Anime: Bleach 117

Finally, the long-awaited shikai of Kuchiki Rukia's zanpakutou, Sodeno Shirayuki, is animated:

舞え、袖の白雪！
初めの舞、「月白」

Now, we'll have to wait a few more months before we get to watch the second release, 次の舞、「白蓮」, animated. *waits*

image from Memento

～みはる～

Anime: Kanon Ep 21

Since last autumn, I have been following Kyoto Animation's remake of the acclaimed anime 'Kanon'. The main plot of Kanon revolves around a high school guy named Aizawa Yuuichi and the snowy city of mystery and miracles in which he is currently residing in the present time frame. Yuuichi had lived in the city as a kid 7 years ago, but moved out with his family during his elementary years. Fast forward 7 years later, Yuuichi returned to the city, but mysteriously, he had little recollection about the city, nor any memory of his life in the city 7 years ago. However, since moving back to the city, he met a string of girls, who slowly trigger the return of his memories in the city. And it seems that we will soon find that his memories about the snowy city 7 years ago was a traumatic one.

I had not mentioned anything about watching Kanon, nor review it since its premiere on Japanese airwaves last autumn. Apart from not having the time, I find the story pacing very slow, and sometimes quite mundane. However, I still follow the series every week not only because the first production was a success (storywise, and also production wise), but particularly because I quite like Kyoto Animation's work. One of KyoAni's production which I liked best was the animation AIR. I love their artwork, fluid animation and soundtrack. The way they shoot the scenes create a subtle, yet incredible impact. Furthermore, this remake of Kanon boasts an impressive seiyuu (voice actor) cast: the male lead, Aizawa Yuuichi, is voiced by one of my favorites, Sugita Tomokazu. Other seiyuus include Horie Yui (Tohru of Fruits Basket, Naru of Love Hina), and Seki Tomokazu (Nobu of NANA, Chiaki of Nodame Cantabile).

Now, I admit that I had been watching the first 60% of the series impassionately. I do enjoy listening to Sugita Tomokazu's acting, especially the sarcastic jokes and dramatic demeanor. While each arc of the series is decently interesting, they were not over-the-top exciting. There's sort of like a degree of mildness and calm in the way KyoAni presented the story. However, watching the ending segment of Kanon episode 21 took my breath away. The way KyoAni introduce such a shocking turn of event in the calming pace they had adopted all this while is excellent.

Let me just highlight 2 particular segments I liked best in this episode:

1. Nayuki and yuki-usagi (snow bunny)

While I understood that Nayuki had all this while liked Yuuichi, it made me very sad when they showed the link between Nayuki's unhappy memories of the snow bunny with Yuuichi. I did not expect Yuuichi to have delivered such a harsh blow to her sincerity 7 years ago, and yet she can still like him after such a hurtful gesture. The scene showing Yuuichi's memory of the shattered snow bunny and the relevation that it was to Yuuichi whom Nayuki was giving the snow bunny was very good. I think KyoAni created the desired emotional impact of Yuuchi recalling the memory. I was impressed.




2. Akiko and strawberry cake

This segment blew my mind. I like the way they blended Yuuchi's realization of the snow-bunny thing with Akiko's accident. The scene of the accident really really shocked me. I cannot put it in words how well done I think the scene was done... you really have to watch the scene to feel the impact. And the way they zoom in on the ruined strawberry cake on the snow was an excellent reminiscence of the ruined yuki-usagi. The cliffhanger was the best I have seen in the series so far.



Plus, the preview was exciting. I especially love the part where Nayuki sat in a corner of her room, blaming herself for Akiko's accident and telling Yuuichi to leave her alone. The next episode is going to become emotionally intense and very interesting.



出ていって、ゆういち。わたしって人も会いたくない。一人でいたいから。

Unfortunately, it seems to me the best of the series is just beginning at the near ending of the anime. I find KyoAni very artistic in delivering emotionally wrenching scenes at the last few episodes of the series. The pattern seems to replicate from their previous production, AIR. The first half was quite calm, and slow paced, but the last 3 episodes made me cry, especially when they showed the link of reincarnation and the inevitable death of Misuzu. The part where Misuzu tethered towards her aunt at the 'goal' end was very very sad.

For the first time, I'm actually looking forward to the next episode of Kanon: Symphony.



All images belong to Memento & Random Curiosity.
Please do visit them for excellent reviews on Kanon.

cross posted in Miharu's Musings.

～みはる～

Anime : Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori 04

秘密



Write up in progress.

～みはる～

Anime : Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori 03

愛しのけいちゃん



This episode is a bit... twisted.

