Tag: Animini

Animini: That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime – Episode 22 – Conquering the Labyrinth

Sweet island guests, today’s Animi cocktail will be served in a slightly cracked coconut. It will have a few bitter tones but overall will provide a sweet experience.  My Arceus , how annoying are the female Demon Lords in this show!  If I ever get reincarnated into THAT world please let me be a rope so I can strangle them!  That being said Slime offered a fairly okay episode again this week! While not great it is certainly nowhere near as shiit(ake-soy-sauce )  as the last arc.

The Summary

Despite Shizu suffering quite a bit due to being inhabited by a superior spirit , Rimuru still things this is the best way to let these kids live longer so he travels with them to the maze that holds the Spirit Queen, to find spirits he can put inside his class, she can help him summon. When the group enters the maze they are prepared for a maze-like place filled with traps. It turns out to be a straight hallway that is heavily enchanted, maybe they will end up wandering forever. Suddenly a voice begins echoing and laughing in their head, saying they are going to die here and trying to invoke fear. It works pretty well on Chloe, but the rest of the kids doesn’t seem all that scared, much to the chagrin of the voice.  Rimuru tells  what they are here to do and the voice chuckles thinking that sounds fun.  Suddenly the  ruins light up and a kind of portal appears.. well more like a Bifrost.. but either way Rimuru and his kids are invited to a new location! There the voice will give them a test! A fight against a pink mecha thing! YAY Pink represent!

Rimuru decides to talk the spirit out of it saying if the voice doesn’t make the Golem back down he will be forced to destroy it.. the spirit doesn’t believe he can do it and makes the Golem trying to kill Rimuru , who promptly ensnares and torches my beautiful new pink friend! It was great to have you here while it lasted, Golem-Chan! Rimuru then threatens to burn down the entity in their heads as well. A pixie shows up! She tells everyone she is Demon Lord Ramiris and she is like Milim..on caffeine pills. By all means just like with Milm she should be a character I really love but she mostly got on my nerves. Rimuru thinks she is too weak to be a demon lord but after she reveals Milim visited her fellow Demon Lord to tell about her new bestie Rimuru opens up to the idea. She is a lot wiser and has more support like abilities that might make her amazing after all. A lot of talking happens and she is bribed with a lot of cookies.  Since it is revealed Ramiris is also the Queen of spirits.. and like 20 other things.. (kind of like Denny was in Game of Thrones)  she tells Rimuru she is a neutral being and she will help him summon spirits to save the kids.  Which functions kind of weirdly but we are left with the children preparing for the ritual.

The Positives

The fact that the pink Golem was one of my highlights kind of shows quite well where I am in terms of liking this episode. I liked it fine.. but the element that got me most excited was that the creator coloured in something pink! I guess it works with Ramiris personality well.  But still I was most excited about a visual choice and a one minute encounter.  That being said on the design front this episode was truly excellent. I do very much like Ramiris design, she is cute but dark enough looking to indeed sell that she is a “fallen” queen.  Her personality is similar enough for me to believe she is friends with Milim and that Milim would come brag to her as I can easily imagine them being friendly but also have a fair bit of rivalry.  The magic maze , while not a maze was designed pretty nicely and I liked the idea of Rimuru exploring a dungeon  for once. Of course the colourful pixies floating around helped as well.  Design wise great episode.

I also like , in theory , how flawed these Demon Lords are,  it makes it feel an achievable status for pretty much everyone, making me believe that Rimuru at one point will get it.. probably because one of them will stupid enough to attack and end up being absorbed.  It leaves the path of progress open for Rimuru as I really feel that to progress beyond his current limitations he will probably need to absorb a Demon Lord.   Like I said in earlier reviews I am kind of unhappy that they tossed in so many creatures more powerful than Rimuru if there are no consequences to this. I am happy if you do it and there are consequences but if nothing bad happens anyway you might as well just keep him powerful, now it just feels like the plot is treading water.. but people like Ramiris show me.. there is hope for Rimuru to evolve. One will mess up and further the plot.. eventually.  I am also quite curious to see what kind of spirit these children will get so at least I am excited for this , semi final ish episode coming up. (As far as I know the other two episodes are set in a time before Rimuru) 

The Negatives

This isn’t a very strong episode for me however. The plot stalls several times. My biggest gripe is that they do the whole Charybdis thing again.. the Golem is said to be super powerful and that it might kill Rimuru if he fails to dodge.. he dodges twice.. then pretty much One Shots the thing again.  I am fine with him One shotting the thing.. but if we first get an explanation on how dangerous this thing is and how most of Rimuru’s magic won’t be effective , you start to expect a real fight but no.. he just kills it in one hit. I still do not mind the kill but I just feel the warnings before have become wasted. There is no need to think about how to defeat a monster if you already know! It is just bad writing to draw out an episode or a manga page. I don’t like it. It happens several times as well, Rimuru explains how hard this place will be to navigate… they get invited to progress immediately, Ramiris explains it is hard to summon a spirit, if they fail they will just create a new spirit they can use. So much safety nets that contradict earlier dialogue, making a lot of the text empty.

I have not made it a secret that I do not particularly enjoy Milim, while I do feel her personality was a bit much, she at least had the oomph to back it up.. she was just used very wrong.  Ramiris is even more annoying. There is this “Boy Who Cried Wolf” element to her that once again makes all her dialogue feel a bit “filler”  I am not even sure she is actually a Demon Lord. She shows up in the intro as her own separate presence. I just find her quite unpleasant to be around with or something! Not sure the character just doesn’t really work for me!  I like her level of peppiness.. but the whole punch throwing thing has been done since Scrappy Doo.. in fact he is a perfect analogy for her and there are a lot of people who do not like Scrappy Doo! Ramiris kind of annoyed me more! Like the Scrappy Doo , from the Third Scooby Doo movie in which he becomes the villain!  Just no!

The Score

Overall I am left with a mediocre episode that is in between Fine-Apple and Okiwi to me.
I did enjoy the Pink Golem a lot, and it is a beautiful episode to watch. It is nice to see some more classical fantasy elements such as dungeons exploring pop up more , at least on the main cast.   We have mostly seen action on a large scale. For a series that references Dragon Quest so much, it felt more like Slime, Total War or Slime Fantasy Tactics than as Slime Quest to me. While I do like the village growth it is quite good to see an adventure like this happen as well and it nails the location and the looks pretty much on the head. Definitely  this is one of the prettier episodes to watch!  Battles overall do look pretty in this show even though they are quite short and this one is no exception! Great choreography as well! 

However, everything that happens feels rather hollow and I do not blame the action, I blame the poor set up.. it feels extremely contradictory for me. “This Enemy is really strong” ..Oneshot. “This maze is super dangerous”….. “Please follow the shiny lights to get to the next area where your test will begin”. It’s like looking forward to a bag of crisps, what is in there is pretty good.. but once you open it and realise that half of the bag is filled with air you also kinda feel scammed. The annoying Fairy doesn’t do this episode any favours either.  While I do like her design and I would not mind her having this personality as much if she was the only one to have it, her being basically a copy of Milim but smart instead of strong..  makes her feel more throwaway and annoying. In fact it is because of the fact that she brings so little new to the table I will say this episode is not good enough to be fine-apple!

Animini: Digimon Adventure – Episode 16 – The Jet-Black Shadow Invades Tokyo

Greetings my sweet Island Guests, the animini cocktail shot we will serve you today is two parts delusion, a dash of Groundhog day with a healthy splash of epic reunions. A strong episode of a strong series so far, yet the taste is a bit washed out by using some tropes a bit too much! Luckily the Dr Strange like action made up for a lot. 

The Summary

At the end of the last episode we saw Taichi’s group traverse a tunnel and end up in what seemed to be Tokyo and that is where this episode picks up.  The kids are back in Tokyo but things seem strange, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of the blackout and the kids cell phone will not connect. Excited however to be in the real world again the kids decide to visit their homes for a bit. Mimi being the most excited, wanting a shower and some change of clothes as well as going to a luxurious burger restaurant to have an Avocado Cheeseburger. Since Mimi lives in Shibuya the group has to split up! On the subway to their home though Koshiro and Taichi begin to feel worse. Why isn’t anyone talking about the blackout , why do they ignore the digimon with them? Things seem wrong. They are so locked into thought that they miss the next station they visit, Shibuya station.  The station they just traveled from. Meanwhile Mimi can’t seem to find the exit of the subway station and keeps ending up at the same map,  when she sees a Jack’s Burgers restaurant in the station. When the server glitches out , Mimi is pretty sure something is wrong.

