In general, I wasn’t that impressed with this episode. It wasn’t that Ferris, Ryner, or any of the other main cast weren’t interesting (they were), but I just couldn’t force myself to care about any of the side plots. I mean, was I supposed to care that Fiole was murdered? The last time he had any real screen time was in the first episode and he was never going to be a main character anyways. I found myself even more apathetic when it came to the citizens of Imperial Nelpha.

Though I didn’t really care that Fiole was murdered, the show has made it clear that it is willing to kill off people without hesitation. Whether or not that translates to important characters kicking the bucket, Book of Bantorra style, remains to be seen, but this anime does have its fair share of blood thirsty characters. If nothing else, Fiole’s death saved us from hearing more about Sion’s mundane tax planning problems. Unfortunately, this episode’s Sion centric story didn’t reveal anything we didn’t already know since the first episode. The other part of the episode featuring Ryner and Ferris wasn’t that much better. Save the comedic portions, the duo met Toale, a disowned heir to the Nelphan throne, and the rest of the episode’s focus was showing how good of a guy he is. It wasn’t the dullest thing I’ve ever watched, but it certainly wasn’t exciting.

As indifferent as I am to Fiole’s death, I must say that I find Miran Froaude to be one of the show’s most intriguing characters after just one episode (though I think he made short appearance in episode 1). The thing I love about this guy is that he just oozes evilness, despite his ridiculous get up. His whole dark side speech along with the music playing in the background would seem to seal the deal. But all these not so subtle clues lead me to believe that he may not be so evil after all. In fact, I’m getting a sort of Paul von Oberstein from the Legend of the Galactic Heroes feeling from this guy in that /SPOILERS/ we may go throughout the entire series waiting for him to betray Sion, but in the end all he really cares about is his job, and maybe even a puppy, too /SPOILERS/. Likewise, there will likely be a lot of tension between him and Sion’s other generals, who seem to be do-gooders.

If I had to pick one highlight in this episode, and this series, it continues to be the interactions between Ryner and Ferris. Remarkably, I finally noticed something that is, with 20/20 hindsight, fairly obvious from the first four episodes. Ferris’ personality in episodes 1 and 5 is markedly different than the others that focused on the past. Though the pervert joke is only two episodes old you can see that the general tone in Ferris’ delivery from when they first met in episode 4 is vastly different from what it was in this and the first episode. I got the sense that being in foreign country far away from the influence of Lucile she may be a little less stiff than she would be otherwise. Additionally, I’m sure that hanging around Ryner for a while may have also contributed to her personality change. That leads me to my next point, which is to question the time frames introduced in this episode and the first, and to ask how long Ryner and Ferris have been traveling.

Looking back to the first episode, I am somewhat confused by the two different timelines. In one part of the first episode Sion saves Fiole, and in the other, Ryner and Ferris are fighting the rock monster. However, the Ryner/Ferris part of this episode didn’t tie up the loose ends from the first episode. Could this episode’s Ryner/Ferris story have taken place before the first episode’s Ryner/Ferris story? If so, I don’t understand why the story is so poorly organized. If it isn’t, I really don’t understand why we can’t get more continuity between episodes.

Anyway, it looks like this was the first in a multi episode arc, so I’m not really that upset at the lack of action in this episode. In fact, I don’t really mind when an entire episode is devoted to political intrigue, but it needs to be intriguing. If Sion’s only opposition for the entire series turns out to be the weak anti-king movement, this show will suffer. As unlikely as that scenario is, I would like for something exciting to happen in Roland.

This episode sees the main plot, introduced in episode 2 but ignored since, return in a big way. Like the previous episode, the humor fell flat most of the time, and the fairy tale adaptation wasn’t anything to write home about either. At the same time, it introduces a couple interesting plot points that make me pause and rethink what I was expecting out of this show.

So I had to read the post on Tenka Seiha to learn it, but this was loosely based on the Japanese story of Momotaro. Not being familiar with the story, I wasn’t able to appreciate it that much. But based on the Wikipedia article on the story, the show laid the analogy pretty thick this time as well, what with the 3 sidekicks named after the 3 animals, “Momoko” being the obvious feminine version of “Momotaro,” and the invasion of “Onigashima” High School, literally the name of the island Momotaro had invaded in the tale.

But Momoko was just a side character in this one, unlike the other fairy tale protagonists who actually were the protagonists of their respective episodes. She definitely got her moment in the sun, mind you, getting to try to seduce both Ryouko and Ryoushi, and having the bouncing of her bosoms accentuated with cartoony sound effects (a lot of people might roll their eyes at this gag, but I like its ironic humor). And her costume design is my favorite in this show so far. Certainly beats the hideous outfit Ringo designed for Ryouko in this episode.

But moreso than Momoko, this episode was focused with the story of the main characters, specifically the past of Ryouko as well as the role of Otogi High School in the city. Ryouko’s story is still very vague and looks to be darker than what I would have expected from this show. Just based on the brief flashback clips, I’m guessing that it involves some sort of sexual abuse from Shirou. Of course, it would have to tie into why she became so dedicated to boxing and acquired that stoic, manly personality that Ryoushi admires so much. It’s a huge contrast in tone from the whimsical and carefree nature of the rest of the show as well as both the OP and ED sequences.

I’m also interested in the bigger picture regarding the roles played by Otogi High School, Onigashima High School, and Otogibana City. This is also darker than what I was expecting out of this show. Like Ryouko’s back story, nothing’s really clear yet, but according to what Liszt said to convince everyone to fight, it seems that the two schools are designed as some sort of grand social engineering experiment. Otogi school is designed to succeed, and Onigashima school is designed to fail in order to help achieve that.

