November 1st, 2010
Myself; Yourself
Anime Relations: Myself; Yourself
Episode 1-
Doesn't look too bad, pretty good cast of characters from what I can tell, with the character designs looking quite good. Aoi's voice is a little on the annoying side, but she's pretty cool besides that. Nothing special about the setting or anything, though you'd think Sana would have at least considered if that girl was Nanaka- guess memories fade and people's appearances change over time, and she was working as a priestess or whatever at the temple and didn't come and say hi either; hopefully she doesn't get too drama-y over it, lol.
Episode 2-
Sweet, Koshimizu's the seiyuu for Nanaka- I really like her voice, along with most characters I've heard her doing, so hopefully Nanaka won't be an exception. Interested in what happened with Sana, and same with Nanaka- my guesses would be Sana had a fight with his parents over something, a good chance school-related, and Nanaka... Hm, can't really make an accurate prediction as to what, but something probably made it where she can't play the violin- a car accident or some disease come to mind, but really that's just random guesses that are commonly used. The art looked a bit sloppy in a few parts, but nothing major- just some strange looking faces and things.
Episode 3-
Poor fishy- Sana's reaction to the bloody knife makes me think maybe whatever happened to make him come back is a bit more extreme than my original guess though. Not bad so far, but nothing special either, pretty average in most regards.
Episode 4-
O.o Hinako's 10? Well, this isn't a bad slice of life series, it's pretty enjoyable to watch, though I wasn't expecting it to be such. It looks like it'll have a good amount of romance too which is what I was hoping for, and the humor in it isn't too bad. I feel like it's kind of avoiding exploring anything about Nanaka which has been a letdown so far, and she's barely had any screentime- perhaps they're just saving it for later?
Episode 5-
What the hell was that at the end, kinda freaky :s The characters in the series are pretty good, the twin girl is maybe the weakest out of the cast, I don't find her too interesting or anything, but at least she's not annoying. This episode showed us a few quick flashbacks to Nanaka's past- can't see any physical reason that a fire would prevent her from being able to play, so it's probably something emotional; my guess would be her parent(s) went into the burning building to save her but died in the process while she was rescuing her violin, and feels guilty whenever she's going to play. Aoi's voice is strange- it's fine most the time, but will hit some pitch that I find pretty annoying every once in a while; her character is still pretty likeable though.
Episode 6-
Kah, Hinako's making me feel a bit like a pedophile, lol. Quite a good episode, although it reminds me of my own crappy birthdays in the past (Honestly, I think my family went out of their way on every damn one of them to try and make my day as miserable as possible for absolutely no reason- if they had done nothing at all it would have been preferred on all of the birthdays I can remember when they were around).
Episode 7-
Nanaka has got to be the best person at seeing Sana and Hoshino(?) together- what is this, the fourth time or so? More importantly, the cat and the old lady... I'm really hoping she didn't murder it or have them bury it alive, 'cause that's just sick. Hopefully it's just trying to make the viewers think that, and it's really just stuck in the trunk of that car or something. I've felt the lady was psycho since episode 5, and can't tell if the scissors are supposed to be a clue as to what's really in the box or are going to be used later (Potentially both, if it turns out she just cut up some paper mache thing to bury, it'd be even more of a surprise when she whips out the scissors and tries stabbing someone or maybe cutting Nanaka's hair (My semi-random guess as to what she wanted them for))
Episode 8-
Hm, Aoi's pretty good at misunderstanding situations too I suppose- Sana should lock his front door though :s Sana and Nanaka's mail-box thing was pretty interesting, but I don't understand Nanaka being upset that Sana "wasn't there when [she] needed him!" thing though- it's pretty obvious, he had moved... Still, I'd worry for her sanity if I were Sana and opened that thing up, lol. Wonder if the psycho old lady is connected with Nanaka's family- think she said her granddaughter died a year ago, but she may have also been lying or I mis-heard, but perhaps Nanaka's parents were driving the car that killed her and she burnt the house down for revenge? This show messes with my mind though, it acts all fine and happy, but throws things that make me think everyone's crazy and evil, then doesn't ever make me completely lose suspicions of anyone nor confirm things about them. I like it :p Seriously though, there have been tons of subtle things people say in conversations (Sana talking to his mom on the phone a couple of times, Nanaka to her uncle, a few others), scenes they threw in there just for the purpose of making you on edge (Sana's reaction to the bloody knife, the end of episode 5 and most of 7), and that one story about burying people alive during the festival. So yeah, I no longer know if it's just them screwing with me, me over-analyzing things, or if it's really all leading up to something similar to Higurashi.
Episode 9-
Hoshino seems pretty cool, I'd have a tough time choosing between her or Nanaka (Or potentially Hinako if she were a bit older), though that might be only because just a little bit has been shown about Hoshino so far and hasn't had any spouts of psychosis, lol. Nanaka at least addresses the issues after a while, I suppose directors leave them unresolved to add more drama to the show, but I really hate it when characters just run away instead of listening or talking about something, which has been mostly avoided so far, though Nanaka made a couple attempts at it. I don't really think the uncle was the one who burnt Nanaka's house, he seemed to be pretty logical about things for the most part, and becoming head priest at some old age really shouldn't be enough of a temptation to try and murder your own brother's family, especially if he has no one to leave the shrine to afterward. The twin girl seems to have some weird hatred of her stepmother that I've seen no justification for so far- her father slapping her a few episodes back is a bit much, but there was no reason to insult his wife so damn much, especially at that time (She wasn't involved with the issue her father was upset about at all and was just cooking some food I think). They threw in another slice of life-ish episode (for the most part) to try and throw me off more when Sana starts thinking everyone's out to kill him and starts knifing some people, but I know what's coming! Oh, Aoi's voice was extremely annoying this episode, lol.
Episode 10-
Psycho lady... Blah, so evil! Seriously, what the hell is wrong with her!? More of Sana freaking out over bloody knives though (And that was extremely dark blood), so I'm sure seeing someone get stabbed would have been even more of a shock. Luckily I don't think anyone died, but I was worried for a bit Suusuke was gonna go murder his dad or something too, though the dude needs to stop acting so irrationally toward his children. It'd be interesting to see everyone spiral into psychosis, though at the same time I don't really want it to happen- I am looking forward to seeing more about Sana's past and a few other things though, and it has to be revealing that pretty soon. No idea who's trying to screw with the twins, and the school staff are pretty damn retarded about all of it too.
Episode 11-
Wasn't expecting that with Hoshino- like at all, to the point where it makes me feel like they just pulled it out of nowhere. I just don't see how any of the points Hoshino said would lead her to wanting to do anything close to that, but whatever. The twins ran away, which would probably be the best for them considering their dad more or less abandoned logic and was just abusing them over idiotic crap (Honestly, that letter was retarded...).
Episode 12-
Only one episode left? Seems like it's going to be focusing on Nanaka's past, but I don't see how they'll fit Sana's in also, which would be a semi-major flaw if they don't manage it- perhaps they'll pull both off though. All that happened this episode was regaining the memories and Sana and Nanaka spending some time together at the river, it was fairly enjoyable.
Episode 13 (Final)-
A satisfying ending, I wasn't sure if they'd manage to pull one off, but they did so quite well. It was very good overall, I definitely enjoyed it a lot, especially the final episode which is one of the better finales I've seen in a decent while. The series was a lot darker than I initially thought it was going to be which came as a surprise, though after the second episode I was expecting a bit of it- not anything on the level with the psycho old lady though, lol.
Doesn't look too bad, pretty good cast of characters from what I can tell, with the character designs looking quite good. Aoi's voice is a little on the annoying side, but she's pretty cool besides that. Nothing special about the setting or anything, though you'd think Sana would have at least considered if that girl was Nanaka- guess memories fade and people's appearances change over time, and she was working as a priestess or whatever at the temple and didn't come and say hi either; hopefully she doesn't get too drama-y over it, lol.
Episode 2-
Sweet, Koshimizu's the seiyuu for Nanaka- I really like her voice, along with most characters I've heard her doing, so hopefully Nanaka won't be an exception. Interested in what happened with Sana, and same with Nanaka- my guesses would be Sana had a fight with his parents over something, a good chance school-related, and Nanaka... Hm, can't really make an accurate prediction as to what, but something probably made it where she can't play the violin- a car accident or some disease come to mind, but really that's just random guesses that are commonly used. The art looked a bit sloppy in a few parts, but nothing major- just some strange looking faces and things.
