I would have put this up much earlier, but I had Internet issues earlier today (so I couldn't grab K-On! and Higashi no Eden until later in the day), and I got caught up in a movie while all that sorted itself out, so I just finished writing up thoughts a few minutes ago, haha. Whatever, it's up now!
Anime discussed: 07-Ghost, Axis Powers Hetalia, Basquash!, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Golgo 13, Higashi no Eden, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, Ichigo Mashimaro, Kanon (2006), K-On!, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, Sengoku Basara, Shangri-La, Shugo Chara! Doki, Slayers NEXT, Valkyria Chronicles
-- 07-Ghost ep2: Not a bad episode; mostly it's used to acclimate Teito to his new situation in that church outside the Empire's jurisdiction. The church trio seem to be a pleasant bunch, and if your life is going to be saved, it might as well be saved by some religious bishounens, eh? And along with a bunch of info dumping that will come into play later, Teito worries about his BFF, Mikage, who is being interrogated by Ayanami, who threatens Mikage's family and acts generally creepy. Poor Mikage is not going to come out of this well.
-- Axis Powers Hetalia ep12: lol, this is a slam dunk of an episode. Makes me wish I were more of a history geek than I am -- taking a basic historical fact and turning it into a desperate desire on the part of France to marry England is just hilarious. Best part is France forcing England to partially sign a marriage contract. Germany's training exercise cracked me up. "What would you do if England approached you while wiggling his ass and wearing a costume from Rio's Carnival?" The expression on England's face after that question is posed is priceless.
-- Basquash! ep2: Not a bad second episode. Dan's got some more obstacles in his way now, what with that enormous debt he has to pay off. Hopefully that little mission won't take too long, but as long as the series keeps mixing it with the new characters, then it won't be so bad. I totally did not recognize Sela as the walking concession girl from the stadium in the first episode, haha. Shows how attentive I am. Looking forward to getting more how she and Miyuki are related, as well as Miyuki's relation to the moon (what with her family apparently not having such a great time up there, which paints it as the opposite of the wonderland Dan sees it as). Series still looks damn good -- I enjoyed Dan hopping from building to building in his Big Foot mecha thingy, and the one-on-one game between him and Sela is pretty cool. Dan got dunked on hardcore lol.
-- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep2: Wow, I knew the basics behind Ed and Al's backstory, but damn, it's a totally different thing to see it in front of your eyes. Love the sense of foreboding beforehand, with the fisheye view of the house and the blood red filter. And then watching everything go to hell is an intense experience -- exploding limbs and bodies, the god of sorts grabbing at Ed and Al with its many hands, that creepy ass giant eye, Ed's brief glimpse of the Truth and so on. Interesting that Ed alone is chosen to receive this vision -- it's clear he has some sort of innate ability Al does not possess. And reading a bit more about FMA, it appears as though I must get used to the idea of equivalency exchange, haha. The price for information (whether physical or spiritual) or performing actions beyond a simple shifting of elements is rather weighty, as evidenced by the destruction of Ed's leg and Al's entire body when they try to bring back their mother, and Ed's arm when he attaches Al's soul to the suit of armor. (Speaking of Al's body, am I correct in assuming that writhing demonlike thing that's left after all this goes down is what remains of Al's physical form? Good lord.)
Random thing: I do like that Mustang doesn't try to sugarcoat military life when he's attempting to get Ed to become a State Alchemist, since it would be easy to dangle the carrot of possibly getting Ed and Al's bodies back to normal. Ed doesn't seem like the type of person who would do something unless there were some tough challenge involved, anyway, so telling him that military life will really suck at times is probably the best way to go about recruiting him, haha.
(Also, bear with me if I go into n00b mode, on occasion. xD Feel free to correct me if I egregiously misinterpret something.)
-- Golgo 13 eps 1-10: I had mixed feelings about the Golgo 13 movie, but the TV series is everything that is good about that movie, without all the crap. There are no over-the-top villains for Golgo 13 to snipe (at least thus far), nor is there god awful CGI (not that there would be much use for CGI in general with this series). Each episode is a standalone story where Golgo 13, the greatest sniper in the world, is hired to do a job, and he gets it done. Always. It is fairly repetitive, but Golgo is such a badass, and the ways in which he does his jobs so interesting, that it does not matter much. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Golgo pulling insane Xanatos Gambits to get his work finished.
