Fate / Zero 03 — Rider vs. Clinton

Fate / Zero,

I can’t make fun of Waver and Rider too much this week, since the segment with Rider watching TV was hilarious. Buying B-2s, but hating stealth? Bill Clinton, a more formidable foe than Darius III? Riiiight.

Forcing Waver to the top of the bridge was amusing as well, although that may only be because I enjoy watching him suffer.

Conspiracies

So it seems that Tohsaka was in on the plan to send assassin to the mansion. But does he know that assassin isn’t actually dead? I’m guessing yes, the plan is probably to fool the other masters into thinking assassin is gone until they get stabbed in the back.

A bigger question, though, is whether Gilgamesh knows. Tohsaka is acting as Gilgamesh’s servant (which is quite amusing, I might add) but it seems that he isn’t being entirely level with him.

Finally, what is Tohsaka planning with the independent action class skill? For those who aren’t familiar with the original F/SN, the archer class can stick around for a few days without a master, while the other classes disappear more quickly. Is Tohsaka planning to die? I doubt it. But there are other ways to lose your servant. We know that in the end, Kirei will end up as Gilgamesh’s master. So it’s a question of how we get there.

A Date on the Beach

Irisviel continues to annoy me. She’s boring: Ilya but without her cruelty or childishness. Basically she’s too perfect. And with Butler Saber the problems only compound.

I’ll be honest, although saying this is almost heretical: I have never particularly cared for Saber. She’s too perfect. I greatly prefer the horribly broken characters such as Sakura (maybe this is why I like Ringo from Penguindrum so much).

Other Matters

Saber’s riding skill allows her to fly planes like she’s holding onto the reins. OK, whatever. This kind of stuff makes me think that this entire story is fanfiction. Why does it matter?

Kiritsugu is cheating on his wife? Well, the wife is kind of cheating on him too, so…

They could stand to pick up the pace a bit. It’s already the third episode and most of the time has been spent with people standing alone talking to themselves. We’ve had people claim, at the end of the episode, “the war is beginning!” not once but three times. Seriously, just start the war already.

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Mawaru Penguindrum 14 — Yuri

Mawaru Penguindrum,

I guess her name should have been a hint. Amazing episode.

The Tragedy of M

Why is Yuri’s play tragic? The ending seems happy at first glance: Yuri and her lover fly off into the sunset, arm in arm, on the wings of a swan. But the reveals from the remainder of the episode paint the play’s ending in a different light. Yuri’s marriage is a lie meant to make her forget her past with Momoka. There is no love between her and her husband: they are but tied together by the cruel wheel of fate (as the swan is tied to the ceiling), unable to fly free. The lie they have constructed weighs down their dreams and true desires, just as the false swan is burdened by the weight of the couple. The feathers that they once used to fly are torn from their wings and scattered in the wind. Tabuki and Yuri are birds in a cage. This is the Tragedy of M(atrimony).

The Princess of Lies

The episode’s title, the Princess of Lies, refers to Yuri’s status as a celebrity and her propensity for lying. It also appears to be a clear reference to the Prince of Lies, Satan. The tragic character of Milton’s Lucifer bears many similarities to Yuri.

All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?
That Glory never shall his wrath or might
Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee, and deifie his power,
Who from the terrour of this Arm so late
Doubted his Empire, that were low indeed,
That were an ignominy and shame beneath
This downfall; since by Fate the strength of Gods
And this Empyreal substance cannot fail,
Since through experience of this great event
In Arms not worse, in foresight much advanc’t,
We may with more successful hope resolve
To wage by force or guile eternal Warr
Irreconcileable, to our grand Foe,
Who now triumphs, and in th’ excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the Tyranny of Heav’n.