The boys finally discover their train is looping as well and they get out. They find themselves in seemingly shrinking station loops happening more frequently. Relying on Greymon the group manages to collapse some of the area they are in and get out.  While it still looks like Tokyo the presence of a Digimon, who is scattered all around makes them realise they are still in the Digital world. A champion level Digimon called Eyesmon has copied it and can use it as his weapons to fight the Chosen ones. He proves to be such a formidable foe that even in their ultimate forms the digimon of our three heroes do not stand a chance. Just when  Eyesmon hurls three oil tankers at Metalgreymon, Lillymon and Atlurkabuterimon, they are held at bay by Garduamon, Zudomon comes in carrying Weregarurumon and destroys the tankers. Now united all the six chosen ones fight against a monster who can literally toss skyscrapers in their path. This champion level digimon has absorbed so much data it became this powerful. With a combined team attack they do manage to quell the danger. When the kids notice the blackout in Tokyo is still happening we see a few parts of eyesmon that did not get destroyed connect together again and it seems to digivolve into Orichimon.

The Positives

I love Mimi so much in this show! Her and Palmon’s interactions are hilarious! In this episode she also takes a starring role for me. The petty quest for an Avocado Cheeseburger is not something she gives up! No .. she let’s that desire empower her!   Seeing Palmon and herself in danger , she swears to Palmon she will take her to the real world so they can enjoy a burger together.  Giving her the strength to fight back!  Koshiro and Taichi are also  handled very well in this episode.  Taichi is becoming more of a leader noticing things are wrong in his gut, while Koshiro feels something wrong through contradictions seeing the world should not be like this.  When in trouble Taichi’s resolution is to power through and that is seen in this episode very nicely! I really love how the children are being handled here. Kari has a little cameo here which makes me wonder if she will come to the digital world. Takeru is shown with Palmon in the outro so I am pretty sure he is coming but Kari remains a bit of a mystery.. which I like!

The music and the battle here steal the spotlight in this episode. It is really great to see the group together again and see them combine their powers.  With Eyesmon shaping and twisting the city around them it is a very interesting fight as well. Metalgreymon crashes into a building so when Atlurkabuterimon leaps over the next he finds out there is a subway on top.. Lillymon gets struck by a plane.  Eventually the fight ends in complete surrealism where the city is formed into a sphere around the hero monsters. The music to accompany this all is great and it is done perfectly. It also works as a nice summary to see what everyone can do, and we see exactly how small Lillymon is next to all the other Ultimate digimon because there are a lot of great shows that offer us perspective! I do like these visual little things and it is one of the best fights yet! So on the action and personal front it was a great episode.

The Negatives

The scenario though is very bland, an illusion that keeps looping itself and where there is no escape. Star Trek Holodeck much?!  This thing has been pretty much done to death and this episode doesn’t really do anything new with it. The worst thing it does is forcing characters to be dumber than they are. I praised this show throughout for clever conflict set-up. What the characters did they were forced to do for valid reasons, here not so much.  Koshiro would never board that train without asking people about the blackout.. but no of course they have to seperate from Mimi first so questions aren’t asked until Mimi ate her burger so they could sneak in a creepy visual and get the more satisfying reaction.  I am fine with how Mimi is portrayed except that I would think she would notice her phone is dead too.. she probably would not take a subway back but ask to be picked up..if she needs that change of clothes so much. Maybe she grew who knows.. but it does feel like characters make more leaps to fit the story.

Furthermore I do think if you are going to use a location that loops, use something is a bit more visually impressive than a subway station. It does work better because everything looks alike .. but we are forced to believe this sequence of events based on a similar map on the wall. I assume a subway station has more maps. Why would they be able to travel to Shibuya but not from it.. why would the evil digimon know they are heading to Shibuya. There are several things off with the story here and while it isn’t anything horrible the show has shown it can set up conflict so much better. While the fight is very epic,  the escalation to it was very lackluster to me. It just isn’t executed well at all.

The Score

I was doubting between an Okiwi and a Fineapple here and I decided to settle on the latter. Yes it has a lot of sloppy writing, forced conflict  and even the rare character contradictions and it seriously insults the intelligence of any of the chosen ones.  Mimi doesn’t notice a Burger Restaurant just magically appears?! Okay she was hungry before.. but after she just shrugs it off.  No it isn’t nearly as well written and clever as most of the other episodes, while I think a Champion being this powerful is cool and needed to set up for Devimon later on .. it also kind of shows that you made a mistake and had to write an out!  It does show.  Yet it all feels slightly more irrelevant to me this time around because I still had so much fun.

The moments the characters DO act in character are strong, the action is sublime and the music is timed very well.  The Dr Strange like citybending and the weird eye filled version of Tokyo gave everything such an unique vibe as well. Kind of like those areas in the first three Digimon episodes that I loved  so much. I may not be convinced that this is how this scenario would play out had everything prior actually happened but I was super entertained. Like a toddler clapping at tv for seeing a fun colour combination they do not understand properly. I felt that kidlike joy that I also felt when watching the series when I was an actual kid. That in itself is also worth something I’d say. So while it is one of the dumbest episodes so far. The fact that I remember more cool scenes than poorly written episodes from anime in general makes me rule that this episode is quite alright.

Animini: Cowboy Bebop – Episode 6 – Sympathy for the Devil

Greetings my Dear Island Guests, today’s first content cocktail contains a lot of preservatives as we look at those who do not age!  These are served in a somewhat darker cocktail. Packed with both sweet and bitter flavours. This cocktail is best when you drink it at our poolside on a moonlit night! The episode in question is strong in atmosphere but doesn’t have the kick some of the others had so far! So let’s take a sip and enjoy our content cocktail.

The Summary

A nightmare , of what seems visions of the past,  place Spike on an operating table! It isn’t a very hygenic operating room because I am pretty sure I saw fish float with the organs.. or they put a tube with live fish between it.. which is just plain weird.. message received either way… these are probably not good guy doctors.  When Spike wakes up he is in a blues bar. A kid is playing Harmonica on stage, it almost seems as if he is cosplaying Lupin the Third.  The bar is seedy and smokey and just the perfect amount of grime! Yet then a horrible crime happens! Faye , who is back at the Bebop, is rifling through the fridge to find it empty, showing the group is still out of money.. The only thing in the fridge is dog food for Ein, who happily barks to receive this blessing!  Then Faye eats herself! She tells Ein to work for his food and looks at a bounty..pondering if she can make the guys get that money for her!  Faye loses lots of points from me.

Back in the bar Jet has joined Spike! It seems they are indeed after that Bounty… a man nicknamed Giraffe , he doesn’t have a long neck so it is quite random.   Another Bounty Hunter named Fatty River (yes I remember these types of names) , who IS fat is one the case as well. Leaving Spike to deal with Giraffe.  Giraffe is following the kid and some wheelchair bloke. Spike decides to pursue them in his fighter. Yet when he gets to the hotel they were heading , Giraffe ends up falling through a window with a huge gunshot wound. While Spike catches him.. he can’t prevent him from falling, the man dies anyway but not before handing Spike a ring and telling him to not be fooled by his looks and to protect him.

Having failed yet another Bounty Spike and Jet decide to do some more investigation into this. Apparently  the wheel chaired man is called Zebra.. they were partners in leading a group of raiders. While on a terf dispute.. things went awry and Zebra was said to have betrayed Giraffe. Thus him wanting revenge.  This happened ten years ago.. but when Zebra showed up again he was wheelchair bound and with this harmonica kid. When looking for info about the kid, Jet finds him in a 30 year old magazine. Spike follows them after a new concert and discovers the boy named Wen is actually well over 50 years old. Something in his body got changed when something called “The Astral Gate” accident happened. An event that seems to have devastated earth. The Astral gate blew up the moon and high powered meteors showered the earth charing Wen’s mother and father.. but their corpses shielded him from dying.

Now he is completely immortal.. even gunshots do not kill him, so Spike is out of his league. In a chase Wen dumps Zebra on him..showing the man to be in a completely catatonic state.  He is hooked up to a machine that can read his memories and we see Giraffe was trying to save his friend from Wen..instead of getting revenge. The ring is deduced to be a meteorite piece and with it..Wen can be killed..or so they theorise. A Bullet is made and Spike chases Wen into the desert by blowing up his taxi! The boy is completely unharmed. Spike uses the special bullet after being shot at a few times and shoots the boy in the head. The boy  rapidly ages (way more than 50 years)  and dies. Spike tosses his Harmonica and yells BANG.

The Positives

I have very mixed feelings about this episode,  which makes sense, coming after the incredible 5th episode. Self contained this episode was pretty great. There was a neat little mystery to unpack in the form of what’s going on. The Whole Zebra , Giraffe, Wen situation is pretty interesting.  Though somewhat obvious as well. It might be me.. but when I see a kid with raven black hair, cold eyes playing a Harmonica in a smoked up blues Café.. at the skill level he does…  you know he is evil. Blues should only be played if you have a pained heart and have experienced something..and he did. Yet that does show the power of this shows music. Regardless of the obviousness it was a pretty sweet little adventure to see unfold. I was fooled into believing Giraffe was just working with Wen so finding out he is basically a vegetable to be used as a doll to make the boy have a parent so he can get into places sounds quite cruel and exactly the type of stuff I want to see in Cowboy Bebop. Atmosphere 10/10.

