Clown’s Prescription

Everything seems to be fitting into place, bit by bit like a puzzle piece… And actually, I think Karneval is turning out to be quite different than I imagined it to be. With Varuga found in Gareki’s home village, yet even more blood and tears are shed…

What can I say? My predictions were correct. As I sat and watched this episode, I actually began to think maybe the drugs that the doctor was giving Yotaka and Tsubame were actually tests to try and turn Varuga into humans. … And indeed, I was actually correct. And once I realised this, things seem to be fitting into place. The Varuga are a much larger problem than we even expected. What are they, where do they come from and what is their mission? For world domination? To overtake the human race?

Episode 5 of Karneval was a quick-paced episode and I couldn’t stop watching. Throughout the beginning I found myself leaning more and more off the egde of my seat in suspsense. I also think Karneval has got a much darker feel or emotion to it than I actually first expected, in a way, but either way, I’m still enjoying it lots. The main question is, is what’s going to happen now, in episode 6? Karneval is always opening up new possibilites, so you can always expect the unexpected with this anime, which is what I like.

Anyway. At the beginning of the episode, we see Yotaka fazed, after he seems to have murdered yet another man after he was under the influence of the strange drugs he was fed by Tsubaki’s boyfriend, the odd doctor. Because the family are so poor, they had to accept the drug trials as they would get money for it, however, these drugs had left a much worse impact on the twins than they had actually expected. Yogi dashes off to go after Yotaka and get the boy, and try and convince him not to fight, with Gareki also following Yogi.

What I love is that we can see a very small friendship blooming between Gareki and Nai too. Even though they are like polar opposites, they do share some similarities and ways they can relate to each other. Gareki has people who mean a lot to him, and he wants to save them and let them live happy lives. He wants to see Tsubame and Yotaka, much like Nai wants to see Karoku (who is still much of a mystery to us). Gareki urges Nai to go off and find Karoku, however, stubborn Nai decides he doesn’t want this. Nai is very clingy to Gareki but… We soon realise that as Nai spends more time with Gareki, Gareki begins to care more and more about Nai. Either way, Gareki runs off and Nai is left confused and upset by Gareki’s harsh words. I suppose maybe Nai cannot understand that whilst Gareki may have seemed harsh, he was only saying that to be nice. And I do feel a little sorry for Nai because, well, what with him being a Niji, it seems he can’t understand everything very well, yet always has rays of optimism beaming out of him all the time.

Anyway, so Yogi begins to fight Yotaka in the air using “special Circus-like powers” (I really do wonder how they manage to get these powers… How do you even get recruited into the Circus in the first place?), and Yotaka begins to transform and grow even stronger. He ends up injuring and wounding Yogi, knocking him unconscious to the ground. Oblivious to it all, Nai strolls the empty village roads and finds Tsubame sitting by a building with blood also on her hands. It seems maybe the drug’s effects are a lot weaker on her. I never understood why, although all I just presumed was because maybe they have less of an effect on a girl… Oh, who knows? I just find it strange how Yotaka and Tsubame are even twins… They’re completely different to one and other in so many ways. Anyway, a strange man stands by Tsubame. At FIRST, I thought it was Akari-sensei, however, I soon twigged that it was actually the man who was running the drug tests on the twins, and also… Tsubaki’s ex-boyfriend. Nai quickly grabs Tsubame by her bloody hand and runs for it. Despite Tsubame being a murderer, Nai can understand that Tsubame is really a good person. Which was quite sweet, actually. Nai may be a little naive, yet he can be a very… Open person, I suppose.

Back to the battle with Yogi and Yotaka, and Yogi goes to inspect Yotaka. It seems Yogi had no intention of killing Yotaka (which is, well, very typical of the lazy Yogi), but as he looks up, we notice the strange doctor holding both Tsubame and Nai. As Tsubame tries to struggle away, we all seem to have forgotten about Gareki. Yet, our mysterious bishie appears to save the day, whacking the doctor right from behind with one of the strange metal beams he found.

It is at this point we discover that the doctor was running the drug tests on numerous other children… In which the drugs turn them into Varuga. It all seemed too much to take in at once, and the fact that technically Yotaka had killed Tsubaki once he began to resonate and turn into Varuga for the first time. However, Gareki can’t accept this. Yotaka would not have wanted to kill Tsubaki, and I’m sure even Nai could understand this. It was the doctor’s fault. He could not have cared for Tsubaki as much as he said he did. He was using her, and using her children for his cruel experiments. But, why was Yotaka the only one able to turn into the Varuga? Well, it seemed that Yotaka was much like Gareki too. He may seem harsh with his words, but he does care about his twin sister. He began to take Tsubame’s portion of the drugs, and also began to take more and more just for the money he would be given, because his family was so poor.

Tears begin to shed. But what tops it all off… Is the doctor is also a Varuga. Gareki runs and tries to attack the man, but the doctor resists. He begins to beam a strange sort of ray at Yotaka. Whilst Yotaka tries to resist after hearing Tsubame’s kind words, he cannot help it any longer, as he turns more and more into a monster. Yotaka screams for help, and begs for Gareki to kill him. At this point I am sure many people are also shedding tears with Yotaka… So just as Gareki turns to kill his best friend (which, even poor Gareki, as tough as he may try and seem struggles to do), when all of a sudden, a spear from out of the sky impales Yotaka right through the chest. As Yotaka says his last good byes, he rises back into the sky, telling his sister Tsubame “Fly somewhere far away.”

But who was the one who impaled Yotaka through the chest? … Hirato.

Episode 06

After a brilliant and varied episode of Hataraku, we’re back to the usual daily antics of part time work and pretty much nothing else.

-The Demon Lord Climbs the Stairs to School-

Almost everyone was right with their predictions; Lucifer (now Urushihara), has joined them in their paradise and lavish lifestyle of minimum wage and two room homes. So to help out with the problem, he becomes a NEET. Not only is he not helping them to earn money, he’s also spending the little they do earn online. Maou is such a sweetie. I wouldn’t have given in and bought him a computer. Although gullible would be more of a word to describe him. This computer isn’t there for any old reason though, it has a purpose. A plot focussed purpose that is just so important you couldn’t dream of them leaving it out. That would be a prank call. What else do you do when you first get access to the internet? You get on Skype, and you prank call. For reference, this was how Lucifer called Emi while she was at work.

Next we find out that Miki T is so sexy it’s sickening. I think that’s what the concept was at least. Or was she ugly.. nah. Lucifer and Ashiya clearly haven’t seen anyone this beautiful and start puking and what looks like almost dying after seeing her bikini picture. It warms your heart. So Lucifer only got bought the computer because he told Maou that he could get information about magic on it. He tells them that there’s a defunct school building with a haunted classroom. Of course this turns out to be a building of the school Chiho goes to. How else would they fit her into the plot without looking desperate? I will say she seems to act a lot better towards her friends when it comes to Maou being her crush when you compared her to other anime girls. Not the typical “Ew no I totally don’t like this guy he’s just a friend” crap. Honesty is so beautiful.

Naturally, Chiho takes them to the school building because, y’know that’s how this stuff works right? In the middle of the search for the classroom, Emi shows up. Why? The show is desperate, that’s why. I’m all for making use of your characters but really? Not even a reason, she just shows up randomly. Nobody even knows how she found out. Unless she’s some sort of crazed lunatic stalker. Which she kind of is. They make good use of her anyway; she chases Maou and the others and thinks she’s cornered them, then attacks an anatomical model thinking it was Maou. It was actually hilarious. At this point the only thing I wish there was more of is moments like this.

Moving on, they reach the haunted classroom and it looks like someone had been hiding there. Nothing scary, just a dark room full of empty snack wrappers and a handheld games console. You could see this coming. The classroom isn’t haunted, it’s just where Urushihara and Orba ended up when coming through the gate, and they ended up living there. Turns out the whole thing was a fetch quest. Urushihara had left his games console there and just wanted Maou to get it for him. I would have killed him, I honestly would have. Another good episode regardless. I hope Urushihara gets a job though, it’s annoying seeing him sit at his computer all day.

-

“Sigh of the Mermaid” and the 3 Cabelleros

It’s good to see that Circus is back to its usual hectic routine now, after the depressing episodes we had to endure at Gareki’s hometown. All you need is a parade, a damsel in distress and Gareki wearing the Nyanperona suit, and it’s already a recipe for disaster.

What is even going on in this anime anymore? Is there even a plot or storyline? I understand the fact that it’s based around the Circus organisation and they’re trying to stop the Varuga and whoever is causing these… Hideous creatures existance but, what is next? Is that it? It feels like it’s all come to a stand still, and it doesn’t help when you have a filler episode like this to slow the pace of the anime.

Needless to say I did enjoy it much more than the previous episodes which we saw in Gareki’s hometown, because it was at least a bit more humorous. And in a way, I can’t say I found the episodes in the village all that emotional. I never got chance to really connect or get to know the characters there – Yotaka and Tsubame – so when I found out this episode that they had already killed Tsubame to run tests on her, I didn’t really know how to react. I was expressionless… I mean, when Yotaka died, I did say “awww” to myself, but that was literally it. It’s like they simply dropped all that tense and suspense at the end of the last episode and forgot about it and merely moved on. Episodes 5 and 6 were depressing, so naturally even Gareki feels the same after the death of this “brother and sister”, so Yogi deems it a good idea to invite Nai and Gareki to the parade they’re holding in town again. Which, as we all know, after the first or second episode in the parade, it really wouldn’t be so much of a good idea.

