save her life, so why not just hire a surgeon to do it for him?  Him building that robot is what cost his daughter her life.  What a negligent parent, choosing a now-useless robot over a human girl.  And then there’s the issue of Hozuki falling, getting injured and then requiring that exact, specific robot to save her life.  That’s just an example of lazy writing.  Then there was Cicinho chasing after the girls and then fighting them and then stopping… why was that even necessary?  That’s an example of stupid writing.  And then having Herman provide the next clue by handing over the document at the end to allow the story to progress?  That’s an example of even lazier and even stupider writing.  I mean, why can’t this anime be better than it is?  I want to like this anime but it keeps lowering my expectations and I’m becoming less impressed with it after every episode.

Kakumeiki Valvrave (S2) (Episode 16)

How does ‘eating’ runes work?  Does the brain tissue revert back to a smoother state, resulting in a loss of wrinkles?  Do the synapses of memories just disappear?  Like, how do these memories, physical material in the brain, just get transferred over to a robotic machine without any appropriate connections?  I mean, in order to lose these memories in the real world, something has to happen at the site of the synapses, such as alcohol, drugs or toxins that damage and destroy the physical material there.  But in the case of Valvrave, they’re just gone? And then what’s this bullshit about how runes are to information like particles are to matter?  How does that shit work when these memories, called runes in Valvrave, are also physical matter, too?  Kind of a double standard now, Valvrave, by denoting that ‘runes’ are also physical matter and not just information.  I know, I know, I shouldn’t be applying logic or science to Valvrave because… well, it’s Valvrave… but at the very least, couldn’t it be consistent with its wacky universe?

KILL la KILL (Episode 5)

So what is the setting like beyond the walls of Honnouji Academy?  Or more appropriately, what’s the rest of Japan like (or the world like for that matter) in this overly-enthusiastic, dystopian future where the center of society is the local high school?  We already know that there’s a class system in place, based on the performance and grades of the students and that Honnouji Academy owns schools in eastern Kantou, the area where Ryuuko attended several schools before transferring to Honnouji Gakuen, and has completed a conquest of Japan except for Kansai.  It really makes me wonder what it’s like when you go far away from Honnouji Academy, such as to Hokkaido who is supposedly under Honnouji’s rule but far away from the centralized power there.  Are they like mini-Honnoujis?  Are their cities structured the same way, too?  And then what’s so special about Kansai, too?  As with any setting, I would love to see more and am happy to get whatever details I can extract, either through dialogue or other knowledge, but this show is a bit more of a tease than others considering how focused it is on Honnouji as its only physical location.  Hopefully the anime will require Ryuuko or someone else to explore beyond the walls of this insane school, but for now, I’m excited to see what I can learn through little hints like these hidden through each episode.

Kyousogiga (TV) (Episode 4)

While it has been established already that I dislike recaps, I do enjoy what Kyousogiga has done with its reinterpretations of its OVAs from last year.  That is, these last few episodes have featured repeat material from previous episodes but these new episodes expand and develop the material beyond what the OVAs previously achieved.  I actually like this.  I do like that the anime is able to take some of its material and improve upon it in a way that highlights the world and its characters better.  Although I would prefer it to be entirely all new material (a similar or parallel story rather than old/new material mixed together), there is something special about seeing old footage again but with different levels of magnification and focus on the subjects presented.  It would be something similar to an anime going back and answering questions or addressing issues that I or others had with the original material.  It’s kinda neat like that.  Too bad that some of this material is still a recap or repeat from the OVAs, but, when that’s the only knock I have on the series, you can tell I like the anime by quite a bit.

Magi: The Kingdom of Magi (S2) (Episode 5)

Although it’s impossible for me to give proper acknowledgement and merit to sakuga sequences given the format and style of this blog, I do want to take a moment to provide recognition for some of the outstanding and magnificent animation demonstrated through Magi as a series.  As compared to other anime, Magi seems to have a more frequent occurrences of gorgeous sakuga sequences and are typically employed during dramatic fighting scenes, especially with Morgiana and her impressive hand-to-hand (or rather, feet-to-face) fighting style.  So while I’m seeing my interest in the series wane, I do find myself still enjoying the art and animation in Magi thanks to sakuga sequences like those displayed in the fifth episode of this second season.  I can only hope that these sequences continue since they’re one of my favorite aspects of Magi moving forward.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 18)

Lovely artwork but even lovelier storytelling.  While it will be the imagery of this episode that makes the headlines for being a stunning array of vibrant, detailed and spectacular visuals, it was the content of this episode that was the real treat.  Rather, I found the history of Shinobu to be extremely fascinating, opening a window into her character which is arguably the most obscure, underdeveloped (haha, boob joke) and neglected character in the Monogatari Series.  Her character has barely been the focus of any story prior, so having an episode devoted to her history was delightful.  Furthermore, how it tied in with the current storyline provided its significance and timing.  And to make things even better, it was how the story evolved with Shinobu’s character and her first servant that really speaks about her personality and her relationship with Araragi.  The episode was nothing short of special with its gorgeous scrolls overlaying Shinobu’s dialogue, but the real treasure here was the story of this episode.  And though we know the animation and art style will likely revert back to ‘normal’ Shaft, we can hope that the storytelling of Monogatari Series will continue to dazzle like it did in this episode.

Nagi no Asukara (Episode 5)

When has telling someone to “forget it” ever worked?  When has it ever resolved a conflict of any sort or made a situation better?  First off, if you’re going to tell someone to forget something, like Chisaki told Manaka after she overheard her talking about her crush on Hikari, it doesn’t mean that they’ll necessarily be able to forget it.  In the case of Manaka, how will she be able to forget that she heard who her best friend loves?  Even if she tries her hardest, you know she won’t be able to forget based on how stories are written.  And what about from Chisaki’s perspective, how will telling Manaka to forget about it make anything better for her?  Why doesn’t she address the situation with Manaka, talk things over and make a plan for how to mitigate the problem so that Manaka doesn’t make things worse.  Or better yet, since Chisaki doesn’t know how Manaka feels, why not ask for her input on this issue as well?  I mean, now that Manaka knows, you might as well take advantage of your own mistake and work to keep her on your side.  But no, she just wants Manaka to forget about it and for the issue to be dropped, though you know it won’t leave Manaka’s mind anytime soon.  And what does this say about Chisaki’s respect for Manaka?  Telling her to forget about something significant like this is pretty disrespectful to Manaka.  Why can’t she learn who her best friend loves?  Why is this a subject that’s a secret to her?  Well, whatever it is, you figure that once another character tells someone to “forget it”, it’ll blow up in their face before too long.  It’s just a matter of time before someone explodes in Nagi no Asukara.

Samurai Flamenco (Episode 4)

Flamenco Girl might be a superhero to the victims she saves and rescues but the girl behind the mask, Mari Maya, is evil.  She is pure evil.  Not like supervillain evil but a different type of evil that shows her abuse of power and how she’s a hero for all the wrong reasons.   And no, this is not from all the nut stomping she does, though you could probably tally that up to something evil too, but it’s her selfish and demanding personality that demonstrates why she’s evil.  First, she blames Hazama for ruining her debut.  She figures that if she starts fighting crime now on the streets with that somewhat sexy get-up that she’ll be labeled as a copy-cat.  And while any superhero wouldn’t mind, Mari can’t have that.  That’s her being selfish.  So her idea is to team-up with Hazama and for her to take center-stage, saving him and taking the spotlight.  That’s her being demanding.  Those aren’t personality traits you’d find on a hero; they’re what you’d find on someone evil.  And to further illustrate this point, she even claims she doesn’t understand the whole “good versus evil” aspect either… which is exactly what someone would say if they’re evil pretending to be a hero.  However, I don’t think Mari is intentionally evil or intends to be an ‘evil’ hero but that these actions are derivative of her personality as a whole.  You figure that her introduction like this as a flawed character will eventually lead to her having an epiphany where she’s able to turn her character completely around and become a hero of justice, like Samurai Flamenco.  However, I don’t expect the kicks to the balls to go away, even if she does become a proper superhero.

Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta (Episode 4)

Underage anime characters drinking alcohol and getting drunk after one or two sips is a stupid, humorless cliché.  Sure, it’s not as bad as the characters drinking juice or soda and then acting drunk, so at least Yozakura Quartet didn’t mess up that badly, but still, having the main cast of teenagers act drunk after ‘mistakenly’ drinking alcohol is a tired anime stereotype that has never been funny.  It’s just a lazy way of having the characters act stupid or silly when the authors can’t be bothered with writing something intelligent.  Why not have them willingly drink sufficient amounts of alcohol to justify getting drunk and then acting crazy?  Or why not have the characters act silly for another reason, like celebrating after a stressful or successful event?  I’m not sure if it’d justify Kotoha licking Ao’s boobs but it could do be a justification for Hime’s overeating.  Or, you could just work around the event and try to produce comedy through some other means.  I mean, virtually anything would be better than this provided Yozakura Quartet didn’t devolve into anime cooking jokes, oblivious male leads, or characters screaming every punchline.  So yeah, I guess Yozakura Quartet is better than 50% of comedy anime, even after something asinine like this.

This week: how the sexiness in KILL la KILL has lost its impact, appreciating the contrast in work between Gotou and Hazama in Samurai Flamenco, discovering a purpose for Aoi in Coppelion, and how character development and story progress made this the best episode of Magi: The Kingdom of Magic in at least 20 episodes.

Best episode of the week: KILL la KILL

Anime trending up this week: Magi: The Kingdom of Magic (S2)

Anime trending down this week: Coppelion

Coppelion (Episode 6)

What purpose does Aoi have in Coppelion?  If you said she has no purpose, you’d be wrong.  If you think she exists purely for comic relief, you’d also be wrong.  And if you said she exists just to be annoying, well… you’d be right, technically, but that’s not what I’m going for here.  Aoi exists to undermine everything about Coppelion.  Think about it for a second and this conflicting detail slowly becomes more apparent.  Coppelion thinks of itself as a serious anime, documenting the lives of genetically engineered schoolgirls as they explore a hazardous wasteland and try to ‘rescue’ the forgotten and neglected, only to find themselves with clashing and challenging personalities that call their very purpose and existence into question.  The setting and story are entirely serious and the anime wants us, as an audience, to take it seriously, too.  But then here comes Aoi, constantly screaming and complaining and being useless.  She isn’t funny.  She hasn’t done anything important.  And honestly, if she were dead, I think Ibara and Taeko would be better off with a bag of nuclear waste than with Aoi around.  The bumbling idiot is intended to be the comic relief of the anime but her presence undermines everything that Coppelion wants to be.  But then, it isn’t entirely fair to blame a poorly designed character in Aoi when the writing is the root of every problem in Coppelion.  Had the writers scripted Aoi’s character better, she wouldn’t feel as wasted or unnecessary or detrimental as she has been.  Had her character served any meaningful purpose in the anime, while also providing amusing comedy, then I don’t think I’d have a problem with Aoi like I do now.  Really, the writing is so abysmal in Coppelion that virtually every problem this series has can be traced back to this origin.  It’s actually somewhat entertaining to see what blunders this anime will make with each new episode.

Galilei Donna (Episode 5)

Question: how did Hozuki program Grande Rosso so well?  Or, more simply, how did she even create such a thing?  The adorable, little virtual friend aboard the flying mecha goldfish, aptly named the Galileo (like everything else in this anime) is perhaps the most astonishing and extraordinary detail the series has showcased thus far.  Yeah, yeah, the treasure hunt is lame and the mecha are pretty tame, so there really isn’t much of anything remarkable in Galilei Donna besides Grande Rosso and the perplexity and infeasibility of Hozuki building everything by herself in a short number of years.  But back to Grande Rosso, how did Hozuki program the AI to have such a charming personality?  And on top of that, it has an amazing analytics system, able to understand what’s best for the crew and even supersede its creator’s wishes.  You typically don’t see AI do that very well, especially when the creator is in tears begging it to save the lives of her friends.  It’s really fascinating to see how Grande Rosso behaves in the series and how the character is able to influence the actors around it.  You almost never see a mascot character have an impact in an anime since they’re usually there to be cute, funny and, more commonly, really damn annoying.  But Grande Rosso is different.  It almost feels like a character given what it’s been able to do.  And seeing how functional it is in battle and how endearing it is to the cast, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Grande Rosso’s role expand great than it already has.  Now, wouldn’t that be something?  Not only is Hozuki the main character, a super-genius and prodigy of Galileo but she also created a character better than the writers of the series have done with her two sisters.  Pretty soon, we’ll have to call this anime Hozuki Donna, seeing as she’s already rivaling Galileo for everything he’s done.

KILL la KILL (Episode 6)

I think, by now, Ryuuko’s exhibitionism has lost its luster.  Don’t get me wrong… sure, the protagonist of Kill La Kill is still arguably the sexiest character of the entire year, but seeing her in her Godrobe, Senketsu, doesn’t really seem all that outrageous or scanty anymore.  It’s what you expect from Kill La Kill now; that outrageousness is now the norm.  In fact, you kinda expect Ryuuko to be somewhat naked or sexualized for a majority of episodes as a result of this phenomenon.  And even when her serafuku is being washed and dried, we still got a few shots of her striped panties every now and again to remain at this high level of sexiness.  But after so much, the frequency and intensity of it all, it doesn’t seem all that extreme now.  Whether that matters at all or not remains to be seen.  Instead, the fighting has picked up considerably with the sixth episode displaying some of the best fighting seen all year, both in terms of story, drama and action.  The comedy in Kill La Kill has excelled, too, especially with the cutesy, change-of-pace episode where the two girls tried to make it to school on time.  To me, the initial appeal of the sexiness has faded in Kill La Kill and become a rather standard aspect of the series.  With that shocking feature now subdued, what remains are some rather entertaining fights and amusing comedy.  And underneath that is a budding story and promising characters who are beginning to develop and mature.  Of course, the sex appeal wasn’t the main reason why I picked up this anime, but it certainly was an exciting factor to consider.  Now with the fascination fading with every episode, I am glad to see that there’s some substance to this series to go along with the fighting and comedy that has performed so well.

Kyousogiga (TV) (Episode 5)

Kyousogiga is a cartoony anime… and that’s a good thing.  The charming nature of Kyousogiga is derived partially from its characters, its setting, its story and its style.  It’s artwork and aesthetics are simplified and colorful.  The animation and action are exaggerated and striking.  And that is even foregoing all the special moments where the art and animation combine to make a significant impact on the character or the scene.  The visual appeal of Kyousogiga is virtually unrivaled in both its delight and its passion.  The scenes are fun to watch.  The scenes are also meaningful to watch.  And although Kyousogiga seems a bit silly or simple, it works to the overall appeal of the show.  The anime wouldn’t have the same type of enchantment if it looked like every other anime.  The fact that is has these cartoony aspects helps differentiate Kyousogiga in a positive manner.  And that fact that Kyousogiga is a bit cartoony, helps make Kyousogiga Kyousogiga.

Magi: The Kingdom of Magi (S2) (Episode 6)

Well, wasn’t that something?  In what is arguably the best episode of Magi since before the Balbadd arc, we saw the resolution of an unenticing side story, the most significant development of Hakuryuu’s character and a conflict erupt between the main characters that did what I wanted all along, split the party into various groups.  Finally, the story and characters of Magi have done something significant and interesting.  Furthermore, it was fun to watch, too, seeing Hakuryuu take command of the situation without backing down or crying like a crybaby.  And to top it all off, we finally saw Hakuryuu open his heart in what was sure to be a pleasant addition to his complex character.

