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Clik here to view.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)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Tamako Market (Episode 6)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Space Brothers (Episode 45)

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Clik here to view.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).

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Shin Sekai Yori (Episode 20)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Senran Kagura (Episode 7)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 6)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Pscyho-Pass (Episode 17)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (Episode 7)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Little Busters! (Episode 19)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Kotoura-san (Episode 6)

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Clik here to view.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.

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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Episode 19)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 6)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Clik here to view.Robotics;Notes is an anime that progressed through a series of ups and downs.  During its ups, the anime was amusing and entertaining with an ominous mystery and a robotics theme that was both strong and appropriate.  During its downs, the series was a curious and confusing mess with a story that felt disjointed and incoherent that bounced between two very different sides in a ‘Robotics’ half and a ‘Notes’ half.  And though the series cycled between these high points and low points, the second half of the anime saw a general trend downward with its obvious peaks in the first half and its lowest valleys in the latter half.  Just what happened to Robotics;Notes to take it from a promising and entertaining anime to one with an unclear, directionless plot with highly questionable storytelling.

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Clik here to view.Perhaps the biggest flaw that Robotics;Notes committed was that it could never commit to a specific story or that its story felt fragmented and disorganized.  Throughout middle and second half of the anime, Robotics;Notes split into two halves with Aki, Subaru and Junna trying to recreate a giant robot in the form of GunPro-2 and with Kai and Frau searching for the Kimijima Reports scattered around Tanegashima.  The two sides never felt connected or linked.  You’d have half an episode devoted to some characters doing one activity and another group somewhere else doing something completely unrelated.  As this style progressed, the two began to feel more isolated with the Robotics half being fun and carefree while the Notes side was serious business.  This method of storytelling essentially divided the anime into two separate halves and kept the series fragmented until the final episodes.  And while the two sides did eventually meet up, the damage had already been done with this inexplicable and incoherent style of storytelling.  Doesn’t help that much of the progress then was also redundant (building the robot and completing those random tasks), which ate up valuable time for more meaningful character or plot development.  Of course, this was not the only factor that caused Robotics;Notes to steadily decline through its second half.  Another major problem the series never addressed was how it never finished or resolved its various subplots.

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Clik here to view.Remember why Frau moved to Tanegashima?  She was searching for her mother who vanished one day and had heard she was seen in Tanegashima.  Did we ever get any sort of ending or resolution on this critical subplot?  Nope, it was ignored.  What about the story of Subaru and his conflicts with his father over hobby robots or robotics in general?  With his knowledge and expertise able to help save the world from catastrophe, did Subaru’s father forgive his son and allow him to pursue a career that best suits his character?  Nah, we never received closure on that, either.  And what about Aki and her sister reuniting and rediscovering their earnest and genial relationship?  Surely that had some resolution after Misaki woke up after the whole ordeal… no?  You mean arguably the second biggest plot, one of the most central storylines and themes of the series was neglected in the finale?  You’ve gotta be joking me.  What about the monopoles that appeared out of nowhere, piled up in a storage room and were essential to powering GunPro-1 to victory?  What do you mean no?  What about the explanation for why Aki and Kai have Elephant-Mouse Syndrome following the SS Anemone incident?  No?  What about Airi?  Or Sawada back in Tokyo? Or with JAXA?  No, no, and… oh wait, they eventually launched a rocket, but what about Nae and Aki’s father, the characters that played vital roles in the series?  I could go on and on about these unresolved plot points and character stories but the point has been made: Robotics;Notes never provided any significant or meaningful resolution to numerous subplots that it had started.  The fact that they all remain unresolved and unfinished speaks poorly to the planning and execution of the series and can be blamed on the plot progression and the storytelling of the series.  And even the final resolution for the main storyline was a bit underwhelming too, but at least it was addressed and answered.  Still, the fact that virtually every other storyline remained incomplete is another reason why Robotics;Notes saw a constant decline in its second half.

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Clik here to view.Beyond these two reasons are a host of other smaller, nitpick-ier and arguable reasons why Robotics;Notes failed in its second half.  Still, the series had a number of positives and merits throughout which caused the show to fluctuate between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ on an almost too frequent basis.  Then again, that’s entirely up to personal opinion and debate, especially depending on how the audience tolerates the questionable storytelling and unfinished subplots.  Robotics;Notes had very little problems in other areas of the anime, such as with its characters, its setting, its themes and its music (the animation could’ve been better), but it needed a massive overhaul with its plot, its progressions and how it linked each individual storyline together to amass a complete and comprehendible story.  With such a plot, Robotics;Notes would have been an outstanding and enjoyable anime.  Instead, the final version of Robotics;Notes is a reminder that a proper story and appropriate storytelling are some of the most essential aspects when watching an anime and that neglecting them for whatever reason can ultimately ruin what would otherwise be a fantastic and remarkable anime.

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Clik here to view.So what exactly do you put on your resume after you save the world?  Given how frequent the theme is in anime, you’d figure there’d be some thought and discussion on what happens to a hero in the aftermath of saving the world (and one that isn’t a comedy anime either!) and when they’re looking for work.  And what about everyone else who assisted in the project too, what are they going to write on their resumes: “Helped construct the robot that saved the lives of 5 billion people. Also started at third base on the baseball team”?  I’d love to see what Kai’s and Aki’s and Frau’s and everyone’s lives are like following the thwarting of Kimijima’s inhumane and evil experiments.  Although given what we saw and the general direction of the ending, you figure that Kai and Aki will end up working for JAXA with Kai setting his sights for space.  Well, you figure after everything he did in this anime that his resume would be a smash-hit at JAXA.

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Clik here to view.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)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Tamako Market (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Shin Sekai Yori (Episode 25 [Finale])

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Clik here to view.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.

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Senran Kagura (Episode 12 [Finale])

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Clik here to view.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.

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Sasami-san@Ganbaranai (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (Episode 23)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Pscyho-Pass (Episode 22 [Finale])

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Clik here to view.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.

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Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Little Busters! (Episode 24)

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Clik here to view.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.

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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Episode 24)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Clik here to view.This post reviews: Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san, Shingeki no Kyojin, Zettai Bouei Leviathan, Suisei no Gargantia, and Yuyushiki.

Watching:

Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san

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Clik here to view.What Muromi-san lacks for in depth, complexity and characterization, it makes up for with its adorable cast of characters, its charming comedy and a handful of scenes with wonderful animation.  Perhaps the most notable aspect of this anime is its art and character designs.  To me, it seems like the anime plays tribute to an older or atypical style of animation which really helps emphasize the characters and helps out with the comedy, too.  The anime is cast with bright, vivid colors in a warm light giving the show an inviting and enhancing atmosphere that really appeals to one’s eyes.  It helps compliment the energy and exhilaration on screen too, especially when Muromi-san is present and acting as enthusiastic as she does.  The humor in this episode was rather simple but effective and is sure to develop when more mermaids join the cast and can allow the style of humor to expand beyond crazy girl meets lethargic boy.  There isn’t much value in terms of story and characters and, although that usually is a negative for me, it makes sense given that Muromi-san is a 12-minute comedy anime that doesn’t need a story or intricate characters.  Every episode of Muromi-san is supposed to be fun and enjoyable without needed to cater to any type of story or theme or whatever.  And as long as you’re having fun and enjoy watching Muromi-san, there’s no reason to stop.  It’s an easy choice to pick up for this season.

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Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan)

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Clik here to view.There are six major categories for which I use to understand, evaluate and appreciate anime.  They are art, characters, entertainment, setting, sound and story.  All an anime needs for me to like it, or even love it, is to excel at just a few of those categories and even my favorites don’t measure well in all six.  So when an anime comes along that surpasses a majority of anime in all six categories, what does it say about that anime?  Well, after one episodes, it’s a bit too early to hail it as the best anime of the season, but it certainly speaks well for what to expect from this anime for the next 24 weeks.  What I enjoy most about Shingeki no Kyojin is its setting and how it is communicated to us.  Rather than waste some precious time for a narrator to tell us about this world, it shows us various details spread neatly throughout the episode and embeds it within the dialogue.  Not only that but the setting of Titan is uniquely distinctive and its threats and modes of warfare are both remarkable and thrilling.  The art and animation is nothing short of spectacular too, and the use of lighting and shading is phenomenal.  I won’t get too much into the characters or story since both are in their infancy but both show promise, especially with how unnerving and expressive the siege on the city was portrayed.  And though I was expecting the anime to be entirely serious, there were a few bits of genuine comedy tossed around in this first episode that made me smile.  I was expecting the entertainment to be solely through the battles and action sequences but there seems to be some well-timed comedy throughout, too.  Really, this is easily the most impressive anime of this new season and one I adamantly recommend to anyone and everyone who has yet to watch the first episode.