It’s very reminiscent of the Misaka sisters story from A Certain Magical Index, another production by J.C. Staff that was adapted from a light novel series. And just like in that story, it all feels very cruel. The Onigashima students have to play the bad guys so that the good guys can beat them. It’s a self aware look at the roles good and bad guys are forced into in order to produce fairy tales. In A Certain Magical Index, the Misaka sisters were infants, innocent victims of a mad science experiment gone too far. The Onigashima students are gangsters and delinquents, not worthy of our sympathy, but I end up wondering, was this due to any fault of their own, or were they forced into this just so that they can play that role?

Again, these are thoughts I never expected would be prompted by this show. In fact, thus far, Ookami-san and Seven Companions has not at all met the expectations I had for it after watching the first episode. In that one, the Cinderella story was largely separated from that of the protagonists and stood on its own as a ridiculous adaptation. Since then, all the fairy tale adaptations have managed to weave in the main characters and have the relationship between Ryouko and Ryoushi develop in some way, whether it be as light as the sole vote that Ryouko got during the contest in episode 3 or as heavy as the Ryouko’s past coming back to haunt her in this one. In that sense, the storytelling has leapfrogged my expectation of this being a light, episodic title.

On the other hand, those light and amusing aspects have not been up to snuff. That Cinderella story was a hilarious, twisted take on the old fairy tale. The adaptations since then have varied from amusing, like the tortoise and the hare story of episode 3, to banal, like the hentai-inspired maid set up in episode 4, to being just straight up with no interesting twist, like Momo-chan and her 3 companions in this one. Even the narrator hasn’t been as good since the first episode, as she spends less time making catty remarks and more just explaining the obvious, speaking over someone else in the scene.

That said, there’s something nice about having the unexpected. The show had successfully fooled me into thinking that I had a handle on it after a couple of episodes, but now I feel lost, unable to predict what will come. Who knows, maybe the show will return to being a wacky slapstick parody-oriented comedy next episode. Or maybe it will dig deeper into the plot points mentioned above, exploring the ability to tell a coherent central story while using fairy tale metaphors as vehicles. I don’t know which it’ll be, and I don’t know which I would prefer. Feels good man.

Note:

• In a post in Girl Cartoons, JarenL also notes the more serious themes introduced in this episode and explores the way gender roles are played around with in the show.

Yeah…OVER ONE MILLION!!!!!! I don’t have anything for this occasion, which is a shame, IT’S A HUEG MILESTONE!!! I saw the hit counts about two days ago but that was not enough time to do something, probably another drawing. So yeah, I’ll settle with that image up there. Took 3 years {?} to reach a [...]

Keiji has always bothered me.  I see him as the weak link in the chain.  He runs around all over the place, but never really succeeds in anything he does.  Sure, he got the leaders to unite against Nobunaga, but I think they would have done it without him.  He also seems to walk one-step behind absolutely everything in the series.  This week they give him his own episode.  Either my memory is foggy, or he seriously bucked up between seasons.  Since this is my post, I’m going to go with the latter, because it makes me feel better.

Before we get to Keiji, though, I’ve got to talk about Kenshin’s brilliant power play.  If Toshie takes his town, he’ll simply take Toshie’s town.  Fair trade, right?  Kenshin makes him choose between power and family.  Toshie is a good man, not a massive tool, so he takes his ball and goes home.  He walks headlong into perhaps the most obvious trap in the world.  Who needs to drop an army on someone’s town when you can surround him right where you want him?

I can’t believe Toshie never anticipated this.  You just threatened the God of War as his enemy!  You can’t expect to walk away completely unscathed!  While I commend him for knowing he had to walk away before, now I’m going to call him an idiot for not surrendering.  You might lose your “honor,” but Kenshin obviously planned this attack and his forces far outnumber you.  Even if you win, you still lose!  Actually, I find it quite delicious that this mimics a smaller version of what happened to Masamune.

Keiji tried to warn his uncle to walk away beforehand, but he got the cold shoulder in return.  Nephew is not happy with you at all, sir.  He drops in and challenges Toshie to a duel.  I have to say, I have never seen so little blood in a deadly fight since I watched Noir.  I can believe it with Keiji, because he’s supposed to walk the path of peace through communication.  Maybe he dulled his blade on purpose, who knows?  But Toshie?  You nailed him dead to rights with your trident and didn’t even pierce the armor.  Maybe this newfangled plot armor is a little too good.

Kenshin knows he has proved his point and magnanimously lets his enemy leave.  He also makes a little observation.  They fight for a common cause, but their methods oppose each other.  Keiji wants to talk, while Toshie wants to fight.  They can’t realistically coexist.  Years ago, the pair forged a bond of blood.  I find it fitting that their bond washes away in the pouring rain.  It’s like the heavens are crying with them.

Yukimura continues his journey, when he decides to make camp in a town.  Here, he sees what Hideyoshi’s methods have brought on the people.  The men have all left, transcripted into the army and destined to fight until they die.  Only the women and children remain.  Yukimura can’t ignore it, he’s too good at heart.  I wonder, if Toshie saw this scene, could he continue to stand by his master?

In Keiji’s brief flashback before he goes bankai all up in Toshie’s face, he remembers Hideyoshi standing over a dead woman’s body.  He’s smiling.  Whether this is Hideyoshi or Keiji’s love doesn’t really matter, even though I’m interested in the answer.  The point is, he has sacrificed everything in the name of power, in order to enforce “peace.”  Is this really a world worth fighting for?

Oh yeah, and Masamune still lives.  He still talks with gratuitous English.  He still wants Hideyoshi’s head on a silver platter, now more than ever.  He has an opportunity to claim it, but he will lose in spectacular fashion.  If he won, we probably wouldn’t have a show anymore.  Don’t worry though, he won’t stay down for long.  He never does.

