Tag: Animini

Animini: Samurai Flamenco – Episode 18 – Flamenco in Space

Samurai Flamenco has always been a show that had hits and misses for me .. though it had more hits.  Now this episode does something I haven’t really experienced yet, it made me feel conflicted. On the one hand this is a stellar episode that concludes the story of Samurai Flamenco beautifully!  It could have been the perfect final episode… except… this isn’t the final episode… and it isn’t perfect either……. Had this been the final episode I would not have minded the imperfections and loved it to bits and would it not have been for those weird imperfections I would not have minded that there was more to this story still. 

The Summary

We pick up where we left off in the last episode with Samurai Flamenco and his allies standing outside  the government building staring at the flying saucer of Alien Flamenco.  The group discusses their action plan when the Alien shows up and shows them a vision. Our favourite Gadget guy recognises this as a vision.. which makes the Alien impressed. He invites Masayoshi over to his spaceship to  discuss the fate of the world. For this he summons a door that will lead the crimson hero into the spaceship! This is it the final fight!   The group discusses whether or not this is a trap , for some reason even including the Prime Minister in this debate. Eventually it is Goto who says that the fear of death never stopped Masayoshi before and it should not stop him now.. he is the only person who can save earth right now as he is the true hero!  This prompts Masayoshi to indeed go inside the alien spaceship and  soon he finds himself sitting at one of those typical Japanese Waterfronts.. you know green hills, a canal and a bridge in the distance.. the one you lay in to think about life with a sprig of green in your mouth!

Alien Flamenco reveals he wants to assimilate humanity inside himself.. he is actually 5 billion people that have evolved past the point of needing a physical body as such and his goal is to bring peace to everyone by evolving them beyond a need for violence, only then will there truly be peace. Masayoshi is given a stone .. the same he ripped from King Torture and it is told that it can make him evolve.  All he needs to do is focus on evolving and him and humanity will be at peace and be assimilated by Alien.  Of course our hero refuses this which prompts the spacemenman  to try and kill him. Masayoshi finds the evolution stone he tossed earlier and doesn’t use it to evolve but to grow giant. The two  Sentai then have a space battle.. on the moon. Which seems to have Masayoshi critically injured. However he realises why the offer of Alien Flamenco did not sit well with him.. Humanity needs to grow and learn.. not to evolve.. with this he gains a new special attack and Uppercuts Alien Flamenco away.. seeming dying himself on the moon. He then wakes up in Sunshine Sentai’s house who reveals he is not Sunshine.. but the will of the Galaxy! Offering some deeper insights and offering Masayoshi a choice. New enemies for the next billion years.. or going back to normal life. The hero chooses the later saying his job was not to fight evil but make the world a better place.. and he can still do that. He gets sent back to earth and tells Goto he went to the moon!

The Positives

This would have been one of the best show endings i have seen in a while.. so obviously it means it also is a great arc ending/ episode ending. There is no doubt about that right?!  I am not sure really, the epsiode does some VERY amazing things that is for sure.  The way everything ends up full circle.. King Torture, From Beyond,  and Alien .. they all are linked in a manner I did not really find intrusive or forced even. It felt earned.  The journey of Masayoshi up to this point is explained and it has left me very impressed. The way things spiral out of control from simple to galaxy breaking reminded me of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, my favourite anime of all time so that never is bad.  There is so much good writing in it, even now still reminding me of Tarintino’s way of writing dialogue.. and since this episode is so dialogue heavy  that really makes it shine! Even the joke that Flamenco is eventually nothing special.. it is just a word that has a 0,00000002% chance of granting a wish…but mostly it’s something like the town Eromanga in Australia. Something that has a different meaning in another language and thus becoming something it is not.. that was pretty funny.

The sound design of this episode was stellar. The sound that plays when the group is talking under the saucer felt completely unworldly and sold  the whole space theme and strange  threat of the situation so incredibly well. Masayoshi’s voice acting this week also made an impression. He has to convey a very difficult emotion .. he has to disagree with someone..with a passion.. but not being sure why he disagrees. He just knows in his gut that what is being said is wrong. It comes out excellent, I don’t speak Japanese but I could still hear both the fire in his heart and the doubt in his mind. Truly excellent work. The use of colour underneath the UFO also really impressed me , giving everyone a bit of an unreal glow with a light that doesn’t fully seem to match with what we see making it even less feel of this  world.  The final attack, the little cues it for the most part was amazing. 

The Negatives

I hate that this is not the last episode though, I already had assumed it would go beyond this as I did not think they could drag out Alien Flamenco for more than a few episodes.. but this had me very conflicted. I felt so strongly about it that I even considered dropping the show at this point and not watching the final four episodes.. because no way in heck the show is gonna top this. So this leaves me a bit bitter and having lost confidence in the future.  It is a weird gripe to have that this episode is basically just too good to be in the middle but it is the truth.  Imagine adding the first 55 seconds of Queen’s Best friend at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody and making that the new Rhapsody.. it would not nearly be in as many hitlists then!

I said there were a few gripes I had with the episode as well and it all has to do with Alien Flamenco.  Taking Masayoshi to a japanese canal felt really out of place for me.. using a trope that is relevant only in Japan.. while he already has the entire rest of the world. I don’t buy it.  The setting isn’t even used that well.  Yet what is more annoying is Alien Flamenco’s constant use of Engrish..  “Sit Down”  .. “Listen to me” . Why?!  He did not do that before.. I mean sure he was using the American hero  as a disguise but even then he did not really do that. It just felt so annoying. Take Jojo’s adventure for example who also make Jospeh use a lot of English things.. first of all he is genuinely english unlike Alien.. secondly those moments are played for comedy and not during heartfelt talks where dialogue is super important.  I never cringe but this one made me do it.. to a point at the first 7 minutes that I thought.. well they compltely ruined this episode with that shit…. but then the show picks up and becomes one of the best episodes yet….. 

The Score

So honestly I am not sure what to do with this score. It both had some of the weakest and some of the strongest moments in the show.. and normally I deem an episode is good or not based on how much I want to see the next episode! I very much want to NOT see the next episode… but not because the episode was bad. This is complicated! The show genuinely made me feel.. and I do kind of want to see if Goto’s girlfriend will ever reveal her face.. but I am kind of done with Masayoshi’s story. I would have given this episode the benefit of the doubt if the Alien Flamenco dialogue wasn’t so cringe worthy. I actually hated that.. and I normally kinda enjoy Engrish in anime.

