blkmage wrote:Mushishi's production is essentially in trouble because the staff set their standards too high for the time and resources that they've been given.
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It was nice to see a couple sweet, normal moments - like the crepes discussion - though. It wasn't all doom and gloom. 
My feelings towards the new guy changed a few times - I couldn't stand him, then thought he was just misunderstood, and currently, I think he's a jerk, or at least provoking people unnecessarily. Glad Hase stood up for himself and Kaori, though. On a lighter note, Shougo and Saki are adorable. And Shougo's blushing was great.
), and Peco's cool exit in front of his coaches followed by his sudden 180 once out of sight. Speaking of Peco: I was slightly surprised (and quite interested) at the reveal that he's
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: actually quite a bit better than Kazama-- although, thinking about it, I suppose he'd have to be, to have a chance of going up against Smile for real (and to be someone Smile looked up to, as well). I also still love Kong, so while I really enjoyed his one win + talk with his team afterwards, I was still slightly disappointed that he lost to Peco, even though I knew that Peco had to advance (both for the plot and also for the simple fact of him being 'better than Kazama,' and if Kazama could already beat Kong, well, then...). That said, even though it was a little sad (that montage... ), Kong had a *much* healthier attitude about it this time-- giving it all he had (despite knowing it was futile) and then bowing out with grace. Also: "Welcome back, hero." 
(Oh, and Smile's "I lost" joke and his coach's reaction to it were priceless, LOL.) I'm also really liking the OST. This show just continues to impress, and I'm quite looking forward to next week! Along with it being pretty darn faithful (well, I mean, apart from the mostly-original first ep. + throwing the old dudes in every extra chance they get, LOL ), the voice acting and presentation make certain scenes even more amusing than they were in the source. As for the story here: The grandma/Kitra plotting aside, I love the sweetness of the romance in this part of the story. 
...Anyway, Ayano and crew as kids were adorable... until everything fell apart, of course. As for Kenjirou: Okay, so it looks like I *was* wrong about him being the lover of the 'monster'-- rather, he and his wife were researching the story and the reality behind it. (Although their respective motives for doing so were apparently completely different... 
) Speaking of: All the stuff about the story (and the snake) was super interesting (loved the sketch art behind all that, too, BTW!)-- so, the 'powers' are actually (semi-sentient?!) other-dimension 'snakes' possessing dead/half-dead/whatever people, and they're all trying to gather around their (main-world) queen? Who must be Marry, obviously, although I'm also positive now that she is a descendant of the 'monster' (because along with the stuff I mentioned in last week's post, her eye power 'freezes' people in place, and since the 'monster' was revealed in this ep. to be a Medusa-- and that's one of the powers always associated with Medusa-- that makes perfect sense). What doesn't make so much sense is the snakes-gathering-into-a-new-Medusa-around-her bit in regards to which of the snakes are from... well... the Snake (which I am now going to capitalize to make it clear what I'm referring to), and which are Medusa's (if any)? Because the Snake trapped the original Medusa for a reason... and it must want her descendant-- the new 'queen'-- too, for some reason, right? So I assume the snakes possessing people are actually the Snake's... or something... (Yeah, the snake-gathering bit was slightly confusing, LOL. But very interesting. And good!) Finally: HOLY CRAP, KENJIROU KEPT ENE'S BODY?! ...Well, I mean, I suppose he'd have to, since her body (as well as Haruka's? Although that didn't work out quite so 'well,' apparently... ) was intended to be a 'sacrifice' possessed by a snake, but still... Can't wait for next week! , so depending on what I hear about next week's ep. I'll either watch 10 and 11 together or just simply wait another week after that for the finale to marathon all three. )
And holy crap, that Snake is pure evil! At least I think I get the 'Queen' thing now, though. Also: Wow, looks like I was actually right about there being different timelines involved (as well as different 'worlds')-- and that it's Marry's wish to keep on making/resetting/etc. those timelines. (Oh, and on another note, little Seto + Marry were adorable. <3 ) I really like how it's all coming together. (Although I am a little curious as to how it's going to wrap up in only two more episodes-- but I'm quite looking forward to finding out! ) )
