Random Curiosity

「ジェリーフィッシュ・オブ・ドリームス」 (Jerīfisshu obu Dorīmusu)
“Jellyfish of Dreams”

Well what an incredibly anticlimactic solution to last week’s cliffhanger huh? To be honest, I didn’t give it much thought, and sadly, I don’t spend every waking moment wondering what the next episode of Kuragehime will reveal, but I seriously expected the Amamizu-kan to be a plot milestone this time. That said, the episode managed to tie up the series rather nicely, faithful to the manga or not (I wouldn’t know).

Since the Amamizu-kan wasn’t the real focus anymore, the direction turned to Tsukimi and Kuranosuke, with their jellyfish dresses finally going somewhere. It felt a little quick the way they went from nobody to partaking in a fashion showing, but I guess you could thank the ridiculous coincidence that the girl from the last ep was a model and chose them because she recognized Banban-san (and other reasons I’m sure). The contest was a big character movement for Tsukimi, as she realizes Kuranosuke just may have changed her, with metaphors of jellyfish memories flung left and right all throughout. At this point, it seems all matters of Shuu are dropped, and Kuranosuke is still in denial that he likes Tsukimi. While a lot of these issues are left hanging, the jellyfish dress plot still manages to give a good conclusion without feeling cheated. Compared to the first episode, Tsukimi’s gone far, starting up a pending relationship with Kuranosuke and their intertwined “destiny,” and has maybe understood a little more about her mother’s words.

Inari and Shuu have not been forgotten either, and I am quite amused at Inari’s complete change in character after being slapped. It’s cute that she’s completely filled with thoughts of Shuu, acting like a teenager in love again, starkly contrasting her previous mature and sexually manipulative self. Again, despite the interesting development, they’re left off traveling in an airplane together into the unknown.

And in the end, the Amamizu-kan plot returns with Chieko’s mom showing up for a somewhat “full-circle” feeling. The appearance of her mom looking almost exactly like Chieko forced me to pause the show to recompose myself, but the news she came with removed the worry that the Amamizu-kan was going to be sold (which was actually never really played off as a huge problem). I’m not too sure how that affects them still needing to buy the place, but with Inari busy rekindling her one sided love fantasies, I don’t know where the story could go. As mentioned last post, the timing of the plot for the series finale is impressive, and even courageous in anime’s usually constrictive and difficult pressures to make decisions based on business. But as expected, check another one down for a quality Noitamina show.

Also, this > this. I hope they go with Kuranosuke’s in the future.

Final Impressions:
Similar to Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, the two shows I started off blogging this season were pretty much last minute choices. While I had a little taste of what PSG was before beginning, Kuragehime had me going with nothing except pictures and descriptions. However, the first episode was nothing short of intriguing, and I soon realized I had landed on a good series.

So let’s rattle off the obvious. Kuragehime had a great plot, several of them in fact, nicely told throughout each episode, probably mostly in thanks to the experienced director of DRRR!!. “A great plot? Since when was that impressive?” Well, since it’s so difficult to find these days. In addition, the characters were probably the best part of the show, perhaps even outshining the story they were within. The whole cast is absolutely charming, and even though most of them stayed relatively the same development wise, they gave the show a lot of spunk. The story really liked throwing the characters against each other in different situations, usually leading to a lot of laughs, and a general good time.

Kuragehime is sort of like the definition of a solid show. It does everything well, but nothing really “incredible,” highly due to the extremely limited time slot of eleven episodes to tell its long and still ongoing story. This doesn’t mean that it’s in any way mediocre, as it’s like reading a really good book, but only up to a semi climax. The lack of completion many may feel from the last episode is inevitable, and I came into the episode fully prepared for that. Although the directors decided not to pull off a stunt to finish the show with a bow on top, the plot ended at a great point, providing what I thought was enough of a conclusion to satisfy. Animation stayed pretty consistent throughout, but if you’ve read my posts, you’ll notice I’ve never really cared to talk about it, as it’s just not that important for this show. The same goes for sound as well, but the soundtracks are fitting, and I grew increasingly attached to the ED song as the weeks went on.

For those that have been waiting for this series to end before starting, rest assured, the eleven episodes provide nothing but quality entertainment. You may not get the greatest ending of all time, but you’ll more than likely leave with a smile on your face, perhaps even wanting more. For my own full-circle, I’ll have to interject by saying the series did become a diamond by the end, if only just without a ring, being still beautiful, just not complete.

* Others: Houkago no Pleiades, SUPERNATURAL THE ANIMATION

The start of the winter 2011 season is only days away, so here’s the quick rundown on what me and the writers will be covering. As I mentioned in the Winter 2011 Preview, I’m reducing my personal load to about half of what it was last season by only picking up a couple more series — Infinite Stratos and FRACTALE. To help compensate, both Kiiragi and Takaii have offered to pick up an additional series to cover, adding GOSICK and Kore wa Zombie Desu ka respectively to the ones they decided on in the preview. Prooof on the other hand is still too busy to pick up new shows, but will continue being the resident Bleach specialist like he’s always been.

I was originally planning to pick up three new series to cover regularly, but decided against it after taking over coverage of STAR DRIVER and To Aru Majutsu no Index II. This led to the reluctant decision of dropping Tegami Bachi REVERSE, which I was already hesitant to take on last season, in order to pick up FREEZING. I’ve already stated my reasons for being excited about FREEZING’s adaptation back in the preview, and whether influenced by my opinion or not, the latest seasonal poll shows a similar amount of anticipation, so it’s something I want to cover weekly to see if it lives up to my expectations. I wasn’t expecting readers to be looking forward it as much as I am, and I’m already getting the feeling it won’t live up to the hype, but that’s something I want to decide for myself and convey thoughts on after watching it. Either way, it’s a series that will be fun to write about.

