T5W#68-Top 5 Reactions to the Code Geass Season 3 Announcement

A few days ago, the unthinkable happened. During the celebration of the 10^th Anniversary of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion…it had finally come to pass as Studio Sunrise announced the production of a THIRD SEASON of Code Geass, entitled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Resurrection.  Now, there was a lot to process when it came to hearing this.  So I figured for this weeks Top 5, I’d break down my thoughts through my five first reactions…all varying degrees of optimism and WTF?!

 

#5-Surprise/Seriously?

It was a prank.  I mean it had to be right?  Crunchyroll or wherever I saw it first was trolling me.  But then Anime News Network and others started confirming the news.  It was for real…it is going to happen.  And in truth, most of me still doesn’t believe it is actually happening.  But the articles still continue to pour in.  This is happening, whether I think it’s a good idea or not.

 

#4-Curiosity

Lelouch will be the star and the story will take place years after Zero Requiem?  I had heard theories that Lelouch may have somehow cheated death at the end of Code Geass R2 but there were sketchy theories at best.  Still, even as shocked as I was at the announcement, I did have to wonder for a moment what the story would be, who would be back and how the hell Lelouch will be involved.  I think Kallen, Suzaku and Jeremiah have all been confirmed to return for the sequel.  Will Lelouch and Suzaku be on opposite sides?  What about C.C.?  If she’s not involved does that mean Lelouch and Kallen might have a thing yet to come?  These are random questions but nonetheless they are questions that need answering.

 

#3-But…that ending

Say what you will about the overall quality of the show, but few will dispute that Code Geass has one of the very best conclusions of any Anime.  The power of the final scene with Suzaku slaying Lelouch and Nunally cradling her dying brother, finally understanding his plan is just heartbreaking but incredibly brilliant.  As I said in my closing review of the series this past summer “You felt this one, as bad as the sword piercing Lelouch.  You heard every silent scream, felt every tear shed by Kallen, Suzaku and Nunally.  Really, you couldn’t have asked for a more perfect ending than this scene.  Cap it all off with a fun little montage of peace in full effect and you can write this series off as done and well done.”  So…with that refresher, why tempt fate and try to continue what probably should be left well alone…except maybe for spin offs and compilation movies (they confirmed 3 are coming out as a prepper for the new season).

 

#2-I Must Keep An Open Mind…

No, not because Lelouch Vi Britannia commands me to with his Geass, but because in the end, it is Code Geass.  While it’s not as high as Gundam, Dragon Ball Z and Ghost in the Shell, Code Geass is still one of my all time favorite Anime series and even the bad parts (like the Chinese Federation Arc) are bearable because you know it gets good in a great way.  And if Code Geass R2 could survive that, then even if Lelouch of the Resurrection is terrible 60% of the way, there’s a chance that the remaining 40% will blow me away.  I gotta have faith that this isn’t just a desperate cash grab and that the showrunners have a well thought out continuation in mind…that being said, however…

 

#1-I Have a Bad Feeling About This

This was the very first thought.  All my optimism and speculation I spoke of above came well after this.  You really want to try and top one of the best Anime endings ever?  Much like Blade Runner 2049 coming next year, I’m approaching Code Geass Season 3 with a lot of caution.  This just doesn’t seem like a good idea and the creators will have to throw a hail mary my way in order to convince me that this is the right course for the series to take after all this time.  The last thing I think we all need is another Dragon Ball GT or Madoka Magica 3: Rebellion…a continuation/extended ending so horrific that we all wish they could just be erased from history (and in GT’s case it was erased with the arrival of Dragon Ball Super).  I know a lot of people are excited and I might get there…just not right at this second.

X Part 5 Episodes 21-24

The opening salvo has passed.  The numbers of the Dragons of Heaven and Earth have been withered down little by little.  Allegiances have changed, friends have become enemies, and hearts have been shattered along with their barriers.  Only one remains and that one belongs to Kamui.  At the end of this road to the apocalypse lies Fuma: his childhood friend who slaughtered his own sister, Kotori, along with some of the Dragons of Heaven.  It’s time for destiny to unfold and the long foreseen dream finally happens.  Kamui vs. Fuma, the final battle has begun.

Weve come to the end of X and really, nothings changed about my opinions until now.  Yes, some progress has been made and some characters have come a long way.  Others have gotten lost in the shuffle, never developed, just became plain annoying, or didn’t have anything to do except for one thing in the long run (Nataku).  In the end, going into these four episodes, it was do or die time for the series and it had a lot to deliver upon.