It tells about a girl called Tae, who idolizes her childhood friend whom she adoringly calls Kei-chan. Tae wants to keep her Kei-chan (who is a guy btw) happy at all times, and vows to punish anyone who will hurt him. Stalker-lah, this girl.

Kei-chan moved in to the house next to Tae's since young, and their bedrooms are facing each other, so they often knock on each other's window and get along pretty well. Apparently, Tae adored Kei-chan so much, she would do anything for him, even went to the ends to clean her room and borrow it to Kei-chan for the night so that he can have sex with his girlfriend. Like... what??!

So as Kei-chan tries to make a move on his girlfriend, Tae sits out at the playground, where Hone-Onna dropped by on purpose to find out why Tae would do what she did. Tae's logic: she wants to keep Kei-chan as a very good friend forever, protect him, and give him all the happiness she can give him; but she will never get intimate with him. Hone-Onna was blown away by her weird logic.

But it seems Kei-chan's girlfriend dislike the fact that Tae always look at Kei adoringly, thus refuses to have sex, unless he takes her to Hawaii. (I'm stupified.) So Kei-chan pulls a long face to Tae, whining that his cold girlfriend dumped him cause he couldn't give her sex in Hawaii. Tae, sad to see her beloved Kei-chan depressed, tried to comfort him, but Kei-chan took advantage of her sympathy and pushed her down for his helping of pity sex. (wth?) It goes without saying, Tae obliged, but becomes emotionally shattered because she thinks it's the end for her and Kei-chan. She thinks a relationship is over once you become intimate.

The next night Kei-chan was eager to hop over to her room for another meal of pity sex, but this time Tae refused to answer his call, because she thinks it's over between them. Kei-chan insisted on seeing her and tried to climb over her window and pry open, which Tae slides open suddenly, causing him to fall down to his death. Tae become horrified to think that she had caused Kei's death.

In school the following day, Kei's ex-girlfriend snickered around about how Kei's death would be a big loss to his #1 fan, Tae. Having heard the insinuations and previously angered by the fact that ex-girlfriend had hurt Kei-chan, Tae's blood boil, and she pulled the red string on Ai's straw doll...



...sending ex-girlfriend to hell.



............

Seriously, I don't know what to think of this plot. Tae is likely to be slightly mentally sick, as in obsessed. She's totally obssessed with protecting Kei-chan from being hurt, and also totally warped in her no-intimacy logic. While ex-girlfriend was a bit mean, I do not think she really deserved to go to hell, especially with the request coming from Tae. Whatever occurred between her and Kei should remain both their problems... Tae is, in my opinion, interfering.

On the other hand, I would think Kei is worst off as a person. Not only he took advantage of Tae's kindness (and adoration), he manipulated her sympathy to obtain sexual satisfaction. I mean, boy, get some self-control.

On a side note, the mysterious little shoujo made a brief appearance again, this time to tease Hone-Onna that she is an old obasan. Of course, it pissed Hone-Onna badly.



Let's just hope next episode is not as twisted ya.

All screencaps from Memento.

～みはる～

Anime : Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori 02

うたかた

This episode tells about a girl, Yayoi, whose younger sister Sumire is missing, and along with her parents, are handing out flyers in front of a busy road junction in desperate hope to find Sumire. However, Yayoi seems to be plagued by drowning hallucinations and haunted by Sumire's pleading voice, telling her that it is cold and dark in whatever place that Sumire is in now. Yayoi, following her illusions, is led to her sister's room, where the pasokon automatically starts on its own and the Jigoku Tsuushin website popped up. A few more haunting episodes later, Yayoi came to find that her sister was drowned in the sea after being raped and killed by a man. And this gruesome crime occured on the day Yayoi had an argument with Sumire, where Yayoi left Sumire behind at a store and that being the last time she ever see Sumire. Having 'seen' the horrible event her sister was subjected to, Yayoi accessed the Jigoku Tsuushin and requested for the man to be sent to hell.

(For a detailed review, please visit Memento)

For a while, I wondered if Yayoi requested for the vengeance to be sent to hell because she was guilty that she may have indirectly caused Sumire's death, or that she really hated the man for killing her sister. Did she engaged with the Jigoku Shoujo out of guilt or hatred? At the end of the episode, she seemed happier even though still helping to hand out flyers to find Sumire, with the knowledge that Sumire is already dead.

Based on this episode, I'm sensing that the writers are taking the Jigoku Shoujo series to a stage of much more emotional development. This time around, we see that the urami (vengeance) case has a personal impact on Ichimoku Ren. Since the time they were first contacted on the Jigoku Tsuushin, Ren appeared to view the case with personal interest. He followed and monitored Yayoi throughout the day, and at one point of time, we see a flashback of his past.