In lieu of dropping Tegami Bachi REVERSE and not taking on as many series as usual, I have a new “monthly digest” type of post in the works. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for some time now, since I always watch more shows every season than I have time to cover. The general idea is a monthly post with some quick thoughts on every series that I’m watching, answering the question, “What do you think about the season so far?”, and potentially sparking new interest in certain shows as well. It will also provide me with an outlet to say some good things about shows like Otome Youkai Zakuro, which turned out much better than expected as the season went on. As this type of post is oriented towards both current and potential viewers, the plan is to keep the impressions free of major spoilers (or in spoiler tags). I have yet to finalize the format, but I’m encouraging all the writers to post their own version of it, providing multiple perspectives on a given series. The same goes for me, as I’ll be talking about shows that they’re covering. We’re all pretty excited about writing one of these, so hopefully it will be well-received.

Lastly, I’ve made the subtle change of covering Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector on Sundays when it’s aired on Tokyo MX. I’ve already been doing this for weeks now since it balances out my schedule better, plus it’s when the simulcast that most viewers will be able to watching airs.

As always, comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome. I’m also willing to listen to requests (complaints?) to a degree if you really want to a series covered that isn’t listed above, though it would have to fall under the list of ones I’m planning to watch to be considered. Updates (if any) will be made to this schedule accordingly.

Updates:
01/14: Kiiragi will be covering Hourou Musuko and I’ll be continuing with Tegami Bachi REVERSE in a minimalistic manner.
01/28: Kiiragi has decided to drop regular coverage of Hourou Musuko after realizing it’s not a series he has much to say about on a weekly basis.
02/06: Prooof will be taking over regular coverage of Hourou Musuko.

It’s… TIME! Time to look back at 2010 that is, so I’d like to present the Fifth Annual Reader’s Choice Poll.

Similar to last year, there are two polls for you to vote on — one for regularly broadcast series and another for OVA/movies. The subtle change is the number of votes has increased from three to five for series and one to three for OVA/movies to further diversify results so they aren’t heavily skewed. With 98 series and 71 OVA/movies to choose from, we’re now asking for your top five and top three of 2010 respectively.

The criteria for a regular broadcast anime to be included is that it had to have been a TV series that finished airing in 2010. The general idea here is that you can’t really judge a series until it’s over, so shows such as STAR DRIVER and To Aru Majutsu no Index II will appear in next year’s poll. For OVA/movies, it has to have been released on DVD/BD in 2010 to qualify, ensuring that viewers outside of Japan have had a chance to watch it. This mostly pertains to theatrical offerings. I’ve loosened the requirement on being complete though, which is why you see Gundam Unicorn episodes one/two and Break Blade movies one/two included in the list as single entries.

As far as I’m aware, the anime series list is complete. The OVA/movie is purposely less so since there are a lot of really niche OVAs that aren’t really worth considering. However, if you feel there’s something the deserves consideration, please send me an e-mail and I’ll add it. Otherwise, you are welcome to vote for it in the Others option. Let the voting begin!

Note: The polls will close on Sunday, January 2nd at 8:00 AM GMT. Results will be posted in the upcoming Best of Anime 2010 post.

Polls are now closed. Thank you for taking the time to vote.

And no, the post title isn’t in reference to Kakashi pulling out his Sharingan in the anime spoiler-free image above. The real “hax” is Kabuto’s seemingly endless number of famous ninjas that he keeps pulling out of his coffins. This time, it’s the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. He had already tipped the scale in his favor by powering up his undead summons too, with the use of Orochimaru’s chakra found in Anko. The sight of a bruised and battered Kakashi after going toe-to-toe against Zabuza seemed to suggest as much anyway, plus the various other Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit) users that laid waste to his group. In terms of giving off a sense of a very scrambled effort from a bunch of ninjas who aren’t up to snuff for war, this chapter did impeccably in that regard and left me thinking that a lot of them should just stay back and not get in the way of the veteran Jounin. The last thing Kakashi’s division needs are medical ninjas like Sakura working overtime to try and save lives. Amidst the slaughter, the one thing that was worth taking away is how talking to the resurrected ninjas isn’t going to be enough to release them from the technique.

This actually comes as a bit of a surprise to me, since I was expecting it to be the means of dealing with the numerous emotion-filled battles battles to come. Now that it’s gone with Kabuto strengthening his control over all his pawns, I’m curious as to what will become of those. Even for former enemies such as Zabuza and Haku, the psychological effect has already been shown to work to a certain degree, which had me to looking forward to what happens for those who are up against ninjas once considered friends or more. I gather it would’ve been similar to when Hiruzen had to fight the First and Second Hokage, except without the chiseled resolve that comes with age and being a Kage, so I’ll be slightly disappointed if everyone becomes mindless tools without any resemblance of their former selves. Whatever the case, this raises a much more interesting question on how to defeat these immortal ninjas, short of some sacrificial sealing technique such as the Shiki Fuujin. Even if there were willing sacrifices, it’s not exactly like it’s a low rank ability that anyone can perform either. The outcome of this latest battle will hopefully address that in some way, because I don’t have many ideas in mind based on what we know about the technique. I guess there’s always Kakashi’s Kamui technique to warp them off to another dimension, but even if that does work, some planning is in order on how to deal with the rest of Kabuto’s ninjas. I suspect he’s still withholding the true weakness behind Edo Tensei, which should turn the tide whenever it’s discovered.

With all that going on, I had completely forgotten about what became of Juugo and Suigetsu. At the moment, it seems like their brief appearance in this chapter was more to emphasize that the broken Kubikiri Houchou, a.k.a. Decapitating Carving Knife, found its way back into Zabuza’s hands, but it did also hint at some further development on the Team Taka (Hawk) side of things. Sasuke we know still in the recovery process after getting Itachi’s eyes transplanted, whereas Karin is in Konoha’s custody after she was sacrificed in his fight against Danzou. I don’t doubt they’ll all have a prominent role to play later on, but which side it’ll be on is the real question.