Fun fact: The original X manga, to this day, has no ending.  For whatever reason or another, CLAMP never finished publishing the original story, cutting it off around Vol.18 or so.  No official reason exists as to why though most rumors ive heard are that the series was getting too apocalyptic even for Manga/Anime standards (if those even exist and if so, we all know theyre pretty flexible).  So without an original finale, both the TV series and the movie had to improvise.  SPOILER ALERT: The Movie ends with everyone dying except Kamui in brutal, bloody fashion.  It’s a downer for sure and one of the chief reasons I haven’t sought to rewatch it again.  Even so, it seems to be the more logical direction for things to move in.  X has been a series that’s rarely been kind to any of it’s cast members and the series finale hammered that in for a lot of them.  So why does it seem so lackluster?

Maybe it’s because the stakes never seemed that high after more than half of the DoH survived.  Maybe it’s because I had almost zero emotional attachment to almost all the members of the DoE.  Maybe it’s because the final battle with Kamui and Fuma was the failed prototype for an even better finale in Code Geass.  Ugh, look it just wasn’t a great ending and im going to get into it right now.

Let’s do this by group shall we? Dragons of Heaven, Dragons of Earth, then Kamui:

The DoH actually came out the better from this conflict.  Arashi’s sudden betrayal fit the developments of the story and, as Sorata expected, she was only doing it to protect Sorata.  Losing Sorata in the end though was a big a blow as I expected it would be.  He’s been the heart of the team and the joker in the heat of battle.  He’s a good friend to Kamui and an awesome boyfriend for Arashi.  If it was any death that needed to set things up for the finale, it was the death of Sorata.  At least he died surrounded by the two people most important to him: Arashi and Kamui.  Losing Karen…yeah im not going to pretend to care.  I have to admit, as last minute and forced as it was, Aoki provided a good perspective on the overall conflict, forcing himself to divorce his wife to fight in this secret war.  It’s a shame he wasn’t given more to do besides be someone for Karen to fawn over.  If the series could have done without two characters…well on the side of the DoH, it would be them.

The DoE got freaking butchered in numbers. 

But first a side note.  When I watched Attack on Titan, I was convinced the only reason Eren Jaeger allowed himself to have friends is because he was saving them incase he needed them for food.  Why bring this up? BECAUSE THAT IS ALL NATAKU WAS!!!  After being introduced and then forgotten for most of the show, this enigma reappears…just so Fuma can absorb him after Sorata fries his ass with the last of his power (total F YEAH moment).  That is it, nothing else.  I think Nataku was the only DoE I wasn’t terribly attached to.  Everyone else had substance and story.  Nataku just kept lying his head on Fuma’s lap cause creepiness.  In contrast, the fates of Satsuki and Yuto were pretty sad.  The two always had a fun bond and Yuto got Satsuki to open up in a way no one else could.  Satsuki getting killed by Beast for wanting to save Yuto was an unexpected twist.  We’d known Beast was somehow jealous of Yuto’s closeness but to go so far as to kill the woman who operated him?  Cold blooded indeed.

Before we get to the finale, let’s chat about Hinoto for a second.  Her dark side manefistation story I think could have been fleshed out a bit more.  And part of me wishes she had lashed out against Kanoe and maybe even killed her to show how far she’d fallen (it’s better than Kanoe’s actual fate…which we don’t know cause she just VANISHES WITHOUT A TRACE).  Her own sacrifice did move me a little, which is saying a lot since she’s been a shoddy spokesperson for the team meant to save the world.

Ok, the final episode.  Despite an upgrade in animation, the final fight between Kamui and Fuma was  slow plodding and full of more talking than fighting.  I should’ve expected that since all Fuma has done since joining the dark side is monologue and act like he’s walking on water.  Fuma is one of the lamest villains ive ever seen.  He’s like Aizen from Bleach in that he has all of this power at his grasp, but he never uses it.  He just stands around in his Sith Lord outfit and basically poke out his tongue saying, “HAHA I AM INVINCIBLE”.  Probably my favorite moment with him was when Sorata unleashed the last of his power on Fuma and messed him up badly before he died.  So either all of the DoH have been holding back, or Fuma’s just all bark and no bite. 

And Kamui’s answer to everything?  Well if Code Geass had come along before this ending, I’d be mad.  Cause in a rush to wrap things up, we get Kamui sacrificing himself to erect the last barrier around Tokyo, which saves the world and restores Fuma to his old self.  I guess it’s a better end for him given how far Kamui’s come.  He’s not the spoiled brat from episode one.  He’s made friends and lost them just as he was starting to accept them.  Taking the peaceful sacrifice route makes sense…it just has too many shades of Suzaku as Zero stabbing Lelouch to enact the Zero Requiem.  Is it a better finale than the movie?  Well it does lack that amazing end theme song, “Forever Love”.  But overall, it just feels rushed and tacked on.  Like the showrunners forgot they don’t have a finale to work on (besides the movie) so they needed to act fast and picked an ending out of a grab bag.  It’s just not that great.

