Tasogare Otome X Amnesia 2-8 Enjoyable Despite Its Flaws


Tasogare Otome X Amnesia has been a let-down from my initial hopes of telling a tale of loneliness. Being a ghost that is Yuuko when only two people (possibly three) can see you would normally be a lonely experience, however Tasogare turned into a mash-up of silly behavior and attempted thrills when really all we see is Yuuko and Teiichi flirt about. 

Despite the all the humor and lame mysteries that float about the school where Teiichi solves by pointing at Yuuko, there has been a startling increase of actual unprecedented thrills. Every mystery around the school usually falls on Yuuko being the cause, this cause has haunted another student by the name of Yuuko because every girl at school thinks she has something to do with the mysteries. This new Yuuko went off making up a new mystery in hopes of killing ghost Yuuko's name, but nearly ends up dying herself at the hands of her fellow students. This act of intended murder had surprised me as I began to reminisce about the show "Another". Following this episode we are reminded about the whole point of our paranormal group, to find out information on Yuuko's background in hopes of recollecting her memories. I admit I was slightly guilty of forgetting this fact among the random love humor Yuuko and Teiichi repeat in each episode. 


It is funny how the flirting has developed jealousy for Yuuko towards other girls near Teiichi. This normal silliness ends up triggering some actual character conflict and brings forth some thrilling information of Yuuko's memory loss. This sudden turn of events quickly change the atmosphere from lovey dovey humor, into an eerie and unsettling sense of mystery. While this show has not fully converted to the dark side, it gives me hope that I will see a continuation of these suspenseful and creepy moments and possibly more intended suffering other than being pushed down the stairs or holding a knife at someone. 

If you haven't been watching the show I can't say I don't recommend it, but it does retain some form of an eerie atmosphere, but mostly its just romance humor with a side of sadness undertones and thriller-esque twists.

~Djr7

Hyouka 06: Ki ni narimasu!


First up is about the author’s idea of sin and I must say, he has a very wrong idea of sin. Yeah, if you’ve got no pride then you’ve got no self-confidence. But pride only becomes a sin when combined with arrogance or when you regard yourself above other. Also raking in money for one’s family isn’t greed, it’s when you want more money than you need that it becomes a sin. What I’m saying is that these things become a sin when you go overboard with them. It’s much like everything else in this world, too much of anything is bad, well, too much of most things in this world is bad.


I’m sure you guys have already noticed this by now but the way they illustrate sub stories and explanations always differ some each other. With each properly complementing the feel of the sub stories or explanation, this yet again is another small thing that they put a lot of effort into and so I believe must be given some praise. This can also be said with the way they show how Chitanda annoys Oreki (As shown above). Though I would really like to see how they first did it in episode one with Chitandas hair growing and entangling Oreki.


Story wise we see yet another extremely simple plot, this time concerning Chitandas anger. However it was quite confusing to understand the goal that Chitanda set. First they talk about the seven sins, and then Chitanda asks Oreki to solve the reason why she got mad. So she told him the sub story, Oreki finds no problem with the story, then Chitanda changes the question to why the teacher got mad. Oreki solves the mystery and Chitanda says that she overstepped her bounds by yelling at the teacher.


So above was pretty much the summary of the story and it doesn’t really have a goal or a compelling reason to be in the series. So I’ve concluded that this episode is just some sort of bridge to the real story arc to come up. This reasoning is backed up by the way Chitanda reacted after the mystery is solved. But then again, this could be a foreshadowing to another different of story arc.


Despite the small confusion, the pros still outweigh the cons and this is still a good episode.

OkamiSan~

Mirai Nikki - This is how you RUIN a show


Miria Nikki was an amazing experience for the first 12 episodes, offering a great thrill for the most part. The problem with Mirai Nikki, is how badly they tried and tell a story after the first 12 episodes and completely ruin their own formula of character arcs.



Miria Nikki's initial formula was done in the form of character arcs, introducing a new character in the game. Each character in the game was unique, they all had some sort of serious mental scarring or unwavering determination to become the next god of time and space.Throughout each arc, Yukkii began to grow as a character and we learned more mysterious rumors of Yuno, the shining start of the show.


Unfortunately, after the 12th episode, the show does a 90 degree turn towards building up more rumors about Yuno and more build of a final showdown that never happens. All this new information about Yuno, and Yukkii's growth as a character became an annoyance, we no longer had these great character developments for the remaining players in the game. The producers of the show had to dedicate a few episodes directly towards Yukkii's friends in hopes they would shine on their own and give us a break from the randomness of Yuno's behaviour and Yukkii's attempted coming of age story. This change in pace became a Yuno and Yukkii focus on wavering emotions that never matches the feel of the show.
The BEST character in the series IMO.
Everything up until episode 22 was all fine and dandy, the show builds up to an ending I never saw coming. The show made us believe that the world was headed for destruction, with Yukkii becoming trapped by Yuno's deceiving nature and ends up killing everyone trying to help him. After this episode I was pumped for some epic showdown where Yukkii would somehow revert all the horrendous actions he took part in and go out with a bang. Unfortunately the show takes a downward spiral into a "make-it-up-as-we-go-along" story. I won't spoil anything here, but let me tell you something, this was the worst ending to any show I have ever seen. Random flying battles, followed by a fake "everything turned out OK" ending when Yukkii basically ends up sitting the corner with a blanket over his head.

