PinkuBentoBox

Yeah, sorry for the lack of updates of late. I meant to post every now & then, but things kept coming up and I never really got around to it. Well, things, and the fact that I just haven’t been in a writing mood. My class schedule was wiping me out; near the end of the term, I was so drained I was falling asleep behind the wheel driving home at the end of the day. Anyway, rather than take the time to individually update you on everything I’ve been watching of late, I’m just going to go through and hit the highlights really quickly. Expect individual updates to come later; I’m about to start a shitload of new shows, and I plan to start fresh in covering them here. For now though, enjoy the scraps.

Oh, by the way, I encourage you to pick up the most recent issue of Protoculture Addicts. Issue #85 with The Place Promised in Our Early Days on the cover. Why, you ask? Well, I just happen to have a two-page spread on the Boogiepop and Others movie published inside (pages 46-47, to be exact). My first published article, you’ll have to pardon me if I’m still a bit proud of it.

Anyway, onto things…

After War Gundam X 3-5
I started watching this series I don’t know how long ago, and never really got around to continuing due to issues with the download torrent. However, thanks to a stroke of luck (or, maybe just a better internet connection on a faster, non-98 computer), I managed to get these three episodes fairly quickly. And as with the previous two episodes, I continue to like what I’m seeing. The animation’s severely dated—for debuting a year after Wing, it actually looks worse than I remember Wing’s being—but the writing and characters are definitely solid. I absolutely love Garrod. He and Turn-A’s Loran have to be the only two main protagonists in Gundam anime that aren’t constantly riddled with some sort of angst complex. The fact that Garrod’s much more lively and energetic and just plain forward-acting (as opposed to the constant hesitance of his contemporaries) makes him fun and refreshing to watch. And Witz & Roybea are showing some real intrigue, as well. Witz seems to have some sort of family of sorts that he’s taking on these mercenary jobs for, while Roybea seems like just a general nice guy trying to act tough to suit his surroundings. Jamil, probably the only really angsty character in the lot so far, actually manages to make it convincing and likable. He’s not some crybaby teenager, he’s an honest-to-God war veteran still shaken by his role in the past war, and he’s portrayed convincingly, in my opinion. Tiffa’s been a bit too quiet thus far for me to really make any judgments on her; she’s really been more of a plot device in these episodes than any sort of developing character. Adorable one, though, and I certainly expect her to become more fleshed out as the episodes progress.

There’s also the matter of who appear to be the series’ main antagonists, the Frost brothers. I absolutely loved Shagia’s intro, blasting his way into the client’s office and then cryptically “predicting” the flow of events with tarot cards and chess. Of course, all of his “predictions” were brother Olba’s doing, but it was still a pretty slick character trait, nonetheless. These guys have me intrigued, and I can’t wait to see more about them. In particular, I wonder where they got their Gundams from. Shagia’s Virsago and Olba’s Ashtaron certainly aren’t part of the Old Federation’s regular lineup like the G-X, Airmaster, & Leopard are, so did the Frosts build their own units or get them from somebody? Speaking of mobile weapons, that Grandine was a fucking beast. Reminded me of a four-legged Big Zam. It’d be interesting to see Garrod & the Freeden group take on multiple units, though I somehow don’t see that being likely.

Can’t wait to get further into the series. Especially the next episode, which seems to be introducing the sexalicious Ennil El.

Beck 6-12
Beck’s an odd bird, I have to say outright. For being this revolutionary singing sensation, Koyuki sounds like nasal ass, the English dialogue is unintentionally hysterical, and I can’t tell if the animation is just awful or is actually meant to look choppy & deformed (“artistic vision,” or whatever). Presentation-wise, the show’s practically all set up for a fall. A hard one, too. However, the story saves it in a HUGE way. The writing is actually really good, and you really get drawn in by the characters. Yeah, Koyuki’s a Shinji-grade wimp, but he’s likable enough that you actually get to rooting for him to succeed as opposed to throwing things at the screen and yelling at him to shut up and deal with it (like a certain Ikari we all know). And unlike Shinji, Koyuki actually toughens up over time without having to have the world end all around him to do so. Also, the other members of the band are similarly awesome in their own ways. Ryuusuke & Taira make for convincing “elder” members for the group, Saku’s just interesting as the understated nonchalant type, and Chiba’s plain fun to watch. Also, gotta make mention of Maho if only for her sheer hawtness.

