Haha, I thought Monster had aired on Monday, but apparently I just fail at knowing the schedules. Much as I like writing the Monster posts, it's nice to get a break on 'em for a week -- those things take forever to write!
One thing I want to plug real quick: I'm taking part in this 12 Days of Christmas project that will spread across (hopefully) many anime blogs. The basic idea is to write about 12 'moments' in anime/manga/anime culture/the fandom/whatever that really stuck with you during the year. I'm just sticking to anime because I don't read much manga, am not enough of an authority on the culture to comment much on it and am not really interested in masturbatory posts about anime blogs. Thankfully, the concept is flexible enough to allow moments from anime watched in 2009 that did not actually air during the year -- if I just had to pick moments from this year's anime, I probably would have had to stretch for those last few spots!
Anyway, I'm still figuring out everything I want to write about (I've got 5/12 spots filled at the moment), but I hope you all take the time to read them as they come out! None of them (except maybe one or two) will be particularly long, because I want to keep my normal posting going while this is happening, and writing two super long posts a day for an extended period of time (and working at the same time) will just fry my brain. At the end, I'll probably toss up a compilation of all the post links on here for easy reading. It'll be a lot of fun!
Anyway, same deal this week as in other weeks -- still waiting to nab Kimi ni Todoke, so that will go up later in the day.
EDIT: lol I wrote the Kimi ni Todoke post hours ago and forgot to update this post. Oh well. I'll update it during the middle of the night when nobody cares!!
Anime discussed: Axis Powers Hetalia, Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini, Kampfer, Kemono no Souja Eri, Letter Bee, Nodame Cantabile: Paris Chapter + Special Lesson, Shugo Chara! Party, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, Trapeze, Umineko no Naku Koro ni
UNMEI KAIHEN: Cross Game, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Kimi ni Todoke, Sasameki Koto
Axis Powers Hetalia ep46
Poor England has no sense of fashion. Some guys just are not meant to rock the long hair look. Like me.
Cross Game ep24
Hey, guess who's watching Cross Game again? This is actually the perfect episode to watch after not seeing the series for a couple of months -- it runs through the major themes and stories as the team gets ready for its first fight for the Koshien. Good times.
Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini ep9
Wow, that twist at the end takes the story into an interesting direction. It certainly suggests a few things about Pavlichenko's research and the connection between Shion and Suou. What exactly is Suou? Is she the "real" Suou brought back to life? Or is she something else entirely with manufactured memories? I really want to see the next episode now, haha. Also glad the two detectives didn't take up too much time. They're kind of funny, but if they are overused, then they just get annoying. Didn't happen in this episode, however. Also glad to see Hei finally get himself in order and go back to being the badass of the first season, even if he is still missing his powers. One step at a time, buddy. One step at a time.
What's also interesting is how Amber seems to be involved with the plot. What has she left behind for Misaki to see? (Speaking of Misaki, I like that she is all, "Li-kun!!!!!!!!!!!" after trying to be cool about wanting to see Hei for most of the series.) And what does Oreille want with Suou? Why was she so intent that Suou see her mother? She probably knows what is going on with Suou, and that Suou is apparently supposed to be dead. What's her angle?
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep35
I swear Envy and Kimblee placed a bet on who could have the most people gunning for their respective heads by the end of the series. Envy is still probably in the lead, but Kimblee has been making some decent strides lately. Also, I might as well name this space after Kimblee since I seem to write about him here every week. lol
Kampfer ep10
At the beginning of the episode, I shifted my opinion a bit to Sakura being controlled in some way (similar to how Natsuru is controlled throughout the episode), but the end makes it pretty clear Sakura knows what she is doing. The question is how and why? (Also: Why even bother with an interesting story now of all times when it could have been interesting from the beginning? This series boggles my mind.) To the show's credit, the scene between Shizuku and Natsuru is actually legitimately good, and both sexy and scary at the same time. A good scene in my Kampfer??