Anyway, regardless of the fact that Nai and Gareki really aren’t members of Circus (in fact, I nearly forgot what they were even doing there, but then I remembered they were or should be running tests on them, of which that idea seems to have gone out the window), I think we’re missing too much time of seeing the whole Circus group, so maybe it was nice to catch up with them. But I still feel some characters are much of a mystery. Even though they may only be a minor character, it’s like we completely skipped the introduction with them and it really feels unnatural (eg: Kiichi… Who even IS she?!).

But one thing that really made my day is when Kiichi runs up to Yogi and says they’re missing one of the security rabbits (really couldn’t think up an imaginative name for this one could they?), meaning only ONE person could possibly fit inside the Nyan-perona suit or… Kind of. And if you exclude Nai… Then that means Gareki would be fit for the job. SERIOUSLY. You could not have made that poor BOY even more depressed! Seriously! He’s LOST his poor “sister” Tsubame after she sacrificed her life for the further research on Varuga and NOW you’re making him dress up as a… I… I don’t even know… It’s just humiliation at its finest, but I couldn’t help but laugh a little at poor Gareki’s misfortune as he handed out the candy bars to the little kids: In fact that in itself sounds creepy enough as it is.

Anyway, over at the stage, Jiki and Tsukumo are rehearsing for a perfomance later on… And as Jiki declares his love for the beautiful mermaid he had captured and was utterly and truly infatuated with upon first sight, we notice Tsukumo wearing… A… Horse… Suit? Aha, what is up with Karneval and animal costumes?

But we soon see the strange rabbit at the stage and because the rabbit is malfunctioning, it will try and do everything it can to protect people which is… Weird, I guess, and doesn’t make much sense, but he seals the small tube of water in which Tsukumo is in, so she can’t escape… In the actual performance. And the water has risen to the top. Come on, this kind of problem is pathetic compared to what large a scale Circus are usually used to dealing with criminals and all sorts of top secret missions, yet they can’t even BREAK open the glass. Anyway, during the performance, super Gareki (without the Nyan perona suit), Nai, and Yogi all manage to save poor Tsukumo from drowning, whilst Iva decides to deal with Jiki herself whilst humiliating him on stage by getting him to call her “my Queen”. Oh dear.

Anyway, despite all the chaos, it seems Garek is back to his usual self and earlier on, after what Nai said about his definition of family, it feels like that the two eccentric boys have really found true family at Circus, which is what I feel like they were hinting at the whole time. Sure they may run into trouble like that, but deep down, they’re all together and all trying to help each other and to have fun, which was quite sweet and a nice way to end the episode. But, sadly, I really have no idea what’s going to happen next episode.. But I do hope that Karneval decides to take a step in the right direction and manage to get the story going yet again.

A Soldier’s Duty

I was right. I was actually right. It seemed to me for the moment that the Gargantia was going to actually be attacked by the tentacle equipped “Hideauze” sea creature, and everyone on the fleet seemed genuinely frightened by the “sacred” slimy creature. Oh, great. Well at least they managed to get back to the plot now.

A good episode! After two episodes of what felt like just purely fanservice, I’m glad that they quickly turned the plot back round and got back on track. Back to the old Gargantia we knew and love, and back to the same Ledo we love. Hm, but either way, it seems that the peculiar Ledo attacked last episode was actually a whale squid or something like that. We soon learn how that these underwater beings are actually seen as “sacred” (trust it to be tentacles…) and because Ledo killed the squid, the whole fleet will now be cursed. Or maybe, just maybe, they really ought to move on from their pathetic superstitions and move on: Ledo didn’t know. He was only doing what was right, because he automatically assumed it was the Hideauze. Sure, maybe attacking it out of the blue was a little wrong, but I suppose if that were you you’d probably react the same or flee: It’s just human nature, and I know Ledo is from outer-space and all that, but he is still a human and still has that same human nature we all own. Nobody told him, so it was okay, right?

Wrong. Just after him killing ONE whale squid, it’s like the whole world is against him… Or the fleet. But I feel a bit sorry for Ledo. It must be difficult just coming from outer-space and spending so many happy days with the new friends he’s made and suddenly he tries to do what is right to defend the Gargantia and now people are honestly fearing for their lives. I suppose you can’t ditch your own beliefs and superstitions and etc, so I can see both sides of it. And at the moment, I feel like we’re leaning more to Ledo’s side and perspective. Because sometimes, Ledo does things that we can’t understand or we feel like we can empathize more with the people on the Gargantia more, so it’s like we can view it from their perspective and view at times (like in episode 6), and other times we can see it through Ledo’s eyes, which is pretty neat, because it’s like we can connect with both kinda… “Worlds”, and learn more about it at the same time.

Back on topic, and as soon as Pinion learns of the quirky Ledo’s sudden attack on the whale squid, Pinion is begging the young boy to come salvage with him, after it’s believed that there’s lots of treasure by the whale squid base: Although that being said, no one has ever managed to get close to the base, so how he knows well… Well, I’m guessing it may have been a load of…

But the whale squid won’t go down without a fight! Oh no! It seems a LARGE shoal of them is approaching. Oh damn. Looks like maybe my predictions of a giant tentacle monster attacking the fleet may actually have been true, or near abouts, but I was let down when they simply swam on by. But it was pretty tense, I’ll give ‘em that, with Ledo and Amy at gunpoint from Ridgett. Although, it’s not like I was expecting her to fire at the pair, since I too was focusing as to what was going on underwater, and so it seems everyone else was as well. But as they passed by, everyone soon began to realise that maybe the whale squid weren’t out to attack them, but I’m sure Ledo thought otherwise. I’m beginning to understand a little more now: Ledo thought that the whale squid was the Hideauze because they are of the same species, so naturally they’ll have the same instinct so… Maybe at the end of the anime, who knows? We might get to see an epic battle scene between Ledo and the Hideauze Whale-Squid!

So when the fleet learn the whale squid aren’t going to hurt them, it seems that everyone else is jumping on the bandwagon… Pinion’s bandwagon, but some are still a little uncertain on the idea. So, will they be led by their greedy ways and human nature, or do what is best for the safety of the fleet? And what about Ledo? … And how will he get home?

A Dim Light in the Darkness of Despair: Mankind’s Comeback, Part 1

Night of the Graduation Ceremony: Mankind’s Comeback, Part 2

First Battle: Battle of Trost District, Part 1

The World She Saw: Battle of Trost District, Part 2

The Tiny Blade: Battle of Trost District, Part 3

As someone who has recently read the manga, the first 7 episodes of AoT made me wish I hadn’t. It’s that good.

Sometimes you can get lost in the spectacle, but AoT offers something that hasn’t graced anime for a long time. The pacing is lightning fast, but never loses you in its story telling. Each episode offers a new perspective of hopelessness but also a glimmer or hope for mankind.

With a combination of the animation, music and story telling, AoT isn’t something that you should miss this season. If I hadn’t already read the manga and knew what was going to happen, I may be tearing my hair out at the end of each episode. Thanks to Doofus and Dusk for making me read it, by the way(not really, I read it on my own…).

I really like what it did in regards to the pacing of the story. The third and fourth episode features Eren, Armin and Mikasa training to be soldiers to fight against the titans.  It’s here we meet the rest of the cast and it’s here we catch glimpses of what’s to come. There are a few standouts along with some that will take time to develop, but the first thing I thought when I saw the size of the cast was a lot of people were going to die.

In the manga, the training camp didn’t actually happen until the 15th chapter or so. I guess they wanted to get right into the action, but I admit it certainly betrayed the flow of the series. There was no slowing down and little time for the characters to develop. The development and back story didn’t come until later in the series when it actually showed the training camp in the manga. I thought it was a great move to put them right now as it certainly gave a better introduction to the characters. I can look at everyone in the anime and know who they are, but I couldn’t say I was able to do that in the early chapters of the manga.

I have to say this consistency is so far working better for the anime than the “action first” route the manga took. It is something that I feel it suffered through most of it, though I still enjoyed the hell out of it.

This is all contrasted by the excellent action scenes. The manga doesn’t have the best art, and it’s hard to show how exhilarating flying through the air fighting giant monsters is. They do look creepy, but the anime, coupled with the music, just knocks it out of the park. I get goosebumps no matter how many times I watch it. And can’t wait to see how they’ll adapt the rest, though I totally regret spoiling myself on everything!

I’m glad with how they adapted the Mikasa back story and how they handled the scenes. It was probably even more chilling than the manga, despite it being less gruesome. One thing I didn’t notice was Mikasa breaking the floor when she killed the person choking Eren. What significance does this have? Was it simple physics she was able to do that or does it foreshadow something else?

Now, I kept this rather short. It was four episodes but I don’t care all that much. The last episode ended with a rogue-like titan going crazy and attacking his own kind. The way is was animated reminded me a lot of berserker EVA, but I wonder who it could be? Huehuehue.

Doofus is expected to be back to covering this.

I Can Hear a Heartbeat: Battle of Trost District, Part 4

Jean steals the show and we find out just what the berserker titan is… Or should I say who? I think you’ve already guessed it.

Armin and Jean just proved to the SnG viewers that they’re some of the strongest characters this season. Sure, Armin is kind of a pussy and Jean can be a dick, but they also are showing other dimensions to their characters that can make them likable. Under high stress situations, Armin knows exactly the kind of chances he has to take. Jean is the same way, though instead of making calculated plans he is more of a reactionary and it works out for him in the end… Most of the time.

