Though by now we should be expecting a different level of insanity from this series, Star Driver just took it up a notch. Craziness aside, this episode was able to tell a real interesting story that fit well within the context of the bigger issue.
Continue reading ‘Star Driver 5 – The “He was going to do her, of course” Edition’
Ah, poor Moriaki-sensei! It’s not easy being popular. I didn’t expect him to play such a large role in the show, but with this episode, he’s now gotten more screen time than even Toshiko, and that’s turned out to be a good thing.
Continue reading ‘Yet the Town Keeps Going 4 – The Forbidden Fruit’
After weeks of essentially having no plot movement, this week’s episode threw many things at us and in quick succession. While beggars (and I am) really can’t be choosers when it comes to timely plot development, this episode moved forward in a variety of different ways. Some of these choices were good, while others could have used the “dead air” from previous episodes to be better.
Awesome character. Why he was introduced so late is beyond me.
Continue reading ‘The Legend of the Legendary Heroes 17 – Out of the Blue’
Really not a whole lot to write about this one. After the wonderfully self aware and ironic Sae arc, Amagami SS returned to its normal storytelling style, with a result that was all too predictable.
While I could say that Star Driver broke away from its usual format this week, three episodes doesn’t necessarily constitute a trend. That aside, I thought this episode did a good job of shedding some light on Wako’s current situation and her thought processes, even though the lack of a fight in this episode seemed like a cheap ploy to save some money.
Evil Glare of the Glasses
10 years ago today, on October 24, 2000 (correction: actually October 25, 2000), the 4th episode of Gainax’s OVA series FLCL was released to DVD. This is part of a series of posts I’m making on this show. In my first post, I covered how I came upon this series and my reaction to the first 2 episodes. My second post was made a day late and covered episode 3, Marquis de Carabas. This one covers what my initial reaction was to the 4th episode, Full Swing. (note: for the purposes of this post, I did not rewatch the episode. The last time I watched it was some time in the summer of 2009)
What is there to say about Full Swing? Quite a lot, probably. I could talk your ears off about this episode. It is unequivocally my favorite episode of any anime, all time (so far). Others have come close, such as The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, the final episodes of Gunbuster, Diebuster and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Bakemonogatari episode 12, but Full Swing still holds the number one place in my heart.
This week’s episode was a lot like last week’s, in that it was again a lot of fun, made possible by Hotori acting like her usual self. A new character, Futaba Kon, the lead singer and bass player in the ED sequence and also a member of the table tennis club just like Harue from the first episode, was introduced as well, though little of her personality shone through.
Continue reading ‘Yet the Town Keeps Going 3 – More Hotori Being Hotori’
Three fourths of the way through this episode, I was about ready to give up on this series and drop it. It has been some time since the perversion jokes between Ryner and Ferris were new and interesting, Sion’s inability to do anything of interest had been getting on my nerves, and the revelations regarding Ferris and Lucile’s past, though interesting, were not shocking and did little to move the plot forward. But thankfully, almost as if he had heard my pleas for some sort of plot movement, Luke made one decisive and somewhat risky move, that may have finally made this series interesting again.
Continue reading ‘The Legend of the Legendary Heroes 16 – Dojo of Doom’
One of the main events I attended during this year’s New York Anime Festival was the Hatsune Miku “concert” at 8pm on Saturday. This was actually an “encore performance,” arranged due to the high demand for the initial “concert” that morning at 10:45. It was held in a room far too small for the event, and most people who wanted to go ended up unable to attend, it seemed.
Continue reading ‘New York Anime Festival 2010 – Hatsune Miku “Concert”’
If I had to take one thing from this episode to store in my memory, it would be the message on the chalkboard during the episode’s opening segments which suggested that we should all enjoy our adolescence. In reality, this show is likely going to throw way too many things at us and we probably won’t understand what is going on half the time or ever get answers. Instead, we should just accept these things as they are, and move on, like life. Thus, I am more than prepared to watch this show for 25 episodes, despite having every fiber in my being tell me this show will have some sort of Angel Beats like conclusion. And while in the end it may all be pointless, I’m still going to focus on the minutia of this series even if I am occasionally wrong, because what is life without a little whimsy.
Those legs.
