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ファイト／ステイナイト 
This is a return to the usual fun episodes that comes after 3 or 4 serious ones. As usual, I actually prefer this kind of episode since it's usually when the writers excel at their game. Plus, they can still insert some surprising moments in between so as far as I'm concerned, this kind of episode is a win-win situation. Anyway, this episode marks the return of a character that I thought was dead a long time ago. What surprised me is that some people actually already know about it way in advance even before the second series went on air. Maybe I just don't bother to keep up with all of the spoilers but the first season's finale kind of gave the impression that she bit it big time. Come to think of it, I noticed that the second season doesn't really give Lelouch too many new opponents. Gino and Anya are supposed to be his new enemies but they don't pose much of a treat due to their personalities. Although after what Anya discovers in this episode, I wonder if she'll become a bigger problem for Lelouch.
I meant to write this 2 weeks ago but obviously that didn't happen because I had more pressing thing to attend to. Unfortunately this means that I'm now 4 episodes behind, or rather, 3 episodes behind now that I've completed this one. I'm sorry for the brief summary but I can't possibly complete the series if I do my usual long-winded summary. Besides, I'm sure most people have already seen the episode and don't see the need to read the plot. Overall, I don't find this episode to be as enjoyable as the others but it's probably because the mood between all of the characters are so awkward. I think I've said this before but this is a good example as to why sharing a house with people that you have a crush on is not a good idea. When things unravel, things become uncomfortable and sooner or later, someone has to move to make things right again. Moreover, there's no telling what will happen to the friendship afterwards.
This has to be one of the worst ever episode for the series when it comes to character design. My analysis back in the first episode about how the character design can easily turns ugly in the hands of lazy animators turns out to be correct. When I see an episode like this, I wonder if it's because the budget is so small that the animators refuse to labor on their craft more than necessary or if they just lose interest in what they do. It's probably hard for animators to be excited about each series that they do so I wonder at what point does the hobby turns into nothing more than a job that needs to be completed. Anyway, for some reason Ichiru sounds a lot like Zero in this episode so does this mean Miyano Mamoru voices both characters? That would be weird but kind of amusing as well since both are supposed to be twins. Ichiru sounds more like Tamaki from Ouran High School Host Club though, albeit an evil one.
I've been very reluctant to jump on to the HD bandwagon mostly because my television is still SDTV and a good HDTV will cost me a lot of money. Besides, I often wondered if it's worth it, since the majority of games don't look that impressive or HD-like, IMO. I actually tried to fight the urge to buy this particular console and I'm still suffering from a little bit of buyer's remorse. However, I really wanted the Hagane (Gun Metal) version of PS3 so I figure this is a good excuse to jump into the HD market. Much to my delight, it's totally worth it. The picture looks unbelievable even though my TV is only SDTV. As for MGS4, I've always wanted to play a game where the storyline is seamless with the game and this game offers that exact experience. I know a lot of people dislike having long cut scenes in their game but I love it since the enjoyment that I derive from a game is not only from its interactivity but also from the story that it is trying to tell. Without a story, a game will feel kind of hollow and an unfulfilling experience for me. Besides, it's really hard to tell where the cut scenes end and when the game starts in MGS4. The transition between the two elements is so smooth that it's impressive.
I don't really need an extra distraction but somehow I just managed to give myself a new one. It's high-def gaming. Well, sort of. My TV is still a lame SDTV but I'm amazed at how good the games look even without HDTV. Anyway, I'll talk about this on a separate thread later on. Moving on, this episode is pretty good although clearly it'll be a while before any episode can top the last two's awesomeness. This one is pretty nifty though, thanks to its Twin Peaks reference. I do wonder how many people got that if they are not a fan of David Lynch or the TV series. This is also probably one of those scenes that is not that obvious when it was depicted in manga format. It's only through anime that one can see that the author wanted the scene to be some kind of a homage to Twin Peaks.
ON/OFF - Futasu no Kodou to Akai Tsumi (26.7MB, PSP/Quicktime format)
It's been a while since I last heard this song but in general, it's still okay. Having said that, I realized now that part of the reason the song works so well is because it was accompanied by the opening scenes from Vampire Knight. On its own, the song is still pleasant to listen to but the lyrics don't feel as appropriate as it was when it was paired together with the OP scenes. The PV itself is okay but nothing to write home about. It's kind of nice of the singer to make references to Vampire Knight by using chains, red threads, and twin brothers (the singers themselves). But again, I feel some kind of disconnection between the song and the images in the PVs. I kind of miss the scenes where Shiki unleashes out his blood whip and when Zero offers his hand to Yuuki. Those and many other scenes in the OP makes the song a lot more meaningful.
