Usagi Drop 11 — Losing Teeth

Usagi Drop,

Too cute. Why is Daikichi worried about how she’ll look when her teeth fall out?

Family Dynamics

One thing which Usagi Drop has done consistently well at is portraying intergenerational relationships so believably. In this episode, look at the reactions of the family to Rin’s loose tooth. Daikichi, quite practically, tells her not to wiggle it too much, and looks into getting a container for her lost baby teeth. Daikichi’s parents enter into panic mode, and change the menu for dinner to include only soft foods. Rin keeps wiggling it, but seems more curious than concerned. And when it does fall out, she’s ecstatic.

Another point of interest is Daikichi’s sister. Daikichi’s been taking care of Rin for a year now, and she’s actually asking him for parenting advice. How time flies.

Daikichi, Kouki, and Yukari

I find Daikichi’s relationship with Kouki even more intriguing than his relationship with Rin. Kouki isn’t living with him, but Daikichi has still taken the role of a father figure, and Kouki is completely enamored of him. Daikichi even has Kouki shopping for breakfast food to eat at his house, and Kouki invites Daikichi over to play video games (ah… male bonding).

On the other hand, Kouki’s mother doesn’t seem to have the same kind of relationship with Rin. This may simply be that the anime mainly takes place from Daikichi’s perspective, and there are things going on that we don’t know about. The reason I mention this is because Kouki’s mother seemed genuinely thrilled when Rin brought her the pudding. Her seeming surprise makes me think they aren’t quite as close as Kouki and Daikichi— I guess she must not spend as much time alone with the kids as Daikichi.

Which may not be good for Daikichi and Yukari’s coupling prospects. It’s odd how at this stage they’re still so awkward. Take the scene where Daikichi comes to Kouki’s house. He initially tries to run away, but when he and Yukari see each other face to face, time freezes, the background changes color, the music changes, and she and Daikichi enter their own little dream world. I honestly cracked up here. When time resumes, the two of them begin to profusely apologize for nothing. It seems like apologizing in Japan is like talking about the weather where I live.

Skip Rope

I was impressed by how much they managed to get out of the jump roping segment. Kouki takes his Daikichi imitation to a new level, Rin’s tooth begins to wobble, and Daikichi gives an adult rationale for skipping rope (an expanding waistline). Again, look at how the portrayal differs between kids and adults.

Then there’s Rin’s failure / victory at the jump roping contest. It’s details like these that manage to keep the world believable, exciting and humorous at the same time.

Wrapping Things Up

I expected Usagi Drop to just peter out and fade into the distance. But they actually did manage to wrap things up nicely. The beginning of Daikichi’s conversation with the other parents was a bit heavy-handed, but otherwise it flowed naturally. There was a focus on how Rin has grown, through the flashbacks, and how Daikichi has also grown as a father. Overall, it was a satisfying conclusion for a story that can’t truly end.

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Steins; Gate Review — B+

Reviews, ,

Steins; Gate tells the tale of Okabe Rintarou Hououin Kyouma, a mad scientist who has developed a time machine that allows him to send text messages to the past. He experiments with it, changing the future slightly, only to discover that his friend is fated to die. The rest of the story chronicles his efforts to save her.

There’s a lot to like about Stein’s; Gate. We have a great setting, complete with time travel, paradoxes and international criminal conspiracies, led by the most evil organization in history, CERN, with their diabolical plan to construct the Large Hadron Collider.

But the best part is simply the characters and their interactions. I enjoyed watching them hang out in the lab nearly as much as I enjoyed the time travel. Okabe is a fun character, hovering on the border of insanity. It’s mostly an act, but it’s still a pleasure to watch, especially with the excellent work done by his voice actor. The best evil laugh since Lelouch?

Okabe only gets better coupled with Christina, who argues with him all the time. Steins; Gate sports the sharpest and wittiest dialogue of the year.

The show’s biggest weakness is the harem setup: there is a sequence of episodes whose sole purpose is to add girls to the harem. Ruka in particular seemed utterly pointless (and Feyris to a lesser extent). But this only lasts a few episodes.

Otherwise, it’s a great show, with enjoyable characters and a mystery that keeps you guessing. Go watch it if you haven’t already. El Psy Congroo.

  • Plot / Script – 10 / 10 – The best dialogue this year.
  • Characters – 9 / 10 – Mostly strong, although a few of the haremettes are weak.
  • Production – 9 / 10 – A dark, gritty feel. Superb voice acting for Okabe.
  • Overall – B+

Recommendations – Noein, The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni

Steins; Gate 24 — The Choice of Steins Gate

Steins; Gate,

“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience.  And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”
— Theodore Parker

A Happy Ending

It was kind of a cop-out, it shat all over the sci-fi world that had been built up, and it made all the effort to save Mayushii seem like a waste of time by comparison. It was way too easy with help from the future, and Okabe didn’t even need to bleed himself to death. Poor planning, that artificial blood, by the way. I’m glad the universe was left in such capable hands.

But hey, at least it made me feel good. That kind of thing’s nice once in a while too.

Revisiting all the lab members to hand out their badges again was particularly satisfying. Even Moeka gets a happy ending, replacing Suzuha at Mr. Braun’s store. Suzuha’s badge is waiting in the closet. And Okabe has foretold her birth. The perks of being a time traveler just keep looking better and better.