I also liked the idea of the Astral Gate accident. Telling us what happened to earth by making it relevant to the plot is one of the better ways you can do exposition. The incident seems pretty gruesome and it opens up possibilities for some interesting effects. I really digged how gruesome it was depicted with Wen popping up on a devastated earth by having his fathers charred corpse on top of him. It shows both love and sorrow and makes the situation quite real. A parent would probably shield their kid, even though I would use kids as a shield, such trauma would cause the boy to go pretty bonkers.  I get where his Blues capabilities come from. It also gives so much flavour to earth!  Which I assume is mostly desolated.  I am not sure I have seen it yet.. I don’t think so.. but then we saw a lot of desert so maybe one of those. Unsure! Regardless, a very cool world event and credits for the amazing world building yet again. It makes sense that people would fan out after such an event resulting in this more nomadic and .. settlement based,  living style we see in Bebop. Pinkie is impressed.

The Negatives

That is also why this episode annoyed me quite a bit.  This show is great at it’s writing but Wen I found a pretty terrible character. Sure he is a pained “antagonist” of the episode.   But he acts as if he is hundreds of years old. In the end when he says “I can finally die” .. he is only like 60-ish.  Maybe late 50’s or early 60’s.  He lost his parents sure.. but so did many people seemingly.   He doesn’t seem to be off THAT bad that he has this deep desire to die at age 60 to me.  The heck is going on! It really confused me a lot.  Maybe being an 8 or 10 year old or whatever he is forever makes things annoying but I am just not buying he is this tired of life already. Even if he was , it made no sense to kill Giraffe who had the ring, let him kill you with it then?! I might have missed something here but Wen did not make sense to me at all.  The way he mummified at the end.. that’s not what a 60 year old looks like!! It seemed like they forgot just how old he was and just made him like 300 or something. I really did not believe the character.. I believed his music.. but something felt really off for me.

For some reason I also could not escape the idea that this episode was solely created to tell the story of the Astral Gate Incident. As much as I love this way of exposition I really got a feeling this episode happened for expositions sake. As if one episode later will be set on the moon or a destroyed earth and you need to tell us why it is in the state it is. I can’t fully explain it but this episode felt a bit cheap to me.  Giraffe and Zebra really felt throwaway.  The other bounties so far at least had connections to bigger gangs, or organisations this one feels so “random”.  Besides Giraffe , Zebra and Wen there is nothing behind it.. or at least we don’t get to see it at all. While Giraffe trying to get Zebra back is charming to see we never had any memories of how the two were buddies so his good guy act did not have THAT much impact either.  I love myself a good Bromance.. but when we have to assume Bromance solely on the line “give him back” it lacks that spark! I wasn’t even in a sour mood or something when I watched this episode.. I felt it was good on some levels but it just felt as SUCH an empty episode to me. I felt nothing for the trio this episode was about.

The Score

That is why I score this episode , just an Okiwi. I liked the elements in there and for the series a lot of cool things were established. I loved the music, I loved the lore but as an episode this did absolutely nothing for me. I wasn’t bored , I wasn’t THAT annoyed I just experienced nothing.  I saw some cool sets.. I do liked the headshot.. and the Bang in the end was enough to kind of make me smile but in comparison to all the other episodes this wasn’t it! It is weird though because I don’t think of this show any less. Normally I wonder stuff like.. could I be falling out of love with this show.. is this a turning point for me.. No.. this episode literally did that much of nothing for me. 

Had they just have Wen be dead by the headshot.. had he shown an intention to die or  something to make this tale feel more consistent this would probably be up there with my favourite episodes so far. I could just not get over that thing that I feel like he was overly aged.  Maybe because I watch so many vampire shows. 50 years feels so little. Heck even in anime we have seen so much older girls and boys who don’t complain about being 60. I just did not resonate with Wen.. . I did not understand him at all and it completely tanked this episode for me! Luckily.. I am pretty sure.. he is dead!

Animini: Natsume Book of Friends – Episode 6 – The Sparrow at the Bottom of the Lake

Sobby and Sniffly Salutations my Island Guests! Natsume let me feel stuff again! I kind of cried for a character I saw in a single episode again! Well not really cried but I was misty eyed nonetheless. This might be the first thing I am not giving a perfect score despite making me cry! It came very close.. but it just missed out! In this blog I will discuss the 6th episode of Natsume Book of Friends.

The Summary

Natsume and his friends, I think,  are taking a bike tour when they come across a “drowned” village.  A village that got flooded and abandoned by building a dam. Of course Natsume sees a present but his friends, I think,  do not.  The addition to the “i think” comes from  the fact that I don’t really know anything about them. They are always around him and interact with Natsume regularly but he doesn’t really seem to hang out with them.. except for this time. I assume they are friends but they also could be a study group or something!  Regardless, Natsume sees something.. it fades.. then with a whoosh of wind he is knocked out. He wakes up at home, the doctor tells he has a heat stroke but we soon find out he is possessed. He finds this out by returning the names of a few Yokai who dwell in the drowned city. In return for helping him they give him a magic mirror that allows him to discover the possession. Nyanko pushes off the spirit and as it leaps for Natsume.. Donned in a Swallow mask, Natsume punches it. The mask breaks and it is revealed a girl wearing an eye veil is underneath..with pure intentions.

She wants to see someone again, for one final time before her spiritual energy grows too weak and she fades away. This is her dream and Natsume takes a liking to her and decides to help Madara/Nyanko’s Chagrin. His “friends” help him get an address for this man and while Natsume and the girl yokai go look for the man they begin to bond a bit. Natsume learns this girl named Tsubame (meaning Swallow)  was once a Baby Swallow who fell out of the nest.  A kind human put her back in the nest…but since it now was tainted with human scent the parents abandon the nest and Tsubame cries for food..while seeing her brothers and sister starve.  Blaming herself the resentment caused her to transform into what she calls a demon. This demon hid from the world.. but a kind man kept feeding her every day.. this is the man she wants to meet again. She does.. and while waving at him happily and talking to him he ignores her.. unable to see her. Tsubame says she is super glad she got to do this but it is not enough for Natsume.. he wants her to actually talk to the man. To help her he attends a festival  of Yokai .. led by the guy who gave him the magic mirror earlier.   The Yokai can win a Yukata that allows them to appear as humans for a day. Even though the spirit plans to eat Natsume he is determined to compete and win for Tsubame’s sake.  With the help of Madara he does so. He gives Tsubame the yukata and says his goodbye.. never seeing her again. A few days later he asks the man if he ever saw Tsubame and the man shows him a picture of them attending a festival together. Natsume sobs a bit.. glad his new friend got what she wished for and looked happy..but also clearly sad he will never see her again.

The Positives

I loved Tsubame myself.. and the last line.. to think that she is gone already made me super sad.  She is voice acted great and drawn great and written great. You just start to care for her. When Natsume tells she is slowly losing strength I genuinely was genuinely worried for her.  The way she waves to that person that is so important to her.. telling him all sorts of things with a smile on her face while clearly she must know he can not hear her really pulled my heartstrings!  It is also good to see Natsume form an actual bond for once. This is not an act of convenience,  or because it is right or because he wants to figure out more about his grandma.. no Natsume has taken a shine to this “person” and enjoyed her company and spirit and wishes to see things end well for. Much like with the tiny guardian. I found myself quite infatuated with this swallow girl and her story.. despite being quite generic and birdlike made me look at it from the fletchling perspective. Poor little birds slowly starving. The idea of seeing your brothers and sisters get abandoned because you messed up.. and got greeted with an act of kindness.. it really worked for me and became something bigger.

I also like the idea of Natsume acting with the spirit world a lot. He punches the spirit, he races against them,  he gets a magical item from their world and uses it to further his agenda.. (though selfless). It makes the world of Yokai a lot bigger  than just the names in the book. Where I compared  it with an inverse Pokemon after the first episode I now realise that analysis is incorrect because these Yokai are much more people with their own little world for us to understand. Their own bonds, their own emotions and now even their own items and culture! Do take note though that I like the idea.. not the way it is executed, more on that in a little bit. The series is working towards expanding its possibilities and does so early on so it can not fall into a hole and I really like that. The hug Natsume got also feels like the first reward he really got.. it might seem tiny.. but it is something and I really needed to see that.

The Negatives

Had this episode only featured Tsubame I would have easily given this my highest rating yet! I really love that character A LOT more than I should do for a one episode character. The other Yokai in this episode though.. are a problem. They aren’t bad persé.. but it is like  putting Merryl Streep in a movie with Tyler Perry or with Will Arnett.  You know the latter two will be completely blown away by the former. The tournament host and magic mirror guy feels a bit forced.. he transforms into the same type of demon Madara is and they scuffle for a bit but it isn’t that interesting. It feels a bit soap-opera-like .. exposition needed to tell the real tale. I like the Kimono as a magic item, the race kind of feels forced however.  There is a Kimono stuck in a tree and all Yokai must race there without using their Yokai powers.  Natsume goes undercover but has too short legs  to win.. it all feels a bit nothingy.. while I do get we see Madara start to care for Natsume here.. I feel this could have been done in a much more interesting way.