Episode 3-
Poor fishy- Sana's reaction to the bloody knife makes me think maybe whatever happened to make him come back is a bit more extreme than my original guess though. Not bad so far, but nothing special either, pretty average in most regards.
Episode 4-
O.o Hinako's 10? Well, this isn't a bad slice of life series, it's pretty enjoyable to watch, though I wasn't expecting it to be such. It looks like it'll have a good amount of romance too which is what I was hoping for, and the humor in it isn't too bad. I feel like it's kind of avoiding exploring anything about Nanaka which has been a letdown so far, and she's barely had any screentime- perhaps they're just saving it for later?
Episode 5-
What the hell was that at the end, kinda freaky :s The characters in the series are pretty good, the twin girl is maybe the weakest out of the cast, I don't find her too interesting or anything, but at least she's not annoying. This episode showed us a few quick flashbacks to Nanaka's past- can't see any physical reason that a fire would prevent her from being able to play, so it's probably something emotional; my guess would be her parent(s) went into the burning building to save her but died in the process while she was rescuing her violin, and feels guilty whenever she's going to play. Aoi's voice is strange- it's fine most the time, but will hit some pitch that I find pretty annoying every once in a while; her character is still pretty likeable though.
Episode 6-
Kah, Hinako's making me feel a bit like a pedophile, lol. Quite a good episode, although it reminds me of my own crappy birthdays in the past (Honestly, I think my family went out of their way on every damn one of them to try and make my day as miserable as possible for absolutely no reason- if they had done nothing at all it would have been preferred on all of the birthdays I can remember when they were around).
Episode 7-
Nanaka has got to be the best person at seeing Sana and Hoshino(?) together- what is this, the fourth time or so? More importantly, the cat and the old lady... I'm really hoping she didn't murder it or have them bury it alive, 'cause that's just sick. Hopefully it's just trying to make the viewers think that, and it's really just stuck in the trunk of that car or something. I've felt the lady was psycho since episode 5, and can't tell if the scissors are supposed to be a clue as to what's really in the box or are going to be used later (Potentially both, if it turns out she just cut up some paper mache thing to bury, it'd be even more of a surprise when she whips out the scissors and tries stabbing someone or maybe cutting Nanaka's hair (My semi-random guess as to what she wanted them for))
Episode 8-
Hm, Aoi's pretty good at misunderstanding situations too I suppose- Sana should lock his front door though :s Sana and Nanaka's mail-box thing was pretty interesting, but I don't understand Nanaka being upset that Sana "wasn't there when [she] needed him!" thing though- it's pretty obvious, he had moved... Still, I'd worry for her sanity if I were Sana and opened that thing up, lol. Wonder if the psycho old lady is connected with Nanaka's family- think she said her granddaughter died a year ago, but she may have also been lying or I mis-heard, but perhaps Nanaka's parents were driving the car that killed her and she burnt the house down for revenge? This show messes with my mind though, it acts all fine and happy, but throws things that make me think everyone's crazy and evil, then doesn't ever make me completely lose suspicions of anyone nor confirm things about them. I like it :p Seriously though, there have been tons of subtle things people say in conversations (Sana talking to his mom on the phone a couple of times, Nanaka to her uncle, a few others), scenes they threw in there just for the purpose of making you on edge (Sana's reaction to the bloody knife, the end of episode 5 and most of 7), and that one story about burying people alive during the festival. So yeah, I no longer know if it's just them screwing with me, me over-analyzing things, or if it's really all leading up to something similar to Higurashi.
Episode 9-
Hoshino seems pretty cool, I'd have a tough time choosing between her or Nanaka (Or potentially Hinako if she were a bit older), though that might be only because just a little bit has been shown about Hoshino so far and hasn't had any spouts of psychosis, lol. Nanaka at least addresses the issues after a while, I suppose directors leave them unresolved to add more drama to the show, but I really hate it when characters just run away instead of listening or talking about something, which has been mostly avoided so far, though Nanaka made a couple attempts at it. I don't really think the uncle was the one who burnt Nanaka's house, he seemed to be pretty logical about things for the most part, and becoming head priest at some old age really shouldn't be enough of a temptation to try and murder your own brother's family, especially if he has no one to leave the shrine to afterward. The twin girl seems to have some weird hatred of her stepmother that I've seen no justification for so far- her father slapping her a few episodes back is a bit much, but there was no reason to insult his wife so damn much, especially at that time (She wasn't involved with the issue her father was upset about at all and was just cooking some food I think). They threw in another slice of life-ish episode (for the most part) to try and throw me off more when Sana starts thinking everyone's out to kill him and starts knifing some people, but I know what's coming! Oh, Aoi's voice was extremely annoying this episode, lol.
Episode 10-
Psycho lady... Blah, so evil! Seriously, what the hell is wrong with her!? More of Sana freaking out over bloody knives though (And that was extremely dark blood), so I'm sure seeing someone get stabbed would have been even more of a shock. Luckily I don't think anyone died, but I was worried for a bit Suusuke was gonna go murder his dad or something too, though the dude needs to stop acting so irrationally toward his children. It'd be interesting to see everyone spiral into psychosis, though at the same time I don't really want it to happen- I am looking forward to seeing more about Sana's past and a few other things though, and it has to be revealing that pretty soon. No idea who's trying to screw with the twins, and the school staff are pretty damn retarded about all of it too.
Episode 11-
Wasn't expecting that with Hoshino- like at all, to the point where it makes me feel like they just pulled it out of nowhere. I just don't see how any of the points Hoshino said would lead her to wanting to do anything close to that, but whatever. The twins ran away, which would probably be the best for them considering their dad more or less abandoned logic and was just abusing them over idiotic crap (Honestly, that letter was retarded...).
Episode 12-
Only one episode left? Seems like it's going to be focusing on Nanaka's past, but I don't see how they'll fit Sana's in also, which would be a semi-major flaw if they don't manage it- perhaps they'll pull both off though. All that happened this episode was regaining the memories and Sana and Nanaka spending some time together at the river, it was fairly enjoyable.
Episode 13 (Final)-
A satisfying ending, I wasn't sure if they'd manage to pull one off, but they did so quite well. It was very good overall, I definitely enjoyed it a lot, especially the final episode which is one of the better finales I've seen in a decent while. The series was a lot darker than I initially thought it was going to be which came as a surprise, though after the second episode I was expecting a bit of it- not anything on the level with the psycho old lady though, lol.
Posted by Blayze | Nov 1, 2010 11:26 PM | 0 comments
October 8th, 2010
Claymore
Anime Relations: Claymore
Claymore (Tons of spoilers ahead, so don't read until you've at least seen the episode)
Episode 1-
Pretty interesting so far, looks like it'll be pretty good. The animation is pretty high quality, and the medieval type of setting is quite nice. I look forward to learning more about their world and what causes the Yoma to come about, and it also sets itself up quite well to be a good episodic series if they decide to take that direction too- though I'm hoping there aren't too many like that, it can get a bit boring fairly easily. Reminds me a bit of Shakugan no Shana so far, though Clare's face looks a bit strange so I don't find her too attractive; some camera angles she looks a bit better though.