We’re also seeing a more human side for Jean, as although every decision he has made has probably been the correct one, it doesn’t come without consequences. He is one of the better people at using 3D mobility gear, but he isn’t strong enough to take on titans by himself – that’s a job for Mikasa and Rivaille(fangirled over flashing his character in the next episode). What Jean excels at is being weak himself and knowing the limitations of the average person. If he was calling the shots in a higher up position, I can guarantee a lot more soldiers and civilians would be alive. It’s something that I’m sure every damn person in that building is happy for. I’m sure if Mikasa was leading she wouldn’t have been able to know or realize the others couldn’t keep up with her, so it’s much better to have someone like Jean in charge.

I guess I can finally call EVA U1 Eren now? I mean, I dunno, my brother was continually texting me as he was watching to let me know it was exactly like Berserker EVA, and the whole time I wanted to spoil him. I mean, for everyone watching who hasn’t read the manga… Was there really any doubt of who the titan was? Who else could it be? His rampage was awesome; especially when he used the body of the abnormal titan that killed Thomas to smash all the other titans around him. Not to mention the titan punt – some say that the titan is still flying through the air to this day.

God damn, Sasha is pretty awesome but useless so far. Is it just me or was that scene was a little differently in the manga. I felt like that was showing Sasha’s humourous side and the voice actor gave her a feeling of being too scared if that makes sense. Perhaps it’s just me, but I remember the scene itself being a little more hilarious when Sasha tried to talk her way out of being eaten… Was still hilarious when she thanked Mikasa though, so I’m thankful for that. Also for the Sasha fans who haven’t read the manga, she’ll get her redemption soon enough. Just wait and see!

If I were to say some negatives of this episode, I’d have to say that the production values are slipping a bit. For example, there was a scene where Reiner was telling a joke about sticking his blade up the titans ass as they were walking down the stairs… Now, it was hilarious, but the scene itself was literally a still shot. I don’t really see any reason for that to be one other than the animators were cutting corners with their budget. Eren’s rampage was also noticeably less extravagant as other “epic” scenes – such as when he first appeared in his titan form and when the armoured titan first appeared. These are some of my favourite parts in the manga, and I wish they had kept the production values as high as the last few episodes. It’s all I’m saying.

EPISODE 9 WHERE? Geez, I may have actually killed someone in anticipation for what was to happen next if I didn’t already know what was going to happen. Just be careful you don’t run into any spoilers like I did. You non-manga readers are strong minded – I’ll give you that.

Snow Box

Who would have thought our sweet and fun-loving Yogi could turn into an insane, crazy, yandere for Gareki  monster?

If you asked me to describe Karneval in 3 words my answer would be: … what’s going on?

Seriously.

I can’t even follow this anime anymore.

It’s too stop-start-y. The plot doesn’t flow. It’s like ONE minute “damn, tension in the air, something’s about to go down and I don’t like the sounds of this” and THEN THEY STOP JUST FOR EXTRA POINTLESS DIALOGUE AND YOU’RE LEFT THINKING “… wait, what?”. Even I keep forgetting what they’re trying to do with their research. Yes sure, they reiterate the importance of Kafka and Varuga nearly every damn episode but it’s kinda like when they do encounter Varuga, it’s a very short moment and any action and tension that was apparent earlier on simmers down. Now I’m just forgetting why they’re researching it. Why do they even care so much for Gareki and Nai? Like, there are still so many unanswered questions and I don’t think we’re going to get any answers to them anytime soon. Maybe we won’t get any. Maybe once they close the curtains, we will be sat there, contemplating life. Contemplating Karneval. Contemplating why such a promising anime turned out to be such a disappointment. Well, unless some serious plot-twists are lying ahead, I don’t think Karneval will be getting high ratings from me, but I will persist with this, and I will persist in writing about it. Because despite the fact it’s growing a little boring, I can’t help but love the characters, the scenery, the art, the atmosphere it gives me. Yeah.

So what about this episode? Okay, so Yogi, Tsukumo, Gareki and Nai all head off out to a small snow town for some reason as a “present”, to research on Kafka – also, who are Kafka again? Like, I know they’re the organization that are behind all the incidents with Varuga, but we know barely anything about them. Shows what successful research they’re having and how efficient these Circus workers really are… – and are given a small present to keep themselves warm whilst out in the bitterly cold blizzard: A… Warm snowman? Named Yukkin. Of course Nai grows immediately attached the cute little thing, but as they begin to head back to the town they’re staying in after ransacking the mansion for any possible documents on Kafka, they discover Yukkin is missing, and they run into some random people who are all about “cool gear”. Yeah, cool gear… I dunno if what they were wearing was classed as cool gear, because I personally thought they looked like a pair of clowns. Look:

yeah… real cool gear, guys. so anyway, they find this Yukkin and they steal it. And lots of hilarity ensues and Gareki and Yogi and Nai all find this underground tunnel with this weird room with a doll and old toys (okay, now what is up with that?). Somehow when they two boys attack Tsukumo, they trap the other guys from Circus in the underground hole, but using a bomb made from the stuff in this secret room they manage to get back to save Tsukumo… they fight, Nai and Tsukumo run away, the two boys who I swear are “Varuga” (well, that’s what Tsukumo said I think), they manage to make Gareki and Yogi blind, and as Yogi is kicked in the face, a small plaster on his face falls off, he turns insane and… his hair goes white and eyes go red? Like, I dunno. Either way, something tells me maybe Yogi might be a Niji too from this (well done Sherlock…), but meh, It’s all so half-hearted. I just… I don’t know. It’s like half-way through when they fight, Yogi and Gareki just stop and talk about being friends and stupid ridiculous stuff like that. Let’s face it: In reality, if YOU were attacked by two freaks like that, I’m sure your natural instinct would to either run or to retaliate… NOT TO STOP AND TALK…. That’s what I meant when I say the story really doesn’t flow. I’m let down by Karneval. it’s a true shame.

… Well if there’s one notable thing I quite like, it’s that I like the use of all the different scenery and pretty locations they go to, but I guess that’s it. It has a really charming atmosphere, but the story itself is lacking.

(Also, is it me, but I think Yogi may be in love with Gareki? Who knows… Maybe we’ll see a small love bloom between the pair. That might be the one exciting thing that comes from this anime.)

Separation

This episode name is exactly as it sounds. The separation of friendship, the separation of the Gargantia… The separation of Ledo and Amy.

So now yet another break in the anime from the action and the whole… Hideauze thing going on, but more dilemmas must be faced when tough problems arise, and it’s not just people like Amy who will have to deal with the heartbreak of her new friend Ledo and Melty living the Gargantia when Flange’s fleet decides to split off from them in order for them to hunt down more of the whalesquid. Which is understandable, since many on the Gargantia are still all rather superstitious over it, but now with the commander gone, his funeral well under way and now Ridget is left in charge, what will be the fate of the fleet?

Of course it was quite nice because in episode 8 we really see the weaknesses of these characters as they go through problems that might be unique to the own Gargantia itself, or maybe just general problems as a whole, and seeing how they cope and deal with it. Because even though they live in the future earth, they are still human beings of course and… Human nature, human reactions… They still all have them, and even Ledo does when he chooses to go with Flange’s fleet in order to hunt down the Hideauze so he can protect Amy and Bebel from any trouble. Which is quite sweet, because despite all the havoc and mayhem we have seen Ledo cause and dragging his new friends into it, a friendship has bloomed between the two of them (although it seems maybe Amy wanted more than just a friendship with Ledo…).

Another problem poor Ledo must face is the fact he won’t be able to return back to his home in space… Which means he has no choice but to stay on the fleet. See, whilst you may be feeling all sorry for poor little Ridget, how would YOU feel if you were Ledo? Crash landed on earth, just about managed to speak the language to an acceptable standard, being rejected by those who live in the fleet due to him being from “outer-space” and can’t even get a decent job to do… And now he must live like this everyday. When you look at it through his perspective, then damn, it sure must be daunting. The only way he’d be able to get back to his home in space was if they travelled at the speed of light… But I sure do hope that Ledo gets to go home again soon.

So at the end of this episode, everything is resolved. With a little bit of help from Bellows, Ridget attends the commander’s funeral and with a new brave face on, she decides to tackle the job of being in charge of the Gargantia full on. And I really congratulate her for that! Because after she was criticized more by the veterans of the ship for being chosen and being believed she’s too weak (maybe even because they judged she’s a woman she would be incapable of doing a good job), she decided to prove them wrong, but of course she wouldn’t be able to do it all alone. The Gargantia is like a big family, and they all need to work together to keep life on the fleet flowing… Well, that’s the way I saw it. Ledo decided to leave with Flange’s fleet with Pinion, leaving Amy behind, but promises he will protect both her and Bebel from the underwater Hideauze, and Amy decides to stay with the Gargantia, to look after her brother. So there.

But my only problem is… Is how are they going to even call it Suisei no Gargantia now? It just won’t be the same without Ledo… How will they both follow two different stories going on at once? All I can guess is that… Maybe, Ledo and his crew end up running into a bit of trouble… Leaving them with no choice but to return to the Gargantia. Well, it’s always a happy ending so… Hm. We’ll see next time.