Kemono no Souja Erin ep44
Damiya is such a douche. Like a huge, huge douche. Erin is desperately trying to think of ways to get out of raising the beast-lord army Damiya desires; in this episode, she tries convincing Damiya that his vision is impractical by spinning a story about her people being the only ones who have the power to control beast-lords. With some luck and the skill she has built through raising Lilan from childhood, Erin is able to keep her lie going by convincing Damiya that only she can control the beast-lords. Unfortunately, Damiya decides to scale back his vision by saying just Erin and a beast-lord should be enough to scare the Grand Duke's kid into following the Queen, and to make his point extra palatable, Damiya threatens the school and all of Erin's colleagues and students. Repeat: Huge douche here.
Thankfully, Erin keys in on something Damiya says, and formulates a new plan: The Grand Duke will seal away the skills to control beast-lords if he becomes King. Using that logic, if those skills are sealed away, then the beast-lords will not be used as tools for war, and Lilan's family will be safe. Seems like an OK plan, but there are about a bajillion things that can go wrong with it, especially with someone with a military mind like Shunan. The Grand Duke doesn't use beast-lords now, but who is to say that will not change once the Grand Duke is in charge? The plan is worth rolling with for now, if only because Shunan doesn't seem as, you know, evil as Damiya, but I doubt it will turn out rosy.
I wonder if Erin will eventually run into the people from her old village? The story shifts there a few times during the course of the episode, and it isn't just to show that they miss Erin. They are taking an active role in the potential war effort, so some of them might meet up with Erin down the road.
Kimi ni Todoke ep10
There should have been a montage of Kurumi trying her damnedest to cut Sawako down with ugly, catty remarks, with Sawako responding in the most optimistic way possible until Kurumi is so pissed off that she responds with a Chernobyl-esque meltdown. You can't tell me you would not have cheered.
Letter Bee ep10
The "omg no pantsu!1!!1!1" running joke makes me fly into a rage now. Just an unbelievably shitty string of jokes that went into full-fledged creepy mode the second time the premise was used. This episode actually has some interesting developments, particularly regarding the nature of the artificial light source and how it might hold some sort of mental control over people, but I was too pissed from the pantsu garbage earlier in the episode to properly enjoy those developments. Bah.
Nodame Cantabile: Paris Chapter eps 1-6
Huh, already this season is focusing much more on the romance aspect than the first season ever did (until the end, at least). It feels sort of weird at first, because I actually like the nonchalant way the first season develops Chiaki and Nodame's relationship, but the way things are going now actually fits the development in each of their lives, especially with Chiaki. Guy's having somewhat of a rough time in Paris right now -- he's got plenty of work, and his dream is advancing at a steady rate, but his first real job as a professional conductor is with a symphony that clearly has a ton of internal issues. And he can barely find time to be with friends -- that chaos is reflected in the bumpiness of his relationship with Nodame.
Chiaki has been in plenty of relationships in the past, but this is probably the first time he has had to really think about how he relates to the other person in the relationship. When he was with people like, say, Saiko, Chiaki probably spent most of his time thinking about music rather than the girl. Saiko commented on how tough it was to be with Chiaki; most of Chiaki's memories of Saiko center upon how much he loved her voice. What was important to him during that time had everything to do with music and nothing to do with people. Chiaki trying to connect with Nodame is likely the first time in his life he has so directly made that connection with someone, and he is predictably stumbling a bit.
What really jumps out at me is at the end of ep5 when Chiaki and Nodame have their confrontation on the bridge, and Chiaki thinks, "Why do I have to change my attitude toward her?" It shows that he really does not understand where he is right now. To me, what needs to change is not so much Chiaki's attitude toward Chiaki, but more so the way Chiaki expresses that attitude, and the confidence he has in the bond he shares with Nodame. Some of the stresses and the unfamiliarity of the situation have brought out some bad traits in Chiaki: Some neediness (wondering why Nodame isn't calling him after she normally showers him with attention), a general inability to be honest with his feelings (endearing in the first season, not as much now) and an overall ridiculous way of dealing with Nodame (breaking up with her so that she'll rethink her ways and come crawling back to him??). Nodame has some growing up to do, for sure, but these first episodes have shown she is not alone in that regard.
