Legend of the Legendary Heroes – 14

Episode 14 – A World where Nobody and Nothing is Lost  – 誰も、なにも失わない世界 (Dare mo, Nani mo Ushinawanai Sekai)

A decent junk of this episode was all flashbacks, which means that in a good portion of the episode nothing really plot related occurred. However, all the reused animation during the flashbacks is compensated for with all the new action scenes we get this episode, where Ferris and Ryner finally get a rematch with the pink haired siblings.

I hadn’t expected that both Sui and his sister, the pink haired siblings, were actually from Gastark. In other words, they are from the same country that the King from last episode is from. While the Gastark King was portrayed as a rather nice guy, with some good intentions, just seeing how Sui and his sister are allied with him really brings into question the Gastark King’s intentions.

Not like that’s much different than Sion employing Milan though, who has just as much ill intent as those two siblings do. It is kind of ironic how Ryner goes on about how he says he wouldn’t want to ally himself with the siblings, mainly because they kill people although “their king sounds like a swell guy”. Little does Ryner know that Sion is employing a similar method via Milan.

The fight between Ryner, Ferris, Sui, and Kuu was actually well choreographed, especially the teamwork between Ryner and Ferris. The battle was fun to watch, and seeing how Ferris and Ryner volleyed their attacks between each other to confuse Sui really showed how well coordinated they are. The creative use of Arua’s magical capabilities for to redirect Ryner’s spells, and enact some surprise attacks on Sui and Kuu, was pretty brilliant in terms of battle tactics, which made the fight much more enjoyable to watch.

Unexpectedly, though, the fight was cut rather short by the appearance of Milan, who managed to cut off Sui’s other arm. His presence was rather sudden, but it did provide enough of a distraction to allow Ferris to swiftly save the girl that was being held hostage. Seeing Ryner, Ferris, and Milan stand off against each other was rather interesting, considering how Milan now knows that Ryner and Ferris are from Roland.

Their encounter towards the end is pretty much foreshadowing more ominous events to come, and seeing Sion seemingly starting to show early signs of becoming more evil, should spice things up in the upcoming episodes. Seeing how Arua’s arc is over, I’m guessing that Arua will be entrusted to Milk-san and her underlings, though Sion’s presence in the next episode preview could be hinting at more intricate and complex plot developments.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.2/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Amagami SS Episode Airing Delayed

Unfortunately, it seems that TBS has postponed airing Amagami SS this week, pushing the airing of the next episode back one week to October 7th, 2010. In other words, there’s no Amagami episode airing this week.

Also, on a side note. Just a reminder, Shiki’s airing has been delayed until the start of the fall season, so there won’t be any Shiki posts until then.

Series Review – RIN ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~

Also known as Mnemosyne －ムネモシュネの娘たち(Munemoshune no Musumetachi), this six part OVA series was part of the 10th anniversary celebration for the AT-X channel a few years back. Knowing it aired on AT-X, it should have been pretty obvious that this show would be loaded with fanservice, but oh my, there was A LOT more fanservice oriented scenes than I had expected. At the same time, the contents to this OVA series are sometimes extremely disturbing. Warning for anybody that watches this series, Mnemosyne is DEFINITELY for older audiences only.

Surprisingly, though, the fanservice doesn’t completely detract from the original concept for this particular anime. If anything, it only added to the surprisingly unique premises and ideas explored in this series. Mnemosyne explores some very dark, and sometimes even brutal and cruel, ideas about how human society evolves and grows, all from the perspective of an immortal being.

Some of the strongest points to this series is most definitely the representations of norse mythology, and more importantly, how it is incorporated into the actual setting. Represented by the fabled Yggdrasil tree and the immortal beings that result from it, the incorporation of norse mythology to the story gives this show a very unique flair in terms of both direction and concepts. It is especially obvious to see when you contrast the unrealistic idea of immortals with the present day society they are immersed in. Seeing our main characters, as they are immortal, witness decades of evolution of human society and technology, really does help give Mnemosyne a very unique atmosphere. The delicate balance of mixing the supernatural with futuristic technology really helps create a dynamic setting that really makes you ponder about every aspect in this show.

That being said, the immortals themselves largely remain unchanged, which provides a huge contrast to the ever changing setting, where the settings of each episode often being decades apart from each other in terms of timeline. Yet at the same time, our main protagonists are aware of the fleeting and fragile lives of regular people, and treat that with both respect and dignity. The main characters themselves are more subtle at times, and were surprisngly well thought out in terms of personality.

The major issue with this show would include both the unnecessary fanservice (although at times it was essential), and the somewhat convoluted, odd plot.

