Ano Natsu de Matteru - Episode 6

Kanna might not have the guts to confess to Kaito, but it seems that Tetsurou has no such qualms about letting his friend in on the secret - whether it's for his own gain or out of a sense of loyalty for Kaito is, however, another question entirely.

Still, any such worries are soon put on the back burner as our group of friends run into a bit of good fortune in the form of a bunch of tickets for a holiday in Okinawa, much to the excitement of Ichika in particular.  Yes, that effectively means that it's beach episode time for Ano Natsu de Matteru, but there's much more to it than simply bikinis and beachballs.

Things really get shaken up when Kaito runs into a childhood friend of his named Kaori - a childhood friend who he'd also promised to marry in that impetuous way that kids do.  It's a revelation that sets a cat amongst the pigeons as far as Kanna and Ichika are concerned, while Kaori's friend Arisawa does a similar number on poor Mio thanks to her instant interest in Tetsurou.  As if an afternoon of this wasn't hardship enough for both guys and girls, of course Remon can't resist playing the latest in her series of devilish games by inviting the two girls to join them for filming - if it's part of a plan to get everyone concerned to confess their actual feelings, then it certainly seems well-poised to work come the end of this week's episode.

All I can really say about this latest instalment of Ano Natsu de Matteru is that it's a whole lot of fun - now that we're well and truly in on all of the inter-relationships between characters it's enjoyable just watching their reactions to developments, and although its melodrama is clichéd that doesn't stop it being great entertainment.  On top of all that, the great thing is that all of the major characters are so likeable - as I mentioned last week, they're flawed and very human right down to the alien interloper, but they're all equally lovable in their own ways to leave you just as torn about who deserves a happy ending to this tale as those directly involved.  No matter how things pan out, and even with its moments of fan service, I'm certainly deriving a vast amount of enjoyment from watching it happen at the moment as we reach the show's half-way point.

Another - Episode 6

After filling its early episodes with mystery, much of what we needed to know was revealed by the end of last week's episode thanks to Kouichi finding himself set aside from the rest of class three as another "non-existent" student, thus bringing forth the full story from Misaki about her own experiences.

For the vast majority of this episode, this pair of characters share and discuss information and spend their time together in lieu of any contact or attention from anybody else - the kind of scenario that might ordinarily be sweet if it wasn't so melancholy on this occasion.  Despite having played witness to several deaths, Kouichi simply can't stop picking at the scan that is the so-called curse, continuing to investigate its history as it seems to dig even deeper into his family, seemingly claiming his mother as one of its victims in the process.

Of course, the one mystery which is still in place is who the "extra" student who shouldn't be there might be - Misaki's odd relationship with her mother and general demeanour still marks her out as an oddball, while there are some heavy hints this week that there's something not quite right about Kouich's own story and his memories of his life to date.  Then again, thanks to the end of this episode we have to wonder whether there will be many students left at all to see us through to the end of the series.

With so much revealed last week, this was always going to be a bit of a slow-burner of an episode, and so it proved - its story is certainly be laid out carefully and almost meticulously, that's for sure.  The trouble is, that we're still wading through things so slowly doesn't always prove to be particularly entertaining, with this instalment in particular proving to be very dialogue heavy but with little to show for it aside from a seemingly random madcap cliff-hanger which was pulled out of nowhere.  I absolutely admire Another's presentation in terms of visuals, audio and even some aspects of its story-telling, but at the moment it feels like it's struggling to hold up a story that perhaps isn't quite worthy of that much attention to detail.  My fingers are still very much crossed that it'll prove me wrong, however.

Future Diary - Mirai Nikki - Episode 18

To kick off episode eighteen of Mirai Nikki, we step backwards a year to a simpler time, where Yukiteru had no concerns about death or danger and Yuno Gasai... well, she was still batshit crazy.

More specifically, this little aside brings us to the formative stages of Yuno's obsession with Yukiteru, as she does everything in her power to stop him delivering a love letter to the apple of his eye at that time, class representative Moe Wakaba.  Unfortunately, things don't go particularly well for Yuno as Yukkii and Wakaba are selected to go and buy materials for the forthcoming culture festival, leaving Gasai with no choice but to follow them in a terrifying pink rabbit suit to try and prevent any kind of confession from taking place.  Yes, I did say rabbit suit - don't expect to take this flashback entirely seriously, although it does take a decidedly dark turn as we get a glimpse of the circumstances that caused Yuno to murder her own parents.... but just who does that third body in her house belong to?

It's back to the present for the remainder of the episode, as a distraught Yukkii finds his pleas to Deus ex Machina to save his mum fall on death ears, before his diary informs him of the culprit of her murder - not a moment too soon, as his father returns home at that very moment.  Desperate to find evidence to prove his guilt, Yukiteru follows his dad around, only to find that he's seemingly changed his tune and is truly repentant for what he's done.  This latest reconciliation is soon cut short however, and before we know it it's back to murder and bloodshed aplenty, this time eventually coming from a surprising direction.  It's game on in the battle to become the new god of time, verily.