In the end I will base my grade by comparing this episode by comparing it to a very delicious and clear broth.  It is a very flavourful episode and it’s very clear as well, we see everything that is inside and how it relates to each other. This is a star quality soup! However it has been garnished with stale croutons. Something added to just to give it a little playful element floating in between backfires and makes it just annoying to fish those weak bits out.  It’s a bit of a hassle  but I might be able to forgive that still.. however the Soup is so good that you know in advance that chicken cordon bleu that is coming next will disappoint you.  It might not taste bad.. but it has less room to be amazing based on what it is.. thus the soup might not really fit the menu.. despite it being so tasty! If I had judge the menu.. the soup would be the odd duck out and I would mark it down for it.. and  that is why .. this episode is just fine…despite being amazing.

Animini: Digimon Adventure – Episode 11 – The Wolf Standing Atop the Desert

A new week, a fresh badge of Animini! We take it from the top and start again with Digimon Adventure. Where last week’s episode ended up to be one of the weaker episodes in the series, this episode is arguably it’s counterpart.. with some very interesting choices and development. I still stand by my point that a series as Digimon doesn’t have to be nearly as good as it is!  Yet this show ends up constantly surprising me!

The Summary

Last episode we saw the group encounter the black Miasma. It is in the way of the direct path of the stronghold the group is going for. Since the group HAS to make it to that location they split up to make sure at least one group will most certainly reach it’s destination. For this random names have been drawn.  Tai-chi leads group one followed by Koshiro and Mimi and Yamato leads the second group with Joe and Sora tagging along. Now I am not sure how random this is as both groups have .. A flyer,  a geek, a girl,  and a powerhouse… but sure!  It will be interesting to see Yamato and Sora interact.   This weeks episode focusses on the adventures of Yamato’s group…(who would have expected it with that episode title) .. the group has to cross a Desert…. They quickly find out small ADORABLE little digimon are being attacked by dragonfly digimon that can summon dust devils.. but also a creature that is lurking beneath the sand. While the Dragonfly’s get killed by whatever is beneath the sand the group realises that this monster.. might have the strength of an ultimate.

Taking shelter after being mostly outclassed the group discovers that more Digmon here are refugees from the evil creature that is known as Scorpiomon Apparently they attempted to flee towards a digmon called Leomon.. who is known as a resistance fighter taking up the fight against those responsible for the black Miasma.. and with that we get a huge reference and potentially later story point! I love Leomon!  Sora and even Joe want to escort these little guys to safety but Yamato  argues they are dead weight and will slow them down too much for their journey. When Sora insists on saving them he leaves the group! Gabumon tells him he should reveal his secret to the group.. but Yamato keeps on walking. Sora and Joe end up in a fight with Scorpiomon and end up on the losing side, just to be saved in the last moment by Garurumon. Seeing his Digimon in trouble.. and Gabumon being all Yamato says he needs.. makes him think of all the bonds that have strengthened him.. even those of his allies. He realises the power in friendship and this allows us to see WereGarurumon for the first time as the second chosen one gets his ultimate. The fight is won and Yamato reveals he used the group as bait and never planned to abandon his friends. He then tells the group of his secret.. he has a brother named Takeru (TK) who is his reason for fighting. 

The Positives

Where to Start?! This episode was amazing!  Mimi has an adorable moment with Palmon, when it is revealed that Mimi can’t climb once again showing this show goes out of his way to diversify the group. They can’t all do the same thing. The idea to pair her up with Koshiro and Taichi to which in the original story she has the “least” connection is also quite interesting.  Seeing Sora and Yamato travel together is interesting for a whole other reason!  
It also makes sense to let Taichi go for the shorter ..but more uncertain route while letting Yamato have the  longer but more controllable route. The way Yamato uses the group as resources yet cares makes his crest of friendship (even though they do not need to collect the item)  so much more interesting and earned this time. The way Gabumon is the primary instigator and the group in general.. more so then his relation to Taichi .. works! Sora having the crest of love makes her a perfect defender of the innocent and Joe wanting to be a doctor not being able to turn out these creatures in need of help and overcoming his fear yet again shows amazing commitment to these characters. Everyone is so much more fleshed out and this episode gives everyone a small moment yet again.. though pushing Taichi a bit aside.. which is perfect because the show needed that.

The music and the cinematography of this episode is amazing as well. The Ultimate battle theme was amazing and with the choreography of the battle added it really lifted the excitement of this episode.  The show is being quite creative with how wounds work on digital characters as well. While not new  to the series it is really used well here! I was also really happy to see Bearmon/Kumamon .. one of the available partners Digimon from Digimon World 3 and while I usually go with Kotemon in that game, I was very happy to see him acknowledged. The show isn’t afraid to dig into the expanded library of the current Digimon world!  The mention of Leomon is great as well! I look forward to seeing more about that! The show does something quite amazing in terms of visual references and other little easter eggs and snippets of knowledge and this episode had some really good ones.  I think it really showcases a great love for the franchise that at times is palpable and here it most certainly is. If the makers had a Biyomon I am sure it would be a Garudamon already!

The Negatives

So here I am fangirling about Digimon a lot, do I have any negatives? Well I guess I would have liked to seen a stock footage digivolution of anyone but Gabumon or Agumon.. but it doesn’t matter THAT much, that Digivolution animation still is really amazing and the way the show manages to make it feel hype and much more choreographed in the battles.. rather than the more stand alone digivolutions of the original. Still there is some favouritism here and once again it shows it’s colours.  Now this is a Gabumon focussed episode so this is no real gripe.. but I have to mention at least something. Another thing is why Takeru is hidden in the shadows. I know some people haven’t seen him yet.. but we only see a Silhouette when his brother remembers him.. which just feels odd.. you know what your brother looks like..  most of us watching probably will know as well.

 Another small gripe I have is how these new Digivices work. Besides evolving your Digimon they can also power it up, which I think is a neat feature. Yet the animation for powering it up also uses this glowing ring in a similar fashion that Super-Evolution works.  In this episode Birdramon gets a filled ring and it results in her getting a super powerful attack.. a Moba player would call it an “ultimate”   I would have liked to see it a bit more visually distinguishable.. The digivice has several segments of “led”  lights that light up in subsequent order and if they move fast enough and all are lit at the same time.. stuff happens.  Whatever the stuff is. I would have loved it if digivolution used that pattern while powered attacks had a single segment glow up in increasing intensity.. or several.. but at least something that conveys a difference so we can get what is coming next. That would make this show even better!

