Steins; Gate 04 - Rendezvous of Abstract Fluctuation

With each Steins; Gate episode passing, another piece of the puzzle falls into place and still I have no idea where the series is heading. There is still any number of possible outcomes and I really like that this anime hasn’t resigned itself so early on. As well as allowing itself ample amounts of time. Only another eighteen episodes to go!

Through anti-climatic, episode four was certainly no less dramatic. The relationship between Okarin and Makise was examined further as the pair embarked upon a very arbitrary mission. The pair are perfect couple material with Makise playing straight-man to Okarin’s mad scientist. There is definitely chemistry between those two, mark my words. Furthermore my dilemmas with Makise’s reaction to the phone-microwave-time machine were neatly followed up. It was also good to see two of the female cast having made a connection outside of Okarin, but that doesn’t yet rule out that he is the gravitating force of this series.

Verdict: Great

Ao No Exorcist 02 – Gehenna Gate

An intriguing if not entirely unpredictable, picking up where the previous episode left off. Reverend Shirou does his best to protect his son from the growing demonic foes only to be cornered in their chapel. At this point Shirou hands Rin a massive plot device in the form of a sword, ordering him to guard it with his life but never use it. One of those ‘do not push the red button’ moments, of course Rin pushed it. It was such an obvious set up. As was the possession and death of Shirou.

Potential baddie Mephisto Pheles (name and appearance alone scream demon) is introduced after the credits, with the intention of killing Rin for the sake of humanity. However inexpiably changes his mind after Rin expresses his goal to become an exorcist and kill Satan, talk about setting his sights high. Seriously Mephisto (through I don’t think those two terms go well together) that would be the dumbest move a person in your position could make, if you didn’t have an ulterior motive.

Nevertheless this is still enjoyable.

Verdict: Good

Deadman Wonderland 02 – Antidote (Candy)

Initially I claimed that Deadman Wonderland is fairly similar to Battle Royale and I definitely have to stand by that statement. Not only is Ganta falsely convicted of a highly traumatic crime and placed on death row, the privately owned prison/amusement park of where he is currently housed, gets a kick out of killing off its criminal population for sport. Or rather the sadistic warden does. Furthermore how large is this population that vast amounts can be taken out during the course of one activity?

The endless supply of filler convicts aside, we’re introduced to our first criminal villain, a standard hot-headed thug, nothing more, nothing less. Considering this is a maximum security prison, one that goes that extra mile to deny basic human rights, I was under the impression you had to be convicted of a substantial offence, say massacring your classmates. Where are the real psychopaths? The really dangerous folk, not just the thugs! Please bring them out soon!

Ganta continues to darn his helpless-innocent cloak even in the face of his new brutal surroundings. He remains blissfully unaware of the rules, for example the importance of eating the prison candy/antidote, as well as befriended Takami. Again this is prison, it’s full of dangerous people, people who might appear outwardly friendly and charming but whom are secretly manipulative. Its not that complicated, but then Ganta is a naïve child. And of course since Ganta is innocent, presumably it is possible that other convicts have also been falsely convicted.

Verdict: Very Good.

X-MEN 04

David Haller Syndrome?! I think I’m about to have a mini-freak out! Legion (David Haller) is among my favourite x-men villains/anti-heroes. Of all the x-characters I was crossing my fingers for, Legion seemed the longest shot. Through I’m not holding out hope that Legion will be the series major villain, more then likely he will manifest in flashbacks if at all. Presumably David is the child crying in Xavier’s memories (spoiler: David is Xavier’s son).

Episode 4 seemed to wrap Armour/Japan and had the x-men heading home to New York, only to discover not all has been set to right. Emma’s second mutation provided a sensible reason for Emma and H to join the x-team. The attack on the blackbird by a berserk Inner Circle prep-school student was unexpected, casting more suspicion on the role on the Inner Circle in recent events. Next weeks episode intends to serves as a flashback of Emma’s life and will no doubt feature Inner Circle members. However I still would like to see the major villains step up their game. The U-Men don’t interest me in the least!

Verdict: Good

Hana Saku Iroha -04 Grey Heron Rapsody

A very welcomed return to form after the sheer silliness of last week’s episode. Though this episode did end on a discovery, through not as dramatic, I certainly hope it can be resolved without resorting to the innfolk having to mad chase someone down.

The story moves into a new environment, one we all knew was coming as Ohana begins to attend the local school alongside Minko and Nako. Here Ohana is able to glimpse Minko outside her job and basically she is the same stick-up-her-butt bitch as she is at home. This however seems to make her the coolest girl in the class. Apparently bitchiness is considered cool in Japan, go figure. I feel as through I’m done giving Minko the benefit of the doubt, she is an obnoxious character, one who might find Ohana annoying, but has little valid reason to continuous treat her coldly. After all she did get bitchslapped by her own Grandmother after trying to defend Minko. The last week she was kidnapped and held hostage by a peedo. I mean, Minko give the girl a break already!

