Psycho Pass 2 Part 3 Episodes 9-11

Akane Tsunemori has faced the darkness before and always kept a clear hue.  However, the closure of the Kirito Kamui case might finally push her into an abyss she cant return from.  Baited by Kamui himself and unknowingly stalked by her own subordinate, Togane, Akane will have to rely on her own will and beliefs to see this case through and see justice done the right way.  Many questions remain: will Sybil play along with Akane’s ultimate decision for Kamui?  And what roles will the demented Togane and the tormented Shimotsuki play before the curtain closes on this horrific ordeal?  The answers to these questions and more will pave the way for the future of society as it begins to change once again.

This couldntve been more the opposite of last time.  If you may recall, when I reviewed Season One, I said it was damn near perfect.  Few Anime can have the kind of build up that is given such epic and great payoff as Psycho Pass.  Psycho Pass 2…feels like it got lost in a crazy idea and is doing its best to forget it ever happened, even before its over and done with.  Shoddy writing, weak characters, Sybil acting unlike Sybil and an ending that tries to emulate its predecessor and doesn’t even come close.  Part of this fail could be aimed at the head writer of the season, which is kind of a shame in my head.  Tow Ubukata, the head writer of this season, also wrote Ghost in the Shell: Arise, which I really liked.  However, the hard scifi turn into Frankenstien feels more like a Ghost in the Shell move.  I wonder if original series writer, Gen Urobuchi, could have saved this whole seasons premise.  But we’ll never know.

Akane, Akane, Akane.  She’s grown quite a bit on me since her first appearance on the show.  She’s gone from innovative rookie to battle hardened inspector over the course of two seasons.  But this finale proves that, against all odds, she truly is incorruptible.  No matter how bad her life gets or how much hell she sees: people being burned alive, the loss of a family member, even dealing with the darkest soul she’s ever encountered…her Psycho Pass still stays low and cool.  Truth be told, im not sure if I wanted to see more of a rageful reaction when she found out her Grandmother had been abducted, and later killed.  As it stand though, what was done with it was fine and one of the few notable positive scenes in the dismal latter half of this season.  Plus it got us another visit from Mental Kogame, God I would’ve loved to have seen Real Kogame show up and kick Togane’s ass.

Besides Akane and a few scant moments of awesomeness from the bulk of Division One, including the return of Soga and his make up with Gino over a past incident, the rest of this finale was a mess.  Sybil somehow let one of its brains run the show when it should have realized Toganes mom was so far off the deep end that she’d kill their investment in Akane just to settle an old score and protect the Togane Empire she left behind.  Kirito Kamui failed to be anything close to a memorable villain, or memorable beyond his bizzare origin story.  Even Togane wasn’t given the best send off possible, and I think he had the biggest potential of all the new characters introduced.  His calm and professional demeanor hiding a sadist who loved nothing more than to discretley cloud the hue of others would have made him a good candidate for a season long villain.  However, he ended up devolving into an emotional baby with long standing mommy issues, which was no less highlighted when he ran away crying cause he couldn’t corrupt Akane like he did so many others in the end.  Sybil purging Momma Togane and a few select others to better perfect itself could be a whole other discussion that could make my head spin.  Let’s just say I still and never will believe in the system…but it was better portrayed in Season One…just like everything else this season.

And what of this seasons major point of anguish: Mika Shimotsuki?  Well she’s shown the Sybil systems true identity and claps and cheers cause she’s freaking out and still such a tool.  She keeps trying to tell herself she’s blameless despite her inadvertedly lending a hand in the death of Akane’s grandmother.  And she still believes she can be in charge one day and just let everything that happen slide as if it was just a really bad dream.  I swear, if I didn’t need the brains cells to try and make sense of this overall arc as a whole, then everytime Shimotsuki appeared on screen, I’d start slamming my head into a desk.  You know how she could have been saved?  If they had committed to making her Togane’s disciple of sorts due to her clear disgust and jealousy with Akane, she could have at least had a more focused role, and would’ve given support to her and Togane being the Anti Akane and Kogame team up.  However, that will likely never happen, even if a possible third season picks up where Season Two and The Movie leave off.  It has been a very long time since any Anime character has gotten me this riled up.  I could even quote Supernatural: The Abridged Anime, “It’s amazing ive hated you completely since weve met and you’re STILL losing points.”

I can see now why everyone was saying that you didn’t have to watch Psycho Pass 2 before seeing Psycho Pass: The Movie.  The only reason you might need to check it out briefly is to know why Shimotsuki, Hinakawa and Soga are on Akane’s team at the beginning of the flick.  This season ends up being such a huge trainwreck it nearly sullies the name Psycho Pass in the process.  The mystery devolves into bad scifi from a totally different show.  The messages and themes from the first season are jettisoned for something a lot less profound, almost like they just started to throw darts at a board and see what would stick.  As bad as all of that was, Mika Shimotsuki’s continued presence almost atom bombed the whole thing…cause she’s just…ugh, the worst.  There were bits of saving grace here and there, mostly in the first half with the start of the Kamui Case and the introduction of the new players.  Akane had a really good team that went mostly underutilized cause Shimotsuki didn’t want anyone getting more attention than her.  Hinakawa’s shyness and potential made him a surprise good fit for the unit and he played well with Yayoi and Kiranamori.  Soga could have had some really good moments considering his history with Gino but he was taken out for most of the season. Ginoza continued to grow but we rarely ever saw that happen on screen, hell I wanted more time with him and Akane considering all they’ve been through (why wasn’t he consoling her after she found out about her Grandmother?).  It’s true that Psycho Pass 2 had some big shoes to fill but it tried to outgrow them quickly to make its own mark on the world…and boy did it, just not the kind of mark people are going to look back on with fondness. 

If we were going by Sibyl rules on this one, Season One should be preserved for the Think Tank.  Season Two…target for lethal elimination.  Final Score for Psycho Pass 2 is a 4.5/10.  And that, ladies and gents, closes out 2018.  Expect a new “Welcome to the Gundam Anime Corner” feature tomorrow and get come back next week as we kick of 2019 with Slayers Next…yeah next years gonna be “The Year of The Slayers”, stay tuned for more.  See ya in 2019 everyone.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower

Universal Century 0080.  It’s been seven months since the end of the One Year War.  Former Federation allies, the cultist South Seas Alliance, plots to declare its independence using captured tech from both sides, including the Psycho Zaku once piloted by Zeon Living Dead Division Sniper Daryl Lorenz.  Thunderbolt Sector survivor Io Fleming is dispatched to Earth piloting the new Atlas Gundam, to destroy the suit that once tormented and defeated him in battle.  Though on separate mission, Io and Daryl’s road lead them to the same enemy, one that might be more dangerous than either of the monsters both men have become.