Episode 2-
Strangely much slower-paced than I was expecting, but I don't mind. It makes me think of Mushi-shi now a bit, but only just a bit; similar feel in the artwork and a half-tranquil, half-creepy feel to the world, and still am getting a lot of Shakugan no Shana vibes from it too- the main difference being the setting though, medieval instead of modern-day. Not too much happened in this episode, or more as soon as she was given the black card nothing unexpected occurred, and that happened fairly early on. From the opening and the importance that the other Claymore should have had to Clare, I'm assuming things aren't all as they seem though. I have a feeling this isn't resolved yet, and we'll be seeing her again some time soon- though it's just a hunch. Raki's voice is a little bit annoying, though not horrible- Clare's is quite nice though, and I recognized the seiyuu quite quickly since she's one of my favorites. Actually, I didn't realize Hirose from H2O was voiced by Koshimizu, but I blame that on the character being male and throwing me off :s
Episode 3-
Really liked this one- and more comparisons to other things! The artwork, religion being prejudiced towards the Claymores, medieval type of setting and clothes, and traveling between cities reminds me of Spice and Wolf, and this town in particular along the need for stealth made me think of Assassin's Creed and a bit of Oblivion. Raki is pretty funny at times, and seems pretty quick-witted for when he convinced the guards to move on, although biting the guy's arm was probably not the best move to make, just knocking his arm away or something would have sufficed and have had less of a chance of him retaliating, but it worked out. But yeah, I quite like how this series is turning out, and this story arc in particular. Also, after watching the intro again, I'm not sure if the Claymore from the previous episode is even in it, though it's hard to tell them apart- if she's not there then she's probably gonna stay dead, which would make the most sense after all :p
Episode 4-
Ahh, don't throw swords like that! Raki's hands should have cut open horribly, lol. I liked where the Yoma was hiding and how it gave a hint in the previous episode to it, though it may have made it a bit too obvious prior revealing it in this one, but still, it always makes things more entertaining when it's done well. Wasn't expecting her to have any problems with turning into a Yoma so early, and it didn't seem like she exerted herself any more than in other fights, and she intentionally got similar wounds in another fight with a Yoma and was fine a few moments afterward, and here had two days to rest- I guess it could be blamed on the pills she was using to mask her presence or maybe this was closer to her vital spot. But yeah, another good episode, looking forward to the next 22- hoping for some breaking away from the Claymore organization because of Raki turning into a Yoma, assuming that was a valid reason for kicking him out of the village, and seeing what follows from there. Probably won't be fore a while though, if it even happens, lol.
Episode 5-
So, this is in the past? I thought her eyes were a different color when she was taking those pills, but I could be mistaken. It'd suck to be a Yoma if it's so easy for Claymores to find and kill them, I think the best method for eating people would be to pick 'em off slowly so no one gets suspicious, and not leave the corpses behind- just take them into the woods and eat or something. Why those bandits would attack a woman wielding a giant ass sword with one hand I have no idea, but it should come as no surprise that your hand's going to get lopped off if you try and grab someone traveling with them from behind. I had originally assumed Clare was just really scarred or something when they had mentioned her body being repulsive, but Teresa is supposed to have never had trouble in a battle, so I suppose that there's some type of horrid Yoma disfiguration going on with their bodies that it has yet to show. Well, let's see what the bandit has planned for revenge.
Episode 6-
Heh, Teresa's pretty cool, though seems a bit over-powered; should be a bit more difficult than that to defeat so many other Claymores with their weapons already drawn and ready to fight, especially so quickly. The seiyuu who does Jiraiya and a few other roles (Ootsuka Houchuu) has an easily recognizable voice though- pretty good sounding too. Shikabane Hime and InuYasha would be more things with connections that came to mind- Teresa and Clare reminded me of Sesshomaru and Rin, the bandits made me recall a few of the scenes in InuYasha dealing with them (Particularly the one where he loses control of himself and goes full-demon and slaughters a bunch of 'em) and the half-demon half-human thing going on is another obvious factor, but then the jumping in this episode along with that snake-sword were more subtle things that made me think of it. Shakabane Hime is simply because they're all female characters who are fighting against demons, and bound to eventually become one themselves if they continue their battles. Ha, I just realized the going against the organization came a bit earlier than expected, but not with the character I had in mind :p Teresa seems to be the other character I had thought was the friend from episode 2 in the intro though, although I'm still not sure if this is actually in the past or not. I'd be confused as why Clare's working for the organization, but it'd explain why she brought Raki with her since her own situation when she was younger was very similar, if it is indeed not in the present. Back to the episode at hand- I liked the Bandit leader thinking he had half a chance and dying before he got to do anything :s Guess that's enough for this one actually, getting a bit lengthy.
Episode 7-
I really like the animation, it's quite impressive. The battles sometimes seem strangely slow-paced though, not sure if it's just me being weird or what, guess it seems a bit like they don't move around as much as they should be. Nothing too unexpected happened this episode though, just introduced the Claymores that are supposed to be taking out Teresa. Looking forward to seeing Teresa's full power and the outcome of this fight though.
Episode 8-
Damn, that sucks. I definitely wouldn't have let up until she was dead after she had went past her limit, no point in sparing her if she's bound to turn into an ultra-Yoma in no time at all. Didn't even get to see anything close to the full power of Teresa though =( Oh well, her fault for not paying attention with a psycho in front of her I guess. Don't really know why Clare was spared, but I have a good idea of what her goal is now :p Wonder if she'll push herself past her limit in the fight too, and her and Raki will both be Yoma together, going around eating up towns with no opposition- fun times =) Lol, they'll probably find some way of returning to human or somehow not have to eat people if they do that, but really Clare doesn't stand a chance against her from what I've seen. Pretty interesting back-story I'd say, I quite liked it.
Episode 9-
So I wasn't going crazy thinking Clare seemed extremely weak, lol. Can't tell if she's just acting that way or not, I mean, she has accomplished her tasks without any serious injuries (She just heals 'em right up afterward, lol) or letting anyone die, plus she defeated 6 Yoma at once off-screen with no problems as far as I can tell. If she's actually really strong, she's quite good at disguising it :s But, her position as the weakest does make the fights more interesting, if it were anywhere near Teresa's level then they'd all be over in .01 seconds. Anyways, male Awakened Yoma, probably has something to do with Priscilla, though not sure what exactly. But really, there's no way she can be *that* weak, she's struggled so much with single Yomas and things when others have no problem with swarms of them, lol.
Episode 10-
Hm, doesn't seem like it'd be a surprise to run into males if all of them that they had tried to make into Claymores turned into Awakened Beings, but maybe it's been a long time and most of them have died off or something. Was Clare really still suppressing herself when in the fight with the Yoma in the Cathedral? Seems very unlikely, considering she went past her limit and wanted to be killed... I dunno, doesn't quite make sense, but it did serve as a good way to explain certain aspects of the world they're in, were it not for it conflicting with the later parts of the story. Still, this episode was pretty good, screwing with the Awakened Being's mind is always cool, lol. Slowly walking up to him with barely moving to dodge his attacks all ultra-confidently... Yeah, that'd worry me :s Probably would have tried to make a net-like thing and close in all around her at once were I him, but I guess he just underestimated her. I was very worried that limbs couldn't regenerate, and thought they were psychotic for swinging their massive swords at one another during practice fights, but I guess if there's a little accident like some fingers going flying they can just regrow them, and seem able to stop their swords pretty quickly if they hit into anywhere fairly major.
Episode 11-
Eh, seemed a little dragged out, all the things they stated could have fit into half the time or so. Half-awakened though, eh? Guess this was the first battle it's shown since the Cathedral, and she did pretty well in it, but these people seem like nothing compared to the ones from Clare's back-story. Priscilla fully awakened though should be virtually indestructible, all things considered. Still want to know how Yoma and Claymores come about, I have an idea but it doesn't explain why they threw Raki out, nor would it really have an origin (Some type of blood-transfusion or something, could be just eating it, though there has to be some way to make it where it doesn't fully transform them- guess it could have originated as some mutant strain of a bacteria or something that got into someone too, so the origin is plausible maybe). Hm, guess they could just have been extra cautious since he was living with the Yoma, it killed people around him, and was killed in front of him, and they probably aren't fully aware of how Yoma come to be either, so maybe it's just that. It's been a while since then though and he hasn't shown any signs of transforming into anything, but I think he'll end up becoming a male Claymore and transform into an Awakened Being who keeps their sanity at least, and quite possibly end up sacrificing himself to take out Priscilla with Clare's help.
Episode 12-
Her legs! Jeeze, that was horrible, lol. I'm surprised Ophelia is still in the organization if she's ever done anything close to that. Raki and Clare's kiss seemed a bit early, still haven't seen much with the two of them being together, considering 4 episodes were about Clare's past, the previous few episodes he was waiting in town, so only the first 4 episodes had much interaction between the two. Guess it got him to go, and they have spent a good amount of time together off-screen. Ophelia's really psychotic though, probably won't see the end of her quite yet, but I really have no idea how they're going to handle the rest of this arc.