-- Higashi no Eden ep2: Now the picture of the organization Akira works for is becoming a bit clearer. There are potentially 12 agents running around -- probably less than that, since unknown agents may have been killed. (The fact that Akira is still alive seems to strike certain people as strange.) It certainly appears that Kondo -- No. 4 -- wants to kill Akira and take over his duty, whatever that is (and also the 8.2 billion yen he's got in his account). Kondo may be working for the police, but because he seems so shady at the moment, I'm assuming that's just a cover he had whipped up by Juiz. It's not even a sure thing that he's really No. 4, though I doubt that an organization that is so efficient at fulfilling whatever desire their agents have would be so easily fooled by some random person picking up one of its phones and carrying on as if he or she were the real agent. (By the way, it is eerie how quickly Juiz was able to dispatch someone to kill those guys who threatened Kondo. Yikes.) What types of things are these agents supposed to be doing? Are they terrorists? Do they fight on the side of the law? Or does it depend on the agent? Do they even all have the same goal? Everything is murky right now, but those questions should be answered in due time.
Meanwhile, I think the interaction between Akira and Saki is pretty cute. Although he could probably get along fine on his own, I think Akira feels more comfortable having someone he can trust tag along with him, and obviously Saki is attracted to Akira. What amuses me is how the show is playing around with movie references and the idea of real life things reminding the characters of movies -- the "Akira puts out his hand and brings Saki onto the boat" bit is such a blatant movie moment, and I can't help but think it is purposeful.
-- Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai eps 12-24: I like this series about the same as the first season of Higurashi. Kai's M.O. is to answer the questions posed by the first season, so the overall story is not always as mysterious or interesting, but it's never as frustrating as the first season, either. The nature of Kai also dictates that there is a good deal less violence -- for me, that is a good thing, because the violence in the first season readily crosses the threshold of, "Do I really want to be watching this??" Takano is the character I jumped back and forth on the most through the series. I wanted to see her destroyed by Rika and Friends, because she is so batshit crazy and evil, but her backstory made me feel a bit sorry for her ... until it warped back to the present, and I was reminded of how crazy she is. Then again, I am also going back and forth on whether she was really infected by the Hinamizawa virus, or if Jirou just used that as an excuse to shuttle his friend into the lab's custody as an act of mercy. Hm. Also, wtf @ the ending. Grown-up Rika has time travel abilities she used to make sure Takano's parents never died in that accident?? Wowzers. The Power of Friendship stuff is a bit over-the-top at times, but I like seeing Keiichi full of fighting spirit and getting the group together to kick some ass, so the final few episodes are cool with me.
-- Ichigo Mashimaro eps 5-6: lol, Miu is definitely the best part of this pair of episodes. Even though she acts like a brat on occasion, I feel sorry for her since she gets the short end of the stick so often, haha. (Doesn't stop me from laughing when Nobue wallops her, though. >>) I lol'd at Miu calling Ana "Coppola-chan" in front of the entire class, and at Miu imitating Ana's mannerisms so that she will look cuter to Nobue. In ep6, I love Miu's description of the adventure she, Nobue and Chika should go on to get their minds off the heat. "Also, Ana-chan melted." hahaha The sign writing bit is very funny, too, and I cracked up at the end when the message Miu recorded on the cell phone embarrasses the hell out of Nobue.
-- Kanon (2006) eps 5-6: lol, ep5 is a prime example of why you either love KyoAni's style or you absolutely despise it. After Yuuichi interacts with Mai at the beginning of the episode, the rest is essentially a string of conversations between Yuuichi and the rest of the cast, one after another. For the most part, I enjoyed it (except for the conversation with Shiori, because she is not that interesting to me right now), but I like everything else, especially the parts where Yuuichi is messing around with Makoto. (Tricking her into buying porno mags is so mean, but I lol'd.) Ep6 features a hilarious "date" between Yuuichi and Ayu (poor girl just cannot take horror flicks). Aside from that, it appears Makoto will be the first major story Kanon tackles, considering how much Mai's words have stuck with Yuuichi. I've enjoyed the slow pace thus far, but I am definitely ready to dive into the story.
-- K-On! ep3: Nothing more outrageous than usual happens in this episode, but for some reason I laughed a lot more than with the first two episodes. Maybe it's because the characters have grown on me so much more. Who knows? But I thoroughly enjoyed this episode. Loved all the little touches like Yui unconsciously forming chords with her fingers when she greets Nodoka and Yui forgetting that she never really studies, and then assuming that she will do fine on her midterms because of that. Funniest part of the episode, though, is Ritsu imagining Yui with the mentality of a 5-year-old, rolling on her bed reading manga, and then doing that exact thing herself when she and her friends are at Yui's house helping her study. (It's also hilarious when Ritsu imagines Yui's sister, Ui, as being a younger version of Yui.) Actually, Ritsu at Yui's house in general is comedy gold -- I cracked up while she does everything in her power to act like a dork and be a nuisance. Mio pounding Ritsu on the head and producing an enormous lump is a perfect jump cut (reminds me a bit of the running gag in Ichigo Mashimaro when Nobue knocks Miu to the ground). K-On! is so thoroughly silly and slice-of-life, but it's so much fun. Definitely a keeper now.