This show is most certainly fanservice heavy, with a lot of lesbian sex scenes involving our main protagonists Rin and Mimi. As I mentioned earlier, this show is extremely fanservice heavy, with boobs and naked girls making a lot of appearances after the first episode. I will admit that I was completely taken by surprise by the heavy amounts of fanservice, as the first episode was extremely deceiving with it’s notable lack of fanservice. And seriously, at least half of the fanservice scenes in this show could have been cut out with no impact on the main story. On the other hand, though, the fanservice was never blatently stupid, and in numerous cases, did involve the main plot.

The plot of the line, in a nutshell, goes along the lines of “immortal girls who received the seed of immortality from the Yggdrasil tree is in a decades long struggle with angels and Apos”. The plot does sound odd, but at times it’s very well done. The story during the first one or two episodes really do help flesh out our main cast, but from there on out the story gets progressively more and more complex and convoluted. The story is actually pretty enjoyable to watch, but by the end of the OVA series most people will be like “lol…what just happened…?”

In the end, this series definitely isn’t for everybody. Mnemosyne is pretty much a horror anime with a lot of fanservice elements. This show is similar to other horror titles like Higurashi no Naku koro ni, Elfen lied, and horror-torture movies such as Saw and Hills have Eyes. If you can’t handle brutal scenes, this show is definitely one you should avoid. If you do watch this show, the story is rather decent, and the characters are well portrayed and developed.

Production Quality: 8.0/10

Characters: 8.0/10

Story/Setting: 8.0/10

Overall Score: 8.0/10

Nurarihyon no Mago – 12.5

Episode 13 – The Circumstances of Gyuuki’s rebellion – 牛鬼様謀反顚末 (Gyuuki Muhon Tenmatsu)

There’s not much to say at all for this episode, considering it was 100% recap. The episode pretty much just went over what’s happened in this show so far, so there’s no screenshots for this episode.

That being said, I’m disappointed that this show even had a recap episode, especially because of the slow pace this show is going at. So far this show has been building up and building up, but hasn’t really culminated in a good climax/conflict that’s really interesting. That being said, the next episode preview looks rather interesting, with a major battle between the main antagonists and the Nura Clan seemingly going to happen. I’m not guaranteeing anything, though, especially considering how this show tends to tease at something amazing, only for it to turn out more mediocre.

The main problem to this show would be it’s weak cast of characters, which are pretty underdeveloped and generic, and the speed at which the plot has been developing, which has been painfully slow. I’m actually debating on whether to drop this series for to free up some time for a new show this upcoming season.

If I really do, I’d be picking up a different show that airs on Mondays, which would either be Yosuga no Sora, Otome Youkai Zakuro, or Shinryaku Ika Musume.

Next Episode preview later in the post.

K-ON!! – 26 (Special 02)

Episode 26 (Special 02) – A Visit! – 「訪問！」 (Houmon!)

It’s another special episode of K-ON!! and probably the last one in the series. (If you exclude the Ura-ON!! series, that is.) At first, we get to learn how the blu-ray covers of K-ON!! (Vol. 2, Vol. 5, and Vol. 7) were made by the HTT members. Basically, it turns out that they were promotional photos for the club in the graduation album. (Also, we get learn about Yui’s obsession with a floating orange trick).

The main story in this episode is actually about a visit to Sawako-sensei’s home (she’s not at the school due to a mild cold), as Yui is not satisfied with her portrait (I think she still looks cute with that hairstyle, just as Sawa-chan stated) in the graduation album and wants to get permission from Sawa-chan to retake the photograph. Even though the girls did not initially want to disrupt Sawa-chan’s privacy, they had high hopes that Sawa-chan might have a hidden boyfriend and that she might be living in a death-metal-themed room. Well, it turns out there was none of the above things going on, and the girls were just happy with the fact that Sawa-chan looked better than they had expected.

Other than that, it felt like just another typical episode of K-ON, as it was peppered with amusing jokes and some nice and warm slice-of-life moments, such as the HTT members doing laundry and making dinner at their teacher’s house or Yui generously allowing Azusa to use the band-room with Ui and Jun for a music session. Anyways, the ending of this episode felt very much open-ended, and I think it was a sound decision from KyoAni since it was a special episode taking place chronologically between the graduation photo session and the graduation ceremony.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.3/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

K-ON!! Movie Announced

Surprise, surprise! This is Kyoani’s official announcement at the end of K-ON!!’s 26th episode. No other details available yet. Can’t say I’m exactly surprised by this announcement.