Last week’s episode prompted me to post and to wonder (or perhaps to predict) if this show was going to be, as they call it, a train wreck. To be fair to the show, it’s only 1/6 of the way through, but that does mean that the first story arc is complete, and I can at least say that this story arc was an unqualified train wreck. That being said, I can’t help but grin from ear to ear as I write this. I have to give it credit. Plenty of shows have sucked and been unwatchable, but it’s rare for one to still make you want to keep watching.

The phrase “so bad it’s good” comes to mind. This is a phrase used appropriately to describe movies moreso than TV shows. When you’re spending a 90 minute stretch to watch something, the phrase makes a lot of sense. But when you’re watching something week in and week out, if something is bad, it’s just bad. It’s a rare breed that can still entertain for such a long period of time, not despite, but because of how bad it is. Amagami SS is one of those special shows.

So why was it so bad? I could point to the extremely poor pacing, which saw almost nothing happen the 1st 2 episodes, followed by a bizarre 3rd and then a 4th that hit us with more shit than the 1st 3 combined. I’ve already written on the awfulness of the 3rd episode and its misogyny, on which the final episode of this arc happily builds. Then there is the 4th episode by itself, which was crammed so full of cliches – not the good kind – that I’m still in awe and wonderment at the enormity of the feat.

Really, if I were to write about every little thing, this post would go far too long. Suffice it to say, I got a good laugh out of the revelation that Junichi and Haruka had met before, at an important moment of both of their pasts, which was also intricately tied to Haruka’s actual dog. And the laughs just kept coming, from somehow sticking a swimsuit scene into a Christmas Eve setting to having Haruka surprise Junichi with the dream date, hotel room and all.

But the moment that sticks in my mind, that offended my sensibilities too much for its own good is just when Haruka came out of the bath, upset that Junichi didn’t try to peek at her. This is, to quote @8C from Twitter, “misogynistic idealism.” The same can be said about the 10-years-later gag that they pulled immediately after. We are never shown the actual difficulties of the romance – the parts that are interesting – and are told that, as soon as you get the girl – or rather, as soon as the girl gets you – everything will be hunky dory from then on. Your “work” is finished.

Anime in general and especially visual novels such as the one on which this show is based are known for their misogyny. Visual novels get away with this because most of them are wish fulfillment porn anyway. Anime shows get away with this because they tend to be pretty absurd comedies, where multi-dimensional characters and realistic relationships aren’t needed.

But those things are needed in a somewhat serious romance story like Amagami SS. It just doesn’t work when the climactic, super dramatic moment is dependent on the girl acting like what a “misogynistic idealist” believes she should act like. Or if the build up to that involves the girl fulfilling the guy’s weird fetish of being a dog. Let me quote chaostangent from an astute post he made after only the first 3 episodes had aired:

These are not even char­ac­ters but amal­gam­a­tions of the most tired, staid and all-round tedi­ous aspects of arche­types that have mutated into a hideous, cringe­worthy diorama of what sociopaths believe real­istic or dra­mat­ic­ally enga­ging human inter­ac­tion is.

And yet, I must laud Amagami SS for being so bold in its adaptation of a visual novel. Most anime adaptations of visual novels tone down the obviously misogynist and wish fulfillment fantasy aspects in favor of creating a story better suited for the medium. Not Amagami SS. I have not played or read any of the source material, but I’m confident that this anime has embraced its heritage fully.

That’s why, despite the show’s insurmountable flaws, I enjoyed this first story arc of Amagami SS. Most anime shows tread that misogynistic line shyly, afraid to reference the fact that it’s an overarching theme in so many works in the medium – there’s an entire genre devoted to it – all the while partaking in it. Amagami SS outright celebrates it, and, most importantly, it does it without a hint of irony. In a way, it is a reflection of the expectations of the current otaku community at large.

This is a show that is fully aware of the path to failure that it’s marching down. And far from despairing it, it revels in it, inviting us, the viewers, to join in as well. I won’t be joining it, but I’ll happily look from afar at what other droplets of idealistic misogyny lies in its path.

After who knows how long, maybe since the beginning of summer, I FINALLY HAVE BEATEN TOUHOU 06 WITHOUT A CONTINUE! HELLA FUKKEN YEAH!!!! Man, that Patchouli sure was giving me trouble. She manages to take more than two or so lives from me. And I hate that. Sakuya also is a bitch, but not as [...]

So this brings an end to Morishima Haruka’s arc, which I found a bit facepalm worthy. He reminded her of her dead doggy? I lolwtf’d…that gotta suck for Junichi. (BTW…this is the first time I remembered his name, and…JUNICHI!? 2L8ForDaCapo jokes -_-) Anyways, props to Junichi and managing to keep a hook on Haruka FOR [...]

Last episode we had a little bit o’ bestiality action, this episode, the toys are brought in! lolol Awesum!

After much delay and, depending on where you hang around, much hype, the 50 minute OVA Black Rock Shooter was finally released yesterday, July 24. Despite the solid visuals and music, the poor pacing and storytelling make this an anime that I can’t recommend, even to die hard fans of Vocaloids or Supercell like myself. You’re better off just waiting for the soundtrack and seeing some of the highlights.

For those who don’t know that much about Vocaloids or Supercell, here’s a brief introduction to Black Rock Shooter. Ryo, the only musician in the now professional band Supercell, got his start uploading his songs sung by Hatsune Miku onto Nico Nico Douga. One of his most popular ones, perhaps second only to Melt, was Black Rock Shooter, a song that he had written based off of a picture drawn by an artist who goes by the name of Huke. It was uploaded in June of 2008. You can see the original video with English subtitles on Youtube.

Some time since then, anime studio Ordet decided to pick it up and to create a 50 minute OVA based on the song – which itself was based on a picture. It was originally supposed to be released in September 2009, but it got pushed to Spring 2010, then again to Summer 2010. And yesterday, on 7/24, it was finally released, for free on DVDs that came with the September issue of Hobby Japan. There are a couple other magazines will also have the DVDs packed for free.