When I said that Gundam Thunderbolts first film, December Sky, was the darkest entry of Gundam ive seen so far, I didn’t mean that as a criticism.  It was probably the biggest compliment I could give.  Sure it was uncomfortable to sit through sometimes but it was a very effective and different story for the Gundam franchise.  Despite a cast I largely didn’t like, it succeeded in it goal to hammer in the “war is hell” message of Gundam harder than ever.  I say this because the follow up film, Bandit Flower, tries to go back to the way Gundam usually does things while still retaining elements that made the previous film so hard hitting and effective…and it just doesn’t work as well.

The setting has shifted from the chaotic and unpredictable Thunderbolt Sector in space to the jungles of the South Pacific on Earth.  This isn’t a bad change first off.  One of the things that made Gundam: The 08^th MS Team so good was its emphasis on ground/urban combat.  It’s not quite “Gundams in the Jungle” but the Mobile Suit combat across the board is still very well done.  Actually, there should be an emphasis on the “Mobile Suit” part of that term as every other regular kind of Federation/Zeon suit is doing the bulk of the grunt work here.  The new Atlas Gundam only sorties twice and not for very long before it sits out most of the last act.  That’s kind of an odd move but ill also admit, im not a fan of the overly complicated design of the Atlas.  It just feels like too much has been given to it, making it feel overstuff and way to complex to enjoy…kind of like Io himself with his ego and lust for battle but ill get there.  Still, this give the GMs, Goufs and Ackguy’s time to shine in most of the action scenes in lew of the titular Gundam.

While I don’t think December Sky really needed a sequel, as I felt it stood out fine on its own, I was curious to see what happened to all of the survivors of the Thunderbolt Sector post One Year War.  And…only one character has any real substantial damage, poor Karla.  On the flipside, Daryl and Io are both actually better off than you’d expect.   Both are hailed as heroes and met with a ton of skepticism.  Was it Daryl’s overpowered Zaku that won him the Battle of Thunderbolt Sector?  Is Io a heartless bastard who sent children to die without a care?  The movie does explore both sides of their newfound fame with equal amounts success and less success. Io’s story actually dominates the bulk of the movie as he deals with the scorn of some of this new teammates and the fascinations of the beautiful Bianca, a tattoo sporting red head bad ass who teeters back and forth between being her own powerhouse and just being Io’s number one fangirl.  I like to think she leans towards the former as Biana does get to stand out a lot in this film.  However, it’s hard to find anyone to like in this series over all that I kept feeling hesitant (but later leaned towards liking her cause…well she is cute and could do way better than Io).  Daryl’s story is a bit harder to follow outside of his caring for the damaged Karla.  I was not a fan of the Newtype member of his new unit (who doesn’t believe he himself is a Newtype cause he doesn’t believe in them).  Daryl’s been through a lot in Gundam Thunderbolt and im kind of sick of characters giving him grief when he deserves a happy ending more than anyone.  Still, Daryl does get to do his thing better than ever.  Heck I didn’t think much of the Zeon Ackguy before I watched Daryl make it dance.

Story wise, Bandit Sky is a mixed bag and it is probably the weakest aspect of the movie as a whole.  Changing the scenery to Earth and bringing in the Newtype element of the Universal Century, I feel, takes away from what made Thunderbolt special to begin with.  Now don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with Newtypes in Gundam, none whatsoever.  I do think that they don’t need to dominate every single aspect of the Universal Century, it’s one of the highlights of the aforementioned 08^th MS Team.  Taking the story from a brutal portrayal of war to introducing a brainwashing Buddhist Newtype cult seems like a step in the wrong direction for Gundam Thunderbolt.  And actually, a lot of what we learn about this new threat isn’t really explained until the last few minutes of the movie, ending things on a still unresolved cliffhanger until Season Three ever arrives followed by the compilation film afterwards.  What’s worse, while their separate stories have their moments, Io and Daryl do not meet each other again in Bandit Flower.  The movie is missing a lot of what made the first so special but right at the top is the fiery feud between these two monsters of the One Year War. 

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower is an ultimately disappointing follow up to one of Gundams most intense entries.  It’s always good to see more grounded combat with Mobile Suits and the jungle setting is always a welcome sight.  But there’s a massive lack of the darkness and unrelenting reality that made December Sky so memorable.  And as much as I hate to rag on it, reintroducing Newtypes into the mix might not be the best move for Thunderbolt to make, especially for a more realistic feeling Gundam series.  Part of me will reserve judgement until this series continues (as of yet a third season and the compilation film that comes with it hasn’t been announced).  But part of me will also wonder if the original December Sky movie, and in effect the first season of Gundam Thunderbolt, should have been all the story that needed to be told from this chapter of the Universal Century saga.

6.5/10

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky

Universal Century 0079.  The Moore Brotherhood of the Earth Federation and the Living Dead Division of Zeon clash for complete control of the Thunderbolt Sector of Side 4.  Comprised of vengeful, desperate soldiers who have fought without rest of relief, both sides are reaching their breaking point.  At the height of the conflict, an intense rivalry emerges between Federation Maverick Io Fleming, piloting a specialized version of the Mobile Suit Gundam, and Zeon Sniper Daryl Lorenz.  Their duel may decide the fate of the entire Thunderbolt Sector.  The One Year War is drawing towards its conclusion.  However, for the Federation and Zeon forces in the Thunderbolt Sector of Side 4, the war is far from over.

In its long history, the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise has always been about one message: War is Hell.  We’ve seen stories in the past where this really hits home from children finding themselves thrust into the middle of devastating conflicts, to the extrodinarily high body counts of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Victory Gundam.  Well…apparently that was all just playtime compared to the powerhouse of uncomfortable epicness that is the Gundam Thunderbolt saga.  December Sky is a compilation movie of the first four episodes of the Original Net Anime.  It actually flows pretty well for a short feature, though it assumes you know what’s going on far beyond the battle in Thunderbolt Sector with the One Year War.  And even if you don’t, Gundam Thunderbolt still feels pretty accessible to newcomers of Gundam.  Though id warn those newbies in advance…Gundam gets dark but not quite this dark. 

