Tag Archives: Sankarea

Weekly Musings – For the week ended June 10

Posted on by fnzna
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ワハハ的クルマ生活 / リチャード・クレイジーマン

I did skipped last week’s post, didn’t I? Aside from me being lazy, there wasn’t really much to write about for last week (for the week ended June 3), especially knowing how much more solid this week’s shows are. Sure, Space brothers was excellent since it dealt with the minor characters and looked at several of their reasons for joining the examination and the support that the family members had to the candidates, Fate Zero was also rather solid in preparing both the viewers and the remaining masters in the War for the final battle,  and… Tsuitama is Tsuitama. Nazo no Kanojo X was starting a weird path and I am starting to not like of how possessive Tsubaki is. Hyouka keeps on doing what it was doing from the very beginning, solving mysteries; while process of how they solved it is interesting, nothing else really stands out again. Sakamichi no Apollon is just more about the love drama. Finally, I wasn’t too thrilled of how last week of Smile Precure turned out, especially the ending, while it was a bit heart-breaking, it felt rushed and unnecessary since it was quickly solved (unless it will be used as a plot device latter on).

That being said, I am much more excited in talking about this week’s shows, since I have enjoyed a lot of them, especially the ones that haven’t been on my top half lately:

Fate/Zero – Episode 23 (14 points): Welp, having invested so much time in Type-Moon franchises, I guess I’m biased for Fate/Zero. Aside from the high production values of action scenes and seeing the different servants pull out their big guns, I really liked the contrast between the kingship of Rider, Saber and Archer. With Saber fighting the mad Lancelot, it causes Saber to question her kingship as it was questioned by the other two kings back in first season. Contrasting that with Rider, who pulled another Ionioi Hetairoi, showing how united and loyal his army is to him, but which ultimately lost to Archer, the lone king who just needed one friend, Enkidu. Lastly, while the scene where Rider was running forward to try to land a blow on Archer was a bit on the cheesy side, it was a good fight where it shows Rider’s spirit to struggle until to the very end. O and Kotomine was totally quoting from Psalm 23 in the end.

Natsuiro Kiseki – Episode 10 (13 points): I’m going to repeat what I have already said in Anime Power Rankings, but I’m surprised of how much I enjoyed this episode. After the two episodes of where the four girls went to where Saki will move to, we see an episode of them just chilling around and using the wishing stone for random crap. The twist in this episode is that they ended playing with time and managed to get their 4-years younger selves to time travel to present time. Hilarity ensures as the two groups meet each other, with the younger group antagonizing the older group. In the course of the episode, the girls finally remembered why they appeared in the mansion in the first place, their childhood memories, and later the older girls were able to help the younger ones from getting swept away from the storm. The intertwine of wishes (younger wished to go to 4 years later [which they were able to and listen to their older selves sing], while older wished to remember that day, which they did), the idea of going back in time to help yourselves, the idea of remembering your childhood memories, and the hilarity of the two groups’s interaction and the effect it had on them all makes it a rather heart-warming and fun episode to watch.

Smile Precure – Episode 19 (12 points): I think this might have been the first episode where the mood was heavy more often than cheerful, and man, it was nicely executed. First, this episode seems to be for Father’s Day, which they had to push it a week earlier since Smile Precure is not showing next Sunday (;A;). With the girls given an assignment to find the meaning of their name from their parents, it gave time to show a bit of personality of each Precure’s dad and by extension the family. We get to see Nao’s hardworking and kind dad, Reika’s wise grandpa and Akane’s simple (hot-blooded?) dad [and we didn't see Miyuki's dad]. For Yayoi, she had to slowly remember her memories she had with her deceased  dad, finally remembering what the name Yayoi meant for her dad, with Yayoi remembering tons of fatherly love her dad had for her along the way. Yayoi’s progress from depressed of her not remembering her dad right away to the warmth of knowing how much her dad loved her was critical to making this episode so touching. Ya, I guess my only complain was that there were some minor QUALITY animation here and there, o and that now that I have no excuse to not remember Father’s Day.