One of the biggest questions I had going into this was what the story would be like. After all, the OVA is ultimately based on an image, and the lyrics to the song don’t exactly build up a cohesive world. Well, contrary to the more fantasy oriented images associated with this production, Black Rock Shooter tells the story of a middle school first year named Mato Kuroi (Kana Hanazawa) and her friendship with classmate Yomi Takanashi (Miyuki Sawashiro). The 2 become friends on their first day of school and grow closer throughout their first year despite their being in different sports clubs (basketball for Mato, volleyball for Yomi). About half way through, the basketball team manager Yuu (Kana Asumi) gets into the mix as well. The main conflict manifests itself as jealousy when Mato and Yuu get put into the same class for their second years while Yomi gets put into a different class, stuck outside looking in.

Interspersed in this story are brief scenes of the eponymous Black Rock Shooter – an obvious stand-in for Mato – chasing and fighting against Dead Master – Yomi’s stand-in – in the dark fantasy world most associated with the work. The action scenes are short and inserted fairly evenly throughout the OVA, and it’s only at the end when Yomi disappears that a clear connection between the 2 settings is shown.

The core problem with Black Rock Shooter lies with the storytelling. The pacing is horrid, with pretty much nothing happening in the first half. 50 minutes is longer than a TV show episode, but it’s still not a long time, and you simply can’t waste that much time with the set up. The more action packed fantasy scenes inserted throughout that half didn’t do anything to help the pace, because they felt unrelated – at best, only loosely connected – to the main story in the real world.

On that note, the story just doesn’t tie together. There is a fundamental disconnect between the scenes in the fantasy world and in the real world. There are hints at how the events in the two settings relate to each other, but it is only at the end that a clear connection is made, and even then, the explanation is unsatisfactory. Clearly, the fantasy scenes were meant to serve as a metaphor for the emotional conflict taking place in real life between Mato and Yomi, but the rest of the connections, including the reason for Yomi’s disappearance or her blank text to Mato at the end, are left as exercises for the viewer. Same goes for the opening fight between Dead Master and Black Rock Shooter, which clearly happened before the events of the show. Having an open ended story up to the viewer’s interpretation is one thing, but this is either laziness or ineptitude by the director.

Heck, there is even a 3rd character in the fantasy who never does anything. Perhaps the entire purpose of this OVA was to set up a series. At least, that’s what it feels like with its open threads and the cliffhanger-style ending.

Even the fantasy scenes, while containing entertaining, visceral action and beautiful art, suffers from the fact that nothing about these characters’ motivations is revealed until the very end. There were hints here and there at the bigger story, but the mismatching chronology – the fantasy scenes have no connection to the real life scenes being shown at the same time – meant that I was left wondering why Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master were fighting for most of the time. And fights in which you have nothing invested in the outcome just aren’t as fun to watch.

It doesn’t help that neither of the two show any emotion through most of the fight. As they get hit, thrown, shot at, and tied up, their faces rarely change from their monotone dead stares, as if they were both Terminators programmed to fight each other. The closest thing up until the climactic moment was Dead Master’s evil smirk. They don’t talk, and they barely even grunt as they fight. The brevity also hurt these fight scenes, as none of them lasted long enough for a real story to develop within the fights. Just as the fights started to get into their grooves and made me excited, the OVA would cut back to a plain real life scene. There are things that can be done with single long action scenes that can’t be done with many shorter ones. They need time to build a sort of rhythm, something that Black Rock Shooter never managed to do.

That being said, Black Rock Shooter is still a very pretty anime. The real life scenes have the level of detail you expect from an OVA, and the stylized animation of the action scenes work very well. Some of the backdrops in the fantasy scenes are obviously created using CG, but they almost never stand out. The use of the color and light, as well as the architecture in those scenes do a wonderful job of creating an oppressive, dark, almost depressing mood to the speechless fights. I’m a fan of the character designs as well. The purposeful contrast between Black Rock Shooter’s tall, lanky, unbalanced design with Dead Master’s curvaceous and symmetrical one was not lost on me. Heck, they even put scars on Black Rock Shooter’s stomach in order to emphasize the straightness of her design (ironically, Yomi is taller than Mato).

And the music was very enjoyable as well. No, there was no Hatsune Miku music; not even Black Rock Shooter was played. Instead, it was a largely classical score, fitting for a school story. In some scenes, the music really took center stage in communicating the emotion to the viewer. One of the first scenes, in which Mato climbs the hill near her house before going off to school, sticks in my mind. In the world of TV shows, where usually some plot has to be fit into a 24 minute less 1:30 OP less 1:30 ED slot, the background music almost always stays right there in the background. Without such limitations (in fact, one might argue that they didn’t even fill the pressure to fit a story into its 50 minute slot), the OVA was free to implement more movie-like usage of background music, to good effect. There were also call backs to Supercell’s Black Rock Shooter song as well, with some of the music, particularly at the beginning and end of the OVA, using themes pulled straight from that song.

Ultimately, Black Rock Shooter is two separate stories connected only loosely by theme and character design, with 80% of the time spent on a, though heartfelt, tragically generic story about friendship, and the other 20% dedicated to the good parts: the fun, even if meaningless, action scenes. The uneven pacing and storytelling unraveled a technically solid production, and as the credits rolled, I felt sorry for all the people whose hard work went into producing what amounted to essentially nothing.

The only way I can see this OVA being somewhat redeemed is if it turns out to be just the 1st part of a longer series, one which explores the fantasy world that this one only briefly touched upon. Both the pre-credits ending and post-credits ending tease a possible continuation. But as a stand alone work, it is incomplete and not worth the time to watch it.