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Suisei no Gargantia (Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet)

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Clik here to view.Gargantia is a fascinating, sensational, and passionate anime that is easily one of my favorites of this Spring anime season.  What enchants me the most about this magnificent anime is how it is written, not merely the dialogue alone but how the story is presented, how it is staged and how well the episode flowed from start to finish.  Not only did the episode flow in a logical manner, helping exhibit the situation, introduce our protagonist and the remainder of the cast, and detail how our hero learned about the setting through a lengthy hostage scene while communicating back and forth with his only friend, a mecha named Chamber, but the dialogue was expressive and meaningful (and even reaching to levels of hilariousness).  The world of Gargantia is also fantastically animated, full of motion and liveliness as seen through the space combat and chase scene.  Additionally, the anime is brilliantly colored too, featuring a bright and energetic color scheme that really differentiates the characters from the metallic setting and from Red who’s a bit monochrome in his battle suit.  As for the cast and story of Gargantia, there isn’t much to say at this point since we’ve just finished our introductions but each has the potential to be the best this season has to offer.  The cast features some enjoyable characters with strong, independent personalities.  On the other hand, the story seems a little ambiguous and ambivalent right now but I am dying to see how Red explores and merges with this new world and how it joins up with the space warfare from the first half of the episode.  Who knows, Gargantia might end up being my favorite anime of the season, especially if every episode from here on out is at this level or somehow improves.  This is yet another anime I vehemently recommend as I am sure everyone who watches it will not be disappointed.

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Undecided:

Yuyushiki

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Clik here to view.Yuyushiki is a tale of two halves.  The first half of the first episode featured mundane comedy masking a tedious slice-of-life set-up where three girls wandered around their first day of highschool aimlessly.  It was incredibly boring.  The second half, when the girls got to the Data Processing Club and goofed around on the internet, was brilliant in its entertainment value, proving to be amusing and enticing almost instantly.  Really, it’s like I watched two different anime in the span of one episode of Yuyushiki with one being really, really bad and the other one being legitimately good.  As you can guess, I’m at a crossroads with this anime since I was certain I wanted to drop it after 12 minutes and certain I want to keep it if future episodes are just the girls surfing the internet for 20 minutes at a time.  I can see myself going through peaks and valleys with this anime depending on the skit and the jokes but if it’s still hilarious every so often, it’ll be a keeper.  I’m not terribly impressed or thrilled with the characters, especially since Yuzuko and Yukari appear to have the same personality and play the same role in the comedy (both are the boke or funny man) and Yui is a tepid tsukkomi (straight man).  It isn’t great like most other comedies that I enjoy but it’s functional if less than ideal.  There really aren’t any significant portions of animation to note after this first episode and the art style isn’t my favorite but it still is cute.  Depending on how the comedy performs in the next episode (really, it depends on how much time they spend in the computer lab), I’ll be deciding on keeping or dropping this anime.

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Dropped:

Zettai Bouei Leviathan

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Clik here to view.While there were some positives from the first episode of Leviathan, it wasn’t enough to overcome the tremendous feeling of bored that overwhelmed me while watching its debut episode.  There was absolutely nothing in this episode that lit a fire underneath me or beckoned me to keep watching.  The story isn’t much of a story with three girls becoming friends and saving the world from an invasion of bugs or something (if this is wrong, sorry, I stopped paying attention somewhere before the bar fight).  And although the characters are incredibly cute and endearing, there really isn’t much in the way of personality or role in the story to keep me interested in their adventures or character growth.  I always have a soft spot for fantasy settings such as this and it seems like all the characters are human-shaped dragons or fairies.  It makes me wonder why these three magical girls were given the names Leviathan, Bahamut and Jormungand when those are some of the most storied and fabled dragons of the world’s folklore.  Maybe the parents of these girls knew that they’d save the world when they were in their teens?  Who knows.  The art and animation seemed to be a bit below-average which probably reflects the below-average budge this anime has and the fact that the voice casting for this anime is all A-list talent.  And while the anime features highly talented seiyuu voicing its characters, the dialogue is unfortunately simple and, at times, even shameful which made the episode feel awkward and sluggish more often than not.  I found it a pretty easy decision to drop this anime after the first episode but I do regret not being able to see these cute dragon girls for the remainder of the season, so hopefully someone out there will post dozens of screenshots every episode for all of us to enjoy.

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Clik here to view.This week: why I’m not buying the ‘death’ scene in Kakumeiki Valvrave and what leads me to believe so, some recommendations for Yamane on how to properly use a syringe in Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, questioning the geographies, organizations and structures of cities in Shingeki no Kyojin, Suisei no Gargantia, and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S, and some additional thoughts on the setting in anime.

Best episode of the week: Shingeki no Kyojin

Anime trending up this week: Hataraku Maou-sama!

Anime trending down this week: Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride

Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 14)

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Clik here to view.Considering that the team tournament and individual tournaments are only a day apart, you really have to question how fatigue, both mental and physical, will play a role for competitors who play in both.  Consider players like Chihaya and Megumu who both play in several games on the day of the team competitions versus Shinobu who gets to relax all day and prepare for the individual matches the following day.  You really have to think players who aren’t in the team competition are at a significant advantage, especially since we see fatigue setting in for the cast of Chihayafuru after 3 or 4 or 5 matches compared to the distinct possibility of playing 10 matches in the span of 30 or so hours.  With this substantial handicap placed against Chihaya and Megumu, I don’t predict that they’ll go very far or perform very well when the individual tournament begins, but it will be nonetheless be interesting to see how they perform regardless of fatigue or other factors.

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Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.Someone needs to take Yamane’s ‘death syringe’ away from her until she learns some proper syringe and needle etiquette.  For starters, I hope she switches out her needles after every poke in order to reduce the risk of blood-borne pathogens, like hepatitis or HIV, from infecting her friends or introducing bacteria to sterile sites and causing cellulitis or sepsis.  Not only that but changing the needle out after every injection will prevent the tip from deforming, which certainly isn’t pleasant.  And what’s with her injecting people in the neck and forearm?  That certainly isn’t safe or the preferred method of injecting someone.  Considering the needle she’s using, at least go for the deltoid muscle.  Like, you really have to wonder if anyone taught her how to handle the Killing Goods that she inherited or if she just picked them up and began injecting everyone with everything she could find.  And another thing, how exactly is she getting ahold of these medications?  Not necessarily concerned about the financing which is probably astronomical for a mere teenager but how does she hold the licensing to purchase these drugs, especially the sleeping on that she administered to Iwai and Kiri?  But whatever, it’s just dumb fun and mindless action, and trying to answer these questions usually means killing the fun and action itself, so let’s not go there, especially since those two are the best aspects of this anime so far.

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Devil Survivor 2 the Animation (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.Yellow and blue seem to be dominating colors for Devil Survivor 2, present as saturating overtones throughout the entire episode.  Really, if you go back and just scan through the episode, you’ll notice how much of a presence yellow, and to a lesser extent blue, has in Devil Survivor 2.  Thinking back to the other Atlus anime that aired last year, Persona 4, that one also had a very powerful presence of yellow throughout it, too.  In fact, it is almost overwhelming at times the amount of color that Persona 4 and Devil Survivor 2 uses in some situations.  From here, the question becomes, what significance do the colors yellow and blue play in Devil Survivor 2 or why use these colors to this extent in the first place?  There doesn’t seem to be any clues or any hints as to why yellow and blue play a predominate role in Devil Survivor 2, but it should be interesting to find out if the subject is ever explained or explored.