「楽園からの追放者」 (Rakuen kara no Tsuibousha)
“An Exile From Paradise”

As suspected, any sort of potential suspense or shock from Lamia’s sacrifice was short-lived, after it was revealed she survived the Ash to Ash self-destruct. Taking its place wasn’t a decisive battle between Kyousuke and Axel however, and instead an explanation on Shadow-Mirror’s origin care of one Gilliam Yeager, a.k.a. Helios Olympus. It looks like I jumped the gun on that revelation back in episode four, but what I didn’t mention then was how Gilliam helped created the System XN dimensional warp device that allowed Shadow-Mirror to come to this world. Gilliam had taken the first of two devices, Agyieus, to reach the Original Generations world as the “First Jumper”, whereas they had taken the second one, Lykeios, in search of him. All of that was really just some more background on who the Earth Federation is dealing with, which served its purpose after the startling statement Vindel made last time on what they perceive as an ideal world. The real surprise came at the very end, when Gilliam and Lamia explained to everyone why Shadow-Mirror had come to this dimension to continue their work. Even as someone somewhat familiar with the story, it was still a bit of an eye-opening moment to see the cold open that the series premiered with finally cleared up.

The big emphasis of course was on Kyousuke’s fearsome and practically inhuman other self “Beowulf” who single-handedly chased Shadow-Mirror off, with the fallout being that Gilliam is also a dimensional traveler. It was undoubtedly a defining moment of this sequel, which may leave some people wonder why it was subtitled “The Inspector” instead of “Shadow Mirror”. After all, the focus has clearly been more on their involvement up until now. My take on it is that the Inspectors are more deserving though, seeing as they were able to occupy key military facilities throughout the world in one fell swoop with absolute ease. In comparison, Shadow-Mirror isn’t much more than an unexpected nuisance that the Earth Federation has to deal with alongside Neo DC, given that Kyousuke and the others have been able to drive them back on multiple occasions already. Rather than the dominant galactic power like the Inspectors have made themselves out to be, Vindel’s group is more of a manipulative one that pulls the strings in the background. They aren’t interested in wiping out mankind, and simply want to see a world with unending conflict. In any case, what I find interesting is how all of that comes together as problems continue to arise from the different factions. It’s a prominent theme in the games and one that gets brought up every so often in the stages themselves, where you’re pitting against two groups of enemies in a complete free-for-all. The different there is that the player generally wants to wedge their units right in between and reap the benefits of taking out all the enemy units. Here, not so much.

In terms of some specific developments, Sanger Zonvolt (Ono Kenichi) makes his reappearance in this sequel piloting his Grungust, equipped with an enormous Zankantou sword. It didn’t really take too long for him to make a rival of his strikingly similar counterpart, Wodam Ymir a.k.a. W-15, and start crossing swords with him like only super robots can. Along with Lemon’s decision to not fix Lamia’s speech in hopes of seeing her sense of individuality continue to grow, and granting her a Zweizergain/Soulgain-like Vysaga super robot as a parting gift, the sheer number of over-sized swords undoubtedly provided the most “oomph” this episode. What I personally took more notice to was Gilliam in his Gespenst RV and Rai‘s reaction to being reunited with his older brother Elzam. Also, there was the huge cast of characters assembled during the meeting, most of which didn’t have any dialogue to potentially save calling in all the seiyuu for a quick one-liner. In terms of production, I was curious the anime would handle the cost of a large cast from episode to episode, so I found only focusing on a handful each episode a smart way of going about it. I’m fine with everyone simply being around, such as Ryune in her laid-back choice of clothing. Anyway, I can’t see this recent revelation affecting the Earth Federation’s actions too greatly. If anything, it just finally cleared things up on who they’re up against.

Preview

「涼宮ハルヒの消失」 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Shōshitsu)
“The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya”

At this point in time, the Haruhi series needs no introduction. Unless you’re an extremely casual viewer, or have a streak of uncanny avoidances, you probably know who or what Haruhi is. You may not know that fans have been waiting for this movie for a long time, and you may not know that this is not a stand alone movie. If you have not seen the prior two seasons of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, and you wish to enjoy this movie, please do so now. For everyone else, these impressions are written with the expectation that you have seen the movie beforehand, so if you have not had the pleasure to do so, well what are you waiting for?

Clocking in at 18 minutes short of 3 hours, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu is a pretty lengthy movie, and rightly so. The plot is based on an entire novel’s worth, specifically the fourth Haruhi light novel, and as far as I can tell, the movie doesn’t miss out on much. While the first couple of novels and the seasons adapted after them focus more on development, Shoushitsu happily specializes in reflection, forcing characters to look upon themselves, and if taken from a joking point of view, decide whether or not the plot thus far was entertaining or not. Of course, none of this is obvious in the beginning, and since we take Kyon’s point of view and his only, the problem starts off as, “where the hell is Suzumiya Haruhi?”

While character focus eventually becomes the main point of the story, the initial plot still begs to be watched, since assuming the entire audience are fans, who wouldn’t want to know what would happen if Suzumiya Haruhi never existed? As thus, that is what I believed until further into the movie, when the mystery is chipped away little by little, and the plot soon turns itself into a character study of Nagato Yuki and Kyon. As mentioned before, the movie heavily relies on the previous seasons, specifically Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, and uses past memories of season one to create much of the impact in the realization of Haruhi’s disappearance (the prologue helped too). Kyon’s desperations and emotions are executed effortlessly due to his still charming and witty narration, with nicely orchestrated music to fittingly accompany each scene. It’s rare for a movie to create momentum that gives goosebumps even once, and yet Shoushitsu manages to do that several fold. I’d have to give more props to the music for that one though.

