Author Archives: Josh

Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing – Episode 11

By | February 24, 2012 at 3:09 pm | 1 comment

It’s a flashback to the Grand Race and our first real look at who Farahnāz Augusta, the previous ruler of Ades, was like. Giselle’s father, Atamora, wins the race, but a group of assassins assault the awards ceremony. Kaiser, Atamora’s flying partner, is killed protecting Farahnāz, and Farahnāz’s bodyguards do good work protecting her. However, the main assault appears to be a diversion as two of the very pilots attending the awards ceremony are the ones to ultimately assassinate Farahnāz. Fam then wakes up from her flashback, seemingly in the custody of Glacies forces.

Empress Farahnāz Augusta: The last hope for peace

Empress Farahnāz Augusta: The last hope for peace

So we finally get to witness the events that led up to Farahnāz Augusta’s assassination. Ironically, she ends up getting killed while trying to protect Millia. It’s hard to imagine how the Ades Federation could have possibly gone in a more opposite direction that what Farahnāz wanted it to after her assassination. She knew there might be setbacks, but didn’t want them to bring down the overall peace. Yet, that’s exactly what happened. Hopefully Sara Augusta’s main advisers, particularly Vasant, remember what Farahnāz had wished for originally.

I still wouldn’t be surprised if the assassination was orchestrated by people within Ades itself, with the prime suspect being Luscinia if that is the case. He clearly has a disdain for the Exile refugees, though it’s unknown whether he still felt that way before the assassination.

I also found it somewhat mysterious why Farahnāz had two bodyguards that looked suspiciously like Guild members. This was supposedly taking place before the Prester Exile even returned, which perhaps begs the question of who the Guild are from originally.

Waiting in the Summer – Episode 1

By | February 23, 2012 at 5:00 pm | No Comments

So this is the first new series from the winter season I’m blogging: Ano Natsu de Matteru, or Waiting in the Summer. This is from the makers of the Onegai series, and I liked Onegai Twins, and there didn’t seem much better out there to watch, so I’ll give this one a shot.

A boy, Kaito is out filming a night when a giant energy beam impacts near him, injuring and throwing him into a nearby river. A hand reaches out to grab him when he suddenly wakes up in his room the next morning, just fine. The next day, a red headed girl named Ichika transfers to his school. Kaito’s friend Tetsuro invites Ichika to be part of a movie (that Kaito hasn’t even decided to make yet) they’re making that summer, and she agrees, with Ichika’s first friend Remon agreeing to direct. Kaito’s other friends Mio and Kanna also agree to be in the movie. After school, Kaito accidentally invites Ichika to stay over at his house for the night. There, Kaito has a flashback of the night before and has a large rash, and Ichika rushes to help him. Then Kaito’s sister and Kanna walk in on Ichika, in a towel, kissing an unconcious Kaito, with an alien energy field around them.

It's time to meet everyone!

It's time to meet everyone!

So that was a rather long description, but a lot kind of happened in this first episode. It was rather obvious from the start that Ichika is some sort of alien, with her not really knowing how to act or even look in the area. We have no idea for what purpose she has come to visit the area, however, though it seems to be on enough of a whim that she didn’t even bother to prepare a place for herself to stay.

We then have Kaito, who is somewhat reserved, but is pumped about video recording. He also appears to have been healed by Ichika, and process that appears to be imperfect. One has to wonder whether this will be a continuing problem through the series.

Then there are Kaito’s three friends. There is Tetsuro, who so far is your standard guy friend who causes Kaito trouble by getting him into situations. Then there is Mio, who as of right now appears to be your standard shy Moeblob, and then there is Kanna, who shows flashes of tsundere and who has a pretty obvious crush on Kaito, and is clearly not happy about Ichika’s arrival and Kaito’s immediate attraction to her.

The influences of the Onegai series are clearly here. We have Remon, who is clearly designed after Ichigo from Onegai, and there is Ichika’s alien friend, who appears to be similar to Marie from Onegai. In a sense, even Ichika is more than a little similar to Mizuho, the red-headed alien character from the Onegai series.

Overall, this first episode seems pretty promising for the series so far. We have appealing characters and a developing plot line that doesn’t seem all that bad right now. Hopefully it stays on this promising track.