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Hataraku Maou-sama! (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.Okay, be honest, did anyone else try to make ‘Black Pepper Fries’ after watching Maou-sama?  I’m not sure if there’s a secret recipe at MgRonald with a dozen or so ‘secret spices’ or if they’re pretty much normal French fries with black pepper sprinkled all over them, but I tried this myself soon after finishing the first and during the second episode of Maou-sama.  Rather than ransack my spice rack and experiment with whatever I had, I sprinkled some coarse black pepper over a full-serving of fries and at them alongside my viewing of the second episode.  I must say that eating my version of Black Pepper Fries was a delicious treat while watching this delightful anime and I’m considering making this a habit for at least the next few episodes (or until they come out with a new type of French fries to serve at MgRonald).  If you’re curious yourself, I highly recommend trying it yourself, especially since it’s relevantly simple to prepare for something so yummy.

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Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.You really have to feel bad for the forgotten characters of Hyakka Ryouran: Matabei, Hanzou and Kanetsugu.  Not only are these characters destined to be in the background of every fight, mainly because the series hates them and won’t let them become Master Samurai, but they’re destined to be in the background of every episode, too.  Every time there is an event or story going on in the anime, it revolves around Yukimura or Sen or Muneakira or Juubei or someone other than the three forgotten characters.  Instead, they’re stuck doing support jobs like helping these main characters with the least amount of screentime possible.  And when the situation arises that a new Master Samurai must be crowned, a silly monkey suddenly appears, gets an entire episode to itself (!!) and serendipitously becomes a Master Samurai for no justifiable reason.  Yeah, after helping out with everything for an entire season, the series just passes Matabei and Hanzou over and gives everything to a new character that never put in any work or effort.  Yeah, so much for being a bodyguard and friend to both Yukimura and Sen for all these years.  And let’s not forget Kanetsugu, the best character of this series; she deserves a power-up and an episode to herself, too.  Well, based on the preview for episode 3, we might just get that with a Kanetsugu-themed episode coming up next.  Hopefully the series doesn’t find a new way to screw us out of something good.

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Kakumeiki Valvrave (Episode 1)

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Clik here to view.Quite a bit happened in the first episode of Valvrave, but one scene sticks out in particular for me as being the most significant and meaningful.  When we saw Shouko run from her group to help a pedestrian stuck in a car, we witnessed her death when an energy beam landed right beside her and blasted the whole area into nothing more than a silent, smoldering crater.  Yeah, so we can close the book on her character now, right?  Well, that’s where I want to say that Valvrave is wrong and that it only appears that Shouko is dead.  Sure, we saw the whole explosion and whatnot, but there are enough details present to suggest that she’s still alive and will make a return to Valvrave.  The first point is that we never saw her body.  It could be that the energy beam that killed her also vaporized her body but not finding a body after a death scene is always a flag that they might return later.  Another point specific to that scene is that the energy beam landed next to her, not on top of her.  This might be significant in that someone else (the passenger in the car) may have shielded her and protected her as her body was flung from the site of the explosion.  Furthermore, we know that Shouko is an important character to our protagonist, Haruto, so it makes sense to bring her back for whatever reason later on in the series.  Those three points alone are generally enough for most shows to have a character to reappear after a ‘fake death scene’, but Valvrave introduced one more concept that reinforces my idea that Shouko will return and that is the whole system of losing one’s humanity.

As we saw with Haruto at the end of the first episode, people who operate Valvrave reject their human life and become some sort of superhuman vampire-thingy that can survive what would surely kill any normal human being.  And seeing that the Valvrave mobile suit was underneath the school the whole time, what’s not to say that Shouko was a test subject and lost her humanity like Haruto?  Given how we only learned of this concept after Shouko’s ‘death’, I believe that she had gone through the same process once before and that we never thought that she could survive a blast through such a means since we never knew such a means existed until after the ending credits rolled.  Not only that but having Shouko survive through such a means plays well with the other three points listed previously.  Given that and everything else that we saw in this first episode, I have a strong reason to believe that Shouko is not dead in Valvrave and that we’ll be seeing her at some grandiose and magnificent time near the end of the first season, probably killing superhuman Haruto because she’s a villain or something and then having us wait 3 months between the two seasons of Valvrave.  Remember, you heard it here first!

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Shingeki no Kyojin (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.Having such a densely populated area located on the outer-most region of the walls is a terrible idea.  Even if this area were the slums or a township of disadvantaged or impoverished people, it doesn’t make sense for a settlement of such a size to be located near such immediate danger, even if the titans were unable to invade for over a century.  Not only that, but it doesn’t make sense for a village of such wealth (considering the appearance and structure of the buildings) to be located in such an area.  It’s not like being located on the edge of the walled empire provides an advantage to trade or resources or agriculture or anything.  I could understand if it were a military outpost to keep a watch for the titans and to maintain a milita, but it looks more like an urban city than a citadel.  And after taking a quick look at the population geography of the nation of humans, it doesn’t seem that there are really any densely populated areas around this specific hamlet, instead with most of the people choosing to live within the center-most walls and concentrating around that area.  So as to why the humans choose to build such a compressed and urban settlement right next to the least defensible area in the empire is beyond me.

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Suisei no Gargantia (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.Considering that the surface of the Earth is covered entirely with water and that mankind lives atop floating flotillas, you can’t help but wonder where the source of fuel comes from that power these seafaring vessels.  I’d like to assume that these ships are powered by some sort of renewable energy source, like solar power, because that would make sense given the extreme lack of resources that these humans face, but the structure and shape and just the general feel of these ships screams out to me that they utilize some type of fossil fuel like oil or coal or something.  Then again, you don’t see smoke billowing out of these ships and you already know that coal or oil or natural gas are probably impossible to harvest now, so it’s probably not anything analogous to what we use now.  But still, seeing these retrofitted steel behemoths and roaming the oceans, you can’t help but wonder what sort of dated fuel source they’re using, even if it’s something like solar power or wind power or something like that.  Either way, I’m curious to see more about the technology of Gargantia, how it impacts the lives of its crew and its citizens and how the people live sailing around the globe in this nomadic lifestyle.

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To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S (Episode 1)

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Clik here to view.Who exactly thought that Academy City would be a good idea?  Okay, first things first, how does a city with over 1.8 million students, 80% of the total population, support itself considering how overburdened the adult workforce must be.  Not only do these students need to be kept in schools and academies of various sizes and structures, each having their own staff and faculty, but then you have to employ all the various shops and groceries and other commercial businesses in the city, not to mention government, police, healthcare, transportation and utilities, with the remaining population.  I don’t think Academy City could support any form of industry within its borders, including light industry.  Unless there is a massive population of commuters living in the suburbs not included in that population statistic, I don’t see how Academy City functions.  Furthermore, who’d send their kids to school there considering how dangerous and targeted the city is?  I’m not sure how far away the rest of civilization is but I’d worry about sending my 12 or 13 year-old kid there for the next decade of their life.  You have all these punks and hooligans causing trouble every single day, various organizations trying to take over or destroy the city and immature brats running around with ESP powers that could pose danger to anyone that looks at them the wrong way.  Now it makes sense why they have to enlist students as an ancillary police force.  And what happens when you graduate?  Do you get booted out of the city or are you forced to find a job there?  Are there places of higher education within Academy City, like universities or specialized schools or places for job training?  Just how strict is Academy City on its population policy so that it maintains a student population of 80% of the total city?  Oh, and one other major issue is that of taxation and how exactly the city is funded.  Considering how wealthy, clean and structured the city is, I assume that every one of the 1.8 million students are paying out their asses in board, tuition and taxes to stay at these private schools in Academy City.  You have to assume that the net flow in wealth coming into the city is well into the tens of billions based on the USD.  Really, the society of Academy City is intriguing to me, trying to understand how such a city is structured and how it functions.

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As you can tell by the last three subjects on the last three anime, I have an undying fascination with the setting of anime with a particular interest in the geography of cites, especially in those that are similar or wildly different than the real world.  Unfortunately for me, these questions are hardly ever examined and, less frequently, answered.  But then again, maybe that’s the reason why I enjoy thinking about these subjects so often and why I look for the solutions on my own.  Either way, I always find myself enchanted with the various settings of all the anime I watch and I hope these questions and thoughts provoke or inspire you to think critically about the diversity of settings in all the anime you watch.