From the moment you first glimpse Thunderbolt Sector, you really are propelled into spaces equivalent of Hell.  Barely five minutes in we’re introduced to the paranoid and desperate atmosphere that has engulfed both sides of the war.  Its more than just the war that’s run everyone raged, it’s the increasingly personal stakes.  For some reason, the Federation has deployed a garrison, The Moore Brotherhood, comprised of survivors of this chaotic region that used to be their home. That doesn’t make sense to me really and just sounds like a recipe for disaster when the going gets tough.  And then there’s the Living Dead Division, Zeon amputees equipped with metallic limps in order to continue fighting.  The horrors of war are every where and the sense of optimism that always followed the crew of White Base in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series is nowhere to be found.  In fact, the ever growing sense of uneasy insanity building in much of the cast, especially the Federation side, left me with very few people to root for.

At the center of this story are our two leads, Io and Daryl.  Io is a psychotic maverick who hides his pain and loss from the war behind jamming out to Jazz while tearing Zeon suits to pieces.  Sure he does draw a line at the sight of literal children barely into their teens being conscripted as reinforcements.  But Io virtual lust for the conflict made him so freaking unlikeable.  He’s the kind of guy I could easily see joining the Titans in Zeta Gundam just because he’s that far gone…and they let this maniac pilot a Gundam.  Daryl, on the other hand, is losing his humanity in his own way piece by piece, literally.  His feud with Io pushes him to sacrifice more than he already has and the flashbacks to what his life was before and during the war instill more of an emotional response than anything you get from Io.  Plus, Daryl has more of a connection to his crew of fellow amputees and the beautiful Karla, who supplies them with their new limbs.  Unlike Io, who has accepted the demon he’s become thanks to the One Year War, the bond and eventual romance between Daryl and Karla does give that one small glimmer of hope in an other wise pitch black dark story.

So yeah, we’ve got guys with multiple lost limbs; children dying in rapid succession, Captains under pressure and a lot of pain killers, scientists willing to sacrifice lives for progress and people who should, quite frankly, not be put in a Mobile Suit ever again, least of all a Gundam.  December Sky does not hold back on the horrors of war and if that kind of stuff makes you uncomfortable, this might not be for you.  However, I will admit it’s a story told in a very effective way and there’s still a lot of the mecha action that Gundam is also known for to offset things a bit.  The battles in the Thunderbolt Sector are some of the most rapid fire in the franchise.  It wasn’t hard to keep up with but all the sudden laser blasts while trying to dodge debris left in right kept me on the edge of my seat.  I also liked that the Mobile Suits were all custom made for this region, including the Gundam itself.  Everyone is armed to the teeth for a small war, fitting since everyones battling the hassles of flying debris as well as each other.  Oh and there’s the music.  I felt like I was watching something out of Macross for a little bit.  It’s been a while since ive seen music play such a factor into a Gundam story, probably not since the days of Seed and Seed Destiny.  Jazz is the tune of the day, and no usual orchestrated soundtrack to speak of.  If it sounds a bit chaotic, that’s because it is and it fits the battles and struggling of the characters nicely.  It’s not quite Cowboy Bebop good but its still very appropriate.  Hell I feel like you could mute Io’s dialogue all together and have his Jazz show you just how far off the deep end he has truly fallen.  I will also say that the battles and mecha all look amazing, not quite the bar set by Gundam Unicorn but still right up there and very polished.  The character designs seemed a little weird to me at first but when the true nature of the setting really set in, yeah id imagine a lot of characters looking a little warped too.  These definitely aren’t the smooth and shiny character designs from recent entries like Iron Blooded Orphans or Gundam Build Divers.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky is one of the few Gundam entries to play war almost like it would in present day (albeit in space).  In that, it’s sort of in the same vein as 08^th MS Team, especially with the lack of Newtypes and a heavier emphasis on the darkness of Hell that comes through war.  It can be uneasy to watch, especially the chaotic last act when everything goes right down the drain.  But it’s a risk that Gundam dared to take and it actually did work out.  War isn’t meant to be a comfortable thing.  Gundam knows this and has demonstrated it time and time again but never before with this kind of intensity.  For that I commend it, even if I prefer some more hopefulness in my Gundam tales.

8.5/10

My question now is, how the heck does a story that feels like a stand alone tale somehow continue?  Well we’ll figure out how that happens tomorrow as I review the second compilation movie of the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt saga, Bandit Flower.  See ya then.

FIF#72-Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

UC 0087.  Seven years have passed since the end of the One Year War and the scene both on Earth and in space has changed drastically.  The Earth Federation’s newest task force, the Titans, is a ruthless force to be reckoned with, using any means necessary to eliminate threats to the Earth Sphere.  With the Federation now an enemy, rebel Federation forces and their former Zeon enemies join together to form the AEUG and strike back against the Titans.  Two generations of heroes head into battle, with new vicious weapons, including the powerful Zeta Gundam, prepped to start a bloody tragedy that may put the One Year War to shame.

I guess we’ve been doing some backtracking during GundamCember 2.  First we started off in the present, 2018, with Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative.  Then we followed that up with 2011’s Mobile Suit Gundam AGE and have slowly worked our way back through Gundam history with 2002’s Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and 1993’s Mobile Suit Victory Gundam.  Since it’s one of the few earlier Gundam series I haven’t covered yet, it only feels right that we end this little mini First Impression Friday feature with a look at the show that solidified Gundam’s status as legend: 1985’s Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.

When it comes to making a sequel, there are certain rules most Hollywood blockbuster feel must be adhered to: bigger, louder, more action, more sex, more drama, higher stakes etc.  The start of Zeta Gundam might not have all of these but it definitely establishes it isn’t out to tell the same story as its predecessor (1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam).  This is a different Earth Sphere than the One Year War.  The atmosphere is different all over the place and, in most sequel rules, it feels a lot darker…a lot.  So much so that even the debut appearance of the Gundam Mark II features a grimmer Gundam with an all black paint job…it’s kind of scary.  This Gundam doesn’t seem like the type to want to save humanity.  I do think it’s funny that the Mark II is called such.  Yeah, yeah, I know that Gundam 0080, 0083 and 08^th MS Team came out much later but theyre proof that more than just the single RX-78-2 Gundam have existed til now.  Either way, the Mark IIs design is pretty cool and I cant wait to see how it performs with the paintjob it has in the opening credits.