The race also offers another problem, the plot feels a tad messy. This is in part due to the fact that Natsume has to attend a Festival one day, so Tsubame can attend another. Kind of like forcing Cinderella to win a dance-off to win tickets for the ball. I didn’t really like that structure. Also how did Natsume know where the other guy is while he was out racing Yokai, I doubt he could track the guy during all that. It just felt really weird and awkward to me. The other spirit is just so weakly written. I give you a peek in this magic mirror. .. which turns out just the thing to start the plot. He is an engine and not a very well written one and it takes some serious shine out of an otherwise amazing episode.

The Score

I loved half of this episode and I truly mean loved!  Man if I ever become a mother I am gonna starve all my kids hopefully the last survivor will be as great as Tsubame. It is great to see a more alive and emotional Natsume, even though seeing him cry made me get some tissues.  I love how this show can invoke those feelings and this is the third time it did.  It did it in a much more raw way then episode 2 and 4 as well …  jeez even numbered episodes rule in this series so far.   Had this episode been pure between Natsume and the little Swallow I would have had my new favourite episode of the show. The good in this episode isn’t just good!  It really is amazing.

Unfortunately the rest of this episode kind of feels half baked. The rest of what we see is not that much more than exposition or plot convenience.  I am super happy they chose to keep these events separate from Tsubame but in a way that also makes it worse.. you know.. as if they are aware of the fact that this part of content isn’t as good.  The pacing in the Tsubame bits is great and I LOVE the idea of Natsume never seeing her again.. and being insecure ..but so curious he talks to a stranger, which seems very against character.. it shows how much he cares.  Yet the pacing with the other spirit is quite poor. The race had no Oomph what so ever and even Nyanko/Madara’s decision to help Natsume was overshadowed by its “let’s get this over with.. we have a better story to tell” pacing. It’s like having a delicious meatball and some vegetables but not really a way to call it a dish so you pour on some water and some noodles and call it ramen.  The meatball is still exceptional but now that is part of a dish it will only be described as good.

Animini: Hikaru no Go – Episode 26 – Welcome to the A-League

Screwed Tightly Salutations, my dear Island Guests.  The series of Hikaru no Go has been impressing me a lot lately, with only some minor complaints. Having such a run has the effect of increased expectations and while I still really enjoyed the episode this week , this episode kind of fell victim to the heightened bar , sort of speak. It’s one of those episodes you watch with a smile.. but when people ask you have to admit, I’ve seen better.

The Summary

Wakajishisen is drawing closer.. and might I add.. that’s a pretty difficult thing to write.. so from here on I shall call it the Tournament against the Pro players….probably.   To reach this Hikaru has to reach 16th seat in A-Class. Luckily for Hikaru the episode starts off with him holding a sheet to Waya showing he has been promoted to A-Class. Seemingly kind of to the chagrin of Waya..who still thinks the bottom of A-Class is too low. Isumi corrects him and is more supportive of Hikaru. That boy that randomly shows up, I now know is named Fuku is being loud while Hikaru only sees the positive. When you expect him to first experience a few losses in A-class like happend to him in B-Class you’d be wrong. We see Hikaru win his first match. This match is against a spectacled kid who really thinks long about his moves, taking Hikaru out of his game a bit.  In the end though we see the more impulsive and instinctive Hikaru is still able to pull out the win. His second match is against Fuku.. who is almost a mirror of Hikaru’s playstyle. The two are having a lot of fun together but Hikaru does manage to pull out the win.

We then move a bit of exposition and revisiting the past. While talking about great players Waya brings up Sai, how he met a player online and how he believes it was a person in school. We briefly go over the important victories of the Internet-Go arc but from Waya’s perspective Hikaru begins to find out who faced Sai in online matches. Waya is Hikaru’s third match in A-league and the talk about internet go continues. In his enthusiasm Hikaru blurts out he knows Waya’s internet handle.. making Waya think Hikaru might be Sai.. he actually figures out the truth that Sai is most likely Hikaru’s teacher as he can sense the essence of Sai in Hikaru’s moves but more unrefined. The blonde player lies though and makes up a story of having been in the internet café and just happening to see the message and Waya drops it for now.. he also drops his guard and loses his game. Hikaru also wins his fourth match… and none after that. However Hikaru did perform well enough to qualify for the tournament.. in the bottom slot again.  A group of Waya, Isumi, Ginger Weevil Underwood, Pink Cardigan Girl and Drawns-as-if-he-isn’t important guy join Hikaru in a Mc-Donals like Restaurant where they discuss the tournament.  We end with Ogata antagonising Akira a bit and in the final scene we see Tsutsui and Kaga leave school. Akiri cries and shakes his hand and Hikaru says his goodbyes to the two being wished success as an Insei.

The Positives

Yet again this show does a great job at showing Hikaru’s progress in a fairly organic way. His strength can be measured, yet we also establish more flaws for him to overcome. We see him being an impatient player still, so even if it is not shown, we know he is prone to make mistakes. We also see he can get quite easily distracted. In Waya’s match he has trouble keeping his head in the game.. though his opponent is met with similar conditions.  In a way this establishes the sense that Hikaru hasn’t stopped growing yet and it is not his classmates who stand in his way, but mostly himself. He remains kind of sloppy and unfocussed yet has this great “hunch”.  In other words we really see his innate ability as a Go-Player and not so much the experienced Go-Player. Last week we kind of saw that experience being tackled to take the new step. So in a way we really quite literally see Hikaru climb a stair. He moves up one foot, his innate talent, but can not go further unless he addresses his experience, we see him improve that and now we have to see him feed that flame from within yet again. I really like this way of handling things. It makes things so much more… real.

I am also happy we at least got to see a bit of Tsutsui and Kaga again, it will probably be the last.. and it did not end satisfyingly.. but the chapter feels closed for me now at least. Yet again it also serves as a very subtle reminder to tell us what time of year it is with the terms of school coming to close. This means that about two months have passed since Touya’s match against Oza. It helps put Hikaru’s growth in perspective but also makes it seem fast. We just have such a great sense of how the overall story progresses I am really impressed. This is also reflected in how his class treats him. While we have only seen a few matches the group really treats him quite familiarly. Pink Cardigan girl (I do not know her name at all)  and Isumi are some of the best examples.  We did not see that much interactions before..  yet now they all hang out together. It is something not a lot of anime do.. bonds happen on screen only which causes the show to trip up! Hikaru no Go however is super consistent and feels almost as if someone is retelling their experience through anime…. minus the ghost part.

The Negatives

That being said however, I did not nearly enjoy this episode as much as some of the previous ones. While the world pacing is nice.. I feel the episode pasing is a bit wonky.  It’s just match after match after match and instead of learning something Hikaru coasts through this on sheer talent. That once again is great in the sense of the series.. but as an episode  it isn’t that particularly interesting. These matches are a bit more empty.. there is no gain from it other than getting Hikaru to Wakajishisen.  We do not really get to see Waya’s playstyle. It’s nice that we see Fuku being more established but Glasses guy.. and “looking at a victory sheet nervously guy”  I have not seen before.. they feel more empty so a part of the episode feels “hollow”. We see Hikaru take a couple of losses through a stylised bit (and I do like the visual)  but I would have liked it if we had skipped “looking at Hikaru’s victory sheet Nervously guy” just seeing Hikaru mention getting that win and then show him taking an L against Pink Cardigan girl or even better Isumi. Both have been shown more before and it would have offered more weight.

I am also not sure how I feel about Hikaru just being promoted to A class from the start. I think I would have preferred to see another episode. Perhaps one that is more focussed around the inevitable goodbye of Tsutsui and Kaga, while Hikaru is fighting the top members of B class. This would fix two issues. The way Tsutsui got kicked to the curb (and to a lesser extent Kaga) and the empty matches.  There would be more at stake.  At the very least the episode could have been  a bit more about the goodbye. A lot of the exposition about “Sai”  was not needed. We get told something we have experienced already. I get these two characters don’t know stuff from each other but it really lingers on this talk. We as the viewer KNOW this stuff so I feel it could have been shortened with a bit more focus on new stuff. Now the weight of the episode lies in something we already knew and that feels a bit like a shame given that some other characters really deserved that screen time.

The Score

In no way this is a bad episode, it is just an episode that I think had it’s priorities wrong.  It feels almost as if I skipped an episode as the build up to this could be a bit more dramatic and now felt.. slightly unearned. The pass towards the next episode IS earned .. that doesn’t help but feel like we skipped a step.  I would have preferred to see Hikaru win against Waya in a more proper match… I am all for him winning against Fuku but for Waya I feel like Hikaru should have used “something” .. like playing fast to disrupt Waya.. he had enough info to do so .. it feels right that he won.. but it also feels a bit empty because I do not think it was handled quite right.

