Author Archives: Josh

Tamayura: Hitotose – Episode 3

By | February 2, 2012 at 5:00 pm | No Comments

Fu and company are having a meal at the cafe when Kou shows up, causing Norie to go bonkers. Later, when Norie and Maon are shopping, they notice someone is following them, and finally discover it’s a girl named Komachi. Komachi tells them that she’s doing surveillance on Norie because of her behavior around Kou, who is also Komachi’s classmate. They then get into a baking contest at the cafe to see who can make the best sweets, with Kou being the judge. Of course, they end up in a tie with Kou loving both of their sweets.

It's gonna be a battle to the, er, stomach

It's gonna be a battle to the, er, stomach

I another good episode, I thought. This time we’re introduced to Komachi, a classmate of Kou’s who also has a crush on him.  Obviously the tension between Komachi and Norie is going to be some added comedic relief to this show, and so far it’s doing pretty good. It was kinda cute how Komachi worked to make her hotcakes for Kou, even though she didn’t really know how to do it, but it turned out OK in the end. I also had to kinda of lauch at  the fact that Norie may have finally found someone more hyper and crazier than herself.

Some shows are what I might call “hyper” slice-of-life shows: shows that fall into the slice of life category, but are really fast paced. Examples of shows like that include Azumanga Diaoh and Lucky Star. Then you have a show like this, which is also slice of life, but the pace is really slow. Probably the closest shows I can think of might be Sketchbook and Hidimari Sketch, with both happening to be artsy shows as well. If anything, I like this show better than either of those, at least so far.

Working’!! – Episode 3

By | February 2, 2012 at 12:00 pm | No Comments

Souta’s little sister Nazuna is working at the restaurant. This leads to a discussion with Izumi the next morning where Nazuna ends up falsly believing that Souta is dating Poplar (and that she’s in elementary school). Distraught, Izumi goes off on a “journey” where she runs into Mahiru. Mahiru tries to cheer her up while finding Izumi’s reliance and obsession with her brother (not knowing it’s Souta, of course) a little weird.

Souta's big little sister is big to all the little people

Souta's big little sister is big to all the little people

I’m not sure if this is a start of some new arc where Izumi tries to run interference with Souta’s alleged relationship with Poplar the not-really-in-elementary girl or if it was a one-off episode, considering it takes her days to practically craw from one room to another.

In any case, the Izumi stuff was OK. Her conversation with Mahiru was funny, but the rest was just kinda blah I thought. On the other hand, Nazuna is always entertaining and is still definitely my favorite non-regular character in the series. I would be just fine if she just showed up in every episode.

Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing – Episode 2

By | February 1, 2012 at 5:00 pm | No Comments

Princess Liliana has Fam and Giselle return her younger sister, Princess Millia, back to the Turan capital in order to give defense preparations to their ill father. However, he has Fam and Giselle take Millia to a villa in the East to keep her safe. Liliana, meanwhile, prepares a plan to attack the Ades flagship but it fails when she’s kidnapped. Dio tells Fam and Millia of this, and they go to save Liliana, but the Premier of Ades, Luscinia, recites a Mysteria, which causes Liliana to go into a trance, and activates one of the crecent moons, which happens to be an Exile. The Exile descends toward Turan’s capital, whose soldiers unwisely fire at it. The Exile then attacks the city in return, killing everyone in it, including the king.

That's no Moon, it's a space station!

That's no Moon, it's a space station!

So we get some background information in this episode. Apparently the Exile that was in the first series wasn’t the only one sent out. Apparently the Exiles were sent out as colony ships in an attempt to make sure the human race survived during a time when it was in grave danger on earth. However, humanity survived and started to thrive, when Exiles started returning. However, the indigenous inhabitants of Earth weren’t too keen on giving the people returning on the Exiles land, so apparently people like Turans look land and formed their own kingdoms. The Ades Federation was either a one world government that had existed before the Exiles returned, or is a federation of the original nations that have united against the nations formed by Exile inhabitants.

Or at least, that’s how I understand it at this point.

There were six “moons” in the sky, and presumably they’re all Exiles, though I’m not sure if they are ones that just were never sent out or if they are ones that have returned and are just parked in orbit. I’m guessing we’ll see action from the other 5 at some point in the future. In any case, it looks like Turan is in pretty bad shape, so I’m not sure where this series will go from here. Ades seems intent on wiping out a whole lot of other nations as well, so the series will probably be centered on Fam and other’s attempts to prevent that.

Shakugan no Shana III – Episode 2

By | February 1, 2012 at 12:00 pm | No Comments

Sydonay destroys Shanghai’s Outlaw organization and the Flame Haze leading it, but cautions not to celebrate yet, as the other Flame Hazes will unite under the leadership of Sophie Sawallisch. Yuji then arrives to give his orders to his followers. Meanwhile, Satou heads out toward his Outlaw base, but detects a Crimson Denizen headed back toward Misaki City on his way…Yuji.

I'm all cool and wearing armor and hanging out with Hecate and stuff

I'm all cool and wearing armor and hanging out with Hecate and stuff

We see a couple of instances of Denizens, including Bel Peol having some slight doubts about Yuji-Silver, so to this point their worries seem to be alleviated. Exactly what the relationship between Yuji and Silver is hasn’t really been revealed. So far it seems like Silver is just using Yuji’s body, which is entirely possible, but Yuji’s behavior in the first episode suggests that it’s not as clear cut as that. In any case, there is no indication that there is any resistance from Yuji against Silver so far.

Shana gets a somewhat cryptic message back from Sophie, though she seems to revolve what it means by the end of the episode. Anyway, I’m interested to see what Yuji’s visit back to Misaki City will be like. Will he reveal that he’s Silver or pretend to be normal Yuji. In any case he’s going to have to explain what he’s been up to.

Tamayura: Hitotose – Episode 2

By | January 31, 2012 at 5:00 pm | No Comments

Fu has now lived in Takehara for a month and is hanging out with her childhood friends Kaoru, Norie, and Maon. We also meet a couple other characters, including their odd teacher, a nice man in a nearby photo shop, and Fu’s grandmother, who owns a cafe in town. Kaoru then says she’s going to be alone the next night because everyone is busy, so Fu suggests a sleepover to keep her company. We finally meet Kaoru’s older sister Sayomi, who snuck out of what she was doing to spend the night with them as well.

Back together again

Back together again

Another good episode, I thought. Again, pretty slow paced, so if you don’t like episodes that kinda laze along, you may not like this series, but I think it’s a good pace for this show. We finally get to see what Fu’s childhood friends are like. Kaoru is kind of the leader and most mature. Norie is extremely excitable and hyper. Meanwhile Maon is silent, but will speak up when she wants to. She also often responds by whistling.

So this episode was mostly about the four friends catching up and introducing some of the other side characters in the show. We got a hint of this in the first episode, but we hear more about “tamayura,” which are flicks of light that show up on a picture, and how Fu enjoys taking pictures with them on it. Once again, I’m looking forward to seeing more from this show.

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