Whew, Christmas shopping completely done! I was worried for a bit, because Amazon was being kind of dumb, but everything came in one big package yesterday while I was at work. Yay!
Speaking of work, I took advantage of an opportunity to work some overtime on Wednesday, and that is why this is without a doubt the least amount of episodes I've watched in one week since I have been writing these posts. And of course the day I worked was completely crazy and fraught with problems. But I got an extra $50 out of it, so it isn't so bad.
Anime discussed: Axis Powers Hetalia, Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini, Kampfer, Kemono no Souja Erin, Letter Bee, Red Garden, 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 ep47
I thought the end, with England being so shocked at America's growth spurt, was the funniest part of the episode. Kind of boring, otherwise.
Cross Game eps 25-26
lol Nice of the show to get the scrubs out of the way before the real first round match-up begins. I hope Ryuuou can give Seishuu a good challenge, though. It would be boring for Kitamura and Azuma to run roughshod over every baseball team in the tournament.
Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini ep10
Well, this episode just answered a shitload of questions, haha. Apparently at least part of Shion's power is to clone people -- it's highly likely the Pavlichenko with Shion is a clone (and the Pavlichenko with the single-day memories is a quick clone Shion made to throw everyone off), although there is a chance Pavlichenko actually is still alive. Shion, however, is confirmed to be a clone, and her memories are indeed manufactured. She's a teenager, a contractor and a clone? No wonder she's screwed up. Plus, her mom is also crazy. Suou's not having a particularly great life at the moment. No idea how this can possibly be rectified.
And damn did Hei lay the smack down on Misaki, or what? She deserves better -- misunderstandings got in the way of her OTP. Misaki is in the middle of her own high school romantic comedy, except if it was more violent than funny. Can't wait to see how everything wraps up after this. With just two episodes remaining, everyone who has been hiding in the shadows up to this point has to come out, especially with Yin now coming out into the open to fuck some shit up.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep36
This week in Kimblee's Korner: Actually, this is more about Miles than Kimblee -- I think it's pretty badass how Miles is able to keep his emotions in check when dealing with a rat basatard like Kimblee. The guy mocks Miles endlessly about killing Ishbalans, and yet Miles only pretends to be upset as a distraction to Kimblee. In reality, Miles couldn't give less of a shit about Kimblee. How awesome is that?
Kampfer ep11
I'll give the series credit -- its attempt to cobble together a serious story and wrap it up with this final episode is quite entertaining. It's for all the wrong reasons, of course, but it is entertaining nonetheless. The biggest mystery in the series (why the Moderators have the Kampfer do battle) is explained in less than a minute, Shizuku's revenge is explained in the most cliche way possible, Sakura's heel turn barely makes sense, and so on and so forth. I might be pissed if I actually took this show seriously at all; however, since I don't, I sat back and enjoyed the absurdity of transformations, Sakura showing her strength by having a gun and a sword (it's like some weeaboo's shitty fanfiction) and the seppuku plushies banding together to sing "Ode to Joy" while the Kampfer team up to kick some ass. Just campy, enjoyable fun and the best episode of the series, even if it completely sucks by any objective standard.
Kemono no Souja Erin ep45-46
So now Damiya's plan is all out in the open. I thought there would be a twist where Kiriku made a Heel Face Turn and poisoned Damiya instead of Ial, but it was pretty ballsy of Damiya to drink the poison along with Ial, even though he had Kiriku off to the side waiting to give him the antidote. Ial really should have known better, though. Rule No. 1 when meeting with suspicious people: Never drink anything they offer you. I wonder if it is a slow-acting poison, or if Ial simply did not ingest a fatal dose, because even though he is severely weakened, it does not appear as though he is in any danger of dying. Hopefully Ial's bro, Kyle, was able to get to a safe hiding place, since the fake Saigamul are concentrating on finding Ial.
Ep45 made it kind of tough for me to feel much sympathy for Kiriku. That guy is so delusional. He says he's trying to make it so that Erin will be free to live the way she wants, because she reminds him of his sister (though this goes unsaid), but he knows what Damiya is planning, and he knows Erin is completely against it, so that reasoning is complete bullshit, and I'm glad to see Ial call Kiriku out on it. The only remaining shred of sympathy I have for Kiriku exists solely because it's obvious everything with his foster parents killing his sister, and his revenge upon them, has damaged him to an almost irreparable extent. Not gonna pretend something like that is easy to live with and wouldn't make a guy go cuckoo. But, seriously, Kiriku is dumb.
Ep46 is just a wonderful episode all around: Damiya throwing out Hannibal Lectures left and right, Ial showing the first real emotions he has felt all series in a couple of really strong, tender moments and the symbolism is excellent. I particularly like equating the Sezan on the Queen's side to the Touda on the Grand Duke's side -- Ial and his pals are totally treated like beasts, bred to kill their emotions and attachments and living solely to protect the Queen by any means necessary. I think that adds another interesting layer of complexity to the whole "beasts vs. humans" motif the series has had from the beginning. And Ial hugging Erin with his left -- non-fighting -- arm is a good, subtle move. Love that.
Can't wait to see what these final four episodes pull out. So pumped.