That being said it was a strong episode with lots of subtle implications, and that as a piece of the puzzle is a lot stronger than it is as a single episode.  The fact that Hikaru’s growth is tiered is delightful to see and that several factors contribute to that growth more than I could have wished for.  I can only applaud the show for being so consistent in it’s world building… if anything I had trouble with the “scene choice”  Within that timeframe I would have picked a few different ones.. but in the end the tale that this episode tries to tell is quite enjoyable. I do have to judge this episode on it’s own merits though and for that.. given what has been done before is just not AS good. It’s a fine episode but that is where it ends for me.

Animini: Revolutionary Girl Utena – Episode 3 – On the Night of the Ball

Steampunk themed greetings are hard everyone! So let’s just say Hello today! Hello! The first episode of Revolutionary Girl made me question if this would be a show for me. The second episode of Revolutionary Girl convinced me that it would be a great show!  THIS episode of Revolutionary girl … made me feel both. There was so much of this episode that I love, yet I also found myself not being particularly invested. Will I continue watching this show?! Let’s find it by breaking down this episode.

The Summary

This is the first episode that dives a bit deeper in the social culture of the school! The theme is friendship. Utena wants Anthy to make some friends, who dismisses her claims of not having friends by saying she has Chuchu! Which Utena acknowledges but she adds a but everytime she does. Also showing Chuchu’s silly antics. Utena wants to make Anthy a bit less uptight and tells her to drop the honorifics around her! Unfortunately this fails to leave an when the entire school uses those same honorifics. Anthy tells her she has to because she is her bride. Utena doesn’t agree with that and says she might dress like a boy.. she still wants to find a regular boy. Really Utena?!  This for me feels odd, given how interested she was in Anthy in the first part and her self claimed mission is to be a prince that saves a princess. Before I had a bit of a role reversal fairy tale vibe and this moment really brings us back to the classical moment. Especially since she seems kind of, but not really ,  interested in Student Council President Touga Kiriyuu. Him having a ring really surprises her and makes her think he is her prince. Didn’t the green haired guy already tell her this?! Doesn’t he need a ring to enter that dueling grounds.. so would it not be clear there are more rings?!  Am I missing something here?! Why would she be into the kind of flattery he provides?! She snaps herself out of it to keep her image.. but it feels like she could go for this guy!

The second half of the episode starts with the introduction of Nanami , Touga’s sister.   She saves Anthy from being bullied, she informs the woman that she has been nominated for queen of the ball. Now I should probably think the student council and the battle of the rose has anything to do with it.. but there was only one word that popped up in my mind. Carry! Anthy will be bullied at the ball. I just knew it and after a lot of social debate whether she should go or not, that hinged on if Utena would come along in her Frilly dress or not  that’s exactly what happened. WHile Utena is distracted by Touga it is revealed that Nanami is jealous of Anthy as her brother keeps talking about the Rose Bride.. and she wants to embarrass her. So she gave the woman a dress that dissolves when it gets wet and spills champagne all over Anthy. Seeing her friend in trouble, Utena tosses off her dress revealing her male uniform beneath it. She struts to a now naked and embarrassed Anthy and pulls a tablecloth spilling all the punch and snacks!  She puts the table cloth over Anthy which becomes a pretty white dress! Together they dance and give Anthy a bit of a nicer social evening, while Touga gushes over Utena , Nanami will exact revenge upon her.

The Positives

There was a lot to like about this episode! Utena being forced in a dress is the first time we see the character really outside the comfort zone. She has always stayed quite composed  even when it was announced Anthy is now her fiancée .  She just ignores it and cool headedly walks on. However walking around in a cute pink frizzy dress sends her over the edge a bit. We also see her a bit embarrassed by all the flattery of the girls earlier, so it is quite nice that for once we don’t just see “powerchick” Utena. Her concern for Anthy’s lack of a social life is nice as well but it would be more compelling if we see Utena do fun stuff with her friends before. Now we mostly see her classmate and friend bother her a bit and nearly kill her  by jumping on her back while Utena is looking at Bishounen Men!  Still quite cute and it makes her such a good guy character.  I also really like how she still refuses to play by the rules of some silly game, even if everyone else takes it super seriously. She lacks the context so she doesn’t believe in it.  The mystery of the rose ring is kind of being made more compelling as well now.. though I really think she should have noticed the ring on the green haired guy as well! From a narrative stance I also like Nanami as a rival of sorts. The game of the rose kind of made this a bit tricky before, as everyone just plays so neatly by the rules there was no sense of a threat. While petty pranks might not be severe it at least adds some tension!

What I like best is the second half of the episode!  It’s great to see this type of show deviate early from the “monster of the week” format. It could have been easily done that Utena just has to fight duel after duel and I had come to expect that and this episode shows me, it doesn’t do that. There are some heavy cinderella vibes in here as well and I really like fairy tales mixing with anime! This episode really warmed my heart.. mostly. Utena just doing right, the cute dance scene. Even that weird Black Butler like.. voila.. this table cloth is now a dress , thing.  I really dig it and enjoy myself just watching stuff unfold!  A lot of stuff happening is really pleasing to me! I am enjoying myself.. yet I do not find myself as captivated as with other shows still.

The Negatives

I oftenly measure how good I think an episode is based on the number of times I made a screenshot! I do that as I watch I just capture the screen a few times. The less I do this the more engaged I am.. sometimes resulting in the relatively bad screenshots! As I have little to work with! Utena however I consistently have lots of screenshots for and the reason is .. I am not THAT engaged.  I am having fun.. but I am not sucked in. The feeling stems from what I feel like is a bit of an inconsistent main character.  The first episode I could have sworn Utena was all over Anthy.. now she almost takes a motherly role, while in the second she takes a shine to Chuchu more then to Anthy..but Chuchu sleeps with Utena?!  She wants to find a boy despite her mission of being a prince ? She also wants to find her prince?!  THat is not really what the opening narrative told us.  I get why.. because the prince depicted in the story is clearly related in some shape or form to Anthy.. having the same skin tone and almost the same hair… but this is why I do not believe this curveball works! At all!

When I compare this to Cowboy Bebop which I will classify as Timeless, Utena has a much more 90’s feeling into it! While seemingly having a progressive message, I find the story telling to be less careful. A dress that dissolves when wet?! I have never encountered such a thing .. I am sure it exists but would you not feel something being off with the fabric.   While I get why Utena thinks Anthy has friends, why does Anthy blindly trust in the legitimacy of this?! Touga’s design seems quite Pegasus like (the yugioh guy)  it might be because of his mysterious council and the dark music that plays around him but I can NOT see him as a viable partner for Utena..all the warning flags are up that he will not be a good partner for her. If it turns out he is good and being her partner I will stand corrected.. but it feels so telegraphed that it’s not.. so I am not invested in that fake out! One again this show is very obvious and I am not sure if that is my thing.

The Score

On the one hand I got a delightfully entertaining episode that on it’s own kept me quite entertained. Without having seen the opening, without having heard the villainous music that plays when he is sitting with his council members, without his fairly evil-like design I might be into this more. If the show is teaching me not to judge a book by it’s cover by baiting me into believing he is a bad guy…credits to them! It is working! So maybe this is really good..  The story beats this episodes follow on it’s own are great and the Ballroom dance was quite touching! I was happy to see Anthy smile like that and to have fun with Utena at the prom! I even liked the introduction of Nanami.. it prevents the show from becoming mostly a “boys versus girls” type of show. I also like the Oujousama type and she seems like she just might be one!  I am curious to find out what happens with her.

Yet I can not shake this feeling the show isn’t doing enough to keep me pulled in. I feel adrift , not knowing what to expect from Utena because I ‘ve seen three pretty different versions so far.  Some choices the show makes are seemingly too obvious! I might be deceived here.. but if I am not.. they are really not doing well on the subterfuge end. It’s like having Maine Qaraqtar as a lead.. and she has two options for love Rho Mance and  Red Harrington.  Then you ask your audience to be engaged with the “totally real” romance between Maine Qarqtar and Red Harrington!  Yeah Right! I just don’t believe it. Regardless of the show is fooling me or Failing to fool me, the fact that I don’t buy Touga x Utena knocks this episode down to just being fine.

Animini: Samurai Flamenco – Final Episode – Naked Samurai Flamenco!

Steam Salutations .. and this time the steam is from a little bit of an unexpected ending! For a moment there my face went red as we concluded Samurai Flamenco. Last episode I was super hopeful.. the week before that I felt utter despair. I felt episode 18 was the perfect ending to a show.. and in a way it was.. but the ending in episode 22 is a lot more satisfying. Though also a bit less perfect. Goodbye Samurai Flamenco.. let’s review you one last time!

The Summary

The episode begins with an origin story for Goto, which is not a good sign considering he just had a gun pointed at him and the trigger being pulled.  We see how he got his Girlfriends phone and slowly lost his mind trying to offer himself solace.  One message in particular highlighted the last message she truely sent him. In retrospect it is kind of weird that so many years have passed and no one notices how old of a flip phone he was using..and the fact that a telephone survived for that lone.. but oh well. The shot misses and we see Hajii reveal his real plan. He wants to transform Samurai Flamenco into a Dark Hero, by seeing his best friend kill his rival. Causing him trauma he can not forget.  So that means Goto has to kill Hajii to make this happen.. Hajii angers him by deleting all of Goto’s girlfriends messages including the final message she sent him.  This causes the poor man to properly lose his marbles and he swears to kill the young boy and then Masayoshi steps in.