Really, why can’t more episodes of Magi be like this?  What’s so hard about actual progress?  By exploring Hakuryuu’s character, we effective hit a mini-climax in the story with all the characters splitting up and going their separate ways with ambivalent and conflicting emotions.  I love it.  I just hope Magi loves it, too and can continue on this upward trajectory.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 19)

I’ve never really viewed the Monogatari franchise as a comedy, but I do find myself smiling and laughing at its humor more than many other anime in the comedy genre.  And with the last episode of Monogatari Series, I have to wonder if enough of these amusing bits in these story arcs are enough to qualify this anime as a ‘comedy’.  Considering how multivariate the series is, I really shouldn’t be surprised to see the series listed as a comedy. But along with 5 or 6 other labels, the series is hardly a true comedy like some of the other anime I’m reference earlier as comparisons to Monogatari.  Perhaps it’s my natural weakness to NisiOisiN’s writing or maybe it’s because I’m in comedy withdrawal since the end of Watamote and Love Lab.  Or maybe because this story arc is devoted more to story and writing than action and mystery like virtually all the others.  Whatever the reason or reasons, I find myself enjoying the humor of Monogatari more than ever before.  I can only hope this continues since there seems to be an emptiness where there usually is a strong comedy anime for me.  And while I don’t expect Monogatari Series to fill that void completely, I do appreciate its humor of late as an addition to an already captivating and delightful anime.

Samurai Flamenco (Episode 5)

The stark contrast between Gotou’s justice and Hazama’s justice is the most intriguing and engrossing attribute of Samurai Flamenco.  The purpose of his character, besides playing the voice of reason to Hazama’s antics, is to provide an honest disparity to Hazama’s heroics.  Whereas Hazama kicks bad guy ass, gets congratulated in the streets and is celebrated in the media, Gotou is an active duty police officer who performs boring or mundane tasks, like retrieving lost wallets, helping ordinary citizens and promoting the police in response to the weirdos dressing up in spandex and attacking people who really haven’t committed any crimes.  And of course, because Gotou is so ordinary, he isn’t kicking ass, being congratulated or celebrated for his work.  The whole examination of Gotou’s character and his work is a delight in this anime because it provides that foundation or benchmark for which to really measure and define Hazama’s character and his action.  It would be even better if we were able to spend some more time with Gotou and to see how he, as a police officer, would act in the situations that Hazama and Mari find themselves in.  For example, you could have Gotou arrive on a scene where Hazama is being beaten up and where Gotou, as a police officer, acts as the ‘hero’.  Still, what Samurai Flamenco has done thus far has been adequate for us to draw comparisons for Hazama’s extraordinary personality.  Furthermore, it will be interesting to see how these characters change over time and how each other influences their views and actions on justice.

This week: Kaiki’s internal conflict and searching for his truth in Monogatari Series Second Season, severely disappointed with Samurai Flamenco, why the family drama is much better than the romance in Nagi no Asukara, and the underappreciated, yet fascinating mecha in Galilei Donna.

Best episode of the week: Monogatari Series: Second Season

Anime trending up this week: Kyousogiga (TV)

Anime trending down this week: Samurai Flamenco

Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta (Episode 7)

Yozakura Quartet has had its ups and downs this season, thanks in part to some fascinating episodes early and some tedious ones of late.  However, there has been one aspect that has remained consistent throughout, and it continues to be one of the genuine strengths of the series.  The comedy in Yozakura Quartet doesn’t always take center-stage or the spotlight in every scene but its ubiquitous presence in the series always makes room for smiles or laughs, even when the series is straight-faced or serious.  The fact that the comedy isn’t subjected to ups and downs means that the humor and entertainment in this anime is anchored at an adequate level; it’s something we can expect going in to every episode… and that’s something extremely valuable for a series that has inconsistencies, or spikes and valleys, like Yozakura Quartet.

Samurai Flamenco (Episode 7)

Of course, we all expect Guillotine Gorilla to be a part of some stunt or trick or twist or scheme, likely orchestrated by the main antagonist of the series, Akira Konno, and the chief of police.  The event was obviously planned and coordinated by the entire staff of police and, without Gotou’s or Hazama’s knowledge, it lead to our masked hero to be cornered by the spatial projection of the source of all evil.  I mean, the transformation, the gorilla, the damage and deaths, and the evil specter of evil, King Torture, are all likely some flashy effects and scientific wizardry concocted by the only person still obsessed with Samurai Flamenco.  Think about it… who, other than another superhero fanboy, would know exactly what to do to antagonize a masked hero fanboy like Samurai Flamenco?  Right?  It’s got to be him.  Who else would know to do all this, to this level of detail, and to pull off this stunt without Hazama or Gotou catching wind?  What just occurred what almost too perfect.  But then that means… it wasn’t perfect.  In fact, it’s pretty far from perfect to me.

To me, I felt like the series took a completely wrong turn with this move.  Why did the series try to play this event out as a serious event?  Why did this anime try to portray everything that happened, as incredibly stupid and asinine as it was, as something that actually occurred?  I don’t get it.  Is the series trying to take a nosedive?  Is it trying to shed its realism and go all bananas?  And if, for whatever miniscule chance this is all real, then what the hell is this series trying to accomplish?  Consider myself unamused by what just occurred in Samurai Flamenco, for taking the series in the complete opposite direction of where I wanted the series to go.  Nevertheless, consider myself also deeply intrigued because I’m absorbed in what just happened and excited to see what will happen next.  I may not be happy with what’s going on in Samurai Flamenco but I’m certainly engrossed enough to learn about everything that just happened.

Nagi no Asukara (Episode 8)

The dynamics of the family drama in Nagi no Asukara, that is Akari’s decision to leave her family in Shioshishio and reside with Itaru and Miuna on the surface, is easily the more interesting aspect of the series than the love pentagon developing between the five school-age kids.  Romantic relationships in schools between budding adolescents is a tired, tired genre for me, and what Nagi no Asukara is offering with its stereotypical anime cast is nothing to get me excited or interested.  And while the drama related to the families isn’t anything spectacular, I find myself captivated by the events that have transpired and the drives the characters have.  To me, the most significant growth and development in this series has occurred between Akari and Miuna, especially Miuna.  Watch these two characters come together has easily been my favorite aspect of Nagi no Asukara and I’m pleased to see this story continue through the middle of the series and remain a feature throughout.  I realize that the romance will eventually take over toward the latter half of the series considering the anime spends a disproportionate time on that subject, so I can’t help but wonder if my interest in this anime will wane when such a transition occurs.  I suppose now I should just enjoy what the series is providing me in terms of the familiar and societal drama and then try to enjoy the romance when the series decides it’s time to sink.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 21)

Kaiki is probably the greatest character in the Monogatari franchise.  Not only is his cruel personality and strict demeanor ideal for a villain, fitting the theme of Monogatari like a curse to a middle school girl, but his dry humor, harsh temperament and brimming self-confidence make his clashing nature a delight to witness.  Whether it is with Senjougahara, Araragi or even himself (the scene with the bathroom mirrors), Kaiki’s dialogue is simultaneously both turbulent and perceptive, showcasing his contempt for others while adhering to his own personal philosophy and system of logic.  He is a remarkable character who rationalizes his selfishness and malevolence in a steadfast way that is impossible for anyone to convince him otherwise.

So to see Kaiki there, sitting alone before the bathroom mirrors, searching for a reason to accept Senjougahara’s job is quite jarring and conflicting to what we’ve already established Kaiki’s character to be.  It wasn’t so much that Kaiki was trying to convince himself to take the job, since we already know that to be impossible.  Rather, he had already convinced himself to take it when listening to Senjougahara’s story.  Instead, what we saw was Kaiki attempting to rationalize his decision with himself.  Now that’s something I find fascinating.  What I saw with Kaiki’s monologue is a character that chose to do something that is against his existence; he accepted Senjougahara’s job despite it conflicting with everything he stands for.  As a result, he forced himself into seclusion and searched for every possible motivation for him to take the job, dismissing everything obvious and, in doing so, found the most arbitrary and distinct detail and used it to fit his rationale.  It isn’t that Kaiki is doing this for Kanbaru.  Rather, Kaiki is doing this for himself with Kanbaru as the only explanation to fit his character.  But why is Kaiki doing this for himself when it goes against him unwavering personality?  That is something I’d love to find out and I pray we find out with this story arc.  I’d love for Monogatari Series Second Season to explore his character in depth and rationalize his character, especially since we’ve already seen one contradiction in his character already.  If there is any time to do such a detailed examination and analysis of Kaiki, the time is now in Hitagi End.