-- Mobile Suit Gundam Wing eps 1-18: This is stop one on my journey to fill my life with Gundam (since I loved Gundam 00 so very much). It's kind of jarring to watch this so soon after completing Gundam 00 because in terms of visuals, Gundam Wing is like some random Mook in a mobile suit, while Gundam 00 is Setsuna in his souped up 00 Gundam. (Which is understandable, since, you know, Gundam Wing came a full 12 years before Gundam 00.) But even beyond the visuals, I can't help but make comparisons, even though Gundam 00 wasn't even the first series that came after Gundam Wing. Like Duo is basically a poor man's Lockon (which might explain why I like him, haha), Wufei is like a poor man's Setsuna/jerkass!Tieria combo (except not nearly as cool), Quatre is along the same lines as Allelujah, etc.
There are some things I am not enjoying, such as the overbearing emphasis on suicide temptation (not that being trained as a child soldier would be an easy thing to cope with, but jeez), the occasionally confusing politics (there are so many groups and motives to keep track of) and Relena makes me want to tear my hair out. I don't get anything about her at all. However, I do quite enjoy Zechs, goofy Char-inspired mask and all (even though it is shot off in the latest episode). A big part of that is because he's a mostly honorable soldier and is not exactly fond of OZ's tactics. Part of it is because Takehito Koyasu really brings his A-game with his voice acting. The guy is prone to mailing it in at times, but he's great here. Last thing -- I wish there were some way to combine Noin and Lady Une. I loved the former earlier in the series, but she hasn't been as strong a character lately, and the latter's character design sets off all my fanboy alarms, but she's also creepy and evil and I hate her. Why must you toy with me so, Gundam?
-- Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ ep2: This episode sticks with the time just after Zwei completes his first test by surviving a battle against Ein. I like how the show emphasizes both the physical and mental toll of Zwei's training, and especially how that mental toll provides an escape for Zwei (so he does not have to think about all the murdering he will eventually do) and how it makes it easier for Inferno to keep him in check (if Zwei is not thinking too much, then he will follow orders more readily and without complaint). Zwei is becoming exactly what the Scythe Master expects him to be -- a machine-like killer who does everything on instinct both natural and pounded into him through rigorous training. But the point of view expressed by Claudia McCallum may eventually cause a conflict in Zwei's mind. She says Zwei is not a slave and even presents him with a specific goal (climbing the ladder in Inferno), whereas the Scythe Master comes off more like, "Just shut up and do your job." McCallum says Inferno exists to unite the underworld, but there is clearly a conflict between her and the Scythe Master, so we'll see where that ends up. (Not-so-bold prediction: Somewhere not good.) And even though it is sort of obvious, I like the symbolism of the two empty ammo shells at the end of the episode.
-- Sengoku Basara ep2: Awesome, awesome and more awesome. Now the conflict is set -- on the side of epic villainry, you have Nobunuga Oda (the only annoyance I have with this episode is that Norio Wakamoto doesn't snarl at the heroes), Nouhime (who has a nice set of guns, and I mean pistols), Mitsuhide Akechi (Sho Hayami being a crazy bastard) and Ranmaru Mori (probably the only one I am 'eh' on right now, although he can shoot a shitload of arrows). On the heroes' side, you've got Masamune Date (who is a like a friggin' rock star, my god), Yukimura Sanada (who is like adult Simon), Shigen Takeda (who is the Kamina to Sanada's Simon) and Date and Takeda's respective No. 1 guys, Kojuurou Katakura (who has some fancy ass swordplay) and Sasuke Sarutobi (Takehito Koyasu as a sarcastic ninja, yay!). I am giddy at the prospect of setting all these people against each other, and that isn't including some of the wild cards. (Romi Paku's character will undoubtedly fall on the heroes' side, even though he has an epic rivalry with Takeda.)
But, yeah, here I am talking about what's to come when there is so much epic in this episode: Date plowing mountains of horses and soldiers out of his way as he rides across a field; Date and Sanada having another epic battle with Gurren Lagann-esque animation effects; Takeda standing up on his horse's saddle as the horse rides up the side of a castle (!!!); an assassin cutting off the heads of Takeda's horses; Takeda punching said assassin to the roof of a tower; and the respective entrances of all the villains near the episode's end. If you absolutely desire empty action this season, WATCH THIS SHOW.