Story-wise, the series progresses quite far in just seven episodes, which is good. We go from Koyuki getting bullied and starting to see Maho more often, to Beck forming and Koyuki getting back together with the guys, to him actually joining the band along with Saku, to him apparently gaining back his confidence at some swim meet (BTW, Saitou is freaking hilarious and Koyuki’s substitute teacher is freaking hot), to their first performances, Dying Breed’s Japanese tour date, and Beck preparing to record a demo. And all the while you just can’t help but root for the little guy, Koyuki. Well, except at the end of episode 12 where he basically fucked up royal with Maho (where I suspect a five-minute phone call before bolting off to swim with Izumi would’ve cleared things up before they happened…good one, dumbass). It was also interesting seeing how Ryuusuke & his rival, Eiji, went down drastically different paths, where Ryuusuke stayed true to their underground roots and Eiji essentially began to take the generic visual kei route as an obvious “sellout” type of character. I wonder if Matt burning Eiji’s guitar will really be the last of them. Somehow I doubt it, though it was nice seeing things end up like that as opposed to exposing us to pointless “Eddie, you betrayed us!” angst or someshit. Also, I wonder what had Ryuusuke so spooked about that news report at the end of episode 12. I wonder if it has anything to do with the patchwork dog in New York, Keith (the one Ryuusuke burned the photo of), and the cryptic references to Eddie about someone “killing him if they found out [he was playing Lucille]” (yeah, explaining how those bullet holes got in the guitar in the first place would also be nice…sounds like one helluva story).

Escaflowne: The Movie
Escaflowne was a weird one for me. I enjoyed it, but at the same time I didn’t really come away from it thinking it was all that remarkable. Of course, maybe watching it at 3:00 in the morning and being somewhat tired at the time may have had something to do with that. The animation was simply incredible, and the music was top rate (Yoko Kanno, I believe?). Combining the two, that catgirl performance at the soldiers’ tavern late in the movie was absolutely haunting (or would “enchanting,” perhaps, be a better choice of words?). The story, barring some unshakable similarities I kept drawing to works like Now and Then, Here and There and Twelve Kingdoms, was fairly enjoyable, if not plenty rushed in its execution. The characters, I have to admit I found pretty bland, though. Dilandau & Folken just didn’t strike me as being very credible villains, especially Dilandau. He makes one rather uninspired appearance bullying Van and suddenly he’s the “eternal shounen rival in the dark, antithesis mech.” Rushed, much? Same with Folken’s reaching out to Hitomi’s “dark side” or whatever. I wasn’t convinced. Of course, I wasn’t really convinced of Hitomi being the somewhat nihilistic, suicidal teen she was apparently written as being, either. And what was with that prophetess that was following Folken around? And the catguy thing that killed Folken? That was movie-damagingly anticlimactic in and of itself. Van hit me with some sort of “Heero Yuy Complex,” being the stiff, boring tough guy with some imaginary soft side that gets kinda-sorta halfway touched by the obnoxious female lead. Yawn. The catgirl, Merle, was kinda cute, though, and the mole prophet guy was a fun addition. And sadly, nobody else really stood out. Like, at all.

I enjoyed the movie, don’t get me wrong. But at the same time, I just found it kinda…blah. Kinda bland. Even if it is what I’m understanding to be retelling the TV series’ story with a darker and more serious atmosphere, it still suffers the usual series-to-movie woes of being too rushed with wooden characters. It showed promise, though what I guess ultimately amounts to cramped pacing led to things being less enjoyable. I suppose liking this one despite its time constraint flaws means I’ll really enjoy the TV series, then?

Ichigo Mashimaro 1-2
Holy crap, this thing is cute. I mean like, whoa. At the moment, it seems like one of those Azumanga Daioh/Yotsuba-to-esque series that will end up being several episodes of just cute girls doing funny things in cute ways. But it’s not like I’m complaining or anything. It’s always good to have something innocent & adorable like this shuffled up between your ultra-heavy Monsters & Twelve Kingdomses & SaiKanos. One thing about this one does kinda bug me, though. Okay, I know that the 16-year old character, Nobue, was made into a 20-year old to cover for her smoking habit, but it seems to me like the ages of all the characters were bumped up a couple years. I honestly have a hard time believing that Chi, Miu, etc. are all in the 12-year old range. They seem more…8 or 9…10 tops. Also, what’s with the gag surrounding Ana’s last name? Seems as though “Coppola” is analogous to some naughty word in Japanese, but what exactly is it? Ah well, adorable show that’s well worth following up on.