Blue Rose

So Karneval finally decided to shift into gear and get moving, at last! Somewhere, there is a plot forming, and I think that many secrets of Kafka, Varuga and even Karoku will soon be released. Oh, I can’t wait! Despite all the boring episodes of Karneval that we were presented with, week after week of just filler episodes, episodes of nothing, episodes of just… what… what?! But finally, FINALLY my prayers have been answered. I can’t say that Karneval is the best anime of this season and I doubt it’ll struggle to get a high rating from me anymore, but damn, I would really like a good ending from this show so at least it can end on a high note. So what happened this episode?

Well first off, those weird Varuga guys took off and kidnapped Tsukumo… But I don’t even know who they are. Of course they must be working with Kafka, but that’s pretty much it. Varuga are still much of a mystery to us and so are many of the characters in Karneval but I am hoping that our questions will be answered soon, because I’m just forever referring to this freaky duo as the “cool gear guys”. Heh. Yogi, Gareki and Nai make it back, and Nai and Gareki find out about Yogi’s strange condition from Akari-sensei (also, why is Yogi so afraid of him?!), apparently it being an allergic reaction to Varuga… Something like that. But that’s pretty strange, don’t you think? I’m still confused by Akari-sensei’s explanation of it all, but why is Yogi allergic to it? Is there or is there not a reason… and well, if Circus’ main priority is dealing with Varuga, then why is Yogi even working with Circus? He would have to make contact with Varuga of course, but… Still that’s a great risk. Anyway, Yogi was carrying around a box with him and this contained key evidence which could completely cripple the state of Kafka and its organisation with Varuga… But sadly he lost it. Gee… And guess where it is…

After that, we see Tsukumo at a large mansion, where they’re holding a party and we also see the cool gear guys there, along with the pink plait girl (who is called Erisyuka, but she is still yet another pointless character, and also a little brat by the looks of it, constantly obsessing over her Karoku) and her servant Uro (also the man in possession of the box), so now we’re in trouble. I was looking forward to a good party-crashing, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Come on, Circus… You’re the guys filled with the best entertainment, maybe that’s even why you’re called Circus. I would have totally loved to have seen them all gatecrash this posh party, retrieve that evidence, bring down Kafka and end it at that! But no, my wishes won’t be granted. After Erisyuka spots Tsukumo, she recognizes her from the train incident and of course, Tsukumo quickly flees, but ends up running to a large greenhouse, in which she encounters Karoku who… Kills her? With a simple stab of a special spike in his ring… wow… I really don’t understand this. Either way, this Karoku guy seems suspicious to me and obviously belongs or is related to Kafka in one way or another, so i think it’ll be a tough decision for Nai when he has to pick who to side with in the end: Circus or Kafka? And honest, I think he’ll always side with Circus. They’re the ones who protected him, looked after him and went through all that trouble for him… And he has his precious Gareki too~

Either way the main problem with Karneval at the moment is the lack of character development. Okay sure: You’ve got the likes of Yogi, Gareki, Nai… People like that. But then there are people like Tsukumo, who get one measly episode of development in which she says how she will only die for her friends, ends up dying anyway and etc etc. It’s a bit sad how they’re missing out on such a crucial detail, especially since Tsukumo WAS one of the main characters but… Nonetheless, at least the plot flowed a bit better than last week, and I have my fingers crossed for a good episode of action next week.

The Left Arm’s Trace: Battle of Trost District, Part 5

Finally we get to see someone other than Mikasa killing the titans. Levi will most likely take most of the spotlight, but how about that ending?

I think it’s time we gave Levi, Hanji and the rest of the Recon Corps a proper introduction. I guess you could call the first scene “filler”, but who cares? We didn’t get to see them doing anything for a good chunk of the manga so it was pretty awesome to see. Levi, although a cold individual, is shown to really care for his comrades. Once again, the anime managed to surpass the manga as far as consistency of the plot and storytelling goes.

I just want to take a second to express my appreciation of the soundtrack and animation. Although it was kind of hilarious when it showed Armin’s initial face after seeing Eren alive(literally laughed out loud; he looks like a statue), the eyes coupled with the use of shading and faces excellently showcase the emotions of the characters without them saying a word.

I never really understood why he decided to ask the question of he was human or a titan. Was it because he wanted to test if he was lying? Perhaps if he answered he was a titan they may have attempted to get more out of them, though we’ll never know. I really hate that guy… Everything from his voice to his voice actor to the way he acts.

One thing that I didn’t notice in the manga because of the black and white colouring was the flash of orange before Eren turned – the exact same flash of orange before the colossal titan showed up. Hmmm? Guess that could mean something for all you non-manga readers, though I admit to nothing.

We also got our weekly dose of Mikasa being bad ass. I don’t see what they figured would happen if Eren was killed… I guess they figured they could take Mikasa? Well, if they killed Eren, she would simply see humans as the real monster and likely start killing people. Either way we’re finally starting to see her eyes become more lifeless like in the manga, so that’s a plus.

As a standalone, this episode once again surpassed what the manga tried to do. With the “filler” introduction of Levi, Hanji and the others, the writing staff for the anime is continuing to make good decisions for the sake of flow and consistency.

Deep Sea Secret

I am seriously praying for this earth. Whatever I saw in this week’s Gargantia episode, I am just PRAYING that it never happens during my lifetime, nor does it ever happen. EVER. “What happened in this week’s episode of Suisei no Gargantia, Lucy?!” I hear you all ask. Now it’s okay: I’ll answer all your questions too, but I’m afraid I myself am very scared and also confused and hoping that this is all one big joke or something. But no, I doubt that this is merely a sick joke. I know it’s just an anime but… COME ON. HUMANS WITH TENTACLES. THE HIDEAUZE ARE BASICALLY EVOLVED HUMAN BEINGS. WHAT… sigh. Okay, so my predictions were near enough spot on and yes I’m really expecting a big war between Ledo and the humans on earth and Ledo’s space people friends who we STILL don’t know anything about. Anyways…

So now that Ledo, Pinion, Melty and a handful of other people we don’t give a crap about have split off from the main fleet of the Gargantia (so now it’s “Suisei no Gargantia and that little greedy fleet who are obsessed with the whale squid”), we dive straight back into the action.. Quite literally. I enjoyed actually seeing the action again, Ledo fighting the whale squid to find the treasure after very relaxed and slower-paced episodes recently. It was good, although it’s kind of a shame how it’s ALWAYS Ledo who is the one left to do the work, and I’d like to see OTHERS like Pinion pitching in to help… Although that’d make the whole mission a disaster, so maybe it’s better we don’t.

After Ledo manages to obliterate all the whale squid, he discovers the small nest where the Hideauze or… Whale squid seem to inhabit and breed in. It’s pretty weird because it’s…. Well, like seeing our whole world just… Underwater and completely abandoned, and strange to think that… You know, what if this really does happen one day in a distant future? Umm… Nah, I doubt it will, but either way it’s kinda weird to think about what the future might hold for our planet. So as Ledo searches for the treasure, all he comes across are small CD roms by the looks of it, or something like that containing data. Ledo asks Chamber to extract the information from this, and we learn some…. Pretty interesting and creepy stuff. The deep sea secret? Yeah. it should have probably stayed a deep sea secret forever… Because what I learned next was… Well, pretty damn disturbing. So much that even poor Ledo couldn’t contain his feelings and emotions anymore, and it’s possibly the first time we’ve ever seen Ledo express such extreme emotion. it was… actually quite sad, I’ll admit it.

To put it simply, here’s what the information was all about, because even I got pretty tangled up in all this sudden rush of plot and storyline, but managed to get the gist of it. So now on earth, back in… However many centuries ago this was, the fifth ice age is zooming upon the human race, what with climate change and global warming and the like getting more and more extreme. Humans would evidently not be able to survive in such conditions, so… Would have no choice but to move out to space (so maybe this is proof that Ledo is a descendant from earth and… isn’t actually some weird kind of spaceman?) if they wanted to survive. However, despite there being no signs of any planet in space within a good range to travel to (since there probably are some planets out there that humans could inhabit but it would take centuries to reach), a group named the Evolvers had a better plan: To evolve human beings so that they could easily adapt to life in space… Simple right? But naturally, with such an absurd idea, came a lot conflict between the Evolvers and other humans on earth. For one, they didn’t want to change how they looked, because they looked perfectly fine, AND SECONDLY, WHO WOULD WANT TO LOOK LIKE A HIDEAUZE WHALE SQUID WITH TENTACLES. People were infuriated, so an endless war between the Evolvers and mankind began to break out. Eventually, both Evolvers and… All the “normal people” abandoned earth and that was the end of that. So now I’m left with many questions.

Firstly, what is that massive “Hideauze” thing in space then and what is it doing? Is it trying to fight the human descendants like Ledo who… Know that their only objective in life is to destroy and yet not know the motive behind it?

Secondly, what happened to the humans on earth that moved out into space? Where did they go and what did they do next? I’m sure that they managed to survive, I mean of course they did, because I am sure now that Ledo is one of them, but what happened next for them?

Thirdly, WHY DID THE EVOLVERS LITERALLY THINK IT WAS AN OKAY THING TO DO THAT?!

… Sigh. So anyway, after a lot of confusion, I managed to twig it. Of course Pinion and the rest have no idea as to what’s just happened and I’m pretty sure that the only treasure Ledo discovered was the information and the small human Hideauze creature they discovered… so they still do exist. I’m just shocked, really, that the Hideauze really is linked to these whale squids and.. All of it is linking up, and it’s so weird and so strange. Of course, stupid Chamber ends up destroying the poor human whale squid… Which could have held the answers to all my questions… And poor Ledo. ;~; I’m honestly so scared for everyone on earth now… What will happen next?

