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「Coincidence （暗合）」 (Angou)
This is getting pretty interesting to say the least, as Masakaki whisks Kimimaro away to the center of the Financial District, a giant stock exchange in which entres (entrepreneurs) and their assets fight in “deals” for each other’s money. No time is wasted as Kimimaro activates his Midas card along with Msyu, his asset, and gets thrown right into the action against veteran Taketazaki and his asset Gig. Msyu may claim to be a noob, but she knows what she’s doing as she’s forced to save Kimimaro a couple times, getting beat up in the process. Those wounds would probably be fatal, but luckily she heals incredibly quickly. Apparently there’s no monetary loss if assets get hit, but it’s still pretty brutal watching her getting crushed and sliced over and over, and several times I really thought she was going to die.
Kimimamro is completely clueless of course, and Msyu slaps some sense into him. Getting thrown off a cliff is the best way to learn how to fly however. With on the spot instruction they manage to pull off a massive attack that destroys a large radius of the district and wins the deal, though Kimimaro collapses afterwards. He’s such a shrimpy guy; Msyu was clearly the one taking all the damage. The assets are pretty interesting characters for sure though. They are like monsters summoned in a card battle, but also in a partnership relationship with their entres. Msyu is sort of a elf-vampire cross, like Q, and it looks like she, and other assets, live in the cards, working out in their spare time and talking through the fractured sidebars. Interestingly, they can also look out through the hole in the card or alternatively, slap people through it.
I’m not sure what “your asset represents your future” means, but the whole Financial District and Midas Bank thing is pretty fascinating as well. For one, there’s Masakaki who randomly shows up in places and still creeps the hell out of me, though he does look pretty funny. Midas Bank issues currency too, though only those who’ve been the Financial District can see the difference. So far, I would speculate that the financial district hedges bets on the futures on the entres, while supplying them with money to fight with in deals, in which they name a price on each attack and collect the money if it hits. It seems like entres are fairly rich in real life too (as long as they don’t go bankrupt). For example Mikuni Souchirou seems to be a pretty big fish in the real world, dealing with high level corporate stuff and flashing money frivolously. He’s been watching Kimimaro with interest, since Kimimaro’s situation mirrors his. As his asset Q explained, Kimimaro is the first to win a deal without knowing what was going on, since the time Mikuni pulled off the feat. Kimimaro of course also has a ton of money now, even if he’s not exactly enthusiastic about it. Mikuni encourages him to fight; however in the end he’s not the only one with eyes on Kimimaro.
Hey Prooof, you forgot to put up the episode number!
whoops
What about the preview of next episode?
C has no preview
Sorry Prooof. My mistake. I really like the concept. It almost like the took the idea from bakuman. The world of money etc. Would you happen to know how may eps are planned etc? I like your blogs they have become really interesting from when you first started.
11 probably
interesting show I like its story and the fights are good.
I don’t know what it is, but I’m loving this show so much.
It has to be Kimimaro’s asset. D:
Yeah, I love Msyu as well. He has funny personality for an asset ;x
Hope all assets have interesting personalities just like her.
I think I’ll bite on this one, but it will halfway just be to hear the new school food punishment single.
The Midas Money looks… confusing X_X. I’d hate to have to count bills for that bank.
“When people sees large amount of money, peoples eyes shine”
I think the protagonist will be intoxicated by money later on.
In my idea is that the protagonist will go to greed or justice.
But i want the protagonist to go to greed mode to see what happens.
Ahhh seeing this make me watch Wall street 1 and 2.
perhaps in a single ep or 2 — or 3!.
it might be still early to tell, but I imagine that Mikuni is the greedy version that you are hoping for? just a thought.
Wall street meets pokemon lol
nice one ewok40k.
but i think its digimon like rather than pokemon since the asset talks. :>
Pokemons speak Pokemon language! Even though they all have different dialects, they seem to fully understand each other — WEIRD!
I can’t seemed to take this show seriously… the whole premise of fighting card battles for money with your assets just seemed too digimon and pokemon for me…
At least it is not taking the “kiddy” approach
Sigh…is this going to be another one of those shows with a strong girl and a wimpy male protagonist? Is it like Sekirei where the girls do all of the fighting?
At least, they can make the main character a good strategist like Lelouch from CG or Mikado from Durarara, but it seems like this isn’t the case here…
@Prooof: I think the Msyu is related to Pan (Greek god of shepherds and flocks quoted from wiki >>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_%28god%29). Interestingly enough, Midas was mentioned in the article as well as a follower of Apollo when Pan challenged the latter as a trial of musical skill. Just a little piece of info for u 8)
Actually, they might have designed her after the D&D succubus, which would explain the horns as well…
Yeah I was thinking that too! Consider her attacks seems earth base, she has horns, and other similarities just makes her seem related to Pan. And of course Midas too.