The Score

So it should be quite clear that with negatives like those that this episode will get a high grade. I oftenly found myself leaning into the screen in excitement! This show captures that childhood spirit but at such a high pace that almost every episode feels rewarding and this Episode packs more punch that most of the previous episodes and I am not even that much of a Yamato person.  I bet you all can guess my favourite character quite easily!  Based on the cliffhanger this week I might be in for a treat next week! So if I wasn’t exicted enough this episode also gave me next week to look toward too a perfect ending for a nearly perfect 20 minutes.

Thus it should come as know surprise that this one will get the highest grade in my flavour meter. While not flawless it comes darn close, and while I would love to see an episode of peace and calm.. it just isn’t that type of show. It is something I disliked in the past but if the action is done like THIS  and they keep making smart choises I certainly will not mind.

Animini: Cowboy Bebop -Episode 1- Asteroid Blues

It’s the end of the week again my dear island guests. Concluding my weeks worth of anime daily reviews should be something special! So I decided to fill the 7th slot with classic anime I haven’t watched yet.  The first one Cowboy Bebop! I didn’t even know it was set in space before I watched this episode!  So I was very surprised. I was also surprised that the gritty thing isn’t normally for me.. I must say I quite enjoyed this first episode.

The Summary

We are introduced to Spike and his Co-Worker/ Bounty Hunting Fellow Jet. They live on a spaceship called Cowboy Bebop. Down on their luck they take a lower end bounty to hunt a man named Asimov. A drug runner type who killed all his friends and took off to some asteroid thing… I think!  Jet tells Spike he made Bellpeppers and Beef but unfortunately they are too poor to afford beef, so they just eat noodles and bell peppers. This prompts a reluctant Spike to take on the bounty that he did not deem worth his time before and he travels to a world/place with heavy Western themes. Here we find out that Asimov is trying to sell drugs.. called Bloody Eyes or something.. An Eyedrop drug that makes you hyper aware.. it’s not said to be drugs… but it’s drugs!  He clearly is addicted and tripping out on them.. killing people in a bar brutally! He is accompanied by a woman who looks to be pregnant. Of course it doesn’t take too long for Spike to track them down! Mostly because he had a Indian Vision Quest.. of sorts right before with him having his fortune told by and old Indian lady! She warns him about the Red Eyed Coyote and a Woman coming in his life that would also bring death.

Spike meets this woman and the Red Eyed Coyote at a seedy gas station. Helping the woman take care of groceries but eating her sandwich. He charms her up quite nicely as he offers her cigarettes in return. Claiming to her to be some cowboy! However once she sees his fighter jet she quickly realises he is a bounty hunter. He tells her has lost interest in the bounty again as Asimov is sick and he has no interest in weaklings. Insulted Asimov chokes him.. to unconsciousness.  His life was spared by the plees of the woman.  When the druggy man that has more bulging eyes then Nicolas cage  goes to sell the drugs. Spike has replaced the buyer. A fight breaks out and we see  Mister Spiegel ‘s ‘excellent footwork and combat ability, overwhelming Asimov. However when other criminals come in to shoot up the place the Cyberpunk Bonnie and Clyde manage to flee. Leading into a final space chase. Here we see Asimov is so consumed by his drug that he loses control entirely and rushes himself and his woman into death. To prevent Asimov from being taken down by his enemies his woman finishes him off.. after which she lets herself be killed by space cops!  As her body is jettisoned into space we see the pregnant belly was nothing more than a way to hide the drugs. Having not collected a bounty.. Spike and Jet eat “special” beef and Bellpepper again.

The Positives

On paper this should not be my type of show! It combines genres that usually are less my cup of tea. I am not the biggest science fiction fan in the world.. though I do enjoy Star Wars and Star Trek.. but in anime terms .. it’s usually too bleak and political. It has some heavy western elements.. which makes sense given Cowboy is in the name of the title and it’s about a Bounty Hunter.. which aside from the Mandalorian I find a horrible profession to make a show out of. Yet somehow the spunk of Spike, the low tech level..with bullets instead of lasers, and a very varying world makes it a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.  It is very much helped by the mentality of the two bounty hunters. To me falling more in the “Firefly” like types of characters. It gives the show a level of “airiness” while keeping lines such as Adios Cowboy, impactful. We see a cowboy tavern, a spaceship interior, a french Bistrolike restaurant and a seedy gas station , and have gunfights,  fistfights and a slaughter in space, so I  think this first episode does a tremendous job showing what this show will be and what we can expect.

It also sets up some interesting mysteries, Spike claims he already died once because of a woman.. what does he mean with that?  What is he so desperately training for. How is he able to take down a drug induced hulk life figure that can dodge bullets and crush people. Was Asimov that weakened from overdoing it on the drugs, or is there more. What is with that weird footwork Spike does when he is fighting. The show offers us a lot to unpack, but also nails showing us what characters like Jet and Spike are. After one single episode I feel like I have a pretty good idea I know what type of people they are.. and I don’t mean that in a way that they are shallow. The written story here just really hits some key points and uses the right dialogue that still feels natural but also tells us so much. The Bonnie and Clyde ending really worked wonders for me as well giving the show a sense of realism and real stakes straight of the bat. The good guy clearly doesn’t always win in this show, not everything is going to be alright at the end of an episode. Every choice this show makes so far is done with a reason and it feels legit. 

The Negatives

That being said, this also lies in this episode’s greatest weakness. I always saw the pair as a Bonnie and Clyde , it makes the link very clear for me.. so the outcome here felt a bit “set in stone”. There is nothing wrong with that for a single episode but I was never surprised by this first episode… and I did not even know it was a cyberpunk like setting, so that is saying something. It is set up to be surprising later on but for now I can not escape the feeling that it felt a bit predictable. I like how human the characters are generally being depicted and how their skills all seem very human. However when the eventual gruns show up those have StormTrooper accuracy.  The grunts also clearly have a more generic design, so when they show up .. it slightly undermines tension. It’s not a big flaw.. but we know Han Solo isn’t going to be taken down by two StormTroopers.. and we know Spike isn’t going to be taken down by the orange coat and green coat mafia. It’s not bad.. just not that exciting.