Series Review – Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin

Final Impressions

When I first started this series, it was primarily based on my impressions of the first episode, which had a great mix of comedy, suspense, and mystery. With our main characters Fumiaki and Maya, each flawed in their own charming way, I was actually looking forward to how their search for the Nostradamus key would turn out. Twelve episodes later, my impressions of the show have changed entirely (although, not exactly in a bad way, mind you). This show just had so many unexpected turns of events, coupled with some unnecessary fillers and a lot of rushed plot development, that resulted in a somewhat messy series in the end.

Production quality for this show didn’t strike me as particularly amazing, but nothing particularly bad either. There are those few moments where the animation is pretty awesome, but overall the series has been average in my opinion in terms of quality. I will admit, though, that Occult Gakuin’s production quality was pretty consistent for the entire series, which can’t be said of all anime series.

The most interesting part of this show had to be our main protagonists, Maya and Fumiaki. While it took a while for Fumiaki for to become a full blown part of the main cast in my eyes, Maya was a dynamic character from the beginning. Her can do attitude, coupled with her somewhat odd set of ideas and her past involving the occult, often resulted in some great moments in this show. I did mention this in one of my earlier posts, but Maya is probably the main reason why this show is so much more interesting than it otherwise would’ve been. Her personality is what gives this show more character, and at the same time, seeing her in the show makes it much more fun to watch. Her interactions with Fumiaki really shows how she’s a foil to Fumiaki; one who’s always moving forward, taking action, in contrast with Fumiaki’s tendency to just “go with the flow”. There was quite a bit of character development for Maya in this show, with several episodes all serving to give us more background and depth to Maya’s psyche.

Watching the characters develop in this show was definitely a major point in this episode, and although a little sudden or random at times, the characters were always interesting to watch. The same can’t be said for the plot to this show. The plot, at many times, felt extremely “off topic” in the sense that the plot often never touched upon the main conflicts outlined in the first two or so episodes. Just when you think Maya and Fumiaki would go out to search out the Nostradamus key that could potentially save the world, they ended up on some random side quest of sorts, solving a occult related incident with no progress made towards their main goal. Quite honestly, the stretch of episodes 4-10 or so could probably be considered filler episodes, with not much essential plot related elements in there. They were essential for Maya’s character development, though, so I’d still consider them important episodes. There are also a lot of plot developments that are inconsistent with conventional thought, or just outright absurd.

The setting itself was actually rather intriguing, only marred by a lackluster plot. The setting for this show, often exploring mythology and folklore from all over the world, portrayed a unique twist to each episode. This series did stay true to the “occult” in it’s title, and explored quite a bit of intriguing little ideas with regards to the setting. It really is a shame that the story was rather lackluster, otherwise this show could have turned out much much better.

This particular series turned out to be quite a intriguing little gem of a show; it has it’s moments of idiocy and logical pitfalls, yet at the same time, it fits with the characters of this series perfectly. This show at times is rather charming, with some fun to watch characters really being the highlight for this show. The show’s zany humor and odd plot twists are definitely not for those more serious about anime, but if you’re willing to just sit back and enjoy the show, Occult Gakuin turns out to be a rather fun watch.

Production Quality: 8.0/10

Characters: 8.5/10

Story/Setting: 7.0/10

Overall Score: 7.8/10

Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin – 13 (Final)

Episode 13 Final – MAYA’s BUNMEI – マヤの文明 (Maya no Bunmei)

If you thought that last week’s episode for this show would’ve been perfect for a last episode, think again. This episode was surprisingly good at bringing a closure to this quirky anime, even with some odd parts to this episode. The turn of events in this episode was rather clever, although at the same time pretty over the top absurd, but for some strange reason it just works out well in the end (at least, in my book it does). As last week’s installment of Occult Gakuin revealed to us at the end of the episode, with a scene of the future still in ruins, obviously something went wrong with regards to the Nostradamus key.

While all those in the future ponder as to why the future wasn’t fixed, Fumiaki and Maya begin preparing for Fumiaki’s return to the future. They discuss a few things regarding Fumiaki’s farewell speech to the student body, but as Fumiaki decides to leave the room, Maya unexpectedly reveals that she invited Fumiaki’s mother and his “younger self” to the academy during the farewell ceremony. Obviously, that means that Fumiaki would be able to meet his younger self and his mother.

Unfortunately, that is also exactly what the problem is; according to a revelation by the people from the future, Fumiaki meeting his younger self would cause a dimensional rift which the aliens could use to travel to Earth; in other words, Fumiaki IS the Nostradamus key. How very ironic that the very agent sent back to save the world is the reason why the world could be destroyed in the first place. The only reason why Maya’s picture of Mikaze with the cell phone turned out as it did is because Fumiaki was also in the picture. Kudos to A-1 Studios for such a clever little plot twist, which took me by a bit of surprise.