Notes:

• As always, screenshots galore at Tenka Seiha and Random Curiosity.
• The free magazine-packed DVDs include 7 different languages of subtitles, including English. The other 6 are Japanese, Chinese, Italian, German, Spanish, and French.
• Other magazines that will have this DVD are Megami Magazine (7/30) and Monthly Animedia (8/10). (source: Anime News Network via Vocaloidism)
• The character Dead Master was never named in the OVA. I got her name from the figures of her they’re selling, such as this one.
• This is the 2nd anime for which Ryo of Supercell did the music. The other one was Cencoroll, and it also starred Kana Hanazawa as a leading role.
• Kana Asumi starred as Poplar in last season’s Working!!, in which one of the running gags was that she would always mispronounce the main character’s name “Takanashi” as “Katanashi.” Her character Yuu has no problem with that in Black Rock Shooter, however. The OVA also made the same pun as in Working!! regarding Takanashi’s name being able to be confused with “Kotori” (Takanashi’s name when he cross-dresses).
• At the point when Mato was giving Yomi the star cell phone strap, I started wondering if the fantasy world was far in the future, given the post-apocalyptic style of the setting. I was hoping that there was some falling out between the 2 that the OVA would show, before they somehow became Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master. I think that would’ve been a better twist than, “It’s a metaphor, lol.”

I sprained my ankle one time.  If you’ve never done it before, I’ll tell you right now moving around is no fun at all.  You want to sit so you don’t have to deal with it, but then you want to get up because you don’t want to sit all day.  I can’t even imagine how restless Sera’s minor injury makes him.  Actually, I can, because we get a front row seat to his head for most of the episode.  By the end, it looks like he and everyone else is looking at the positive side of things for ETU.  Everyone except Tatsumi.

Sakai tells Sera he is 31 years old.  This guy has about a decade of experience on his younger cohort, but he also has a decade’s less speed and stamina.  I think this clinches Tatsumi’s strategy for forwards right now.  Sera doesn’t have tremendous skill, but he can run forever and hold a solid front line on offense.  This can tide ETU over until the game reaches it’s later stages.

When the opponent has worn down, Tatsumi sends in Sakai to finish the game.  Even though he has lesser physical attributes, a fatigued defense counterbalances what he lacks.  Sera can slowly gain skill and confidence as a forward, while Sakai gets game-time in the best possible conditions.  Everyone wins.  Natsuki does throw a bit of a wrench into the works because he apparently scores so well, but I’m sure Tatsumi can work it to his advantage.

Sakai, like any good player, wants more time on the field.  Sera stands in the way of getting it.  To his credit, though, the elder player doesn’t use his injury to his advantage.  He comes up after practice and berates Sera for loafing around eating potato chips.  Sakai then offers the kid some much needed words of encouragement.  He might act gruff, but he definitely cares about his fellow players.

Not only that, but Sakai wants to earn his time as a forward, not receive it from a technicality.  Again, Natsu poses a problem, and he acknowledges it, but it doesn’t mean they can’t put forth their all to beat him.  I think Sera is finally starting to calm down about his position on the team.  Rather than acting worried, he now gives an air of determination.  A little competition between the forwards can drive them all to do better.

Now instead of talking around the returning forward, let’s face him head on.  I’m not really convinced Natsu has the tremendous skill as a forward everyone says he does.  He comes on the field and immediately trips and falls.  His little self-congratulation gives up a goal, which leaves the team tied at the end.  Then when he gets the ball, he immediately takes a blind shot at the goal.  What is up with this guy, and why is he valuable on the field?

Sometimes, the most dangerous opponent is the unorthodox one.  A lot of the battle rests on predicting movements.  Even narrowing it down to a range is better than nothing.  An unorthodox player screws up your predictions.  He takes actions you don’t expect, even downright stupid ones.  You don’t prepare for what you don’t expect.  Natsu’s value is the unpredictability at the core of his character.  No one expected him to take the shot, let alone score.

Finally, Tatsumi starts the episode off in a good mood.  While the rest of the management discusses Sera’s injury, he’s a little more concerned with the trading cards he gets.  Then when he sends Natsu into the game, he makes a comical remark about his “normalcy.”  The game ends in a draw and the team is pretty happy about their performance.  Tatsumi is the only one wearing a frown.  Why?

Well, for his Giant Killing team to become a reality, they have to win games, not draw them.  It goes even beyond that.  Remember his impressive coaching of Eastham in England?  After the match, Gotou finds him lying on a bench in a surprisingly low mood.  He did an amazing job but he’s not satisfied because his team didn’t win.  No one likes to lose, but Tatsumi really doesn’t like it.  It’s time to start pushing the training regiment.

I know many of you probably don’t follow sports, but I’m going to throw a sport’s analogy at you all anyway. When a legendary coach leaves a team, like when Steve Spurrier left the Florida Gators or when Phil Jackson eventually leaves the Lakers, the guy after him, no matter how good, is never going to get the respect he deserves. Likewise, as good as this week’s episode was, it was never really going to match last week’s episode. But then again, this episode never really tried to match the level of last week’s. Instead, we got more of a stage setting episode that finally bridged the different time periods introduced, but it was still pretty interesting.

The first half of the episode focused on the two or three years Ryner spent locked up in a poorly secured dungeon. Truth be told, I thought that if the show spent any time covering Ryner’s stay in jail, that it would be no more exciting than watching grass grow. But given the way this scene was handled convinced me that this show will likely remain one of my favorites this season. The great back and forth between the prison guard and Ryner concerning the books Ryner was researching and the guard’s daughter over the course of his sentence was unexpected to say the least.  When the guard came to release Ryner, thinking he was to be executed, you could see that the two did seem like “Buddy’s”.

In the end though, my guess is that the only reason there was so much attention placed on this relationship was so that Ryner didn’t just run away upon his release was out of respect for the guard’s position (Considering what Lucile would have had done to that guard had he escaped). This is pretty emblematic of Ryner’s general outlook on life and it nice to see it rather than him just saying it.

