Psycho Pass: Sinners of the System-Crime and Punishment

Inspector Mika Shimotsuki and Enforcers Nobuchika Ginoza and Yayoi Kunizuka are deployed to the northern facility of Sanctuary to return an escaped criminal.  What is built as a new kind of peaceful paradise harbors dark secrets run by a woman who perceives herself as a savior of Latent Criminals.  When the investigation unearths more than expected, Mika and Gino find themselves Public Enemy Number One against a brainwashed society that will do whatever it takes to keep its peace.

Psycho Pass: Sinners of the System is billed as a trilogy of stories set at various points of the Psycho Pass timeline.  For the next three weeks I’ll be covering all three chapters individually, starting with todays post Psycho Pass 2 and Psycho Pass: The Movie entry.  There’s one big hurdle going into this one story: the fact that it centers on my favorite Psycho Pass pain in the ass Mika Shimotsuki.  While she’s a much better character in Psycho Pass 3, this is still a while before that  Does Crime and Punishment begin pushing Mika towards that more tolerable state or is she still the same whiny brat she was in Season Two?
 

FIF#214-Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Frieren is an Elven Mage.  She has lived for hundreds of years and many pass as if through the blink of an eye.  When one of her most beloved traveling companions passes away from old age, the ageless Elf finds herself face to face with human mortality.  Determined to understand it, Frieren embarks on a new quest with a new party to find the resting place of souls so she can bid a proper farewell to the people who’s lives have impacted her the most. 

 
It’s been a while since a title was suggested to me by virtually everyone I know.  Even my sister has been urging me to give Frieren a go.  While after much meandering about it, I’ve decided to give it a First Impression Friday slot.  Aside from the title, I didn’t know much about Frieren going into it.  The most I knew were the occasional Youtube clip of a cute Elven girl getting stuck in a Mimic (a Monster masquerading as a Treasure Box).  It’s a funny bit and apparently theyre a bit of a weakness for our titular Mage.  But man oh man, this is a heavy title considering the subject matter and the impact it has on Frieren.  The first episode alone seems like a good table layout of everything to expect but is it a journey worth embarking on?
 

T5W#474-Top 5 Favorite Sailor Jupiter Moments

2024 seems to be the new 2016 when it comes to the loss of so many important figures in media.  Not only did we lose the legendary James Earl Jones but this week we also lost Japanese Voice Actress Emi Shinohara.  To many an Anime fan, she is the one and only original voice of Makoto Kino aka Sailor Jupiter.  Mako is easily in anyone Top Sailor Senshi list for more than just being a gorgeous gal with legs for days.  She’s as strong as an Amazon warrior, as kind a soul as any in the franchise and a Jane of all Trades when it comes to what she wants and can do with her life.  To honor the passing of such a beloved voice, todays Top 5 will be centered on my Top 5 Favorite Sailor Jupiter Moments.  While any moment from the franchise is fair game, rest assured pretty much everything is coming from the 90s series cause I think Mako got so little to do in Crystal/Eternal/Cosmos. 
 

The Case Study of Vanitas Part 6 Episodes 21-24

Noe and Vanitas return from Gevaudan only to find that their pasts have stealthfully caught up with them.  A sadistic child holds Dominique hostage and forces the two partners into a vicious confrontation.  Noe is determined to save Domi while Vanitas is determined to protect his secrets at any cost.  After surviving battles with powerful Curse Bearers, assassins and other worldly creatures, is it Vanitas and Noe’s shared fate to meet their ends at each others hands?

At some point during the extended stay in Gevaudan, it dawned on me that The Case Study of Vanitas still had so much left to deal with that there was no way the Series Finale would even come close to closing out everything.  Upon further research, I’ve found that, for once, the Anime and Manga are both neck in neck, so it’s not like there’s more to adapt for the time being.  With that in mind, my expectations for the finale were set to moderate.  I mean if the series couldn’t be concluded properly, at least it could go out on a satisfying high.  And sure enough, it succeeded.  It’s hard to say if this finale matched the same level of excellence of the Gevaudan arc.  Heck, in some respects I’d say it did the impossible and surpassed it.  But let’s break down Noe and Vanitas’ more emotionally wrenching outing and see how the finale cues things up for more adventures should the Anime or Manga wish to continue at some point.
 

FIF#213-Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru

In the year 2205, history is threatened by the Time Retrograde Army.  To combat this threat, Saniwa uses his ability to give life to the weapons of the past and send them on missions to combat the Time Retrograde Army and protect the timeline.  When they aren’t in life or death situations, the Touken Danshi are content to enjoy their newfound lives at the Citadel.  Whether it’s friendly squabbles or deep conversations over sake, just because history is at risk doesn’t mean there isnt time to relax with good friends and fellow defenders of history.

 
Sigh, I know I said was basically done with the world of Touken Ranbu after the disastrous watch that was Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu back in May.  But dammit, curiosity got the better of me.  It’s not like I’m banking on Hanamaru making me a Touken Ranbu convert.  At the very least though, it’s gotta be better than that beautiful waste of Ufotable’s hard work and time.  Whereas Katsugeki was more a straight up action series, Hanamaru is seemingly meant to be the exact opposite and instead focus on the Swords given Human forms chill lives back at their homebase.  And you know what?  Yeah the lives are chill but Hanamaru is kind of an answer to all of my constant complaining back in May, so much so it’s less a slice of life and more a parody of Touken Ranbu’s super serious mission.  Am I onboard for that?
 

T5W#473-Top 5 Hottest Ladies in Gundam Seed’s Cosmic Era

Netflix surprised the heck out of me this Labor Day weekend.  Not only did we get the highly anticipated streaming drop of the hit Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom, we also got complete drops of both Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny TV Series, their HD versions no less.  This was a bit of a shock but I guess now that Netflix has dibs on Gundam content outside of Crunchyroll, they figured why not go the extra mile and give fans the complete SEED experience (except for CE 73 Stargazer it seems).  It’s a chance for fans of any kind to revisit this pivotal era in Gundams history and discover or rediscover its collection of incredibly gorgeous ladies who can do the job just as well as the boys if not better.  So, todays Top 5 Wednesday is a shoutout to the Top 5 Hottest Ladies in Gundam Seed’s Cosmic Era. 

 

The Case Study of Vanitas Part 5 Episodes 17-20

Gevaudan becomes a battleground resembling Hell on Earth as Chloe’s attempts to kill Naenia unleash a power greater than any expected.  With the Grimoire of Vanitas powerless to assist them, Vanitas and Noe must use whatever they can to halt the chaos, even if it means joining forces once again with Roland and the Chasseurs. Despite the odds stacked against them, there might just be a slim chance Vanitas and Noe can do the impossible and heal Chloe, Jean Jacques and all of Gevaudan.  Will this be the case that costs them everything to solve?

There’s so much about the seven episode arc in Gevaudan that it feels like it could be a Case Study of Vanitas Movie.  There’d have to be some trimming sure (and it can be done, trust me).  But the scale of this mystery and the intensity of the character study all gets dialed up to 11 and it shows all throughout.  Last week’s Gevaudan intro set had its flaws but was otherwise kicked off very well.  In the second half, it scores the goal and while some confusing things did happen, I’ve gotta say I’m happy with the end result…even realizing that with only four episodes left there’s a lot of ground to cover on various Vanitas plot points that might not be resolved.  But that’s for next weeks finale.  For now, let’s get into how Vanitas and Noe closed the biggest case of the series.