Another small pet peeve I had was a logical flaw. The woman is revealed to carry the drugs in her fake pregnant Belly.. but there is nothing protecting the little bottles. Which are made out of glass. When she would walk she would make a lot of jangly noises and no way she would get it to look that smooth. This is a nitpick.. but if you make Spike someone who has a big attention to detail.. I feel conflicted about this. At least show us she is wearing a satchel underneath the dress or something.. but no. .as soon as her dress rips the stuff just pours out! That would make noise you know. It’s just a weird little thing that does not add up. Note though that I did not really mind while watching.. just in hindsight it seems silly and conflicting with what is established about the vials elsewhere.

The Score

I had a much better time with this episode than I figured I would. I thought this show would be very much  in my face “Not for me”  but I actually got quite a lot of enjoyment out of the very good writing. It’s thus weird that it’s great writing also is for me it’s biggest hindrance right now.. what I want to happen happens so I am very satisfied.. but I am not “enchanted” It might be weird to say a show is written too well… but  yeah.. that kinda is my beef with it. The weird little jangly bottle plot hole I do not really mind.. I just structured this post thatI have to nag about something! Being a sucker for details this irked me enough to mention it. Again had the bottles been plastic or the containers be soft.. I’d been fine but they make a point of how fragile and glassy these things are! 

In the end I’d compare this episode with a REALLY REALLY REALLY good colour by numbers painting.. or one of those diamond paintings and those are more modern these days. It looks stunning, pleasing and you can clearly see that every element is carefully placed in the right way.  Even with some sparkles added to it that get you excited for the next canvas to come. Yet it is also exactly what you expect when you start the project. You won’t suddenly find a surprise unicorn in your painting when you’re done..so when you’re done you just end up with what you knew you would end up with all along. Thus it reaches the top of great for me.. but it fails to push into amazing.

Animini: Hikaru No Go -Episode 21- The Haze Middle School Go Club

Hello again my sweet Island Guests. It is time to watch animated characters place some black and white stones on wooden boards again. My return to Hikaru no Go did not disappoint! It also did not blow me out of the water, we get a very good development episode that leads us into a new arc. 

The Summary

In this episode we pick up immediately after the realisation that if Hikaru becomes an Insei he can not play in School Tournaments anymore. Mitani takes this particularly hard saying he was forced to play with them in the first place. Refusing to believe that Hikaru is going to leave them.. clutching on to the idea that this is all a mistake. This forces Hikaru to freeze up!  His friends all want him to stay and sacrifice his dream. Then Kaga shows up and supports Hikaru’s dream.. to demonstrate how far he has grown Kaga suggests Hikaru does three simultaneous matches against Kaga, Mitani and Tsutsui. Hikaru wins against Mitani and Tsutsui but loses against Kaga. However during these matches we see a small visual cue in a blink and you miss it moment. During his match with Kaga.. . Hikaru shows the same type of look on his face that Touya has.. cueing us in on the fact that he is VERY serious.

We see Akiri be determined to learn the game more since Hikaru won’t quit Go .. just the club, and so  in this final match we see how strong Hikaru actually is. Not only did he win 2 out of 3 matches, he also   remembers them  one by one, stone for stone in the order they played out in. A talent that may be useful to him later on. We then see Hikaru head to his Insei exam and are reintroduced to Waya, who by just glancing at Hikaru thinks he will pass the test. The examinator however does not seem to be very impressed by Hikaru and his written matches. As Hikaru is given a three stone handicap for this match we see his gaze turn all serious again as he places his first stone and the exam has begun. Which is something we will see in the next episode.

The Positives

A very strong episode once more for Hikaru no Go, while I had trouble with it’s pacing earlier on, the show has been on a streak lately of setting it’s pace very nicely and making all episodes relevant. This episode once again does an excellent job on providing us a measuring stick on where Hikaru is in terms of “power”. The show has been doing an excellent job at this lately! Since the exam is held in December, and summer vacation usually ends in September, we are at least 3 months past the Internet Go story bit. Last episode we got the amazing fall visual and now we have the impending deadline telling us the progress of time.  By spreading these events over such a large span of time you really get the feeling Hikaru’s skill increases are earned, compared to for example Yu-Gi-Oh or Saki where skill levels get boosted out of nowhere. 

The strongest moment in the episode was of course Hikaru showing that look he knows Akira for, we see that the boy who thought it was just something to appease Sai has vanished and now we see an actual Go Prodigee who wishes to delve deeper into the world of Go. The Hikaru we see now is not the same Hikaru from episode 1 .. not even the one from Episode 18 even. This Hikaru is what  our protagonist wanted to be way back in episode 2 and in just a few frames that is made perfectly clear to us! Once again this same emotion is reflected in the cinematography of the matches.  When Akira faced his “boss” we saw a colossal hand on a board aglow.. These matches..we barely see any stones… it symbolised Touya feeling overwhelmed.. and out of his league. This time .. we do not even see the stones being placed on the board.  We just see Hikaru mostly calm.. but feeling the tension between the people playing.. by seeing them depicted in a face off. The only match we see stones placed is the one with Kaga.. his skill matters.. but  Hikaru has outgrown the other two.. This is very nicely depicted once again. The show is great at that.

The  Negatives

The episode does have a few downsides for me which mostly come to play in the second half. The first half only makes me wish that we would see an episode that is focussed around the females of the Haze Middle School Go Club, showing Akiri’s determination to keep on learning.  Yet Akiri is somewhat more of a background character with text.. which is a bit of a shame. The second part makes Hikaru go to the exam with his mother .. who is completely under utilised..  he went there alone the first time and now she just tags along to go drink some coffee. She has no real role there other than shifting the camera perspective on Waya for a brief moment.  She doesn’t feel very supportive yet she isn’t unsupportive either.. she is just there. We have seen her show up a lot lately which I would have assumed would hint that she has some role to play or will see her son play.. maybe reveal she was very good as well.. but nothing happened causing a bit of  a “filler dialogue” feeling when she is around.