Right now I am not really sure I like it as much as the first season. The focus on romance hasn't been bad by any means, but it also is not quite as good as some other series (including Toradora!, which aired during the same season and was also produced by J.C. Staff). The Honey and Clover-esque focus on adult issues combined with the scaled back presence of romance and a dollop less drama was a combination that worked well for me; I understand that the goal with this season was probably to not be a carbon copy of the first, since going to Paris is a pretty big change, but it is not leaping out to me quite as much. Even the amusing cameo appearances by Stresemann and Elise aren't as awesome as I hoped they would be.
eps 7-11
Weirdly enough, right after I mentioned it in my write-up of the first six episodes, the focus of the series shifted a bit more to Chiaki and Nodame's music. It sort of captures the feeling of the first season, with Chiaki and Nodame getting closer as each figures out where he and she want to go in the music world, but it doesn't quite reach the heights of the first season. Maybe it's a result of the Paris Chapter being abbreviated; I don't know. It's still good, though. I particularly like Chiaki's continued evolution by being humbled after his first big job is leading an orchestra that is just all over the place. At first it sort of feels like a retread of how Chiaki found his musical voice in the first season, but it really shows how far he has come -- he really understands his own flaws, and he doesn't beat himself up over them to an unnecessary extent, but instead focuses enough to overcome them and better his life.
Chiaki's biggest problem is that he has never been emotionally open with Nodame, except in sporadic bursts. He's able to rectify that, but what makes it feel natural is that the problem isn't completely discarded and he is all of a sudden completely lovey dovey with Nodame. Chiaki's core personality is never going to shift -- it's who he is. He is a mostly serious guy who loves music and who can be a real grouch at times. But he is able to overcome his inability to express his feelings to the point where he can show Nodame he truly cares about her instead of going right up to the line and pulling away at the last second. The moment where Chiaki gives Nodame an honest kiss after her great performance at her first recital is maybe my favorite moment in this second season; I'm sure in Nodame's mind it makes up for the forced, misguided kiss Chiaki gave after he tried to make her during her initial rough time in Paris, haha.
Nodame's development is kind of surprising, too. She is like Chiaki in that she will stay the same basic way she is, no matter what; she's silly, bubbly and random as hell. But she shows surprising maturity at several points in the series -- most notably when the orchestra mistakenly believes Chiaki called Rui Son to sub in the orchestra when he really asked Nodame for that favor. Chiaki wants to clear up the mistake, but Nodame accurately reads the atmosphere in the room and knows the orchestra is really excited to play with an accomplished pianist like Rui. Even though it locks away her dream of performning onstage with Chiaki for a little longer, Nodame is able to make that sacrifice for the benefit of the orchestra. In the early part of the first season, she probably would have RAGED like crazy on them, haha.
The last arc is just a lot of fun, with Nodame gaining a ton of confidence by being who she is and channeling that into playing Mozart. (Nodame really needs to see Amadeus. She would love it.) Makes me happy to see Nodame do well after going a relatively long time with little direction in her life. :D
Overall, Paris Chapter is a step down from the first season -- having only 11 episodes with which to work hurts a bit, and the arcs go by just a bit too quickly for me. (Though, to be fair, the only part that really suffers because of this is how quickly the orchestra turns around after the auditions. I guess it could be passed off as the orchestra as a whole being pushed hard by competition, but the show teases some more strife within the group before turning everything around completely. It just feels weird.) That said, the good is really good and has me looking forward to the final season of Nodame quite a bit!