Speaking of darker and edgier, there’s Kamille, who feels like the perfect foe for the series villains, the Titans.  Kamille such as hell aint no Amuro Ray as he’s trying to out brood and out brat the legendary Gundam hero in every moment he’s on screen.  He’s antisocial (even with a cute girl trying to get his attention) and calling him a girl because of his name immediately nets you a punch to the face, like triggering that “red vision” and the siren sound Uma Thurman gets in Kill Bill.  Kamille certainly isn’t one to hold back his feelings but its hard to root for him too, even when the Titans deserve any kind of hit one can get in.  Forget Zeon, these arrogant peacekeepers have no charm to speak of and have no qualms about beating up anyone simply for stepping in their way.  Speaking of Zeon, Char’s around too…ok he’s taken on a surname but he isn’t fooling anyone.  Even without his infamous mask, the greatest Gundam antagonist of all time still rocks and im glad he’ll be taking on a central role once again.

In short, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is off to a great start in my eyes.  Beyond the new cast and darker story, the music and animation are a blast of 80s nostalgia and Zeta Gundam still looks pretty good for its age.  For many, Zeta is the series that put Gundam back on the map and has kept itself as a strong contender for greatest Gundam series ever made for more than 30 years.  If this really is the Gundam that must be seen, then as a Gundam fan I feel obliged to take on that challenge…eventually.

And that brings us to the end of GundamCember 2.  I honestly don’t know if there are 4 more shows to cover again for next year but who knows what might happen.  What WILL happen is more Gundam coverage in 2019, to make up for the fact that I didn’t really review any Gundam in 2018 (so weird).  Im happy to announce that ill be taking a look at 2 classic Gundam series next year.  In the Summer (hopefully before Otakon), I’ll be looking at the 20^th Anniversary spectacle, Turn A Gundam, as well as it’s two compilation films (Earth Light and Moonlight Butterfly) (kind of breaking a “wont cover compilation movies” rule).  Maybe a little more importantly, considering next April marks Gundam’s 40^th Birthday, it’s long overdue to review the show that started it all.  That’s right, April 2019, the month that kicks off the 6^th Year of the Gundam Anime Corner…I will be reviewing MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM and it’s compilation trilogy (The Movie, Soldiers of Sorrow and Encounters in Space).  WHEW it feels good to finally reveal that and the Gundam fan in me could not be more excited to review these legends.  Thanks for joining me for First Impression Friday: GundamCember 2 and ill see you all again soon.

P.S.-First Impression Fridays will return in January 2019. 

T5W#176-Top 5 Best Titles Ive Reviewed in 2018

2018 is over next week.  Overall, on a personal level, each year since 2015 has been an increasing, stressful challenge.  Which is why I channel a lot of time into Anime and the friends ive gained from it, probably why Katsucon 2018 and Otakon 2018 have found high spots on my list of best conventions ever (yeah ill do a redux Top 5 next year for sure).  Here at the Anime Corner, ive reviewed 45 titles this year, from TV shows to films.  I have to say, this has probably been my favorite year of titles to date as ive had a blast reviewing most of my selections, the good and the bad.  Well with 2018 closing out next week, why don’t we look back at the long list of incredible Anime ive reviewed in 2018…and try to choose five of the best.  It’s my last Top 5 Wednesday of 2018, the Top 5 Best Titles Ive Reviewed in 2018.

#5-Pilot Candidate aka Candidate for Goddess

Kind of like Silent Mobius in 2017, Pilot Candidate became this years series that drove me to the brink of insanity with how bad it was…and it was so much fun to bite into.  I had heard tales of Pilot Candidate’s terribleness and I wasn’t sure id survive the short but painful experience.  From the bad mechs to the worse characters to the waste of a really good musical score, somehow it was a lot of fun giving this god awful show the terrible review it deserved.  It was both stressful and a strange form of stress relief (which really is a lot of what this blog is for me).

#4-Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?

This was more than a treat, it was a privledge.  Seldom seen and hard to come by, I lucked into getting a chance to check out this much beloved Anime movie that is considered one of the best of the 80s mecha era.  The visuals, the music, the action.  Even when DYRL wasn’t at its best, I still felt like I was watching something special.  It almost makes me wish I could review more Macross here on the blog if I could ever find it.  There’s always the first season of Robotech as a Plan B.  In the here and now, im so happy I got to see what I now consider probably the second best Macross outing of all time…and give it further props for that distinction because without the success of Do You Remember Love, we wouldn’t have Macross Plus.

#3-One Punch Man

God, between this and My Hero Academia, Japan has given us some of the best superhero stories outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  One Punch Man took the woes and responsibilities that come with being a hero and give them a refreshingly interesting coat of paint.  Superheroedom doesn’t have to be all business, it can actually be fun and even a little boring depending on who you ask.  And Saitama balances both perfectly with his deadpan deliveries and easy going attitude.  I could easily see him blowing off Batman or the Justice League to do his own thing before showing up to save them all from certain death with one punch.  Amazing fights, an amazing main character and an ever growing cast of loveable goofs, I cant wait for Season Two to finally arrive next year…and hope the magic of Saitama and Genos is still there in droves.

#2-Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory

No one probably expected much from a sequel season to Full Metal Panic thirteen years after The Second Raid.  But they sure as hell weren’t expecting anything to be THIS DAMN GOOD.  The first episode kicked things off with a bang and nothing ever really let up until the final episode.  Sure we got an unresolved cliffhanger with no confirmation of a fifth season.  We did still get Sousuke wagging a one man war to save his girl both in and our of his Arm Slave and some of the most game changing moments ever in the entire Full Metal Panic story to date.  The Second Raid showed Full Metal Panic it could take risks and succeed.  Invisible Victory took that lesson and hit the NOS button for a full blown ride into awesomeness.  I’d say I have no idea how Season 5 will top Invisible Victory…but im sure I said the same thing after The Second Raid and look what we got eh?