Other than that there are a few moments  where characters shift facial expression to a more cartoony comedy expression. While I do not mind it on Hikaru, I already said I disliked it on Sai and this time they use it for Kaga. The comedy moments aren’t funny as it is just a teacher looking for the guy and him making a funny expression for it. I get works as a reintroduction for Kaga and establishes a motive for him to be where he is.. but after they return to it and to me it really doesn’t fit the moment, nor the character. I told it once before the show isn’t that good at comedy. I get why they would think they need it ..but the way it is utilized clashes with the rest. Hikaru can be funny.. but the others.. I remain unsure.

The Score

A very good episode that very well did what it was supposed to do, yet at the same time due to some strange choices surrounding a few characters it wasn’t as compelling as it could have been. It does everything it needs to do and it does it well yet ends up somewhat restrained. I had a lot of fun with this episode and i am looking forward to the next episode.. but I am mostly interested in just “one” thing.. aside from seeing the Akiri centered episode.. which I doubt i am going to get anytime soon. It’s Hikaru’s exam. It’s a very straight path forward and that means I enjoy it a lot .. but also I feel it has less potential to surprise me in the future. 

I would have loved it if Mitani’s plight had been played up a bit more.. but a comedy moment of Kaga smashing him into the floor kind of ruined that thread for me. He just got knocked down and was told to get over it.  Hikaru is a friend and they should support him.. deal with it. We may still see Mitani’s character come into play surrounding this but now I am not sure. This is where the show drops of from the highest grade to one step lower for me. It feels as if comedy shut of a plotline I was quite invested in and it annoyed me a bunch. I’ve come to love all these characters and would love to see them stay at least a bit relevant as time comes. I get phasing out Tsutsui after all he is graduating but snuffing out plotlines with comedy.. feels a tad iffy.. It might not have happend but it is the feeling I got.. which is enough down to bump it down JUST a nodge.

Animini: Flip Flappers – Episode 11- Pure Storage

Finally after a long time I could pick up Flip Flappers again. Of the shows I am watching Flip Flappers has been one I have constantly liked the most. It’s themes while often obscure resonate with me , in one way or another and whether or not that if it’s intended way doesn’t really matter. It is a show that made me laugh out loud, squee with glee or cry. This episode managed to chill me… I felt so much empathy I felt horrified to find the truth of Cocona’s story. And then came in the other emotions.

The Summary

Episode 11 is a surprisingly down to earth episode …. for Flip Flappers. Cocona has now become possessed by her mother Mimi, who finds herself trapped in Yayaka’s organisation.  She wants nothing but to keep her daughter safe.. so she transforms the enemies into clovers and daisies which seemingly kills them; it even disables their killer robots. From there on out she makes her way to the Headquarters of FlipFlap which now is destroyed by the attack of the Amorphous children. The third one Nyunyu has a lot of fun hunting it’s last remaining members down.. but she is stopped from killing anyone by Yayaka. Mimi is offered to rule the world with the “evil organisation”  but she refuses.. she cares for nothing but Cocona and ends up meeting with Salt.. who holds her at gunpoint. By this time I am completely gonna assume he is Cocona’s father as we flash back to the night of Mimi flee FlipFlap. We see a grown up Papika …I think.. or everyone is just really small.. talk with Mimi about the pregnancy…well we don’t see but it is implied and to Salt they do not mention anything either but tell they want to escape. 

He allows them to escape.. after blamining them for a failed experiment beyond that red portal thing.. ruining his father’s mind.  Seemingly bitter he does allow the organisation to search for them and bring them back. Papika  and Mimi are returned and Salt finds out the woman he is in love with has a daughter named Cocona. We briefly flash back to modern times and Salt tells Mimi she isn’t protecting Cocona like this.. she disagrees and she uses her reality warping powers to easily defeat both him and Papika.  In more flashbacks we see her embracing an evil side of her to keep Cocona safe, killing many people within FlipFlap.. the dark side of Mimi is the one in control now as well and her only goal is to keep Cocona safe. As an incredibly over protective mother she keeps Cocona safe in Pure Illusion.. however both worlds now begin to fuse and reality is at stake. Given an Amorphous shard by Salt, Yayaka convinces Papika to join her to save Cocona from her mother.. who meanwhile tries to build the perfect world for her daughter..even if it is at the cost of reality.

The Positives

While I am not completely sure if Cocona is an actual human or a manifestation of Mimi’s mind, I am fairly sure Salt is her actual father.. though he does seem to care for Cocona very little, we still need pieces of this puzzle..but little by little we get more and more answers and I like it.  The whole idea of what Mimi has been put through and it leaving scars or her sense of reality.. by spending so much time outside of it really works for me. We get a “reap what you sow”  kind of situation.  Even if they made the best of a bad situation.. the damage was still done. Showing friendship and smiles don’t always fix everything.. which I think is a need element to add in a magical girl show of all things.   I also very much like the implications it has on Cocona. We have seen the main girl of the show always struggle with making choices in this series and in this episode we see why. She has a hard time making choices.. because everytime she is making such a choice she wishes she could ask her mother. She never had such a bond that can shape a person and is left without it…. and now she gets offered the exact opposite. The chance to never make a choice again.

The scene where her mother and Cocona are in the boat and her mother starts enforcing hairstyles and dress-styles on Cocona and making choices for her , remind me slightly of my own overprotective mother.. While obviously nowhere near as toxic as Mimi I do see similar elements here. Even at a later age.  “Wear your hair like this.. people will like you better”  .. while actually meaning .. she likes it better but also genuinely being afraid that by making a choice that is not hers I make the wrong one.  I sometimes see a mother that wants me and my sister happy and nothing else in the world would matter.. not to the extent of the anime .. but enough for me to feel like I know Mimi. This one just has a dark side she can refer to for all those things she would otherwise feel conflicted about. Because this episode is mostly set in their reality.. it also feels very concrete , the Pure Illusion elements that feature in this episode still back to that moment in the past, where things were alright. Showing something of perhaps.. regret.. and it keeps everything very real. I really do like this episode.

