C³: Seeing Similarities

Currently finished: Episode 8

It may strike many as an odd connection, but the format and underlying plot of C³ 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.

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...

[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?!

UN-GO: Copycat! Copycat!

Currently finished: Episode 3

The first episode it wasn't very clear, but the next two episodes clearly indicated that this is literally a complete copy of the concept of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro: this supernatural creature is attached to the main character of the story who likes to solve puzzle. Seriously, they didn't even bother to try to make it look different aside from using a different background. Very unoriginal. My only hope at this moment is the story would creatively make use of its background to come up with something a bit more original...

Mawaru Pengiundrum: ...

Currently finished: Episode 15

A little late, but I caught up to episode 15. All I want to say is

[Dropped] Maken-Ki: Tasteless, Tasteless, Tasteless

Finished: Episode 3

This, is just plain tasteless. It's at par with High School of the Dead on the level of tastelessly inappropriate insertion of fan service. The worst of all, unlike series such as Aika R-16, or Seikon no Qwaser, where fan service actually adds amusement value, it's so poorly done here, instead of making it more amusing to watch, it disrupts the flow of the story and all you see a bags of meat swinging all over the place. I can't image anybody other than a horny 12-year old (or somebody who's mentally a horny 12-year old) would like this. Terrible.

Final Score: 33

Chihayafuru: Not Selling Short

Currently finished: Episode 3

In a comment danchou posted earlier in response to my initial impression on Chihayafuru, he called me "selling this series short" because I only initial scored it a 79. I did so because for the most part, it reminded me too much of a typical sports anime opening episode without much indication on whether it's going to branch out. But after the two follow-up episodes, I realized it's not really going down the sports anime's route, rather, a side drama route much like Shion no Ou (which by the way is one great anime about shougi) where the main theme is merely the glue to tie the drama together.

So, if it pleases you, danchou, yes, you are right, I was "selling it short" when based on only one episode. The follow up episodes have changed my opinions significantly. As it is right now, I would give it a

Second look score: 87

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: The Usual Twist

Currently finished: Episode 3

Like Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, in my opinion this series goes slightly too heavy on the fan service side, I think mostly has something to do with the original art works the story is based upon. But, unlike other fan service heavy series such as High School of the Dead, the fan service here doesn't really feel out of place. On top of that, they're really careful about only making it "heavy" without crossing the line over to the side of "excessive". That, is something I could appreciate.

Towards the end of the episode 3, it threw out a little twist that I didn't see it coming, which in my opinion is going to make this story much more interesting than it originally presented itself to be. But, if you think about it, this is really one of the most commonly used plot device for connecting certain people within a story. But even so, it still creates a very interesting situation that future plot could build upon.

Guilty Crown: Exciting, But...

Currently finished: Episode 2

The opening episode is interesting, this second episode is exciting. However, there are some symptoms showed up here in the second episode that concerns me a bit: the lack of originality. Beyond all the excitement in mecha fighting and laser shooting, it felt like a clone of Code Geass to the very tiny details. I think it's gonna be really difficult for most people to overlook that given the high profile status of Code Geass. At this point, I can only hope they'll do something drastic to detach themselves from it.

On a side note, if you haven't noticed, as far as voice goes, Tsugumi

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[Movie] Karigurashi no Arrietty

This is the latest film produced by studio Ghibli. It's a very pretty, very very pretty looking movie. It has the usual Ghibli touchs including the emotion swings and the blatant undertone about the environments.

It's quite enjoyable. But, that's about it. 

Personally, I was never a big fan of studio Ghibli's film. Reason being that even though each of them comes with a somewhat different theme, they more or less all have the same core. Basically, if you have seen one, you more or less have seen them all. Sure they're all pretty (and getting prettier dare I say) and got all the sad moments designed to make you cry and all, but, that's about all there is to it. They just don't seem to have much of anything beyond that. I have never come out of a studio Ghibli movie feeling "Wow, that was something!". As good as they all looked, there's just never a long lasting impression. It's like they have one deck of cards with movie elements, and every time they're trying to make a new movie, they simply shuffle them all and read them off to create a plot flow.

Anyway, Karigurashi no Arrietty is a good and interesting movie, but it's far from a great movie. If you want to see a pretty movie, it definitely won't disappoint you. But if you want to see something great, well, I think it falls quite a bit short.

Evil Cat's Score: 81