Kimi ni Todoke ep11
I'm supposed to hate Kurumi, but her evil schemes make me laugh instead. Drama is not something at which Kimi ni Todoke is particularly adept. Kurumi is just so over the top. The smile she has on when she's pairing Sawako and Ryu so that she can get her hands on Kazehaya is absolutely hysterical. Oh lordy.
Letter Bee ep11
At least one of these animators has to feel weird about drawing a little girl in panties so much. Just sayin'. Then again, I guess the rent has to be paid somehow. Anyway, this episode is not good at all. Pretty boring filler with panty shots. Just the thing I love most about anime. Yay.
Red Garden eps 1-5
This show's first episode is so weird. Not really a spoiler, since it is the whole point of the show: The four main characters have all been murdered, for reasons that are partially revealed in the third episode (much to my surprise). They're given a sort of half-life by a woman who wants them to kill some bizarre creatures that are basically full-grown men who act like rabid dogs. There's a really uncomfortable vibe of sexual violence with these creatures' attacks, so I guess they are symbolic of overpowering male sexuality or something. I dunno. Anyway, their whole existence is "kill or be killed" right now -- the woman who resurrected them is keeping them alive on the condition that they all continue killing. So it's the classic conundrum: How much do they want to stay alive?
The way this is being explored is interesting enough. These girls -- all of high school age -- lead relatively normal, but also quite empty, lives. One loses herself in parties and dating, because she comes from a severely broken home. Another's identity is defined purely by the clique she is in. Another is a social delinquent who is precariously close to being fired from her job, can't pay her rent and bums around on the street much of the day. And the last must raise her younger brother and sister like a mother, which is not an empty life, of course, but she has crushingly low self-esteem. The four girls are like Haruki Murakami-lite characters, in that you really feel the alienation of these women and how dissatisfied with their lives they are. That, to me, seems the whole point of this exercise -- to get the girls to live a life beyond what they live day in and day out. I don't know if the series will end with all of them dying, or if they will all come back to life somehow, but hey.
I'd heard about the singing before I watched the series, but it is still kind of jarring and strange. Not really sure how much it adds to the emotional punch of what certain episodes go for (since there is not always singing in each episode); however, it is a bit different. That's all I can really say about it right now, haha.
Sasameki Koto ep10
Ushio is a worse disguise artist than Ogiue from Genshiken. At least Ogiue changed her hairstyle and put on glasses and completely different clothing. All Ushio did was put on sunglasses and a hat. Even Clark Kent thought that disguise was a piece of shit.
Shugo Chara! Party ep11
Hikaru learns the value of stuff. Or whatever. I've seen this exact episode in approximately five billion kids shows. It's not done better here.
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun ep11
OK, definitely have to give the show props: Best episode of the series so far, combining a pretty good fight between Kiyama and Mikoto (where Mikoto is actually allowed to use her wits to win the fight!) and a solid backstory for Kiyama, with the cherry on top of some more interesting tidbits about shady experiments run by the higher-ups in Academy City. I guess this is the point in Mikoto's life where she is first let on about the dark nature of the city, because by the time To Aru begins, she is neck deep in an experiment herself. And then there's the giant fetus creature at the end of the episode, which is just a big pile of WTF. Gotta say that I definitely want to see the next episode now, which is probably the best praise I can give the show at the moment.
Trapeze ep9
Hm, this is the weakest episode of the season so far. The actor patient isn't really that interesting or funny, and Irabu barely gets involved with his usual antics, beyond taking even more pleasure than usual from the patient getting injected with the "vitamin shot". I will admit, though, that the image of the guy ripping off his shirt, with the clothespins he had on his nipples flying off (don't ask), is hilarious. So there's one thing.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni ep24
Episodes like this make me glad I decided not to blog Umineko way back when, because I would be terrible at trying to figure out the mystery week by week. This episode changes things around significantly -- apparently the weakness showed by Gaap and Ronove was just a feint, and now both Jessica and George are dead. The nature of both their injuries is pretty easy to explain. Half of Jessica's face is blown away, and there's a giant hole in George's gut. Boom, shotgun. Done. But, of course, that is not the crazy part of this episode.
Now, near the end of the season, Beatrice is apparently frustrated with the development of the game and sees Battler as an unworthy opponent. Why? Because Battler is not a true Ushiromiya, according to Beatrice. He is the son of Asuma Ushiromiya (Rudolf's wife before he married Kyrie) but was not born from her. Beatrice knows this because she gets Battler to repeat the statement using the Red Truth, but he is unable to repeat it because, I guess, it's not true. So Battler could have been raised as Asuma's child but not actually have been her biological child.
That isn't so much the part that bothers me, though, as is the timing of this announcement and how Beatrice came about this knowledge. First, why is she suddenly so disillusioned? She put on this game, and now she is suddenly getting tired of it, and uses the excuse that Battler is not a worthy opponent for her because he is not an Ushiromiya? And how long as Beatrice known this? Has she known from the beginning that Battler is not an Ushiromiya, or did she learn this along the way? And if she didn't know it, then who told her? If she did know it, why would she begin the game with Battler in the first place? The whole plot smells incredibly rotten to me.