Episode 13-
Irene's pretty cool, I like her quite a bit, especially her voice. Ophelia went and awakened already, wasn't expecting that so soon. Clare's only a quarter Yoma though, which explains a bit why she was so weak before I suppose; I'm not sure if it makes sense really, but it depends on how the Yomafying process works. And man, losing a limb has got to be one of the worst things that can possibly happen. Seriously, that'd blow so badly- she'll probably find a way to regenerate her arm back though, or maybe steal Irene's when she dies in a bit (Haha, I'm actually hoping that doesn't occur, but I have a feeling it'll happen in just a second). Her plan to escape was a bit too obvious in my opinion, pretty much anyone would have made sure she was dead afterward unless her head was completely decapitated- but maybe that's just me, lol. The quarter demon thing when the normal is to be half, not to mention the missing arm similar to Sesshomaru's, makes me wonder how many more parallels to InuYasha there will be though :s I don't really mind, it's different enough to where the connections could be overlooked by the inattentive, and the few fairly major elements it's shared so far have helped the story so it's not a problem.
Episode 14-
Well, not sure if Irene is still alive, though I was mistaken about when the arm transferring would occur- it was before she'd even began dying rather than after, lol. I'm surprised Ophelia kept most of her sanity after awakening, though she was pretty psychotic beforehand, lol. Still, just kind of letting Clare kill her was a bit much, but I guess it's because of her hatred for Awakened Beings. The majority of the battle wasn't too exciting, just kind of hacked her way through her until she got to the other end, lol. Still, there have been some pretty interesting fights though, just not all of them.
Episode 15-
Not sure why she's hiding from the organization at the moment, but I suppose having Ophelia nearly murder her made her a bit wary of them :s Still, she came out of hiding at the first chance she had, so she must not be too worried about it. Enslaving Awakened Beings does seem potentially useful, but if one gets created that's too strong for you and decides to kill you, you're kinda screwed, so it's a pretty big risk- maybe the girl has some way of handling them though. I'm assuming the girl has some way to control a large part of the mountain itself or something similar, seeing as she managed to capture the whole group with what looks like ease. A pretty good trap if she makes it seem like she's just somewhere inside, then closes them in after they enter.
Episode 16-
Galatea's pretty cool too, lol. Riful (I think? The Awakened girl) seems like she'll be pretty strong, I don't think the Claymores gathered will be able to kill her, though she'll probably tell them where Priscilla is. She's kinda mean to Ruff, but I don't think she'll sit back and watch him die, he is at least somewhat useful I'm sure. Clare should probably be careful with pushing herself over her limits too often, though I guess being only one quarter Yoma makes it easier to come back, and given the circumstances of the first time she did it this episode it was definitely reasonable to do, and gives her a little practice on not awakening.
Episode 17-
Nothing really unexpected happened in the battle, although Jeane's twisty-arm thing doesn't seem like it'd work, lol. But, it seems like way too many Claymores die for their ranks to not change constantly, except maybe the top 10 or so, which makes Clare remaining 47 even more difficult, lol. The frost-lands look like they could be interesting, and I quite like that the series' world seems quite large and realistic (Well, within the contexts of the fictional elements it's presented, of course), with a wide variety of locations, though so far it's only shown cities that seem to be all part of the same country, except maybe the religious one. Raki seems like he could have easily not been in the show though and nothing would have been lost, and I think the villagers were just on crack when they said he might turn into a Yoma, lol. He's not a horrible character or anything, I liked when he was fighting Ophelia, it's just that he's almost completely unnecessary; maybe he'll end up being an important element later on though (Like say, becoming a male Claymore). Jeane seems like she'd make a much better companion if they stick together.
Episode 18-
24 Claymores sent, eh? Now I know they have to have tons in reserve or something, seeing as over half their forces are in a single location where many will likely die, and with little chance of taking out more than a few of the Awakened Beings (And the village doesn't seem like they even requested them, so probably no pay for them doing this, though it seems like there's supposed to be some other purpose behind it aside from that). Really, the ones who won't be of any help are basically having their lives thrown away for no reason- it would have been better to have them stay behind and fight normal Yoma and collect money (Which brings me to my next question- what the hell are they spending it on? If even the lowest ranked Claymore can bring in a massive sack of gold every few days, they've got to be ridiculously rich by now, especially since the warriors themselves use almost none of it).
Episode 19-
Guess there were only 3 Awakened Beings, so no one dying isn't too unexpected, but only one person being down for a while is pushing it a bit. The guy near the end seems pretty cool, wonder if he'll end up not being the Awakened male- it seems too blatant that he's the one :s So many Claymores are introduced now though, it can get a bit hard to tell some of them apart, given that their appearances are fairly similar. The battles weren't too bad here, except it seems like the Yoma's skin switches from impossible to cut through to normal randomly, lol.
Episode 20-
Not much happened this episode, a bit of the motivations for a couple of people, Raki hanging out with the Dweller of the Deep, and 27 Awakened Beings about to attack the town- I should think that'd be enough to take out everyone more or less :s Not too many episodes left though, might be difficult to wrap up everything nicely.
Episode 21-
Was hoping Raki would say, 'Mind if I join you?' to Priscilla, lol. Rigardo seems damned strong, but more people should have attacked at once rather than letting him pick everyone off one at a time. They handled most the other ones that were attacking pretty well, but I'm gonna have to say, this isn't looking like it's going to end in a victory, lol.
Episode 22-
I liked Clare awakening at the end, though the next couple of episodes seem a bit predictable, but maybe there will be some surprises. Not too much to this episode besides that though- they just kept flinging themselves at Rigardo over and over, and Raki went on ahead of Priscella and the other guy.
Episode 23-
Good battle, seems Clare didn't really fully awaken, but is just pushing herself to the brink of her limit. However, I have to ask... Why isn't anyone else trying anything similar? Really, if I were about to die I'd bring myself to the brink of awakening and do whatever it took to fight, and definitely not sit around while the supposedly weakest member of the group (They probably need to update the rankings a bit more often, lol) goes kamikaze on the enemy.
Episode 24-
I liked the music near the end, and Awakened Beings confuse me... They seem to be just as they were when they were humans for the most part, yet even if they are resolute about dying just a few moments before they transform, afterward they'll go around eating everyone happily. Raki annoyed me here a bit, he was just hiding behind the wall instead of even trying to call out to Clare while she was transforming, and the chances of him becoming a Yoma or Claymore are now virtually nonexistent, lol. Priscella is especially strange, she seem to have lost her sanity after the battle with Teresa and never regained it except when she had no memories. However, this was another episode not a lot happened, guess it was meant to build up some suspense or whatever for the final battle, but it seems like there have been quite a few like this so far.
Episode 25-
Clare looked pretty cool at the end, though the battle wasn't terribly exciting, fairly decent still I suppose. Looks like it's not going to end completely resolved though, I'm sure the Dweller of the Deep would intervene if Priscilla was about to die (Hm, think I said this before about that other one, lol), might even be going to go with a 'Should I save Raki and let Priscilla get away?' type of thing and she decides she'll continue living with Raki and have her revenge later, the choice most likely popping up just as she's about to go completely awakened (If she didn't just do that, lol), getting her mind back- or at something along the lines of that.
Episode 26 (Final)-
Hm, never liked that whole, 'If you kill them, you'll be just like them!' sort of thing- even if you don't hate the person, by ending their life you prevent untold amounts of other people being killed by them in cases such as this. Hell, to not murder in such a circumstance could be seen as quite evil in a way, lol. Honestly, you can try and get her to revert to being human after she's finished killing one of the most powerful Awakened Beings around, not the moment before... I dunno, it was an okay end though, left it open for another season with still some closure, but even in this episode alone a few things annoyed me. It would have been more satisfying if Easley (Dweller of the Deep) intervened from Priscilla dying rather than Raki, and Jeane dying didn't seem necessary at all (Clare seemed nearly in complete control of herself in all honesty). It never explained why the organization sent so many inexperienced people on a suicide mission and what not, and a few other complaints, but it was pretty good all in all.