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Clik here to view.This week: rants against the esper level system in To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S, why I hate student governments in anime with Kakumeiki Valvrave, setting up Rion for much more in Chihayafuru 2, and the stereotypical sad backstory for lolis in Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge.

Best episode of the week: Yuyushiki

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

Anime trending down this week: Kakumeiki Valvrave

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S (Episode 10)

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Clik here to view.To me, the whole esper ranking and classification system is odd and incorrect.  First off, the ranking scale is based on how powerful and how useful their abilities are.  I can understand that, but what type of criteria is used to evaluate it?  I’m sure if you ask around, you’d see that people have different opinions on what makes an esper strong and what makes their abilities useful.  Take Kuroko’s Teleport for example.  With a little bit of creativity, she could literally be the most powerful character in all of Academy City.  So why is she stuck at being a Level 4, especially since her abilities are some of the most practical in everyday life and in battle, and not among the elite in Level 5?  And why does the series treat this classification system as scientific fact?  Is there a device or instrument out there that’s calibrated from Level 0 to Level 5 that accurately measures a person’s ESP-ness?  The method employed by Academy City, the System Scan, is certainly questionable as a way to assign levels, especially after missing people like Touma.  And what scientific measures are they using to determine their powers?  What exactly do they think they’re measuring and how do they have scientists that work off this system to enhance their powers?  Like, how is it theoretical that Accelerator can be the only Level 6 with his abilities?  How do they know there’s room for improvement or that Misaka’s Electromaster can’t become Level 6 on her own?  Hell, just look at what Misaka can do with her ability, including hacking into intricate computer systems, cling to and run on walls, sense spatial movements through electromagnetic disturbances, and the ability to control anything metallic, just to name a few.  Really, the whole idea of this scientific esper ranking system is just wrong, especially with how people treat is as an understood fact.  To me, the level system for espers is opinion rather than fact.  And as a result, it should be treated as an opinion and that people should reconsider the esper abilities on their actual strength and usefulness rather than being assigned a number based on some suspect scientific instructions.

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Suisei no Gargantia (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.Just how many other fleets and other societies are there roaming the oceans in the world of Garganita?  It has been established that there are numerous other societies of seafarers out there who connect their ships, like Gargantia, but it has never really been states how many there are out there or how those societies differ from each other.  All we know about the other fleets of ships is that there are pirates out there that like to exploit the weaker ones and that everyone gets their power from those lightning bugs, so they need to sail the world in order to power their vessels.  So how exactly does this cult society appear randomly?  After sailing around for decades, wouldn’t you figure that these ships would have established communication with each other?  It’s not like these ships just materialized and these people appeared out of nowhere, except in the form of the story of Gargantia.  Just how do Pinion and the others not know about this flotilla and their crazy cult ways?  Sure, it works in the form of story to surprise us, but realistically, this shouldn’t surprise anyone that’s lived for more than a couple months on Earth.  And what about the people who live on the land, what are their societies like?  Because as we saw from the maps, there are chains of islands out there that would be the peaks of mountain ranges today.  There are a number of dubious details missing here in Gargantia about the world, the various human societies and how they interact with each other.  Then again, the story of the anime has been squarely isolated on Garganita throughout, so it is somewhat forgivable considering a social studies lesson in the middle of this anime wouldn’t really be necessary for the story to advance (but then again, neither were the fanservice episodes).

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Shingeki no Kyojin (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.So the plan is to place the giant boulder in the hole in the wall to block the titans from entering?  That seems alright, because then that’d block the sole access point for the titans and it would allow for the humans to retake the city and the land they once lost.  But, consider this for a moment, what will prevent the titans from pushing the boulder out in the first place and retaking the city?  Now, this is considering that the titans aren’t coordinated to form a unit of its strongest members to push the boulder out of the hole in the wall, but you have to figure that after some time, the titans will dislodge the boulder from its resting spot and gain access to the city again.  And of course, this is considering that the strength of these titans are comparable to Eren’s titan and that a handful of them, pushing the boulder together, would be enough to free the boulder from its position.  Unless there’s another part to this plan, I think that this idea is doomed to failure.

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Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai. 2 (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.How awesome is it to see Kyousuke live on his own?  Not only that, but think about his situation, too: he doesn’t have to pay rent, he doesn’t have to pay bills, he probably doesn’t have to pay for food (unless he’s going to eat out every night) and all this while still going to high school.  Not to mention, he’s got cute girls visiting him in his apartment, but then again, that’s kinda always been the case and not really a result of living on his own.  But think about it for a moment, and you have to admit that Kyousuke is pretty damn lucky to be in this situation.  Hell, if I were provided the opportunity when I was in high school, I know I would’ve thrown myself at the chance.  Living on your own is tremendous and I always enjoy seeing these stories unfold in anime.  Seeing it here in Ore no Imouto 2 is fantastic, and I’m hoping to see this story arc last until the end of this second season (because that would be a great way to end this sequel).

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Kakumeiki Valvrave (Episode 10)

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Clik here to view.There are few things that I hate worse than student governments in anime.  Although it does play a semi-serious role in Valvrave the Liberator, student governments are always pretend institutions that kids pay way too much attention to and value way much more than they should.  What legitimate power do they have?  How do they keep people in check?  They’re always just a silly role to give shitty work that administrators and teachers don’t want to students who are eager to suck up to anyone in any form of authority.  Yet, in anime, they’re always depicted as these revered, prestigious, elegant students who the student body, en masse, treats objectively better than their individual peers.  Honestly, who gives a shit about this kinda stuff?  Actually, how do you give a shit about this stuff?  At least in Valvrave, the new student government is an actual de facto government for the space module, but without any sorts of laws, enforcements or system of justice, how will everything work?  In real life, it wouldn’t, but at least for the characters of Valvrave, the anime won’t spend too much time on the impossibility of this issue and thankfully, return back the story at hand.

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Hataraku Maou-sama! (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.What amuses me the most about Hataraku Maou-sama! is how the Ente Isla immigrants have struggled to make new acquaintances with humans after quickly befriending Chiho and Rika.  Really, you figure that Sadao, with his new compassionate and sociable personality would have made other friends besides Chiho or that Emi, with her gracious and amiable nature, would have won over more than just Rika.  I understand that their missions aren’t here to make friends, but you would’ve expected them to expand their social networks a bit after living in Japan for several months.  What I mean to say is, that it’s still surprising that the only human who’s caught up in the messes that seep through from Ente Isla is Chiho.  Why aren’t there other humans, such as Chiho’s friends or other coworkers, who befriend Sadao or Emi and get caught up in these misadventures, too?  It might balloon the cast out a bit much for a show like this, but it would nevertheless be interesting to add a few new humans to the mix to alter the dynamic of the series a bit and refocus it to amusing events on Earth rather than various plot points crossing dimensions.

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Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.Every backstory to every loli is a depressing one.  Either they’re like Emily and they’re impoverished with no hopes of an enjoyable life or they have family members die (Yamane) or they have some mysterious disease (Iwai fits that) or something that makes us sad to see a little girl go through such hardships.  It’s like every loli is required to have some form of a sad story or depressing past, just to make us feel bad for them or something.  It’s like, without it, the creators fear they won’t appeal to us.  They create these stories so that we feel ambivalent or conflicted toward them in that they deserve some forgiveness for whatever mistakes or errors they make.  It’s actually quite amusing to see all the various stories these characters go through, especially since these sob stories often have no real weight on the actual storyline besides giving us a moment to think, ‘oh, that poor loli, I feel so bad for her now.’  Honestly, I would have rather seen a story about how Emily became the assassin she is today, going through rigorous trials and experiments to be the seasoned killer that she is.  To be fair, not only would that have helped expand her character than eating a sandwich, but it might have drawn more of an authentic emotional attachment to her character by showing that she loves her Papa despite going through such hardships.  Now that would be something meaningful and worthwhile to help elevate Emily from just another ‘villain-of-the-week’ to a ‘decisive antagonist’.

