Well, at least the new OP isn't as bad as Enterprise's opening.
This episode does what Space Brothers does best - develops characters. I feel like a few of these short shows would really benefit from having the amount of time that Space Brothers has to flesh out its cast. I mean, they don't have to worry about 'moving the plot' every episode, which gives them even more time to build everyone up.
71-year old director Gisaburo Sugii has had a long career in the anime industry, spanning from the original 1963 Astro Boy TV series to this month's The Life of Gusko Budori film. Now there will be a documentary to chronicle that career. Looks interesting.
The animation was a bit janky in the second half of the episode, everything else - amazing.
The last three seconds of the game were 5 minutes long, players were talking with each other like it's none of their business, this show just doesn't give a fuck.
Space Bros ep 14
New OP is so an so but this episode is different since it focus on people around mutta, even you can't hate that annoying chimp guy. Thi show really knows how to develop chracters and it's good.
That seemed like a pretty good way to end this series, even if it didn't really offer all that much closure it certainly ended on a rather touching note. I'm kinda wary of this getting a second season considering the thing's I've heard about the manga which are also stopping me from checking it out. Oh well, as they say, all good things must come to an end.
Meanwhile, in ep. 11 of the Saki Achiga-hen anime, Teru, Toki, Kuro, and the other girl's match continues. Only a little progress is made here, instead, it's more about more character development for Toki and the fourth girl than for anything else.
We learn about the fourth girl's power, which is actually really useful here --
She's never been in a match where someone went below zero and lost. Her power is to not lose. So she's in last... but probably isn't going to allow the game to end in the first round.
As for Toki, her health's been bad for years, of course, but using her power just makes things worse. And yet she keeps using it, over and over, in order to try to stop Teru... she really needs to stop, we, and Ryouka, are all really worrying for her health. On the note of her health, this episode includes backstory scenes of when she was in even worse shape, in a hospital bed, before her recovery and schedule that allowed her to go to school and be on the mahjong team. There's some good, cute, and serious stuff here. It's a good mix of all the elements.
This episode also has another couple of Kiyosumi and other original series character cameos. Previous scenes with Saki, Nodoka, and Yuki were comedy bits, but this one's a bit more serious --
Saki doesn't go inside the building while the match is taking place, probably because she doesn't want to be in the same area as Teru before the final, or something. But how will they compete directly, as I'd think they will, when they're not in the same part of the match? We'll see.
which really is as likely as not just a one-sided crush
) appear in the same room together!
Noo, Toki, don't do it... we know why you are, but is it worth the cost?
Green lights in her eyes mean Toki's using her power. And it has to be another "three turns ahead", really? Are you even trying to not end this in a hospital ward, Toki?
On a note relating to the first two Achiga ep. 11 pictures, however, this image is an interesting comparison. Even if Teru denies it, they are sisters indeed. Of course Teru's cute picture is basically a complete troll, while Saki's is honest and real, but still, even if the reasons for the faces are quite different, the results are the same. http://www.abload.de/img/1340901017985vubjr.jpg]
This one's interesting as well. It's a comparison between certain parts of the Saki and Achiga-hen EDs, and these elements of the two look very similar... with one obvious difference at the end. http://www.abload.de/img/1339686077874qhbpg.jpg
Well those voters, at least, know a good show when they see one... sort of. I mean, Marika and co. should have been high on that list as well. But it's good to see so much Saki representation.
Kokaji's the most popular pro by far? Huh, so that's why she figures so prominently in both the show and the "adults story" Biyori chapters. Also, given the current focus of the show, it's not surprising to see Toki in first (of the Saki characters)... though Ryouka coming in third's a bit surprising. I mean, her primary role pretty much is as Toki's pillow... I guess that's good enough for a lot of people.
Poor Shizuno, pretty much irrelevant in her own series... can she make a comeback in the three extra episodes? We'll see!
On the note of Saki: Achiga-hen, here are some new (NSFW!) Achiga art pics from some magazine that has these kinds of things in it.
For the record, here's the only mention of panties in the Saki franchise (same scene is in the original anime too). They aren't seen, just referenced. As a joke, which the one guy doesn't want anything to do with. http://www.abload.de/img/1312747735220mmzpq.jpg
For bras, there are no references to them. As for one being seen, I don't think that's happened. This is the closest I can think of, and it's probably just an undershirt (and, ironically, is also Kuro). Probably more of note is the beautiful cityscape in the top panel. Looks great. http://www.abload.de/img/_04_04_enpwdbd.jpg
However, of course Saki is not just about mahjong, yuri, and fanservice. It's also got some very nice art, backgrounds particularly, when they want to draw them in detail. See these, for example. The first two are from Saki, the third from Achiga-hen.