So lets look at the final scorecard:

Dragons of Heaven

Members Alive: Arashi, Yuzuriha, Subaru, Aoki

Members Deceased: Kamui, Sorata, Karen

 

Dragons of Earth

Members Alive: Fuma, Kusinagi, Kakyo
Members Deceased: Yuto, Nataku, Satsuki, Seichiro

Winner: DRAGONS OF HEAVEN (Score 4-3)

Honestly, I expected a lot more casualties.  I’m surprised all of the DoE weren’t taken out and if I were to knock off a couple more DoH, it would probably be Aoki and probably Subarau (since he’s been sitting around, lost and forgotten until the absolute last second).  It definitely wasn’t as big and disastrous as it could have been, storytelling wise.  Yeah, it didn’t go the End of Evangelion route.  But this seems like an easy of a happy ending for my taste.

So what’s the final verdict:  X does a lot of things right.  The secret war aspect is great.  The fact that everyday people could be involved is fun too.  I like a lot of the characters and love the developments that many of them go through.  But as ive said a million times, the cast is too big to care about everyone and their screentime could be doled out to others for more character development.  Fuma is a let down of a villain and neither side of the war gives a solid argument as to why to join: The DoE want to destroy the Earth (that’s a no) but the DoH follow a shady Dream Seer (also a no).  It’s not all bad but it isn’t that great either.  At least the movie has stellar animation going for it (and that end theme song).  X is a story with a lot of potential in Anime and if it should resurface again, I hope it’s second chance at life (movie trilogy or TV series) is better than this one.

5.5/10

Next week, we begin the march to the end of 2016 by visiting another war of mages and psychics and sorcerers…only better (I think).  The 2006 TV adaptation of Fate/Stay Night kicks off next Monday.  See ya then.

FIF Special Feature-Second Impression Friday Part 4

It was an age undreamed of for the Anime Corner: an age when, for some reason (fate? Destiny?), I decided to look at the first episodes of several series…all pertaining to Magical Girls.  Some were favors for friends, others were ones I had honestly been meaning to get to for a while.  So what have I done with these shows since?  Let’s find out in the “dramatic” conclusion to this month long First Impression Friday Special.

 

And if you missed any previous parts, they’re all here for ya

Part 1: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/fif-special-feature-second-impression.html

Part 2: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/welcome-back.html

Part 3: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/fif-special-feature-second-impression_18.html

 

#20-Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei

Wow did Prisma Illya surprise the heck out of me.  For a premise as silly as giving the femme power houses of Fate/Stay Night a Magical Girl Makeover, this went better than I would have expected.  Illya’s pretty likeable and her friendship with Miyu is a beautiful story.  Factor in some intense new arrivals like Kuro (Illya’s sister) and the Terminator like enforcer, Bazzet, and the action quota for Season 2, believe it or not, surpassed Season 1 by miles.  The humor amongst Illya, Miyu, Kuro, Rin, Luvia, and even Shiro was spot on and very heartfelt.  Illya’s classmates…I still don’t care about them, especially the wild card Tatsuko.  Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei did the impossible and managed to maintain my interest in this overall Cardcaptor Sakura meets Fate/Stay Night premise and even leave me close to tears a couple of times.  This could very well be the unsung hero of the Fate franchise.

 

#21-Beyond the Boundary

I didn’t continue.  Again, time is my enemy and if I don’t continue right away, I might not be able to go on.  The interest was there in Kuriyama and her quest to become a true slayer of demons.  I do miss her and owe it to her alone to finish this series.  The rest of the cast around her…not so much.  Someone please tell me Akihito gets more interesting down the line?

 

#22-Revolutionary Girl Utena

This one I chose not to pursue right now because of accessability and mindset.  Deep tales rich with hidden artistic messages and a very existential approach are just not my thing atm.  I did like what I saw though and still think the school teacher is crazy for not seeing how much Utena rocks that male uniform.  I hope Anthy gets a bit more bearable and isn’t just more of a damsel in distress.  May come back to this one but for now, it’s on the far back burner.

 

#23-Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

So turns out im actually really bad with a lot of these (incase you hadn’t noticed).  I liked the first episode of Magi but never continued past it.  Guess I’m just not in the mood for Anime Arabian Nights…even if their Aladdin is ten times more entertaining than the guy playing him on Once Upon a Time right now.