Inu-Yasha the Movie 2: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass
Interesting concept, iffy ending, and a general improvement over the first movie, I thought. I liked the idea of seeing what the Inu-Yasha crowd’d do after finally slaying Naraku, and Kaguya was a rather intriguing villain, especially acquiring aid from Kagura by exploiting her pursuit of personal freedom. However, the ending was a major letdown for me. It just seemed like they wrote themselves into a corner, and were just like “uh, uhm, shit how do we…ah hell, let’s just have Naraku explode out of Kohaku.” And that’s another thing; I’ve never liked Kohaku, and I never will. All he does is bring down Sango’s character by being a cheap ploy for angsty behaviour. Granted, the seeming resolution to his character arc made his presence in this movie slightly more tolerable…until the end that is, when things all went back to normal. Also, no Sesshoumaru or Kikyou at all. Lacking the two most intriguing and developmentally dynamic characters in the entire Inu-Yasha canon was one helluva ripoff, though I can’t really see how they’d've played a part here, anyway. And at least the third movie made up for the Sesshoumaru deficiency. Shame Kikyou’s still getting screwed over by the movies, though. The fifth Inu-Yasha movie needs to either be a proper conclusion to the anime or a good, heavy, Kikyou-centric movie. And the Houjo ancestor…like Kohaku, I’ve never liked Houjo, and his ancestor was no breath of fresh air. They coulda found a better way to get the robes up the mountain. And speaking of Japanese angelic robe myths, I’m gonna assume this movie and Ayashi no Ceres bear similar mythological origins? If so, could anybody point me in the direction of the true form of the myth? Thanks.

Kannaduki no Miko 7-12
I’ll be blunt, I didn’t expect to enjoy this one as much as I did. I also didn’t expect the writing to be as solid as it was. The second half of the series, with Chikane giving herself to the Orochi, was quite the twist. The fucking mech bullshit stuck around, unfortunately, but the character drama was surprisingly effective. Well, for the most part. Himeko & Chikane’s character arcs were superbly done, but Souma just seemed like dead weight. The bland, typical shounen hero bumming around a lesbian love story trying too hard to make himself important is how it felt to me. He played his part, but it was a dull and uninspired part, to say the least. And here I was hoping he’d take a backseat since the whole Tsubasa thing was (or at least appeared to be as of episode 6) concluded. I have to admit though, if it weren’t for Chikane actually explaining herself in the last episode, the series wouldn’t have been nearly as solid. Before actually knowing her real motivations, the whole thing just seemed plot-holed & partially just arbitrary, but the way she explained it tied everything together nicely. I don’t usually care for shows cutting it close like this in tying up so many loose ends, but it worked for Kannaduki no Miko. Of course, the best part of episode 12 for me came after the end credits rolled, but then I guess I’m just a sap like that.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny 40-44
And the streak comes to and end. Since about episode 37, this series seemed to be on something of an upturn in quality. The action, the characters, the plot…things were actually happening that were reasonably consistent with things that happened before. Also, some nice new mobile weapons appeared. Infinite Justice is raw sex, Strike Freedom’s not as bad as initially appearing, Andy’s looking hot in his new, red Gaia, and the DOM Trooper trio are HOLY SHIT, YES. Dom, I’m sorry, I never realised until now that you actually kicked this much ass! Also…eyepatch chick. Hot. Hot, and also highly ironic, looking just like the original Dom trio’s most famous victim from Gundam 0079, Matilda Ajan. But alas, the end of 44 seems to mark the beginning of another downturn that threatens to carry us on to the end.

These episodes really were better than just about anything that’s happened in Destiny since the Junius-7 drop. Hell, even the recap episode was nicely done; on par with SEED’s episode 26, I’d say. Athrun went SEED, Cagalli stopped crying, Rey DID SOMETHING, and Kira actually started getting cool again. Shinn’s still a bitch, but they can’t all be winners. And as much as I hate his reincarnation in the first place, seeing Mwu revert to his “making the impossible possible” self was just a great moment, period. Shame Yzak, Dearka, & Shiho continue to be strictly cameo artists, though. It’d be nice for them to get some actual extended screentime. I’d also like to see more of Erica’s sexy ass beyond her brief appearance in episode 40, but you can’t have everything, I guess. There’s always Meyrin, though. Always Meyrin.