#1-The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Of all the shows ive reviewed this year, could you ever imagine me having a crap ton to say about a Haruhi Suzumiya movie?  Well I did and I still think this is one of the best reviews ive ever written for this blog in general.  So much happens in Disappearance that keeps you so engrossed, you almost forget the movie is almost three hours long.  It rights the wrongs of the TV Series and pays off painful watch moments like “The Endless Eight” in unexpectedly brilliant ways.  This review was so heartfelt that I had to do a follow up Top 5 that same day to delve deeper into some pretty spoiler heavy thoughts.  Ive never done that with a review before and I don’t know if ill ever find a film I can do similar with.  2018 saw One Punch Man, Psycho Pass, Fate/Stay Night and even My Hero Academia grace the Gundam Anime Corner.  Whodve thought theyd all somehow be topped by Queen Haruhi Suzumiya…not me.

Free: Dive to the Future-The Complete Third Season

A new day dawns for the boys of Iwatobi and Sumezeka High Schools.  Haru, Makoto and Rin are all off to college, continuing their new life courses in their own way while Rei and Nagisa try to bring new blood to the Iwatobi High School Swim Team.  But the road to the world stage for Haru and Rin just got a whole lot tougher.  For Haru, it’s dealing with the sudden return of a friend from Middle School and the possibility that he might have caused him the greatest pain in his life.  For Rin, it’s learning the existence of a new breed of swimmers whos skills dwarf both his and even Haru’s.  New players step onto the starting blocks as the next heat of the next chapter of the lives of five young men gets ready to begin.

Free is a series I never thought I would find myself admiring so much.  When I put it on my First Impression Friday cue a few years back, I expected to joke about it a lot…and ended up blowing through the first season in one weekend and giving it a pretty glowing review (you can find it right here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/03/free-complete-first-season.html).  And then, lightning managed to strike twice and even better than before when Season One was followed up with arguably one of the best sequel seasons to any Anime ive ever seen: Free Eternal Summer (reviews right here too if you want to read that as well: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/06/free-eternal-summer-complete-second.html).  I never thought I would find reasons to love the boys of Iwatobi and Sumezeka or get so invested in their eternal bonds of brotherhood and friendship, mixed in with a pretty visual and auditory package of awesome.  So yeah, I was always ready for more Free.  And Season Three-Dive to the Future gave us more…but did it give us too much more?

The biggest thing made apparent by the new Opening Sequence is that the cast has suddenly ballooned from about 15 central characters to close to (or more than 30).  There’s our core five characters: Haru, Rin, Mako, Nagisa and Rei; Momo and Ai and their newest team at Sumezeka; Gou and the new members of Iwatobi; and a heaping helping of new (sort of but we’ll get there) faces at Haru and Mako’s respective colleges.  The second I saw this, I knew there were going to be some problems.  I don’t mind splitting the core five up and sending them to see new places.  However, this does mean that not everyone is going to be around every episode and if they are it’s gonna feel forced a lot.  I feel like Rin, Nagisa, Rei and Sousuke get the harsher end of this approach.  While they do get their own episodes to further their stories, I didn’t really feel invested in Nagisa and Rei’s quest to keep the Iwatobi Swim Team going and I wanted to see more of Rins interactions with other swimmers in Australia.  The other thing that kind of irked me was that some new characters brought in this season have been seen already in the   plethora of Free movies that have come out in between Season Two and Season Three (it’s been what, three years since Eternal Summer?).  Personally I haven’t had a chance to see High Speed! Free! Starting Days, Free! Timeless Medley, and Free! Take Your Marks (not for lack of trying mind you).  Still, I didn’t expect to feel so lost seeing footage from those films spliced into the earliest episodes of Dive to the Future and I kind of felt left out of a few plot developments as such.  Factor in some scarily superior swimmers introduced towards the end of the season, a couple of rival coaches with a history and I feel Free reached too far, even if this didn’t intend to be a stand alone season like the others (more on that later).

This season of Free was surprisingly the darkest so far.  There were numerous times where I felt my stomach in knots by the end of an episode, more so than ever before.  Don’t get me wrong, Free is still one of the best feel good Anime out there.  But going for the general sequel rule of darker tone and stakes was adhered here in a rare fashion.  Most of this came from two particular stories, one that dominated the season and another that will likely be followed up later in Season 4.  Even if we’re sort of retreading ground with someone having beef with Haru cause of something in his past (Haru’s becoming a real Kenshin Himura the Battosai isn’t he?), Ikuyas story was still fun to watch.  Ikuya is Haru swimming every stroke to get better and its kind of rare to see anyone swimming more than a single stroke, or even two.  And the funny thing is, Ikuya wanted to see his friends again.  The main thing keeping them apart: Ikuyas psycho bestie from America, Hiyori.  Every interaction Hiyori had with Haru, Mako and Asahi made me think continuously that Hiyori was going to push them into traffic if they didn’t stop trying to reunite with Ikuya.  It was definitely a menace that I had never felt in any character from Free thus far.  One problem with this story arc though is that it takes up 3/4ths of the season.  Its only in the last three or so episodes that we get introduced to swimmers whos abilities flat out dwarf Haru and Rin…by like a super vast margin.  Albert Wahlander, whos swimming skill was built up like the legend of Rambo all throughout the season by Rin and Haru’s new coaches, certainly lived up to the hype…all the while he turned out to be a super nice guy.  I wonder how far Haru and Rin will have to push themselves to overcome this mountain of a swimmer in Season 4…cause it sucks to say but theyre nowhere near ready to take him on yet.

Actually lets’ talk about Season 4.  Yeah, Free: Dive to the Future ends on a pretty big cliffhanger, kind of in the style of Rocky III where we don’t see the outcome of a match (and learn about it much later).  The season then posts text of a promise: See You in 2020.  I don’t know if that should get me excited or upset me.  On the one hand, the 2020 release window pretty much garuntees that the 4th Season will coincide with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (AKIRA WAS RIGHT!!!)  On the other hand, waiting two years for more Free after such a bookmarking epic event is going to make me antsy, maybe others as well.  That said, the cliffhanger ending and the raised stakes that leave even Haru of all people shaken to his core is a thrilling prospect.  If nothing else, Dive to the Future takes a lot of the drama that popped up in Eternal Summer and amplifies it, testing the bonds and lessons developed in the past to their limits…and it makes the heartfelt moments all the more worth it, like one of the seasons key set pieces, Haru vs Ikuya…MEDLY!!!