 

#24-Magical Girl Raising Project

I stuck to my word on this one.  When I discovered the full length premise, I backed off.  I’m just not in the right mindset to experience another Magical Girl bloodbath.  Seriously, when did Anime decide to go all Watchmen with how the world of Magical Girls actually should be?  I mean yeah, the Sailor Senshi died plenty of times in Sailor Moon but nothing like what happened to Madoka Kaname and what’s probably coming the way of the MGRP crew.  Another time maybe?  I’m still keeping my ear out for the friend who tuned me into this one to hear her final thoughts.

 

#25-Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

Balsa is cool, don’t get me wrong.  But the story seemed to grind to a snails pace after the third episode.  By Episode 6 (Where I think I stopped) Balsa was still recovering from her wound while everyone just sat around dolling out exposition.  I need a bit more speed in a story like this.  Which is a shame cause this show looks gorgeous as hell and being a fan of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Eden of the East, I know Kenji Kamiyama is an amazing storyteller.  Maybe I just like his scifi more than his fantasy, idk.

 

#26-Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 2wei Herz

Yep, I got through this one too.  My feelings towards the third season of this series were pretty mixed.  Unlike the second season where they moved the drama to the first half, the humor took over the first six episodes completely.  You had the typical harem Anime beach adventure, chock full of funny cheap shots at poor Shiro and Tatsuko trying to get her friends arrested for simply breathing (seriously, she’s a menace to society who is going to get them all life in prison for something stupid one day).  A lot of it was fun though, including an episode that focuses on revealing certain “interests” to friends and dealing with how they may or may not accept you.  When the action got going…it was good but my problem was the arrival of a certain character I LOATHE with a passion, AND they turned him into an equally annoying child.  Still, it wasn’t enough to turn me off from this series and you can bet that, quite possibly, a first impression of Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 3wei may not be so far away from appearing on this blog.

So…should I just say Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya 3wei is first official First Impression feature when we get back to normal next week?  Fret not, I’ve got a couple of other titles to close out 2016, besides Illya’s fun spin off series…including one that may be my boldest risk yet since Free (but we all know how that turned out). 

FIF gets back to normal next week, see ya then everyone and thanks for tuning in.

 

T5W#67-Top 5 Personal Final Fantasy Moments

It almost pains me to say this, but as far as Final Fantasy fans go, I cant rank myself in the top tier.  I’ve hardly played any of the games, many of which are time honored classics like IV, VI and VII.  Even more painful, I have to admit, is that I have never even beaten a game ive attempted (Kingdom Hearts spin off series aside).  As a gamer, that makes me very sad.  Because despite my greenness, I really do like the Final Fantasy franchise.  Their worlds are so imaginative and beyond huge and they have stories and a cast to match that majesty and ambitious undertaking.  I always look forward to hearing tales of the next game (the main entries are always pretty lengthy in wait times).  And this year, I’m hoping one of my chief Christmas gifts is the long awaited Final Fantasy XV, which is due out next week.  With this in mind, I’ve decided to dedicate this weeks Top 5 to the small moments in my life where Final Fantasy was at the forefront.  One or two may be directly related to game play.  For the most part, these are the stories, scenes and overall feels that made me continue to admire one of the greatest RPG Video Game series of all time.

 

#5-Cloud and Squall, back to back for the first time

Final Fantasy VII was the first time I had ever heard of the Final Fantasy franchise (more on that in a couple of entries).  VII coming out a couple years later definitely caught my interest.  While the games lead protagonist is a bit…not that great, it would be years before I tried Final Fantasy VIII and learned that myself.  Until then, Squall looked like such a bad ass with that costume and his Gunblade (still a weapon I want to actually exist).  Skip ahead to Kingdom Hearts, which successfully did the impossible and married Disney and Final Fantasy together.  This meant that heroes from across the FF pantheon could appear together on screen…and that meant a very cool moment where Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart, my first two heroes of the series, were back to back, swords drawn and ready to kick some ass.  I love the adventures of Sora, Donald and Goofy.  But for one moment, I wish I could have been playing this team ups battle.

 

#4-Final Fantasy VIII’s Intro

While I never finished it up, Final Fantasy VIII was my first official attempt at tackling a Final Fantasy title (and before anyone asks, a friend was nice enough to loan it to me and he didn’t have VII.  Sometimes you just have to settle).  My reaction to what I played was pretty mixed.  But my reaction to that intro scene is still one word, “whoa”.  Not only were the CG incredible for a PS1 title, but it was one of the most perfectly crafted scenes in any video game.  You’ve got the choir, the orchestra, the vivid vision of battles, beautiful women and witches going through glass windows.  In a way, it almost set the game up to be a bit of a let down cause of the turn based system in the game.  I wanted to play that opening battle between Squall and Seifer they way they were on screen, not take turns trading blows.  The rest of the game may have been a mixed bag.  But when that final piano note plays and the “Final Fantasy VIII” logo appeared, you knew this was it, you were in a real Final Fantasy game and it was time to play.

