All posts by draggle

Onii-chan no Koto… 11

Onii-chan no Koto,

In this episode, the creators decided to let Nao and Iroha do something besides stalk Shuusuke from the background, and (surprise, suprise!) it was drastically improved. I would say that this was the most entertaining episode since episode one. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but whatever.

The characters in this show (Nao and Shuusuke especially) aren’t really that bad, but the creators have no idea how to use them. Nao and Iroha have done nothing but stalk Shuusuke from a distance, and Shuusuke does nothing but ogle girls. They’ve wasted so much retelling the same jokes that weren’t funny the first time that they haven’t gotten a chance to do anything else.  I think that part of the problem is that the main characters are completely passive and just get dragged along by whatever happens. Shuusuke goes to pathetic extents to get girls, Nao drools over how disgusting he is, Iroha gets jealous watching him through her night-vision binoculars, and Kondou doesn’t notice because she’s looking at his nipples. That’s a fairly comprehensive summary of the past eight or so episodes.

And in spite of how much she’s obsessed with him, I don’t think that Nao has even spoken to Shuusuke much for the past six or so episodes. She is by far the most interesting character, and her actually doing things was what made this episode work. The entire sequence with Nao escaping from Clone, her awkward meeting with Shuusuke at home and her betrayal of Iroha were the highlights of this episode.

There’s one more episode left, so this probably won’t come to any sort of conclusion. Not that there was much of a story to begin with.

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? 10

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka,

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka has been losing it’s pace and humor the past few episodes, but in this episode it seemed like it’s headed back on track for a decent finale. For  the first time, there was a good balance of the comedy and plot – in the past they had half an episode of srs bsns followed by half an episode of whale hunting, but here it was actually interleaved so it became neither too heavy nor too ridiculous (if there even is such a thing). For example, Haruna and Yuki’s reversed gluing job after Ayumu was attacked, and Ayumu chasing Eu into the sky after she left.

Tomonori managed to become much less annoying in this episode, probably because her interactions were largely with Haruna and Sera instead of playing newlyweds with Ayumu. Haruna and Tomonori do make a great pair with their complete idiocy. There’s still been no explanation whatsoever about what was supposed to have happened to Tomonori last episode with her golem transformation. But if the creators want to pretend that never happened I’ll play along.

I’m wondering if Sera has become either a vampire ninja zombie or a vampire ninja necromancer now that Eu gave her blood. I’ve been waiting nine episodes now for Ayumu to become a magical girl zombie vampire ninja but at this point it just doesn’t seem like it was meant to be.

Hourou Musuko 09

Hourou Musuko,

This series doesn’t like to leave any character undeveloped – in this episode, we get a deeper look at Doi, Nittori’s one-time bully. We also see both Takatsuki and later Nittori work up the courage to crossdress to school.

The best thing about this show is still how complex all the relationships of the characters are, and how they all react differently. Takatsuki and Yuki both dislike Doi and think he’s bullying Shuusuke, even though Shuusuke is willing to give him a chance. I think they’re being a bit unfair though, Doi isn’t really being a bully. Doi’s reaction to learning Yuki was a man wasn’t all that surprising – you would think that Yuki would get that all the time and would have learned to tolerate it a bit. Doi’s suggestion that Nittori go to school in female clothes probably won’t turn out well, but I don’t think Doi did it for that reason. I think he genuinely thought that Nittori was cute.

Unfortunately, barely any Chiba and Anna appearances this week. We did get a nice scene where Chiba adjusts Takatsuki’s collar though, like a wife before her husband goes off to work.

 

Star Driver 23

Star Driver,

That was one of the most satisfying punches I’ve ever seen. Takuto came to the island to punch his dad in the face, and he did exactly what he said he would. Punched him in the face. No questions. No explanation. Just punched him and left.

We also saw some tension between Sugata and Takuto over Wako, as Sugata asks her out on a date. Takuto upgrades his Tau Missile to Sugata’s Eccentric Tau Missile. And Sugata finally heads over to the Hiraboshi.

I have to say I was expecting Sugata to switch sides for the past twenty episodes, so my only surprise was that it didn’t happen earlier. Still, I don’t think he’s actually betraying Takuto and Wako. I’m guessing that his switch is a result of his having spoken to Keito, and they probably have a reason behind it. Seems like we’ll have to wait to see out why though – they’re really milking out Keito’s secret rendezvouses with Sugata for all they’re worth.

There isn’t much time left in this series, so hopefully they’ll be able to make everything come together in the end. There are so many loose threads and unanswered questions left that it seems hard to imagine they will address all of them. Plus, we didn’t even get to see Kyuubey’s cousin and the president speak this week.

Fractale 09

Fractale,

Clain, you player you!

He deserved that one.

This was a calm before the storm episode, and it worked quite well. This show is best when it works with the world it has instead of making new things up. I’m cautiously optimistic about the finale – Fractale has been quite decent when it sticks to the core of its story and not random trips off to God knows where or entire episodes of “Clain is a pervert” jokes. It seems like for the finale we will finally resolve the fate of the Fractale system which has been largely ignored for the rest of the show.

In spite of its titular role, we know nearly nothing about the Fractale system. It lets people see and use dopples, but what else does it do? As we saw, it can make fake towns and buildings, but people cannot touch them. So how do people get food? It doesn’t seem like the Fractale system does anything to the physical world (except with Nessa, who is an exception) so how did people get food before, and why do people become starving refugees once the system goes down? It doesn’t make much sense why something which doesn’t influence the physical world could have such an effect. So either there is a lot they aren’t telling us (or I have missed) or there is a gaping plot hole. I wouldn’t be surprised in the latter case though considering how the creators have treated the setting.