On track, Ohana is immediately bombarded with Minko’s fanboys only to be saved by Yuina, the daughter of the rival inn’s owners. Yuina seems the friendly, happy-go-lucky type, a completely opposite to Minko’s character, who now appear to be love rivals, so it will be interesting to see whether Ohana gets caught in the crossfire. The romance element between Minko and Tohru came as bit of a surprise, through it probably shouldn’t have. Minko has a one sided, school girl crush on her primary male handler. Ohana puts two and two together and while attempting to speak to Minko gets strangled for all her efforts. Yeah, Minko, this is probably why you don’t have any friends…

Verdict: Good

First Impression: Ao No Exorcist

The entire format of Blue Exorcist might be tried and tested, demon-teenager raised by good guys uses his demonic powers to fight the forces of evil, nevertheless the first episode held together pretty well. Our main protagonist Rin, the son of Lord Satan (could have tried to pick a better name) has your standard tough guy with a good heart complex, which inevitably means failure no matter how hard he tries. While it might be early days, I’m not altogether impressed with the initial portrayal of Rin as whiter than white. Take the Rin/Yukio relationship for example, there was ample opportunity for a complex sibling rivalry instead this was left blank. In all, it was good, nicely entertaining but I do fear it will take the angst ridden tween at special high school route and play it safe. However there is plenty of room and time for development.

Initial rating: 7/10

Steins; Gate 03 – Paranoia of Parallel Process

Okarin continues to be peculiar to say the least. While I’m now use to his paranoid exclusions, chiefly him contacting a third party via a switched off phone, I’m still dying to know exactly how much is delusion and how much is real, at this point Steins; Gate could go either way. It’s great that they are tethering in between these possibilities and not selling Okarin out as a madman straight away. The dynamics between the lab group are still interesting to behold. On the one hand I was concerned that being merely accustomed to Okarin, there might be a degree of humouring from the other two, then again one doesn’t just hack SERN (CERN – the European Organization for Nuclear Research) on a whim. Not only does the show introduce the term Steins Gate to its characters, it also introduces the evil organisation (supposedly).

As for the time travelling plot, there is little headway other then the inclusion of Kurisu. Upon entering the lab she is shortly granted temporary membership and in turn Okarin beings to regard her as his assistant even after she leaves. However for a paranoid man, Okarin can change his tune pretty sharpest. Initially extremely distrustful of Kurisu to the point of believing she might be hiding an explosive, it doesn’t seem hard or indeed take long to convince him Kurisu is not working for the enemy (whereas in reality she probably could be). It’s a tiny oversight, I know, but Okarin has such a suspicious nature, it almost doesn’t make sense that he would drop his guard so suddenly.

Another point to mention is Kurisu reaction to the successful experiment. Why did she become so distressed? I thought that as the sceptical genius she might be able to fathom a more rational explanation, for instance, the phone mixed up the dates, or the pair were playing a prank on her. So I’m curious to know why this affected her so.

The pace continues quite leisurely despite the subtle drama with a focus on the dialogue. For now the show is working on deepening our knowledge of time travelling concepts and theories, there’s plenty of room for action later on in the series, if at all. At the moment the hefty discourse is more then enough to keep me watching.

Verdict: Great

Gintama 204 - Use a Calligraphy Pen for New Year's Cards/The heart comes before chocolate

Essentially Gintama is warming up old fans and attempting to introduce new fans to their trademark slack stick style, while having as much fun as possible. No doubt it will be a while before a proper arc commences and even longer before a major Takasugi arc. This is the first episode of the new season to be split into two storylines, both connected by featuring a national holiday, New Years and Valentines Day respectfully. The first segment seems to cram in as many supporting characters as possible through the quite ingenuous means one line New Years cards.

The second segment sees Kagura-chan attempting to give Gin and Shinpachi chocolates for Valentines Day, of course she feels nervous – it’s great that Kagura is able to remain childlike without automatically becoming bratty. Unable to success in her endeavours alone she turns to older female cast members, Tsukuyo and Sarutobi Ayame for assistance, this naturally doesn’t go to plan. Sa-chan is among my favourite female characters, too often she gets overlooked so it’s nice to see her making not one but two appearances. It’s also nice to see the writers not resorting to the tired glasses gag. It feels like ages since I’ve seen that one.

Verdict: Good

First Impressions: Deadman Wonderland

Deadman Wonderland does have one initial plot fault, do the police normally suspect the lone survivor of a mass murder without so much as asking for his account first? It seems far fetched that the instance Ganta Igarashi awakes in the hospital he is immediately arrested despite no evidence or eyewitnesses. Let’s also bear in mind that the true assailant blow in the windows of a third floor classroom, how can the police attribute that to one of the people inside the room? I guess we’re suppose to assume inside frame job, however what would have made this premise stronger is if the ‘unprecedented evidence’ against Ganta were in fact feasible. However with that aside, Deadman Wonderland marks a pretty solid horror-slaughter fest, in the similar veins of Battle Royale. I’m pretty much sold on this one, let the violence commence!