As the movie was promoted over the years, it mainly focused on Nagato Yuki, and for good reason. Nagato had been so far developed as an unfeeling side character, despite having powers almost as strong as Haruhi’s, yet Kyon still couldn’t help but feel attached to her. With Haruhi gone, Nagato becomes a normal human, and with that came emotions, leading to a very, very, shy but cute girl (she’s kind of like a wounded puppy). The alternate world also reveals any initial feelings characters may have had without Haruhi’s intervention, such as Nagato’s growing interest in Kyon, and Koizumi’s liking for Haruhi. Sure enough, Koizumi gives parallels later at the hospital, repeating that he is envious of Kyon, which made me think back to all those times he’s said that before (yes, way back in season one), except now we know why. Nagato on the other hand, is far more complex, and it’s debatable whether or not her decision to change the world was for Kyon’s sake, or hers. Nagato doesn’t realize what’s happening to her, but over Kyon’s monologue, he explains that she has simply gained emotions, despite being an advanced AI. Personally, if I had gone through 15,532 loops of summer as an AI, I think I’d develop some serious problems too, not just emotions. As with the alternate Nagato, there’s a hint of love going on with the regular Nagato as well. She’s a “god” that can change the past, yet won’t change it without consent, leaving Kyon with the final decision of happiness. With this thought, the ending rooftop scene becomes enchantingly bittersweet, with Kyon blissfully announcing he’ll protect her (even kneeling down like a marriage proposal), unaware how that might sound to a girl who might have feelings for him. It’s a one-sided love in an impossible situation, almost tragic, and when Kyon calls out to her first name (in Japan, first name basis signifies a close relationship or intimacy), “Yuki,” she looks up as if with hope, but realizes it’s only the snow he’s referring to. With the short clip after the credits, she sees a scene that reminds her of Kyon and the library card, and holds up her book to cover what I can only assume to be a smile, confirming she has kept some emotions.

Despite Yuki going through a whole lot, Kyon’s development feels a lot more overshadowing, since all the major decisions in the movie inevitably rests in his hands. After fumbling around initially to Haruhi’s disappearance, Kyon makes the decision easily in the clubroom, not truly realizing Yuki’s feelings for all this, and hands back the club recruitment sheet without much remorse. After learning who’s actually behind all this, Kyon undergoes an enlightening reveal of a monologue, realizing Yuki’s anomaly as emotions, and even blames himself for not helping, a self-realization of one of his main traits, laziness. However, as he reaches the answer to why Yuki gave him a choice, he interprets it the other way, thinking only of Haruhi. In a fascinating blend of metaphors such as standing before a subway ticket gate, the conclusions in his head come to a climax, and the unanswered questions characterized as himself stamp in provocation, helping him reach an answer that he didn’t want to admit, but claims as “obvious.” While the main story is about Haruhi, and the hard truth is that they do like each other, one can’t help but notice Yuki standing behind him as he walks away from the ticket station. The unquestioned, the unanswered, and the unknown is Yuki, and whether or not Kyon will ever realize the other reason he was given his choice, is something only further adaptations will reveal.

You probably know my response to “is the movie good?” by now. Shoushitsu is absolutely perfect, with a hauntingly ignored Yuki that the film doesn’t just forget on accident, but concludes inconclusively, powerfully sending signals to my brain that I should loyally watch the rest of Haruhi for as long as it takes. The amount of substance this story can tell is something I’ve rarely experienced before, and it took a little discussion with a friend to realize all that was there. With Shoushitsu, I realized the depth the series was capable of, and with another mystery planted right at the climax (achieving yet another layer of time travel), I had been captivated. It is a beautiful movie, in more ways than just animation, such as Kyon brushing aside the hair of a sleeping Haruhi, affectionately tracing her lip, and while she may not be the main point of this movie (ironic right?), the scene reaffirms that this is the choice the author Tanigawa Nagaru has laid out for us. Nagaru is incredible, the dialogue is sharp, and this movie is an exemplary masterpiece of his skill in weaving such an intricate story. Kyoto Animation deserves massive props too, not just for the absolutely gorgeous animation, but scene direction, clever camera angles, and matching the intricacies of references and foreshadowing, such as showing room 1-9 when Koizumi first appears in the prologue. Yuutsu may have been light hearted, and don’t get me started on “season two,” but delightfully, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu has finally made me a serious Haruhi fan.

「恋する紅い剣」 (Koi Suru Akai Ken)
“The Loving Red Sword”

Either hairstyles and colors don’t stand out as much as they seem or some characters just don’t bother to take notice, as the secret “Kiraboshi” greeting often leaves me both amused and dumbfounded by the surprised reactions. Take Benio for example: “Oh, so you’re Ivrogne.” Me: “… (lol)” Granted, Keito is in a lower grade than Filament‘s leader and talks much politer when she doesn’t take on her other persona, but I figured Benio would have at least known who the other brigade leaders are. I wonder if there’s some unwritten code about not snooping around unless you plan to formally introduce yourself, much like Takumi did when he realized Marino is Manticore. Anyway, that served as a bit of amusement before things got more interesting with the use of resurrection of destroyed Cybodies for the very first time. After all the talk last time about the use of a Star Driver’s libido and the potentials risk involved, it was nice to see that explanation garner some attention through Benio’s backstory, when Manticore put the pressure on Filament for not having any more Star Drivers. There was also talk about her interest in strong guys like Sugata, plus how she, George, and Tetsuya came from families that had all lost their marks somehow. Altogether, those revelations provided some tangible reason for Benio to become the first guinea pig for the resurrection process and recovery her family mark to repair her Cybody. While not specifically stated, I assume that she would’ve wound up in a coma after plunging into the depths of her mind if she didn’t show the resolve that she did. That was the only thing I perceived as the risk in an otherwise quick recovery.

The subsequent battle between kendo champion Benio and duel-wielding Takuto was surprisingly brief, and came without “Innocent Blue” in the background to kick it off since Mizuno was noticeably absent all episode. Having grown accustomed to hearing a maiden song upon entering Zero Time, I have to say that the lack of one felt like there was something missing in that scene. What I didn’t mind was how their clash was decided with a single blow, since it gave off a kendo vibe and mirrored Benio’s earlier fight with Takuto like it was intended to. Driving that point home was the rematch at the very end, which came with the added bonus of Benio getting all bent out of shape from Takashi pairing her up with Takuto. As the Ginga Bishounen continues to strike the hearts of all the girls on the island, the one thing was somewhat concerning is how fast Benio’s Cybody was resurrected with the Orichalcum Formula and thrown back into the fray. Upon seeing that, I couldn’t help but feel that the writers had just provided a really easy means to keep the weekly battles going indefinitely, rather than changing things up a bit to keep the development fresh. The preview showing Manticore’s Ayingott resurrected seemed to suggest that reaching the third phase isn’t too far off now, which in combination with the quick recovery process, left me wondering if we’re going to be in store for rematches of a lot of the battles we’ve already seen at the new phase.