We later learn that Ryner spent his time in jail preparing a manifesto that detailed how to use the legendary relics as a deterrent to war (a little too Code Geass: Season 2 for me, but whatever). While the particulars about his research were not revealed, I would imagine that he used his Alpha Stigma to memorize the knowledge from all of those books he read. From what I’ve read and saw when Ryner activated his powers in the last episode, it seems the Alpha Stigma is some sort of power that little kids give themselves so they can do anything and everything under the sun.

While we were led to believe that Ryner was being leg to execution, he was instead led out of the prison compound to a waiting Ferris. After the two had a short fight, Ferris eventually strong-arms Ryner into accompanying her to meet the king.  Unlike the last episode, I really thought that this fight scene finally delivered some of the clean crisp action I had been waiting for. Though the previous episode obviously had a bunch of action, I didn’t enjoy it due to the overuse of shades that blocked a lot of the blood and the other gimmicks the animators used to cut costs. This fight used a few of those same gimmicks, but it looked much more polished. Now I know the fight in this episode was a lot shorter and only featured two characters, but if future fight scenes are able to meet this standard, it would be a big boost for this series’ long term prospects.

The last part of the episode introduced Sion as the new King of the Roland Empire, which might have been a surprise to some viewers if the first episode wouldn’t have given it away. After reading Ryner’s manifesto, Sion orders Ferris and Ryner on a quest to find the legendary relics. It is pretty easy to see that Lucile is controlling Sion behind the scenes and has other plans for the relics’ use, should they be found. Another interesting tidbit we got from this scene was that Kiefer is still alive and is traveling the world. Considering that our heroes are about to do the same thing you would imagine we have not seen the last of her. It was also pretty intriguing to see Ryner’s reaction to the news that Kiefer was still alive, as he seemed rather indifferent to her over the past few episodes.

Though it is clear that this series will have a fairly interesting plot, whatever happens, it is still unclear as to what that plot will be and what themes it will cover. A lot of people have seemed to wonder, myself included, as to why this show is taking its sweet time introducing plot points and explaining character back stories. While it is unfortunate a lot of people may have dropped this show after first episode or two, I am beginning to appreciate the slow build up. As much as I enjoy series that jump straight into explaining back stories and character’s abilities in the first few episodes, this show has taken a different route, and I commend it for taking that risk.

Looking forward to next week, I am afraid that we may return to the dull comedy routine of the first episode, especially when considering that the past three episodes contained a lot of great story telling. One good thing about a return to the present day is that we now have a far better understanding of what is going on with the plot, so the transition may not be as bad as I think it might (plus we will get more Ferris). Now that the stage is set, it would seem that the series may take on more of an episodic format, but I wouldn’t really mind if the story jumped around a bit as it seems that is when it is at its best.

There is one final thing I want to note before ending this post. It seemed Ryner was pretty liberal with his Alpha Stigma powers in his fight against Ferris. This represents a fairly dramatic shift in his character from the previous episode, so I suppose that his outlook on life may have changed while he was in prison. But if this isn’t the case, then it certainly gives the impression of some sloppy writing considering how Ryner let his classmates die so easily last episode. Anyway, that is just something I am going to keep my eye on.

Woah, that was a pretty intense half-an-hour. Things are still progressing slowly in this series but that doesn’t stop events from being genuinely creepy. One of the things Shiki is proving to be very good at is creating atmosphere, and the show has been using that to its advantage; the consistently eerie mood it’s been building since the premiere has not only been maintained but heightened. In this episode, we were introduced to several new characters, all of whom were sinister or intriguing or both, and the foreboding was really laid on thick.

The first part of the episode focused on three very different teenage boys: Masao, Tohru, and Natsuno, the latter of whom we’ve already met. There’s instantly a sharp contrast between aloof, guarded Natsuno and his only friend in Sotoba, the pleasant Tohru. But it’s through Tohru that we see slivers of another side of Natsuno. Even with his friend, he retains his icy demeanour, but we almost get a sense of why. Natsuno not only doesn’t care about the village he’s living in – like Megumi, he wants to get out – but also seems to be attempting to control his emotions. His behaviour and desire to stay over at Tohru’s indicate that he’s been rattled by the past days’ events (or perhaps something else), but he still doesn’t show much fear whatsoever. Likewise, when Masao angrily confronts him about not accepting Megumi’s gift, he maintains his calm, although there’s clearly disdain in his words.

There’s a contrast between Masao and Natsuno as well. They both harbour (arguably) similar displeasure, but they express it in different ways. As we see from both his interactions with people in the past and the present, Masao isn’t slow to lash out and could even have an anger management problem. He also despises Natsuno and really lets it show. On the other hand, while Natsuno doesn’t exactly bottle things up, he never lets himself get overwhelmed by emotion. He remains cool, calm and collected at all times, but is occasionally distinctly unkind.

Speaking of Masao, he’s a fairly unpleasant character. Aside from his aforementioned anger issues, he also has moments where his actions could make one’s skin crawl. I found his behaviour towards his sister-in-law disturbing, and his reaction upon telling Tohru of Nao’s death had a similar effect on me, as it was difficult to tell if it was excitement or fear he was expressing (but perhaps that was just me). His character design also serves to further the ‘unpleasant’ image. But despite all this, it was surprisingly easy for me to feel sympathetic towards him. Even though, as I said, he acted towards his sister-in-law in a way that made me feel uneasy, it seemed like he was only doing so because he was expecting to be hated by her so much. I feel as though that’s somewhat tragic: he’s expects to be hated so much that, in the process of expressing his anxiety, he makes himself just that.