If you wanna ruin your own show, this is how you do it. I would recommend the first 12 episodes for anyone who enjoys thrillers, crazy psychos, and bloody deaths, but after that I felt the show lead me on to expect a half decent ending rather than the shit storm they gave us.

Thrill and action was deserving of an A.
Story plot deserves a C+.
Character development gets an A for the first 12 episodes and an F for the remaining episodes.

~Djr7

 

Sankarea 5-7 Preservation and The Crush

I think it's been a month, but you can blame Tera for keeping me preoccupied.

I will admit, she is a cute zombie
The creators of this show have made an awesome effort to the details behind Rea as a zombie. Being a zombie doesn't mean everything is fine and dandy, a ton of problems arise about maintaining a living dead corpse. Rea was heavily introduced to the show as a trapped soul within her father's domain. Since Rea was turned into a zombie, she is completely reborn, not only in her own mind, but as a new character that requires even more exploring now that she is dead.


I find Rea has an ominous aura surrounding her as she continues to present her self as a normal girl. When lacking her dose of poison, she becomes something that I have no idea how to describe. The zombification of Rea has transformed her into the mystery of the show, she is a very hot topic for Chihiro as he has dropped his interest for a zombie romance and has woken up to the reality that a zombie is among the living despite acting like a regular person.

It was very interesting to find that grandpa was the one who wrote the zombie book and knows how to preserve the living dead, it will be surprising to find out about this Otoki person that Chihiro's grandpa keeps referring to. Otoki isn't the dead grandma's name so I can only imagine it being some other woman the grandpa tried to resurrect.

Bold move Ranko, should have gone through with it
Following the Rea transformation, the show takes a turn down "other character lane" where some other character gets the spotlight for an episode. Ranko had probably the best "other character episode" that I have seen. The development of Ranko's past and how she developed her affection for Chihiro was well presented through the various jumps in time. Usually I see a rushed history and a quick conclusion as to why a character likes the protagonist for no real reason, however Ranko proves to actually show how she developed feelings over time for Chihiro and even ends the episode by making a move on him.


I have more respect for Ranko now as she suddenly pronounces she wont let Rea win, although I don't see that happening since the show is mainly about the dead Hime (princess). I can't believe how many times I almost burst out laughing during this episode, especially when Chihiro and Ranko meet with Yasutaka. This small segment had Chihiro and Yasutaka describing each other in one sentence.

Did the dad not see how messed up his son was?
Did anyone else think Chihiro is one messed up kid? The guys started watching mature horror shows since he was little and actually wanted to dig up a buried corpse based off a rumor.

Overall this is still my favorite episode and I really should try to keep on top of it. Now that I'm almost level 60 in Tera I will have some more time to get caught up with all the shows I am attempting to keep up with.

~Djr7


Hyouka 05: Ice Cream


 
OMG… like amazing. Just… wow… Words simply are an understatement to how well done this episode is. Yeah~yeah, I’ve been saying the same thing in each episode, but seriously. You can’t deny the flawlessness of this episode.
 
 
In the beginning of the episode we finally see the change in Oreki who sees the efforts that others put in their life. So with Chitanda as his first catalyst, he began putting some effort into his life. You can clearly see his change due to the way it can be contrasted to his past self. And I must say they’ve done a better job of conveying a changing character than most other series. Granted the change may be quite fast, I overlooked this since the transition was clear with pretext and not forced. Also it is out weight by the pros of the episode.
 
 
Here Oreki wonders what is rose-coloured life was and from here on begins to put in some effort to the things he does. This “rose-coloured life” thing also seems to have a connection to the back story of Fukube and though small, this is another foreshadowing to his arc. However the foreshadowing is not the main reason for the “rose-coloured life” thing. Its true purpose is to bridge the scene back to Sekitani Juns arc, which fortunately was not over.
 
 
Now this is where Hyouka truly shines. In its core, the mystery story isn’t anything epic or complex; it’s a story so simple its mind boggling to see that it’s amazing. You see its flawlessness from its mere simplicity comes from the way they conveyed and portrayed the story and the way they built the tension towards the end. The story’s shot composition, dialogue, the placement of plots, and the way everything was put together created a scene as moving and as great as this.
 