 

#3-The Spirits Within is a LETDOWN

2001 should have been a big year for Movies based on Video Games.  In an issue of Gamepro, I learned about the release of a Tomb Raider AND a Final Fantasy movie.  Tomb Raider was meh.  Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within though…wasn’t as good as I really hoped it would be.  In fact, I think I was in denial about how bad it was for years.  I mean, the animation was good and it had the Final Fantasy name so I had to cut it some slack, right?  Oh how naieve I was back then.

You can find my review for the movie here (http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2015/10/final-fantasy-spirits-within.html)  But this is my sum up, “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was built up as an epic game changer and it really could have been.  If it had tried to be more like the games than inspired it than a generic American scifi film, it could’ve been the start of something really big and revolutionary for video game adaptations.  But sadly it will just go down in history as a very pretty but less than stellar film.”

 

#2-The First Final Fantasy VII Commercial aka THE BEGINNING

I don’t know what I was doing when this little promo just popped up.  But this was the beginning, my introduction to the universe of Final Fantasy.  In one, 30 second commercial, a dramatic narrarator talked about evil empires, the lifestream, showed us glimpses of Cloud, Jenova and Sephiroth.  I had no idea what to make of it, but at that moment I hated not having a Playstation.  Thinking about it back then, I wonder if I could have understood how an RPG worked.  I also wonder if the narrarator also knew that, since “press the reset button” should only be done if you’ve saved all of your progress.  This wasn’t a simple action game, this was much deeper than that.  And I wanted to learn all about it.

 

#1-Versus becomes XV

E3 2012.  Square announced that it would be making a big announcement about their long in development title, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a PS3 exclusive spin off of Final Fantasy XIII.  The trailer played and the CG cutscenes looked as good as ever.  I wanted to play this game, always had.  But much like Kingdom Heart 3, I wondered if it was ever going to see the light of day.  The action ended, and the title came on, “Final Fantasy Versus XIII.”  Ok…but wait, there was one more surprise.  BOOM, the title exploded and reformed…into “FINAL FANTASY XV”.  My first reaction was, “WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST CALL IT THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?!!!!”  After I calmed down, I got hyped again, especially when I heard this gorgeous looking game would be available on Xbox systems (I had upped from Playstation to Xbox back in college to play Halo).  A solid release date hadn’t been set yet.  But that didn’t matter.  With “XV” slapped to the title now, production was going to go into overdrive to get done.  I can only hope it was worth 10 years of waiting.

 

X Part 4 Episodes 16-20

Kamui has made his choice and that choice has cost him his dearest friends.  Kotori is dead and Fuma now stands with the Dragons of Earth, ready to lead the charge against Kamui’s allies.  The battle for Tokyo begins and with Fuma at their side, thes Dragons of Earth seem unstoppable.  As the barriers fall and the losses begin to mount, both sides find their own fears and destinies becoming their enemies as well.  Throughout it all, Kamui swears he will being Fuma back…but is his best friend too far gone to be saved?

So, the opening shots have been fired.  Truth be told though, after the build up from last week: Making Fuma the big bad of the DoE and his killing Saiki and injuring Subaru, youd think more would have happened this week that really mattered.  Don’t get me wrong, some big things did happen.  But we had a lot of time wasted on parts of this series that need no attention, because in all honesty, they shouldn’t be here at all.

I’m, of course, talking about dedicating time to Aoki, Karen and Nataku.  The first two are Dragons of Heaven who were introduced fairly late into the series.  Nataku of the Dragons of Earth was seen sooner but hasn’t really done much besides rest his head creepily in Fuma’s lap (more on him later).  The fact that we’re supposed to care about these latecomers rather than focus on everyone else, like Kamui’s development, rubs me the wrong way.  Yeah, it sucks to see anyone file for divorce like Aoki and I understand his reasons why…it’s just too little too late for me.  And Karen…well she hasn’t done much of anything up until this week for her to matter to me much.  While we did get some good action in their episode, the forced developments solidifies my continued belief that both sides should have had five members and not seven each.  The series has done a good job on the DoH end with Kamui, Sorata, Arashi, Subaru and even Yuzuriha and making us care about them.  Aoki and Karen just don’t work for me in this regard…save for the fact that in the English Dub theyre voiced by Steve Blum and Wendee Lee, aka Spike and Faye from Cowboy Bebop, and listening to them speak romantically is always sweet.