Paradise Lost 1:106-124

Lucifer wages eternal war against heaven, even though he must surely fail: so, too, does Yuri (and Kanba) wage eternal war against fate. With deceit and guile, Yuri lures the unsuspecting Ringo into eating the fruit of carnal knowledge (and hopefully Ringo will share some with Shouma). Yuri claims that she has abandoned her past, but this is a lie: in her pride, she will not bow down to fate and sue for grace. Her body is that of a monster, and no one will ever accept her again.

So what is the mystery of Yuri’s body? I’m going to guess that she isn’t entirely a woman. She’s having an affair with a woman who dresses as a man, and apparently only a woman can satisfy her. So yeah.

To briefly incorporate the ongoing gnostic comparisons, the archons (Yuri) see the reflection of Sophia (Momoka) in the waters, and long for her. When they see the same light of Sophia (Momoka) within Eve (Ringo), they rape her and she bears their children.

Ringo and Shouma

Gah, this was too much. I’ve been shipping the two of them since the second episode, but really, this has exceeded my wildest expectations. The scene where Ringo clung to Shouma’s shirt as he refused to accept her forgiveness was too adorable. He even has her crying. I don’t think she ever did that for Tabuki. The aftermath was adorable as well, where it turned out that Ringo had elaborately planned out her “I wasn’t waiting long” greeting and was embarrassed. I could say more, but just have some pictures.

Other Observations

  • Note Yuri’s bondage ropes: they’re red. She and Ringo have become entangled in the strings of fate.
  • We see Yuri / Akiho’s car. I was wondering when they’d import this from Utena.

  • Masako’s entrance to the subway car was awesome. While she knocks out the men in suits, her penguin replaces Kanba’s perverted pictures with pictures of herself. Then Masako places her foot in a very suggestive position. Kanba is a top-notch womanizer, as his eyes are focused up her skirt the entire time, even as he trips her.
  • Masako’s words seem to lend some weight to the theory that Kanba and Himari are not actually related.
  • I liked Sanetoshi’s answer to when Himari will be released from the hospital: “When the secrets of the world are revealed.”

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Guilty Crown — First Impression

Impressions,

The comparisons to Code Geass are obvious: the writers are the same, both stories take place in an occupied Japan, the protagonists join a resistance group, and more. But there’s one major difference, at least so far: the protagonists themselves. Lelouch was a badass from the get-go, when he ordered a squadron of soldiers to kill themselves. Guilty Crown’s hero is a whiner with a magic sword. And our female protagonist is a walking sex symbol (is it just me, or does her dress look familiar?).

The supporting characters are questionable as well. We have the sparkling bishounen, the neko-mimi comms girl, and the orgasmic mecha pilot. Then there are some random gangsters, the usual crew of classmates, and some nefarious villains. I’m hoping that as the ranks of the villains increase they will become a bit more morally ambiguous. The creators will need to make these characters grow for this show to succeed: right now they’re weak. It’s only the first episode though, so we’ll see.

Despite the weak characterization, I enjoyed the episode immensely. There’s plenty going on, and everything flows smoothly. The episode had a great sense of timing and pace. It goes slow when it needs to, such as the opening sequence with the singing. But it can speed by for action scenes as well.

And I will say, this episode was was gorgeous. If there’s one thing Production IG knows how to do right it’s animation. Some of the music was questionable, but whatever. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

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UN-GO — First Impression

Impressions,

There’s a lot to like, but a lot not to as well. First of all, the setting seems pretty cool. Political conspiracies, wars, and Napoleonic dress-up games. But we don’t have to reach too far back in our memories for another series Bones produced with a good setting. Furthermore, note that the purple haired transvestite’s Geass emits purple butterflies. What is it with Bones, noitaminA and butterflies? Recall that the first episode of No. 6 was pretty exciting and had a cool setting, but then they forgot about all that until the ending. I’m concerned that Bones will do the same thing once again, and focus on this purple haired kid instead of the setting.