  
I noticed that another redeeming factor of the series is its grand animation. There are many scenes and shots in the series that have a lot of well-done movement. An example I’ll use is the scene where Ibara helps out the librarian teacher, there is a lot of animation there that the story could do without but they put it there simply to complement the environment and create a better school-like atmosphere. So not only do they put effort into animation directly for the story they also put in extra animation to things that would complement the overall feel of the series.
 
 
I also love the fact that they put effort into the smaller things such are the time lapse of the librarian teacher to 45 years ago, or the reason why the martial arts center is still up, which is apparently was a foreshadowing from episode one, even the reason people called the cultural fair the "Kan'ya Fair", this too was a foreshadowing from episode two. The series may go without these details but it is these details that make the series greater.
 
 
Personally, I find the scene of the rabbit and the wolf (shown as the first image in this post) very moving, it clearly shows the gravity of the situation and the emotions that Chitanda felt. Simply amazing. Also the ice cream pun and how it ties with the club, it is yet again so simple, but it works so well! Really, this series must be celebrated as it does away with complex plots and twist that others try so hard to go with and fail and opts for the simple. It takes this simplicity and surrounds it with other simple features then strengthens the structure of the story leaving its viewers stunned.


Yes, I may be exaggerating the awesomeness of this episode but I’m the kind that either praises what I like with my might or destroys it with everything I got. Also you don’t get to see a series as well done as this everywhere do you? Truly this is a series worth your while.

Ice Cream… for the Sekitani Jun
Ice Cream… for the flawless series
Ice Cream… for Hyouka
Ice Cream…



OkamiSan~

Eureka Seven AO 05-06: All downhill...

Notice the wrong spelling of Summary... 

Okay so the 5th episode was very confusing and not really quite clear with its objective. The only thing I got out of the episode was the fact that it was more of an interlude or an intro into the actual arc. Though the episodes objectives were clearer after watching the 6th instalment I’d wish they made this intro episode with a bit more though into how it blended with the series as a whole and more importantly how the viewers would react to it.


Though episode 5 left much to be desired, episode 6 was a disappointment. The biggest fault of the episode was its failure to convey the seriousness and weight that it wanted to create. Episode 5 introduced Bruno, who apparently is supposed to be someone who we, the viewers, were supposed to get attached to so we could later feel the gravity on his sacrifice. They clearly are trying to get that same feel with the first series where death and gore were part of the world.


And that’s where they fail. As a whole the series looks too brightly coloured with a lacking sense of seriousness in the actions and personalities of its characters, this gives the series a very different feel of theme. Another thing was that they crammed too many things into the episode making Bruno’s death feel forced. Oh and when I said “crammed too many things”, I meant the plot was too short for us to feel any real impact or even see the seriousness of the series.


Now they introduce an actual enemy who doesn’t even seem to have any connection with the mini arc with Bruno. I don’t even see the purpose of this mini arc; the entire series might as well have done better without it! In the end, these two episodes have made the series go downhill due to the lack of any thought to what the crap is the purpose of anything or even the theme they wanted to use.

OkamiSan~

Hyouka 04: Mystery complete... I think


Yet another great episode I must say. Now I know I’m repeating myself in each episode but you can’t deny the amount of effort put into this series. Just from a design perspective one will notice an undivided attention to the smallest detail of the surroundings, backgrounds and props of the characters.


But what about its story? Well in this episode we are introduced to a fairly new way of mystery solving. It’s not the usual gathering of information then at one point solving the mystery. Here each character presents their research, theory, and summary. Then we have Oreki putting them all together from a simple bathroom break. This series really does well to make perfect a simple story line and plot.


Also by the end of the episode you may have felt like the mystery was solved all too quickly and wasn’t over. Well as the preview scenes suggest, this seems to be part of plan as it looks as though there is still something missing. IMO, I’m quite glad they did this as I hoped that each arc would be longer and open more doors to more complex mysteries or a bigger mystery.


At this point I’m finding it quite irritating that they do a little too much to show Oreki’s laziness. I guess the director is exemplifying and making his laziness irritating to the viewers for reasons that would create another story arc later on but it’s too early to tell.


On another note, on the 2nd scene at the beginning of the episode we have Oreki and Fukube talking. And at one point they get into a serious conversation about what Fukube calls “a colourful business”. Heads up to all cause this is clearly a foreshadowing to his story arc. What his arc is about? Well it’s too early to say but going by how awesome the series has been so far, I’m sure it’s gonna be something good.


Btw, for those who care, sorry for the late post. A new season also means  a new semester for me and I’m still adjusting the new schedules I’ve got.

