All posts by draggle

Hourou Musuko 02

Hourou Musuko,
You look like a little girl!

This episode of Hourou Musuko was even better than the last one. Now we actually delve into the main characters deeply enough that we really have a good idea of who’s who. And yes, they are just as interesting as they seemed on the surface from what we saw last week.

Chiba X Takatsuki? Who's with me?

One of the things I like best about Hourou Musuko is how all of the characters are so well developed – no one seems to suffer from “main character’s friend” syndrome, where the only reason they exist is to bring the main character news and chat with him in class. Sasa and Ariga are a great counterexample to this – both of them actually have a personality and will of their own. They aren’t just the main character’s lackeys – in fact, at least in Sasa’s case, it’s more like the main characters are her lackeys.

The animation continues to be beautiful, and the direction is top-notch as well. It just flows along so smoothly and the dialogue is interesting and has a certain rhythm to it. It’s hard to believe that this show is coming from AIC of all people.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica 03

Puella Shoujo Madoka Magica,
The bat is what won me over.

Well, this episode turned out so great that I had to just go and blog it. Since I’m going to be doing three shows on Thursday, this might end up being a bit much and some will probably be pushed back to Friday.

But man! My senses for epic destruction and despair are really tingling now! Maybe it’s a character flaw but I really love the type of story where things being with a semblance of peace and normalcy and the characters steadily descend into despair as the world falls apart around them. But in the end they gain more then they lose in terms of their dignity and development as a human being. Simoun is my favorite show of all time, and for those who haven’t seen it (go watch it now!) this is basically the plot – a country begins as the strongest in the world and is completely conquered and subjugated. This isn’t only a theme in anime either – I have a soft spot for the Mayor of Casterbridge, the Name of the Rose and Foucalt’s Pendulum, and my latest fad, a Song of Ice and Fire.

Those are definitely not tentacles! Right, Shinbo?

So in this episode things take a decidedly darker tone, as Mani is apparently killed (?) and we learn the darker side of being a magical girl. We also learn that Mani has issues and seems to have ulterior motives for recruiting new magical girls. I doubt that Mani is dead since we haven’t seen a corpse, but who knows. She definitely seemed to lose her magical girl powers as she changed back into her school uniform.

Mahou shoujo ba-to!

The most disturbing part of this episode however, at least to me, was Kyupei’s reaction (the weasel thing). He didn’t seem to be concerned about Mani at all. He is definitely plotting something. The cutesy art combined with the dark themes is what really makes this show great though. As Higurashi has so aptly demonstrated, it’s just that much more terrifying when the person holding an axe over your head is a cute, smiling girl.

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka Episode 2

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka,

The second episode toned down the pace a bit from the first episode, but it was still enjoyable. The break dancing was the best joke by far, and in comparison the rest fell a bit flat, aside from Ayumu’s delusions of Yuu which were once again hilarious.

I’m not quite sure what to think of the new character, Sera – so far there isn’t anything that makes her particularly interesting. I think there is some joke about her sword style which might have been lost in translation. She is a vampire ninja though, and so far we haven’t seen anything vampiric so things will likely pick up. Maybe Ayumu will become a zombie masou shoujo vampire thrall.

In other news, dragon crisis definitely annoyed me less this week than last week, so I will probably keep watching. The entire premise just doesn’t thrill me though.

Star Driver – Episode 15

Star Driver,

In this episode we get to know more about Mizuno. At first she really annoyed me, just a bubbly happy slightly obnoxious person, but she has slowly grown on me. (her sister Marino was always awesome) Interestingly, there was no fight in this episode, although Mizuno did sing her song. I think that something big is going to happen soon.

The ending is going to be amazing for this show – it has built up so many questions right now, and at this rate it still has plenty of time to answer them. It seems that in the next episode we will discover more about Marino – what is her relation really to Mizuno? They keep dropping hints about how they have the same memories but sometimes both are there and sometime only one. I hope that it doesn’t end up as some “we are the same person” BS. After that, the show will probably give some development to the class president and then finally to Takuto as the biggest mysteries are revealed – what is the Glittering Crux and what is their purpose? What do the Maidens even do?

And my Utena sensibilities are telling me that someone needs to fall into darkness soon. 🙂

Onii-chan no Koto – Episode 2

Onii-chan no Koto,

This episode kicks up right where the last one left off and kept me laughing the whole way through it. Nao’s antics are still hilarious, and Iroha is great as well. All of the characters in this show are… larger than life, shall we say. Even Shuusuke, the male lead isn’t boring at all. He actually takes action instead of just having things happen to him, and isn’t completely irredeemable.

The jokes in this episode were, I think, even more funny than last episode. It was funny when Nao was playing the recorder, and then when Shuusuke played it later I was cracking up. Probably the best part though was Iroha’s “gift” at the end of the episode. Over the past week I read the manga. The show is following it pretty faithfully, and we should have some good stuff to look forward to. I’m especially eager for when Kondou (the class president) will start playing a bigger role.

Glasses are good too.