Episode 1-
Pretty interesting so far, looks like it'll be pretty good. The animation is pretty high quality, and the medieval type of setting is quite nice. I look forward to learning more about their world and what causes the Yoma to come about, and it also sets itself up quite well to be a good episodic series if they decide to take that direction too- though I'm hoping there aren't too many like that, it can get a bit boring fairly easily. Reminds me a bit of Shakugan no Shana so far, though Clare's face looks a bit strange so I don't find her too attractive; some camera angles she looks a bit better though.
Episode 2-
Strangely much slower-paced than I was expecting, but I don't mind. It makes me think of Mushi-shi now a bit, but only just a bit; similar feel in the artwork and a half-tranquil, half-creepy feel to the world, and still am getting a lot of Shakugan no Shana vibes from it too- the main difference being the setting though, medieval instead of modern-day. Not too much happened in this episode, or more as soon as she was given the black card nothing unexpected occurred, and that happened fairly early on. From the opening and the importance that the other Claymore should have had to Clare, I'm assuming things aren't all as they seem though. I have a feeling this isn't resolved yet, and we'll be seeing her again some time soon- though it's just a hunch. Raki's voice is a little bit annoying, though not horrible- Clare's is quite nice though, and I recognized the seiyuu quite quickly since she's one of my favorites. Actually, I didn't realize Hirose from H2O was voiced by Koshimizu, but I blame that on the character being male and throwing me off :s
Episode 3-
Really liked this one- and more comparisons to other things! The artwork, religion being prejudiced towards the Claymores, medieval type of setting and clothes, and traveling between cities reminds me of Spice and Wolf, and this town in particular along the need for stealth made me think of Assassin's Creed and a bit of Oblivion. Raki is pretty funny at times, and seems pretty quick-witted for when he convinced the guards to move on, although biting the guy's arm was probably not the best move to make, just knocking his arm away or something would have sufficed and have had less of a chance of him retaliating, but it worked out. But yeah, I quite like how this series is turning out, and this story arc in particular. Also, after watching the intro again, I'm not sure if the Claymore from the previous episode is even in it, though it's hard to tell them apart- if she's not there then she's probably gonna stay dead, which would make the most sense after all :p
Episode 4-
Ahh, don't throw swords like that! Raki's hands should have cut open horribly, lol. I liked where the Yoma was hiding and how it gave a hint in the previous episode to it, though it may have made it a bit too obvious prior revealing it in this one, but still, it always makes things more entertaining when it's done well. Wasn't expecting her to have any problems with turning into a Yoma so early, and it didn't seem like she exerted herself any more than in other fights, and she intentionally got similar wounds in another fight with a Yoma and was fine a few moments afterward, and here had two days to rest- I guess it could be blamed on the pills she was using to mask her presence or maybe this was closer to her vital spot. But yeah, another good episode, looking forward to the next 22- hoping for some breaking away from the Claymore organization because of Raki turning into a Yoma, assuming that was a valid reason for kicking him out of the village, and seeing what follows from there. Probably won't be fore a while though, if it even happens, lol.
Episode 5-
So, this is in the past? I thought her eyes were a different color when she was taking those pills, but I could be mistaken. It'd suck to be a Yoma if it's so easy for Claymores to find and kill them, I think the best method for eating people would be to pick 'em off slowly so no one gets suspicious, and not leave the corpses behind- just take them into the woods and eat or something. Why those bandits would attack a woman wielding a giant ass sword with one hand I have no idea, but it should come as no surprise that your hand's going to get lopped off if you try and grab someone traveling with them from behind. I had originally assumed Clare was just really scarred or something when they had mentioned her body being repulsive, but Teresa is supposed to have never had trouble in a battle, so I suppose that there's some type of horrid Yoma disfiguration going on with their bodies that it has yet to show. Well, let's see what the bandit has planned for revenge.
Episode 6-
Heh, Teresa's pretty cool, though seems a bit over-powered; should be a bit more difficult than that to defeat so many other Claymores with their weapons already drawn and ready to fight, especially so quickly. The seiyuu who does Jiraiya and a few other roles (Ootsuka Houchuu) has an easily recognizable voice though- pretty good sounding too. Shikabane Hime and InuYasha would be more things with connections that came to mind- Teresa and Clare reminded me of Sesshomaru and Rin, the bandits made me recall a few of the scenes in InuYasha dealing with them (Particularly the one where he loses control of himself and goes full-demon and slaughters a bunch of 'em) and the half-demon half-human thing going on is another obvious factor, but then the jumping in this episode along with that snake-sword were more subtle things that made me think of it. Shakabane Hime is simply because they're all female characters who are fighting against demons, and bound to eventually become one themselves if they continue their battles. Ha, I just realized the going against the organization came a bit earlier than expected, but not with the character I had in mind :p Teresa seems to be the other character I had thought was the friend from episode 2 in the intro though, although I'm still not sure if this is actually in the past or not. I'd be confused as why Clare's working for the organization, but it'd explain why she brought Raki with her since her own situation when she was younger was very similar, if it is indeed not in the present. Back to the episode at hand- I liked the Bandit leader thinking he had half a chance and dying before he got to do anything :s Guess that's enough for this one actually, getting a bit lengthy.
Episode 7-
I really like the animation, it's quite impressive. The battles sometimes seem strangely slow-paced though, not sure if it's just me being weird or what, guess it seems a bit like they don't move around as much as they should be. Nothing too unexpected happened this episode though, just introduced the Claymores that are supposed to be taking out Teresa. Looking forward to seeing Teresa's full power and the outcome of this fight though.
Episode 8-
Damn, that sucks. I definitely wouldn't have let up until she was dead after she had went past her limit, no point in sparing her if she's bound to turn into an ultra-Yoma in no time at all. Didn't even get to see anything close to the full power of Teresa though =( Oh well, her fault for not paying attention with a psycho in front of her I guess. Don't really know why Clare was spared, but I have a good idea of what her goal is now :p Wonder if she'll push herself past her limit in the fight too, and her and Raki will both be Yoma together, going around eating up towns with no opposition- fun times =) Lol, they'll probably find some way of returning to human or somehow not have to eat people if they do that, but really Clare doesn't stand a chance against her from what I've seen. Pretty interesting back-story I'd say, I quite liked it.
Episode 9-
So I wasn't going crazy thinking Clare seemed extremely weak, lol. Can't tell if she's just acting that way or not, I mean, she has accomplished her tasks without any serious injuries (She just heals 'em right up afterward, lol) or letting anyone die, plus she defeated 6 Yoma at once off-screen with no problems as far as I can tell. If she's actually really strong, she's quite good at disguising it :s But, her position as the weakest does make the fights more interesting, if it were anywhere near Teresa's level then they'd all be over in .01 seconds. Anyways, male Awakened Yoma, probably has something to do with Priscilla, though not sure what exactly. But really, there's no way she can be *that* weak, she's struggled so much with single Yomas and things when others have no problem with swarms of them, lol.
Episode 10-
Hm, doesn't seem like it'd be a surprise to run into males if all of them that they had tried to make into Claymores turned into Awakened Beings, but maybe it's been a long time and most of them have died off or something. Was Clare really still suppressing herself when in the fight with the Yoma in the Cathedral? Seems very unlikely, considering she went past her limit and wanted to be killed... I dunno, doesn't quite make sense, but it did serve as a good way to explain certain aspects of the world they're in, were it not for it conflicting with the later parts of the story. Still, this episode was pretty good, screwing with the Awakened Being's mind is always cool, lol. Slowly walking up to him with barely moving to dodge his attacks all ultra-confidently... Yeah, that'd worry me :s Probably would have tried to make a net-like thing and close in all around her at once were I him, but I guess he just underestimated her. I was very worried that limbs couldn't regenerate, and thought they were psychotic for swinging their massive swords at one another during practice fights, but I guess if there's a little accident like some fingers going flying they can just regrow them, and seem able to stop their swords pretty quickly if they hit into anywhere fairly major.