Chimera Ant Arc

This arc has been a long time coming. Reaching dark and treacherous manga territory the first adaptation never reached. This is the new stuff. N~yow I see! :3c

Hunter x Hunter is a veritable source of tonal change. From the Hunter exam to the Heaven’s Arena, from the Phantom Troupe to Greed Island, the tone of each balances on the precipice of lighthearted adventurous spirit and heavy murderous darkness. All the arcs find a balance of the two which works with the parts involved, but they generally tend to lean toward one side or the other. The Chimera Ant arc leaves very little question which extreme it falls under. Like. We’re talking kid devouring, genocide, and general “everything around us will kill us” level material here. And by all means, this is promising to turn out great.

So let’s talk what we’ve got going for us here. First and foremost, the major threat and antogonists of the arc, the Chimera Ants. Straight up, these guys are a real cool idea. A species which grows as they consume more creatures, splicing different attributes from all the species the Queen eats serves to create all sorts of different looking funky creatures. Purely from a design standpoint, they’re pretty neat. Like, super pretty neat. What I really like is that there’s this common thread of silliness to most of them visually, which really only emphasizes their ruthless nature once they get into mass murder territory. Yet for as cold as they are, the Chimera Ants create this odd sort ability to connect with them. I could compare them to the Phantom Troupe. Even as such clear forces of murder, the amount of personality given to them makes the guys very likeable despite the amount of manslaughter they casually partake in.

The Chimera Ants aren’t on that level of pure enjoyability, not on pure force of personality. Not yet anyhow. What they have going on though is how inherently interesting their concept is. How they change as they gain more human traits which allow them to deviate from an antlike hivemind. Their process of encountering stronger humans, learning about Nen, it’s intriguing to simply watch them evolve into an entirely different type of being, individually and collectively. So if I have to say something about the Chimera Ants, it’s that goddamn they’re interesting and set-up for an equally interesting arc.

With them appearing as often as they do, piles of bodies might as well be a motif this arc.

So what exactly are we working with here, other than the ants as a concept, that makes this arc as promising as it is? Promises make up a large portion of it. I would say that, knowing the apparent extreme long length of the arc, the past 10 or so episodes have been largely set-up. With the introduction of Kaito and situations that endangers the boys like never before, we have the promise of pushing the boys beyond their limits and using their Nen to the fullest of their capabilities, and the promise of them being pushed to their mental boundaries. We’ve got Chairman Netero entering the fray, and we have unbelievable power within that ants, starting with the introduction of Neferpitou, whom I take an instant liking to. Promises of a strange and twisted life after death. We have a promise of a different morality on the side of the ants, and we view the philosophy of professional hunters as well. This is an arc that promises to push many things we’ve established throughout the series, and for that, I couldn’t be more excited to continue blogging the series regularly. I left my thoughts on the rest of the arc slightly bare, but I plan on tackling a lot of it during the post themselves. So let’s just hop right to it!

Let’s get our heads in the game!

Reunion at the Starting Block

Well. After we all waited for the hugely anticipated “swimming anime”, aka Free, I think it’s safe to say it’s off to a promising start: That’s if you’re watching it for the storyline, not for the “fanservice”… O-or manservice.

So after a good start to the spring season, something happened right towards the end (coughNewLeafcough), stuff happened and basically I lost all motivation to finish writing Karneval and Suisei no Gargantia… OOPS. But fear not! Because as you may already know, we’re going to start afresh for this new season and ensure that our posts are up on time and etc and that we won’t just lose motivation half-way through the season. Yup. However, you CAN expect a review of Karneval very soon, so look forward to that. But right now, be looking forward to my posts for Free. I can tell you they’re going to be much more interesting (who am I kidding it’s really just for the bishies), than what I’ll have to say for Karneval.

Okay, so now onto Free! WELL. I did mainly pick this anime just because of the… well, bishies, okay, that’s true. But I am also a huge fan of Kyo-Ani (back when I reviewed Tamako Market in Winter and yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it in the end!) itself, that and I used to really be into swimming when I was younger but never knew MUCH about the competitive side of it, so maybe I’ll learn some more through anime… Well, maybe….

Either way, Free is certainly something interesting and different. For starters, I’ve never seen a whole anime based around swimming… that’s because there probably hasn’t been. And I am wondering what on earth they’re going to do with it (cough, Tsuritama? For what seemed like an ordinary “fishing” anime turned out to be the end of the world… Literally, I suppose COUGH). Nevertheless, I don’t doubt Kyo-Ani, so I’m sure that they’ll end up turning this into something beautiful, something incredible, that’s when fanservice isn’t shoved into your face within the first 5 minutes or so. So already we got a good amount of backstory into the anime, when we get to meet the main characters and bishies and yeah yeah, I can feel a tragic story coming along with this Rin guy already. As for characters, you’ve got your typical stereotypes here… Somewhat. Haruka Nanase, our protagonist and main character of the story! He doesn’t care for anything else but swimming. SWIMMING THIS, SWIMMING THAT, I DON’T NEED ANYTHING ELSE BUT SWIMMING. He also has a habit of wearing swim suits EVERYWHERE. L-like gee, when he was about to get out the bathtub, I was just about to cover my eyes or screen OR SOMETHING, but then I knew that they… Possibly couldn’t have right? Seriously?! Who sits in the bathtub wearing a swimsuit? Anyway, I feel like… Nanase-”kun” is kind of like our character here who will develop and blossom into something beautiful eventually by the end of the anime and realise that friendship is always the answer, NOT SWIMMING. Then we have Makoto Tachibana (my favourite character so far!), our friendly, moe, “onii-chan” like character who is always looking out for his friends. That and I guess he likes swimming. Either way, he’s just our sweet character to help balance the angst that both Nanase and Rin emit, like, 24/7 (that’s how it seems so far). We also have our boy-loli Nagisa Hazuki, who is a first year student at their high school. He also helps keep the balance along with Makoto and seems to be very adventurous… Um… Y-yeah, like when it involves skinny dipping. This boy is never afraid to try anything new, by the looks of it! And we have Rin, of whom is still much of a mystery, but I can already feel the tragic backstory already.

Anyway, this episode basically just dives straight into the action, we meet basically nearly ALL of our main characters (I believe there’s one left we have yet to meet), and learn how things have changed from the past to the present. So now that all the boys don’t… Competitively swim anymore, once they meet our lovely and bubbly loli Nagisa, we visit one of their old swimming pools, where they used to train, and I kept thinking that there is something more to this Rin guy. The fact they constantly kept thinking about him, the photo on the wall, flashbacks, etc… Well, anyway, they SOMEHOW AND MYSTERIOUSLY MET RIN THERE BY SURPRISE… Gah, that’s one thing I’m kind of disliking, how all these things are happening so suddenly… Like one minute the mood would be all lighthearted and happy at school, the next we’re all tense because they’re entering the “spooky swimming baths”… Also, is it me or is the ost really.. strange? Like sometimes they’d play the music in the weirdest of scenes, and it just really wouldn’t fit, so much it reached the point where it began to BUG me a little.

So Rin and Nanase were about to go have a race in the pool but nope, there’s no water in the pool, and Rin goes back to hiding in the shadows. Anyway, we meet Rin’s younger sister back at their high school, and she tells the boys that Rin is attending a swimming boarding school (does such a thing even really exist?), so yet again, our troublesome trio try to go sneak in. Oh, and they bribe Nanase into coming along (he did a very Oreki Houtarou styled “I can’t be bothered” as soon as Makoto and Nagisa mentioned it, ehehe) because there’s an indoor swimming pool where he can go swim. Once they reach the pool and everyone’s left, Nanase takes off his trousers, only for him to be wearing swimming trunks underneath again (gee, Kyo-Ani, PLEASE STOP SCARING ME LIKE THAT), except when Nagisa does it, h-HE ISN’T WEARING ANYTHING UNDERNEATH. So yeah… S-so much fanservice… /).(\ Then he pulls Makoto into the pool and waah, we somehow find our rival Rin again, and before we know it, we’re left on a cliffhanger again, when Nanase challenges Rin to a “duel”… O-or a swimming race.

So so far? My first impressions are exactly this:

1) I’m liking it. I really do. I like the idea, concept and to see how Kyo-Ani start to shape this into the masterpiece all us girls were waiting for… And boys too, of course!

2) Despite the dodgy soundtrack at times and the okay-ish opening, the animation is still pretty. Yeah… Well…

If I’m honest, it’s hard to really make any first impressions on Free when I have no idea what will happen next or how they’re going to make a storyline out of swimming. But hey, what I can say is… Well, why do you need a story when you have bishies? :’3

There actually is a swimming anime Lucy! It’s called Kenko Zenkarei Suieibou Umisho. Or in English, Kenko Nude Swimming Series Umisho. Sounds like the appeal of these two shows is very similar (⊙‿⊙✿)

And what is friendship without swimming, anyway? Kinda standard, apparently. I’m not really sure what I was expecting besides obscenely pretty boys in equally pretty animation. I mean, I ain’t gonna lie, the simple moe heads on ultra detailed physiques still kinda cracks me up, but it’s still cool at the same time. And besides the focus on swimming and and budding hotblooded rivalry fueled by further love for swimming, a lot of the interaction here is straight out of a regular slice of life series featuring boys.  That ain’t really a bad thing at all though. Free seems to have a fairly good grasp on itself so far, and if some studio is used to doing slice of life, it’s KyoAni.  I ain’t expecting another series I’ll fall in love with like Hyouka, but Free’s got something decent going for it so far. Now it’s left to see where and how far it can take it.