Saki: Achiga-hen – Episode of Side-A – Episode 8 (11 points): I like to play mahjong (I have way more experience in Hong-Kong style mahjong than in Japanese mahjong, so when you actually play against me  on Tenhou, and please do so, I’m rather weak), I also liked Saki, especially with how over the top the mahjong plays were. Saki Achiga is nothing compared to that, with the Achiga girls obviously weaker than all the main schools that were shown in Saki; the sisters with the special abilities also had major disadvantages that other players can and did take advantage of. Now, guess how happy I’m to see not only some of the old cast back, but to see how they, despite being 3 and 4th in Nagano, was able to trash and shock the Achiga girls with their more flashy style of playing. Aside from seeing that battle, we get to meet 5 new character which might or might not show up later (and from the short time of seeing them play, some seemed to have some kind of special abilities also). More minor stuff: Yuuki wearing a cape was the over the top stuff I like to see more, and Wahaha president Satomi HNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG, o man, she looks like a little kid, but she is driving that mini van, HNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG. O ya, next episode, we finally see how powerful Teru, Saki’s sister, is. In short, this episode was SUBARA DES.

Sakamichi no Apollon  - Episode 9 (10 points): Last episode was mediocre, but this episode was solid, mostly because we are finally seeing some resolution to the whole love polygon issue instead of being all emo and getting stuck. This added with the spectacular jazz session, in which Junichi and Sentarou just jam it out, expressing their raw emotion in music form, with Karou and the old man trying to follow them. This jam session was able to  rebuild Junichi and Sentarou broken relationship, just like how it rebuild Sentarou and Karou’s relationship, all to show the power of music. It didn’t get even higher was because for the first half of the show, they were stull mostly emo.

Tsuritama – Episode 9 (9 points): While the bunny suits used by the Duck orginzation was pretty funny, I guess what I really liked was how friendship/family was shown throughout this whole episode, of how Haru was willing to be hated so that everyone in Enoshima can be protected, of how after talking to grandma, Yuki was willing to go back to Enoshima for his friend, and how Akira is also trying his best to help Haru despite being enemies at first. Yet at the same time, the whole plot development just feels…weird.

Sankarea – Episode 10 (8 points): Episode 9 was really out of place, putting an episode independent to the main plot right after a cliffhanger. So after one week of being frustrated with Sankarea, we are finally back on the main plot, where Chihiro was kidnapped into the Sanka house. Yet, before we actually get to see the confrontation  of Chihiro and Rea’s dad, we were given background history about Aria Sanka, Rea’s mom and Rea’s dad. While it mostly gave us background to Aria and may have cause some of the viewers to sympathize with her,  showed how Rea’s dad was raised, of how every maid’s goal was to get him to pick her for wife, most without any concern for him personally. It also showed the devotion he had for Rea’s mom, even though she was still really young [she was 15 while he was already in university] (warning warning, danger danger). In the end, while it might not make us sympathize with him, it was able to give basis of why he was so overprotective of Sanka Rea.

Space Brothers – Episode 10 (7 points): Did I seriously just watched an episode of the cast just being on a bus for most of the time. D: And some of the new character were kind of annoying.

Others:

Mouretsu Pirates – Episode 23 (6 points)

Jormongand – Episode 9 (5 points)

Hyouka – Episode 7 (4 points)

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? of the Dead – Episode 10 (3 points)

Nazo no Kanojo X – Episode 10 (2 points)

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia – Episode 9 (1 points)

Eureka Seven: AO – Episode 9 (0 points)

Weekly Musings – For the week ended May 28

Posted on by fnzna
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主食は紫陽(ry / クラソラ

They say good thing comes in pairs (Wikipedia). This saying is especially true for this week: not only did I get the chance to go to Anime North and see Twitter friends in real life, this week’s anime were generally excellent, with some series that were doing not that great for the previous weeks displaying their best episode this week. While it is all joyful, it is a bit troubling also, since I was not able to see some of those good episode before I had to hand in my ballot for Anime Power Rankings for this week because of Anime North, which in turn made me overrate some shows while completely leaving some really good episode off the ballot. I doubt that it will change the result that much, but it is still a bummer to see you not actually voting what you actually think is the best. (FYI, I voted Apollon, Space Bros, Natsuiro Kiseki, Tsuritama, Hyouka for APR)