What’s weird about the whole situation is that, even though bringing Fumiaki back to the future would solve any potential problems, the people from the future actually let Fumiaki stay for a whopping two more days, which only could increase the chances of him meeting his younger self. It was pretty obvious that, after delaying Fumiaki’s departure, he would eventually run into his younger self some how. Younger Fumiaki’s wandering tendencies around the academy proved to be the flaw to Maya’s plan to keep the two separated from each other, with both Fumiakis running into each other on the school’s roof.

When all hell breaks loose, the aliens begin their ominous descent from the sky and Maya decides that the situation is hopeless, urging them to run away. Fumiaki actually mans up and steals the younger Fumiaki’s spoon bending powers, and somehow uses the powers to miraculously seal away the oncoming alien invasion in a blazing red light laser filled scene of glory. I’m still kind of dumbfounded at how completely unexpected, and ridiculous, the entire scene was. Even so, I actually found it a lot of fun to watch, and I personally thought it was a great way to end the story for Fumiaki the time agent.

The episode overall was pretty well paced for a final episode. It was more quiet than I had initially expected it to be, with lots of moments devoted to developing Fumiaki’s final moments with Maya, as well as giving us some closure to some of the main cast. The climax to this episode was animated in a very interesting way, although it was only a disappointing minute or two long. Nevertheless, I found the whole irony of the final conflict as a great addition to this episode, and the way in which this story ended (with Maya’s father in the future) was a nice way to wrap up everything.

The only thing I’m wondering about is how Maya is seemingly living in a house with Fumiaki’s surname, which is hinting at Maya living with (or perhaps even married? -.-;; ) Fumiaki in the future. Besides that though, a pretty well executed conclusion which somehow ended up much better than I had expected.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.6/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

「Index」x「Ore Imo」Ad Surfaces on Japanese Newspaper

There was a collaboration advertisement of 「Index」x「Ore Imo」on a recent Japanese Economy Newspaper with some words of encouragement for the viewers. It was a bit of surprise to me as the advertisement was published on a full page on one of the mainstream newspaper in Japan.

From the far left, the text reads as

Kirino Kousaka: “If you have a moment to feel depressed, try your best again. Cause it is your responsibility to change the current circumstances.”

-Rise up, Japanese Economy!-

Index: “You have the power to change the world’s conventional wisdom. So, let’s do our best.”

P.S: Man, the Japanese economy must be really struggling to put up these kinds of advertisements… -_-;;

Shiki – 11

Episode 11 – 「第悼と悲屠話」 (Dai Tou to Hito Wa)
“The ‘Lament and Slaughter’ Episode”

The direction of Shiki turns toward a more comical side as it introduces us a new character Ikumi, who is an old red-haired lady. Just like the other protagonists (i.e., Dr. Ozaki, Priest Muroi, and Natsuno), she also believes in the danger of Kirishiki family in the mansion, and actually comes pretty close to the truth. I’m not sure whether she really has some kind of spiritual power, but at least it seems like she has been some kind of miko (shrine maiden) for a long time.

After doing her own investigation in the village and going through some trouble, she finally manages to gather villagers to revolt(?) against the Kirishiki family on the hill. However, as she was unable to achieve anything significant, I have a strong feeling that she was designed as a disposable side character (kind of like Masao who has a similar-looking horse-face, though she isn’t as annoying as him) who will become one of those Shiki’s numerous victims.

She does play one important role of bringing Dr. Ozaki to the Kirishiki couple by persuading him to come with him, and even made him check the Kirishiki’s vital signs to see whether he is one of those “revived” ones from the village legend. However, after realizing that he has the same pulse and the body temperature as a normal person, Dr. Ozaki decides to play it safe and pretend as if Kirishiki has nothing to do with the series of deaths in the village.

Another important lesson we learn from this episode is the origin of the word “Shiki” from Muroi’s ficition, which is based on Abel and Cain from the Bible. It is an abbrevation of the word “Shikabane no Oni” or “corpse monster” in English. It was pretty interesting how Sunako accepts “Shiki” as the word describing herself and it looks like it will be used as a word describing the Kirishiki family, and probably also Tatsumi, as they didn’t seem to have an adequate word to describe themselves until this episode.

In the next episode, it looks like Ikumi will face an unfortunate fate and the show will probably start focusing on Natsumi and his friends as we did not see them for a single instance in this episode. It’s too bad I’ll have to wait almost another three weeks for the next episode, because I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. 😦

Overall Enjoyment: 4.3/5

Screenshots are later in the post.