For all of its stupid plot points, watching Mirai Nikki is still an utterly entertaining and occasionally thrilling experience, with this particular episode demonstrating what the series can do in a variety of ways - its flashback segment was downright hilarious before visiting some decidedly dark territory, while Yukkii's decision to finally fight back and fight for the goal in this crazy game left me unsure whether to cheer him on, be disturbed by his effortless turn to the dark side or something else entirely.  So I just stuck with cheering.  When you're faced with two of the most messed up kids in the history of anime, what else can you do?

Rinne no Lagrange - Episode 6

Enemy or otherwise, there was something distinctly out of order with the way Muginami was cast aside by her "brother" last episode, and it's the anger borne from this that sees Madoka determined to go on the offensive in the light of Villagiulio's threats.

At least, that's Madoka and Lan's plan, although of course the powers that be aren't exactly about to let a teenage girl rule the roost and tell them when, where and whom they should be attacking.  That kind of decision can only be made via the joys of a meeting... which, of course, gives Madoka and Lan the go-ahead to attack in a few hours time once everything has been prepared.  Meanwhile. it seems as if Muginami herself will have a new role to play in proceedings...

Eventually, it's launch time for our two Vox Aura pilots as they get a chance to strut their stuff in their mission against Villagiulio - however, it's fair to say that nobody was expecting quite the level of opposition that they come up against, with vast swathes of enemies making their appearance to create a decidedly tough job for Madoka and Lan, even if they now have some weapons of their own to play with.  Perhaps luckily for them, this is the point where Muginami puts in her appearance via the third Vox Aura available - what follows is a rather strange ballet of conflicting emotions, as Muginami's thirst for revenge is dispersed by her near-obliteration, while Madoka's own assault on Villagiulio sees Muginami choosing to protect him, leading to a war of both physical blows and words which leads to an effect upon Madoka which changes everything...

What all of this adds up to is an episode which is slick in terms of its presentation - visually the series feels more accomplished by the week, and its soundtrack is simply perfect in terms of accentuating (although occasionally threatening to overbear) what's going on.  The series also continues to have no qualms at mixing humour into the most unlikely places, which makes for some oddly compelling moments when its comedy comes seemingly out of the blue.  The trouble is, this habit also tends to trivialise the show more than it perhaps wishes to be - it's hard to believe we're watching a fight for the future of the planet when the girls are having childish arguments amongst themselves and characters are obsessing over energy drinks, not helped by the fact that we still don't really have a handle on the show's factions or politics and what they truly represent.  This leaves us with a curious little show - I have to admit that I'm enjoying it for the most part, but I'm still not quite sure what it's trying to be or do.  Hopefully such queries will only be cleared up as its mysteries continue to unravel.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos

I think it's fair to say that come the end of its broadcast run, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood had simply blown me away time and again in terms of both its story and the way it was presented.  Even though that made for a perfect ending to the series, I was more than a little happy at the idea of visiting a new theatrical side-story for the Elric brothers shoe-horned into the midst of that show.  The result?  The Sacred Star of Milos.

The film certainly wastes no time in introducing us to the new facets of its particular story, as we see a relatively well to-do family rescued from the midst of  massacre - a family with links to alchemy, which quickly sees them targeted and the parents of the unit killed mercilessly.  But what becomes of their children?  It's here that Edward and Alphonse enter proceedings, courtesy of a prison break-out in Central by a man known as Melvin Voyager - someone who manages to hide his abilities as an alchemist until making good his escape just months before his release from jail was scheduled.  Why would someone do such a thing?  The timing and circumstances of his escape lead them to the release of a girl named Julia Crichton, imprisoned for illegally entering a place called Table City.  Putting two and two together, the Elric brothers set off to investigate.

One massive train-centric set piece later (Thomas the Tank Engine this ain't), we arrive to chaos at Table City, with the escapee Melvin and a group known as the Black Bats both fighting over possession of an escaping Julia.  As Ed and Al are dragged into this mess, we end up in a deep valley surrounding Table City, and learn of its people - despite inhabiting an area known as Cleta, they are in fact the put-upon last surviving inhabitants of Milos; a story linking us in to those opening scenes as brother Ashley and sister Julia work to bring a new beginning to the people of the area.  The main goal of their efforts revolves around something called the "Star of Blood" - an items which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Philosopher's Stone...