No. Msyu’s attack was “scorching earth”, the power of lucifer the satan.
awesome to see the post 🙂
I am more curious about the the past between Q and Mikuni, and that Q eats money?!
Msyu is awesome! and though I thought they defeated their opponent, Show Spoiler ▼
can’t wait to see more and hopefully our main guy will have a better time in the upcoming battles.
I initially thought this would be a brainy series about money, but now it looks like it’s an action series that happens to involve money. I really, REALLY hope that’s not the case, but it’s not like it’s bad or anything.
I hope there’s more to this than meets the eye, because the atmosphere they’re setting with all the symbolism is good, and that black money (can’t get the term Devil’s Money out of my head every time I see it) looks sinister and eerie. The lame 3D-ish thing that they’ve got going on for some of the scenes is meh, it’s sort of disconnects me from the whole thing. But on the whole it’s got the makings of a good show, if NoitaminA plays its cards right.
i KNEW that was school food punishment as soon as i heard it XD such a good band
agreed 🙂 I started to like them since their song in Eden of East 🙂 this new song will come out on May 11th 🙂
Masakaki is part of the reason I watch this show.
Msyu got added to the reason in Episode 2.
I swear everytime Masakaki shows up he has the face of “Imma rape you” on.You can see that in the pic with his face close to Kimi’s.
Msyu was doing squats Zack/Cloud style lmao.She so cute, I wish she didn’t have the generic fire power though ;/
That’s like over half percent of any protagonists with powers that always use fire as their element sigh.
Yea, Masakaki is my fave chara. He’s like an animated Johnny Depp. I’ve rewatched him meeting Kimimaro multiple times.
This is just so persona, which reminds me about Persona 4 Anime that’s coming either late this year and early next year. Should be awesome.
By the way, Masakaki reminds me of Mephisto Pheles in Ao no Exorcist for some reason…. maybe the way he dresses?
There’s gonna be a Persona 4 anime later this year? Hope it does turn out like the last one.
Dunno when it’s gonna be released but here’s the website of it. http://www.p4a.jp/
It’s being made by AIC with the director Kishi Seiji (Angel Beats) and characters design done by no other than Kaneko Kazuma and Soejima Shigenori (both were the characters designs of the game) with music composed by Meguro Shoji (again, from the game. With those, I don’t think it’s going to suck.
Msyu is so cute. I love her!! 😀
Either Kimimaro teams up with Mikuni or ends up fighting him.
And Yes, Masakaki is creepy.
Maybe they’re going to end up fighting each other as seen in the final scene of OP. Beside, they have a clear different, almost polar opposite, in the way of thinking and how they want to live their life.
I already like mikuni and Q.
I wonder how they are able to distinguish the black money from the real one.
I’m pretty sure that Maromaro-kun will start kicking asses (through Msyu) within a few episode. It’s so obvious; he’s studying Economics and is shown to be quite a good student as well. I think he’s gonna pull out some awesome investment tactics.
Of interest to me is how they use 3D cell shaded characters for some of the scenes. When it doesn’t work it looks awkward. But when it does works it works really well.
https://randomc.net/image/C/C%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2032.jpg
The Msyu workout scenes were all 3D, and yet it’s easy to miss since it is integrated so well with the anime. It makes you realise that 3D cell shading techology which keeps getting better is the future of anime.
For all the hype it got this better turn out to be a run of the mill shonen battle series.
*not. It better NOT turn out to be a run of the mill shonen battle series.
I don’t really like all of the cell shading that they use. Whenever I see it, it annoys me insanely. But there are some scenes that look pretty good with it.
I really hate the 3D they used at this part: https://randomc.net/image/C/C%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
Otherwise, it looks like it could be interesting and I like the whole Asset+Entre battle-thing. The whole time I thought that this would make a great RPG though. Haha.
Really?
I think i find it funny though on how 3D moves in 2D.
its more on the annoying side for me.
This show had a slow beginning. But it appears to be getting into the interesting part. I was particularly amused by the “black money”, which can be a parody for many things in reality, from counterfeit bills to laundered money, etc.
I wonder what is that stalker obasan going to do to him. I think her name is Jennifer Sato.
Takahiro Sakurai as Masakaki has to be my favorite character in this show so far. Yeah he’s creepy. But Sakurai does such a great job for these mysterious characters.
Kusuri Uri in Mononoke; Meme Oshino in Bakemonogatari … … bugger that’s all I can think of.