Hajii tries to force him into his Samurai Flamenco costume but Masayoshi refuses.. he instead gets naked! Saying the two have to find love together and he will fight Hajii as Masayoshi not as Samurai Flamenco!  During their scuffle Goto gets the keys to his handcuffs and the gun and he wants to kill Hajii but Masayoshi stands in his way.. trying to talk him out of this. He does this by….proposing to Goto, still very naked. Goto calls Masayoshi stupid.. but doesn’t turn down the proposal, and the two call each other Baka and Aho for about 4 minutes or so.  Masayoshi realises he truly loves Goto and can not allow him to be corrupted and the end their standoff. Goto lowers the run. Masayoshi goes to Goto but what happens then is blocked by Mari who pops into the screen and beats Hajii up! Goto and Masyoshi talk and we see the criminal boy get kicked in the balls by Mari. A timeskip later and we see everyone being happy again. A sentai museum is opening and the flamengers are all there, Mari and Moe and Mizuki are having concerts again and Masayoshi visits Hajii in jail.. saying he wants to see him change. When he exits Goto is waiting for him and the two walk to the museum together.. Goto has a new phone and when someone litters, Masayoshi transforms into Samurai Flamenco once more.. chasing the litterer leaving a smiling Goto behind

The Positives

So apparently there is a manga that is set after this where Goto and Masayoshi live together, there is also a card game that shows their wedding. I am not sure if it is canon but my does that make this twist ending delightful. Those two would make a great couple.. and it does give Goto some peace of mind. That smile he has at the end.. that is great! And YAY Hajii was real! Thank Arceus for that.. I would have cried if he wasn’t.. Goto and Masayoshi becoming an item at the end was not what I had expected for an ending.. but last week I already expected an ending I would not expect.. and BOY did that deliver.  This really might be one of my favourite endings of a show.  Which admittedly also might seem so amazing because I was kind  expecting a trainwreck. But the ending is just so sweet and adorable.. and it is kind of neat that the final battle had to be fought as Masayoshi not as Samurai Flamenco it really was a nice turn that was properly set up.

The epilogue also delivered on the satisfaction. The opening to the museum works great as a visual callback , the walk of Goto and Masayoshi is super cute and a little bit loaded.. you want them to spill the beans and see if we can find out what happened to the proposal but it wisely never does. Even if Bromance.. with the B potentially between brackets  is not for you, you can take the ending anyway you like. They could just be palls! The extended universe makes them more.. but it is totally up to you if that counts yay or nay! Smart! We see everyone happy, and that whole World President stuff is also conveniently dropped which makes it a lot more airy and digestible.. it keeps Masayoshi as an innocent young man who hasn’t changed all that much yet realised something very important in his life. While he hasn’t changed he has become a much more complete man and that is enough.. that is what makes this show great in the end.  I still think episode 18 would have been a good enough place to end as Samurai Flamenco.. yet episode 22 is a much better place to end as Masayoshi.. and I like that there is a difference.

The Negatives

For me, Masayoshi did not have to go naked. The scene would have worked just as well in his boxers or even his underwear.  Metaphorically naked would have worked as well. It would not have weirded Hajii out as much maybe.. but I am not sure if him being weirded out mattered that much. Was it just so Goto got to see him naked? Am I missing something here?! To be fair I do not get weirded out or shocked from a naked person because I don’t really believe in that Taboo. A naked person doesn’t go much for me let alone a drawn one.. and we don’t even get to see anything.. it’s more like the Austin Powers implied Naked that is cleverly covered up in each shot. Somewhere I get it.. as it is pure Masayoshi.. no hiding behind anything.. but again underwear would have been enough.

That stupid random adoption scene from ther last episode has no impact here, we do see the Flamengers, but mostly it’s just Lady Axe calling Pink a sow other than that they are just impressed with the Museum.. also Black’s Grandpa is fine which is nice but I can not help that because of that random episode this felt like the least conclusive and satisying endings.. the rest got all closed up nicely but there was a bit of unfinished buisness left.  Like I said last week the parents of Haji indeed helped him fake his death as it turns out which makes sense enough.. but Kono only NOW finds out they are kind of worried about what he has been doing with this?! The boy has been dead for a year you know.  It seems kind of weird that his parents would not have any idea. Where does he store his explosives, can they never hear any phone calls he makes, how does he learn to infiltrate an apartment.  You can do a lot in a year but making the parents completely oblivious makes them horrible people in my eyes. Just allow him to do this or something because they are just as crazy obsessed with him as he is with Masayoshi or something. Now it is kinda hokey?!

The Score

I can rest at ease now and leave this series with a huge smile on my face. The twist ending was lovably weird but also quite in line with the show! A bromance moving into a romance….. which is how I take that ending is a great way to break up the stale trope of the hero being alone. Not only do we get closure, Goto get’s closure.. and while his behaviour in episode 20 still kind of disgusts me he has suffered enough. The fact that he doesn’t completely let go.. shows he is crazy enough to be with Masayoshi as well and the fact that almost all other people except for Goto have been using smartphones did kind make the scene better.. but still it kind of feels like someone is playing on their Iphone 10 next to someone with an iPhone 4…Mari, as shallow as she is would be bound to notice!

It’s a great final episode that has a few logic leaps that make the pay off not AS strong as it could have been.. but it’s one of those ending.. where you do not care about that. Is it perfect no!  Have I seen shows with stronger endings.. I most certainly did… yet I have said this before.. I do distinguish BEST and favourite. If someone asks me for the best anime I have ever seen, I would struggle to find an answer and probably end up with Spirited Away or one of the Ghibli movies.. if they ask for my favourite I say Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.  From what I have heard Cowboy Bebop has one of the best endings in anime.. though tragic, (I have yet to see it myself)  but my favourite ending… it might very well be this one! So this end gets one heck of a subjective Star Fruit! Thank you for existing Samurai Flamenco! And Moe.. my sweet summer flower, I am glad you are okay!

Animini: Digimon Adventure – Episode 15- Zudomon’s Iron Hammer of Lighting

Salutations my sweet Island guests. It is time to get back into gear and review some anime! Starting with Digimon!   Last week we had a great week and even though the last episode was quite good , it ended  up as one of the weaker in my top seven. Very good sometimes doesn’t cut it!  Well.. this week this show offers some stiff competition for the fight at the top! As we include with the “final”  of the ultimate evolutions in an episode dedicated to Joe.

The Summary

Let’s get started.. and me just say.. this might be a confusing episode.. because the entire plot revolves around a group of evil digimon chasing the group again. Yukidarumon form the soldiery grunts of the group but they are led by the ultimate digimon Mammon. Why is this confusing?! Well because I know these digimon as Frigimon and Mammothmon. Both Digimon were changed for the dub.. one because it’s named after a demon and the other because it did not make a lot of sense in English I guess?!  Regardless.. the setting is an Icey hill. Birdramon needs to recover her energy and when the group lands they get attacked by a group of snowmen bears.. called Yukidarumon/Frigimon and a Huge mammoth, with ripped Dumbo style ears and a metal mask on it’s face and trunk!  When one of the Yukidarumon punches Sora.. she begins to slowly freeze to death from the inside.  The only way this attack can be negated is by thawing out the digital ice inside her. So she needs a fire.. but there is a problem! The group is being chased by a superior force. Making a fire would reveal their position.

Piyomon is too worried about Sora to Digivolve and seriously drains energy from the prolonged  flying. So One digimon has to stay with her all the time to protect her. Yamato is chosen for this role. He is the fastest, and can pull ahead of the group while Joe and Gomamon distract the group. Meanwhile we get a small subplot of the other group where Mimi sees a cute Digimon and tries to make it her mount.. resulting in (comical) disaster.  Joe has seen Sora and Yamato step up when it was their time.. but he ended up feeling afraid .. and invalidated all the time. After all … he is the groups oldest and he feels he is not living up to that role!  When things seem at their darkest and the plan to get away from the group fails Joe is met with a choice! Fight by himself and rely on Yamato or stick up for the group.. risk himself and keep Sora safe. He lies to Yamato and says he has the situation under control, now having to deal with the Ultimate Digimon alone. Wanting to be useful to the group and knowing Sora needs her defender.. fills the boy with a passion that allows him to Digivolve Ikakumon into Zudomon, who  uses his hammer and lighting.. to kick ass and take names. With this monster defeated.. it is time for the groups to reunite and face their biggest battle yet.