It seems that the writers are trying to indicate that the case may have some similarity to his past, and that he may be struggling with either hatred or remorse. I wondered if he killed that girl shown in the flashback or that girl was someone important to him and he killed the person who murdered the girl. Saa...

I quite enjoyed this episode because there seemed to be improved development on the way the story was told. There were more character development (in this case Ichimoku Ren) and more emotional touches to the story telling. Also, I find the Ippen Shindemiru style this week quite cool. Ai did it in Noh fashion, with the assistance of Ren - and it looked really cool. Noto Mamiko even executed it with Noh-style voice acting, which I think is simply superb!





Consistent with last week's plot, the mysterious kimono-clad shoujo made a brief appearance.


I believe there'll be a larger plot to the urami-case we have every week, and probably involving this shoujo. However, based on the way they introduce her these two weeks, the development might probably be very slow.

Also, in this episode, they introduced the opening theme, NightmaRe, by SNoW. Although not as catchy as the first OP "逆さまの蝶", the song is quite nice and will probably wear on after a few times listening. The OP sequence that came along was also pretty good. They showed more images of Ichimoku Ren, Hone-Onna, Wanyuudou,.. and what might be the kimono-clad girl. Hopefully, these means that there will be more storyline involving them.





On a more technical note, I felt there's been improvement in the animation quality. In the scene where Ai was reading the memory of the dog, the change of the dusk scene into a snowing landscape was very fluid and pretty well done. The colors for this episode are also quite lovely. I simply love Jigoku Shoujo colors - they are beautiful, contrasting and fitting for the dark theme.







The soundtrack for this episode was also commendable. I especially love the way they integrated the initial interval of the ED theme with the final scene, it was very fluid and gave an excellent impact. Of course, it goes without saying that the ED song " あいぞめ" by Noto Mamiko is simply fitting and well sung.

Oh, and it seems like I spoke too soon. In this episode, Ren became the straw doll!! And when he said "怨み聞きとどけたり" (vengeance heard and delivered) was so kakkoi, and all I was thinking was "bishounen" >.<






It's quite refreshing that they allow other Ai's assistants to take on the role of the straw doll, unlike in the previous season, Wanyuudou would be the straw doll by default. I also liked the fact that the writers are giving the show much more emotional development. Previously, Ai and helpers just carry out the vengeance as requested. But in this season, it seems like they took the trouble to investigate the cases and in some ways, tried to prevent people from taking revenge where possible. This is evident when Wanyuudou wondered aloud whether Yayoi would be better off if she hadn't access to the Jigoku Tsuushin and forget about her urami. Also, the writers allowed the cases to emotionally impact the characters... so I think they are bringing the show to a more emotional level. Which is quite nice, if you ask me. It makes the show more thought-provoking and makes you wonder what is vengeance, hatred, justice, and their worth. If the writers develop the show in this direction, I think Jigoku Shoujo is heading for a successful season.

However, the writers still adamantly adhere to the one-episode-one-urami style. Hopefully, this doesn't drag too long. They could have also, given more character development to Ichimoku Ren. I would have liked to know more about his past, and how he ended up halfway between heaven-and-hell as Ai's assistant. But from the preview of next episode, it seems like they will move on to give a little bit of character development to Hone Onna. And who knows, after that we might get a dig into Wanyuudou's past.

Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori, ganbatte.

**Screencaps all belong to Memento and WRex.

～みはる～

Anime : Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori 01

The second season of Jigoku Shoujo " Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori " premiered 7th October 2006.



Overall I pretty much enjoyed Jigoku Shoujo because of the pretty colors, soundtrack and voice actings... but the plot for the first season left much to be desired. I thoroughly enjoyed episodes 22-26 of the first season, where they delved into the past of Enma Ai, and her fated connection with Shibata Hajime and Tsugumi. As such, I had hoped for a second season that is as exciting as these few last episodes.

I have just watched the raw of the first episode of the second season: 地獄少女二籠 entitled 闇の中の少女(Girl in the Darkness). This episode's plotline is about a grade school girl Onda Maki, who for some unknown reason is being bullied, or rather, seriously harrassed by some unknown person. The bully apparently vandalized her notebooks and shoes, stapled her sweater sleeves, and stuffed maggots in her pencil case and locker. It was then revealed that her pursuer is her psychotic science teacher, who gets a kick out of harrassing her with such 'fun experiments'. Kinda sick, if you ask me. In Jigoku Shoujo-style, psychotic sensei was sent to hell.