I’m not completely opposed to that happening to a certain degree, but I was hoping the series would change the format a little as we approach the latter half of it. I don’t know if there’s much that can be done given the closed off space where the battles take place (other than simply not including a battle in an episode), so all the mention of the Day of Departure when they can take the Cybodies out of Zero Time and off of Southern Cross Island is what’s piquing my interest the most recently. At the center of it all is Sugata, whom Head‘s been doing a pretty dandy job sending him subliminal messages about using his powers. The way he spoke about confirming if he can paint again felt like he was trying to entice Sugata into using Samekh’s powers. Since deeming fights at the second phase fruitless and sitting on that bench staring off into the sunset every episode, Head’s been looking more and more like he intends to make use of Sugata’s powers to deal with Takuto and take the rest of the Cybodies to the fifth phase too. Whether it’ll work is another matter, but Sugata didn’t seem to mind that the brigade can repair their Cybodies now. In fact, it was almost as if he was happy about having many opportunities in the future to test his powers.

Note: The STAR DRIVER broadcast is on break next week. Episode 14 airs on January 9th.

Preview

After several weeks of slow development, this chapter suddenly threw out some big developments and the plot twists yet again. For one, Chad finally shows up and from what’s implied, he is affiliated with the “Xcution” in some way. This was quite a surprise and I did not see it coming at all, instead expecting that he would be attacked as Ishida did. Regardless, Chad seems fine and he’s also looks pretty surprised at seeing Ichigo there, although from his interactions with Riruka it’s obvious they had previous contact with Chad. As for Riruka, she really gives off the same annoying vibes as Hiyori does, and as I mentioned before they seem parallel to the Vizard. Also if Chad is allied with the Xcution, I have trouble imagining them as villains, but the unclear allegiances (so far) do make things more interesting, as opposed to the usual clear-cut good guy/bad guy drama.

Ginjou also reveals the nature of his group, explaining his powers as drawing out the souls of objects and manipulating them to their advantage. He transforms his necklace into a huge sword (looks bigger than Ichigo’s) leaving him in utter shock. However, I can’t help but feel that this power is rather strange and doesn’t seem very well thought-out by the author, as it’s pretty much equivalent to a “everything is alive and can help me” religious philosphy. The whole thing also has a filler feel to it, but even so, I’ll lay off the judgement for now since it could turn out to be awesome. Chad perhaps could learn those abilities and combine them with his own to become really strong, and the attempt to bring back Ichigo’s powers is also likely to be achieved with the help of this “fullbringer” ability. With all the mystery in the air, I am starting to look forward to the next few chapters, and that’s always a good thing.

Well, apparently guessing by logic doesn’t help in Oda’s world because now there are Shark mermaids. Okay, but is that the best looking male mermaids you got Oda? Regardless of my species poking, this chapter makes it pretty obvious that there’s some deep issues between the inhabitants of the sea world and humans. It’s revealed that Fisher Tiger, the man who saved many slaves from the Tenryuubito, including Hancock and her sisters, died from being refused a blood transfusion from humans. I don’t doubt the truth of the story, but there’s always a chance it may be slightly skewed.

It’s funny how a running joke from Sanji is the catalyst to such a serious situation, once again bringing out the speciesism that was first encountered way back in Arlong’s arc. If anything, the situation mirrors Skypiea’s race wars, and a little bit of Alabasta’s civil war. You can bet that this won’t be the last time the problem is brought up, as it may finally be delved in within this arc, which just might be a very long one. I’ve never been one to admire Oda’s enactments of wars and discrimination, and I tend to glaze over these issues in OP, simply treating them as background noise that pushes forward the main plots. I’m not sure why, and I haven’t really thought about it until now, but I guess it’s just because stuff like this is so normal and real in our lives that they just become boring. Shocking, I know, but it’s just something I’ve seen millions of times in history class, or in film, that I’m just numbed to it. I suppose it’s mad genius to the younger demographic reading OP, but it doesn’t do much for me. Luckily for me, it’s not too much of a focus in OP.

On the other hand, Luffy getting a chance to show off his training was very impressive, dodging the net he normally would have been caught in, and effortlessly breaking into Gear Second to fire three jet pistols, instantly knocking them out cold. As if that wasn’t cool enough, a sea monster then appears out of nowhere and Luffy easily tames him with a simple hand gesture. Although, I have to say that the sea monster appearing seemed purely just to add more badassery to the momentum of the scene already, but I’m okay with that. Hey, he even impressed some mermaids.

As for the Princes that were introduced this chapter, somehow they just didn’t possess the brains to say, “HEY STRAWHATS, I HAVE A MESSAGE FROM JINBEI” right at the start, but ask questions as if they’re going to capture them. Wow, jumping to conclusions? And whose fault do you think that was, Prince Charming? Well, break again this week, so no post on Wednesday. Enjoy New Years!

Time is counting down to the new year and I still have the year-end Reader’s Choice poll to put up soon, so here’s the seasonal one first. I’ve decided to stick with the five-vote maximum used this past fall, since it allows for a more diverse range of results. While some people may not think so, I actually find this upcoming season rather interesting, offering twenty-two new titles with a fair bit of variety. At the moment, I’m not even sure what to make of some despite their potential, whereas others I’m eagerly looking forward to because I have a good idea what I’m in store for. What that translates to is a good season to start, with the possibility of turning out to even better if one or two hidden gems are discovered. Anyway, if you haven’t already, please refer to the Winter 2011 Preview for detailed information on each of the shows listed. As always, comments are welcome if there’s anything you want to add about a particular show or the winter season in general. Let the anticipation begin!