Well, this pretty much 'concludes' the Chinese Federation arc for the time being, which is about time because there's no much time left if the writers want to conclude the series at the end of this season. Much to my dismay, however, next week we are back to Ashford High shenanigans again. Of course it's possible that a new development will emerge next week but I remember that this kind of episode usually only shows some kind of a twist at the end of the episode. I do hope that there'll be no new character introduced between now till the end of the season. I don't think there will be enough time to develop said character and giving him/her all sorts of relationship with other characters. On the other hand, I like what the writers have done so far with Anya. When she started, she was just like Gino, an additional grunt to help Suzaku with his job. Now, however, she seems to be tied closely to both Lelouch and C.C as far as background story goes.
Arrrgh. This whole catching up thing is starting to drive me insane. So close and yet so far. I am still 1 episode behind as usual and if I don't do the other one soon, I'll go back to be 2 episodes behind. Anyway, this episode shows another twist to Kaname's character and I personally think it's not doing a favor on him. I often wonder if the author intends on giving Kaname such a shifty personality or if it's actually unintended effects from wanting to make him look mysterious. If it's the later, I wonder if she realizes that he appears creepy and controlling at times? Maybe not because IIRC, Kaname's popularity is pretty high. At any rate, does anyone know if this is going to stay as 13 episodes series for the time being or if it'll continue on? I assume the first will happen until the series get another timeslot in another season.
It's hard to believe that Summer 2008 anime will be here soon. Unlike Spring, however, this time I don't have many anime that I'd like to watch, which is fine with me since I feel that I took a bit too much series this season to the point that it's hard to do anything else. Besides, most of the time things look interesting on a glance but when I really sit down and watch them, I realised that I didn't really want to watch the entire series. It's kind of scary with season like this one, where I only have small amount of selections. What will happen if I don't like any of them? Oh well, there are still several series from the previous season continuing (ie. Code Geass R2). Anyway, what do you think of this upcoming season and are you going to follow or at least watch several episodes of the new series? What are your choices/recommendations?
Source: Summer 2008 Anime Fansub Wiki
I'm glad I watch all three in succession because if I just watch episode 9 on its own, I'd have lost interest in the series. That episode was boring beyond belief even though it's clearly meant to be funny. Thankfully episode 10 and 11 are the reverse of episode 9 and it's full of character development and background stories. Plus, for once Black Star is shown to be a lot more than the big mouth that he normally tends to be. While the series has been impressive in terms of animation before, this is probably the first time that I've been impressed with the quality of the storyline. I did wish that the story had been a bit more specific about Masamune's past but I guess it's not really in the writers' interest to tell too much story about him when the main focus of the story are supposed to be Tsubaki and Black Star.
Update: The episode has ended. Will do proper review after I get through the other 3 episodes.
I'm watching the last episode of Last Friends right now. So I thought I'll do a no-frills blog of the episode right away since I'm quite far behind with the episodes. I have no idea of the events that transpired beforehand, so forgive me if I make some mistakes. I also missed some of the earlier scenes from this episode. Don't worry, I'll do a proper review of episode 11 later on. I'm afraid you have to keep pressing "reload" to get new content here.
SEAMO - Honey Honey feat. AYUSE KOZUE (25.7MB, PSP/Quicktime format) | Abbreviated Live Performance (YouTube video)
The first time I heard the song as xxxHOLiC Kei ED theme, I thought the song was just okay. I just didn't get the groove of the song in the TV version of the song. Besides, Mokona, as animated as it was, does not really represent the spirit of the song, especially the nature of the duet. As a background, SEAMO is actually a stage name for Naoki Takada, a Japanese rapper/hip-hop artist. This particular song has actually been released beforehand without Ayuse Kozue. The difference between the two songs lies in the final two verses of the song. Instead of repetition of the chorus twice, the song has a new bridge fully performed by Ayuse Kozue and a final chorus which is slightly modified to give Kozue a more singing presence in comparison to the rest of the lyrics, where she can barely be heard.
This is a pretty good continuation from the previous episode although I have to admit that I'm a bit keen to move on from the strategic battle/surprise twist of the week and into the meat of the story, which explains everything behind Marianne's death, C.C's background, her contract with Lelouch, and why the Emperor wants to kill Gods. I am just afraid that another season will end and we still don't get the answer to these storylines, which I think requires at least 10 or more episodes to be thoroughly addressed. Plus, I'm sure there will be some major battle episodes between Britannia and the United States of Japan/EU sometime in the future. Not to mention a possible battle between Lelouch against Suzaku. I'm not sure if the writers can wrap everything up with the remaining 16 episodes unless they start to conclude some subplots starting from the next episode. Unless, of course, there is a plan to continue this series down to a 3rd season.