-- Shangri-La eps 1-2: Decided to check this out on the urgings of Ryo and TC. Although I initially feared the show would be a bit too political (since the theme of environmentalism obviously has a strong connection with current events), the show so far has struck a solid balance between the political situation and the story. There is a certain degree of info dumping that I find to be a bit annoying and dull, but those are usually followed up with good, engaging action sequences, so it isn't too bad. Helps that the series looks damn good, too. (There seems to be a high degree of great looking series this season, haha.) I like a good portion of the characters so far -- Kuniko is a good lead, and my boy Jouji Nakata has a part, too, as a transsexual, no less. I enjoy that Momoko is a role that is similar to characters Nakata has portrayed in the past while also being clearly different. (Plus, who can resist a cool transsexual? Wait, don't answer that.) The main villains are a bit too, "WE ARE GREEDY AND EVIL AND YOU MUST HATE US" for my tastes at the moment, but I am intrigued by a group of characters that fight on the enemy's side but also have some reservations about what they're doing (Retto and Kunihito, mainly, with Retto's brother, Shion, perhaps in the mix, too). Hopefully they develop in a way that's more like, say, Dominic from Eureka Seven and less like Suzaku from Code Geass. :P
-- Shugo Chara! Doki ep26: Poor Amu. She thought hiding Ikuto from everyone was for the best, but of course, keeping secrets in fiction (especially in children's shows) almost always comes back to bite you in the ass. Although Amu's mom is about as saintly as a parent can be in this situation, Amu is still left with the guilt of not having trusted her parents completely. And then there's Tadase, whose heart is now broken because, in his mind, it appears as though Amu chose Ikuto over him. (Not the situation at all, obviously, but that would be how it appears to him.) Ikuto is kind of a dick there, too. I get what he's trying to do by cutting Amu out of his life so that she isn't affected by Easter trying to hunt him down, but he still impacted her life in a negative way by exposing himself and mocking Tadase. At least part of his motivation for what he did has to be his rivalry with Tadase, so it's definitely a selfish move on Ikuto's part, although Tadase would have reacted negatively to what happened either way.
-- Slayers NEXT eps 19-26: Holy crap, this puts the ending to Slayers' first season to shame. So much epic. First you have a rather complex trap coming to fruition, with the villain we are supposed to assume is the Big Bad, Demon Lord Gaav, being tricked to fight Lina so that she would use the Giga Slave (she conveniently learned the complete version of the spell by being led to the Claire Bible by Xellos), after which the real Big Bad, Hellmaster Philbrizzo, would swoop down, blow the Giga Slave to kingdom come and destroy the universe with the resulting chaos. Damn. (If that makes Philbrizzo sound like a FFIX-esque Big Bad, I will say that he is mentioned throughout the episodes leading up to his appearance, which pretty heavily foreshadows that he is going to step up to the plate at some point before Slayers NEXT concludes.)
The battle against Gaav is rough, but the fight against Philbrizzo is just brutal, because he's a total dick and does everything in his power to push Lina to the brink and piss her off to the point where she has to use the Giga Slave (she's reluctant to do so because the spell's potential for destruction scares the crap out of her). I mean, I knew the people Philbrizzo "killed" wouldn't stay dead, but it is still tough to see him swiftly end the lives of Amelia, Gourry and Zelgadis. :( Hilariously, though, Philbrizzo's plan fails in just about every when possible when the Lord of Nightmares possesses Lina and causes her to, like, go Super Saiyan. I dunno, but it is awesome, though, especially when the Lord of Nightmares just blows Philbrizzo away like nothing.
Gourry getting PISSED OFF~! and giving his all to rescue Lina's spirit is awesome, as well. Gourry x Lina ftw. (Also, Amelia x Zelgadis, kthx.) And a big LOL @ Martina x Zangulus. Those two were definitely made for each other. (By the way, I love Zangulus' slow transition from semi-serious villain to somewhat goofy ally. Also, amusingly enough, Martina and Zangulus may have literally been made for each other, since I have learned that they are anime-original characters.) I could not be more happy with Slayers NEXT -- loved it the whole way through, and I am now raring to watch Slayers TRY.
-- Valkyria Chronicles ep2: Another solid episode. The battle is about as good as it could be, considering it's a group of under equipped village soldiers against a professional state army. I was pretty much waving good bye to that villager who boarded the tank before work on it was complete. Rule of thumb: Do NOT use faulty equipment if you are not an important character. You will die. The Edelweiss, on the other hand, is a pretty kickass tank. That thing moves around like crazy. Jeez. Something I like in this episode is how sensible Alicia is. She does a pretty good job of tempering the villagers' desire to fight the military and making it a priority to get everyone the hell away from there. Good job. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here, with both Alicia and Welkin joining the Gallian Army.