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Chihayafuru 2 (Episode 23)

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Clik here to view.Given the frequency of Rion’s character during the high school tournaments, you can’t help but wonder if they’re setting up Rion’s character for a larger role later on in the series.  Of course, with the second season of Chihayafuru ending shortly, we won’t be seeing Rion again for quite some time, but the way the series has treated her character and how she’s played against Chihaya and Taichi (and the fact that she still will still be in school next year), you have to figure that there’s some grand plan involving Rion later on in Chihayafuru.  On top of that, with her facing against Taichi in the B Class finals, you figure that she’ll be in A Class next year and ready to get revenge against Chihaya, Taichi and Mizusawa’s karuta team.  I certainly hope there is more planned for Rion following this high school tournament, especially since she could really develop into another rival for Chihaya, one that looks up to her to compete against her, unlike Shinobu or Arata.

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Clik here to view.And so, with this final chapter, the first half of Needless comes to a close.

As with any finale, Needless 114 is and will be met with a variety of emotions and reactions among its fans, especially since the manga is ending quite abruptly after 10 years of serialization.  For some, the response might be simple and straightforward, but for many, it will be complicated and conflicting, particularly for those still asking those unanswered questions or wanting just the slightest bit more.  For me, being in the latter group, the Needless finale does leave me with mixed emotions.  On one hand, the developments in these final chapters answered numerous questions, connected many loose story points together, gave the series a conclusion that truly unified the manga, its concepts and its story, and presented it in a way that’s ready to launch Needless into its continuation, Needless 2.  On the other hand, there’s just that lingering sensation of feeling unsatisfied with this culmination, that these final chapters were rushed and that the manga didn’t end the way that it wanted.  Or that it deserved.

The main contrast between the positive and negative emotions surrounding the final chapter of Needless can be primarily divided between what happened in this chapter and how it happened.  To me, I feel entirely satisfied with the content of this chapter and how it ended its story.  This final chapter was able to conclude the present storyline while also answering some of the most pressing questions of the series, both of which are arguably the most significant responsibilities assigned to the finale. When evaluating a finale by those two standards alone, Needless was able to accomplish that.  Of course, there are plenty of questions still remaining in a series such as this, especially those revolving around Cruz which still need to develop and be resolved.  However, with the most pressing issues currently being between Blade and Eve, the finale was able to accomplish that.  Furthermore, the finale was able to unify the stories and characters of Blade and Eve together in a way that sets the foundations for Needless 2 in a logical manner.  Furthermore, it can be stated that of all the questions and queries still lingering unresolved at the end of Needless, that we can have faith in Imai Kami eventually revealing their answers but in Needless 2.  After all, he had done an excellent job with the story of Needless, as evident with my high opinion of this ending.

The main issues that I have with Chapter 114, however, are derived from another issue entirely: the storytelling.  To me, manga are hardly the best medium in which to narrate and describe a story.  One such reason is that a serialized manga is constricted and often compromised by other factors, such as the number of pages, deadlines, illnesses and other factors caused by the magazine or its publishers.  As a result, these final chapters of Needless felt rushed compared to how the story was narrated previously.  For example, the pacing, progression, comedy and fanservice felt entirely different between the Eve’s Story arc and the City arc following Chapter 100.  In the Eve’s Story arc, developments did not progress without appropriate or thoughtful dialogue nor did the fights end too quickly or without thoroughly establishing the characters and their cause.  In the City arc, plot developments occurred and were resolved almost instantaneously or they were cut-away from suddenly.  The fights felt disjointed and felt too quick and easy, as though the effort of battling between two super powerful beings was ignored or forgotten.  And though I did enjoy the actual developments of these chapters, the plot was often dumped on us in the form of lengthy expositions and monologues, which is contrary to the style of storytelling from previous arcs which focused more on actions and fighting than talking and flashbacks.  It almost feels as if there were some external forces at work here, putting pressure and restrictions on Imai Kami’s storytelling that reduced the ‘would-be’ conclusion of Needless from many more chapters down to what we received.  Hell, it has happened before with some of his Needless one-shot manga that occurred prior to the Needless serialization.  So with that, I have an uneasy feeling that the finale to Needless was not the proper, encompassing finale that Needless deserved.

However, in the end, my overall opinion of the finale is a positive one.  One of the main reasons why I have a positive impression of this chapter is that I am satisfied with how Needless 1 will connect to Needless 2.  To have the sequel already beginning in the final moments of this chapter fills me with joy, optimism and enthusiasm for when Needless 2 will begin this series again.  Knowing these details and seeing all the various loose ends be connected together (and the return of that memorable Needless humor) leaves me with hope that Needless will return to its origins when it makes its return.  As with any finale, the ending always has different pacing and developments compared to the beginning and middle of a story, so it shouldn’t be surprising to see that these climactic chapters of Needless were somewhat different from the middle of the series.  And of course, with any fan, they fall in love with the beginning or middle of the series, so any deviation from that format or style will be met with mixed emotions and reactions, just like this finale for Needless.  Nevertheless, when Needless returns in the form of Needless 2, I’ll be as eager and enthusiastic and emotional as ever before.  I can only hope that you, as a fellow fan of the franchise, after reading 114 chapter of Needless, are right there with me when Needless makes its grand return.

**Warning: spoilers below**

As for my thoughts on the specifics of this chapter, I will admit that I disappointed to not see Setsuna or Kuchinashi make an appearance here.  I would’ve thought with the two appearing as monsters, transformed due to the tainted cells of an Angel and being controlled by Black Attraction, that we would have seen some resolution with their characters after being returned back to normal by Blade’s Almighty.  Not only that, but I would have expected some resolution between Setsuna, Kuchinashi and Mio, especially since we saw the trio walking together through the halls of the Simeon hunting down Cruz.  To see Mio just leave with her new friends is not surprising, but I wish there was some dialogue between the two parties, especially since the three are my top three favorite characters.  And while on the subject of my lingering questions, I wonder what happened to Kasumi.  She was wheeled into the room in her wheelchair, in a comatose state, and seemed to disappear or be ignored for the remainder of the manga.  Her role was absolutely essential for Gido’s character, yet we never really had any answers to her character besides appearing very briefly a few chapters ago.  And what ever happened to Ishiyama and Triple Six?  And let’s not even get started on Cruz who has about 100 questions of his own that still need to be answered (though, admittedly, you knew there never was enough time to answer even half of Cruz’s questions in the City arc).  My point here is that, while I did appreciate the ending with Blade and Eve combining to defeat Saten and then forming the protagonist of Needless 2, Adam Neuschwanstein (though still called Blade in Chapter 114), I wish there was more room to answer all these unresolved questions in another chapter or epilogue.  These are the specific reasons why I felt so unsatisfied with the finale of Needless and why I felt that these chapters were rushed due to external constraints and pressure.  I’d love to see more information on the series soon and that may just occur with an article titled “Needless History” coming out in next month’s Ultra Jump.  Hopefully that will have some of the answers I, and other Needless fans, are looking for.

As for my other general impressions of the chapter, I absolutely love the color spread to begin this chapter, with just about every character appearing together for one final moment of glory.  To see everyone there, after 10 years of Needless, is really a special treat for anyone who has read the entire manga.  All those faces, all those memories, all those jokes and knowing just how far the manga has come is really special.  I truly appreciate that as a gift for the readers and fans of Needless.  As for the remainder of the chapter, there were some spectacular double-page spreads here that really highlights the mastery of Imai Kami’s art style.  These drawings were very clean and clear, really showing a high amount of effort and detail put into this final chapter.  And while the comedy had been reduced and minimalized during the climax of Needless, this final chapter saw the return of that familiar and unforgettable style of comedy.  The final chapter didn’t have too much in the way of ecchi material, not really any different from the other recent chapters with torn clothes, visible panties and general nudity, but it was more tasteful and tactful (and meaningful) in this chapter which allows it so serve a greater purpose.  Then again, Needless has always found a way to make everyone’s panties important or an ecchi be somewhat meaningful, so it shouldn’t be too surprising to see the same thing done here.  Still, it’s great to see something like that final joke being the end to Needless.  But even better than that was probably the double-page spread right before it, with our new set of heroes setting out and ready to begin Needless again whenever it makes its revival.