Oh well, though; like the rest of the series, it'll be well worth the wait. ) And it was even more entrancing and calming than usual, too. Couldn't have asked for a better episode to leave off on as we wait for Mushishi's final run of ep.'s in Fall! ...Also, ah, this was the second-to-last ep., then. That makes sense; I'd been figuring for a while that they were going to end the anime adaptation at the close of this arc. And while I certainly would've liked to see it continue for another cour (there's still more sweet stuff later in the manga, of course! <3 ), I think that the anime did a pretty great job at adapting what it *did* cover, and if they stick with that, the finale next week will leave it at a good spot. That opening sequence... (I mean, of course it makes sense, with Shintaro having regained his memories of the other {Bad End} timelines + the-other-dimension-takes-the-people-who-die-on-August-15 thing; but, still, for some reason I wasn't really expecting him to just up and do that, and without any hesitation, no less. My opinion of his character has definitely risen by quite a fair margin since the start of the series!) Also, his whole remembering thing confirmed what I had been thinking ever since I got the multiple-timeline bit right + had combined that with what I'd heard about the source songs' (and the novels' too, I guess?) different 'routes'-- namely, that the source songs/novels/whatever (which I am really looking forward to checking out after this!) show all the routes, including the Bad End/reset ones, and since Shintaro's remembering those, this must actually be the True End route loop, sort-of like the finale to the whole big (multiple-media-spanning!) story. Which means, of course, that you'll get more out of it if you already know the full details of what happened on those previous, reset routes (as opposed to the few brief {but, granted, really unpleasant-looking } flashes of tragedy they've shown so far). I imagine that had this series been given another cour, they could've given the anime some great Steins;Gate-like depth to the various routes/loops, really getting you invested in them + rather oppressed by a fair amount of the Bad Ends before reaching the triumphant relief of the True End; however, since they didn't, I think they've still done a great job with the time they've had (and, also granted, most of the people watching this probably already listened to the songs and/or read the other material already anyway , so they're getting the full impact of it regardless). Anyway, whoa-- that entire sequence from Ayano's conversation with the snake inside Kenjirou, through her plan, through said snake's blackmail of poor Kano... just, wow. Speaking of Kano-- gah, that scene with him and Seto was so touching. And I'm also glad that Kano wasn't just being a total jerk with that whole thing with Ene a couple of ep.'s ago (...although, granted, after the flashbacks in this ep., even if he was I certainly wouldn't blame him... ), and that she was thus able to get back into her body! And oh man, the whole last sequence right before the ED was just plain awesome , as was the scene after the ED, as well. 
In other words, this was a fantastic ep.-- and I can't wait for the finale! Speaking of satisfying:
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Oh my gosh, Saki basically almost-proposing to Shougo and him totally blushing/etc. in response was WAY TOO ADORABLE!!! I'd already been shipping them for a while now (*especially* once it was revealed that he was the one who had secretly given her the notes in the past + decided to make them again + that little smile he gave after she said she'd rely on him, etc.), but oh man was I fangirling during that whole "husband" scene. JUST TOO CUTE. <3 (Also: The "Just try to imagine him smiling all the time" line and the responses to it... LOL!! 
And Shougo and Saki's make-up scene was super sweet, as well... <3 <3 <3 ) And, of course, the main couple's make-up was sweet also. (Shougo's still the best, though. ) This entire show was just so darn heartwarming, and this finale left me grinning at how feel-good it was. Now I'm off to read the manga~! )GeneD wrote:JoJo's Bizarre adventure ep 12: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: It was weird watching Polnareff be so carefree when I'm still sad about Avdol. But it was great to see Joseph be awesome fighting the grossest Stand (so far probably), use his catch-phrase and hamon again, even though it didn't work. I miss hamon.
Also great news that I haven't seen posted here yet: Stardust Crusaders will be 4 cour! I didn't realise part 3 was so much longer than 1 and 2, or did they just cut a lot out of the manga for those? It makes sense that it's longer though, considering you can do much more with Stands.
MangaRocks! wrote:Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii episode 11:
Again, just <3 .
KazeShiki wrote:Part 3 is indeed longer than parts 1+2 combined, as is every other part after. Although they emphasized part 4 has yet to be confirmed, I don't really see them stopping considering how sales have been.
Yeah I also figured this was the best place to end, in terms of both plot and pacing. The adaptation has been really great and true to the manga. If there is a second season, I guess the next arc is a good length for 1 cour.
As for the match itself: I wasn't sure if the story was going to go with the same result or the opposite one when compared to the backstory with Smile's coach; however, I found it interesting that it was actually kind-of a mix of both, and didn't even really matter regardless (in a good way!). Yes, it's shown later that Smile lost the match (getting second place); but he was able to do what his coach could not in the same situation-- go all-out-- because, in Smile's eyes, a real hero would have no true weak point. And Peco proved him right. And, thus, the robot was finally freed (in a really awesome sequence, too, I might add!), and was able to have fun again. Also: Wandering guy LOL ; and that was a nice little scene with the three old friends. Oh, and I also really liked that it actually showed the characters later on, too. I am satisfied! 