I am really bad at this whole catching up thing. After 12 hours, I've only managed to complete this review and I am aware that a batch of new episodes are coming in soon. Maybe I should not bother trying to summarize the content while watching and just write down the general plot after watching it once. I wonder if that would actually cut down the time I spend in front of the blog. At any rate, I should really complete all of the back episodes ASAP because I'd be going back to work in a matter of days and I'd have even less time to review the series later on. As for this episode, this is actually rather entertaining but because there isn't anything substantial that happened in it, it's rather hard to talk about it. I was amused with the Pocky subliminal advert though. I'm not even sure if that was there in the manga. Hmm, Pocky. I missed the time when their ads were weird like the one with Shibasaki Kou and Tsumabuki Satoshi.
I knew that I'll come back to a huge amount of back episodes to cover but I really didn't expect that it'll be this hard to start writing again. Oh well, I'll just have to pick things up slowly, starting with this episode. First thing first, Newtype Japan has just published top 10 ranking of Code Geass R2 favorite characters and it's listed in this order: Lelouch/Zero, C.C, Kururugi Suzaku, Kallen, Li Xing Ke, Rollo, Gino, Villetta, Guilford, and Orange-kun. If it were up to me, I'd put C.C as number one purely because she's the one with the best character design and background story. She even looks better with her R2 black dress in comparison to her first season insane asylum contraption. But the best thing about her is the mystery represented by her character. She reminds me of other mysterious CLAMP characters like Yuuko in xxxHOLiC, Arashi and Hinoto-hime in X, and Suu in Clover. I just hope that when C.C's story is eventually revealed, it won't be disappointing.
Utada Hikari - Prisoner of Love (27.3MB, PSP/Quicktime format)
I first heard Utada Hikaru when she sang Hikari/Simple and Clean, the main theme for SquareEnix's/Disney's PS2 game, Kingdom Hearts. I thought the song was fantastic whether it was in English, Japanese, or instrumental. I found out back then that Utada was born in New York to Japanese parents but moved to Tokyo in late 1998. Her birth name is actually 「宇多田光」(her first name written in Kanji instead of Katakana as usually seen in her official performance name). Despite this, I don't pay much attention to her other songs just like I don't pay much attention to songs by other singers unless they really catch my attention. Fast forward summer 2007, Rebuild of Evangelion was released and the film came with a main theme, Beautiful World. I think that song is pretty good and sounds like a representation of what the characters in the movie should feel about their life. Despite this, I don't think the song was memorable as a stand-alone song.
I didn't have the chance to say this before but thank you for all the kind messages, guys. I really appreciate it. The whole thing feels so weird and surreal now that the funeral/cremation is over. It kind of forces me to think about life and the future, two things which I haven't given much thought since I've been too afraid of making any major decision. Anyway, thank you again for the kind words. I'll try to catch up with the entries next week but it's good to know that MT is doing an okay job with the pre-scheduled posts.
Tackey and Tsubasa - Koiuta (32MB, PSP/Quicktime format) | YouTube version
Update: The 20 minute drama is included below.
This is one of the pre-scheduled posts that I set up in case I can't post any episodic reviews. If you see this then it means Movable Type did its job as it should. If not, then maybe it's time to change blogging software. Anyway, I first heard about Takki (or "Tackey") and Tsubasa when I went to Japan 3 years ago but never been bothered to look for their songs like I do with Ketsumeishi or Kobukuro's works. The name "Takki and Tsubasa" comes from combination of the two singers' name: Takizawa Hideaki and Tsubasa Imai. They are two of the most popular Japanese idols from Johnny and Associates. This particular company usually raises my alarm bell since some of the company's 'talents' seem to be lacking in singing (or acting) talent. It's a good thing that I heard the song first from Osen without knowing who sing it. This way, I judged the song based on its own merit instead of who sang the song. At any rate, they turn out to be pretty good singers and the song is a perfect fit for their singing style.
I'm writing this because I won't be able to access the internet for about a week. My father has just passed away so I'm now back home and there's lack of internet access here. I have prepared some alternative posts scheduled to be posted in the next few days but it's likely that I won't be able to post new episodes review until the 12th of June. I'm sorry about this but I'll try to review something if I do have an extended access to the internet.