Initial Rating: 9/10

First Impression: Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai

Anohana begins with introducing our main protagonist, Yadomi “Jintan” Jinta as a typical teenage slacker aggravated by a pint-size, silver haired girl known as Menma. However this characteristically anime setting is not at all what it seems to be. It becomes apparent that Jintan is the only person capable of seeing or hearing Menma, through she can be felt as demonstrated during the Anaru hug scene. Furthermore it transpires that Menma is actually Jintan’s childhood friend Honma Meiko who passed away suddenly a long time ago. This tragedy leads to Jintan and his friends drifting apart. Anohana leaves no room for ambiguity in regards to Menma’s position. She is a ghost, plain and simple. Through Jintan, the only person able to interact with her clearly believes she is little more than a hallucination brought on by the stress and trauma of the incident as well as personal guilt. The show made an impressive debut, one with a clear purpose and striking possibilities as well as guaranteed tearjerker moments. Simply wonderful.

Initial Rating: 8.5

X-MEN 03- Armour Awakening

This time the claws came out between Cyclops and Wolverine, apparently there is no love lost after all. Especially when fronted with Jean Grey’s potential killer, Emma Frost. When did Cyclops get so badass?

This episode largely focused on introducing the last two additions to the x-team rostra, Emma Frost and Hisako Ichiki. First with telepathic Emma Frost, who was splendidly haughty and condescending while adorning the most sluttish teacher outfit in her wardrobe, true Emma Frost fashion. Alas her vocals are as horrendous as the rest of the cast. It was interesting to watch how the opinions of Emma changed after the x-men witnessed her being a good teacher, as if that actually has any bearing on the Phoenix incident. Only Cyclops remains rightfully suspicious, pointing out that Emma is a mind reader. Duh!

Hisako Ichiki steps into the Jubilee/Shadowcat/Rogue juvenile role as her powers not only awaken but also rapidly spiral out of control. It was kinda predictable and a tad cheesy. I also put money on her forming a bond with Wolverine.

With regards to the U-Men, I think I should have stuck to my initial gut reaction – Mister Sinister would have been a much better choice. Essentially the U-Men master plan came down to watching, waiting and then fleeing. When you have a universe as rich and diverse as the x-men’s, you should be able to furnish the anime with memorable villains effortlessly. Like Magneto. The next episode looks like it will be a drag as well, what the anime really needs right now is a good old fashion x-men/brotherhood smack down.

Oh and Beast, you roar like a sissy!

Verdict: Fine

Hana Saku Iroha 03 – Balut

After the previous episode ended on a very sudden and dramatic high, I was all set to applaud Hana Saku Iroha for its brilliant delivery and creativity. Regrettably I can no longer do so. It’s almost as if the writing staff wanted to end on something quite shocking but didn’t have the balls to carry suit in the next episode. If the premise had been taken even half seriously, episode three would have been a tough act to follow. Instead they went for some light-hearted romp.

Ohana finds herself taken hostage and tied bondage style by the potential rapist/paedophile novelist of whom porn she stumbled upon at the end of the last episode. However as it transpires he is neither, just a failed writer trying to put together a porn novel in order to pay his bill. Ohana gets a case of Stockholm syndrome and decides to read his sex story about her and the other hostesses. Seriously did this child get dropped on the head repeatedly? Last week I discussed how genuine I felt her character was, this week Ohana relapsed.

Does it end there? Does it feck! As if this situation wasn’t bad enough, the creepy novelist attempts to make a quick get away after being discovered, only to have the inns entire staff in hot pursue. Hang about hasn’t the old battleaxe spend most of her screen time banging on about the importance of customer service? I mean, who is supposed to be running the inn? Or is this guy the only customer they have? Is this why they need his money so badly? As it happens, no, they don’t. Once they have the creepy freeloader cornered, he immediately threatens suicide and the inn staff respond with a little powwow, ultimately letting him out of his debt. Excuse me Madam Manager, did you miss the part where this geezer kidnapped your own grandchild?

Then they all proceed to have a group meal. Screw the paying, law-abiding customers.

Verdict: Average/borderline stupid

First Impression: [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

Japan is in economical turmoil, perfect timing for business savvy supernatural creatures to set up their own bank, appropriately named Midas, offering unlimited funds to unsuspecting clients/victims, asking only for futures as collateral. Essentially this is a deal-with-the-devil premise, quite imaginatively moulded to fit in with the current global financial climate. So when clients yield to temptation and use their demonic ATM card, they are immediately whisked off the financial district, an alternative demon dimension, in order to do battle with some guy – apparently always read the fine print. The protagonist, Kimimaro Yoga is your typical poor but hardworking teenage, holding down two jobs while attending university. Fortunately C doesn’t focus too much on Kimimaro tedious life and unrequited love before being lured into accepting a deal. This is a little weird but there is plenty of room for growth. My main concern is that it has inklings of pretentiousness. I can see the money-isn’t-everything/money-can’t-buy-love platform a mile off, and while it might be making a good, relevant point, there is a risk of whitewashing with gaudy action sequences.

Initial rating: 7.5/10