Any screentime given to those two should have been given to Sorata and Arashi, both of whom I think have been on the backburner for too long.  We’ve watched them grow quite a bit on screen and I’ve grown to like them best amongst the cast.  Hell, we got some flashbacks to Arashi’s past and I didn’t even care that we weren’t getting some of her back story until now.  I stand by saying that getting rid of Aoki and Karen and giving Sorata and Arashi more time to grow as a couple would have been great.  But seeing them finally consummate their love was a big win for them.  Even better, for dramatic purposes, Arashi looks like she’s going to change sides.  Is this to protect Sorata in the wake of Fuma’s warning she might kill him?  Probably but I know those two will find their way back to each other. 

And, after thinking about it a bit, Yuzuriha gets points this week too.  I do have to say first that have to detract from her cause she ran into Fuma…and thought he was Kusinagi (Mr. GI Joe).  WHAT?!! She’s seen Fuma, hasn’t she?  She knows he’s the bad guy and red alerts should have gone off at will.  I also think she’s being a bit premature telling a much older guy like Kusinagi that she loves him…this isn’t a Disney movie after all.  Ok, that’s the end of the negatives.  Satsuki and Fuma both tested Yuzuriha’s resolve and, despite losing Inuki, Yuzuriha didn’t quit and was rewarded with a new Inuki puppy. I thought it might’ve been a cheat to give her that kind of reward.  But so far Yuzuriha has been the one in need of the most development since she’s been too cheerful for such a dark conflict.  She won big this week and I have to nod at that for coming out the other side of that battle the better for it all.

We also got a clip show this week…which you can pretty much skip all but the last five minutes of.  Episode 17 is basically around to see Kakyo narrarate a “So Far on X” montage before Kamui gets a nice chance to say goodbye to Kotori properly.  The poor guy has been through the ringer losing Kotori, Saiki and watching Subaru get hurt to protect him (though Subaru is ok and the first DoE, Seishiro, is dead).  So it’s rewards like this and an awesome meal with his friends that are welcome in this otherwise dark battle.  The clip show preceeding it all…not so much.  No one likes clip shows.  If you’re coming in this late, 20 minutes of recap might not get you up to speed on as much as youd like.

Lastly, one extra wrench has been thrown into the mix…Hinoto.  After weeks of crying over her visions, it looks like something more sinister has happened with her.  She leads Kamui and Sorata on a wild goose chase that ends with Sorata getting severly injured and she...smiles (?) wickedly for a moment when she sends Subaru off to fight his former friend for supposedly the last time.  What does this all mean?  Is Hinoto secretly a spy for the DoE who is playing her role better than we’d expect?  In any case, Kamui knows something is up and even baby Inuki was growling at her.  Maybe the pressure of her visions probably broke her.  Whatever the case, it’s a good direction for the character to head in and I hope it pays off.

Oh, Fuma’s technique of choice this week in his grab bag of OP: he can look like anyone he damn well pleases…as long as their your hearts desire.  He managed to trick Subaru and Yuzuriha in separate occasions and Nataku mentioned once that he looks like his Dad I think.  Ugh, Darth Fuma has hardly lived up to the hype since he arrived.  As much as I want Kamui to save his friend, maybe killing Fuma wouldn’t be so bad so long as we don’t get to see him walk around in his over powered trenchcoat of doom.  Seriously, the Imperial Anthem is playing in my head whenever I see him.  He could clearly kill everyone right now…so why doesn’t he, just to gloat?

So, the score stands now: Subaru’s lost his powers (I guess?) Seishiro is dead.  The DoE are down to 6 members and the DoH are at a shaky 7.  Did I mention there’s only four episodes left to go?  Man I did not expect this series to wait til the very end to start killing everybody off (if it goes the same route as the movie.).

The series finale of X is next week and two weeks from now, we kick off our last series of the year with Fate/Stay Night.  See ya then.

FIF Special Feature-Second Impression Friday Part 3

Friday’s here once again (man is this month going by really quick.  It’s like 2016 actually wants to get itself over with…no argument there).  If you’re just tuning in, for the month of November, every Friday will feature a look back at the first 26 titles ive reviewed on First Impression Friday.  Have I continued these shows, dropped them, still on the fence?  You’ll find the answers as the month goes on. 

If you’ve missed the previous episodes, you can check them out below:

Part 1: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/fif-special-feature-second-impression.html

Part 2: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/welcome-back.html

Onto Part 3, starting with… 

#13-RWBY Chibi

In the wake of the really good but horrifically sad finale of Vol.3, RWBY Chibi was exactly what the fandom needed.  I kept up with this one up until the end (it’s last short was posted the week before Vol.4 kicked off).  As expected, it was very hit and miss.  Some of the jokes didn’t stick and some recurring elements went on a bit too long.  But the love was always there and Zwei was just as adorable as I expected him to be in Chibi form (HEY ROOSTER TEETH, A CHIBI ZWEI PLUSHIE PLEASE!!!!).  Overall, if you love RWBY, this mini season of adorable shorts is exactly the kind of rainy day special you need in your life.