Episode 11-
Eh, seemed a little dragged out, all the things they stated could have fit into half the time or so. Half-awakened though, eh? Guess this was the first battle it's shown since the Cathedral, and she did pretty well in it, but these people seem like nothing compared to the ones from Clare's back-story. Priscilla fully awakened though should be virtually indestructible, all things considered. Still want to know how Yoma and Claymores come about, I have an idea but it doesn't explain why they threw Raki out, nor would it really have an origin (Some type of blood-transfusion or something, could be just eating it, though there has to be some way to make it where it doesn't fully transform them- guess it could have originated as some mutant strain of a bacteria or something that got into someone too, so the origin is plausible maybe). Hm, guess they could just have been extra cautious since he was living with the Yoma, it killed people around him, and was killed in front of him, and they probably aren't fully aware of how Yoma come to be either, so maybe it's just that. It's been a while since then though and he hasn't shown any signs of transforming into anything, but I think he'll end up becoming a male Claymore and transform into an Awakened Being who keeps their sanity at least, and quite possibly end up sacrificing himself to take out Priscilla with Clare's help.
Episode 12-
Her legs! Jeeze, that was horrible, lol. I'm surprised Ophelia is still in the organization if she's ever done anything close to that. Raki and Clare's kiss seemed a bit early, still haven't seen much with the two of them being together, considering 4 episodes were about Clare's past, the previous few episodes he was waiting in town, so only the first 4 episodes had much interaction between the two. Guess it got him to go, and they have spent a good amount of time together off-screen. Ophelia's really psychotic though, probably won't see the end of her quite yet, but I really have no idea how they're going to handle the rest of this arc.
Episode 13-
Irene's pretty cool, I like her quite a bit, especially her voice. Ophelia went and awakened already, wasn't expecting that so soon. Clare's only a quarter Yoma though, which explains a bit why she was so weak before I suppose; I'm not sure if it makes sense really, but it depends on how the Yomafying process works. And man, losing a limb has got to be one of the worst things that can possibly happen. Seriously, that'd blow so badly- she'll probably find a way to regenerate her arm back though, or maybe steal Irene's when she dies in a bit (Haha, I'm actually hoping that doesn't occur, but I have a feeling it'll happen in just a second). Her plan to escape was a bit too obvious in my opinion, pretty much anyone would have made sure she was dead afterward unless her head was completely decapitated- but maybe that's just me, lol. The quarter demon thing when the normal is to be half, not to mention the missing arm similar to Sesshomaru's, makes me wonder how many more parallels to InuYasha there will be though :s I don't really mind, it's different enough to where the connections could be overlooked by the inattentive, and the few fairly major elements it's shared so far have helped the story so it's not a problem.
Episode 14-
Well, not sure if Irene is still alive, though I was mistaken about when the arm transferring would occur- it was before she'd even began dying rather than after, lol. I'm surprised Ophelia kept most of her sanity after awakening, though she was pretty psychotic beforehand, lol. Still, just kind of letting Clare kill her was a bit much, but I guess it's because of her hatred for Awakened Beings. The majority of the battle wasn't too exciting, just kind of hacked her way through her until she got to the other end, lol. Still, there have been some pretty interesting fights though, just not all of them.
Episode 15-
Not sure why she's hiding from the organization at the moment, but I suppose having Ophelia nearly murder her made her a bit wary of them :s Still, she came out of hiding at the first chance she had, so she must not be too worried about it. Enslaving Awakened Beings does seem potentially useful, but if one gets created that's too strong for you and decides to kill you, you're kinda screwed, so it's a pretty big risk- maybe the girl has some way of handling them though. I'm assuming the girl has some way to control a large part of the mountain itself or something similar, seeing as she managed to capture the whole group with what looks like ease. A pretty good trap if she makes it seem like she's just somewhere inside, then closes them in after they enter.
Episode 16-
Galatea's pretty cool too, lol. Riful (I think? The Awakened girl) seems like she'll be pretty strong, I don't think the Claymores gathered will be able to kill her, though she'll probably tell them where Priscilla is. She's kinda mean to Ruff, but I don't think she'll sit back and watch him die, he is at least somewhat useful I'm sure. Clare should probably be careful with pushing herself over her limits too often, though I guess being only one quarter Yoma makes it easier to come back, and given the circumstances of the first time she did it this episode it was definitely reasonable to do, and gives her a little practice on not awakening.
Episode 17-
Nothing really unexpected happened in the battle, although Jeane's twisty-arm thing doesn't seem like it'd work, lol. But, it seems like way too many Claymores die for their ranks to not change constantly, except maybe the top 10 or so, which makes Clare remaining 47 even more difficult, lol. The frost-lands look like they could be interesting, and I quite like that the series' world seems quite large and realistic (Well, within the contexts of the fictional elements it's presented, of course), with a wide variety of locations, though so far it's only shown cities that seem to be all part of the same country, except maybe the religious one. Raki seems like he could have easily not been in the show though and nothing would have been lost, and I think the villagers were just on crack when they said he might turn into a Yoma, lol. He's not a horrible character or anything, I liked when he was fighting Ophelia, it's just that he's almost completely unnecessary; maybe he'll end up being an important element later on though (Like say, becoming a male Claymore). Jeane seems like she'd make a much better companion if they stick together.
Episode 18-
24 Claymores sent, eh? Now I know they have to have tons in reserve or something, seeing as over half their forces are in a single location where many will likely die, and with little chance of taking out more than a few of the Awakened Beings (And the village doesn't seem like they even requested them, so probably no pay for them doing this, though it seems like there's supposed to be some other purpose behind it aside from that). Really, the ones who won't be of any help are basically having their lives thrown away for no reason- it would have been better to have them stay behind and fight normal Yoma and collect money (Which brings me to my next question- what the hell are they spending it on? If even the lowest ranked Claymore can bring in a massive sack of gold every few days, they've got to be ridiculously rich by now, especially since the warriors themselves use almost none of it).
Episode 19-
Guess there were only 3 Awakened Beings, so no one dying isn't too unexpected, but only one person being down for a while is pushing it a bit. The guy near the end seems pretty cool, wonder if he'll end up not being the Awakened male- it seems too blatant that he's the one :s So many Claymores are introduced now though, it can get a bit hard to tell some of them apart, given that their appearances are fairly similar. The battles weren't too bad here, except it seems like the Yoma's skin switches from impossible to cut through to normal randomly, lol.
Episode 20-
Not much happened this episode, a bit of the motivations for a couple of people, Raki hanging out with the Dweller of the Deep, and 27 Awakened Beings about to attack the town- I should think that'd be enough to take out everyone more or less :s Not too many episodes left though, might be difficult to wrap up everything nicely.
Episode 21-
Was hoping Raki would say, 'Mind if I join you?' to Priscilla, lol. Rigardo seems damned strong, but more people should have attacked at once rather than letting him pick everyone off one at a time. They handled most the other ones that were attacking pretty well, but I'm gonna have to say, this isn't looking like it's going to end in a victory, lol.
Episode 22-
I liked Clare awakening at the end, though the next couple of episodes seem a bit predictable, but maybe there will be some surprises. Not too much to this episode besides that though- they just kept flinging themselves at Rigardo over and over, and Raki went on ahead of Priscella and the other guy.
Episode 23-
Good battle, seems Clare didn't really fully awaken, but is just pushing herself to the brink of her limit. However, I have to ask... Why isn't anyone else trying anything similar? Really, if I were about to die I'd bring myself to the brink of awakening and do whatever it took to fight, and definitely not sit around while the supposedly weakest member of the group (They probably need to update the rankings a bit more often, lol) goes kamikaze on the enemy.
Episode 24-
I liked the music near the end, and Awakened Beings confuse me... They seem to be just as they were when they were humans for the most part, yet even if they are resolute about dying just a few moments before they transform, afterward they'll go around eating everyone happily. Raki annoyed me here a bit, he was just hiding behind the wall instead of even trying to call out to Clare while she was transforming, and the chances of him becoming a Yoma or Claymore are now virtually nonexistent, lol. Priscella is especially strange, she seem to have lost her sanity after the battle with Teresa and never regained it except when she had no memories. However, this was another episode not a lot happened, guess it was meant to build up some suspense or whatever for the final battle, but it seems like there have been quite a few like this so far.