Shakugan no Shana III – Episode 13

By | February 23, 2012 at 12:00 pm | No Comments

Sophie’s forces continue fighting off the Denizens while inside the Divine Gate, Khamsin continues to fight Sabrac. Meanwhile, Shana and Yuji fight, when Yuji reveals that he is willfully working with Silver. The Snake of the Festival then happens upon Sabrac’s battle, and he is so taken aback by it’s greatness that Khamsin and Rebecca are finally able to destroy him. Having sensed that the Snake has been revived, Sophia attempts to destroy the Divine Gate, but Fecor, who apparently was merely mortally wounded, but not yet dead, arrives and blocks her for long enough for the Snake to return, before finally dying.

I've watched enough hentai to see where this is going

I've watched enough hentai to see where this is going

Really, this as a pretty lame episode compared to the past ones. Sabrac was finally destroyed, but it was mainly because he was so distracted by the Snake of the Festival that he didn’t give a crap anymore. Most of the rest of the episode was basically stuff we already knew. We got a glimpse of just how powerful the Snake is, but one could have surmised that by him being the God of Creation in the first place.

Really, the main thing that happened is that Yuji and the Snake of the Festival – finally – exited the Divine Gate, which means we may finally learn what the Bal Masqué is up to in the next episode. And then presumably we’ll start the final story arc(s) of this series and approach the final conclusion.

Finally Catching Up: Winter 2012 Shows

By | February 22, 2012 at 12:00 pm | No Comments

Now that I’ve wrapped up catching up on the Fall season, it’s time to look at the Winter season. I’ll of course continue Shakugan no Shana III and Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing, so I’m looking for one or maybe two shows to supplement that. I’ll keep churning out episodes like I have until I catch up, which at this point may be pretty near the end of the season.

There didn’t seem to be a lot of interesting shows, but there were three in particular that peaked my interest: Ano Natsu de Matteru (aka Waiting in the Summer), Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou (aka The Daily Lives of HIgh School Boys), and Another.

Waiting in the Summer is from the creators of the Please! series, and I loved Please! Twins, so that’s a plus. Plus the art and the synopses sounds interesting. Plus, it’s being simulcast on Crunchyroll, so I think I’ll pick this one up.

The Daily Lives of High School Boys, I was iffy on at first, but after further reading about it thought it looked interesting. However, this series ended up being about the only one which was both licensed and NOT being simulcast anywhere that I can see, and I have a “if it’s licensed, then I don’t download fansubs” policy. So, I would have blogged this one, but because it’s licensed but not “available,” I won’t be able to.

For Another, I’m really not a horror fan at all, but it has a good rating on both ANN and MAL, so maybe I could give it a shot. I suppose if I don’t like it, I only have to put up with it for 12 episodes.

So it looks like for Winter 2012, I’ll be picking up Waiting in the Summer and Another and we’ll see how it turns out.

Working’!! – Episode 13 [END]

By | February 21, 2012 at 5:00 pm | No Comments

Poplar is able to reach the broken dish report for the first time, making her brag that she’s finally grown. This depresses Souta, which in turn depresses Mahiru, which in turn causes Aoi to investigate. In the course of her investigation, Poplar tells Aoi that some day in the future she may have to quit her job. However, Aoi takes this as Poplar plans on quitting imminently and tells everyone in the restaurant. Soon everyone’s comments wishing her good luck cause Poplar to actually think quitting maybe a good idea, until Maya Matsumoto, Wagnaria’s resident normal person, gets Poplar thinking straight again. Meanwhile, Jun and Souta discover Poplar has only gotten better at stretching and hasn’t gotten taller.

Maya saves Wagnaria from the hordes of abnormal people who work there

Maya saves Wagnaria from the hordes of abnormal people who work there

I figured in the end it’d be something like Poplar was able to stretch better or got lucky or used a longer pen or something. And you’d think by now that no one would believe any rumor that Aoi started.

So we’re at the end of another season. Some things have progressed, at least a little bit. Mahiru and Souta’s relationship and Jun and Yachiyo’s relationship both seem to have at least gotten incrementally better. We also have the added element of Aoi’s brother looking for her. But other than that, we’re really no closer to knowing anything about Hiroomi or to Poplar getting taller. This season was good enough to watch as a reasonable level of entertainment, I guess, but much like the first season, it wasn’t anything to get too excited about.

So, I figure there is at least a halfway decent chance at a third season. I would have thought that they might tie some of the things up a bit more if there wasn’t. So what is it going to be called? “Working”!!’? Or maybe “Working!!?”? If there is a third season, I guess there may be a reasonable chance of me blogging it since I’ve already done the first two, though I suppose that depends on what’s airing at the same time. If I were still rating anime, I’d probably give this 3 or 3 1/2 stars out of 5. It’s reasonably, but not overly, funny, with a set of good characters.But it tends to drag on more than it should.

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