 

#14-Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040

If I can ever get a copy of this on DVD or Blu Ray, I’d love to review it in full next year.  At a friends encouragement, I finished up this series.  Overall, not bad.  I loved most of the main characters but hated Sylia, the leader, she just annoyed the hell out of me with her mood swings of plot convenience.  The first half of the series was the stronger part for me with Monsters of the Week continuing to challenge the sexy mecha armored heroines.  The second half wasn’t as good with the city take over and the constant reminder that the villains had no idea what the hell they wanted to accomplish at the end of the day.  Loved the art, loved the soundtrack.  Faults and all, this is Cyberpunk at it’s finest (hope to get to it next year…if I go to Katsu this title will be a priority).  Oh and btw, Team Priss/Lina, those two were definitely hot for one another.

 

#15-Free! Eternal Summer

Yep I finished it and here’s my full review of the second season…written in record time, like the monday after I wrote this particular FIF: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2016/06/free-eternal-summer-complete-second.html

 

#16-Voltron: Legendary Defender

As I said, the beginning of this one started slower than I expected.  Once the pilot was done, I had to keep going, not just cause it’s a bingable show on Netflix, but because of the creative force behind it.  Team Avatar and Korra made their creative presence felt in every character arc and outrageous reaction.  Characters grew…except Shiro but he was never my fav so I didn’t care.  Allura was more of a cute bad ass than ever and there was a twist with Pidge that I was actually ok with.  If I had to complain about anything (besides the short length) it was the final episode of Season One.  Not knowing that Season 2 would be a few months down the road (Sometime January 2017 actually), it felt like a gut punch that left more questions in the air than resolutions.  The final scene left you as lost as the Voltron Force…it just could have been stronger.  But I cant wait for Season Two.  Voltron is in good hands with this group.

 

#17-One Punch Man

After making such a huge impact on my Anime watching, both at home and at Otakon…I kind of just stopped after Episode 5.  It wasn’t from lack of interest but more of time and circumstance.  It was pretty stressful in the life of me and it was hard to find the energy to dedicate to watching One Punch Man.  So it’s my fault I never got this one done.  I still really enjoy what I saw, especially Saitama explaining how he apparently got his powers.  I def owe it to myself to finish this one up at some point. 

 

#18-Charlotte

I never continued this one sadly.  Again, much like One Punch Man, life was kicking my ass (still kind of is but not as bad).  I also wasn’t sure I wanted to handle another comedy starting premise that devolved into heart wrenching drama like the show Angel Beats that this studio did before Charlotte.  In an age of darkness (or just really rough times) I guess I just needed something a bit sunnier.  Which actually lead to…

 

#19-Gurren Lagaan

Oh this one got done, done AND DONE!!!  I kick myself for not watching it sooner.  This was the feel good Anime I needed in my life.  Even at it’s most dramatic, Gurren Lagann never took itself too seriously (something I think Martian Successor Nadesico might’ve done but ill look more into that when I review it in January).  The cast was fun, the animation was stellar, the action was HOLY CRAP loads of insane.  For a little bit, “Dumbass, who the hell do you think I am?” was my lifes mantra along with those cool theme songs.  Honestly, Gurren Lagann reminded me a lot of FLCL, right down to a sexy bad ass like Yoko standing in for Haruko.  It’s an Anime that showed me everything I love about Anime in a cute little omage package.  Much like Bubblegum Crisis, if I can get a copy of this show, id love to fit it into my 2017 review schedule…or just pray it doesn’t get taken off Netflix.  I am an honorary member of TEAM DAI GURREN and there’s nothing anyone can to do convince me otherwise.

A double dose of Fate/Stay Night Magical Girls, then more Magical Girls and…well I was on a bit of a MG stretch for a bit with these.  Anyway, a ton of shows down, seven more to go…all coming next week as we conclude this little break in the FIF line up…crap I need more articles to do for this…or do I?  I’ll let you know next week what I might be thinking.

See ya Monday for more X.

T5W#66-Top 5 Ghost in the Shell Teaser Trailer Moments

This was a long time coming.  Id actually dreaded this a little bit.  I mean how often are American adaptations of Anime ever good? (Pacific Rim sort of counts I guess)  Well on Sunday, the very first official trailer for Ghost in the Shell was unveiled…and it was…F***ING AWESOME!!!  I know I covered a lot when I looked over those 5 mini teasers a few weeks back.  However, this is a big deal and the trailer showed a lot more than I thought it would.  So, overlooking what ive already covered, im counting down my Top 5 favorite moments from the first trailer for Ghost in the Shell, due out next March.