Episode 25-
Clare looked pretty cool at the end, though the battle wasn't terribly exciting, fairly decent still I suppose. Looks like it's not going to end completely resolved though, I'm sure the Dweller of the Deep would intervene if Priscilla was about to die (Hm, think I said this before about that other one, lol), might even be going to go with a 'Should I save Raki and let Priscilla get away?' type of thing and she decides she'll continue living with Raki and have her revenge later, the choice most likely popping up just as she's about to go completely awakened (If she didn't just do that, lol), getting her mind back- or at something along the lines of that.
Episode 26 (Final)-
Hm, never liked that whole, 'If you kill them, you'll be just like them!' sort of thing- even if you don't hate the person, by ending their life you prevent untold amounts of other people being killed by them in cases such as this. Hell, to not murder in such a circumstance could be seen as quite evil in a way, lol. Honestly, you can try and get her to revert to being human after she's finished killing one of the most powerful Awakened Beings around, not the moment before... I dunno, it was an okay end though, left it open for another season with still some closure, but even in this episode alone a few things annoyed me. It would have been more satisfying if Easley (Dweller of the Deep) intervened from Priscilla dying rather than Raki, and Jeane dying didn't seem necessary at all (Clare seemed nearly in complete control of herself in all honesty). It never explained why the organization sent so many inexperienced people on a suicide mission and what not, and a few other complaints, but it was pretty good all in all.
Posted by Blayze | Oct 8, 2010 1:54 AM | 0 comments
October 7th, 2010
H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~
Anime Relations: H2O: Footprints in the Sand
I've decided I'll start to keep a summary of my thoughts after each episode I watch. I started to do this sometime after I started watching this anime, so some if it isn't as detailed as I'd like. I think this will prove to be pretty entertaining and useful; hopefully anyone who stumbles upon these think so also. There will be tons and tons of spoilers ahead, and the same will hold true for future blogs, so be warned. So without further ado, I present to you the first of what is hopefully to be many accounts of my experiences while watching anime.
H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~
Episodes 1 through 6 -
(This section was written I think after finishing episode 6 during a pretty one-sided conversation with my brother :s )
They're finally addressing the real reasons why everyone's complete douches to the one girl (Kohinata), and some of them are actually being nice to her and stuff, and it's making me not hate a lot of them, lol. But there is one thing I don't get- what sort of power do the families have? I wasn't aware in modern day there was any sort of political or judicial power held by families, yet supposedly the girl's family was abusing their power to somehow harm the village, but all I've seen is that they didn't sell medicine to a dying old dude 'cause he didn't have money, lol. The smart choice would have been to write up a contract and agree to pay later... But whatever- no one else sold him the medicine either, so to blame them seems retarded. The anime's getting a lot better now though.
Now would be the proper time to put in episode 4... Lol.
So, I liked the first episode except that Hirose's blindness randomly goes away, though I guess it's something like he's supposed to use this time to help Kohinata, and I was drawn into the series wanting to know why the hell they were abusing her so much. I was hoping Hirose would stop it, so when his being blind got in the way of doing that even though he wanted to it definitely got my hopes up for a unique spin on things, but I guess the blind-curing was acceptable, so long as they have some reason to explain why it occurred later on.
Hirose was pretty quick to help her too, so that's not bad, made me like him a bit more. However, the reasons they gave for the abuse at the time were horribly retarded- made it look like it was because the two girls (Kohinata and Kagura) were friends rather than that Kohinata's family was somehow taking advantage of the village or whatever- still an idiotic reason, but much much much better than the one I thought they were using. Anyways, that pissed me off and made me hate a lot of the characters, lol. Specifically the teachers, the grandpa guy, abusive chick (Yui) and those 2 guys (Who look absolutely idiotic, their faces are all messed up and annoying), and sort of the blond female lead (Kagura) since she kept trying to stop the main male from helping Kohinata, who I was disliking.
Episode 3, let's see... It was okay, started to really not like the blond chick since she tries even harder to stop the guy from helping her, and that got on my nerves quite a bit.
Episode 4 was randomly inserted, and should have been left for later, but on it's own had some funny elements and what not. Would have been fine pushed back to episode 7, but I was still too pissed off at a lot of the cast to enjoy the episode very much where they had it.
In 5 Kagura finally stopped interfering, and reestablished a friendship with Kohinata, and it finally began to put an end to the parts of the show that were pissing me off.
Episode 6 established the real reasons everyone hates the girl, and put an at least temporary stop to the abuse, along with developing Yui a bit and explaining why she hates Kohinata so damn much. Seems like at least the class will finally stop being evil, or at least the majority of them I hope.
Anyways, on to episode 7
Episode 7-
Kagura stands up for herself, and tells everyone she's not the sister they thought she was; quite good over-all. The ending of the episode worries me, since it makes it seem like it could all just be a story, but this cleared out just about the last thing still bugging me about the show.
~.~.~
Predictions for the rest of the series: The old dude's probably gonna try to do some crap to Kohinata, and Hirose's eyesight is probably going to go away again at some point soon, but will still stand up against the old grandpa guy and help out Kohinata despite his handicap. He'll hopefully win over the crowd that's bound to be gathered together and call out the abusive situations that these girls (Kagura and Kohinata) are being put in because of the old guy, and he'll lose his standing in the village. The ending will be the town helping rebuild Kohinata's home that they burnt, and her and the Hirose will live there together, and the Kagura will be free from the old guy finally, probably doing some job with art. Good chance they'll do something for fixing his eye-sight magically, but personally I'm hoping he just returns to being blind and stays that way.
~.~.~
Episode 8 -
Uh-huh... Random, very very random. 98% of the episode was completely unnecessary and failed to even develop any of the characters, and the random break into comedy/parody threw me off- would have been better to not put this episode in at all.
Episode 9-
I enjoyed it quite a bit, though the villagers randomly blowing up Kohinata's home was pretty screwed up; she accepted it pretty well, and her friends helped her out satisfactorily enough. Hirose and Kohinata seem to have worked out all the problems in the way of their relationship, and even the old guy's not being psychotic any more, though this series hasn't been without its problems so far. It's becoming more and more satisfying though, but I don't think I'll be convinced Kohinata's family was so evil any time soon- how would they have even gotten into a position of power where they could do anything that would affect the welfare of the village at all? It doesn't really make a lot of sense to me, I don't think families have had any type of real political power for a long time in Japan, though if there's some type of under-ground gang or yakuza thing that was going on it'd clear that up I suppose, though there should have been some retaliation to them burning their house down then. It's not too likely they'll address it anyways, but, this series isn't too bad as a whole so far, though I'd have shifted a lot of scenes around and removed episode 8 were I the director. The biggest problem early on was making the audience think the abuse was because of the two kids being friends, instead of an even half-way rational reason.
Episode 10-
Eh, Hirose acted a bit irrationally, though old guy's at least not violent any more, and Kohinata... Hm, guess she feels guilty for what her family did and felt like shit after she thought the main felt she was at fault also, and given that she probably doesn't trust people much yet considering she's been abused her whole life it's understandable that she'd be depressed and what not. Those two annoying looking kids still piss me off though, guess the blame could be on the psychotic parents who raised them and are constantly trying to screw with the girl, but still, they're retarded. The blindness started to come back finally too- hopefully they handle the remaining two episodes well.
Episode 11-
Hirose's gone psycho too, old guy's gone back to being ultra-violent for no reason, and those parents are pretty screwed up in the head. I liked the twist about Hirose really being blind all along- the hints it gave I took as just being the other characters not being aware he had regained his vision at the time (The 'I wasn't peeking!' comment specifically), and just realized why he couldn't swim- it'd be hard to tell direction while submerged when you're blind. I liked that he's not letting his blindness interfere with protecting Kohinata, though beating her at the beginning of the episode was... Well, I guess because he was losing his mind along with his sight, but still man. Not sure what he means by he'll be the one to protect his mother, though I guess it's just saying he's going to prevent any tragedy from befalling him himself this time. Then again, he's gone crazy... Sooo, who knows- let's see the finale.