The Negatives

Apparently this is the episode that a lot of people begin to hate this show, saying it is where it jumps the shark. I honestly do not see that, I feel this has all been pretty well set up from the first episode. From little things such as the fact that Cocona can’t make choices all the way to that first Pure Illusion adventure she had such an impact to reflect her love and fondness for Papika. The latter could be shoehorned in.. but all other worlds would have made less of a visual impact to occur in the real world.. it would have felt more out of place. I do however feel that the evil organisation wasn’t really needed all that much. It could have been another cell in Flip Flappers..  it still might be but since most of the organisation is wiped out I am unsure if we will see any answers on that front. The killer robots in reality might be a tad much… then again.. hover surfboards are a thing. It does push the boundaries of forcing an event.. and I can hear it creak..but for me it never really broke.

Yayaka getting a new hover surfboard and her learning to fly it without fault is a bit of a bigger issue and seeing no resolve with Nyunyu felt strange so the episode does make a few missteps but I am honestly not that bothered by it. Nyunyu is not very consistent in behaviour by character so I can see her just losing interest and pursuing other things. I think we will see what made Papika younger in the next episode.. as that episodes should be centered around her but I would have loved to see a bit of an answer in this episode. Some things were left just a little bit too much in the middle for me.. but that makes me very eager to watch the next episode to see if I can get answers there.. so I am not sure if it is a negative yet.. if I do not get these answers in hindsight it will be but for now I trust them.

The Score

This is one of those exposition episodes that is done well, I think they have done plenty of foreshadowing towards this and it feels earned and sincere.. I felt compassion by what Mimi had to endure and I could see how her mind would snap from something like this. I can see how someone who really has nothing can get obsessed with that one little thing that it becomes her entire life and consumes her.  I can also see why it makes her the bad guy.. and I think it offers an interesting struggle for Papika in the next episodes to deal with this. So despite what I saw people complain about in their reviews I think it was done well. Other people called out the over designed elements of this episode and it’s characters.. and I would like to ask those if they have seen the rest of the show…. that is very much how this show is… and that works for me because this show .. teaches us we are shaped by our choices for better or for worse.. we become more unique through the choices that we make so I think the “overdesign” is to an extent intended.

I do get how suddenly all the domino’s coming down to spell out this message may seem out of place as before we only had single lines of bricks falling and now we move to something so much more intense.. yet I really can not say I mind this… I might have preferred to see some elements be built up just a bit more.. or other elements giving some equal attention but this is great as well. Like if you want a chocolat desert of your favourite brand but it’s out of stock and then picking a brand that hits the exact same notes! It might not have been what you wanted but there is no reason to complain either.. and since there is nothing for me to really complain about that means.. we get a very high score.

Animini: That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime -Episode 16- Demon Lord Milim Attacks

Very few Isekai shows feel as wholesome and whimsical as  Slime to me! The episode we feature in today’s Animini to me shows exactly that “feel good” vibe I love this show so much for.. yet it also shows some of the shows weakest points for me! A great episode to be the first to break off from my bulk Sunday review!

The Summary

This episode picks up right after establishing the great Jura Alliance. Gazel Dwargo gifts Rimuru the scientist “Vesta”  whom we have seen earlier in .. I think it was episode 4! But I am too lazy to double check! The asshat guy .. now redeemed becomes a scientist for the village. We also see the Lizard Folk join Rimuru City and finally Gabiru’s sister is named as well.. which transforms her into a very humanoid person with a little dragon fang and some wings. Gabiru evolves further and gets some wings while he is being made a herb farmer down in some caves. Vesta is made the village scientist charged with making potions from those herbs.. like we saw Rimuru do in the very first episode of the show. The village proserpours but it also seems to have gathered some unwanted attention from the demon lords. A pink haired girl in particular takes interest in Rimuru , the Great Jura Alliance and the absence of the great Dragon Veldora and rushes over.

We quickly find out that she is the first person that is stronger than Rimuru. Even while holding back she has 10x the magicules he has. When the ogres attack the Demon Lord known as Milim she quickly beats them without much effort prompting Rimuru to join the fight. Knowing he does not have a chance he decides to feed her honey instead to appease her. Bribing her to give her some more.. as he discovered she has a very childish nature.  He also notices she is flat.. probably because she is so kid like!  Milim likes the honey and the two start talking and Milim asks Rimuru to become a Demon Lord, which he tells he has no interest in. This prompts her into believing he has more fun than Demon Lords who just can fight strong people.. and she joins the village proclaiming herself to be Rimuru’s bestie.. and she gives Gabiru a proper asswhooping.. Finally! She decides to live in the village which Rimuru’s council tells him might invoke the wrath of the other demon lords.. but Rimuru is mostly glad he subdued this powder keg of a woman. 

The Positives

Overall this was a very fun episode that  featured a lot of callbacks, easter eggs, call references and I really do like the character of Milim.. She has pink hair so that already is a plus and she is a type of person I really like. A super strong character but lacking the right persona to  actually take full advantage of that strength. I really do like these types of characters as they allow for character growth without powers spontaneously manifesting.  
In last week’s episode I also mentioned how I liked the growth of the town that once again is given some proper attention. The idea of making the potions one of their main trade goods is great and really ties in with the person Rimuru is.  Plus what we have seen before.. it feels well established and earned. Having Gabiru fail miserably at the task makes it funnier. Vesta being involved in the potions feels like poetic justice.. so from a writing perspective this episode does really well. 

The brief moment of action was also very appealing to me, from Milim’s aura being something very monstrous and explosive to the fake out with Rimuru doing his honey summoning technique. My favourite bit was when Milim punched Gabiru in the face. That hit felt so viceral and the powerful glow she gets in her eyes makes her feel strong.. and similar to Rimuru in a sense.. there is a sense of a tale that still needs to be told surrounding that. I do like the human rendition of the lizard folks as well..I have a weakness for girls with tails or fangs, and while it is a bit of a shame to see them not depicted as Lizards anymore the whole Lizard look lacked the personality they can put into these humanoid forms.  I am not sure I agree with the idea of making her human as a concept..  but for me it did work. I have been known for not liking Lizard people too much though so that may be personal bias.  I do like lizard elements.  All in all I say this episode made a few clever choices that brought a lot of flair and persona to the table for some characters.

