Tag Archives: anime

Mawaru Penguindrum 10 — It’s a me, a Mario!

Mawaru Penguindrum,

Wow, this may have been even stronger than the previous episode. The previous episode had a great sense of mystery, but this one had a sense of excitement and thrill that we haven’t seen so far.

Kanba

The first thing I noticed is that Kanba really does seem to love his brother (and sister). Ringo’s comment that Shouma’s family life was fake had left me wondering, but Kanba at least gives the appearance of being completely dedicated to his brother and sister. He stays all night worrying by Shouma’s bedside, even though he tries to hide it. One thing in this episode seems to jar with that image though: the actions of Kanba’s penguin. As we’ve seen, the penguin’s actions tend to reflect the thoughts and actions of their owners. And here, for most of the episode, Kanba’s penguin is busy stealing underwear, reading porn magazines, and looking up the nurses’ skirts. Perhaps all is not as it seems… Another hint to this effect is that Kanba does not want to give the diary back, instead entrusting it to Ringo. This is probably just his cool and collected self remaining in control, but let’s leave the possibilities open. Then we have Kanba’s conversation with Himari, which was hilarious. How dense can you be? But yeah, Kanba is a confirmed siscon now. Interestingly, Himari doesn’t seem quite so innocent towards the end of this scene, where she leans in close and pats Kanba on the head. Perhaps this is a glimpse of her true feelings, which are revealed through the penguin hat.

Drawing Parallels

One thing to notice is how closely this episode paralleled the last one. Himari, and then Kanba, descend lower and lower into the floors of the building, reliving their memories on the way. The walls of Himari’s library are bars of a cage, and the walls of Kanba’s library are colored like the stripes of a prison. Both Himari and Kanba feel trapped by the past, although Himari wants to remember hers and Kanba does not. Also, look at how what happens with Masako parallels Kanba’s conversation with Himari. Himari asks whether boys would like homemade lunches, cakes, or hand-knitted sweaters. Kanba says no, they don’t want any of that “made with love” crap, unless it’s from Himari. Then Himari leans in close, pats Kanba’s head and disappears. Masako presents the same items to Kanba: homemade bento, a wedding cake, and a hand-knitted sweater. He rejects all of them, except for the unfinished undersized sweater which he is forced to wear. Notice how Kanba tells Himari that girls always make oversized sweaters: the sweater must have been made long ago. When he arrives at his destination, Masako kisses him and disappears. On a side note, Masako’s disappearance scene was excellent: I really thought she was going to shoot Kanba, but instead she jumped eagerly into his arms. Perhaps her Project M has the same goal as Ringo’s after all. We could also interpret this sequence as Kanba’s fall from innocence: he initially chases Masako’s fleeting image through the fields of white sheets, to the sounds of the music box. Then the music box cracks, and things start to go wrong. He enters deeper and deeper into a relationship, while continuing to feel more and more trapped. He finally ends up in the torture chamber, where he is confronted with a kiss. By the way, does anyone know what music was playing during this sequence? It seems so familiar, like it’s on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t quite warp my head around it.

Dualism

The yin-yang penguin symbol pretty much gave it away from the first episode, but there seems to be a dualistic opposition between what I’ll call the light and the dark penguins. We know that Masako’s goal is to gain control of fate, so it seems logical to guess that the goal of Himari’s hat is the opposite— to free herself from the control of fate. Himari and Mario are paired, as we saw in the previous episode with the Child Broiler. (also, notice the まり in both of their names) I am sure we will see exactly how they are different in the future. Kanba and Masako seem to take on similar roles in both sides of the conflict, as the people who do the dirty work. Kanba is most likely Masako’s “fated” person, but Kanba only has eyes for Himari. They’ve sure done a great job of making Masako seem dangerous, with that crazy slingshot, the dark penguin sharpening the knife, the blowtorches, torture rack and injections. Does Shouma have a counterpart on the other side? I am guessing yes— Tabuki. Note how when Ringo picked up her cellphone it gave a chirping noise, which previously rang for Tabuki. Ringo seems like the type of girl to set individual ringtones. And this also would put Shouma and Tabuki in opposition over Ringo. On that front, Shouma seems to be making some progress, as we witnessed Ringo’s guilt and appreciation for perhaps the first time. Plus, her diary is gone. Fate is now an open book.

Further Thoughts

  • Masako tells Kanba he was led by Ariadne’s red thread of fate- a combination of the story of Ariadne and the Eastern idea of how soulmates are tied together by a red string of fate since birth. We could also tie this into the three Fates.
  • Masako says that Kanba’s sweater is made of pigeon blood. Penguins are flightless birds, Tabuki learned to fly but can no longer treasure what he sees… whose dreams did Kanba have to sacrifice to get to where he is?
  • The dark penguin’s face is shaped like a heart. Back to the dualism surrounding fate of the two penguin clans.

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No. 6 11 — Drop Dead

No. 6,

Well, this went even worse than I expected.

Let’s Summarize

Shion and Nezumi enter Safu’s room. Safu has become Elyurias. She activates the bee disease and kills everyone in the town square. She tells Shion that No. 6 has done human experimentation and deserves to die (biological weapons are ok though). Shion agrees and tries to destroy No. 6, then and there.

Nezumi is mad that Shion changed. Shion says he was dumb and naive when he wanted to tear down the wall, and gives a ridiculous scream. Elyurias overhears their conversation, and on a whim decides to go with Shion’s plan instead of the one he put years of planning into.

Nezumi plants a bomb on the supercomputer, and Safu stays behind. It’s not clear why. The bomb blows up, and Mother is destroyed. If the Mother is destroyed, all the other computers blow up too. Great security guys. So Shion and Nezumi run through the facility as shit blows up.

Now Shion’s mad that they left Safu behind. He tells Nezumi, “You used me! Your objective was the correctional facility’s destruction!” Nezumi says, “No shit, Sherlock.”

Then Nezumi gets shot, and Shion brings him to the infirmary to perform field surgery. (Shion, what are you unzipping?! That’s not where he got shot!) Then it’s Shion’s turn to get shot in the heart. They fall down a chute and meet up with Dogkeeper and the other guy.

While this is happening, Elyurias uses his rainbow power to make the bees turn into tornadoes and destroy the wall. I’m not making this up.

Back to Shion. He’s dead. Everyone cries. Dogkeeper says that she doesn’t want to die too, and runs off with the other guy in tow. Nezumi is alone with Shion’s corpse. Then Safu comes. She puts Shion’s head in her lap, transforms into the rainbow bee queen and explodes. Nezumi’s wounds are healed and Shion is resurrected.

Shion and Nezumi walk out, kiss, and part. The baby that Dogkeeper ditched finds its way back to Shion, and the cycle of life continues… or something. The people from inside No. 6 and the people from outside No. 6 head towards the broken wall, shuffling along like zombies. Now that the wall is gone everyone will be bestest best friends and live happily ever after.

That’s It

Not much more to say, I think what happened pretty much speaks for itself. A few stray observations.

  • Note how we have the pile of machine parts instead of the pile of corpses now. Oooh, how symbolic!
  • Karan continues to piss me off. I feel like the creators want me to like her, while all she’s done is hide and let other people solve her problems for her.
  • On the same thread, Yoming is dead. Bastard got what he deserved, wanting to make trouble. At least that’s what it seems like I’m supposed to think…
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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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