 

#5-Making of a Cyborg

Much like the 1995 Oshii film, we see a couple shots of Motoko’s body being assembled.  To cheat a little bit on this one, footage was shown in a separate vid of (what I assume is all of) this entire sequence, scored to Kenji Kawaii doing a live performance of the original theme of the film (though I think it was a combination of Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence).  The movie looks like it will stand on it’s own in many respects.  However, doing an omage to such a memorable sequence in all of GitS shows that these filmmakers actually care about the source material and want to show the fans they’re not just going to crap on the fandom but embrace it. 

 

#4-The Thermoptic Suit

The confirmed a while back that the Majors favorite Predator tech would be featured in the new movie.  Of course, there’s the possible issue of flack cause…well in the 1995 Film it looks like she’s flat out naked.  For the trailer, the suit looks less suggestive but still looks fitting to what we might see in the GitS universe.  Plus, we get to see the suit, along with Motoko, in action in two different scenes.  The first, probably the films opening, where Motoko deals with a terrorist attack (cause you cant start Ghost in the Shell without Motoko diving off a building into action) and one that looks directly inspired by Motoko taking on that thug in the river way in the original movie, right down to his slow mow flip around.  “Whoa” was all I could say before I started grinning and getting really excited.

 

#3-Kuze

When doing an adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, the easiest route to go for the antagonist would be The Puppet Master from the Oshii Film.  Heck even Stand Alone Complex eventually went that route with the Solid State Society Movie.  The filmmakers have apparently opted not to have that beloved character as the films villain.  While it’s not entirely clear, apparently it might be Kuze, though whether or not this is the same one from Stand Alone Complex 2^nd Gig is anyones guess.  Still, seeing, who I assume is Kuze, pop up at the end is exciting.  I also think it’s definitely him because of what he’s saying to Motoko (again it could be someone else talking, im just spitballing).  In SAC, Motoko and Kuze were both plane crash survivors who underwent cyberization at the same time and became good friends…possibly more.  If anyone was going to jab Motoko about her origins, it would be him.  “They didn’t save your life, they stole it,” he says.  Someones clearly trying to turn The Major to the dark side…will he succeed? Also, he looks like something out of Tetsuo: The Iron Man...Google it, it's a pretty twisted flick and the make up will haunt you forever.

 

#2-The Frak is Going on Here?

I couldn’t help but think a bit of Man of Steel when I saw this.  It’s the scene where Zod lays out his plans for Earth to Superman in a dream state.  Superman finds himself standing in a field of human skulls and is pulled under, helpless to stop Zod.  I highly doubt the sewers of Newport City are filled with extras from The Walking Dead, so Im going to assume Motoko is trapped in a Barrier Maze (something she’s had to deal with several times in the Anime).  Anyone else would be scared right out of their mind.  But Motoko’s trying to get out with determination.  And she’s reaching for someone (Batou maybe?)  Either way, pray for the poor soul who put her here…unless she’s having a nightmare but who knows.  Still, an ass kicking is coming when she escapes this hell.

 

#1-BATOU!!!

It wouldn’t be Ghost in the Shell without Motoko’s bad ass, gun totting partner with the sweet eyes.  And when Batou first popped up on screen, I was definitely hooked and ready.  Im equally curious about the brief scene where we see natural eyes still embedded in Batou’s skull.  I don’t think we’ve seen much of an origin for him in any version of the Anime.  We know he was with the Section 4 Rangers and they all have matching, augmented eyes.  So maybe we’ll see the origins of Motoko’s loyal would be protector (does she really need protecting?).  He looks great, very much in line with his characters design from the 95 movie and GitS Arise.  I also like that they seem to be keeping his relationship with Motoko intact.  Even if it’s one small bit of dialogue, Batou clearly cares about Motoko and wants her to know that she can trust him.  Will there be more between them here?  Probably not but not looking for romance.  I just want to see Batou wielding his “standard issue big gun”.

Should also make a note about that AMAZING cover of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” that plays throughout the entirety of the trailer.  It’s been a long time since ive heard a trailer mixed so perfectly to such a bad ass track.

March 31, 2017 cannot get here fast enough.  And that just so happens to be the THIRD ANNIVERSARY of the Anime Corner…hmmm I wonder what I’ll do for the Special Annual Review (not sure I’ll see the movie right as it comes out, that’s a ways away.  But I know what I can do instead and I think you all can guess too).