Although it is not really up to my expectations, I think it has improved a slight bit from the previous season. I liked the way they started the season: with a flashback of Ai's past and an implication of how she landed in the Jigoku Shoujo job. Hopefully this is an indication of hte writers' interest to tell us more about Ai's past.

Also Wanyuudou, Ichimoku Ren and Hone Onna were given more involvement and screen time, whilst Enma Ai seemed to have adopted a different attitude/approach in playing her role as the Jigoku Shoujo (although it's quite too early to say). I also liked the way they reflected Ai's past in Onda Maki's circumstances.


I thought this pose is quite cool, especially with Ren towering above Ai. And Ai with the lab coat over the kimono is kawaii!

Another change they gave to the show is that Hone Onna now becomes the straw doll instead of Wanyuudou. I didn't know that Hone Onna could be the doll.... will Ichimoku Ren be the next straw doll??

Furthermore, I like Ai's new kimono!!



And they have also changed her Ippen Shindemiru execution style. Instead of her lifting her right arm with suzu sounds and flowers jumping out of the kimono, Ai raises both arms and sakura petals whirl out of her kimono. The effect is pretty cool.

However, it was quite disappointing to note that the style of Jigoku Shoujo hasn't change much at all. They still adhere to the one-episode-one-revenge kind of plot. What piqued my interest was that near the end of this episode, there is a mysterious kimono-wearing little girl jumping out from behind the shadows giggling, obviously have been monitoring the moves of Enma Ai and her entourage. Hopefully we'll get more dark drama, instead of some cutesy supporting role.



Hopefully this will lead to a main story development about Ai's and her helpers' pasts. I'd be kinda bored if they keep to the one-episode-one-revenge style.

Plus, the ED theme by Noto Mamiko is quite nice. The ED sequence is also quite pretty, with many different shots of Ai in different kimonos.







I love the pretty kimono-Ai styles!!

Screenshots from memento

～みはる～

Anime : xxxHolic 05

This episode is a definite improvement from the previous. The animation may not be very impressive but the excitement was very well built. I thoroughly enjoyed the scene where Watanuki was chased by the spirits at night and had to play Shiritori with Mokona to ward the spirits off. And I totally love the soundtrack for this episode. It is simply outstanding. The sequence of events in this episode is quite different from the manga (note the Kitsune-Lantern arc was removed from this anime episode), but I'm still quite pleased with the animation done. I must say, Clamp's artwork is really enjoyable. I love the designs they used on Yuuko.

Anime : Jigoku Shoujo 17

Love this episode. Jigoku Shoujo simply gets better as the season approaches the end. It started with Shibata Hajine and Tsuugumi traveling in the car towards an isolated sanatorium when they suddenly heard the sound of a musical box playing. In the fog, they suddenly saw the shadow of Jigoku Shoujo, who possessed Tsuugumi to warn them away from the sanatorium. Of course, Hajime did not comply and they ended roaming in the empty sanatorium and falling into the trap of an unrest soul of a doll. This episode took a twist: because the one who accessed the Jigoku Tsuushin was actually a soul, not a living human, Enma Ai refused to accept the request for revenge. The other twist surprised me: Enma Ai took the trouble to save Hajime and Tsuugumi from the revengeful soul of the doll. It was really creepy when the doll went all out to kill Tsuugumi and Hajime. The sanatorium environment was very well portrayed, setting the quiet and cold mood, rendering the loneliness and helplessness that Nina felt very real. I was especially sad when they revealed the reason to why the doll wanted to seek revenge. Great episode it is.

Anime : Bleach 79

Okay, I used to complain about the poor entertainment quality of the current filler arc. With this episode, I take them back. This episode has got some good humor and action. The first half showing Ichigo and co. having breakfast and chatting was great. I love the light-heartedness and the closeness amongst the characters rendered by this scene. The character development given to Claude was quite surprising (the part where Claude & Nova were chatting & observing Ichigo and co.), but pleasant. I find it funny when Renji asked Rukia if she drank coffee before and she proudly told him she "cleared" the drink. XD And for the first time, the action involving Bound was exciting. I especially enjoyed the part where Yoshino fused with her doll, Geitei, to fight Kariya. I hadn't seen that coming. And Kariya, though evil, looked kinda cool when they showed his doll (which was embedded on his body). Bleach love to have really evil dudes looking super cool - first Aizen, now Kariya. But I kinda missed watching Rukia. She's my favourite character and her screen time this week is terribly short. Hopefully, there's more of her scenes next week. The scenes involving Ichigo's fighting however, left more to be desired. With his poor focus, Ichinose could have kicked his arse easily, but then again, Ichinose did not. Oh well, maybe we'll see more of Ichigo's Zangetsu-brandishing next episode.