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Okay, so let's start with the good things first. (Well, actually, this first thing is more funny than good, but... ) I do understand the fact that they had to have *something* onscreen during all the dialogue in that section near the beginning, of course, but I have to admit that while I *was* paying attention to their discussion, I was also busy snickering and recalling some amusing lines from Doctor Who about lots of running... Seriously, though, I was actually a little (pleasantly) surprised at how funny a lot of the beginning of this episode was, between the endless running (whether that was intentional or not ), Ene totally taking care of the bad guy who captured her all by herself and then everyone else being scared , and Hibiya trying to use his power. It was also rather gratifying to see that my theory about this basically being the True End of the whole (multimedia) franchise (and thus it being necessary to check out its other parts to get the full effect of the story and Bad End/etc. routes leading up to it) was correct. I still think they really should've given this another cour so they could've done a Steins;Gate and made the emotional connection/true impact of those other loops a lot more intense for the anime-only or anime-first audience of this franchise, but as I said last week, since they apparently were not given that option, I think they did a good enough job of hinting at the previous routes instead. Namely: While I love complex, non-linear plots, and thus pretty much grasped/could piece together just about everything else that had happened over the course of this series just from the anime alone, the last few minutes of this ep. were so clearly rushed that even keeping in mind the fact that this was the True End route of a larger franchise, I was rather confused. I mean, I got the Snake's plan and all that. But everything afterwards... How did Haruka merge (or is that even what he did?) with Snake-Konoha and then separate afterwards (again, if that's even what happened)? What exactly did Marry actually do (because I have no clue, aside from it *not* being a time loop)? And that 'epilogue' was pretty lame in that only Ayano and Shintaro got any sort of resolution (although, admittedly, it was kinda cute); and while, yes, the whole thing with them making the Snake grant Konoha's promise to save Hiyori was fine and all, they had put a lot of emphasis on Hiyori and Hibiya earlier on (and even in the ED!), so to not have any sort of real conclusion there (other than the simple fact that she was rescued/revived) was kinda bizarre. Even more bizarre, what the heck happened with Haruka? Everything was foreshadowing (if not outright screaming!) his imminent death-- and the scene in the middle of the episode when Ayano and Shintaro go and get him even seemed to solidly confirm it-- but then there was that whole merge-with-and-then-separate-from-Snake-Konoha(-or-was-it?) thing; and *then* he was obviously standing (in silhouette) with the others at the end, seemingly fine, with no explanation whatsoever... and also without a conclusion to his own previously-emphasized arc! (I mean, for goodness' sake, if it was run time they needed, why on earth couldn't they have shown more character conclusions/epilogues during the final song instead of just a bunch of random backgrounds? 
) Aargh. ...Now, that said, I did go listen to/watch all of the original songs/PV's right afterwards, and they are indeed pretty fantastic (for example: Holy crap, the goosebumps I got from {the 50-voice version of} "Kagerou Days" and "Outer Science" , and the feels/giggles/grins I got out of "Otsukimi Recital," etc. etc. etc.). Putting together the overarching story from them in detail, though, is rather a feat, and in that respect I think the anime did an almost-entirely great job, minus a bit of the end of this ep. (I also think it did a pretty great job with a lot of the characters' songs, too. ) The anime just kinda failed a bit in showing the true (dark) awesomeness of the "Outer Science" Bad End (oh man, that scene in the anime could've been so much more epic/horrifying/intense-- and they *really* should've included the song, too!) and (at least part of) the resolution of the "Summertime Record" True End (particularly with those characters I mentioned above).
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I mean, in the song version, Haruka (thankfully) does indeed seem (mostly) fine, and judging by his face markings he apparently did merge back with his other body, which I guess answers that... however, Ayano and Hiyori don't appear there-- and while Ayano does get a conclusion in the anime, Hiyori still doesn't really. All of *that* said, though , I did still enjoy the anime quite a bit; and I imagine there's going to be even more connections made to both the songs and the anime in the novels (which I am certainly planning on reading as they're published here thanks to Yen Press! )-- and maybe even the manga, too, if that follows yet another route!-- so I know that a rewatch of this series in its proper True End place-- after seeing/reading/etc. all the other stuff-- will be best. (I do still think the anime could and should have done a little better with "Outer Science" and "Summertime Record," though. )
So, yep, this was good! )Return to Anime and Anime Reviews
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