Nodame Cantabile: Special Lesson ep1
This takes place during the summer trip in the first season -- everyone decides to take a side trip to the beach on the way to Nagano, much to Chiaki's horror. He spends the whole time thinking of stupid excuses to avoid swimming while desperately trying to hide that he is deathly afraid of the water. Good times. Feels like a while since I saw Mine and Masumi even though I finished the first season of Nodame pretty recently, haha.
Sasameki Koto ep9
I cannot express how disappointed I am that Aoi did not title her first novel "Murasame-sama ga Miteru". You know it is all just thinly-veiled fantasies involving her and Murasame -- she should just go all the way with it. Do it for the viewers!
Shugo Chara! Party ep10
lol What a silly episode. The whole thing hinges upon Amu carrying the Idiot Ball (with just a dash of paranoia) in assuming Tadase has developed a crush on some random chick she has never seen before, even though Tadase has spent the better part of two seasons getting closer to Amu and even vowed to tell Amu every day that he loves her. Amu needs moar self confidence.
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun ep10
Ugh, the second half of this episode features a lot of the silly technobabble and info dumping that derailed To Aru Majutsu no Index at the worst times. I can condense the point into one sentence: Level Upper works by connecting subconscious brain waves of those with latent powers and combines them into something greater. There. Done. But why do that when you can spend four minutes of blather making that same point? Fun! Everything just seemed so obvious -- the way the AIM waves talked about in the background are "cleverly" tied into the Level Upper concept to Kiyama being the brains behind the whole thing (which was obvious from her first appearance). I identified quite heavily with the comatose victims of Level Upper, because I just about slipped into a coma myself by the time the episode ended. Sucks, because the beginning with Saten discovering her powers is interesting, and she is a sympathetic character in general. And next episode, with Kiyama unleashing what the whole Level Upper plot has presumably given her, should hopefully be a good episode. But blah. Way to bring the mood down, Railgun.
Trapeze ep8
I think Irabu's plan of attack is to act as crazy as possible so that his patients will look at their own problems and realize, "Hey, I don't have it so bad -- at least I am not as insane as that weirdo!" and gain the courage to cope with their mental issues. And if acting out helps Irabu get some vengeance on the hospital that does not acknowledge him, then all the better. The trend on Trapeze seems to be not so much helping people overcome their addictions and obsessions and whatnot but more helping them be comfortable with who they are and stop looking for problems in their personalities. The reporter in this episode, for example, keeps hounding Irabu to give him counsel and/or medicine to help his obsessive behavior, and then that same behavior later allows the reporter to nab a big scoop and become a famous writer. Each episode follows a basic pattern, but that's fine with me because I'm watching the series mostly because it is really funny, and because I love the visual style. As long as the formula is entertaining, I don't mind at all, especially since the series is going to be short, anyway.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni ep23
Haha, if only Battler had George's help in the Meta World -- he's cool under pressure, a quick thinker and he quickly turns the cruddy situation to his advantage. Very nice work, and he has the added awesome of his bouncing around like a '40s boxer being a great source of unintentional comedy. George should definitely be the next leader of the Ushiromiya clan. Jessica's, "Hm, I'll just beat the shit out of Ronove!!" plan of attack is not bad, but I don't know if I'd give her the Ushiromiya leadership role over George. I mean, George is so awesome that he's using defensive magic and doesn't even know it. Poor Gaap has no idea what the hell is happening.
There's something interesting when Jessica first sees Ronove: She mishears his name as "Ronoue", which is Genji's last name, and she addresses Ronove as "Genji". Ronove sort of encourages this by saying his middle name is Genji. This post brings up the interesting possibility of those taking the test seeing different people than those who are jailed right now. What if Jessica is actually seeing Genji -- supposedly killed earlier in the evening -- rather than Ronove? Who is George seeing, if it is not Gaap? It's interesting that as they go along, the scenarios become easier to decode without the use of magic -- there's not one moment in this act so far that Battler cannot seize upon and use to deny witches, whereas in the original scenario, the closed circle mystery just left Battler too frustrated.