Magi: The Kingdom of Magi (S2) (Episode 8)

I’m glad Aladdin’s adventures in Magnostadt (which I’ve always wanted to call Mangostand and will henceforth do so) were only episode long.  Why?  It’s not that I didn’t find myself enjoying the episode or that I found its placement in the series to be incorrect or insignificant, but that one episode was the right amount of time used to tell such a story.  Anything less would not have been enough and anything more would have been too much.  The story was complete, able to do everything it wanted to in the time allotted.  And the episode wasn’t boring or tedious either; rather, it was actually pretty amusing with a constant emphasis on comedy and humor (and fanservice) throughout.  And I actually liked the city of Mangostand, though the setting was notably underdeveloped in just this one episode.  Still, I’m content with what we saw and what was achieved in this one episode, and I hope the pattern continues for Alibaba and Morgiana next.

Little Busters! Refrain (Episode 8)

Seeing Riki lead Rin around has been a common staple for Little Busters! since the beginning of the anime.  You’d often see Riki lend a hand, figuratively of course, to help Rin venture outside of her comfort zone and help her disperse her shyness.  But now, with the series in an alternative timeline or dimension or whatever, things have been reset, and all of Riki’s progress with Rin has been seemingly lost.  So, what do you expect Riki to do now that Rin has reverted back to her introverted state?  He’s lending a hand again… but this time, literally.  To see Riki lead Rin around by holding her hand is something completely new in this timeline.  And while I’m probably the least invested in romance in the history of anime fandom, I think it’s really, really, really, adorable.  In fact, seeing the couple go between places with Riki holding Rin’s hand has easily become my favorite aspect of this anime now that several of my favorite characters are AWOL.  I can only hope this minor detail continues to the end of the series, though I have my reservations on how far it will continue as the Little Busters circle grows in subsequent episodes.

Kyousogiga (TV) (Episode 6)

The Alice in Wonderland motifs in Kyousogiga have always made me smile.  The tributes, the details, the minutiae… all these little tidbits and elements have helped infuse a sense of meaning and miracle into the innovative and imaginative narrative that is Kyousogiga.  But now, with the story embarking on a different path, or at least one that doesn’t seem to rely too heavily on Lewis Carroll’s novel, I find myself smiling even more.  Why?  Because what Kyousogiga is doing now is establishing its own story, now with its own originality and creativity.  To see the series expand in such a fashion and to find its own direction, after using so many parallels from Alice in Wonderland, is something I can’t help but appreciate.  It really makes me happy when an anime is able to assert its independence like this after incorporating various characteristics and features from other stories.  And with Kyousogiga now instituting its own chronicles, I can’t help but excited to see where this new, original journey takes us.

KILL la KILL (Episode 8)

Something that Ira Gamagoori said in this episode shook me a bit.  Although we consider Satsuki and the Four Divas to be evil antagonists, oppressing the students under totalitarian rule, he did state that he’s there to help the students of Honnouji Academy, even when his sworn enemies, Ryuuko and Mako, were stuck on the side of the road with a broken-down scooter.  And that got me to thinking… what is the perspective of KILL la KILL like from everyone other than Ryuuko?  Although the established opinion in this anime is that Satsuki and the Four Divas are evil, I wonder how much good they provide to the other students or to the school in general.  Then again, while characters like Nonon and Houka interact coldly with their fellow students, Ira and Uzu are seen among their peers and often are helping them in one way or the other.  It’s kinda funny to see these dual personas with these villainous characters, but it’s something I appreciate in an anime of this style.  I always appreciate it when villains are shown to have good or virtuous sides instead of being insane characters who are obsessed with destruction, world domination or something that lacks depth or is not relatable.  So to hear Ira say those words to Ryuuko and to follow through with his actions really helps me realize how much I enjoy these characters in KILL la KILL.  I can only hope they continue to play a significant role after Ryuuko beats them to a pulp in the Naturals Election.

Gingitsune (Episode 8)

Since Gingitsune is a highly religious anime, I appreciate it taking the time to move away from the heavenly heralds and show us the story of a man going through hell.  Or, that is to say, I thought watching Yoshizumi escorting three high school girls through the mall for hours was the very demarcation of hell, or at the very least, one of them.  Not only must the whole experience been tedious and frustrating and maddening, but to have him have a crush on one of the girls must’ve made the whole experience even worse.  Ugh, watching her walk around, looking at clothes and being indecisive about ties must’ve been the worst day of his life… especially since it was on his day off, too.  I feel for Yoshizumi as a character; that must’ve been rough.  I can only hope he gets fired or ends his misery by resigning shortly hereafter.

Galilei Donna (Episode 7)

The mecha in Galilei Donna are both underutilized and underappreciated.  With the anime revolving around some soon-to-be disappointing treasure and the related hunt with arbitrary clues and artifacts and guides, I can’t help but realize that virtually every episode has had a mecha play a significant role in some way.  Whether it’s Hozuki’s flying airship, Galileo, Hozuki’s robotic suit that helped liberate her sisters from prison, the vast array of enemy fighters, or even Hozuki’s bike/bazooka from the opening scene… the diversity and application of mecha in this anime is outstanding.  But why are these fantastic aspects so unacknowledged?  While I do attribute a large part of this to the setting, a future where these remarkable and mesmerizing machines are nothing more than everyday gadgets to the characters, I don’t understand why the characters don’t pay more attention to these things.  Then again, there have been several times where the characters comment on the usefulness of the mecha or their curiosities of Grande Rosso or whatever, so maybe I’m just late to the party in realizing how amazing the mecha are in Galilei Donna.

Freezing Vibration (Episode 8)

One of the main reasons why I heavily criticize fanservice in most anime is because it always feels forced or contrived.  The way it’s portrayed or the way it’s depicted just never feels right.  In Freezing, sometimes the fanservice feels like this (probably whenever Kazuya is around), but most of the time I like it or appreciate it.  To me, the fanservice in Freezing feels natural.  You don’t have too many awkward zooms or characters blushing or girls flashing their panties when they don’t want them too… nor do you have the guys with bloody noses, the creepy otaku stereotypes who obsess over these girls and that dreadful comedy where the girls punch the guys in comedic fashion (I swear, those punches do more damage to me than to any guy they hit).  But no, in Freezing, you have girls unashamed of these details and who walk around naked or in various states of undress throughout.  Here, the fanservice feels normal or natural, and this lack of attention or focus is why I find Freezing to be one of the better ecchi anime out there.

Coppelion (Episode 8)

Who authorized the Coppelion project?  Or more specifically, who decided it was a good idea to give superhuman strength or electrical powers to the clones of a serial killer?  Couldn’t someone have spent a minute or two researching their candidates and realize that some all of the things they were doing was a bad idea?  Then again, couldn’t the people making this anime have done the same thing?  Seriously, GoHands could’ve been making a sequel to K or something instead of this garbage.

This week: explaining why what we’re watching now is Samurai Flamenco “B”, the contrast in perspectives between Kaiki and Araragi in Monogatari Series Second Season, analyzing the various time periods and settings shown in Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, and recognizing why Little Busters! Refrain is performing much better than its first season.

