Thursday, April 21, 2011

Final Winter Review


Well, the seasons have officially come to an end. I know I run about a week late, but I would rather run late and watch free legal streams than free illegal ones. Any screen shots that are used belong to their respective owners and companies, and I do not own the rights. There are two shows that have to be done a little differently than the others: Madoka and Gosick. Madoka will be broadcasting the last two episodes back to back in about a week, so I cannot comment on it just yet. Gosick is continuing into the spring season, so I will only be reviewing the first twelve (a full season). As a result they will not be counted towards the top and bottom scores of the season in this review. So who made it to the top this season and who fell flat? Let’s find out.

BISEASON (FREE PASS): Gosick
Unlike Victorique...
Gosick started off good, but slow. As it moved farther into the show it began to reveal itself as a show that solves mystery with the characters trying to solve their own. As of episode twelve none of this has been fully solved, and like Detective Conan it can be a little repetitive. Find a mystery, solve it. Here’s some overarching plot, moving on. Even with this flaw (if you want to consider it one, I personally do not), the characters are charged and blend rather well together. There is no one character that acts as a plot hog, which is impressive as a large portion of the show is spent figuring on the mystery of Victorique’s character. If this were to be placed in the season ranking again, it would certainly rank quite high.
+Art
+Overarching Plot
+Mystery
-Long development
-Disappearance of the overarching plot
-Blatant villain (how haven’t the characters found him yet)

FREEZER BURNED (LOWEST RANK): Koreha Zombie des ka?

This was totally worth it though.

Oh Zombie, you started off so well and so humorous. You even picked up a fairly interesting villain. Unfortunately he was an interesting villain guilty of godmodding. Yes, that’s right, godmodding. He was that kid in elementary school who calls shield before you tag him. They do of course defeat him, but the battle is somewhat anticlimactic and the viewer is left unsatisfied. In fact, the series completes itself before the twelfth episode because it was just complete fanservice. So unfortunately, Zombie,  you have a bad case of freezer burn. Koreha Zombie des ka is streaming on Crunchyroll.
+Humor
+Moe Necromancer
+Catchy Ending Theme
-Plot
-Godmodding Villain
-Strange exposition

IN THE FREEZER: Yumekui Merry
Unlike the power of friendship!

Much like it’s first few episodes, Yumekui sort of loses its pace. Or rather, it gained too much of a pace. Within two episodes the main villain is revealed, introduced, and defeated in the finale. Perhaps most frustrating about the final battle is the fact that Merry’s innate power shown in an earlier episode is never brought up. Ever. And perhaps the biggest annoyance is the power Yumeji seems to gain: his will. Yes, that’s right. The one thing that can possibly protect a human from a dream demon is your will. He still was unable to win without help from others, but I feel as though “the power of will” was both a cop out and a little inspiring. The only reason Yumekui is scoring higher than Zombie is because it pulls off the final battle so well. All the character stories are resolved (with the exception of Merry, who is unable to return “just because”) in a timely manner and by the last episode, no fan service required. While it is based off a manga, there has been no second season revealed as of yet. And that’s why Yumekui never quite made it from the freezer. Like Merry’s quest to go home, it will stay frozen for a long time.
  +Plot
  +Animation
  +Fight Sequences
  -Plot Resolution
  -Goals (don't encourage the NEET's!)
  -Plot device never touched upon again (Merry's power)

IN THE OVEN: Wandering Son

He is most certainly not a zombie.

While one of the nicest shows of the season, Wandering Son didn’t quite make it to the top of the top. It is certainly a great show to satiate your anime appetite, especially with its artwork, the finale is a little confusing. Shuichi seems to have finally grown into himself, but whether that means him giving up on his personal feelings to become a female and undergo a sex change or that others have finally accepting him is a little unclear. Now, the finale is actually the twelfth episode, the tenth and eleventh having been combined and so some things may be explained in the expanded version of the series. For now, however, the fact that there is no definite answer is a little confusing. And yet, the open endedness is appreciatable. Wandering Son ends with a warm feeling, like the feeling one gets when standing in front of an open oven door. And so, it certainly garnishes a high review. Wandering Son is streaming on CrunchyRoll.
  +Art
  +Plot
  +Ending Theme
  -Finale
  -Ambiguous Antagonists
  -Quickened Exposition (final episode)

GOURMET MEAL: Fractale

No it's not, that's not Haruhi!

Yutaka Yamamoto never ceases to amaze me with his story ideas. In an interview in The Otaku Encyclopedia he said he was aiming to move away from moĆ© anime, as well as the fact that he was working on a great project for 2010 (it made it out in 2011 so that counts). Fractale ends in an amazing conclusion to the series, pulling everything together and nicely concluding the show, something that all anime should do. I only had a few issues here, one of which was the fact that there is always the “god” character in his shows. It all started with Haruhi…and I will say no more without revealing the ending. The other is the endless cycle that seems to be invoked, though I suppose with lack of access to a certain place, history will not be doomed to repeat itself. In the end any issues it had seemed to have worked themselves out, especially since you are able to see the whole series in a new light. Fractale is available on Funimation’s YouTube channel.
  +Animation
  +Soundtrack
  +Plot
  -Existentialism (God again?)
  -Future Implications
  -COMPLETE PERSONALITY CHANGE

Madoka Magica  will be reviewed separately. Look forward to the Spring Review in the next blog post. Unfortunately there are a lot of things I want to watch this spring, but don’t have the time to review them all in one go (the spring season is MASSIVE)! So, consider it Spring Review I and when I finally get the time to watch the next half we’ll consider it Spring Review II! Look forward to these shows in part I:
Iroha
Ore-tachi
Sekai Ichi
Hoshizora
Tiger and Bunny
Astarotte's Toy
Hen Zemi
Nichijou
Abnormal Physiology Seminar
Deadman Wonderland

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