On the plus side for him, though, his personality might just make him one of the least scary residents of Sotoba. While he is explicitly creepy, almost every other resident in the town seems to be hiding something. It seems that there’s something off about so many of them but it’s hard to pinpoint what it is, and that’s much spookier, to me at least.

All three members of the Kirishiki family also had their first onscreen debuts in this episode (beyond cameos, at least), and they definitely delivered on the strangeness. Chizuru and Seishirou acted very oddly upon meeting Nao’s family, especially considering how soon she died afterwards. Their cryptic utterances, as well as their line upon leaving – “We’ll stop by to pay our respects. Soon, quite soon.”, according to umee’s subs – were also mysterious and disquieting. And yet, somehow, their daughter Sunako managed to steal the spotlight from them. She seemed far older than her thirteen years upon meeting Seishin, and she made her intelligence very clear. Like both her parents, she also added fuel to the intrigue-fire with several enigmatic lines, including one that was a clear reference to Seishin and the cut on his wrist.

The Kirishiki family are probably the most intriguing characters at this point. It helps that their reason for moving to Sotoba is suspicious, especially given the timing of said move. I can’t wait to see more of the three of them, and I’m very curious as to how their stories will unfold.

Finally, this episode featured some very heavy foreshadowing of corpses rising from the grave. The title, Shiki, means ‘corpse demon’, so this wasn’t unexpected, but I was surprised by the amount of oblique and not-so-oblique references to that. First we had Seishin’s novel – which seems like it could become a major plot-point – alluding to it, and then we had Masao’s line about Megumi clawing her way out of her grave to get revenge on Natsuno. Hmm…

All in all, another enjoyable episode. Both the show’s horror and mystery elements are being very well set up, and I look forward to not only when things inevitably come to a head, but to the rest of the ride along the way.

Like last week’s episode, this one was about one of the seven companions, the maid Otsu Tsuruyaga in this case. That’s about all it had it common with that episode, though, or with the rest of the series, for that matter. Without a clear fairytale analogy to latch onto, it was an episode that could’ve been a part of any other show. Unfortunately, when this show isn’t standing out thanks to its gimmick, it’s downright plain and… boring.

The premise was pretty ridiculous. So much so that it was funny, I’ll admit. If only it didn’t remind me of a bazillion other anime out there. It was just the classic “girl falls into main character’s lap” story rolled up into an episode instead of an entire series. Actually, it was lifted wholesale from some eroge if anything.

Then things continued to get more ridiculous, but not in a good way. It started with Otsu’s back story, which felt like it belonged in another type of show altogether. That it was out of place didn’t bother me as much as just how played out a story it was. The “pushed out of the way of an oncoming truck” plot element has been used to death, especially in anime, and it leaves me feeling nothing, if it ever did at one point. It’s uninteresting.

The last third of the episode was without humor. Even the narrator, who had saved some scenes earlier in the series didn’t feel all-there. She could’ve had a field day with the craziness of the set up, but she was restrained, doing only enough to remind us that she was still around. The way the story turned out was sappy and difficult to tolerate, especially during the big all-maids scene.

I did like getting to see Ryoushi’s home life. It’s an unusual set up, and Yukime was a fun character. I suppose her conversation with Ryouko and Ringo was part of developing the main romance story. And the gag involving Hansel and Gretel was amusing, if predictable. Though showing us that brother sister love reminded us again of how eroge based this episode’s plot was.

That’s all I have to say about this one. The show needs to get back in track with what made it so appealing in the first place, what made it stand out from other shows of the same vein. Because it depends on its unique elements to stand out from a sea of shows that is identical to this one. Instead of this moe fanservice, let’s see more fairy tale adaptations. Which one is Otsu based off of, anyway?

Ghostlightning made an interesting post on favorite anime characters over at THAT Anime Blog.  I originally thought to post a comment in response, but then I decided it would be better as it’s own post.  Maybe you’re all interested in my choice of characters as well.  GL presents two categories: Complex and Admirable.  I would like to add Entertaining as well.  Let’s face it, sometimes you like a character because no matter what they do, they look awesome and steal the show.  This list does contain some spoilers.  So without any further ado, here is my top 10 list of favorite characters, and the reason for their selection.

He is definitely not the greatest man in the world by moral standards.  He used to be a delinquent, he drinks, he smokes, he’s a womanizer.  But he also cares deeply about his students and always looks out for their well being, even if they do him wrong.  I would have loved to have him as a teacher.  He’s a case study in judging people based on their appearance, rather than their ability.

Every time Masamune comes on screen, something amazing happens.  Whether he’s riding on his motorcycle horse, dropping boisterous lines to rally the troops, or launching his latest electrically charged attack, he does it all with style.  The guy oozes charisma, even when he’s lying wounded on the ground.  The eyepatch and awesome headgear helps his image as well.

She’s not this overly sexed up heroine like you see in so many series.  She’s a girl who likes to read books.  Maka has her compassionate side, which I’m convinced she could use to befriend anyone.  She also isn’t afraid to toss off orders because of things more important.  Add to it the patience of a saint for having to deal with Soul all day every day, and you have quite an admirable character.

He’s probably the closest thing to a gentleman on my list.  Even at his young age, he acts quite mature and becomes an executive of his mafia family.  He has exceptional skill with the knife, but he never lets his abilities go to his head.  Firo goes way out of his way to help others at his own inconvenience.  He even has an unfortunate run-in with the law in order to protect the woman he loves.  Of course, he can be a bit cocky too, especially if you look down on him.

Ghostlighning said it best, he’s a “courageous moron.”  Never tell him the odds, because he’ll simply brush it aside and charge straight into battle anyway.  Even if he’s going to lose, he’d rather fail than not even try at all.  His bravado hides his own insecurities though.  He projects this strong will because he has to motivate the troops for battle.  Really, he fears death.  When a cave-in threatened to kill him, he froze up.  He truly believes in Simon, his friend and companion who saved him that day, to the point he uses his last ounce of energy to protect him.