I guess from here on out, the only thing left for us, as fans of the franchise, is to keep our eyes on the news and wait for an announcement for when Needless 2 will begin again.  I might do another, more encompassing review of the Needless manga soon, but besides that, it looks like this is the last I’ll have to say about Needless for an unspecified amount of time.  The only thing I have left to say, besides thanks for reading this far into my review and thoughts on Chapter 114 of Needless, is that I hope you enjoyed Needless and will continue reading it when Needless 2 starts! (older versions of pictures here and here)

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Clik here to view.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)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Hamatora (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Hoozuki no Reitetsu (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha (Episode 1)

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Clik here to view.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.

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KILL la KILL (Episode 14)

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Clik here to view.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.

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

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Clik here to view.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.

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Noragami (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.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…

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Samurai Flamenco (Episode 13)

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Clik here to view.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?

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Silver Spoon S2 (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Space Dandy (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta (Episode 2)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Wizard Barristers – Benmashi Cecil (Episode 1)

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Clik here to view.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.

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Clik here to view.This week: the contrast between Aki’s family and Hachiken’s family in Silver Spoon, demonstrating Hiyori’s character growth through subtraction in Noragami, the humanistic personalities of djinn in Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, and the good half and bad half of the story in Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha.

Best episode of the week: KILL la KILL

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

Anime trending down this week: Hamatora

Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.I wish every anime had the equivalent of a movie’s budget for every episode, guaranteeing gorgeous, vibrant and consistent animation throughout. However, bad art and animation do not make-or-break an anime for me, and I watch plenty of anime with substandard visuals. That being said, the aesthetics of a series do play a significant role in how I enjoy and appreciate the show. And though Pilot’s Love Song is one of my favorite anime of the season, the atrocious quality of the art and animation has negatively impacted the show. At times, the visuals are bad and, at others, distressing. I never thought I’d want to rewatch an anime if it were reanimated, but I’d make an exception for this one. For an anime of such superior quality in all the other areas, it’s shocking to see how poorly animated this anime is with this episode being a perfect example. I’m going to keep an eye out for the BD versions of Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta to see if the art and animation are better through the various redraws. I’ve never really done this before, but I am considering rewatching this anime if they improve upon the art for the BD releases.

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Space Dandy (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.Whenever an anime experiments with an alternative art style, different directing, or use or colors and textures, I find myself excited. Many of my favorite episodes from some of my favorite anime (Needless, Sengoku Collection, Dantalian no Shoka) have utilized different art styles to their advantage and have turned ordinary stories into unforgettable episodes. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about this one with Space Dandy. While I am thrilled with the prospect of using a monochrome, textured art style for this episode, I found it to be difficult to watch the episode. The episode was relatively dark, obscured and frequently perplexing, especially after the psychedelic, colorful plant planet episode where everything was clearly defined. I do like that the anime tried something different, but I wish that the style was only used for a bit rather than throughout the whole episode. I appreciate that the animators tried something different, but I wonder if it was executed properly or if the episode was intended to be muddled like that. Still, Space Dandy has been one of the best anime this season in terms of its aesthetics, so seeing an episode or two turn out like this is well worth the price of some visually brilliant ones like earlier on in the series.

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Silver Spoon S2 (Episode 10)

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Clik here to view.Although Aki and Hachiken both share a number of similarities in identifying and pursuing their dreams after high school, there is a major disparity in how they’ll begin the next step. No, no, this isn’t related to Aki knowing that she wants to work with horses and Hachiken still deliberating between all his options. Rather, the contrast between Aki’s family and Hachiken’s family and how they support their children will play the most significant role in each teenager realizing their dream. With Aki’s family, all the adults are open and receptive of Aki’s idea and are willing to support her on her endeavors. It might not be the most advantageous or idealistic option to them, but they love their daughter and want to make sure she has a happy and healthy life. Hachiken’s family is quite the opposite, being closed, silent and dominated by the father who lacks heart and emotion. Without his presence dominating the dinner table, I figure the family would be much better off, but nowhere to the level of Aki’s family. Part of that is due to Hachiken’s resentment to his mother and his brother, but they probably will never be at the level of Aki and her family. And with the tenth episode featuring Aki’s family discussing her future, the contrast could not be more apparent with Hachiken’s participation. Seeing him open up in front of other open characters really highlights the difference between the two families. Not only would Hachiken never experience discourse to this degree, but he would likely never speak out for his own well-being nor would he ever argue with his father. So witnessing Hachiken in a similar situation to himself but with another family highlights the remarkable contrast between Aki’s family and his own. I wouldn’t be surprised if the tenth episode of Silver Spoon S2 was my favorite in the entire series for how it revealed the two family and how it affects the two characters, especially how we’ve seen them portrayed lately. I almost wish this happened earlier in the series so we could see the long-term effects this conversation had on both Aki and Hachiken.

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Samurai Flamenco (Episode 21)

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Clik here to view.With all the twists and turns of Samurai Flamenco’s story, ranging from supervillains to alien armies to ghosts and talking to the universe itself, I’m surprised that no one important had died yet. Although you can argue that Gotou’s girlfriend is essentially dead and that Hazama’s parents were part of an unsolved murder (say, whatever happened to that unresolved plot thread?), it’s not the same as having a character die during the series. I would have assumed that someone, somewhere would have perished in a way that would’ve changed Hazama, but no… none of his friends or allies have died or left a mark on him in anyway. In fact, no one around Hazama has really changed him besides Gotou steering him on the right course from time to time. Maybe it plays into the theme of the series where justice is true and everyone is saved, but I would have assumed that, for a story like this, that there would’ve been at least one death.

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Noragami (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.With Hiyori losing her memories of Yato at the end of the last episode, we return to seeing our heroine in her natural and default personality: a respectful, polite and friendly schoolgirl who loves to smile and make others happy. While we are more accustomed to a playful, outgoing and tsukkomi (straight-man) Hiyori, it’s fascinating to see her like this again despite how distressing it must be to Yato and Yukine. What this does for Noragami, beside introduce a story to end the anime with, is show how much of an influence Yato and Yukine have had on her and how her personality evolved throughout the series. Although the standard Hiyori is calm and smiles, we see that she’s actually rather distant and closed. This contrast is a clear display of she opened herself up to Yato and Yukine throughout the series and how she began to do more than speak politely and smile. I do miss the personality that we’ve seen recently in Noragami, but I do enjoy seeing her revert back to normal for a little bit, just as a reminder of all the character growth we’ve seen of her since she was hit by that fateful semi-truck.

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Magi: The Kingdom of Magic (S2) (Episode 23)

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Clik here to view.Although the djinn are revered and respected in the setting of Magi, they do have casual or humanistic personalities that undermine their grandiose or intimidating nature. No, I’m not just talking about the comedy scenes when Kouen was threatening Aladdin, but that they are informal with each other, even in the presence of a magi. Perhaps the best example of this was when Leraje (Kouha’s djinn) was pleading to Aladdin to keep the history of King Solomon a secret and with Astaroth interjecting. It’s not something you’d expect from the djinn who are almighty and always shown in such magnificence and power. However, by showing these humanistic qualities to them does make these characters more likable and relatable, especially since they still are supreme, colossal spiritual beings. It’s too bad we don’t see the djinn more often since they seem to be more interesting than most of the other characters we’ve seen lately.

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KILL la KILL (Episode 23)

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Clik here to view.Are Ragyou’s hair Life Fibers or has she always had naturally luminescent hair? Like, her bright, rainbow-colored hair does emit light and doesn’t seem to be generated by anything external, so everything that produces this light must be within Ragyou. The only things I can think of are that it’s either due to the Life Fibers that she’s fused with or maybe she’s always had bioluminescent hair. All the flashbacks of Ragyou have been muted with a filtered color, so it’s impossible to tell if her hair was shiny back then. Additionally, you can’t tell if or when she became combined with the Life Fibers either, so it might not be an immediate reaction and the results of years living with the Life Fibers. The one thing we can say for sure is that Ryuuko’s hair does change when she combines with Senketsu, going from a single streak of red in her hair to about fifty-fifty red and black. Perhaps something akin to Ryuuko’s red and black hair is going on with Ragyou, but I assume that this is something that will be unanswered by the time the anime concludes.