Yes Masasaki is creepy, but he’s only doing his job ^_^… and I must say he’s doing it very well, hehehehe.
well, thank goodness I can’t tell between 3D cell shading and traditional animation…
and I kinda like how Mysu (or Mashu)’s attitude, spiky yet considerate at times…(odd that I can compare her to Azusa though)
…I can be pretty sure that Kimimaro can’t get corrupted with the pile of money, not with his personality of wanting to be normal to almost no end (not completely, anyway). Then there’s the fact that he can’t get over the “black money” flowing in the real world…
ps. nothing caption-able, nuts…
“your asset represents your future” probably means that when your assets run out, so too does your future. the more assets you have, the better and longer your future will be.
“Your asset represents your future”…
Actually, I believe it is a metaphor. It is trying to say that the person’s asset (summoned monster) is directly proportional to the the person’s status. The more battles you win, the better and stronger your monster become and so does your wealth. So a person of high status and wealth like Mikuni is embodied by his monster in terms of power and level. What does that mean to Kimimaro? It means as he keep winning more battles both his wealth and his monster will change and become stronger. Thus, his future is brighter.
If you recalled from the first battle of Mikuni and the other guy, his monster look nothing like she did not now. It was a strong and tall monster with masks. It means she can change form. So Msyu will change form as she become stronger.
The Kimimaro character is irritating. If he lacks flexibility in thinking (eg the customer asking for the midas money) and wants normality then he should get out and stop whining about his own choice. If not he is just making trouble for not only him but everyone/thing around him.
Really can someone kill him and be done with it?
The only part I hate about this episode is when Kimimaro say we should stop the fight and try talk to his opponent, I am so glad Msyu slap and punch him, I wanna beat his ass so bad myself. what a retard man is like someone pull a gun shot you a few times in your direction and your next response is let me go walk up and try to reason with the guy. You be lucky if you can get within 10 feet without getting kill, he is such a stupid idiot to think about talking when someone already pull a gun and have every intention to kill you.
Well if you suddenly got forced into such a situation you either go OMG or try to stay calm and reason it out which is what he did. So personally I don’t really see any issue with him at all. Seems like everyone wants him to suddenly become BADASS right away when suddenly thrown into such a situation where you’re confused at what the hell is going on.
I am not expect him to be badass or try to fight right away at least when u get thrown into a sudden situation like that, I don’t know my immediate reaction would be what (To RUN AWAY and HIDE) maybe. Definitely not lets go up and try to talk to the guy, thats what got me so piss off at the stupidty of his reaction.
Ah when you say it like that then yeah then yeah it seems really foolish to do such a thing. I still give him props for at least still staying calm enough and not panic which would cause bigger issues.
In the business world staying calm is the best thing to do. The more the person becomes panic, the more he would lose concentration in gaining money again. Money is unstable :D. it goes up and down.
Dang, everyone just give Kimimaro a break will ya? He got forced into something so suddenly yet he still remained calm most of the time so I say that it’s all good and even at the part where he worked together with Mysu shows that he was rather calm.
About him fainting afterwards, it seems that although Mysu took all the damage, she was well prepared since she knows how the game goes. Kimimaro on the other hand was recently shown how it is so it probably took a mental toll on him instead. After all, mental fatigue is possible.
Give up…
It’s good that there are people like you who are calmer and more open-minded, but I can tell that by now most people already hate the main character. Even if he does become super-BADASS later (unlikely to happen) this impression will hardly change.
For male characters being wimpy (or even normal for that matter) is a huge no-no. Male characters nowadays have to fulfill ridiculous standards in order to be liked.
Actually it’s not all that hard for a male protagonist to be liked.It’s just that people tend to like different archetypes more commonly than others.
Tsunayoshi from Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn is similar to Kimimaro except he’s less calm (unless he’s poppin pills lmao) and is usually wimpy (unless he’s poppin pills LOL), but that series started out as a gag/comedy one so I guess it left a better impression on people starting out.I loved Tsuna from the beginning, never really saw any hate posts about him, ever.
I guess since this anime is action based from the get-go some people don’t like that type of protagonist.They probably expected Kimimaro to be like Ichigo, he was badass from the get go and when he got thrown into his situation he was pretty calm like Kimimaro was, but Ichigo wasn’t wimpy.
Depending on the story, more people will start to like Kimimaro than hate him in the end.
Ichigo and Tsuna’s archetype set-up was completely different from Kimimaro. Ichigo was defined to be good at fighting in a good delinquent type of way. Tsuna in battle mode (ie. popping pills) is always in a half-conscious god-mode that has been defined to be capable of doing anything. Kimimaro is some poor, hard-working college student whoes love interest is netorare’d by some gangster looking rich guy.