Best episode of the week: Monogatari Series Second Season

Anime trending up this week: Gingitsune

Anime trending down this week: Galilei Donna

Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta (Episode 8)

The antagonists of Yozakura Quartet play a very meaningful role in the story of this anime.  However, one could argue that the main story of this anime, the one regarding the merging of the human dimension with the youkai one, could probably continue unabated if the villains of this series were simply omitted.  But if that were the case, the anime would be completely different and a much lesser anime than it currently is.  Why?  Well, without the villains of this anime, the series would be largely without conflict.  Without a challenge or conflict popping up every so often, the heroes of this story would continue to lollygag around, relaxing and enjoying the tranquil days of their youth by eating ramen, going to festivals, playing video games and patrolling the city while singing mindless songs.  To put it bluntly, the anime would be nothing without the villains.  It would be meaningless.  It would be pointless.  And even with the peril and uncertainty of the merging dimensions, there would be no urgency by the cast and the whole issue would likely be solved without much duress.  It’s the villains who are putting things in motion.  It’s their actions which provide a purpose and meaning to this anime.  Without them, the story and anime could survive, but it would be so incredibly weak and tepid that it wouldn’t even be worth watching.

Samurai Flamenco “B” (Episode 8 2)

Yup.  We’re not watching Samurai Flamenco anymore… we’re on the second episode of a new series, Samurai Flamenco “B”.  Or something.  Or whatever.  I’m not really good with clever names for things, so I’m giving it something as effortless as “B”.  But to be honest, it’s really quite appropriate since it has that “B” feel to it now with this cartoony action, these asinine villains and ridiculous plot that came out of nowhere and makes no sense.  Literally, these episodes are the “B” of Samurai Flamenco, and I’m refusing to treat the first half (the superior half) as the same anime as what we’re watching now.  I’m not bitter or anything (maybe not bitter, but frustrated is a good word), but there’s no other explanation for this.  It was smart and now it’s just stupid.  It had style and now it’s just stupid.  It had a theme, a resolve and a drive but now it has nothing.  The disparity is so stark between the two halves that you’d have an easier time comparing two different anime together than the first part and second part of this anime.  There was literally a schism in the series and, unfortunately for us, we’re in the “B” side of things now.  And to be frank, the “B” side sucks.  It’s like the series has started over for me with the “A” side being complete and earning high marks.  As for the “B” side… let’s just see how low this side will go.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 22)

The contrast between Kaiki and Nadeko couldn’t be more blatant.  You have a wonderful villain, a grim, gray gentleman who is calm and calculated and doesn’t care much for anything and a naïve, jovial and irrational god-girl who is excited to meet her first believer.  And while I could continue on this simple observation that I enjoyed so much in this episode, I’d rather take a step back and look at the huge contrast between Kaiki and Araragi as protagonists.  Rather, the perspective of Monogatari is vastly different between the two.  Whereas before, with Araragi as the male lead, he plays into the personality of the girls he talks to and plays off their behaviors for jokes and trying to sound cool.  With Kaiki, he dominates the conversation with his suave and confidence.  Here, the difference is seen in how the other characters affect the protagonist which leads to different levels of friendliness, humor, and of course, sexualization.  And the sexualization of the series couldn’t be more different between the two.  When Nadeko was talking about wearing nothing but a pair of buruma (gym bloomers) and her sukumizu (school swimsuit) around Araragi, Kaiki silently commented to himself how awkward he felt… which much be incredibly awkward for Kaiki to feel awkward.  Had this been Araragi instead, you can guarantee he would’ve obsessed over it like the lolicon he is.  And it’s not just the dissimilarity in these styles either but also in how the two characters value these conversations.  Kaiki was there to obtain information and make an assessment of Nadeko and this is probably similar to how he sized up Senjougahara and Karen and all the middle school girls before him.  Araragi actually enjoys the company of the girls he’s with and is willing to listen to them, another reason why he is as popular as he is with the female cast of this series.  The differences between the two could continue further, but these are the main details on how I view these two as different.  Rather, it’s a pleasant change of pace to have Kaiki and Tsubasa take over as the leads in the Monogatari Series, allowing us to witness the series through the eyes of two brilliant characters.  These changes in perspective have gone a long way into making this sequel my favorite one in the franchise.

Magi: The Kingdom of Magi (S2) (Episode 9)

With Alibaba’s trip to the Roman Reim Empire, another vibrant detail of the setting of Magi is revealed to us.  However, with each new distinctive location comes another headache when trying to pinpoint what era of our world’s history that Magi parallels.  Although we don’t explicitly know what time period the characters are in, based on the cultural and societal details of these settings, we see Magi range from 80-200 AD (the time the Coliseum was completed till about the time Gladiator fights decline) to the Islamic Golden Age (~700 AD, when One Thousand and One Nights took place, or really where most of Magi derives its lore from) to even the most recent event with the seafaring pirates and cannons in that reflect the pirates of the 1700-1800s.  That is to say, the time period that Magi is in spans nearly 1700 years of our own history, and this is negating the indeterminate period that China Kou is in which could possibly predate Rome Reim by several hundred years.  Then again, you figure is going for a ‘Greatest Hits’ of world history with its fantasy setting, so trying to determine a specific, real time period is likely impossible.  Then again, I didn’t say it was fun trying to figure it out either.

Little Busters! Refrain (Episode 9)

Why has the second season of Little Busters! been so much better than the first?  While I do miss a majority of the female cast in Little Busters!, I can’t help but notice that the anime is noticeably better now that it’s focusing on Riki and the core of the Little Busters! group.  Although I’m a little upset that it had to come to a series reset to get to this stage, I’m gleeful that Little Busters! Refrain is now focused on its characters and making progress with each and every episode.  Nothing feels drawn out or overdramatic or emotional.  Everything feels… well, right for a change.  The significance and weight that they’re adding to the characters has gone a long way and I think this is partially due to cutting off some of the fat in the series which were the overabundance of girls competing for screentime and causing the anime as a whole to suffer.  You don’t often see an anime make a huge leap in quality and performance over the original (in fact, it’s usually the other way around for me) but Little Busters! Refrain has done just that.  After being disappointed and frustrated with the original, I’m happy to say that the sequel of Little Busters! is one of my favorite anime of this season.

KILL la KILL (Episode 9)

When thinking of an ecchi/fighting anime, clothes destruction quickly comes to mind.  After all, it’s an easy way to demonstrate both fighting and fanservice, to have the girls’ skimpy outfits become even more revealing once they begin to take damage combinded with the fact that they’re ‘showing’ the girls take damage (without resorting to blood or other violence).  But for KILL la KILL, there is only a minimal amount of clothing damage.  And when it’s infrequently performed in the series, it’s done all at once when a fighter loses a fight.  Furthermore, the clothing destruction isn’t only limited to those in sexy schoolgirl uniforms either; there’s been more clothing destruction for the guys than girls in KILL la KILL.  So is it odd that KILL la KILL is an ecchi/fighting anime unlike so many others?

Well, instead of having mindless, senseless clothing destruction like so many other ecchi/fighting anime, KILL la KILL’s system makes sense on various levels.  For one, the Kamui (Godrobes/God Clothes) are made entirely out of Life Fiber and aren’t exactly destructible like the paper-thin clothing usually given to girls in fighting anime.  And when the clothing destruction occurs, it isn’t without reason… or rather for more of a reason than showing some panties or boobs or something.  Rather, it’s a mechanism of how Ryuuko feeds Senketsu additional Life Fibers.  By stealing these from the clothes of the other Goku Uniforms, Senketsu is powering up at the expense of a little nudity and fanservice.  And to be frank, what would clothing damage do to Ryuuko or Satsuki?  I mean, their outfits are already revealing enough.  Any damage to their already scanty uniforms might reveal a toe or heel or shoulder or something.  And is that an effective way to show damage?  Or have any marginal effect on fanservice?  No, the system in place of clothes and clothing destruction for KILL la KILL makes sense.  KILL la KILL doesn’t really need any more clothing destruction than it already has, and on top of that, what we do see actually makes sense within the context of the series rather than being an excuse for easy fanservice.