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Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha (Episode 10 [Finale])

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Clik here to view.The story of Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha could easily be divided between Inari’s story and Uka’s story. The two halves of the series dealt with very different characters and their very, very different problems. Inari’s story is standard for a school-setting with friendships tested, romances never realized and the occasional issues with superpowers. Uka’s was more along the lines of young adults dealing with issues, like relationships, marriage, status, especially considering how Uka is a relatively high god in her society. However, unlike the story of Inari which revolved around somewhat normal humans, Uka’s stories revolved around rather silly characters and a society that is difficult to relate to. The two halves of the series were radically different from each other thanks to these two settings. I must say that the Inari half was more attractive and intriguing, though that isn’t to say I hated Uka’s half. Still, I wish the series spent more time on Inari and her issues and how she solved them with Uka’s power than dealing with Uka’s problems of laziness and not wanting to find a husband. I’m not sure how much better the anime would’ve been, but I know it would’ve been better with more of a focus on Inari than splitting it even between Inari and Uka.

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Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren (Episode 11)

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Clik here to view.I wish that, when playing around with their coins and rocks and make-believe, that the characters of Chuunibyou actually summoned a real demon that appeared before them and began destroying Japan. I wish the whole series built up to a twist like that where they actually bring a monster to the real world that spreads darkness and evil across the land. Not only would it be hilarious to see something like that completely undermine the entire series, but it’d be fun to see Rikka’s reaction since she’d still be lost in her chuunibyou world and not realize the ramifications for her actions. That and it’d be fun to see Rikka attack some giant demon monster with her umbrella for a few seconds before it gets bored and wanders off to destroy a bridge or knock over some buildings. Man, that would’ve made Chuunibyou awesome. I would love that so much.

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Clik here to view.This week: difficulty with the ambiguities, interpretations and inconsistencies with the games in No Game No Life, the mounting evidence on why I think Yuuki has more problems than Kaori in Isshuukan Friends, envisioning what modern science and medicine would uncover about the mushi in Mushishi Zoku Shou, and looking at the differences between the late-90s and now with Ping Pong the Animation.

Best episode of the week: Mushishi Zoku Shou

Anime trending up this week: Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?

Anime trending down this week: Captain Earth

Akuma no Riddle (Episode 6)

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Clik here to view.The assassins in Akuma no Riddle aren’t very bloodthirsty. Nor are they really creative. Nor are they really good. Nor do they really seem to care. Even at the prospect of performing an ordinary task and being granted a wish, the girls seem more content spending time with each other in the classroom and performing Romeo and Juliet. The general malaise and apathy expressed by most of the characters thus far illustrates these characters more as everyday schoolgirls and not cold-blooded assassins. And with this general indifference in their attitude, it makes it challenging or awkward to see them suddenly as the opponent-of-the-week when it’s their time to fail at killing Haru. I realize the anime wants to paint these girls in such a way to show this dichotomy (otherwise, there’s no point to the whole classroom/all girl setting), but it would certainly help their characterization if we witnessed the girls assassinating other people in the meantime before watching them suddenly transition from a pleasant and polite acquaintance to a world-renowned killer. To me, the transition is the most difficult, since we expect there to be some bloodlust, some creativity and some skill to these assassins, but you would never guess otherwise based on what we see in the classroom. The only hint we ever get that there’s more to their schoolgirl charm is when they have those evil grins with jagged shark teeth. Then again, maybe the girls are enjoying a simple life as a student and aren’t in a rush to complete their mission objectives. If that’s the case, then maybe the whole point of this anime is to soften up these assassins rather than to kill Haru.

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Captain Earth (Episode 6)

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Hitsugi no Chaika (Episode 5)

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Clik here to view.Mysterious, white-haired anime girls with awkward speech patterns are always clones. Always.

Okay, maybe not always, but it happens more often than not. And these girls are often paired along with scientific/medical experiments or something magical/spiritual to make their characters even more mystifying. It shouldn’t be terribly surprising to see another Chaika in this anime given the storyline and the frequency of these parallel developments in other anime, though it is refreshing to see the stark contrast in the personalities between Red Chaika and White Chaika. Pretty soon we’ll be introduced to a whole rainbow of Chaikas with an every wider array of diverse personalities. Still, the girls will all have a few things in common and that will be their mysterious nature, their white hair and their unique speech patterns. That’s just how it works for these magical white-haired clone girls in anime.

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Isshuukan Friends (Episode 5)

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Clik here to view.Considering the perspective of the anime, you might think Kaori has the most problems of any of the characters. But if you think that, you’d be wrong. Clearly, the character with the most problems is Yuuki. Yuuki’s insecurity and preoccupation over everything Kaori is growing to be borderline scary. Not only does he do everything in his power to spend every day with her, such as attempting to avoid a conference with his teacher over his failing grades to now stalking with her when she’s out with a friend for the first time. His obsession is growing worse and worse every day and is slowly developing into a predator based on this behavior. What makes this situation even worse is that Kaori is inexperienced with friends and identifying these abnormal behaviors. What’s gonna happen if Yuuki asks Kaori to go out on a date and she declines? He’s not gonna take ‘no’ for an answer, like with what we saw with the missing diary episode (episode 4). Fortunately for the series, it is a lighthearted and innocent romance, so we shouldn’t see Yuuki develop any of these darker traits that would see him turn into a criminal. But still, this obsession and now stalking is getting borderline creepy. Hopefully the anime can address Yuuki’s mania over Kaori before the end, especially if his behavior continues to get worse.

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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (Episode 6)

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Clik here to view.Say, given the frequency of Stand Masters in the present-day in JJBA and given that there’s quite a few ‘normal’ people with them, one has to wonder if there were Stand Masters all throughout history, or at the very least, during Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency. Back when Ripple was the primary method of fighting, there could have been others around the world who possessed Stands that weren’t connected with the story and therefore, were just unknown to Jonathan and Joseph at the time. After all, we know that Stands are derived from Ripple (Stands are written in kanji as ‘ghost ripple’) and that Ripple is an ancient form of martial arts that has been practiced for centuries. Additionally, Stands in other time periods could have been used for methods other than fighting, especially if they were exclusive to monks during these two arcs. Still, the fact that Stand Masters were introduced in this arc and the fact that Joseph developed a Stand of his own (one that’s new to him now and not from Battle Tendency) seems to point that these are new and novel concepts, unique to this time period. Still, considering their connection to Ripple, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some Stand Masters throughout various points in history. Right now, there’s just no way to confirm whether it’s true or not.

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Mushishi Zoku Shou (Episode 6)

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Clik here to view.What would modern science think of mushi? That is to say, what would science be able to uncover about mushi to us, from performing tissue extraction, DNA sequencing, and applying the principles of modern medicine, pharmacology and pathogenesis? We’ve seen mushi afflict ailments and disease and oddities on people, much to the same way bacteria, viruses and fungi affect people, so what would science have to say about the pathogenesis of mushi? Additionally, we’ve seen mushi cure these infections in various people, so what about properties of these mushi are used to combat these illnesses? What if there was a tablet that could cure some of these ailments or, even better, a vaccine or other form of preventive medicine. Then again, considering the stories of Mushishi and how the mushi are symbolic of the humanistic struggles, there might not be a cure or application for every mushi in existence. Still, I’m curious to learn the genetic and chemical make-up of these various mushi and would love to learn what modern science would have to say about these beings. Then again, given the setting and the characters, I suppose Ginko’s explanations are the closest we’ll get to molecular biology, biochemistry and phase III multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials.