Episode 12 (Final)-
Well, it would seem Hirose had just gone absolutely insane. The series over-all was... Hm, fairly decent. Didn't really like the magically reviving Kohinatal after she died, but given that last time something like that happened it turned out it was all just a delusion, I'll go ahead and say it's all in his head :s I don't think moving back to Tokyo would have been the best way to deal with his psychosis though, seems like it'd be hard for a young girl to take care of an extremely dependent person (Both blind and crazy!) along with herself while having to work for an income, though I wasn't too sure if she had to pay rent, so which would make it quite a bit easier. Stupid kids shouldn't run out in front of trains so often too... And people really shouldn't chase out after them and hold them 'til the train comes (Really, that isn't gonna protect 'em much from the massive freaking train coming towards you. Alas, it could be that they pushed the kid out of the way, hard to tell when the camera cuts away.) Also, not that I really expected it, but I was never convinced Kohinata's family did anything bad, but I'll just assume they were even worse than the current old dude and somehow were getting away with it all (Trying to murder a young girl with a broken arm who hasn't done anything to harm anyone? All because someone else they're related to were 'evil'? This guy really needs to take a look at reality...)
H2O ~Footprints in the Sand~
Episodes 1 through 6 -
(This section was written I think after finishing episode 6 during a pretty one-sided conversation with my brother :s )
They're finally addressing the real reasons why everyone's complete douches to the one girl (Kohinata), and some of them are actually being nice to her and stuff, and it's making me not hate a lot of them, lol. But there is one thing I don't get- what sort of power do the families have? I wasn't aware in modern day there was any sort of political or judicial power held by families, yet supposedly the girl's family was abusing their power to somehow harm the village, but all I've seen is that they didn't sell medicine to a dying old dude 'cause he didn't have money, lol. The smart choice would have been to write up a contract and agree to pay later... But whatever- no one else sold him the medicine either, so to blame them seems retarded. The anime's getting a lot better now though.
Now would be the proper time to put in episode 4... Lol.
So, I liked the first episode except that Hirose's blindness randomly goes away, though I guess it's something like he's supposed to use this time to help Kohinata, and I was drawn into the series wanting to know why the hell they were abusing her so much. I was hoping Hirose would stop it, so when his being blind got in the way of doing that even though he wanted to it definitely got my hopes up for a unique spin on things, but I guess the blind-curing was acceptable, so long as they have some reason to explain why it occurred later on.
Hirose was pretty quick to help her too, so that's not bad, made me like him a bit more. However, the reasons they gave for the abuse at the time were horribly retarded- made it look like it was because the two girls (Kohinata and Kagura) were friends rather than that Kohinata's family was somehow taking advantage of the village or whatever- still an idiotic reason, but much much much better than the one I thought they were using. Anyways, that pissed me off and made me hate a lot of the characters, lol. Specifically the teachers, the grandpa guy, abusive chick (Yui) and those 2 guys (Who look absolutely idiotic, their faces are all messed up and annoying), and sort of the blond female lead (Kagura) since she kept trying to stop the main male from helping Kohinata, who I was disliking.
Episode 3, let's see... It was okay, started to really not like the blond chick since she tries even harder to stop the guy from helping her, and that got on my nerves quite a bit.
Episode 4 was randomly inserted, and should have been left for later, but on it's own had some funny elements and what not. Would have been fine pushed back to episode 7, but I was still too pissed off at a lot of the cast to enjoy the episode very much where they had it.
In 5 Kagura finally stopped interfering, and reestablished a friendship with Kohinata, and it finally began to put an end to the parts of the show that were pissing me off.
Episode 6 established the real reasons everyone hates the girl, and put an at least temporary stop to the abuse, along with developing Yui a bit and explaining why she hates Kohinata so damn much. Seems like at least the class will finally stop being evil, or at least the majority of them I hope.
Anyways, on to episode 7
Episode 7-
Kagura stands up for herself, and tells everyone she's not the sister they thought she was; quite good over-all. The ending of the episode worries me, since it makes it seem like it could all just be a story, but this cleared out just about the last thing still bugging me about the show.
~.~.~
Predictions for the rest of the series: The old dude's probably gonna try to do some crap to Kohinata, and Hirose's eyesight is probably going to go away again at some point soon, but will still stand up against the old grandpa guy and help out Kohinata despite his handicap. He'll hopefully win over the crowd that's bound to be gathered together and call out the abusive situations that these girls (Kagura and Kohinata) are being put in because of the old guy, and he'll lose his standing in the village. The ending will be the town helping rebuild Kohinata's home that they burnt, and her and the Hirose will live there together, and the Kagura will be free from the old guy finally, probably doing some job with art. Good chance they'll do something for fixing his eye-sight magically, but personally I'm hoping he just returns to being blind and stays that way.
~.~.~
Episode 8 -
Uh-huh... Random, very very random. 98% of the episode was completely unnecessary and failed to even develop any of the characters, and the random break into comedy/parody threw me off- would have been better to not put this episode in at all.
Episode 9-
I enjoyed it quite a bit, though the villagers randomly blowing up Kohinata's home was pretty screwed up; she accepted it pretty well, and her friends helped her out satisfactorily enough. Hirose and Kohinata seem to have worked out all the problems in the way of their relationship, and even the old guy's not being psychotic any more, though this series hasn't been without its problems so far. It's becoming more and more satisfying though, but I don't think I'll be convinced Kohinata's family was so evil any time soon- how would they have even gotten into a position of power where they could do anything that would affect the welfare of the village at all? It doesn't really make a lot of sense to me, I don't think families have had any type of real political power for a long time in Japan, though if there's some type of under-ground gang or yakuza thing that was going on it'd clear that up I suppose, though there should have been some retaliation to them burning their house down then. It's not too likely they'll address it anyways, but, this series isn't too bad as a whole so far, though I'd have shifted a lot of scenes around and removed episode 8 were I the director. The biggest problem early on was making the audience think the abuse was because of the two kids being friends, instead of an even half-way rational reason.
Episode 10-
Eh, Hirose acted a bit irrationally, though old guy's at least not violent any more, and Kohinata... Hm, guess she feels guilty for what her family did and felt like shit after she thought the main felt she was at fault also, and given that she probably doesn't trust people much yet considering she's been abused her whole life it's understandable that she'd be depressed and what not. Those two annoying looking kids still piss me off though, guess the blame could be on the psychotic parents who raised them and are constantly trying to screw with the girl, but still, they're retarded. The blindness started to come back finally too- hopefully they handle the remaining two episodes well.
Episode 11-
Hirose's gone psycho too, old guy's gone back to being ultra-violent for no reason, and those parents are pretty screwed up in the head. I liked the twist about Hirose really being blind all along- the hints it gave I took as just being the other characters not being aware he had regained his vision at the time (The 'I wasn't peeking!' comment specifically), and just realized why he couldn't swim- it'd be hard to tell direction while submerged when you're blind. I liked that he's not letting his blindness interfere with protecting Kohinata, though beating her at the beginning of the episode was... Well, I guess because he was losing his mind along with his sight, but still man. Not sure what he means by he'll be the one to protect his mother, though I guess it's just saying he's going to prevent any tragedy from befalling him himself this time. Then again, he's gone crazy... Sooo, who knows- let's see the finale.
Episode 12 (Final)-
Well, it would seem Hirose had just gone absolutely insane. The series over-all was... Hm, fairly decent. Didn't really like the magically reviving Kohinatal after she died, but given that last time something like that happened it turned out it was all just a delusion, I'll go ahead and say it's all in his head :s I don't think moving back to Tokyo would have been the best way to deal with his psychosis though, seems like it'd be hard for a young girl to take care of an extremely dependent person (Both blind and crazy!) along with herself while having to work for an income, though I wasn't too sure if she had to pay rent, so which would make it quite a bit easier. Stupid kids shouldn't run out in front of trains so often too... And people really shouldn't chase out after them and hold them 'til the train comes (Really, that isn't gonna protect 'em much from the massive freaking train coming towards you. Alas, it could be that they pushed the kid out of the way, hard to tell when the camera cuts away.) Also, not that I really expected it, but I was never convinced Kohinata's family did anything bad, but I'll just assume they were even worse than the current old dude and somehow were getting away with it all (Trying to murder a young girl with a broken arm who hasn't done anything to harm anyone? All because someone else they're related to were 'evil'? This guy really needs to take a look at reality...)
Posted by Blayze | Oct 7, 2010 4:49 AM | 0 comments