Fate/Zero – Episode 21 (14 points): The week’s Fate/Zero can be divided into two main parts, the first part being the confrontation and battle between Rider and Saber. While the main battle only lasted a short time, a lot more time were spent on the race between Rider and Saber. The idea of the race itself was an interesting idea, since by definition Rider must be excellent in races, and because of Saber’s special ability of riding, she is also quite equipped for races, and putting the two for a race around the roads with different types of mounts (horse chariots vs motorcycles) is just an obvious but awesome idea. Aside from the idea, the execution of the race was fluid, all to remind us of how excellent ufotable is at making such animations. The second part….O DANG YOU GEN, how much more despair must you put into your characters. As if making Kariya take Sakura’s magic wasn’t suffering enough, now he must face anger and rejection from the one that he loved and did all to help. Ya, the second part of the episode was quite haunting, especially Kariya’s speech… Lastly, it is really embarrassing, but it seems that I was totally off in my conclusion in my previous Weekly Musings, at least it is good to see that Rider is still true to his beliefs, but it is also true that the toll from the previous battle have caused him to be more reserved.

Sakamichi no Apollon  - Episode 7 (13 points): After few episodes of mediocre jazz-lacking episode, we are finally given a powerful and touching episode between Kaoru and Sentarou. Yea while the first part is more of the romance drama, which I don’t enjoy a whole lot, there is always this issue with the strained friendship between the two, something which I like more. Then finally, coming in full conclusion, the two finally overcame the wall with music, complete with Ritsuko commenting on it and tearing up. The scene where the whole school running to the gym to listen to the two is a nice addition, but really it is the ability to finally incorporate jazz so deeply into this episode’s plot that I have finally put this episode back so high.

Nazo no Kanojo  X – Episode 8 (11 points): Aside from the difference between male and female in relationships, this episode shows the similarities of responses between the couple, with Tsubaki tearing up as he understand the texture of Urabe’s oppai’s and then with Urabe tearing up when Tsubaki starts licking her ears. By the end of the episode, we can conclude that both are akin to tears of happiness, but it is interesting to see how with the similar responses the other partner can interpret it so differently. In this episode we also see Urabe starting to experience and get confused by physical pleasures, to the more intimate levels of relationships. Also, seeing Oka fogging up her glasses because of the strong emotions she received from Urabe’s saliva is pure gold. Lastly, the music continues to do a great job in adding the whole mystery feel in the idea of dating and knowing your partner.

Smile Precure – Episode 17 (11 points): The rumored 6th Precure has appeared, and his name is Cure Gorilla. O man, that comedy duo, I don’t care if they are actually based on a real comedy duo or not, but they are pretty jokes. Yes, with Kansai-ben and comedy, this is another Akane episode, and man does Akane shine (ahahaha) during the battle this time. To be honest, I was a bit tired out by how active they were in the beginning, but that was made better by the good amount of jokes in this episode. I lost Yayoi in jankenpon but that’s OK, since Akane is the star this episode, and surprisingly, I enjoyed on how well Reika played the confused tsukkomi here. Yet, the best scene is still the ‘transformation’ scene of Cure Gorilla.

Space Brothers – Episode 8 (10 points):  With Mutta knowing his results and going back to Japan, it concludes what was discussed for the last two weeks. Aside from the potential cliffhanger from the end, there wasn’t really anything special or anything that stands out. It is still a steady solid show, taking time to develop the plot slowly, sadly making it less interesting than some of this week’s shows.

Natsuiro Kiseki – Episode 8 (9 points): With the four going on a trip to where Saki will move to after the summer, the show again does not shy away from the issues of coping with the moving of a close friend and more so, Saki’s unwillingness to voice her opinions in this whole issue. While it is still fun and games as the four enjoy of what it might be the last trip the four has together, a big focus was on Saki unease of going to the island, and her personality of just “going with the flow”. O ya, since friendship is a major plot in this show, I’m continuing liking this; too bad this week was ruined a bit by QUALITY animation.