While I do feel that Dive to the Future does have the more glaring problems of any season yet, it’s still Free and if you loved the first two seasons, there isn’t any reason you wouldn’t enjoy this one too.  Everything that made the story work so far is still here: the bromance between Haru and Rin, Rin and Sousuke; the animation that has only gotten better with age; the kick ass synth soundtrack that plays during every riveting race; the humor is still gut bustingly funny; and the stories as a whole for every character feel genuine and unique in their own way (theyre just way to damn many of them for one season).  I often wondered how fans would feel about splitting the season evenly between Haru and Mako in college and Rei and Nagisa back at Iwatobi with Rin’s Australia adventures cutting in throughout both.  It might’ve cleaned things up better but at the end of the day im just happy to have more Free in my life.  It might not have hit the stellar highlights of another long awaited Anime sequel: Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory or those of its predecessor seasons.  However, new strides are made to challenge Haru, Rin, Mako, Nagisa and Rei and there the promise of more to come (in 2020 or sooner, we’ll know at some point next year im sure).  Free is still a series near and dear to my heart and even if the weight of the added epic changes threatened to collapse on Season Three more than once, I will always look forward to more awesome swimming week after week.

And wow, that end sequence with all the characters doing a dance number on stage, that almost made the huge new additions to the roster worth it.  I could watch that end on loop all day to get in a good mood.

8/10

Psycho Pass 2 Part 2 Episodes 5-8

The investigation of Kirito Kamui and his cryptic question, “WC?”, has resulted in the deaths of multiple Inspectors and Enforcers…and the criminal is just getting started.  Akane and CID Division One find themselves on the verge of another Makashima level crisis as Kamui continues to test the Sybil System by arming civilians with the weapons and means to tear down society without even realizing it.  Akane’s seemingly reckless pursuit of Kamui might blind her to the true threats right in front of her: Inspector Shimotsuki, who seems determined to remove her from command for her own benefit; and Sakuya Togane, the man with the highest Psycho Pass on record who is determined to see Akane’s hue become dark and corrupted.  And when the terrifying truth of Kamui’s true identity is revealed, nothing will ever be the same again.

Well…it started ok at least.  However, by the end of this set of episodes, Psycho Pass 2 started to reach beyond the bounds of its world and try to cross genres, all the while trying to up the ante from Season One and still be intellectually challenging…when the only thing challenging about all of this is how it got greenlit and put to screen in the first place.

At the very least, we got a good opener to this set.  The drone hijacking episodes were exciting and scary.  The scariness fell to how unknowing civilians and everyday citizens were at the controls of deadly defense machines and took them on a killing spree for points.  On the upside, Akane and her team, minus Shimotsuki, handled it like a pro team.  With Akane, Gino, Togane and Sugo trying not to get killed, it was up to Karanomori, Yayoi, and Hinakawa to save them with their combined hacking skills.  All the while, Shimotsuki came in late to the party and was forced to complain while everyone ignored her and did their jobs.  You know, later on there was a scene where Akane had a pretty good investigative break down of events with her team, again minus Shimotsuki, and it went pretty well, feeling more like a normal day at the office for CID Division One.  It made me remember how some of my favorite scenes from Season One were the team just spitballing theories in the squad room.  And while it was kind of cheesy, I did like Akane’s mental recap of events…going over them with her own mental image of Kogame for support.  It was brief and I know some will shake their head at it, but hey any amount of Kogame is good for me at this point…cause things were about to make a sudden shift into WTF territory.

That brings us to the meat of the season, the big reveal of what Kamui is and what his endgame is.  Ready for this…ok: Kamui is a Frankenstein monster experiment made up of parts from 184 dead kids, including 7 different brains, and his goal is to…ugh…his goal is to somehow get the Sybil System to judge him because…wait for it…the system cant read him.  Yeah it was assumed in an interrogation scene that swapping out enough organs will cloud ones Psycho Pass even if it should be high.  But this is just getting plain ridiculous and it all feels like a pitch for a whole other scifi series…and this is me talking about a show where a Big Brother style system is made up of a few dozen brains in jars.  This is what the shows solution was to how you could top or match Makashima?  I feel like from now on every time I see him, ill just wonder how the hell Kirito Kamui is even alive much less causing all of this chaos.

Oh but things didn’t just go bad there.  Nope there was everyones favorite pain in the ass brat girl Shimotsuki continuing to whine, pout and generally make herself unlikeable in ever single frame she was drawn in.  Now she’s on a witch hunt to kick Akane out of her position cause Shimotsuki thinks she’s too reckless and causing more harm than good.  Jealousy thy name is Mika Shimotsuki.  Let’s just recall how Shimotsuki was absent from two big team events (the ones I mentioned above to be more precise) when she was off doing whatever it was she was doing…actually that bit was important but ill get there in a second.)  Possibly my favorite moment with Shimotsuki in it (wait, there’s two but one has to wait til the next section below), was when she fussed about something pointless and Akane just went ahead and delegated the workload to her team, who took their jobs without complaint, and Shimotsuki just stood there with a befuddled look on her face.  There’s a reason Akane is team leader Shimotsuki, learn to delegate and pay attention.

And just when you think it couldn’t get anymore bizzare…there’s Togane.  No longer is he a Kogame impersonator.  Nope, now he is Kasei’s personal assassin…and her son?  Well if I had to guess on that end, I think that her body is the main Sybil avatar and her brain, part of the main Sybil hub has been selected to run the Kirito Kamui case, so she can directly address him as “son.”  Oh and Togane is also a test tube baby who’s been augmented to have the largest Psycho Pass in recorded history.  AND he has a serious fixation on wanting to darken Akane’s Psycho Pass by pushing her to her limits with this current case.  You know, it’s this kind of out of left field plot development that makes you want to sit down and wonder what a show with a challenging, intense and fun as hell first season did so wrong to deserve this kind of treatment.  Part of me wonders if this “shocker” would earn forgiveness from me if part of it involved Togane taking out Shimotsuki after she stumbles onto something about Kasei and Sybil she shouldn’t have.  Sadly, it looks like she still has a purpose to serve it seems…foo.

You know, I decided to hold off on this title til around Christmas because I had heard how crazy the second season of Psycho Pass was and if the rumors were true, I was going to have a blast ranting about it like I did Silent Mobius.  This is something else.  Literal patch work villains.  A Norman Bates Psychopath with an obsession with Akane.  A rookie who is failing at life and her job with every single word out of her mouth.  I miss Season One.  I miss Kogame and Makashima’s Sherlock and Moriarty debates and fist fights.  I miss the stand alone, Criminal Minds style mysteries.  I have no idea what Psycho Pass 2 has devolved into…but I have no idea if it is going to recover and finish anywhere near strong when we reach the season finale next week.  Cause right now, I invoke Leonard Nimoy’s Galvatron from Transformers: The Movie, “This is bad comedy.”