The scene where Okabe and Christina reunited in the new timeline was very well produced. They had all the faces of the crowd going by, which the viewer is scanning for Christina. Then you see her, and time itself freezes. Other shows have done similar things before, such as the reincarnation reunion at the crossroads in Kannazuki no Miko (and does anyone remember some show where the reincarnations meet again on a train platform? I can’t remember what it was…).  But Steins; Gate surpassed them both in terms of timing and emotional impact.

I Am Hououin Kyouma!

But seriously, the highlights of the episode were Okabe’s cool poses. And him outsmarting his future self.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Steins; Gate turned out great. It makes me wonder how Chaos; Head could have turned out with better direction. I loved watching the banter between Okabe and Christina. The show made for some great speculation regarding the mystery as well. But like all mysteries, it was most interesting before it was solved.

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Hanasaku Iroha 24 — The Final Boss

Hanasaku Iroha,

What a meanie!

Ohana and Ko

The scene with Ohana and Ko’s reunion was very nicely done. The first thing we notice is their reactions upon seeing each other: Ko runs across the bridge towards Ohana, and Ohana starts to run away, but freezes. We’re reminded that Ohana’s still feels guilty.

Then there’s the playground scene. Remember the first episode? Ohana and Ko seem to have a thing for playgrounds. This time Ohana has become more self-confident and aggressive. Before Ko can finish saying how he feels, Ohana spins the jungle gym around, pins Ko against the wall and covers his mouth. It looks like she’s going to confess— but no, she invites Ko to the Bonbori festival instead. We can’t end things here after all, there are still two episodes left!

Some of the lines are a bit corny (“the scenery is dull without you”, etc.) but it works.

Minko’s Culinary Ambitions

It turns out Minko and Tohru both wanted to be a chef because of a manga they read. But wait, I thought there was something about her sitting at a restaurant counter watching the chef cook? Apparently not.

They seem to have been trying to make Minko’s culinary ambitions come across as serious business. Making her main source of inspiration a comic book may not be the best way to achieve this. It seems downright childish. Reminds me of when kids I knew wanted to be pro skateboarders.

But then again, perhaps this is the intention. It isn’t entirely clear how devoted Minko is to becoming a chef: our main source of knowledge regarding her ambitions is Minko herself, along with Ohana’s impressions of her. Is being a chef really the most important thing to her? When the inn is closing, she doesn’t cry from learning she won’t be able to cook there. She cries because she’ll be separated from Tohru. Ohana seems to take Minko’s goals so seriously, but she’s still just a high school girl.

The biggest revelation here, though,  is that the novelist actually wrote something. Tohru seemed to have read it when he was younger, too. Just how old is this guy?

Efficient Bathing

Bath scenes are typically fanservice fodder, but this one actually worked. It established how upset everyone was over the inn’s closure, as even Nako is angry. It also made the grandmother feel a bit more human (since she actually bathes) while also remaining unapproachable. Plus, it was funny.

Grandmother and Granddaughter

My favorite part of the episode, though, was Ohana and the manager’s visit to the grave. Ohana yells at her grandmother for her decision to close the inn. But then they actually talk and come to an understanding of sorts (well, they still disagree, but at least understand each other better). Plus, the grandmother actually has a good reason for wanting to close the inn: it has nothing to do with money, but is because she wants to free her children to fulfill their own dreams instead of hers. This is not what I would have predicted, and I love being surprised.

Later, Ohana even sides with her grandmother and listens to her over the rest of the inn staff. Ohana even gets a smile out of the manager, by calling her old, of all things!

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Towa no Quon 1 Review — D-

Reviews,

No, not THAT Quon. Instead we get some punk kid.

The movie starts out with a decent Sacred Seven style fight scene. Then it self-destructed.

The first words out of this brat’s mouth are “I want to save everyone!” This is pretty much a secret keyphrase for people who watch enough anime, which indicates that the show is going to suck. This and “You’re you, ____!” are the defaults for creators who can’t be assed to come up with an interesting conflict.

Right after this exciting revelation, we learn that our protagonists are an organization of kids whose secret base is in an amusement park. They’re the Attractors, and they can change feelings into power. Good lord. They’re trying to save their own from a secret organization that’s trying to kill them because… well, because they create disorder.

Next some girl walks up to Quon, pulls her shirt down to show him her breasts, and shoves her butt in his face. He runs away, and the girl screams at some random passerby, “Stop staring at me, you pervert!” At least Fractale centered the pervert jokes around a character who was at the scene of the crime and had a name.

This all took place in the first five minutes after the initial fight scene. I’m not going to bother boring you by discussing the rest of the movie. It doesn’t get much better.

  • Plot / Script – 5 / 10 – I guess the battles were ok? As in, a bad version of Sacred Seven’s.
  • Characters – 4 / 10 – The most interesting was Quon, whose defining characteristic is that he wanted to save everyone.
  • Production – 6 / 10 – I guess the animation was decent? It is Bones after all. The music was awful though.
  • Overall – D-

Recommendations – Go watch Rahxephon? I’m not going to recommend anything like this movie.

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