Promise x And x Reunion

Just look at that face there. Yes, right there above this. Tell me that isn’t a face which is absolutely tired of everything in life.

You know, these cheerier breether episodes are exactly what we needed for this arc. We know that in time we’ll properly return to morose battleground of the chimera ants, facing extreme danger and tragedy, but for now, having some Gon and Killua train with Biscuit, meet other hunters who want into NGL, and interact with others with smiles on their faces is the kind of fun times we need.

If only to destroy those smiles with sad times later.

Speaking of hunters met, this time we properly delve into the hunter that is Knuckle Bine. Having swiftly, albeit not effortlessly, completed the first step of their training, Gon and Killua are ready for the next. Beat Knuckle. Without further celebration or even a moment to rest, they boys are pitted against the Bancho hunter. Seeing as loss is determined by if ones token is taken, they can try as many times as they want as long as their token isn’t taken from them. Get the tokens, and run if loss is imminent, combined three hours of ren training is declared to be their daily regimen. And they’ll keep doing it and doing it until they win. It’s a surefire way for the boys to fight constantly while still not forfeiting their chance to get into NGL. And as later extrapolated upon, a victory here is bound to give the boys a boost in confidence which in turn would further their Nen growth.

Knuckle Bine, however, is a formidable man! He will not back down, and he will never yield! As straightforward as a delinquent who’s all mush on the inside as it gets, and he’s pretty great for it. His entire first exchange with kids is full of gusto and hidden soft sides, down to actual freaking tears when he notes that the boys are trying to fight him while totally exhausted. For all of his banchou toughness, it’s his kind inner self which defines him. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the major reason why he was prevented from joining the punitive force, as his major goal is not to exterminate the ants, but as a Beast Hunter see if all of the Chimera Ants should be destroyed. And that in itself leads to some interesting possibilities with what’s been set-up so far.

All that’s left is pure white Banchou ash.

As Kaito constantly established in NGL, the Chimera Ants are ruthless and death awaits around every corner. These are creatures which actively set out to consume humans, and as such need to be put down in risk of wordwide genocide. Kaito even makes mental note of whether Gon would be able to face an Ant who displays desirable human traits. But that’s exactly it right there. Taking any sort of empathy on them could mean certain death, however if there were Ants which do not threaten humanity, killing them would be entirely different from killing those who are a legitmate threat. The growing eccentrities of the Ants could cause any sort of change toward the more humane, particularly for Ants like Colt who still have very strong underlying connections to their human life. Now, Knuckle obviously isn’t aware of the situation in NGL, and he was left behind for a reason, but that same reason isn’t invalid both in the reality of the situation and as a general philosophy. Life-threatening on his part, but not wrong.

And that’s where further hunter philosophy comes in. Without the strength behind your convictions, hunters don’t get much of a say in the matter. Hunters are pursuers, not prey. They need to have the ability to chase what they believe in, or else they’re hot air or running away. Gon and Killua can’t argue Knuckle’s comments about them, since they don’t have the ability to argue back yet. While this was purely about fighting cabality, it extends to their right to go to NGL, and how hunters view the world. Morel’s views from an episode or two ago support this. Once you back down, give up, you’ve lost the right to your stake in the matter, you become a failure as a hunter. In fact, all of the elite hunters seem to subscribe to this line of thought. Which is why it’s important for both Morel’s students and the boys to prove their worth now, to see if they’re capable of being pro hunters and joining the NGL strike force.

The pro hunter handbook says to dress up for combat like you mean business.

We shift back to the events in NGL as the punitive force has begun to enact their strategy against the Chimera Ants. Going based off what they said last time, they plan to take the long route of slowly picking of the Ants one by one; Morel discombobulates them with his smoke, Knov drags them off into some sort of hammer space I’d assume, and in there Chairman Netero promptly gives them a physical course in pain. Goes to show pro hunters really are good at hunting. Naturally, the organized portion of the Ants aren’t blind enough to not notice this, but even as they attempt to provide counter measures, the punitive force is clearly a step ahead and well aware of what the Ants are likely thinking. All the while, Chairman Netero is clearly thinking.

This is all so boring to him. This old man is the best. He’s clearly exceedingly strong, however he’s got very few people within the ballpark of his abilities. He treats most matters playfully, even as he assessed Neferpitou’s strength he had a jovial tone about him, and he’s got a penchant for making things more interesting, even if he has to handicap himself in order to make that happen. These are the calling cards of somebody who wants to face an equal or better yet somebody stronger, to have a serious challenge from them. I’m having a hard time interpreting Netero’s behavior as anything else. And if this is true. He wants something to pop up and make things go wrong. The Chairman is the very best.

Now with Gon and Killua fighting Knuckle, we have a panning shot to Shoot McMahon who clearly has something in store for the boys. And I have to wonder about this guy. What’s keeping him back? Gon and Killua simply don’t have the strength and have to prove that their able to keep going on against the Chimera Ants and not run away (Killua in particular). Knuckle has a soft heart, so he has to be able to fight the Ants regardless of his nature. So there’s bound to be some sort of inherent factor to Shoot which prevents him from being able to join the punitive force. Next week will likely divulge into that, since I doubt this set-up will end with him simply having needed to defeat the boys without any other sort of reason for it.  As for the last character who wants to join the punitive force, Palm…

I don’t know about Palm.
Who knows about Palm.

Episode 01 / First Impressions

I’m completely ignoring the scene at the beginning. It’s just another reason why I’m not 100% sure on whether I’ll even continue watching this.

-Welcome to Despair Academy-

It’s not that the episode was bad, it’s just one of those things where you can tell exactly where this is going to go and you’ve seen it happen so many times that it just isn’t worth the effort. I haven’t even played the game but it feels like the pacing is off to me. A load of new characters introduced one after the other, the majority of which (if not all) have the most cliche character types out there. Fat guy introduced, he’ll die early on while panicking. Love interest introduced; she’ll go crazy, try to kill mr. protagonist and end up dying from multiple stab wounds to him because “he had to do it, cry face”. Then there’s the condescending rich guy who’ll see justice in killing one of them because he’s better and deserves to live above all of them. Obviously this isn’t definitely true but from how I feel about this right now, they’re what’s most likely to happen. If so, I don’t mind so long as they pull it off decently and don’t rush it. I don’t want to see like 3 of them dying in one episode.

More on the actual episode anyway; Monobear’s voice actor (or actress) is a terrible choice. Whoever decided to make it sound like a child’s toy needs firing. Way too many role matched voices in here. Especially the protagonist. Which shounen [I]hasn’t this guy been in? Surprisngly, I kinda like the bookworm. She’s not quiet like I thought she would be, which is always a plus. The story seems to be promising so far, kill or be killed being the premise. The videos they were shown seem a bit strange though. If they’re motives to escape, why would they kill off all their families. So they can escape and mourn? It just doesn’t seem like the obvious choice. If they’re just kidknapped, that’s different, but then does that mean if you escape they let your family go too? So many things unanswered. Right now I’m leaning toward to negative side of things because after Devil Survivor 2 last season, and the earlier Persona 4, these kinds of adaptions aren’t exactly brilliant. I’m hoping this turns out like a Mirai Nikki sort of thing, but anything that can be listed under ‘worth watching’ will honestly be fine. Sorry for the short and indecisive post, too.

Since I’m Not Popular, I’ll Change My Image a Bit

Dat OP.

Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui!, or more commonly known as ‘Watamote’ is a show about the most pathetic girl you can think of. Recently I decided to read the manga before this aired, and holy god, the cringe was glorious. It features a girl name Tomoko Kuroki and her never ending quest to be popular or find a boyfriend.

First I just want to comment on the OP, even though I kind of already did. It’s probably the best this season seeing as AoT will soon be changing theirs. I almost regret not watching the live stream just to see peoples reactions to it. I’m guessing a good number of people haven’t read the manga and had no idea what to expect, so hearing something as crazy as this was probably a nice surprise.

The voice actress for Kuroki manages to portray her almost just as I imagined. The inner monologues sound crazy but awfully hopeful, and her attempts to talk to people are pretty hilarious. In a way it’s almost kind of cute. Almost. Her brother is also pretty spot on in regards to how I imagined. Not only do you get the kind of “older brother hates his sister” kind of vibe from him, but he also at least cares for her a bit… Just a little.

Not to mention the animation studio is doing a pretty stellar job with her facial reactions, even if I’m not a fan of her constantly having bags under her eyes… Or whatever those are. At least she has the stupidity of the duck face down. And yes, if you’re a girl and make that face, that’s how ridiculous you look – it’s even worse if you’re a boy and do it. Please stop.

Aside from the cringe, Watamote is managing to put in some references to other anime/manga and then some. The most obvious one this episode was the Death Note scene where she was moving the mouse like Light Yagami moved his pen(only in the most epic fashion). I don’t think it was original manga material, so it’s good to see the animators having a little fun if it’s not. My personal favourite in the manga was “Kuroki’s Basketball”, hehehe.

I don’t want to make this post into a review, but the last thing I’ll say is that it has a similar style of humour to Welcome to the NHK. It’s pretty hilarious to watch but only because it’s dark humour I couldn’t laugh at every scene. The last scene where her brothers friends call her ugly was pretty sad. Nothing sucks more than random people calling you ugly when you at least make a half decent effort to not look like crap.