And Luna, but fuck Luna. She’s sucked out loud since Shinn shot down Athrun’s GOUF. Who the fuck gets HORNY for the guy that seemingly shot their much-beloved sister in cold blood? And who the fuck becomes a blind follower of a radical chain of command they know personally to reek of bullshit? Lunamaria Hawke, that’s who, one of the most retarded Gundam females in history. Her actions in these episodes rival Stellar’s for mentally challenged, and Stellar really was literally mentally challenged! Also, Rey. He does nothing for 37 episodes except for a couple gay moments with Gilbert and playing the piano, and suddenly he appears out of nowhere as the series’ main villain, manipulating Shinn in Gilbert’s place while he fucks around elsewhere. Sorry, not buying it. Shoulda tried, I dunno, developing Rey, instead of having him spontaneously appear, late-series, as the new main baddie. At least when Klueze rose up late in SEED, he had several episodes of conspiring build-up to his credit. Rey has none of that, and we’re really supposed to take him seriously just because he’s Klueze’s test-tube baby boy piloting a grey DRAGOON-clad Gundam? Uh-uh, nope, sorry. You, Luna, and pretty much the entire Minerva at this point can sod off. The Good Ship Lollipop’s bombed royal as effective protagonists, I hate to say. And as I hate even more to say, it’s been the Archangel, who I’ve been against having a major role in this series from the very start, that’s actually made this stretch of episodes as enjoyable as it’s been. Must be that old-time chemistry the Clyne Faction still wields together.

And so our final oasis draws to a close and Destiny begins sucking again from here on out. Oh joy of joys.

Monster 5-8
Wow. Just, wow. I freakin’ love this show! Seriously, I watched this crop of episodes yesterday afternoon, and was quite literally on the edge of my seat the entire time. This is how you do a suspense thriller right. Excellent twist, as well, with Nina being Johan’s brother, as well as the re-introduction of both Eva and the creepy detective who’s always “ghost typing” or whatever. Such a fascinating collection of characters, all managing to maintain a steady momentum and strong presence throughout the series. The plot’s the same way. There’s no typical routine as in other series, with a few filler events spacing out plot-heavy story elements; with this one, things are always moving forward, and the show keeps up a surprisingly quick pace. I’m actually amazed how much time they’ve managed to pass over without things either feeling too drawn out or too rushed. And the end of episode 8, with Tenma now a fugitive hunting Johan and Nina missing, just put the series into an entirely different light from before. It’s like the series’ first story arc has resolved, in a way, with the next just beginning. Also, about time they’ve gotten to Dr. Tenma as he looks in the show’s opening. I was wondering when they’d get to his shaggy look.

And for an even quicker rundown of other stuff elsewhere (too tired to go into greater detail, sorry, plus some of these, like Stratos4 Advance & Glass Mask ‘05 I saw a long time ago, so I can’t remember enough for an entry of any real length):

2×2=Shinobuden 1 – Only got to see one episode before accidentally deleting the first five, but what I saw I liked. Cute ninja comedy, with Norio Wakamoto once again playing a scene-stealingly hilarious yellow thing. Also, claymation ending. CLAYMATION NINJAS!
Glass Mask ‘05 3-5 – Fuck you, SD Subs, for not continuing this series. EONS better than the original, with better pacing and infinitely better writing. I need to see the rest of this, because it’s only getting better with each episode.
RahXephon 1-6 – Evangelion for the people who’re tired of Evangelion. I’ve seen it all before with Eva, but the slick new Rah packaging and rearranging of events keeps it fresh. I’m digging it thus far.
s-CRY-ed – It’s gotten a little better. Actually having Kazuma & Ryuho’s rivalry come to a head halfway through and the events surrounding it creating tension within both HOLY and the Lost Ground has made things a lot more interesting than they were originally. The plot’s dragging a lot less now and the characters are actually beginning to become watch-worthy.
Stratos4 Advance 1-2 – More of the same tranquil goodness that made Stratos4 TV and the first OVA so damned good, only now with a few new faces. As enjoyable as it ever was.
Uta~Kata OVA – Nice little epilogue episode for the TV series. One last evening with Manatsu & Kai before they returned fully to Saya’s power. A decent send-off, as well as a good way to tie up loose ends.