Note: The same poll will also be available on the sidebar. It will automatically close on January 3rd at 4:00 PM GMT to coincide with the start of the new season.

「天文台（ベルヴェデーレ）」 (Tenmondai (Beruvedeeru))
“Astronomical Observatory (Belvedere)”

There was a fair bit of build-up in this episode towards about the Croce di Pietro, which Touma and Tsuchimikado had a fairly long talk about, so hopefully it won’t be simply brushed aside with a new development as well. After the Stab Sword turned out to be a “plot feint”, I’m starting to become a bit wary of these twists that don’t really feel like one. The only thing worst than lengthy exposition to build suspense is lengthy exposition that I take the time to understand, only to learn in the subsequent episode that I didn’t really have to bother to do so. This episode moved fairly slowly for me because of that, with the only scenes that had a somewhat quickened pace being the two minutes of Kuroka drooling all over Mikoto’s mother, and the the two minutes of Touma and Stiyl getting their asses handed to them by Oriana.

Be that as it may, the slow pacing didn’t really bother me all that much as my interest was piqued by their suspicion that the Roman Catholic Church is using the stars to create an astronomical magical circle to use the cross’ powers. With Oriana moving about Academy City, its large-scale deployment also gave off a bit of a Fullmetal Alchemist vibe to it. The strange imbalance was only really noticed when I was taking the screen captures and found that half of them pertain to the last few minutes of the episode. Looking back, I do wonder if so much time needed to be allocated to Tsuchimikado’s lengthy explanation on how the cross can only used in certain places and on the day St. Peter was crucified, when Orsola’s phone call made light of it almost instantly by saying it can be used anywhere at anytime. The only portion of his explanation that really needed to be emphasized is that there are conditions on its use and Orsola was able to figure out the possible locations given the current date, leading us to the suspense from the race against sundown near the end.

I will say that I still feel a bit shortchanged by Stiyl‘s build-up at the subway station about how things are going to get ugly from hereon, as it was just the same girl that Touma punched in the face two episodes ago. Without any indication that more Roman Catholic Church members were going to show up, it was kind of hard to see how this was going to be Touma’s fight of his life. After all, he’s just doing what he does best by going to lengths to confirm that Oriana deserves a beat down before he actually gives her one. I felt kind of sorry for Stiyl who probably laid on the ground listening to him after getting kicked in the face, when he could have used it as an opportunity to get a jump on her. Touma’s preaching used as a distraction? Now there’s something I’d like to see. In terms of fairly useless exposition, I question whether it was really necessary for Tsuchimikado to make a big deal about the aerial surveillance at the airport, when the three of them just darted out onto the airfield anyway after a plane flew by. All things considered, between that and giving Touma an extra minute to say his spiel, I guess that was a blessing in disguise.

Plot-wise, I’m actually curious if Himegami nearly getting killed is going to driver factor for the outcome of this fight. It works for Touma because injuring innocent bystanders is enough to set him off on his righteous movement, but it’s kind of odd how Oriana almost has a sense of guilt over what happened too. Despite what she says, it’s kind of weak to see a religious activist’s resolve get even remotely shaken by someone she may have killed. Thou shall not kill? Yeah, I don’t think so. If that somehow causes her to ease up on Touma and allow her plans to be foiled, I’m going to be a bit disappointed in her character. She doesn’t need to show any sign of weakness when Touma’s here telling her not to take away everyone’s happiness from the festival (lol). Anyway, with Oriana making mention of Kaori, part of me still wishes she’d show up and end this so Touma doesn’t have to punch her in the face again. Let another girl do it for a change.

Note: The To Aru Majutsu no Index II broadcast is on break next week. Episode 13 airs on January 7th.

Preview

Another Epilogue

Special Episode

「Stairway to Heaven」

When Angel Beats finished airing six months ago, the December release of the last DVD/BD volume containing this bonus episode felt like an eternity. Well now the wait is finally over, we can have a final taste of the series that is undoubtedly one of the best this year. As a completely comedic extra akin to the rocket chairs seen in episode five, the more relevant bonus actually came in the form of a short alternate epilogue.

The emphasis of course was on the tear-filled conclusion without the happy ending where Otonashi and Kanade are eventually reborn and reunited. Instead, Otonashi stays behind and becomes the new student council president, helping other people move on if that’s what they’re seeking. The subtle twist is that Otonashi could very well be perceived the “bug” in the system that led to the ultimate problem the SSS had to overcome in episode twelve. I gather it’s no coincidence that the description of the programmer who arrived without his memories, devoted himself to another person, became unable to bear waiting for her return after she moved on, and developed the shadow program to erase his own consciousness fits Otonashi perfectly. The only thing that made it hard to grasp was the perception of a time line, which the finale seemed to suggest isn’t even a factor in this world with Kanade arriving before Otonashi. The other possibility is that this alternate ending is meant to depict Otonashi following in the footsteps of that previous programmer, which is what gave a bit of an unsettling feeling knowing how that played out. Whatever the case, the short two minute bonus sparked some very interesting thoughts.

As a result, the “Stairway to Heaven” title in the OVA episode was pretty deceiving. I was originally expecting it to be about the aforementioned alternate epilogue and supplement the story in some way, so I was pretty surprised when I heard Yuri talking about another one of her crazy operations — High Tension Syndrome. Surprised yes, disappointed no, as this wacky episode reminded me of all the funnier moments of the series leading up to the more serious conclusion. After all, seeing the entire gang get into a lot of idiotic scenarios was next on my list of things I’d like to see in the bonus episode, after one about the reincarnated Otonashi and Kanade. With more of Hinata and Yui at odds, Noda being psychotic as usual, Takematsu flexing his muscles, TK doing what he does best with a bunch of fatties (Ooyama and Fujimaki), and even Girls Dead Monster fighting amongst themselves, the only real things missing were Takeyama telling everyone to call him Christ, and Iwasawa having a cameo of some sorts. I also would’ve loved to see the making of this episode with everyone in the recording studio screaming at the top of their lungs with expressionless faces, but was otherwise pretty content with Yurippe being the evil leader that she is, and Shiina going over 9000 yelling “CUUUTE!!!” I just love it when anime episodes depict cavalry battles as well, especially in completely insane ways like they did here, because it’s something that I wish I had a chance to partake in when I was younger. It still blows my mind how Japanese school festivals actually have such a physical, head-on event.