Gingitsune (Episode 9)

Do the heralds in Gingtsune do much of anything?  Besides lazing around, napping and complaining, they really haven’t done much of anything.  Sure, they’ve solved a few inconveniences (or caused a few, like those monkeys), but they’re really just… useless.  Like, what is their importance to the series?  Or better yet, what is their importance to the shrines?  I’m sure Makoto would do just fine if she were a young shrine maiden without the help of Gintarou.  And the same thing for Haru.  And really, the same for any herald we’ve seen thus far.  And even if something significant happens, what capacity will they be able to help?  It’s not like their essential or anything, unless something else supernatural or divine shows up to cause a conflict.  Really, what is the purpose of their role in the series?  And although this really doesn’t detract anything from the series for me, it is something I’ve found myself curious about, especially after an episode about Haru like this.

Galilei Donna (Episode 8)

I’ve always adored personal tidbits and details in anime, ranging from character’s quirks to favorite foods to things that they hate and beyond.  In Galilei Donna, my favorite character traits are how the sisters all have specific, individual nicknames for each other.  The girls never call each other by their real names, helping reveal an interpersonal and emotional connection between the girls.  Whether it’s Hazuki calling her youngest sister ‘Hocchi’, Kazuki using ‘Hocchibi’ or Hozuki calling her older sisters ‘Haa-nee’ and ‘Kaa-nee’, the sisters of Galilei Donna add this tiny detail to demonstrate how close they are as a family and how they depend on each other.  It really doesn’t add anything to the story, but it’s a detail I can’t overlook nonetheless.  I’m always happy to see little qualities like this in anime, showing thought and effort to make the characters seem more human than just another anime stereotype.

Oh, right, I do these kinda posts, too.  This week: Kaiki bringing out the best in others in Monogatari Series Second Season, watching the OVA that connects episodes 8 and 9 in Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta, the setting feeling undervalued in Nagi no Asukara, and the true victims of torture in Samurai Flamenco “B”.

Best episode of the week: KILL la KILL

Anime trending up this week: Freezing Vibration

Anime trending down this week: Gingitsune

Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta (Episode 9)

Feeling a little disjointed?  Feels like you’re missing a chunk of the story here?  If you have a sinking feeling that something was skipped or passed over, you wouldn’t be wrong.  The transition from episode 8 to episode 9 in Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta does feature a gap that’s 3 episodes wide.  In fact, if you want to have a seamless transition from episode 8 to episode 9, it’s best to take a break and watch the OVA to this anime franchise, Yozakura Quartet: Hoshi no Umi.  It wasn’t until after watching episodes 9 and 10 (yes, I’m always late writing about this anime) did I realize there was a gap between the these two arcs that was covered in an OVA a couple years back.  I haven’t watched the OVA yet, but I plan on doing so sometime soon.  And yes, this does break away from my normal style of featuring some thoughts or opinions or analysis, but it’s a fantastic time to mention something integral to the series that might be missed otherwise.

Samurai Flamenco “B” (Episode 9 3)

You may think or feel that King Torture’s horrific torment of Akira is the worst form of torture occurring in Samurai Flamenco right now.  But if that’s your stance, you’d be wrong.  Instead, someone else is being tormented worse.  Someone else is suffering more than the bloodied and beaten Akira.  And if you try to search around for a character who is bloodier or more beaten than Akira, you won’t find a single character.  Instead, you’ll have to turn off your screen and stare into the darkness at the reflection that stares back at you.  Yes, you are being tortured by King Torture in Samurai Flamenco.  Why?  Because we, as an audience, had the experience of enjoying Samurai Flamenco as a wonderful anime, only for him to show up and pretty much ruin everything.  The series has followed the exact blueprints from the ‘Natsuyuki Rendezvous Guide of How to Screw-up a Good Anime’ and gone into an irreversible tailspin that’s certain to end in calamity or something worse.  And who has this really affected the most?  The characters?  King Torture’s cohort of evil minions?  No, it’s the audience who’s been affected the most.  And maybe King Torture is a metaphor or a manifestation of everything that’s gone wrong with this anime.  That he is a representation of the torture this anime is putting us through with these most recent events.  Well, either way, I can’t find myself happy with anything going on in Samurai Flamenco “B”, so hopefully this little section can end and we can get back to “A” or move onto “C”.

Nagi no Asukara (Episode 10)

The mysticism and enchantment of Shioshishio seems lost or forgotten now in Nagi no Asukara.  With the story reaching its mid-point climax, the anime has taken its focus away from its captivating setting and turned it toward the societies and their differences.  And even though the setting is a major focal point of this heated (cold?) war, the magic of this underwater wonderland seems to be neglected.  The beautiful saltflake snow now seems secondary to the ongoing conflict, the swimming between places has been entirely replaced with boring, bipedal walking, the anime spends more time above the surface than below the surface, and the fact that they’re using water to cook underwater or the need to drink is more prevalent and never questioned are just a few examples of why I feel the setting is being ignored or misused.  Still, I’m happy that Nagi no Asukara tried to do something with its setting and incorporated it into its story, so the lack of focus and attention to the details isn’t as troubling as if the anime had ignored the fantastic setting completely.  Nevertheless, I do wish the anime had spent more time detailing the underwater world, taking each and every action into considering and wondering, ‘if I were underwater, how would I do things differently?’  If the anime were designed with that question to be asked constantly throughout, then Nagi no Asukara could have warmed up to be one of my favorite settings in all of anime.  Instead, it’ll have to settle as one of my favorites for this season.

Monogatari Series Second Season (Episode 23)

Kaiki is a remarkable, spellbinding, enchanting character and I love him and I want everyone to love him, too.  But beyond his magnanimous tongue and wily appearance, I find Kaiki’s relationships with the other characters in Monogatari to be quite rousing and distinctive to the series.  We’ve heard from Senjougahara that the only character to make her feel uneasy is Hanekawa, but that was before she developed this bizarre relationship with Kaiki.  While her personality and speech are essentially the same, Kaiki doesn’t mince words with Senjougahara, dodging her jokes and attacks with perfect evasion or playing along with them to make Senjougahara apprehensive.  He even is able to intimidate her, which is downright distinguishing, and uses his manipulative power over her without her able to defend herself.  It’s times like these where Senjougahara recognizes that she’s still a kid (and she hates it) and Kaiki is there to constantly remind her.  And even though Kaiki is a heartless bastard, he’s still able to move Senjougahara to tears, even after she runs to the bathroom to save her character.  This villainous monster is able to invoke a rainbow of emotions in the typically intimidating and stoic princess of Monogatari and her character flourishes like never before when she was paired with Araragi.  The same can be said with Nadeko, too, who’s become surprisingly enjoyable for just the second time in the series… and not just because she’s a naïve, moe, yandere medusa-god but because Kaiki brings out the best this in her new persona.  To see Kaiki make everyone and everything around him better, not just the other cast members but the dialogue and storytelling too, is another trait I sincerely appreciate, especially since he is present as the protagonist in this arc.  Ah yes, yet another reason why this is my favorite arc in the lengthy franchise that is Monogatari.  I can only hope that Kaiki continues to play a role throughout the series beyond this arc, though I doubt he’ll ever have as much of an impact on the series as he does right now in Koimonogatari.

Magi: The Kingdom of Magi (S2) (Episode 10)

The nations of Mangostand Magnostadt and not Rome Reim are perhaps two of my favorite countries in all of Magi.  Why?  Because these are the only two nations we’ve seen that don’t suffer from internal strife or conflict where the heroes must drop everything their doing and correct every social, economic and political ill.  Instead, the characters can focus on their own adventures and themselves and the series has performed marvelously as a result.  That’s not to say that I hate it when the character encounter a major conflict that interrupts their story, but I don’t care for it when it’s all that happens as what seems to be the case for a majority of Magi.  I hope that these individual story arcs can continue for quite some time with the characters growing significantly in each one.  Not only does the series deserve some much needed character growth but it’s also nice to explore three different settings at a time instead of just one (and usually one that’s full of poor people struggling with some evil king/organization/whatever).  Let’s hope this pattern continues with Morgiana’s trip home next week.