More blog posts “coming”!

Can’t Look Into His Eyes

-Prelude to the Counterattack (pt 1)-

Alright, let’s dive right into the latter season of Shingeki no Kyojin! With a second Revo OP in hand and another kickin’ ED, I’m sure there’s nothing that can go wrong.

What we get with this first episode is largely dealing with humanities perception of an allied Titan. Rumors of Wall Maria spread to Wall Sina, some doubtful of the existence of this Titan while others are frightful of a repeat of the refuge situation of five years ago. On the other hand, those outside of Wall Sina are quick to look at this allied Titan as a sign of hope, marking the first time humanity has managed to hold its own. And beyond the citizens, we have the Military Police in the king’s service, wary of Eren’s possible allegiance not to Titankind, but rather against the Inner District of Wall Sina.  It goes to show how much something like a human who can turn into a Titan can mean. Intelligence in a being of that size is screwed up, especially when it’s an enemy. The Recon Corps on the other hand see the immense value Eren can have for humanity, and wish to use him to his full extent. There are a lot of opinions going about there, and best of all, they’re all fairly reasonable considering everybody’s respective position in life. What’s more, it’s not dealt with large aplomb – these are the facts, and man does this make Eren’s future prospects in life very limited. Thankfully Titan-killer is still on the table.

Also, it’s good to see that they make it clear the Military Police and the Recon Corps are on two ends of the spectrum, in both goals as well as relations to each other. As far as it goes from the perspective of those who live in Wall Sina, the Recon Corps are the most eccentric of the eccentrics. Totally true in both theory and practice as we get hints of Recon Corps’ weirdness from the slightly off-kilter Hanji Zoe and smug people sniffer Mike Zacharias. Sadly, we don’t get much time to dwell on them, as Hanji declares it’s better than Eren enters the situation without foreknowledge of what’s going on. So, without further adieu began the trial to decide Eren’s immediate fate.

What we get is a court trial where we get to properly air out the propositions on what to do with our psychopathic teen Titan. As open as the court seems to be, it’s somewhat natural for a case as unusual as this. The Military Police want to get whatever information they can out of him, then to dispose of him as a martyr figure, while the Recon Corps believe that with his abilities they can retake Wall Maria Speaking of the wall, we even get the opinions of one of the wall cultists or Church of the Wall, who have in the past five years become an influential organization. These guys have essentially made defending the walls and adding fortifications and modifications to them bureaucratic hell. Fittingly? All these guys in the court who happen to enjoy living glare at the poor pastor. Religion is complicated.

More importantly, what’s key here is Erwin Smith’s proposition with what to do with Eren. Planning on retaking the Shigashina district, it’s the perfect situation to prove Eren’s use for mankind. Yet at the same time, it can prove how much danger Eren can bring as well. As it’s revealed, he has no recollection of attempting to slug Mikasa, an attempt which has left a visible scar on her face. What I do like about this sequence of events is the total acknowledgement that Eren and Mikasa have commited acts totally unthinkable for 9 years olds. These two are not 100% emotionally healthy by an stretch of the imagination, and this facet of them could prove a great risk for humanity. Thankfully this, as well as Eren’s lack of knowledge of the situation, leads to him speaking his mind. Which in turn leads to Levi and Erwin managing to convince the Supreme Commander of their plan. Since Eren truly is capable of causing so much damage, Levi is among the only people capable of dealing with such a threat and has a reputation to back it up.

Man. What a nice beating. They did the scene justice. That, along with the after “party” scene. Levi may be one of those hardcore characters, but he’s a got a sweet nuance to him that I dig.

So the trial ends in the momentary favor of the Recon Corps, from until the point their mission ends in success or failure. It’s a solid episode, maybe with a little too much filler exposition sounding talk between Erwin and Pixis, but Pixis is a rad enough dude to let it slide. Hopefully the extra week the recap episode managed to win the animators was enough to keep unfinished segments to a minimum. Regardless, now’s the proper start of the second cour of the show! Yeah, go humanity, you guys rock!

Memories in the Distance

This is the start of a new beginning for the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club!

So after the first episode in which we were introduced to almost all of our wonderful bishies (and Kou!), episode 2 was the opportunity for Kyo-Ani to help shape the plot for this anime, and they did: Not that it surprised me they would create the swimming club, because that’s what they usually do in most of their anime (K-On and Hyouka, for example), although I don’t mind that. It’s certainly taking a slightly more original and different approach to things than most anime do, what with the whole idea about swimming and whatnot. Anyway, after they were given time to think, Nagisa – after a long while contemplating whether or not it was a good idea or not in his head (no of course he didn’t but anyway) – suggested the idea of opening up a swimming club in the school. I mean, I liked it because during the funny moments of this anime and the slightly more humorous side it makes me remember that this is what Kyo-Ani is the best at, but then you get to the more… Well “emotional” parts of the anime like when I learned about why Rin was so mad at Haruka even though he won the swimming race, and only because Haruka let him. Which is, of course understandable, but I just really am curious about Rin. I mean at the end of the episode when I learned why Haruka quit competitive swimming, thanks to their Coach Sasabe (who is also now interestingly a pizza delivery man… what a sudden career path switch… (and it was because he quit as he always beat Rin in every race they ever had and of course this angered and upset Rin, so Haruka felt guilty that he had done such a thing), I really began to feel almost sorry for Rin. I don’t really know much about him, but all we’ve ever seen is this grumpy and sad side of him, lonely and cold even to his friends, and yet at the same time I feel like even Haruka is still a mystery… All we see is the “swimming, swimming, swimming” side of him and nothing more, like his life practically revolves around it. It actually made me feel quite sad… The fact Kyo-Ani can do that already, even amongst the sunny and funny and happy happy atmosphere.

Although, to any of you who may be reading this and thinking why on earth I can find enjoyment out of this when all it is is just topless bishies swimming (although evidently you haven’t been watching the anime if that’s the case), HOLD IT. There is a female character. 2 female characters in fact. well, okay, they are just side characters, BUT THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING… Because I’m actually liking their characters just as much as the bishies. Kou, well… I think her reaction to seeing a topless Haruka wearing nothing but swimming trunks was the exact same to every other female (and maybe some boys too!) watching this show. That being said, I love how she is so caring for her brother. She seems so determined to change her brother Rin back to his normal self, even for the boys too.. So much that she is even going to become the manager of the club. I’m not making any predictions, but for any boys watching the anime merely for the storyline, don’t feel left out since I’m sure you’ll get to see our kawaii Kou in a swimsuit soon too… Although, she never struck me as a swimmer anyway. And then we also have our sweet and clumsy sensei-character Miho Amakata… Well, either way. It was sure interesting to hear a little more about her “interesting” past including swimming… Kind of. Although, if you’re so curious and nosy to find out, why don’t you go watch the episode yourself? And for some reason, she really reminds me of Mayaka from Hyouka.

I don’t really have much else to say about this episode, because I’d end up repeating myself, but I’ll just sum up my thoughts into a sentence (or two) about what I’m thinking so far:

I love it. And the bishies… And the swimming. This anime will be the death of me.

So now for the endless wait for the next Thursday to roll around again. I’m really hoping I get to learn more about characters like Makoto and Nagisa, rather than giving people like Haruka and Rin the limelight. I have a feeling we’ll be able to peep in on their interesting rivalry and friendship soon enough, but for now, it seems like the others are just hiding away and we don’t know much at all about them. And I want to see more of this competitive swimming, you know, rather than the messing about in the pool swimming.

But hey. I mean at least Haruka’s happy after they all managed to clean up the pool so he gets to swim, regardless over whether it’s too cold (and I swear, one day that boy is going to rip off his trousers and he won’t be wearing any swimming trunks underneath), and hey! What about glasses bishie?! Where is he supposed to come in?!

Come on, Iwatobi (High School) Swimming Club! Make us proud, and let’s hope this turns out to be a wonderful anime. :3

When the Sun Goes Down

Ok. Let’s skip the introductory part of “I love the manga and have been really excited for the adaptation” and get right to the final minutes of the episode. Here’s the main thing I have to say about it: why the hell did they change who stabbed Kanon?! That said, I’d better leave my ranting to the end of the post and get my writing back in order.

Now that I got some of my frustration out of the way, let’s start from the beginning. I’ve been following this manga for a little less than 3 years. And I absolutely love it, with the “absolutely” part having nothing more than the Goddess arc to thank for its presence in this sentence. Having a season being announced under this name would normally be great news…. if I didn’t know there was a bunch of material that would have to be skipped to reach said arc. And that’s what ended up happening.

The episode started with a recap of unaired material, telling the viewers about the relevant conquests Keima made in between the events of season 2 and the Goddess arc. And as much as it is definitely disappointing to have some of my favorite conquests (Yui’s for instance got me laughing non-stop and is generally full of awesome moments) packed into just a few seconds, the recap itself was handled nicely when one considers Manglobe just adapted 70 chapters worth of content into 5 minutes of animation. It’s also not hard to conform myself with what I got since Manglobe just made their most desperate move to make continuing this adaptation possible: “we adapted the last two seasons faithfully and they didn’t sell so let’s skip straight to the best part”. Whether or not that was a good move, I don’t know, but I do know I can’t blame the studio over the consumers for it. I never saw anything wrong with the way Manglobe adapted Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai (from now on referred to as Kaminomi in all posts), and with it being a rather popular manga, the anime selling so poorly can be described as nothing but a ridiculously strange phenomenon.