The Negatives

I dislike .. a lot.. that Milim wears a barely anything outfit… I dislike that they made Shion’s boobs jiggle in the hottub and I dislike that every female surrounding Rimuru has to be hot and judged by their breast size.  I get this will appeal to some people who like that kind of stuff but I found it obnoxiously present. If Milim is indeed so childish why not reflect it a bit in her outfit as well .. give her a more kidlike outfit.. Why does she have to show so much skin?! It seems to conflict with everything else about her. There is a hot tub scene where Rimuru is alone with the ogre girls and Milim and it feels odd. Shuna seems more uptight.. which makes sense for a princess ..but before she was depicted as more shy and very forgiving yet for some reason she is a real stickler against a demon lord swimming in a hot tub..it felt a bit forced to produce a boob joke later on.

While the storytelling of the episode is great and the visuals are mostly nice, I do think the second half of the episode drags on a bit. That is because this episode does a few “false endings” .. Rimuru says some words in conclusion of a situation that feel like an ending “And that is how a Demon Lord joined our village”,  “So I became besties with a Demon Lord” and the likes after which we mostly get just casual conversations between characters that do not really add anything. I do not mind the idle conversation but I would have placed the Hot-tub scene BEFORE the big speech so we can end on a high note.  Now I ended up checking the timeline twice to see if I had much longer to go because in the end I got bored and wanted the episode to end.. not because it’s  a bad episode persé but because they concluded the episode at the 16 minute mark and the final 7 minutes just give it episode length. It could have been mixed a bit better.

The Score

In the end I have a bit mixed feelings about this episode. In the end I think it is a fine episode because it very much did keep me entertained for the majority of its runtime. It just blew the final few minutes and I honestly felt there was too much of an emphasis on fan-service in this episode.  I wonder what the little slimes were around Rimuru when he was in the tub. Are they actual slimes or where they like bath toys? I am not sure!  It’s perfect light entertainment but it is also an episode that does not hold up when exposed to a more scrutinous eye. 

As this episode most likely is aimed to introduce us to the known villains for the rest of the season we also saw too little for it to have properly done that.  Yet despite those flaws I had a lot of fun with new and old elements being reintroduced. The fact that Rimuru doesn’t always need power to defeat someone is great and the fact he has met someone stronger than him makes this world feel more alive.  So if you are watching the show still by episode 16 I do not think any of these offences it makes are unforgivable.. it just could have been done a bit better, which I know because the show has been better many times over. It does get a positive score from me..  but of the “good” scores it is in the lower range!

Animini: Samurai Flamenco – Episode 17- Ultimate Prime Minister

Hello island guests this is my second Animini review! The series that used to be Saturday Anime Adventure.. but now in small parts!  Today we pick up where I left off with Samurai Flamenco before my move started and that is episode 17! I was not disappointed. I have learned however that I should never play a Sentai in real life! I will get in way over my head! Poor Masayoshi!

The Summary

Masayoshi is welcomed by Goto who knows the police will soon strike to arrest Masayoshi so we are immediately plummeted into some action. Using some weaponised stationary he and Masayoshi manage to escape! Given a new suit Masayoshi is brought to the “base” of the resistance.  Mr Justice as well as Kono are there and tell Samurai Flamenco that he has to stop the Prime Minister right now or every other Sentai will be locked up forever due to a new “Anti-Hero” act coming into effect.  So Goto and Masayoshi try to disrupt his final speech!  Going back to the stationary gadgets of old as well as a new Flamenco suit to get the job done!

However things are not as easy as they may seem! For the Prime Minister is not just a regular prime minister! It is revealed that much like From Beyond Flamenco .. he is a Flamenco too! The government building is on his side and creates a monster for him to combine with! Turning into a sort of Buddha Sentai! The power of his suit increases along with the support he has as a prime minister, thus getting 100% would give him the ultimate power. As he seemingly fights the terrorists the public recognises him as a strong leader and the suit goes stronger. Easily defeating Masayoshi and Goto! However in his final speech he confesses he fooled the public and it is revealed Kono filmed it all with sound.. and thus he quickly loses support. A half unconscious Masayoshi defeats his foe. Then it is revealed that they were all fooled! Mister Justice is actually “Alien Flamenco” an evil force that has took over the world leaders and a 100% powered Prime Minister seemed the only thing standing in between him and world domination! Can Masayoshi clean up this new mess?!

The Positives

I love this episode! I really really really REALLY do! It brings back that old classic Samurai Flamenco with the weird gadgets and the humanity behind the hero. Yet it also managed to combine it with the wackiness of the Flamenger part of the series, as what happened here was absolutely absurd. A roller coaster of plot twists keep the episode interesting and it is backed up with a pretty good fight! A fight that shows Masayoshi with his true friends and hits just enough callback buttons to old episodes to be super satisfying. The Flamen-girls join the fight and we see an improved Mari who willingly takes down the henchmen, finally showing the character has evolved. Moe has a cute moment of not doing anything which suits her very well but it is called out and I am grateful. Seeing Masayoshi and Goto fight the Prime Minister together is also very satisfying.. Even Goto saying he is a Flamenco Policeman felt great.. he finally is an official part of that team and I have been waiting for that. 

The conclusion of this fight is also great. We don’t see the classical “hero finds more strength”  trope that often accompanies this type of fight. Instead we see the enemy get taken down by a politician’s worst foes. The Press.. and Hubris. Of course Masayoshi still gets his finishing move but the Prime Minister already was done for through other means and that  really works in this episode’s favour, sometimes you just have to be the smartest , not the strongest.  The fact that there are many Flamenco in there and it has some deeper meaning reaching even into outer space gives some John Wick or  Saints Row vibes.. where the plot in following installments keeps getting more and more ridiculous! Kind of like Machete and Machete Kills  as well.  I really like when a franchise/series has fun with their IP and I do really enjoy that vibe with Samurai Flamenco as well.  Where the Flamenger part strayed too much from the core message this storyline is much more akin to the series core identity! So I am a happy little girl!

The Negatives

I don’t have a lot of negatives with an episode that I loved this much, let that be clear. If anything I would have to fault some of the music choices earlier in the episode. While the music during the fight is really great … The music leading up to the fight did not match the scene at all. In fact it fit so poorly that I found myself checking if maybe somewhere an add had opened up. It isn’t mixed in that well sometimes even overpowering the dialogue. The fight of the Flamen girls also seemed a bit sloppier in animation than what they used to be.. as if it was the  rushed part of the episode. It isn’t bad but there is a lack of “impact” in their hits. When compared to Masayoshi’s fight or the earlier fight with Goto against the cops. 