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No Game No Life (Episode 5)

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Clik here to view.The games in No Game No Life are a double-edged sword. While I did rave about the idea of bending the rules with traditional games two weeks ago, I failed to mention the opposite: normal games would be mundane or boring. With the fifth episode of No Game No Life, we were treated to the traditional game of blackjack, which turned out to be pretty tame and uneventful. Furthermore, the rules of the game were left to be ambiguous, something that played to the advantage of the spectacular chess match but cheapened this card game. For example, the rule of winning back two-and-a-half times what you bet isn’t always true with one-and-a-half being the most common. Additionally, if Sora and Steph were playing by casino rules, Steph probably would’ve had eight decks of cards in a sleeve to prevent Sora from counting cards. And even if we ignore those two details and Sora wins two-and-a-half of what he bet in that final round, Steph would still have some chips left over and the game would not be over. You know I’m getting pretty petty when I’m counting poorly-drawn poker chips in an anime and arguing about how it’s unfair, but that’s the level of boredom I reached when watching this match. I couldn’t enjoy the game in this episode; it was ordinary. And instead of enjoying the wacky, silly game-of-the-week in this episode, I was too busy focusing on the flaws and realism instead of immersing myself in this delightful fantasy setting. I suppose the point, if there really is a point to this long-winded review, is that the games are what will make or break No Game No Life. These events and scenarios are a double-edged sword that will elevate the anime to greatness and sink it into monotony. However, with characters like Steph, Sora and Shiro guiding the way, I’m willing to place a bet that the games of this anime will finish with more wins than losses.

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Ping Pong the Animation (Episode 5)

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Clik here to view.The manga for Ping Pong ran from 1996 to 1997. It took almost two decades for the manga to be adapted into an anime. And quite a bit has changed in the world between the final chapter of the manga and the first episode of the anime. Think about all the changes in technology, from cell phones to video games. Think about the different corporations and their logos. Think about even the changes in the rules of international table tennis, a significant rule change that occurred in September 2001 when they changed the scoring of matches from 21-point games to 11-point games. As a result of all these changes, and many more that were not mentioned, Ping Pong the Animation is probably quite a bit different than Ping Pong the manga. From scoring to cell phones to video game systems to the internet and even to Pepsi’s logo… are all updates from the 90s that reflect the world we live in today for Ping Pong. The manga may have taken place in the 90s and many attributes reflect it, but the anime is taking place in the present based on the observed technologies, corporations and how table tennis is played. It shouldn’t be terribly concerning to see an anime of this caliber updated after such a long break between the manga and anime, but it’s something worth pointing out for people who never paid attention to the differences between Enoshima in the late 90s and Enoshima now.

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Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin (Episode 5)

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Clik here to view.While Nanae Island is hailed as a paradise for teenagers, an impressive technological marvel where teenagers are a commanding majority of the population and a significant force on this floating metropolis, there are some major issues with it. And actually, when factoring in everything together, Nanae Island kinda sucks. The island is incredibly isolate and features limited transportation opportunities, meaning if a disaster strikes (massive tidal wave, typhoon, fire), then the students are stranded there and it would take quite a long time for other rescuers to respond and reach the island. The island is also probably ridiculously expensive, considering all the space is 1) limited 2) modern/new construction and 3) floating in the ocean (just think about the transportation costs of shipping all those materials/people/food/fuel/products). The cost of living on Nanae Island must be the highest in the world. Furthermore, the demographics of the island are probably not ideal either, especially when school is not in session and all the students leave to return to their families in Japan. Much like what happens in small college towns in the US, I could see the population of the island decrease by 75% during school vacations. Imagine the immense shift in employment and purchasing power (for example, how to staff restaurants or stock grocery stores) over those periods of time. And let’s not forget the poverty that we saw in this episode, likely a result of these and other social factors occurring on the island. To put it plainly, who would want to go there and spend maybe over $60,000 a year to go to school there on this troubled island versus going to an equivalent school in mainland Japan? I guess whoever is crazy enough to hunt Nanana’s Collection is a good enough answer for me.

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Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii (Episode 6)

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Clik here to view.Considering Nike’s ability to control the weather and summon rain at will, why aren’t all the princesses of the Rain Principality sought after as prizes? Imagine what the princesses could do for arid farmlands or cities where water is scarce and a resource more valuable than gold. Think about how they could travel the world and help end droughts that cause starvation, turmoil and violence. Imagine what they could do to prevent rain from occurring, by diverting floods and storms elsewhere to save the lives and property of countless people. Imagine what they could do to the world and the lives of everyone in it. They would be among the most valuable and powerful people in the world. However, they girls are all severely underutilized, with three of them residing in a small principality and the other married to the Sun King. You’d figure that with such an outstanding power that the princesses would regularly tour the world and use their magic to make the world a better place. We see it somewhat with Princess Nike helping out the people of the Sun Kingdom, but what about the other three and all the other issues going on in the world today? What’s the deal with them?

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Clik here to view.Last week: why the third episode of Space Dandy Season 2 might be my favorite of the year, an analysis on the diversity of rural settings and how the specifics of this are impacting Barakamon, some egregious contradictions with the mecha in Aldnoah.Zero, and some serious questions about the structure and purpose of Night Raid in Akame ga Kill!

Best episode of the week: Space Dandy Season 2

Anime trending up this week: Rokujouma no Shinryaku!?

Anime trending down this week: Tokyo Ghoul

Akame ga Kill! (Episode 3)

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Clik here to view.Is Night Raid really an organization designed to overthrow the corrupted government? So far, the structure of this assassin guild has been merely to accept hits on various troublemakers in the government rather than accomplishing their stated goals of toppling the corrupted prime minister and impressionable emperor. Yes, it’s true that all their hits have come against power-drunk and perverted individuals who are abusing their position, but shouldn’t Night Raid be doing this regardless of what their clients are requesting? And why are they even taking hits from ordinary citizens? If Night Raid had an objective and were determined to complete it, wouldn’t they know these targets and take them out before they do enough harm to the empire that people are paying them to kill them? To me, Akame ga Kill! is telling me one thing about Night Raid and doing something else completely different. What we’re told and what we’re expected to believe is that Night Raid is a structured organization that’s unwavering in their mission to depose the perfectly malevolent prime minister and evil emperor. What we see is that Night Raid is an organization that accepts requests from clients to assassination various troublemakers in the government, independent of their conquest of the capital and its culture and doesn’t have the incentive to carry out these missions – or any missions for that matter – on their own. And of course, there are plenty of follow-up questions too, on the structure of Night Raid, such as their intelligence department, how external affairs are handled, and their plan on their revolution and the new government they hope to install following said revolution. However, considering the audience and the primary focus of the show, I don’t think the authors thought too far ahead or cared to implement these details this early in the series. After all, Akame ga Kill! is about pointless bloodshed, sexy anime girls, and not much else.

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Aldnoah.Zero (Episode 3)

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Clik here to view.The Martian technology in Aldnoah.Zero is so amazing that it even has the ability to contradict itself. In the third episode of Aldnoah.Zero, we were informed that the barrier on the Martian’s mecha is able to absorb everything that touches it. That’s a phenomenal power, but the explanations we were provided don’t match what we see in the anime. The error is specifically related to Inaho’s description of the barrier saying that it absorbs matter, sound and light. Really? The barrier absorbs visible light? Then how exactly is the mecha visible when all the light pointed at it is being absorbed by the barrier? If the barrier truly absorbed light, we would actually be seeing a giant black sphere running around save for the two holes in the barrier that allow for it to stand on the ground and receive external communication. The issue with finding its weak point wouldn’t be so difficult then, would it? Aldnoah.Zero further muddles itself by attempting to add detail to the barrier stating that it absorbs electromagnetic radiation. Although the anime was probably focusing along the lines of radio waves, electromagnetic radiation also encompasses visible light, meaning the anime reinforces the impression that the barrier we see would absorb all wave lengths of visible light aimed at it. An additional contradiction comes from the issue of the barrier absorbing matter, as we saw it absorb asphalt, concrete, steel and humans alike. However, if the barrier absorbed all matter, then that would include the air around it. And if the air around the mecha was constantly be absorbed, consistent with what we saw in the last two episodes, then the barrier would be creating a strong pressure gradient that would generate a constantly flow of air toward the barrier. However, we never really saw any vacuum effect or gale force winds as a result of the barrier, leading to another inconsistency from Aldnoah.Zero. However, while there are issues these explanations, I do enjoy the design of the barrier and how it was implemented in the series. To see these mecha pass through buildings effortlessly and have impenetrable defenses helps create the impression of how powerful and menacing these robots are. If only there was some consistency on the issue of its visibility and how it interacted with the air around it, then this would be perfect. But unfortunately, for Aldnoah.Zero, it isn’t.

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