The Positives

While every episode is really simple I just love how they set up their episodes. Group 2 has Birdramon so obviously they would overburden her, of course that would make her vulnerable and of course that would mean Sora would try to defend her friend. So Sora being injured makes very much sense in the world they are trying to build. Of course Yamato would use his speed to take her out of the frey.. so we get a perfectly fine explanation while Joe has to fight alone! Ice and snow are not a good battlefield for him anyway so this is a great way to make Joe shine without making it feel obnoxious.  I also love how Joe attempts to use the terrain to his advantage.. but this backfires.. As if the show is talking to us! No! This is not Koshiro, this is Joe. Those tactics are not his strong suit.  His episode followed a few beats similar to Koshiro’s but we are reminded they are not the same.  Joe’s strength is never giving up, his ability to keep on trying even though he sees so many obstacles in his way. He stands up to that.. and conquers … with issue.. but he does.

This leads into the second thing that was great in this episode, the characterisation!  Sure the snowy fields are nice, and the movement on the slope is fun.. but it all pales in comparison to how great these characters are. The little moment of Mimi trying to make a Kiwimon into her mount.. fitting that princess theme again. The way Joe screams in panic for most of the episode.. but his realisation that there are things bigger than himself. It all feels unique. Nearly all the 6 episodes have the same format. Step 1: An Ultimate Shows up, Step 2: Bad Stuff happens , Step 3:  Someone is Separated from the group Step 4: After learning a lesson their digimon evolves to the next level. It happened Six times now.. and yet these episodes are VERY different from another. Joe is constantly overwhelmed.. he can not rely on his courage because it is not in his nature, he can not rely on his friends, he can not even face his own emotions because he would succumb to panic. No he has to solve this as Joe.. and the episode allows for that. Joe just really had to be there.. and it felt very different from what came before.

The Negatives

What the show does bad.. is what almost every show in an ice setting does bad. It’s what I call “white” stacking.  You make a fight set in snow, then make the enemies fight ice themed as well.. such as a yeti or in this case a white bear.  Then you set everything on a mountain, because skiing and snow are so intertwined.. now half of your skyline is white as well. The main enemy you give blizzard attacks.. which is made by a lot of squiggly lines. Ikkakumon… is also white and the beams of the Yukidarumon/Frigimon fire.. are you guessed it.. white. I would not call it boring.. but everything feels very defined and sharp but for some reason I always get tired of watching it. Not bored persé.. but after some time.. I am just done with it.  It feels disorienting.. in a sense off.. that you don’t know who is where and in a scenario where that matters.. it just feels a bit harder to sit through.  As if my brain subconsciously just has to work that one step more..and it’s just slightly less pleasant.

Second issue I had was the final fight. Zudomon doesn’t feel as powerful as Garudamon, Weregarurumon or heck even Lillymon. The latters physical hits did not hurt but that grass thing seemed vastly powerful. Zudomon hammers a lot.. and while his lighting seems.. quite powerful, the enemy is in water when he uses it.. So it already would be amplified.. it doesn’t seem AS special as what the others did.  Ice and Snow have that frail quality, so smashing someone through a slab of ice feels weaker.. then blasting back a mountain destroying beam attack.  Zudomon’s fighting also felt a bit clunky.. for some reason he doesn’t digivolve into the form wielding his hammer.. he needs to summon it which takes time. Until then .. he kind of fills the role of a bit of a grappler and that always just looks more like punches, kicks or beams.  The scaling isn’t done as well as it has done before.

The Score

I am torn about the score this time. It’s either a very high Berry Good, or a Low tier Star Fruit.  In the end I think I will have to go or a Berry Good for me personally. That is mostly because I really do not care for snowy settings. I don’t have much against them but they do nothing FOR me. Then again I also did not like last  week’s setting.. this one is significantly better as an episode.. maybe even as a setting. I am not sure. I just think the fact that once I took a peek to show how far I was watching this episode puts it under the Star Fruit rank.. but only just.

This episode has such a strong narrative, a great style and to a lesser degree even consequence. Nothing major happens in terms of consequences but there is a logic chain of cause and effect. “You can walk or fly?” .. Of course “We will fly” is chosen. Consequence is a spent Piyomon.. resulting in Sora getting hurt. It feels right! Things are still straight forward.. but it fits. Characters think like younger people, they make mistakes , but also gamify! They revel in new experiences.. but also get into trouble for it so they all feel just so much more human! That humanity is what makes every episode shine so much for me and this one is not an exception! Had there been a fire monkey instead of a polar-bear/snowman I think it would have pushed the episode into a higher range for me.. but if your biggest gripe with an episode is that it’s “too white” you got a pretty good episode on your hands.

Animini: Cowboy Bebop – Episode 5 – Ballad of Fallen Angels

Steamed Hams and steamed hello’ my sweet Island Guests! Closing of the week has never been as exciting as before I watched cowboy Bebop! Of course I have already watched this episode before sunday.. so it’s more of a metaphor but still! This show is really really good! This episode is easily the best one so far. With a dark broody tone .. and what I assume will be the series villain being introduced. I vaguely remember being spoiled by the “Bang” scene  and I think I saw that guy! Not sure and please don’t confirm or deny.. Yet.. boy.. did I have some fun this week! 

The Summary

The episode begins with a shady deal between two mob-like boss figures making a treaty of sorts. One looking a bit friendlier and human than the other.  They are in his house when the deal is closed when he sees his guest leave.. he also sees the man is blown up!  Then strangers walk into his house and hold his neck against a Katana. A man named Vicious shows up.. though the name is only revealed later. With a little motion he has the man known as Mao Yenrai executed.  Unbeknownst to Jet that this bounty has become inaccessible he finds himself at odds with Spike.. who doesn’t want to take this bounty for unknown reasons. The lack of transparency  vexes Jet.. while Faye walks in after a successful shopping trip, showing she has now fully joined the crew. I like how that happened. It makes it feel a bit more natural. Spike walks off angrily and goes planetside to walk it off.  There he meets a shopkeeper named Annie, shocked to see Spike alive. Apparently he had connections with her and Mao in the past.. and this Vicious  guy seems to be part of the same organisation as Mao.. as the guy spoke of betrayal.. I am not sure.. but I think that was what happend.

Faye however does not know about all this backstory and just sees a high bounty number so she decides to try and capture Mao.. and she finds herself being overwhelmed by a surprisingly well prepared Vicious and his mobsters. He must have one heck of a source.  She gets captured and Spike goes back to the Bebop .. but is armed by Annie.. now goes to stop Vicious.. there seems to be a lot of past between these two.  The meet is in an old church.. that I think will also be the scene for the final episode.. but I am not sure!   A shootout happens and Faye manages to escape while Spike pursues Vicious.. not letting a few gunshot wounds stop him. Faye calls Jet for help not wanting to see Spike get killed and the man reluctantly goes to rescue his friend. Who fights Vicious in front of a stained glass window. The two have a mexican standoff but instead of rolling away like gentlemen and resetting the fight.. both take the killshot.. missing because both get harmed. Spike gets stabbed and Vicious gets shot… but Vicious manages to throw Spike out the window towards his death.. but the quick fingers of Spike allow him to leave a grenade behind.. As Spike falls to his death.. his life flashes in front of his eyes..showing shards of the story of him and vicious and a blonde girl that I think got killed by Vicious.  The church explodes.. and Spike’s vision goes dark.. he Remembers the blond woman singing to him.. but it is actually Faye watching over him on the Bebop.. he calls her tonedeaf and she punches him with a pillow and tosses cards on him an ace of space is used as a recurring symbol.

The Positives

Almost everything was spectacular in this episode. Every single set piece carried so much weight. The opera house, the house of the Mafia guy , the tiny little store, the church. It brings so many layers of society to the table. It shows people linked in the past are at very different places now. It also fills in some of the classic Film Noir tropes quite well. Which really gives this episode so much atmosphere and weight. It feels important just because of how things unfold.  We see heavier use of visual metaphors with the ace of spade, the flashbacks, the dramatic slow motions. the bigger close up on the eyes.  It all has been seemingly designed to carry weight.. to feel big. I do not realise yet what the full scope of this is.. but it all feels some more relevant than Twinkle Maria last week! The stakes are higher here.. this matters more and it oozes out of every pore of this episode.  From the way Vicious is designed but brought into frame that clearly to the sepia filter of Spike’s memories.  The implications that Spike now knows?! Was he a criminal before as well? What caused him to fake his death.. is this blond woman really dead? I assume so.. but  the film follows classic Noir Archetypes.. so you never know. 

I really enjoyed how the action felt once again.  The guns seem to really have a kick to them.  Characters hold still to fire, even when running towards their opponent there is this moment where they let the gun do the talking.. and it seems much more subjected to real life forces. Not always.. but the way bullets shoot church pews away, how different weapons are used at the same time and how they interact with the environment differently makes this fight have such an impact. In 90% of the anime mobs all use the same gun and half of the time it makes just a few sparks people jump over.. here Spike has to run dip and dodge depending on that type of arm his enemies have. It just ands so much oomph to the action.  The explosion from the church also was pretty amazing…. granted I do not think the explosion should be that big given how the first grenade exploded.. but the falling out of the window scene.. with the shards of glass chasing Spike as his eyes dim.. was one heck of a well done “action” scene.  So much motion and it really felt as if everything had different weight when falling.  I really love that sense of materialism.. that this show has..  it’s not so much.. how do we make this look cool.. but more Hollywood.. where I can see this in live action much more than most anime.. that sounds like a determinant..but not for this show..  not for me.