In a veritable sea of pessimism, Manami remains the only optimist.  I’d really call her a super optimist.  Her cheerful demeanor motivates an entire school to join together for a single cause: holding a school festival.  She has a unique way of looking at the world, seeing the “big picture” all the time.  Her little eccentricities, like running in order to think, make her all the more endearing.

He’s a delinquent who acts a lot like Kamina in his sheer determination.  He never quite measures up to the ability of his comrades, but he makes up for it by never giving up.  His sheer force of will and refusal to fail allows him to overcome impossible obstacles.  Despite his tough exterior, he is easily the nicest out of the quartet of heroes, and has a soft spot for cats  Kuwabara sits out the final arc of the series.  Why?  Because he finally decided he wants to do something with his life by pursuing an education, and he succeeds.  Good on him.

Haruko is quite the “over-the-top” character.  Crazy things follow her everywhere, and she instigates most of it.  She makes her big debut by hitting the main character… with her bike. Shoot, her guitar acts as both a gun and a rocket launcher, how cool is that?  And the family cat?  She uses it as a telephone.  Her spastic craziness and overwhelming personality really drive FLCL for me.

Hiiragi is the precocious child in series’ trio.  Fortunately, she uses her massive knowledge for awesome.  When the other character’s have a problem, she delivers a solution.  The solution makes sense, in a child-like way, and shenanigans ensue.  I wonder if she does it all for her own amusement.  She also enjoys cosplay, and it’s nigh impossible not to “D’awww” at her when she reveals her latest outfit.

He speaks in broken English phrases.  He spends the majority of his screen time dancing.  And every time he comes on camera?  Yeah, he steals the show.  Even sitting in the background, he’s usually doing something to take your eyes off the main characters.  T.K. has an entirely one dimensional personality, and I love him for it.  He’s also the only character I really wish I knew more about.

Closing Statistics

Since GL was looking for some sort of correlation in character selection, here’s some number crunching.  Entertaining characters make up the plurality of my list, with 4 selections, while Complex and Admirable characters split the remainder.  I tend to like characters from series I like, as 4 of the top 10 are characters in my top 5 favorite anime, and 1 is from my top 5 manga.  All the characters from my top series are the main character as well, except for Kuwabara.  I prefer “determinator” type characters who never give up even against impossible odds: they account for 6 slots on the list.

So that’s that.  Hopefully this gave you a good viewpoint toward my preferences in anime characters.  I enjoyed putting this post together.  If you’ve got a bunch of characters you really appreciate, I encourage you to either comment or write a post of your own.

You never fully appreciate what you had until you have lost it.  You don’t appreciate your financial security until you can no longer pay the bills.  You don’t realize the value of youth until you have become old and gray.  In Masamune’s case, he has lost a valuable ally and a trusted friend.  It sends the world crashing down around him.  Enough with the sorry stuff.  Let’s see what happened and in what position the great One Eyed Dragon has found himself.

What is up with villains and other people trying to tell the hero what his odds for success are?  It rarely if ever matters to them.  I remember watching Star Trek as a kid.  Spock would always come up with some ridiculous odds, like one in a septillion, and Kirk would just shrug it off and succeed.  As a more recent anime example, Kamina taught us to kick reason to the curb and go beyond the impossible!

Actually, we have a startling parallel with the latter case.  In this scenario, Kojuurou is simply outmaneuvered and outgunned.  He has to split his attention between protecting the hostages and himself.  Not just that, though, but he also has to restrain himself from unleashing his full power.  All of the hero characters have amazing attacks, which can decimate an entire area.  If he used one, he could injure or kill the hostages.  I half expected someone to use their Big Damn Heroes moment of the season to come rescue him, as happens so often in these series.  It simply wasn’t meant to be.  Shigeharu’s plan to capture Kojuurou succeeds.

While we’re on the subject of Shigeharu, this guy is a more feminine version of Ivy from Soul Calibur.  I suppose it tells you a lot about my opinion of her character, but that’s neither here nor there.  The key feature here is the ridiculous lolhax whip sword.  From a distance, he looks like your normal, everyday warrior of the Sengoku Basara universe.  Then suddenly, BAM, you get hit from fifty feet away by a rapidly expanding sword.  What kind of an attack is that?  Where do all those sword segments come from, anyway?  Does he have his own personal hyperspace arsenal or something?

I do like the relationship Shigeharu and Hideyoshi share.  In the first season, Nobunaga had his generals, but he treated them as a means to an end.  They treated him largely in kind.  By comparison, these two “villains” have a respectful relationship.  Shigeharu wants his master to succeed more than anything, to the point of his exhaustion.  Hideyoshi looks out for the commander-in-chief of his forces and trusts his tactical opinion.  It also gives a sense that they aren’t evil, they simply have different ideals.  I like anime using this concept as it makes for far more interesting conflict.

Poor Masamune, your inexperience is showing.  Losing Kojuurou might have crippled him for now, but I think it will ultimately make him better.  As of right now, he relied on him far too much for advice.  Masamune prefers the balls to the wall, head-on collision style of attack.  It makes for entertaining fights, but very poor strategy.  By the time he engages his real opponent in combat, his troops have had enough.  They cannot fight anymore, even for their enigmatic leader.

Fortunately, he has more than enough hot blood to make up for his weakened troops.  Making him angry achieves the same effect as stirring a hornet’s nest.  Whatever comes out will beat the tar out of you, so all you can do is to run like hell.  Shigeharu obviously did not consider the power of sheer, murderous rage.  Even with the power of GAR on his side, I have doubts Masamune can truly win this fight.  Even if he repels the attackers, his lands remain open to attack.  His status as the main character offers him strong plot armor, but he still needs to learn quickly to protect his soldiers and other subjects.