Sunday, November 20, 2011

C³: Seeing Similarities


Currently finished: Episode 8

It may strike many as an odd connection, but the format and underlying plot of reminds me somewhat of Dantalian no Shoka, or rather, what Dantalian no Shoka could have been. I admit this claim sounds a bit outrageous, but let me explain a little.

While the presentations are vastly different, both stories revolve around a character (Dalian and Fear) that has some sort of special abilities where they would encounter strange things that their ability become handy. Even though they are usually in human form, both of them are inherently different than the normal human being, and usually accompanied by their human companion in most situations. Furthermore, the events in the stories mostly involve people that have similar abilities and most likely are enemies of the protagonist.

Yes, it is a bit stretch, but watching the recent episodes really got me thinking about it.

UN-GO: Compounding


Currently finished: Episode 6

The early episodes of UN-GO was interesting. But I wouldn't consider it as a "great" series, mostly because there has just been case after case and not much of continuities to speak of. The latest episode, however, has shown that the past seemingly unrelated episodes are actually building blocks for a bigger plot. All elements from past episodes has compounded to form a bigger core. On top of that, the end of this episode may have just revealed the beginning of the grand plot. So if for any reason you thought UN-GO didn't live up to your expectation, don't let it go just yet, it is definitely heading for the right direction.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam: Old Friends


Currently finished: Episode 4

It's kind of nice to see some familiar faces to show up in the new series. But, did Dio and Tatiana just not recognize each other or are they for some reason purposefully ignoring each other? I guess we'll eventually find out...

Sunday, November 6, 2011

[Movie] Macross Frontier: Sayonara no Tsubasa


Disappointing. If you ask me to give you a one word impression about this second Macross Frontier movie, that's what I'll give you.

If all you're looking for some big CG flashes and bangs accompanies by pop musical, then you won't be disappointed, because there are plenty of that. However, if you're looking for anything beyond that, unfortunately, there isn't much. Simply put, while the first movie is somewhat acceptable as a story that went a bit too far towards the end, this second movie, not only did it not try to pull it back to make it a bit more sensible, it built upon it and went straight land of ludicrousness. The story went from silly to idiotic to outright insane in no time. It got so ridiculously ludicrous that it's not even laughable any more.

Like most theatrical anime release, the plot of the story has been re-written and re-arranged so it's not just a shortened version of TV series. But just as most TV to Movie anime, the shortened time frame restricts character development, especially for a project scale as big as this one. Even with almost 2 hours run time, many part of the plot still felt rushed to make time for lengthy space combat and musicals. In my opinion, it is totally worth spending the time to watch the original Macross Frontier TV series rather than watching this shorten version.

Score: 71

On a side note, I mentioned in my post about the previous movie that they literally modeled Macross Frontier City after San Francisco. In this episode, we see that not only they have the famous landmarks such as Lombard street and Golden Gate Bridge, they even modeled an Alcatraz!

Guilty Crown: Laughable Screen Writing


Currently finished: Episode 4

The art works are pretty, the fights are exciting, and the BGM is right on cue as well. But one thing it lacks is a good screen writing. Not to mention the idiotic choice certain person has been making, in the latest episode, "if you can't make up you mind, then put your trust in me", that ought to be one of the worst line I've heard given the situation it was spoken in. Seriously, couldn't they have come up with better line than that?!