UN-GO is also reminiscent of another Bones series with a detective duo. UN-GO does serve much better as a mystery than Gosick: it isn’t completely obvious from the get-go who the murderer is. And unlike Phi-Brain, where the puzzles require solutions that are impossible to find with the information given, UN-GO does a good job at information control. The viewer is able to solve the mystery with the information given, but it requires a bit of thought, and becomes increasingly clear as the sleuthing continues.

The biggest problems, though, are that I’m not sold on the characters and am also not entirely sure what’s going on. I think the latter problem will fade away as the series progresses, so I’m more worried about the characters. The pink haired kid, especially, seems annoying (in both forms). The lead female seems fairly useless. The two detectives look promising though.

As for blogging this, we’ll see how the next episode goes. I’m not too keen on blogging three series on Thursday, so I may not pick this one up depending on the second episode.

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A Seasonal Review: Summer 2011

Seasonal Review, ,

Summer was a great season.

I’ve loosely ranked the season’s shows from worst to best (rough guide to my rankings: A=awesome, B+=great, B-=good, C=decent, D=bad, F=fail). The numbers in parentheses are how I ranked that series’ first episode at the start of the season. Let’s see how much things have changed. Note that the numbers don’t exactly correspond, since the two-season shows were not included in the ranking at the start of the season.

I’ve tried to keep this post concise since I’ve already written full reviews for most of the shows. So let’s start!

Not Included: Hyouge Mono (only two eps. translated), Natsume Yuujinchou San (8) (haven’t watched second season)

Dropped After one Episode: Manyuu Hikenchou (24), Double-J (23), Morita-san wa Makuchi (22), Nyanpire (21), Twin Angel – Twinkle Paradise (20), Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi (16)

23. Blood-C — Dropped (13)
I watched another episode or two, and they were the same as the first episode.

22. Nekogami Yaoyorozu — Dropped (19)
I just don’t find this funny. It’s more inclined to give me a headache than make me laugh.

21. Mayo Chiki — F (15)
Our standard harem of the season, with cross-dressing butlers.

20. Kamisama no Memochou — D- (10)
Generic and dull. I can’t stand any of the characters.

19. Ro-Kyu-Bu! — Not Finished (18)
Surprisingly decent for a lolicon show. But it’s still a lolicon show.

18. The iDOLM@STER — Still Airing (12)
There isn’t anything I can point to with this show and say “this is bad.” It’s actually very well made. It’s just that I have no interest whatsoever in idols.

17. Kamisama Dolls — D (4)
A cool setting, but utterly aimless.

16. Sacred Seven — D+ (11)
Fun and dumb.

15. Baka Test to Shoukanjuu Ni! — C- (14)
The jokes are getting old.

14. No. 6 — C- (2)
Had potential, but forgot about the main plot until the end, which was disastrous.

13. R-15 — C (17)
A solid and unique fanservice comedy.

12. Ao no Exorcist — C+
Standard shounen fare, but well made.

11. Gintama’
A good season, especially the prison arc.

10. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée — B- (7)
Undeniably adorable.

9.  Nurarihyon no Mago Sennen Makyou (6)
A vast improvement over the last season.

8.  Dantalian no Shoka — B- (3)
Very creative, but it got stale.

7.  Hanasaku Iroha — B
Great when it sticks to the drama.

6.  YuruYuri — B (9)
Hilarious yuri hijinks.

5.  Tiger and Bunny — B+
Great characters (especially Kotetsu) but a somewhat weak ending.

4.  Usagi Drop — B+ (5)
Lovable characters in roles we don’t often see, beautifully animated.

3.  Steins; Gate — B+
Great fun with time travel and speculation (and a badass lead character).

 

2.  Nichijou — A-
One of the best comedies in recent years. It’s left me laughing every week.

1.  Mawaru Penguin Drum (1)
By far my favorite series of the season. This show has a pacing and intensity that none can match, is always full of surprises, and gives plenty of food for thought every week.

What did you think of this season’s shows? Feel free to share in the comments!

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