So goes the basic story of The Sacred Star of Milos, although of course there are more than a few twists and turns along the way.  With its series proper completed, it's clearly quite difficult to create a story that doesn't disturb what comes before, and this leaves the film with almost an overly light touch, particularly in terms of the characters it deploys - with no Scar, Lan Fan or Homunculus on show, nobody really greedily gobbles up their screen time as some of the more fascinating characters of Fullmetal Alchemist are want to do.  Similarly, the story has a bit of a "seen it all before" feel to it - there are some clever twists for sure, but there's nothing that really makes The Sacred Star of Milos stand out from the crowd, and it certainly never lives up to some of the jaw-dropping revelations within the series itself.  As a whole, its story is functional rather than spectacular.

In essence, much of the movie seems to be built around a pair of (admittedly impressive) set pieces - the aforementioned train-led scenes, and of course the culmination of the movie as the desire for the power of the Star of Blood reaches its climax.  As a whole, the film's animation seems to aim towards fluidity and movement throughout over detail, and that serves it best during these action scenes as chaos reigns in the midst of destruction and blood-shed aplenty - it's something that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood never failed to pull off with aplomb, and this is again the case here.

Overall, it was perhaps always going to be impossible for The Sacred Star of Milos to match the intensity of Brotherhood, and there's no doubt that it does indeed fail to do so.  That doesn't make it a bad film, but it does feel like a bit of a wasted opportunity given how limited its scope is and the way it criminally under-utilises some of its characters (Mustang, I'm looking at you).  Fans of the franchise will be happy to see more of the Elric brothers I'm sure, but beyond that this is a decent effort that does little to be memorable in the long run beyond serving as a couple of hours of half-decent entertainment.

Persona 4: The Animation - Episode 18

With the Midnight Channel quiet once again, Persona 4's eighteenth episode gives us an opportunity to explore another side-story and some of the characters within it.

The episode begins in distressing fashion as we witness a hit-and-run accident - an event which seems to have special significance for detective Dojima as he sets about investigating the incident with even more vigour than is usual for him.  This all ties into daughter Nanako's current concerns, as she wonders about her mother, whose picture is conspicuously absent from her home while her death has never been fully explained to Nanako, and her dad's seeming lack of interest in her.

It's left to Narukami to act as an intermediary here, as Dojima becomes more and more focuses upon his work, even leaving an ill Nanako to Yuu so that he can continue his investigations, while Nanako herself begins to wonder whether Dojima is even her real father.  Things finally come to a head as Narukami's exhausted uncle admits that he's almost certain not to attend his daughter's class observation day, which leads to Nanako fleeing the house in tears - a moment which, perhaps, finally leads Dojima to realise where he's been going wrong and to open up a new chapter in the life of his family.

Despite having little if anything to do with the show's main story, this turned out to be another solid and well-paced instalment which worked well as a stand-alone episode in its own right all the way through to its genuinely emotional finale as it filled in another chunk of the back story of some of its characters.  Persona 4 certainly seems to have the measure of its characters and how to deliver by utilising them properly these days, which bodes well as we move deeper and deeper into the series, even if we have the predictable school festival episode coming up next.

Nisemonogatari - Episode 6

Koyomi may have found a rather... "awkward"... way of transferring at least some of the curse afflicting her to himself, but this still isn't enough to cure her completely, meaning that there's no other for him other than to confront Kaiki in an attempt to resolve the issue.

After a brief distraction courtesy of Hachikuji as she notes her friend's unusually serious demeanour and the pair chat about the definition of adulthood, it's on to visit Senjougarahara, who unsurprisingly is already sharpening the knives for Kaiki.  Although when I say knives, I actually mean pencils.  More specifically, Hitagi is still determined to meet Kaiki alone to wreak her revenge against him - not just for conning her while she was looking to resolve her crab problem, but it seems that she also holds him responsible (albeit indirectly perhaps) for causing her parent's divorce.

After learning all this, Araragi eventually persuades his girlfriend not to go along and to bring him along with her, if only so that he can do whatever is required to help Karen, and even if means making some unknown promise to Senjougahara in return.  With arrangements made to meet later that day (and Hitagi would never lie to her boyfriend, right?), Koyomi heads back home to rest up until evening.... at least that's the plan, until he returns to find Tsukihi distraught and Karen missing.  But where to find her?  It's times like this that it proves to be more than a little handy having a vampire hanging around in your shadow.

Given its pedigree, I make no apologies for expecting more from Nisemonogatari prior to this point, but this week's episode finally feels like a decent attempt at moving the series in the right direction - sure, it got side-tracked from time to time but never in a bad way, and its over-the-top visuals tip-toe the line between engaging and distracting, but there was something that just felt "right" in this episode and its delivery.  As per earlier in the series, Hitagi Senjougahara's appearance doubtless had something to do with it, but as a whole the episode's banter and discourse worked well without any major fan service-esque distractions, which is just what the doctor ordered if you ask me.  With the current situation coming to a head too, interest is definitely ramping up in terms of where this story arc is headed.