These are small gripes though and do not really affect how I feel about the episode. I am not sure if I like Alien Flamenco’s design.. and I know I dislike his spaceship’s design which are slightly bigger gripes but it would be something I just have to get used to. It’s a sligt bit “too” alien and too square. It doesn’t really remind me of a sentai villain. If anything I’d say it would be more fitting to one of those newer Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Series.  I will probably get used to it but for now I find it a bit meh and generic. 

The Score

This is definitely among the better episodes of the series for me! It had some really great moments so far and this episode is almost constantly great, except for maybe some elements I do notice but do not care for THAT much. The show goes into , what I would assume it’s final story arc, super strong and I look forward to seeing the show conclude on a similar level as this.  

I do think with five more episodes there might be still a bit to much show left to let this Alien encounter linger for THAT long, so there might an arc where Masayoshi has to live without being a hero after.. but I do not know.  I look forward to seeing the show conclude as I think the show is reaching its zenith, I am a bit worried about how things will be wrapped up as the show can’t keep up this Formula 1 tempo it has going right now so while this episode does take a risk for the future on it’s own I was very entertained! Highest score in my orchard.

Animini: Digimon Adventure Episode 10 -The Steel Solid Super Evolution

I am back to my lovely Island Guests! After a short vacation to settle into my new town and home I am back with a vengeance! This post is the start of a new feature on my website called the Animini.. a “mini”  review of a single episode of an anime I happened to be watching. Basically.. It’s Saturday Anime Adventure torn to shreds and made into daily anime content with two more shows to follow! But to find out what those new shows are you will have to wait until the end of the week! Until then we pick up my old schedule!  Starting With Digimon Adventure Episode 10!

The Summary

Okay that was a really long intro unbefitting of a mini! But hey I had to tell you what it was all about! Speaking about telling you about things, let me discuss what Episode 10 of Digimon Adventure was all about! We pick up after the apparent death of Ogremon at the hand of Metaltyrannomon we saw in episode 9!  The group is facing an ultimate and that leaves them up a creek without a paddle.  There is no way they can face this behemoth .. yet there is no way to avoid him either.  So the group opts for a tactical retreat so they can come up with a plan of action. Koshiro’s laptop and analysis reveals information that leads them into discovering the headquarters that hold the holy digimon! Two major obstacles however remain in their way.

The first is of course Metaltyrannomon With all the Soundbirdmon..(those are the scanny/evil eye digimon that control other digimon for Devimon)  make escaping unseen rather impossible so Taichi decides to cause a distraction, using Kochiro’s battle data to find a weakness in the behemoth’s offence. Still failing quite bad!  To make matters worse, the rest of the group finds their escape route cut off by a large poisonous bog that you can only traverse if you are tainted by Devimon’s dark Miasma.  When the fight between the courageous boy and his digimon with the Ultimate monster draws close to them… he manages to surpass Greymon’s limit and we see MetalGreymon arriving through super evolution! This wipes the floor with their foe and the group now only has to deal with the bog. There are two ways around with no way to tell if one route is better than the others. They decide to split up.. and while figuring out who goes with who the episode cuts off.

The Positives

Overall we had another great episode, though I must say I was less entertained by it than some other episodes. What it did right once again was the pacing, the setting up things and the cause and effect that this show has going on. My favourite moment of this show was the conflict between Yamato and Taichi.. where Taichi manifests more as the standard Shonen hero that would die in a blaze of glory , Yamato takes a different stance. They are the chosen ones… one of them or all of them are the only thing that can stop the evil. If they die both worlds will suffer, so they can not go around and sacrifice themselves willy nilly It brings some stakes to the show, more than before. They can lose one member but not all. This is also why they split up the group in the end.If one route is easier or the right path.. they have to make sure they travel it.. which can be achieved by splitting up. This way all characters can still shine.

And shine they also do in this episode. Everyone save for Sora has a bit of a moment. Joe takes on the roll of group eldest and breaks apart fights, Mimi can’t deal with conflict as it bursts her little bubble thus highlighting the importance of working together, while also providing some comedy this episode needed in not caring for the property of others..tossing Joe’s books into acid to check out if it is really that acidic. Koshiro’s analysing abilities really shine and Yamato’s tactical prowess help flesh out the story and choices this series makes.

The Negatives

While the episode kept me very entertained, there also was a lot of “clunk” in this episode. The show does make a good point in why they should not attack the Ultimate head on but then the show Taichi and Greymon holding their own single handedly against the thing.. which makes you wonder, would the group not have had a chance?!  Maybe it’s a risk not worth taking.. but there seems something off about the balance of it all. They do provide a pretty sensible reason. But by stretching out the fight as much as they did.. they remove the intensity of the treat a bit, it doesn’t feel proportionate. It is a bit of a nitpick but it did bother me.

While most of the episode is animated properly there are some very weak moments in the fight. A lot of repeat animations as MetalTyrannomon seems to have a very strict attack pattern. This means a lot of the time we see Greymon dodge the same attack over and over again. The scale being on three levels, Taichi being tiny, Greymon being midsize and MetalTyrannomon being large results in the loss of many details on Taichi’s end which sometimes can be a bit obnoxious. The fight itself is pretty cool, with brains really coming into play over sheer brawn and post Super Evolution the animation has this Dragon Ball level of intensity…but some corners here have clearly been cut making it a bit rougher than it needed to be.

The Score

In terms of writing and feel the episode is easily on par with everything we have seen so far. However with some slip ups in the animation and a slight issue in power-scaling result in an episode that is not as good as it should have been.  The idea of not needing Crests or some sort of force  to go beyond is something I am very much on board with however. It brings things much closer to how they are in the Digimon World games or the equally excellent Cyber Sleuth games, this way there will be less hero gate-keeping and the show can introduce any ultimate whenever they want.

I am a big fan for the group splitting up and the whole.. “If at least some of us survive we may be able to save the world”  mentality. It will make it so easy to not offside any of the chosen ones.  The failure of this episode seems kinda inevitable.. they reached a bottleneck and something had to give , had they kept the foe stronger it was too strange that Taichi would have survived, had they had the group attack all at once they would immediately ignore and nullify their own strategy.. so they have written themselves in a bit of a corner here and the way it broke.. is the least annoying they could have chosen… that doesn’t make it any less noticeable though.. so I can’t in good faith call it as good as the rest.. it is still a sweet watch!