Happy Holidays Everyone from the Gundam Anime Corner.  Be kind, be cheerful, be merry…don’t be Mika Shimotsuki, you’ll do the world a disservice otherwise.  See ya next week for the end of 2018 and the Season Finale of Psycho Pass 2…ohhhh boy.

 

Psycho Pass 2 Part 1 Episodes 1-4

In the future, Japanese society lives under the watchful eye of the Sybil System.  If your mind goes to dark or it’s believed you’ll commit a crime, the system will deal with you.  Enter Akane Tsunemori.  Following the close of the Shogo Makashima case and the disappearance of Shunya Kogame, Akane is now the leader of the MWPSBs CID Division 01.  Familiar faces and new blood have been assigned to her unit and their first mission as a team: the investigation of a dead Enforcer, a missing Ipsector and two lost Dominators.  Someone is rising in the shadows to challenge Sybil directly…and it has its eyes equally and dangerously set on Akane herself.

Well we kicked off Year 5 of the Anime Corner with the bloody, insane but brilliant Season One.  How about we close out 2018 with Season Two and see if it can be just as good, if not better.  Welcome, dear readers, to Psycho Pass 2. 

There’s an obvious problem going right into Psycho Pass 2: Season One wasn’t perfect but it was pretty damn close.  How do you follow up the rivalry between Kogame and Makashima?  How do you progress the story of Akane knowing what Sybil really is?  How do you up the creepy and uncomfortable factor that made the show disturbing but fascinating to watch?  There are more questions to ask but it’s better if we just delve right into things and see just what Season Two is doing right and what it is doing very, very wrong right out of the gate.

The premiere feels the opposite of the first seasons, which isn’t a bad way to kick things off.  With Akane in charge, Division One is doing things a bit differently now with apprehending criminals.  Rather than just executing them, Akane wants to save them, her way of following her own beliefs and sticking it to the Sybil System as well.  She’s already got supporters in the returning Ginoza (who if you’ll recall became an Enforcer after he lost his father in Season One) and Yayoi.  And she’s got three new subordinates she’s made a nice impression on, it seems.  There’s Hinakawa, a shy guy but a talented Hologram Designer.  He gets a couple of good moments to show his skills and twice at Akane’s request is he involved in two potential case cracking event.  Next is Togane, who I guess is supposed to be our Kogame substitute for the season.  He doesn’t do too much in this opening set besides emulate some of Kogame’s vibe and beat the crap out of a workout bot…just like Kogame.  The only big bit of detail added to his character is that he possesses the highest crime coefficient of anyone on record…leave it to Sybil to saddle him with Akane to really test her, if he does anything at all.

And then there’s…ugh Shimotsuki.  You might remember her from the very end of Season One, showing up for her first day just like Akane did at the very beginning of the show.  If the storys attempting to make Togane the next Kogame, it is flat out failing to make Shimotsuki the next Akane…or anything remotely positive.  In all four opening episodes, Shimotsuki questions and sasses every single decision, theory and order Akane delivers.  She belittles the Enforcers and refuses to bend the knee to any authority short of Chief Kasei.  Seriously, everytime this girl opened her mouth, by the time she closed it my response to the screen generally began with a swear…or flipping her off, same difference.  If four episodes was just a primer for how angry one character could make me, just how the hell am I going to feel about her at the end of the season (were we not so close to the end of the year I’d probably do a Top 5 on the Worst Decisions Mika Shimotsuki Does in Psycho Pass II…maybe in early 2019, we’ll see).  Akane must be the most patient person on the planet to keep her around after one case and not fire her ass right at the end of the day for being such a brat…yeah that’s it, Shimotsuki is more brat than cop.  But I should stop myself now.  I’m sure ill be complaining about her far more and far worse later on.

Ok so one new character is threatening to derail things big time.  But can the story support her weakness?  I want to say it’s too early to tell.  However, even though the mystery starts fresh, it feels like we’re heading in a very familiar direction.  That and also it looks like any chance of Stand Alone cases is going out the window.  I suppose that cant be helped given that Psycho Pass 2 is only 11 episodes long.  But back to “familiarity”.  Once again, someone is stepping up to challenge Sybil itself, this time with the cryptic question, “What Color Am I?...or WC? For short”  Once again, someone is finding way to cloud peoples Psycho Pass so they can commit crimes and not be judged for it. That’s not to say this it isn’t without it’s fare share of those super intense situations Psycho Pass is known for.  The hostage crisis two parter was tough to sit through as one Old Man Prophet wailed on people and Inspector Aoyanagi was powerless to stop it…and ended up meeting the same gruesome end as everyone else.  Doesn’t change the fact that there’s still a “been here, done that” feeling.  The only question remaining to ask is, will “Kamui” end up being Akane’s Makushima?  I cant ignore that he was able to overcome two Inspectors and one Enforcer to get the ball rolling on his master plan and let a whole medical facility of people get slaughtered to further this plan.  Cant say he isn’t ruthless, even if he thinks otherwise.

Actually the bigger question should be: is Akane up to carrying a season without the every reliable Kogame?  Akane definitely seems capable I think.  Her intuitive nature and outside the box thinking keep her from being the nagging stiff that Shimotsuki is.  Akane’s also continuing to improve her relationships with Yayoi and especially Gino.  I did like how Gino was being overly protective of Akane when he felt she was getting too clouded by theories.  If you think about it, with his father dead and Kogame MIA, Akane might be the only family Ginoza has left in the world and he’ll be damned if he loses her too.  The investigative scenes between the members of Division One were still solid too…though they did have to work to ignore Shimotsuki trying to shoot down every theory cause she didn’t come up with it first.  Still, there’s something to be said about Kogame not being around.  Suddenly the Sherlock level intellect is absent and, while the team is capable of solving crimes im sure, it feels like things would be more clear if he were around.  Heck, Akane has this cute little habit of lighting cigarettes just to feel like Kogame is close so she can focus, it’s adorable. 

While it’s not off to the same, slam bang start as Season One, Psycho Pass 2 is just getting started and has room to grow and hopefully deliver a tale as immersive and challenging as its predecessor.  Bloodier crimes, bigger guns (ASSAULT DOMINATOR!!!), bigger moral and ethical challenges…but the second you think about Mika Shimotsuki you kind of hope she isn’t going to be the sole reason this season doesn’t succeed. 