I like the fact that Kimimaro was concerned about Mashu the entire fight (albeit with very pussy actions). Like Mikuni’s asset said he was trying to protect her the whole fight. However, the execution of the fight seemed like he got in the way a bit more than help protect as Mashu had to push him out of the way all the time. I think what would’ve saved his character would be if he seriously got mad after Mashu got pummeled, and confronted the opponent rather than say “let’s talk to him and he’ll understand.”
Ichigo is the cool and badass archetype
Tsuna was just no good until he gets shot, then he gradually gets stronger
Kimimaro is a little dogmatic about being normal, and he just doesn’t adjust that fast imo; I’ve seen wimpier protagonists though
as the story develops he could change, so let’s not judge him too fast
My main problem with him is his hypocrisy. If you want to be “normal” then be normal. Don’t make it seem like your FORCED to be normal. I don’t remember the clown forcing him to say yes to the card with a gun to his head.
His hypocrisy alone would not be so bad. But he follows it up with idiocy. A customer asks you once to give him a bigger note as change. You say no. He asks you again. You say no again? And for what reason? The note is dirty? Either come up with a better excuse or give the man his note.
If this was before he got the explaination on the black notes, then it would be fine. But he got an explaination.
I would like an explanation of the attack names like Micro and Whatsa-inflation thingy. I’m sure it’s suppose to correspond to some stock trading terminology.
I thought it was quite unfair to Kimimaro to be thrown into a fight immediately without as much as a manual. That led to Mashu needing to explain all the details to him DURING a fight where they are getting pummeled.
Kimimaro himself seems very unconfrontational so I think it will be a while before he learns to “Direct” attack an opponent. I was also wondering why the veteran’s Direct attack was tiny little dual blades compared to Mikuni’s giant peni-…sword.
I hope the pace of this show doesn’t go down. It already seems kind of slow from the second episode.
Mezoflation isn’t real. It’s reasonable to assume it’s derived from inflation though. Micro would be short for microeconomics. Japan’s perspective of the markets is very different from an American view to say the least. I’m not expecting credit default swap and quantitative easing anytime soon. If it does, I’ll be the first to point it out.
This show proves that give people a lot of good quality, senseless action and CG, and you can get away with whatever crappy plot you pull out your ass…
Seriously, you’d expect that even though this show has nothing to do with money problems that they’d at least touch on the tone of them by getting kimimaro to lose easily and basically be swindeld and go into debt. But of corse, your third-rate shounen hero isn’t allowed to lose past half-way through the series right?
Also I just thought I should point it out but; what Midas did last episode to get Kimimaro to participate in battles is kinda bullshit. If a bank, which by it’s defination has to be legal, does any sort of swindeling via barring or not telling him important information than of course the client can sue them for it. Not only this but… Basically a bank can’t hold anything bad against a guy who uses a money that got into his account by them. At worst they have to agree on a set time with the client at which point he should return the money he used.
still a bit early to judge the plot
If there’s anything that the credit crisis has shown is that banks can get away with a lot of questionable actions that are still considered legal. At a bank we take anti-bribery, anti money laundering, etc classes but that’s small potatoes. The Midas system so far doesn’t hold a candle to what a multinational investment bank can do.
Anyway, I like battle themes as long as they make it interesting. So far it is. Masakaki is enough for me to keep the show. Everything else is a bonus.
My problem with the bank thing was this: What stops him from taking out all the money, closing the account, buying actual gold with it (not options or commodity trades) then burying the lot in some field.
I would like to see the clown attempt to take back money from a closed account by which time, you no longer have legal responsibility as the bank accepted its closure.
Er…then they take your “future” as collateral. Also, a crazy Joker/MadHatter hybrid stops time and annoys you for all of eternity.
No wonder the bald old guy committed suicide.
I was talking about ep 1 where he was given the “bait” money with the qualifer that it would be taken back. In ep 2, the clown stopped short of saying whether or not he could stop then and there. However the implication of the “normal” life conversation with Mikuni would be that it is possible to stop without losing your pot stake (ie your “future”).
The clown bothering you for the rest of your life would be a major drawback, but it would also mean a continual victory as resources (whether computers, magic or people in makeup) would have to be dedicated to bothering you. So its not like a one way loss.
I wouldn’t mind Masakaki living with me, my life would be 1000 times more epic.And if he can actually make people suicide by trolling them then I’d be unstoppable haha.