The recap over its back, the episode moved on to the beginning of the Goddess arc, the event that starts it all: Kanon being stabbed by a member of Vintage. In adapting the actual material it went for, this first episode actually did a nice job.

As repeated in the first 5 minutes of recap in this episode, Keima’s conquests don’t remember a single thing about what happened when he conquered them since their memories are modified by New Hell. However, this doesn’t stand true for the hosts of the Goddesses, since the Goddesses memories will complement theirs. And that’s what he’s told by Diana when she asks him for help to find her sisters, much to our God of Conquest’s exasperation, since his forced participation on the hunt for Runaway Spirits is already taking more than enough time away from his beloved dating sims. It’s easy to see he’s not a fan of the idea at all, but the events that follow pretty much force him into taking into interaction with one of the Goddesses – Apollo.

Apollo is the Goddess hidden inside Kanon, and manifests herself to her in a similar manner as Diana first manifested herself to Tenri: through her host’s reflection. With a much less assertive personality than Diana but still extremely careful about her situation and involving outsiders into the Heaven vs Hell struggle, Apollo’s appearance comes to further even more the idea that the Goddesses, just like the Demons, aren’t exactly what you’d expect from hearing the name. And we haven’t even gotten to some conversations with the whole group. Now that’s gonna be a whole lot of fun.

One other relevant and interesting point in this episode is how they explained the workings of Heaven, Earth and Hell in the Kaminomi universe through the words of Tenri, who offered the aforementioned explanation to Keima. The history of Hell and how Old Hell tried to harvest the energy from human souls for themselves and get the monopoly on the three realms, leading the Demons who wanted to keep the “regular” order to ask for help from Heaven (the Jupiter Sisters in particular) to reform Hell, thus creating the New Hell Elsie and Haqua are from, is going to be an important point in this arc, so make sure you pay attention to it. Same with her brief mention of how the Goddesses regain their powers through love, an example of which we can even see in this episode as Apollo becomes able to switch with Kanon toward the end of it.

“At the very start, there were three worlds, Heaven, Earth, and Hell, which were linked by souls.”

Other than that, the episode is mostly focused on Kanon as she struggles with her memories of her conquest and her love for Keima as well as thinking she’s losing it out of exhaustion. I mean, seeing one’s reflection lecturing oneself in a cheerful mood is bound to be disturbing. And even more disturbing is the fact that she feels like she’s being followed around. Unfortunately, that does turn out to be more than a simple feeling as she’s attacked as she’s returning home one day. With no one else to turn to, after a rather scary spotting of her follower while in the bathroom at school, she goes to Keima, the one person she knew being somehow involved with the supernatural and the one person she loved.

And now forgive me for going on a tangent here, but I find it either interesting, or rather, potentially off-putting, that two relevant points in this episode were adapted in OVA and nothing else. One was the hint Kanon remembered Keima, which is in the seemingly filler but instead foreshadowing filled chapters 54 and 55 of the manga adapted in the Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai: 4-nin to Idol OVA and the other is, of course, Tenri and Diana’s presence and the whole Goddesses issues, since Tenri’s arc was also adapted in an OVA. Since these OVAs are often considered extras and skipped by viewers, having things of such importance in them may not be a good idea, though I’m not sure how relevant that ends up being. Just sharing my reflection about it here.

That little tangent done with, let me get back on topic. Scared and wanting someone to help her, Kanon goes to Keima in the middle of a class. Actually, pardon me, in the middle of a test, no less! Either way, the idol everyone’s talking about confessing to the most unpopular guy in the class at such an inopportune time obviously stirs up the whole class and suddenly everyone’s forgotten about the test and are simply looking at them in awe and shouting nonsense about Kanon being in love with Keima (which, let’s be honest, is not all that much nonsense). To avoid the crowd, Keima takes Kanon to the school hall, where she tells him she’s being chased. However, Apollo switches with her before she can say anything else and leaves a surprised Keima behind as she takes the matter into her own hands in the name of protecting uninvolved people and turns around to pursue her excellent idea: running. Well, as the brilliancy of such an idea might have made obvious to anyone watching, she’s easily caught by the hooded figure who’s been following her, a Demon from New Hell who presents herself as Lune from Vintage …right after stabbing Apollo in the abdomen, without the later having even been able to put up much of a struggle.

Yes, the scene was cool and all but…. arrrgh… Lune… really? This detail alone got me insecure about way too much of what’s to come.

And this is where my main problem with the episode lies. “Lune”. Why Lune? It was supposed to be Fiore! And my main concern isn’t even the fact that they changed who stabbed Kanon. That couldn’t be more irrelevant. My problem is how this might mean the entire Fiore subplot will be cut from the adaptation. Which is something I’d definitely not be happy with. At all. It’s one thing to skip some captures to get to that which is arguably the best arc in the series, but it’s another thing altogether to cut parts from that same arc. If you’re adapting an arc because it is good, at least adapt it properly, Manglobe. I hope I’m wrong about this, but I can’t really see any other reason for them not introducing Fiore here other than skipping her subplot entirely. Since it was a fun subplot with many interesting moments. Since it was a nice subplot that focused on Haqua’s naivety and set up her character development. And… I’m so going to miss JustTits and Pencil!

With this first episode, I’m not entirely sure what to expect of the third season of Kaminomi, specially when taking into account it’s adapting my favorite arc in the series. Skipping ahead was honestly expected, so I’m not too disturbed by it, but already changing things as big as character roles in the first episode of the season? My guard is definitely up for this adaptation. The positives? Since this first episode really lowered my expectations, anything this pulls off right will be very much welcomed by me. Also, the OP was really good as expected from a Kaminomi OP. The lyrics also capture the feeling of the arc well enough. And if you’ll allow me to end this rather pessimistic post on a positive note:

Yes, if anything, the Goddess arc means many awesome Haqua moments. And the OP couldn’t have teased this more wonderfully.

Rock-Paper-Scissors x And x Weakness

I’m pretty sure any birth becomes a whole lot more awesome when it’s accompanied by a sick violin solo.

And so we reach that point once again in this show where we’re on the precipice of developments. The different threads which have been placed are slowly but surely reaching a crossing point, multiple perspectives advanced with every released episode. There’s a creeping suspicion that the next big event is approaching from the horizon, and while we helplessly wait for that moment to come, we’ve got another joyful session of Hunter x Hunter to go through.

An aspect which didn’t take long at all to reveal though, was the nature of one Shoot McMahon. Considering how all of those attempting to join the NGL seem to have some sort of weakness which prevents them from taking part, I was expecting this episode to largely deal with him, as the last did with Knuckle. Oh boy, how wrong I was. C’mon Shoot! To join a mission, you’ve gotta at least be able to carry out your own mission! Particularly when your targets are a pair of exhausted kids! Even the narrator goes and calls him a coward (and you know he’s always right), while accompanied by a great moment in the music. But what’s best of all is that the scene says a whole lot about Shoot with just a minute or two of screen time. It doesn’t dwell on him excessively, while still giving an appropriate amount of screen time to get us interested in the guy.

And so the guy doesn’t show up for the rest of the episode.

Which is basically how the episode here works. Many smaller scenes which help set the foundation for what’s to come. For immediate brick laying, we have Gon and Killua finishing up the first phase of their training, prepping up to finally take on Knuckle for real. But more importantly, this is a sign of them facing the weaknesses which prevent them from heading to NGL. Gon’s weakness seems straightforward enough, a good part of it being two faults in his technique. I can only imagine one of them is the absurd time it takes for him to gather the energy he needs to make his attack effective. Regardless, it’s a physical hurdle he needs to surpass here, and one I don’t doubt he’ll be able to surpass. Now, on the mental side of the equation we have Killua, who judging from his history, should likely face his tendency to run from uncertain situations, a problem which has cause him mental turmoil on multiple occasions. For the mission to exterminate the Chimera Ants, there’s absolutely no place for running away. That could needlessly risk the lives of everybody involved, Gon in particular.

On the other hand we have the punitive forces continued efforts in NGL, as Chairman Netero begins to get into the swing of things. As expected, his playful attitude from the previous episodes was just that – this man is strong, stronger than nearly anybody else. As it should be, as the Chimera Ants themselves are proving to be ever more menacing. And I’m saying this without referring to the unborn King, but to the Royal Guard. Pitou has already proven to be exceedingly dangerous (excellent :3c), Pouf plays a mad violin, and with the birth of the final Royal Guard Youpi, we have a menacing trio right here. The Chairman’s words at the end of the episode foreshadow the inevitable clash, expressing his doubts that everybody involved will get out unscathed. And I’m prepared to see this in more ways than one – death may be but one sacrifice the soon to be full punitive force will have to go through.

But like. Let’s dial back a bit. Youpi’s birth scene. So freakin’ rad. From the violin solo from Pouf to the mad dance of Pitou’s puppet Kaito, this scene played out brilliantly. Pitou was already an immediate favorite of mine from his first appearance, but man, I just enjoy the progressive experimentation he has going one with Kaito’s body. It hits the right level of twisted that makes me excited for when Gon finally sees what Kaito has been reduced to. Pouf makes a great appeal with his performance, and Youpi enters the scene with an almost frightening single-mindedness. So really, in the other words, the entirety of the Royal Guard are showing the signs of an excellent group of antagonists. As it is? I can’t wait for them to cause some real strife.

The meat of the Chimera Ant arc is nearly here, it’s almost palpable.