Kyousogiga (TV) (Episode 8)

Is it just me or does the fighting seem… out of place in Kyousogiga?  Although there has been some action and adventure in Kyousogiga, there were never really any confrontations or duels like what was presented in the eighth episode.  The difference in style was actually quite jarring, especially since the entire series prior to this point had been slow, mysterious and calm.  Of course, you’d expect there to be some changes or differences as the series inches closer to its climax, so I suppose it isn’t outrageous to see the anime heat up like this, especially with the promise of conflict.  Still, the fact that there was fighting like this seems baffling for an eccentric anime like Kyousogiga, so hopefully this development won’t materialize into additional fights.

KILL la KILL (Episode 10)

If Senketsu is able to transform into a number of different forms, including a spiky form, a giant eye form and now a jet form, why isn’t he able to transform into something more decent for Ryuuko?  I understand that being ecchi is a huge aspect of KILL la KILL and I do enjoy the fanservice in the anime, but I fail to understand why Senketsu appears the way it does on Ryuuko, especially after seeing all these transformations.  Furthermore, if Senketsu is an ‘armor’ that Ryuuko wears, why doesn’t he cover more of her vitals instead of stopping halfway down her boobs?  It seems all the other transformations save for Satsuki cover their bodies with defense, so why not Senketsu too?  At first, I thought it was because that’s all that Senketsu could cover given the amount of blood and the compatibility he had with Ryuuko.  However, after seeing three new forms in the matter of a few hours, I really wonder why Senketsu’s default is the sexy schoolgirl uniform that we are so familiar with.  Like I said, I understand that the anime wants to be ecchi and enjoys its sexy protagonist, but there aren’t any reasons why Senketsu is as skimpy as he is anymore.  Maybe we’ll get another transformation again soon that’s more modest for Ryuuko that will quell my question.  Or maybe Senketsu will become uncontrollable from all these transformations and Ryuuko’s blood and go berserk?  Guess the only way to find out is to keep watching.

Gingitsune (Episode 10)

Gingitsune has never been the most exciting anime, but where’s the excitement in this anime?  I mean, I’ve watched calm and relaxing anime before but Gingitsune isn’t that.  Gingitsune is simply boring.  I mean, what’s going on with any of these characters?  I can’t tell if there’s any growth or development occurring… or why I should even care.  And is there even a plot or purpose to this anime?  If there is, there’s been no effort in progressing it or even communicating it to us.  Instead, it’s like a slice-of-life but without the comedy, romance, friendship or lackadaisical meaning that champions that genre.  Instead, Gingitsune is… just there… occupying space.  It never place high on my list of anime initially but, with each passing episode, the anime is continuously dropping and my expectations were already virtually nil.  Then again, I’m not particularly frustrated or angry with it, but I almost wish I were since that would be a sign I care about it or its characters.  As of right now, I can’t say much of anything regarding Gingitsune besides it’s boring.

Galilei Donna (Episode 9)

I hope the series ends like this with Hozuki trapped in the Italian Renaissance and her sisters dead from that missile attack.  I really, really do.

Freezing Vibration (Episode 10)

Why don’t more people use the ‘Freezing’ ability since it’s so effective?  As we saw in the fight between Elizabeth and Charles, ‘freezing’ an opponent is a really effective way of winning a fight.  Not only does it stop them in their tracks to prevent any attacks but it prevents them from forming any sort of defense against an attack.  Hell, it’s one of the most effective ways at fighting the Novas, so why don’t more of these Limiters use their freezing abilities when fighting with their Pandoras?  I mean, they names the series after this ability for God’s sake, why is it so underused?  Without it, there’s no way that Charles loses that fight against Elizabeth.  There’s no way.  So why don’t more of these characters use it?  Hell, it could even be used to prevent fights (theoretically speaking but would never happen since that’d make Freezing lose its purpose) if needed.  Either way, you figure there’d be more uses of freezings in Freezing, but I guess the series doesn’t seem to think the same way I do.  Oh well, I was happy to see it put to use in this episode after being virtually ignored this entire season.

Blazblue: Alter Memory (Episode 9)

Although I never had high hopes for BlazBlue, I did expect an anime series based off a fighting video game to have fights.  Instead, BlazBlue has decided to focus on its mess of a story and alienate its enticing cast for a handful of characters who are way too serious for what this franchise is about.  I made a fateful prediction about this anime way back in its infancy and stated that this anime would live or die based on the number of fights it had and the amount of focus it gave to its story.  It seems that with an absolute minimum of fights and way too much time spent on the insipid “story”, BlazBlue has chosen the wrong path and ended up like every other terrible anime adaption of a fighting game.  Seriously, it’s not hard to figure out that fighting is what draws people to these games and not the story.  Why not do the exact same thing for the anime and find success?

Last week: the reasons why Inari will have phenomenal character development in Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha, the diversity of applications and meaning of a catgirl’s tail in Noragami, how Vice President’s Dog is replacing Pork Bowl’s role in Silver Spoon S2, and appreciating the many comical references in Hoozuki no Reitetsu.

Best episode of the week: KILL la KILL

Anime trending up this week: Hoozuki no Reitetsu

Anime trending down this week: Magi: The Kingdom of Magic (S2)

Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren (Episode 2)

I’m sure people have wondered this many times before, but with the second season of Chuunibyou premiering, I figured it’d be worth revisiting.  Imagine how difficult and annoying it must for Rikka to wear that eye patch all day every day.  Sure, she’s cute for wearing it, but from a practical standpoint, it must be problematic for her to lose about 40% of her vision and be completely blind on her right side.  It also makes ordinary activates unnecessarily demanding, too, like checking for traffic when crossing a busy street or tracking a fast moving object.  Additionally, I’m surprised the anime doesn’t play off this character trait more often, such as sneaking up to Rikka from her right side and surprising her or even something as simple as always tapping her on her right shoulder.  Then again, the novelty of the eye patch wore off back in the first season, so it’s probably fair that they’re not returning to the well too many times for one joke.  Still, it’s one of the most distinguishable aspects of Chuunibyou, which is why it’s worth revisiting at the start of this new season.

Hamatora (Episode 2)

So, is everyone poor or is it just Nice?  The reason being is that all the poor jokes revolve around him and only him while all the other characters seem to be immune to being cheap (unless you count Hajime, too).  Maybe the other characters are also poor but not as poor?  Or maybe it’s a character trait of Nice that we’re supposed to sympathize with him or that we can relate to him?  Or maybe it’s his only joke since all those instances are meant to be humorous and not a critical analysis of his monetary habits?  Well, whatever it is, it’s pretty lame and doesn’t seem to amount to anything.

Hoozuki no Reitetsu (Episode 2)

The visual references in Hoozuki no Reitetsu are outstanding in how they supplement the humor in this budding anime.  Whether it’s Lum Invader from Urusei Yatsura appearing during the tiger-patterned underwear segment, the image of Cloud (Final Fantasy VII) and others during the calm, stoic, Japanese-stereotype analogy or even the Phillips CD-i Luigi (dressed in Mario’s colors) in the background of the Italian song explaination, Hoozuki no Reitetsu has done an exceptional job with its visual humor through subtle but amazing references.  The comedy exploded in this episode thanks to some better writing and funnier scenarios but the perceptive pop-culture references took the humor to an even higher level.  If this anime keeps up with these little tidbits and cameos, then this might grow into one of my favorite for this season.

Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha (Episode 1)

Inari’s character has magnificent potential as a character to grow and mature.  Not only do I foresee her having some of the finest and most remarkable character development of the season, but even having a chance to be my favorite new character of Winter 2014 as a result.  But this potential is not due to her shapeshifting/transformation ability or what that entails of her adventures.  No, why I believe she’ll have the best character growth of the season is because of her current state.  Right now, Inari is incredibly flawed as a character with her shy, timid, pessimistic crybaby self.  She’s pretty much an empty canvas or a blank slate.  But she’ll more than that.  Her happy, cheerful and innocent self are the bright, passionate colors that turn this white canvas into a beautiful portrait of Inari’s true character.  It just so happens that the shapeshifting/transformation ability will be a tool to aid in this process, but it’s what Inari is now that will dictate the breadth and extend of her growth.  It will be delightful to see just how much Inari has grown when the final episode rolls around and we can compare and contrast her character from this episode to that.

KILL la KILL (Episode 14)

It’s amazing how Ryuuko looks good in everything she wears and how everything she wears is unique to her character.  Whether it was her original school uniform from when she transferred, to her irreplaceable Senketsu (all versions), to her hand-me-down pajamas, to her striped underwear and now to her sexy gym uniform (which for some reason has sweatpants and not buruma), Ryuuko always looks impressive and stands out from the cast.  There’s always that style, personality and sex-appeal to everything she wears, and it’s always unique and distinguishable, too.  Even with something as common as her gym uniform, there’s a little bit of Ryuuko to it.  With her giant Senketsu scarf around her neck, her yellow shaded sunglasses on and her sexy midriff showing thanks to a short shirt and her typical suspenders, you can tell this outfit was made for Ryuuko and Ryuuko only.  For a anime that puts such emphasis and importance into clothing and sex-appeal, KILL la KILL does a phenomenal job with all of Ryuuko’s outfits.

Magi: The Kingdom of Magic (S2) (Episode 14)

It’s always fun to see characters enjoy the simpler things in life.  Whether it was Titus enjoying the ordinary lives of townsfolk or Marga impressed with the fake city, the episode was full of heartwarming moments seeing the characters find pleasures and delights in stuff we might take for granted.  It really instills some personality and humanistic qualities to the characters and the anime, especially since the series is often idealized or romantic in its adventures and battles.  It’s a nice touch for any anime but it had a stronger effect in Magi thanks to its lack of these qualities of late.

Noragami (Episode 2)

Often times, a catgirl’s tail is nothing more than a little piece of fanservice that wiggles around to hypnotize the eyes of its captivated audience.  For Noragami, the Hiyori’s cat tail does that… and a whole lot more.  With the story of her character’s soul slipping in and out of her body, her cat tail is a symbol of her lifeline that connects her soul to her body when she’s in these out-of-body experiences.  It’s a sign that she hasn’t died yet, but it provides us with the symbol to differentiate between human Hiyori and spiritual Hiyori (along with a hilarious joke each time).  Furthermore, the cat tail does well to reflect Hiyori’s personality.  Rather than having something generic like a rope/string or a ghostly shadow, the cat tail represents energy, passion, inquisitiveness and playfulness.  Likewise, the tail can be used to augment her current emotions, such as being an angry cat tail, shocked cat tail, or sad cat tail.  And on top of all that, if Hiyori loses her cat tail, her soul will be disconnected from her body for good.  It’s rather amazing, all the importance and significance they have crammed into that traditional piece of fanservice, but it’s a success for Noragami.  Hiyori’s cat tail is one of the best aspects of Noragami for what it’s able to do to the story and to her character.  Now if only everyone in this anime had cat tails…

Samurai Flamenco (Episode 13)

The only thing that’ll save Samurai Flamenco for me is if Hazama wakes up in an alley somewhere and realizes this that everything in this anime was in his head.  He’ll realize he’s homeless, suffering from psychosis and that everyone he’s talked to is someone on the street (his modeling agent, Sumi Ishihara) or from television (Jouji Kaname) or advertisements (Mari Maya and the other idols).  A bonus would be that Gotou is actually a police officer who helps him from time to time and talks to him when he’s harassing people and causing trouble in the streets ‘in the name of justice’.  Otherwise, what’s the point of watching this bad, bad parody?

Silver Spoon S2 (Episode 2)

Pork Bowl was arguably the most significant and influential character in the first season of Silver Spoon.  After all, no character grew and matured as much as Pork Bowl did, outpacing the character development of Hachiken and everyone else combined, and S1 did culminated at the point where the other characters killed him and ate his flesh.  Definitely a first in anime where all the minor characters kill and eat the most important one… but I digress.  Perhaps the most important thing that Pork Bowl did was create a role where his cuteness and charm would sooth the hearts of the audience and grew to be a dependable character in the cast.  However, with his inevitable trip to the slaughterhouse, a void was created that needed to be filled with something small, cute and cuddly.  Enter Vice President’s Dog, the new and improved ‘Pork Bowl’ for S2 of Silver Spoon.  Not only will this adorable puppy dog fill the cuteness void created by Pork Bowl but it will likely remain its diminutive size and, more importantly, not end up being eaten by the cast.  Vice President’s Dog is the permanent replacement for Pork Bowl and probably a better one, too, in terms of its potential.  While Pork Bowl served as a source for cuteness (second only to Mikage) and provided the only touching story of S1, Vice President’s Dog possesses a semi-humanistic personality in how it reacts, response and performs with the cast around it.  It’s able to function as more of a character than Pork Bowl ever could and fulfills the role of the cute, cuddly mascot character of the series.  No whether Vice President’s Dog will have the same impact on the series as Pork Bowl did will remain to be seen but I feel comfortable with this young pup stepping in for the role of Silver Spoon’s #1 animal character.

Space Dandy (Episode 2)

The bad cook/bad food trope in anime is a tired stereotype that… actually, you know what… I enjoyed the bad looking food in this episode of Space Dandy.  The first and probably the most important aspect for me enjoying this old cliché is that the visual gag was played straight this time and the bizarre foods tasted as wide and diverse a range as their appearances.  It wasn’t that dichotomy of ‘this is the worst thing ever’ or ‘this is the best thing ever’ but the responses were actual critiques or opinions on the food being eaten.  Wow, imagine that, some originality in an anime joke.  Furthermore, the appearances of the ‘bad’ foods weren’t really all that bad.  Instead, each bowl was a new palette of colors and textures that brought out a new feeling with each ramen.  Each looked different from the other and, although most were unappetizing, I must say that each was visually interesting.  I’m not sure if I can chalk this up to being in the same realm as all the other bad cook/bad food tropes in anime since it different than anything before it… but if not, then this will be the first time I appreciated this joke in an anime.

Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta (Episode 2)

Perhaps the best aspect of the romance in Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta is that there are no conflicts, misunderstandings or love triangles.  Without any of those three aspects to annoy, irritate or frustrate me, I’m actually enjoying the romantic aspects between Kal and Claire.  That being said, Ariel’s lack of jealousy is a major contributor to why I’m enjoying the anime, even bringing me to the point where I’m delighted to see her supportive of Kal and Claire despite her close relationship to Kal.  If the anime can continue like this with a genuine and innocent (and doomed) romance, this will probably end up as one of my favorite romance animes of all-time.  Then again, given my history with romance anime, that bar is set pretty low.

Wizard Barristers – Benmashi Cecil (Episode 1)

The character designs of Wizard Barristers is impressive, from their broad, overall appearance to the minor details and quirks that are unique to these characters.  Starting with the broad, you have delightful character designs like Cecil, Quinn and Natsuna who all fit into different styles that reflect and express their personalities.  These general appearances do well in establishing character traits and personalities early, especially between Cecil’s naïve and outgoing personality, Quinn’s professional and business nature, and Natsuna’s mature and formal disposition.  On the other end of the spectrum are all the character details that help distinguish the characters further.  For Seseri, you have his wildly swirly blue hair and prevailing yellow eyes.  For Ageha, you have her butterfly thingies in her hair.  And for Nanajinyi, Cecil’s frog familiar, you have… everything about it.  Just the visual representation of every character is remarkable when you have the chance to weigh everything and analyze every bit and detail.  There is an unquestionable amount of effort put into these characters and they’ve been brilliant in this anime thus far.  I can’t help but wonder what other amazing character designs we’ll see later on when the series advances passed this first story arc.