As for yuri? Yes, there's yuri. Here's some implied yuri from one of the Saki Picture Drama specials that I'll bet some people here who have seen the series never got around to watching.
(large image) Kana + Mikuru: http://www.abload.de/img/1335846108401o3llc.jpg
(NSFW! large image) Saki, Yuki, and Nodoka (in the hotspring, with tsun moment from Nodoka): http://www.abload.de/img/1335844214423a8zwl.jpg
There's more, watch the picture dramas. There's more Saki+Nodoka, Momo+Yumi, etc. Some even aren't yuri, such as the one with Kana's three little sisters (yes, they're regulars in Biyori).
That's the most smut anyone's ever posted in a while. Grats, falcon.
e: I feel bad for reading through it. Like, you just launch into a completely random set of pics about the fanservice as a reply to the biglobe poll and then there's nopan and then suddenly episode summary and then comparisons and the ED comparions and then top hats lol
Really? It's like five or six legitimately fanservicey ones. Most of the rest are either from the episode (which was entirely about mahjong and maybe-yuri), or were normal stuff which aren't especially fanservicey and I posted for the background art.
Oh, and those posters are certainly not the kind of thing you'll find in the actual mangas, much less the animes.
Anyway, certain video previews some people have linked have about as much, or more, fanservice as any of that...
e: I feel bad for reading through it. Like, you just launch into a completely random set of pics about the fanservice as a reply to the biglobe poll and then there's nopan and then suddenly episode summary and then comparisons and the ED comparions and then top hats lol
I tried to improve it by moving things around. The review comes first then, then the bigglobe reponse, then the fanservice and background art stuff. I think that makes more sense.
Yup. And they're (almost) all good ones. The mahjong action is fantastic, the story is good, the cast is great, the art is good (in Saki particularly, though Achiga's alright too it doesn't quite match up), the yuri is entertaining, the fanservice is amusing... the most important elements are certainly the story and the cast, of course. As I've said many times, I would never just watch/read something for fanservice alone; that's not something that keeps my interest. Witness, for instance, how I dropped MGX. Saki doesn't need fanservice to be great. But while those posters are a bit much (I would not want that kind of stuff in the manga/anime), I don't really mind the stuff that is in the manga and anime. Suggested nopan here and there which the characters don't care about at all? Why not. (And yes, I do think it'd be a WHOLE lot worse, and probably unwatchable, if they were embarrassed about it and if there were creepy comments made at times. That would be awful. As it is... really, a lot of it's fairly innocent. I mean, Nodoka's not often blushing because of her clothes, she's blushing because she's around Saki.
This track is probably my favourite thing about the show. It makes me look forward to the moments where they aren't doing stupid things on the ground and just flying around in their ships.
Which brings up a point on why do JP composers/artist have to incorporated 'Engrish' in their song even if they sound senseless and gibberish? Is there some of appeal to it? A fad? A notion that English words fit the tune instead of Japanese?
Saki Achiga-hen: Episode of Side-A 7-10 -- I won't do individual reviews for these, but eps 9 and 10 start the Toki/Teru/Kuro/other girl match that will last until episode 12. As should be obvious from ep. 11's pics earlier, Teru absolutely dominates the match, and starts destroying the competition right from the start. Of course though, Toki is the real protagonist of this arc, and these episodes start telling her story.
... On the note of Toki, she has one of the most active powers in the game. That is, it's not a passive ability. Instead, she has to CHOOSE to see the future. She mentions at one point that it "kind of feels like cheating", or something like that, but keeps using it anyway, because she's apparently no good without it. So, the question is, is it cheating, or not?
Oh, as for episodes 7 and 8, while the final arc is the best thing about this series, Yumi and Momo's cameo was fun. It was a bit of a stretch to have Achiga get THAT much better in the space of a single day though... but hey, why not? And anyway, Teru's presence obviously makes it a LOT more difficult for Toki to dominate, to say the least. Also, poor Arata, she always has the least screen time. And she's supposed to be the author's avatar of sorts, at least as far as looks go? You'd think she'd give herself a bigger role.
AKB0048 6-9 -- AKB0048 continues to be really good. And not just good, but far, far better than it really has any right to be. Sure, I'm sure some people can complain about the use of CG. It is very obvious when they're dancing, since it's all 3d models which look completely different from the 2d characters. There is even that part with the costume issue, where the red haired girl has different clothes on her 3d model from her 2d character. But in my opinion, issues like those are minor. This show is far too good for little things like that to really hold it back. I had absolutely no expectations for AKB0048, and thought it'd probably be awful and not worth a first look (I mean, an anime based on an idol group? Why would I care?), but ...