Well, I hope everyone sleeps well this Christmas Eve.  There might be a special present from the Anime Corner waiting for you in the morning.  Have a Happy Holiday everyone.

Fate/Extra: Last Encore Part 4 Episodes 11-13

Hakuno and Saber have faced many trials since they first met at the lowest level of Seraph.  Together, they have unlocked each others potential and defeated foes that have been untouchable for almost a thousand years.  Now, they have reached the end.  With Rin Tohsaka watching their backs, Hakuno and Saber seek to end a conflict that has lasted longer than it should have.  Their final opponents are the strongest yet, with wills and ideologies as distorted as their insanely powerful abilities.  Can a conglomerate made up of the fury of hundreds of dead masters and a woman of indomitable optimism and beauty bring about a new beginning for mankind?  Or is this humanitys final hour?

It has never really occurred to me, or rather it has and I might just be numb to it at this point, but the Fate franchise is really in love with the sound of its own voice.  It’s hard to define this franchise as a whole but one could say it’s basically a very, very, VERY long winded Philosophy 101 course featuring iconic figures from history beating the crap out of each other.  For every epic piece of battle, theres an even longer stretch of two people hashing out their world views and personal takes on what it means to be human.  Sometimes, this can be pretty interesting (Fate/Zero).  Other times, its frustrating as hell (Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works).  Fate/Extra: Last Encore I feel teeters towards the latter in its final three episodes (the last of which is a double sized one).  In the end, does it embrace some of the strides the show has made in its short run and push to a satisfying conclusion?

Eh…

After the irritating Episode 10, I kind of felt tired of dealing with Hakuno and his emotionless state while Saber had to pick his slack in both compelling character growth and overall entertainment factor.  I think by the end, any and all emotion I felt towards their partnership and friendship is mostly centered on Saber and her indomitable will.  Even against overwhelming opponents (of course theyre OP cause its Fate), Saber’s smile never fades and God is she just the best freaking Saber out there (sorry fans of Arturia and Mordred).  I could honestly care less about Hakuno’s final fate (pun intended).  Saber, however, it was sad to see her story come to an end, even if it was the end she wished for: going out with a bang with her master and friend by her side.  We all need a Saber Nero Claudius in our lives.  Saber even managed to outshine my favorite Fate character Rin, both in this finale and in the series as a whole…that’s not easy.

The last three episodes of Fate/Extra basically boil down to three opponents who have had millenia of pent up frustrations to work out and are at the end of their rope.  After all, they’ve all been stuck in the same computer program for over 1,000 years…theyre gonna be a little loopy.  For Twice Peaceman (God that is a horrible name) and Leo, they pretty much wrote off humanity and decided that if Seraph crashes, frak it, not worth the effort to hope anymore.  To his credit, despite his (intentional but still) dull portrayal, Hakuno manages to break the mold and say he’s still willing to give a damn and give humanity a proper restart inside the Seraph Matrix.  I couldn’t help but think about the major letdowns that were The Matrix sequels, how the story became more enamoured with spouting random philosophies for thirty minutes that made no sense rather than summing things up in five minutes and then getting back to the action.  Twice does nothing but ramble on and on and on about his lack of faith and…you know what I don’t know what else, I kind of just tuned him out after a while.  Leo’s arrogance reminded me of Gilgamesh and the second a plan of action was made and he delayed it to spout out some more reflective notions, I groaned so hard.  I was so done with this confusing as hell computer world and the lost souls within it who really needed a better hobby than just sitting around and feeling sorry for themselves.

In the end, we get a finale that is equal parts The End of Evangelion (from a visual standpoint) and the worst parts of The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (the long philosophy lectures and the action that got less impressive as time went on).  It was cool to see Saber take on her fellow Saber counterpart, Gawain, in an impressive looking sword duel.  But once we got to the Angelica Cage, the action looked epic but I wasn’t invested and neither was the show for that matter.  For every second of a  swing of the sword, there was a ten minute speech from Twice or Hakuno about either how humanity sucks or how life is worth it.  Naturally, the latter is a more preferred topic but still, even Unlimited Blade Works had Shiro giving Gilgamesh the beatdown he rightfully deserved.  I guess it’s just not paced very well and by the time Hakuno Neo resets The Matrix (and gives Rin blonde hair though I guess she’s now a Rin/Saber hybrid)…I was done.  This show was exhausting and definitely didn’t need the 45 minute finale to do what could have been done in half the time.  But you know, gotta sound important for importance sake I guess.

The concept of making a Fate/Stay Night iteration with a Sword Art Online twist was a curious approach.  In developing it further, the writers got lost in the sound of their own voice and somehow forgot where it was all going and couldn’t find their way back.  Still, there was Saber, the Animation, the deep storytelling, even some of the action.  This series did a lot of what makes any Fate/Stay Night series stand out in the first place and I did want to see where it was all going.  It just forgot to tell a story that made sense and wanted to play at being cryptic and mysterious to feel important and more intellectual.  In the process, it felt as flat and hollow as Hakuno for most of the season.  The finale suffers the most from a lack of anything truly memorable and compelling and instead just goes for more boring long winded speeches while Saber tries to salvage what she can.  In the end, Fate/Extra: Last Encore did manage to find way towards getting better in the middle.  But it peaked at Episode 9 and never gave me the ending I hoped it would.    Come on Fate, you can do better than this (right?).

Fate/Extra: Last Encore’s final score is…a 6/10.  The best Saber yet and the power of Studio Shaft’s art work does its best to keep things going.  But a forgettable protagonist and a concept never adequately explained hampers it all right til the very end.  Had Episode 9 been the conclusion, I would have rated it higher for finally getting its lead character in a good place.  The bad outweighs the good on this one…no matter how much I want Saber Nero to help me believe otherwise. 

Well that was disappointing…but better things are coming…rant filled comedy trust me.  Cause over the next couple of days you’re getting the gift of Anime Reviews galore.  In a few moments I’ll be posting my premiere review of Psycho Pass 2.  And tomorrow, Christmas Day, you’re getting Part 2 along with a special bonus review of another Anime I caught earlier this year.  Ive heard the rumors, ive heard the disdain Psycho Pass 2 has accumulated…boy…are you all in for a treat.  Keep watching dear readers and hope you all have a happy holiday.