After all the slapstick stupidity, I can’t imagine anyone expecting Yuri’s plan to actually succeed with Kanade opening the way to God and reporting how people are enjoying the afterlife yet not moving on. The fact that we know she isn’t an angel eliminated that possibility even before Yuri finished explaining the operation. I did enjoy how they played up the possibility at the end though, plus Kanade quickly shooting them down in her underground hydroponics garden, leading to the bad ending where everyone dies from being forced to fast for a week. I don’t know if I can call it fasting if Yuri won’t even let them drink water, but it sure made for a quirky conclusion at the end. I’m assuming everyone will eventually rise up some hours later since they’re immortal in this world, so this episode could have very well slotted in anywhere in the first half of the season. Anyway, now all we need to hear is an announcement about Maeda Jun‘s next original project, which I’m inclined to believe would be budgeted for two cours after Angel Beats’ success.

* Note: This post is later than I would’ve liked since I had trouble getting a hold of good screen captures.

「失意の果てに ～久遠～」 (Shitsui no Hate Ni ~ Kudou ~)
“The Limits Of Despair ~ Eternity ~”

In a surprising turn of events, just about nothing is revealed this week. Instead, my mind was pretty blown away after watching Gotou get shot. But besides watching one of my favorite characters go down pretty hard, I thought it was pretty crazy watching Yakumo’s father try to actually take over Yakumo’s body. Throughout the entire series, I was always wondering what the point of pushing Yakumo into the darkness was for. Up until this point, it has always looked like one lame attempt after another – when in fact the mail goal wasn’t just to drown Yakumo in darkness but to drown him in so much darkness that it’d be easy to claim his body. I’ll admit I was pretty nervous after seeing such a creepy smile come out of Yakumo, not to mention seeing both of his eyes turn red was fairly creepy. Of course, Yakumo isn’t weak enough to become a puppet for his father. After playing it really pretty slick, pretending to have become his father, Yakumo uses Isshin’s red contact to trick Miyuki into dropping her defenses – allowing him to disarm her before she could shoot Haruka. After a rather uneventful final battle between Yakumo and his father, it was weird seeing his father so beat up after a failed possession attempt. To really seal the deal that he wasn’t going to fall into darkness, Yakumo opens his heart up to the doctor who stabbed Isshin. Knowing his true intentions were to save his daughters life, they exchange a few words with each other. After a minute or so, Yakumo decides to allow the doctor to use Isshin’s body to save his daughter Yoshiko – only if he promises to turn himself over to the police afterwords. As Yakumo finishes his conversation with the doctor his father disappears in a flash of light, vowing to return one day.

While the first half the episode was a real disappointment to me, the wrap up of everything was done really well. Starting with Isshin’s funeral service, I found it quite honorable to watch the doctor give his prayer before going with the police. I figured that Gotou would take custody over Nao, but it was fun to watch Yakumo harass him a little before finally giving his approval. He even got Gotou to quit smoking! The real clincher was when Yakumo sat in the main hall, talking to Isshin’s spirit. As Haruka walks in, it looks as if Yakumo is just talking to himself. I thought that by not showing Isshin’s ghostly figure and having only a candle go out to prove he was there served as a stronger way to conclude the series instead of showing him through Yakumo’s eye. Going out on a strong note, the series ends with Haruka’s embracing Yakumo as the credits start to roll.

As far as replaced ending sequences go, I love it when a series decides to give a pseudo-epilogue. Just by being able to see into everyone’s lives gives a sense of closure. Especially with Gotou and Ishii – Gotou finally spending time with his wife with Nao now living with him and Ishii becoming a stronger person on his own accord.

Final Impressions:

Wow, where do I start? Seeing how I think the last few episodes of the series were easily the best of the bunch, Shinrei Tantei Yakumo leaves me in a pretty precarious predicament. I don’t like to say that a series is bad, but I think Yakumo would fall under my fairly disappointed category. I was expecting a show that would have mysteries with depth and a ghostly twist to them. I was thinking that it would be nice to have something Detective Conan-esque, since Yakumo followed the one mystery per episode approach for a while. Instead, the mysteries felt sort of limp and didn’t really flesh out any emotions from me. Too many times did the episode feel rushed with the conclusion having nothing to do with the overall story line. However, toward the end this series made a complete 180. When the writers starting stretching out the arcs to two or more episodes, everything seemed to fix itself; the mysteries felt like they were actual mysteries, the ghostly aspect starting coming through, and the cast got to show just what they’re made of – especially Gotou and Isshin. Gotou proved to me that you can be awesome bad-ass but still be caring at the same time. From taking down a bad guy after getting shot to his fatherly affection for Nao, I just can’t help but love the guy. Isshin on the other hand plays the role of the wise mentor. I can’t imagine how much he’s helped Yakumo throughout the years but using his short talk with Yoshiko as an example, the man used all of his wisdom to help others.

Finishing this series was a little bit of a push in the beginning, but I can safely say the ending to the series was pretty good. This show is definitely one of the more underappreciated ones this season, but I hope that since it’s finished some people will go and watch the entire thing. I think this show shines because since it’s not solely a mystery series, it has the opportunity to branch out and cover other topics that strictly mystery shows wouldn’t. The biggest one that appealed to me was the whole family aspect. Besides giving Nao plenty of screen time with Gotou, showing how important the bond between father and child is, it was great to watch Yakumo finally understand the type of family he has beside him. While the people around him may not be related by blood, they all care for him just as much as a regular family would.

