Fractale 06

Fractale,

This was certainly an improvement from the loincloth antics in the last episode… but still… what is the point of all these Clain is a pervert jokes? It wasn’t that funny the first time, it still isn’t funny the fiftieth time. Please come up with something else that’s supposed to be funny. More Nessa would be acceptable.

In this episode the world acquired a lot more depth and variety, as we meet another person like Clain who has a house and likes tinkering. We also saw some of the aftereffects of the Fractale system’s failures as refugees fled the area which lost its’ connection. It seems odd though that the temple wouldn’t have predicted this or reacted after the fact to move these people to a new area. It isn’t like the world is suffering from overpopulation… And everyone seems to have a mobile lifestyle anyway. Can’t they just drive their mobile homes somewhere else?

I was also wondering up to this episode why anyone had actually heard or cared about Lost Millennium since they seemed rather… incompetent. But it turns out there are other branches which are much more ruthless. This was definitely a nice touch and it seems like we’ll be seeing more of them.

 

Hourou Musuko 06

Hourou Musuko,

*** cute overload ***

As if Mako as Juliet and Chiba as Romeo isn’t enough, we get Ana and Maiko in beanies, everyone’s favorite older sister as a maid, male Yuki in a suit, Sasa as a knight, and friar Takatsuki. If there were such a thing as too much cuteness, then this episode would be it. The only one who wasn’t joining in on the fun for a change was, amazingly, Shuuichi.

A friar is fine too.

Aside from the overwhelming cuteness, the haunted house scene was particularly enjoyable. Haunted houses in anime culture festivals are part of the holy trinity along with ( maid/ neko / other) cafes and shows such as plays or bands, but really, why is everyone in anime who goes to a haunted house actually scared? Maybe I’ve just been going to the wrong haunted houses, but all the ones I’ve seen have been more or less exactly as the one from this episode was portrayed. The only people who scream are generally screaming only because they enjoy screaming. I have the same issue with tests of courage, where pairs go to a shrine and back – why are all anime characters afraid of the dark? This haunted house scene was quite refreshing in how it broke this stereotype.

Sir Sasa, commander of the broomstick battalion.

One of the best things about Hourou Musuko is how all of the characters are just so likable. They feel so authentically human. Even the characters which are kind of jerks or kind of annoying, such as Chiba and Momo, are understandable and sympathetic. Chiba’s friend from church has probably been portrayed the most negatively out of everyone so far in his extremely short screen time, but I’m already feeling sorry for him, even though he’s a jerk as well. I loved the brief scene from this episode where he yawned during the beginning of the play that everyone else was so passionate about. Who hasn’t been in those shoes before? The creators did an amazing job building such depth of character in everyone with such a miniscule amount of time.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica 08

Puella Shoujo Madoka Magica,



In which Sayaka turns to the dark side and Homura goes on a shooting spree.

As we head towards the climax the pace is picking up and the pieces of the mystery are beginning to fall into place. It seems that magical girls are indeed the material for witches, if not something worse, as Sayaka seems as if she may have skipped the familiar stage entirely and become much more powerful than your typical witch. Kyuubey is the “Incubator” of witches / magical girls as everyone’s been expecting for a while now.

The “Homura is a time traveller” theory turned out to be correct as well, although it doesn’t seem like Homura is Madoka herself as I had theorized. Madoka would definitely have cared about Sayaka more than herself. She’s probably someone we and Madoka haven’t met yet, since otherwise Madoka would recognize her. Another interesting possibility is that Homura could be Madoka and Sayaka’s mutual friend (Hitomi), although this would need to involve a large change in appearance.

Homura’s development (and Kyoko’s) took an excellent turn this episode in the scene where Homura tried to kill Sayaka. I (and most other people watching, I’m guessing) assumed that although Homura put on a tough act of not caring about magical girls (esp. Sayaka), she actually did care quite deeply. It’s kind of a rule that the quiet ones are generally not what they seem. So it was quite refreshing to see that Homura actually did mean what she said, and really could care less about Sayaka. Which is, unfortunately, why she’s done such a terrible job so far at preventing Madoka from becoming a magical girl.

Kyoko’s reaction in this scene was excellent as well – the roles ended up being completely reversed based on my initial impressions of the characters. I suppose the rule for this show is that the loud ones aren’t what they seem.

But by far the best scene of the episode was when Madoka was just on the verge of becoming a magical girl, only to be interrupted by a bullet storm from Homura. Kyuubey eating his own corpse was just the perfect icing on the cake!

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? 07

Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka,

In which Haruna gives a brief history of space and time, monsters are defeated with the power of ramen, and Ayumu gets married.

This show is definitely at its best when it doesn’t take itself too seriously and the creators just have fun. That episode with the whale was far and away the best so far, and this episode went more in that same vein of random ridiculousness than the plot-oriented episodes from the past few weeks.

The highlight for me was the Tanabata section of the episode, particularly Haruna’s explanation. Her math lesson was pretty good too, as was the Eu fantasy, as usual. Yuki’s ramen is awesome too. I’m not entirely sold on Yuki as a character yet though, there’s way too much blushing. And she seems really similar to Haruna for some reason – they both have childish tendencies and both seem to be of the smart idiot type (compare: Yuki’s explanation of her ramen and Haruna’s explanation of math). On the positive side, this will probably lead to some interesting arguments. I wasn’t initially  sold on Sera either, and the creators managed to turn into an interesting character, so hopefully my fears are unfounded and Yuki will turn out to be more unique in the coming episodes..

Onii-chan no Koto… 07

Onii-chan no Koto,

In which the A.G.E. goes on a shopping trip, followed by the usual suspects.

This episode entertained me much more than it should have. Shuusuke, Nao and Iroha’s characters are really getting stale at this point. Shuusuke hasn’t done anything recently aside from stare at black pantyhose and look pathetic, and Nao and Iroha haven’t done anything except stalk Shuusuke together. It’s pretty unbelievable that he hasn’t noticed them, but even more, it’s just so old. Can’t they do something else? Why don’t they have some other form of interaction with Shuusuke except stalking him from a distance? And why do Iroha and Nao get along now in the first place?

With that aside, this epsiode really focused on the other members of the A.G.E., and in this aspect it was entertaining. The president in particular has been a consistently enjoyable character. His revelation about his history with the cat was especially funny, as were the club member’s insinuations about each other.

Still, this show really needs to figure out what it wants to do with Nao and Iroha. They do have a lot of potential as characters (especially Nao), and it’s tough to see them completely wasted and relegated as stalkers who make the same jokes over and over again, either enjoying Shuusuke’s patheticness or fondling themselves.