As I said in my episodes 1-5 review, it actually ended up good, really good. Sure, the episodes entirely focused on their idol training aren't quite as interesting as the ones about the concerts (and thus the battles), but even those aren't bad. They may not all have lots of character development, but the show has done a good job of introducing the cast and showing how each one of the girls is a unique and interesting character. AKB0048 has depth, good writing, interesting characters, and a plot that's got the perfect mixture of serious and silly. It's also not fanservicey junk. The only "fanservice" here is simply the idols being on the screen, and I don't know that that counts... it's very good that they avoid creepyness as much as possible. Even their legion of devoted fans aren't too creepy; they are otaku, and the girls don't want to be around them, but they help out fighting the DES.
(Or are they just brainwashed drones, unwillingly doing the bidding of the nefarious Sensei Sensei... the truth remains to be revealed!)
So, yeah, in episodes 6 and 7, the training, and antics, on Akibastar continue. However, episodes 8 and 9 get back into the action, as the girls travel to their first underground, illegal concert. The DES is out in full force, and try their best to capture, or maybe even kill, the girls, but as usual fail utterly. They come close several times,
almost capturing Takamina after her breakdown of confidence in ep. 8, and then almost hitting several of the girls with gunshots (or whatever those beams are) in ep. 9
, but are always either foiled in the nick of time, or just don't aim quite well enough. The concert's on a snow planet, and the people are all very down and unhappy, until AKB0048's rogue concert arrives on their planet to cheer them up.
And despite some initial qualms about the local crowd, the Successors find out that there are people here who care about AKB, and there are plenty of people happy to hear some optimistic songs.
These planets under the entertainment ban sure are unhappy places... how DO they keep their people so cowed, without even entertainments like singers? Or is the idea to completely crush their spirits, so they won't even think about trying to improve their lives... I guess that might be it.
On that note, while the action episodes are great, the one possible plot question is about the danger. I mean, the DES have to succeed sometimes, right? What happens if an idol dies during a concert? It has to have happened... and what about ones that the DES captures? They seem to aim for that first, with things like net-bullets and trying to pick up downed capsules, after all. I'm sure they've gotten someone, sometime. What do they do, send them to "re-education camp" or something? AKB0048 keeps edging to the edge of dark-side questions like this one, without actually following up on them. I'm actually okay with that, though -- I don't want to see these characters die, they're good people. But it IS sort of a war, so having no casualties isn't realistic, and that's the real issue. I guess
Takamina getting hurt
is sort of that, though, so the series doesn't entirely ignore this. And heck, what's wrong with silly tv/cartoon stuff like the enemies' shots always just missing our heroes... that's tradition!
On the note of Takamina, the not-really-rivalry between Takamina and Kanata is definitely heading towards a climax.
While Takamina managed most of that concert, with her injuries, and psychological issues due to hearing that now Kanata is the better Takamina than she is, I wonder how much longer she'll last... will that have been her last hurrah? We'll have to see.
So, yes, overall, AKB0048 is a very good show, easily among the season's best. And it didn't just start out good, it's maintained its quality throughout. Impressive.
Nichijou last 3 or 4 episodes -- I'd watched this through to ep. 22 or 23 or so, back when it aired, but didn't quite finish it, mostly because I was really liking it and didn't really want it to end yet. Well, I finally made myself finish it, and yes, it was well worth it. Sure, there wasn't really an ending, but there never was any character development anyway, so it wouldn't really fit. I think the series was great just as it was. These episodes were packed full of funny skits as always; Nichijou is certainly the best pure comedy anime series of recent years.
Also, poor cat... either way, under either master, he suffers. I guess he chooses the path of least resistance and goes back with Nano and the Professor. And really, despite what he says, they probably are the less bad of the two choices... his past existence as the science teacher's pet looked quite unpleasant. She just didn't know what she was doing, even if she cared. Sure, the Professor and Nano don't either, but at least the Professor gave him that scarf that allows him to talk... that's kind of handy.
Also, one of the last Go-Soccer skits, where the guy
says how he came early on his Blackbird super-fast spy jet
was pretty funny stuff. I mean, we knew he was rich, but he has one of THOSE? :lol
Which brings up a point on why do JP composers/artist have to incorporated 'Engrish' in their song even if they sound senseless and gibberish? Is there some of appeal to it? A fad? A notion that English words fit the tune instead of Japanese?