@See Key
a) too early to judge
b) it’s si-fi: means u ll either like it(i do) or hate it
I think this show has potential, depending on how they play the story. I think (care opinion..) the setting is pretty original, something else, not just the common crap u usually get but hey. Well the whole explaination with the midas money might be totally nuts, but in si-fi everything is legit…
Just a thought, but, there’s a possibility that one of the goals [potential plot course] here may be
some sort of currency integration and eventual overrule within the real world.
ie. Midas Bank and said affiliates are pumping all this black ‘money’ into the Financial District
and their ‘Entrepreneurs’ with the ultimate goal of phasing out the original currency.
Something of a black market takeover or mass counterfeiting operation…
I think it is interesting to note in the convenience store scene that Kimimaro gave the change in 1000s rather than 5000 that the guy demands. This means that there were more real 1000 bills than real 5000s which can possibly be extrapolated that higher value bills (ie. over 5000) are more likely to exist as Midas bills rather than real. This is quite a leap of logic, but it could signify that most of the money used in the world is fake Midas money already with very little real money with actual economical worth.
There is also the naming implication of Midas which references the Greek mythology of King Midas. Therefore, the Financial district may be implied to have existed since that era.
Starting to over analyze here but I’m not surprised at the denomination distribution of a cash register. You’re going to have more of the smallest note because it’ll be used more often in distributing change. It could be just random occurrence that of the 5k notes available, they were Midas money.
I miss the times when the JPY/USD rate was 100/1. This way it’s quick mental math to figure out how much something costs when I see it in anime.
One more tidbit, there’s the amount of cash in circulation but there’s also the overall money supply to consider (M3+CDs). In central banking those are completely different things. It would be interesting how deep the anime explores the world of money.
I still use the 100/1 conversion in my head. A guy can dream right.
My basic idea is that Midas money may be C’s explanation for natural inflation. I think that may be as far as this anime would go into financial concepts. I just get the feeling that the show is less about actual monetary concepts and more about random shounen-ish battles while yelling economic terminology. I’m not saying that would be a bad thing. Too much exposition on economy issues may lose some people. A good balance between senseless battles and intellectual stimuli would be ideal. Case in point, the 2009 anime Shangri-La that dealt with carbon dioxide cap-and-trade economy.
The 3D was so bad in this episode.
My best guess towards putting your “future” on the line is that it represents all the money you would have made in your lifetime if you had not taken part in the Financial District. If for any reason (like bankruptcy) you leave the financial district, you forfeit all the cash you would have made in your future. Imagine you get turned down on every job, government refuses to lend you financial assistance and even your friends just can’t seem to find it in them to lend you any.
Unable to make a single cent wouldn’t leave you with much of a future.
Just my guess though!
I might be one of the few that aren’t blown away by [C]. Right now I don’t see anything extraordinary about the plot or characters- yes, they’re using financial terms, but it’s “use this card, get a monster to fight with, earn or lose money.”
It’s still early, so I’m hoping it improves and deepens. But to be frank, I’m not turned off by the protagonist because he’s ‘wimpy’, but rather because I flat out find him uninteresting.
Hopefully they’re not going to throw some sort of twist that Mikuni is his father or him from the future or something.
Masakaki is the best of the show.
You wouldn’t enjoy having your own asset? Especially a cute sounding one at that?!
Totally with you on that. The plot is interesting, and the art is pretty – but in the end it falls pretty flat due to the weak characters (especially the main character. Fractale anyone?). Considering the people working on this (baccano and mononoke in a mix ought to be amazing) I’m quite frankly disappointed.
Hmm, it does feel like a more adult themed Pokemon at the moment. But it is fairly early yet to give this any ranking.
I like the fighting, it feels better than other action shows. The main character isn’t a total douche, which is good. And his “Asset” is kinda cool.
‘Willy Wonka’ is kind of annoying. I can’ find a true protagonist yet, but that doesn’t have to come until later. Maybe the “system” is the protagonist.
All said, I’ll keep watching for now, as I find this show entertaining enough for me to be able to sit for 23 minutes w/o minimizing it to read the news or something like some other series.
Not to correct – but you mean antagonist right? Or am I misreading?
lol. A lot of people hate the main protagonist. In my case i am hating the situation he is thrown into. Nobody explains anything to him and keeps on slapping him on the face. He has a solid ground of what he wants to do or be but everything keeps forcing him to the other path. I am rooting to some kind of ending where he can live like he wants and not involved in some monetary plot.
I love the main protagonist. It feels like he has some sense of morals but is smart enough to understand when push comes to shove, he needs to shove back.
I enjoy reading your blog posts but perhaps this time you may have been too hasty when writing because your content it seems rushed.