The Negatives

The downsides of this episode are ones I really had to look for with a fine toothed comb. The first is that I kind of dislike that Vicious knows about Faye Valentine.  Unless Jet is a traitor of sorts which I highly doubt right now.. It doesn’t feel like it’s knowledge he should have.  Then again she has been shopping on the planet..but assuming her association with Spike seems just that tiny bridge too far. Just like how big that final explosion was.  It works in the confines of this world but it felt like just a tad much. I would have preferred she gave up her association with Spike herself.. then when he rushed in to save her.. she regretted it prompting her to call Jet.. now Vicious feels a bit high and mighty.. considering what we have seen other people in his position do with their power. Minor  thing though.

There are a few more things like this such as Faye being able to have her spaceship equipped with gun turrets land in front of a high prestige opera house seems like something these worlds should have a counter for. The shoplifting  boys seem a bit to dumb.. why would you steal the same nudy magazine as your buddy.. in that case one of you goes to pay for a paper plane and let someone else steal the bigger item… while you distract to she shop keep (yeah I stole something as kid once or twice…)   much better strategy!  The kids did not fully feel like kids!  Yet that is me really nitpicking.. it’s all just super fun and exciting to go through and some minor weird things in no way decrease that joy.

The Score

This was by far the best thing I watched this week! And I actually had a pretty good week!   With two other Star Fruits and lots of Berry Goods.  Yet since this one is my favourite I bet you can guess what grade it is going to be!  It was so good!  Not only did it show us the past and wet our appetites for a bigger puzzle, I think it might also have foreshadowed things as well.  Let’s not forget that indian prediction in episode 1. He would meet a woman that would lead to death.. it can be referred to the cowboy woman of episode 1 but now I think.. this blonde chick will show up again and it will lead to Spike’s death! I am not sure.. that’s just what I think. This episode got me super excited!

I have to shout out the music as well , it felt really different from what we saw before.. again establishing those higher stakes through everything. Story, visuals and sound design all come and tell us what to feel and I love that kind of thing!  Where visuals and sounds are not just used to establish grandeur..even though here it does.. but also convey an emotion. This episode doesn’t only feel big.. it feels important.. it feels deeper. I want to see more!

Animini: Natsume Book of Friends – Episode 5 – Heart Colored Ticket

The Heck is a Heart Coloured Ticket…?!  I thought I would know after this episode but no! I still don’t know! There is a ticket.. and there is love.. but I do not agree with this title. I would have called it Bootleg Totoro and the Fish..  but then again that might be disrespectful! I don’t mean it like that though.. but it really is about a Totoro thing that is not Totoro … and a fish! I kind of loved it!

The Summary

The episode begins with Natsume roaming in a box of his grandmothers stuff, each time he runs a name he gets part of her memories and he is curious about her life.. or so he claims.. from a Library book she forgot to return drops a train ticket.. leading to a now out of use station. Natsume decides to investigate the ticket the next day. That day Natsume’s classmates fight on how to eat something which I think is chicken.. I have no idea but they call it Kitsune.. I don’t think they are eating fox but well.. they don’t see eye to eye on how to eat this meal thing and decide to separate and never be friends again. Sasada then comes poking her nose into Natsume’s business! What is that ticket? What are you going to do with it? Can I come?!  I wanna see one?!  Stuff like that. Natsume doesn’t want to get the girl that wants to spend time with him around.. so he is super glad the priest’s son distracts her long enough so he can sneak away from her on the bus. (Kind of a dickish bus driver). I kind of want Natsume to like this girl! I like having her positive energy around!

Sasada gets left behind though and Natsume travels to an abandoned station where he finds Santo.. a big furry hippo like Yokai that walks on two legs and dances around and reminds me a lot of Totoro.  Just.. more vocal and less eloquent.  Santo is a friendly Yokai who waits on this station because he got in an argument with a friend once who told them to leave and never return. Reiko met Santo and he gave him her name.. which we find out caused the conflict between the two. Santo gets his name returned and Natsume finds out through her memories that she promised Santo to take him to go see his friend Mikuri the next day. She never delivered on the promises though so Natsume takes Santo to do so. However since years have passed now.. Mikuri became bitter and possessed by Earth Spirits, enlarging his negativity. As a result the forest tries to stop their approach. Mikuri corrupted a huge catfish and Madara fights him  while Natsume and Santo yell at Mikuri to stop! Then the fish possessed by rage tries to steal the book.. but Santo protects it!  A combination of both seemed to work and the still quite angry Mikuri is reunited with his friend.  While Natsume tries to settle their fight he realizes they already settled their fight and are just arguing because they are friends. The next day in school his two classmates are all buddy buddy again and Sasada asks him what happened.  The priest’s son whose name I completely am blacking out on.. gets thanked for the help the day before leaving Sasda clueless still.

The Positives

I really liked Santo and Mikuri , once again the design and flavouring of these Yokai is done very nicely and satisfyingly. The whole  super dumb anime character might be a trope I do not always enjoy, Santo brings so much innocence to it.. but also a form of challenge. He knows what he wants to say .. but he is just too dim witted to express himself leaving Natsume without some valuable much needed information. So he must find a way to work around that. Thus the humor of this episode is actually in service of the story and I am very fond of that type of design. Do not build in jokes because you need a funny moment, make moments you need to tell funny. It offers a lot more charm. Santo being one of the most innocent things you have ever seen is also a nice contrast with the Yokai we have seen normally here. No harm from others befalls upon him.. there is no evil spirit or priest causing him pain. Santo’s worst enemy is Santo himself.. and the promises he made. He never went to look for Mikuri because he promised Reiko  to wait for her and because Mikuri said he could not come anymore. That’s just the type of guy he is and he is in his own way.

I also really like the whole premise of Natsume wanting to dig deeper into his relatives’ past and using a box of memories along with the book that apparently is also filled with memories  is an interesting way to do this. It gives a few puzzle elements and I have been wondering how Reiko was a person. I for now think she was a pretty bad person but Natsume seems to refuse to believe this. She completely forgot about poor Santo though!  I am curious to see where this will go and in fairness the show so far has not done much in terms of establishing an overarching narrative. This could be the first step towards that and if so I am quite on board with this.

The Negatives

I did not like how Natsume ignored Sasada in the last episode, and I do not like here either.  It’s a nice girl that is interested in you and believes in you.. she wants that connection my guy and you have shown to want that sort of connection as well.  I always have trouble with characters that go through self imposed misery and feel depressed for being alone.. but then when  a person wants to be their friend they ignore them.. While Natsume isn’t nearly hypocritical enough for me to actually dislike it.. I see enough of this self imposed negativity to enjoy it less then when Sasada would have played a bigger part. I think her positive behaviour is a welcome addition to Natsume’s more down behaviour.  At the same time though Natsume doing this alone lets the Yokai shine a lot as he doesn’t have a strong personality.. so the spirits always take the spotlight! That has value as well.

The second gripe I had with this episode is in its resolution. The Catfish versus Cat fight  felt a bit sloppy. Tentacles were bitten and pulled..  Elongated cat demon gets snared but transforms.. then bites the fish again.. but then it looks like the fish also bites him.. but maybe its not because suddenly the fish goes poof! ?I had no real idea what was going on there. Natsume was quite badly animated while  wrapped by a tentacle as well. It all just felt a bit muddy and thrown in for some action. I honestly preferred the fight with the earth spirit and the mysterious fog on the tracks. One bad fight scene however does not ruin an episode. Especially when it’s so short.  I would have liked to see more Santo protecting the book though. That might have been the trigger what caused Mikuri to be healed but it at least wasn’t fully clear to me.

The Score

While not a perfect score episode I really had a lot of fun with this episode.  Santo is an adorable character and even Mikuri in his original form is quite adorable. The evil forest chase was very entertaining and.. just Santo being Santo , eating poisoned berries and all it just made me smile. It had little impact all in all but I was still very entertained. It just had a few scenes for me personally that did not resolve in a way I would have preferred. It’s a silver or bronze type situation instead of gold. Still a winner though.

My biggest peeve here is how Sasada was offsided here, and I am afraid I will see a fair bit more of that in the future. I just do not like the lonely character wallowing in their loneliness by shutting off good people.  It really irks me and I have little sympathy for them. As long as this show doesn’t try to invoke sympathy for him being so alone.. I will not have much of a problem , other than just being a bit bitter here and there.. but if they do and try to invoke sympathy while he shuts people out.. that will be a sure fire for me to grow and dislike him as a character. Nothing wrong yet just reporting some symptoms for now. Great episode with just a few concerns. Like.. how was that ticket heart-coloured?