OkamiSan~

Tsuritama 04 - First Catch


I finished my last final exam on Thursday, but I didn't get around to watching this episode until today; I'm so behind! Though it's been a while since I've seen this show, I think it's becoming more obvious that Haru is the thread that connects Yuki to everyone else. That is to say he's the catalyst for Yuki finally being able to make some friends. I've noticed that Yuki only openly speaks with his grandmother in the earlier episodes, but he has opened his mouth more and more around Haru and Natsuki recently.


It seems that they'll be delving into Natsuki's disconnect with his father a little bit more each episode. Haru's brainwash manipulation was well intended, yet was oblivious to natural human behavior. There are some things that you can't force, and can only be smoothed over with time. Like a shaken-up can of soda, Yuki pretty much explodes on Haru, which is something he'll eventually learn to avoid. Keeping stuff bottled up will tend to have that kind of result.


After much Enoshima-donning and studying under Natsuki, Yuki finally manages to catch a fish. His affinity for the big ones sure is strong. It's good to note that the first thing that Yuki wanted to do after he caught the bass was to let Haru know. Is this because Yuki wants to let Haru know he's one step closer to their mysterious alien goal? Or was it because he wanted to share his success with his friend? I think the obvious answer is the latter.


Akira is all geared up and ready to fish, but still hasn't jumped into the fray yet. Perhaps he'll actually be the one competing with our protagonists in catching the "something huge" lurking in the Enoshima waters. Overall, I found this episode rather boring to watch, and I reaffirmed my dislike for Yuki's constant internal shouting. It can really be summed up by saying Yuki and Haru got a bit closer as friends. Hopefully the next episode has more Akira in it!

-Bern

Hyouka 03: Just another excellent episode


Although this episode as proven to be an excellent episode, these isn’t really much to talk about. The episode pretty much speaks for itself leaving nothing wrong to be accused of. All I could talk about is how great of an episode this is, however I’m no writer so I can’t really elaborate when I say “This episode is simply flawless.”


Anyway, another fantastic episode we have here; truly this series is worth much attention. From scene composition to art style, the director does well to show the emotions of the character to the viewers. The same goes for the author of the story; he does an excellent job of creating a unique character driven story by using some excellent ideas combined and built from a basic plot already used by others.


So we’re done with the introductions of episode one and two. Now we’re introduced to what looks like an excellent arc with a well laid out plot. In this arc I find it impressive that they are capable to creating such an atmosphere that draws you in with emotions of the characters even if the actual story is quite simple. That being said, this shows how capable the director is in expressing and portraying the story to the viewers.


The contrast between Oreki’s lazy personality vs his “smart-ass” personality is again, really well depicted. We also get to see a bit of his evil side while he blackmails his upperclassman. In the end, I’m really loving the series and am thrilled to know that this is a 21 episode series.

OkamiSan~

Pearz' Updateless Update


So it has been 2 weeks since my last update, no, I have not died. It has just been the busiest month and I am too tired to make posts when I get home. I keep up with all my shows, though usually late except for Fate/Zero. It probably won't be until next month when things calm down before I start posting again.

That being said, a majority of the team at Clan Rain will be attending Anime North! Leave a message if you are interested, it will be most of our first time going to a con so we have no idea what to expect. Hopefully it will be fun, I'll make a post with some pics and stories of that!

~Pearz

Euraka Seven AO 01-04: So... wheres Renton?


I had plans to do posts on this series since episode one but circumstances has rendered me unable. There were a ton of things to do in the past few weeks.


Anyway, I have always been a fan of the Eureka Seven series for its fabulous character development and its heart melting romance. Though its ending is to me, questionable, I can’t help but fall for its action and drama. With coming of its sequel, Eureka Seven AO, I hoped to see the reunion of our hero and heroine in the first series.


Watching the first few episodes it’s clear that, for now, the goal is to find Eureka and stop the raging Scab Coral, all the while holding back and running from some big organizations. Quite similar to the first series, however I see little reason for our hero, Ao Fukai, to develop as Renton of the first series did. Hence not much character development, but if any, AO gets stronger in fighting or something like that. This makes me think that the series won’t be as big as the first but meh~, it’s a series worth my attention none the less.

In the first episode the setting left me confused as to where and when they are at. After the first series it was clear that the planet they are living in is our own planet Earth, just ravaged by the Scab Coral. Now in this series, set ten years later, their Earth is now more like our own Earth, with America, Japan and the like.


Now for the bigger question, where is Renton!?! In the end of the first series, Renton and his adopted children go back to earth waiting for Eureka’s return as she stayed with the Scab Coral. In this series we see her returning with Renton’s son. And although, the entire series focuses on Ao as the main hero, I am much~much more interested to know the story behind Eureka and what Renton is doing about it as I am already a fan of the first series and my bond with them is greater than those in this AO series.


Overall a series definitely worth much of my attention, as I’m extremely excited to see how this sequel unravels and to know the continuing story behind Renton and Eureka.
OkamiSan~