「上崎裡沙編 シンジツ」 (Kamizaki Risa-hen – Shinjitsu)
“Kamizaki Risa Chapter – Truth”

I probably should have held off on the poll until this first of two bonus chapters, but I’m almost certain I would’ve felt bad for Rihoko if I did. With just a single episode to her name, Risa would’ve easily surpassed her and probably some of the other girls too. As Junichi’s stalker since elementary school, she’s not nearly as bad nor plain as she makes herself out to be. In fact, I couldn’t help but feel a bit stricken by the cute charm from her forwardness about both her bust size and her feelings by saying “ureshii” a lot. I’m not even a huge fan of her seiyuu Kadowaki Mai either, since she tends to fade into the background with her soft-spoken roles. As Risa, it actually turned out to be the perfect voice to portray her timid yet adorable personality though. She sure made a case for herself as far as stalker girls and straight bang haircuts go as far as I’m concerned, the latter of which edges out Tsukasa’s because of long side bangs and dyed color. What can I say? I’m a fan of her character.

On top of all the cuteness that she exuded around Junichi, this bonus episode’s seemingly comedic take on her meddling with all the other girls ended up being quite a pleasant way to conclude the series. I realize that “conclude” is kind of a wishy-washy term for a series that’s already provided us with six different endings, but Risa’s addresses the untold story on Junichi’s Christmas trauma. The girl in question all series is Makihara Mika (Harada Hitomi), who’s currently attending KimiKiss‘ Kibina High School (much like her uniform indicates), and whom Risa protected Junichi from after finding out she was going to dump him in front of everyone as her messed up form of entertainment. While I can easily cough that up to the heartless immaturity of middle school kids, the interesting bit is how Risa saved Junichi from that traumatic experience and presented him with a different one when she lied to Mika about a meeting location change. In light of how she’s been looking out for him all this time, Risa really started looking like Junichi’s fated girlfriend, which was further reiterated by how her love for him stemmed from his days as a spirited boy drinking her milk. It’s probably no coincidence that they wanted to make Junichi out to be the one responsible for her small breasts, due to the superstitious Japanese belief that drinking more milk helps them grow, but even that was kind of cute to see since I was thinking how Junichi better “take responsibility” for it.

Looking back, it’s a bit of a shame that Risa’s story was only covered in a single episode; however, AIC went about it really well by showing the lighthearted side of things with her fake photograph of Junichi with another girl to get all his potential love interests off his back. Tsukasa in particular was funny to see, as was Ai who tried to feign indifference but failed miserably. Following up on that was Risa’s touching apology for interfering and tearful thanks to Junichi for letting her be his girlfriend for a short period of time. I don’t know how anyone would have not felt compelled to reach out to a kindhearted girl like Risa after learning that she likes him and meant well, so the final scene where Junichi stopped her yet seem upset at first was one of the sweetest moments all series. It gave new meaning to the whole traumatic premise and addressed it, making this worthy finale to an omnibus formatted series that didn’t seem like it even had one lined up.

ED7 Sequence

ED7: 「恋のゆくえ」 (Koi no Yukue) by Kadowaki Mai (門脇舞以)
Watch the 7th ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

Final Impressions:

While there’s still the chapter on Miya that’s will be available on the 13th and final BD/DVD volume slated for April 20th as the mid-episode ticker announcement indicated, this is the conclusion of the televised run and warrants a look back on the series as a whole. It’s hard to believe I’ve been covering this series for six months and now it’s suddenly over, because it’s easily become one of my favorite to watch this past year. I was already eagerly looking forward to it after seeing the cast of characters and the seiyuu set to play them, in hopes of getting a very similar romantic drama like its sister series KimiKiss. Much to my pleasant surprise, the use of the omnibus format that sections off the series into various mini stories made this latest adaptation of Enterbrain‘s romance simulation game better than I was anticipating. It’s not a format I’ve seen anime use before, but its use here drove the point home that it’s exactly what I’d like to see in future adaptations of this kind. Rather than stretching out a single pairing for thirteen or twenty-six episodes, having four on each felt like the sweet spot and came with the obvious advantage of providing multiple endings. In addition that benefit, what I particularly like was how each arc depicted how Junichi changes depending on who he’s with, emphasizing the idea that falling in love can really changes a person. From the more unsightly side to his character to the more admirable ones, we got it all thanks to the once iffy-looking omnibus format.

As far as romance drama anime go, Amagami turned out to be a very good offering even though it didn’t get nearly as dramatic than another series this past fall. Regardless, I really like how it maintained the high school feel and kept things interesting within that realm. There weren’t any potentially gimmicky plot devices and instead just a diverse cast of characters and their distinct nuances, whose interactions with our male protagonist were enough to provide ample romantic entertainment. Only on a few occasions did I really get a sense of profound love was in the air, but the back and forth developments leading towards an eventual relationship made it a lot of fun to watch. The girls are the focus after all, so seeing them in all types of scenarios and how they react and fall for a fairly normal guy had plenty of perks on it own. Given how that was all I was hoping for, this series delivered really well in that regard and has me hoping for more lighthearted romance like this in the near future. It’s a bit difficult to compare it to the likes of true tears that I was hoping it would fill the void it left behind, but Amagami is praiseworthy in its own right for everything it did well. In terms of being my favorite romance/drama of the year, it’s definitely high on my consideration list for 2010.

Finally, here are the results from the Amagami poll posted last week as promised. Much like I was expecting, Tsukasa took the win easily with Haruka a somewhat distant second. At the bottom, it doesn’t come as any surprise that Rihoko is dead last after the ending she got. I am a bit surprised that Ai edged ahead of Kaoru by a fair margin though, as I am with the paltry number of votes that Sae received. I’m fairly confident that Risa would’ve eclipsed both Rihoko and Sae, and probably would’ve stolen some votes from Kaoru and Ai as well.

Final results: Tsukasa, Haruka, Ai, Kaoru, Sae, Rihoko.