Sankarea – Episode 8 (8 points): As much as I don’t like Rea’s father, I do think the presence of her father and the issues that arises from her father is much more interesting to look at than just a love triangle between Rea, Chihiro and Wanko. It is interesting when you compare Chihiro and Rea’s father (I think I have talked about this already), but in this episode in particular, Chihiro was fixated on filming Rea for observational purposes, while as we can recall, Rea’s father did something similar to Rea at her birthday, all to ‘measure her growth’. While it is argueable both are filming her for observational purposes, we see two completely different responses from Rea, one of embarrassment and another of disgust. Obviously, Chihiro is doing so out of care and want to know more about her so he can help preserve her better (as his responsibility), while her father is well….hmmm, to protect her from all traces of evil, and to preserve her innocence? This is why Sankarea is more interesting when Rea’s father is in it, since it compares the issue of love (Chihiro) and obsession (Rea’s father).

Others: Tsuritama (7), Hyouka (6), Saki Achiga (5), Mouretsu (4), Tasogare (3), Jormongand, Eureka AO (2), Zombie desu OTD (0)

What do you know, both Tsuritama and Hyouka didn’t even make the top 7 after all, sigh.

Horror Genre of Spring 2012

Posted on by fnzna
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I don’t like horror, I don’t like gore (I still haven’t watch Gyo), I don’t like how some of the characters are in horror genre shows, I also am not a big fan of the atmosphere found in horror genre. Hence, I usually won’t go out my way to watch anything that is categorized as horror, even if it is anime. For example, I dropped Another by the end of episode 2 because of the atmosphere, the characters being really boring (comeon, can’t someone at least smile once), and the overall creepy feel to the whole show. Even if Another was a good show I don’t think I will watch it, I just don’t like this kind of shows. Well, guess what, in a decision to force myself to watch more shows for the Spring 2012 season, I picked up two horror shows, which both are still interesting enough for me to continue after the third or fourth episode.

Sankarea

HNNNNNNGGGGGGGG (episode 4)

So Studio DEEN can make good shows apparently. When I was looking at the posters for upcoming shows for Spring 2012, I shortlisted Sankarea precisely because Sanka Rea looks like Saten Ruiko and nothing more, but was hesitant since it is by Studio DEEN and has ecchi listed as one of the genre. After people praising this show, I picked it up and was myself surprised what was in store for Sankarea. While this show does have a bit of supernatural and undead as a major part of the story, it seems to be merely used to talk about more heavy issues. The initial spark of the story, the Chihiro’s desire to resurrect his cat, touches on the issue of coping with the death of a family member. While for Sankarea, her situation heavily describes a broken family and a victim of sexual harassment by her dad. Aside from the heavy topics talked, I really liked the contrast between the male and female leads. We see that the Chihiro has a normal, uneventful but close family, while Sanka Rea has a rich but dysfunctional family (where there is no emotional closeness to each other excluding Rea’s dad to Rea). For Chihiro, while having an affinity for zombies, his act to resurrect his cat was not because of his desire to see an undead cat, but to return the natural days where the cat is a part of the family, and hence he longs for the past where the cat was still alive. For Sankarea, her death means the freedom from her father’s control and abuse, hence she long for death. This contrast between the background and the intensions of the two leads was well played. And man, the animation is pretty too.

It is a pity that episode 4 was pretty high in the fanservice department, please let this be an exception instead of the norm.

Tasogare Otome x Amnesia

When I listen Choir Jail, I'm reminded of Umineko ED and Ali Project (opening)

Now this plays straight to the whole feel of a horror show: a constantly dark animation, the characters as a part of the Paranormal Investigations Club, deals with ghost and horror stories. The only problem is that the ghost itself, who has amnesia, gets jealous, and interacts normally with the other characters, and hence livens up the whole mood of the show. Yes, the show does contain some Yuuko fanservice, but it is used in a way that a bit of importance to the plot (not that I don’t have an issue with that). Episode 1 was a good idea, to compare how someone who can’t see Yuuko would have seen the sequence (Momoe) and someone who could see Yuuko (Teiichi), but wasn’t too interesting. For episode 2 and 3 we were shown the idea of how Yuuko would manifest herself to the viewer according to how the viewer knows of her. Not only was this a good idea to see the relationships that the three character has to Yuuko, but I’m sure hidden somewhere would be some kind of social commentary on how we see others based on what we know of them already, even if what we know of them might not be true. Add that with the idea of how others and knowledge can shift your view of Yuuko (episode 3), Tasogare is an appealing show that I will continue to watch.