坂道のアポロン / マサト
Nothing too surprising this week. Space Brothers is becoming a bit better since they are finished with the more mundane astronaut test (for now), Apollon is continuously solid, made even better by connecting back jazz to the over plot, Mouretsu gave us a fine example of how to attack an opponent that seemed to be undefeatable at first, and worse of all, Upotte!! gave me a nasty aftertaste, with me reacting to it by dropping the show half way through it (since I dropped Upotte!!, there is one less possible points given to each remaining shows).
Sakamichi no Apollon - Episode 4 (14 points): As if the staff of Sakamichi no Apollon have read Aftershok entry about episode 3, jazz became much more prominent in this episode, riding side by side with the love triangle plot. The emotional aspect of the development in episode 3 was shown in greater detail in this episode with the effects it has on Kaoru during the practice. The idea of the rich (Kaoru) and the poor (Sentarou) was lighted viewed upon during this episode, showing how different, yet similar, their upbringings are. Along with their background, a bit about Sentarou’s reason for wearing the rosary was revealed. Lastly, the closeness that Karou and Sentarou has by the end of the episode can be seen in the live performance, where it was Kaoru pushing Sentarou (instead of Sentarou pushing Kaoru earlier) to play properly (though that friendship might be tested again later as it is hinted of the addition of another node in the relationship graph). Again, I shall point to Aftershok of Anime Instrumentality for a more in-depth view of the episode.
Fate/Zero – Episode 18 (13 points): I am pretty happy that my commentary landed on this week’s Anime Power Rankings, so I guess you can go there to read about my views on this episode…or I can regurgitate it…: While this episode of Fate/Zero is solid, it just doesn’t feel the same without ideologies being thrown around (as seen in the first half of the episode), especially this episode takes place after the defeat of Caster (14-15), the defeat of Lancer (16), and death of Tokiomi (17), all with huge amounts of different ideologies, personalities being mixed together. Hence, this is why I do think that the first part of episode 18 feels a sudden leap and at maybe even out of place. Yet, as I have said in APR, that thinking is just absurd, since the image in the first half of episode 18 is more close to what most of us experience than the whole freaking Holy Grail War (it is not like most of us are mages fighting to survive). This unease of the normality and hint of romance (Kenny has toward Shirley) help us to understand of how much Kiritsugu has departed from normality, and how he was cast into the world of mages and mage killings, all began by his dad’s research. Ya, Kiritsugu has some screws lost in his head when he decided to murder his dad, but comparing the past that he lived in and the hell that he went through in second half of episode 18 and onwards, you can’t really blame him for blaming his dad for messing up his life.
Mouretsu Pirates – Episode 18 (12 points): A course that I really liked last term is computer security (as you might have seen from my several more security related posts) and hence I will jump at anything that can be viewed a security-related way; this episode of Mouretsu is an example for this. With the Bentenmaru under attack from Jenny uncle’s ships, they decided to discuss various tactics that can force her uncle to be retreat. Knowing that the uncle himself cannot be easily exploited, they went after Jenny’s fiance, and finally, with the help with the original Bentenmaru crew, used solid proof detailing the shenanigans between the uncle and the fiance’s dad. So instead of trying to win hazardously, the utilized the Principle of Easiest Penetration, and found the easiest method to find dirt to force the uncle to retreat (or to nullify the marriage, so the pursue is useless). Then, the original Bentenmaru simply hacked into Hugh and Dolittle and found useful documents against Jenny’s uncle, again pointing to the importance of data security. Finally, during the raid, Bentenmaru broadcasted the raid live, hoping that when the proof were revealed, everyone can know, similar to how a whistleblower will leak some information through Wikileaks, hoping that the the target origination cannot deny or silence people from the information (since it is so readily available). All these good use of strategies just make me leap for joy. Chiaki going gun crazy this episode was pretty good also.
Smile Precure – Episode 14 (12 points): I liked both Kyoto episodes, with the previous episode focused on the failures of Miyuki and this episode focused more on the other four character, with Miyuki taking the back seat. This episode we see more of Nao more delicate sides (and her vast expressive expressions), with her not taking hunger that good, while we see Yayoi being all hyper thinking the whole trip as a RPG game, and they both shine in this episode. I also liked the contrast between Miyuki/Yayoi and Akane/Reika/Nao, where one team was actually enjoying the trip, while the other team was basically running all around trying to find the other two…Why you make them suffer so, Miyuki ;A; Lastly, the battle scene was pretty interesting, with Akane, Reika (almost out of character) and Nao flying around, ‘playing’ around with Akanbe. Again, refer to Baka Laureate for more about Smile Precure.
Space Brothers – Episode 5 (11 points): Finally we are done with the examination part, and Mutta gets to go to visit the Huston NASA Space Center to visit his brother. We see more the interaction between Mutta and his brother, and the personality of each and such. Nothing much is really happening, but it is good to visit the relationship between the two brothers.
Tsuritama - Episode 4 (10 points): I guess I’m finally warming up to this show. From seeing the APR results and seeing people talk about this show on Twitter, I know that a lot of people are liking this, but for the longest time, I’m just confused on how people find this so excellent. After reading a post from The Untold Story of Altair & Vega, and being more observant of the stuff talked about in the post, I guess I understand more of Tsuitama and both the relationship between the character and the character change (mostly of Yuki) that happened in the previous and this episode.
Nazo no Kanojo – Episode 5 (9 points): I think last week’s episode was kinda awkward, so it is good to go back the the more cutey, simple love between the two character for this week.
Hyouka - Episode 2 (8 points): As I have said from last week, I watch and enjoy this show is because Oreki’s personality. This episode, we see the disconnection that he has with the rest of the world around him, feeling how distant away he is from the three other characters while they were chatting; I would be lying if I said that never had the mentality of the world being distant and that I’m just observing it.This connection to my older self [mind you, I would like to think that I'm less distant from people nowadays] is just what make me want to watch Oreki more, and by extension, Hyouka. It seems that not only am I connecting to Oreki’s personality, but lostty of Anime Princess can also relate to Oreki.
For the rest: Jormongand (7), Eureka 7 AO, Sankarea (5), Zombie desu OTD, Accel World (4), Tasogare Otome x Amnesia (2), Saki Achiga (1), Medaka Box (0)
And least:
Upotte – Episode 5 (Dropped): This show thrives on moe and references to guns. So in episode 4, while the conflict between M16A4 and L85A1 was weird and made me close to dropping it (it is not moe anymore), I could have laughed it off by saying that M16A4 is the stereotypical American being all mean to others and to say it is a reference between the conflict between the real guns themselves. In comparison, I see no references to back up Sako’s sadistic personality other than the fact that she is based of AK’s as far as I can tell (which does not make sense either, since Gariru was normal). I stopped around the scene where Sako was repeatedly shooting Funco at close range.
