Devil Survivor 2: The Animation - Episode 1

Hibiki Kuze and Daichi Shijima might be complete opposites personality-wise, but are they are regardless the best of friends in spite of these major differences.  It's a friendship that proves to be both their undoing and their saviour as this anime adaptation of Ninetendo DS title Devil Survivor 2 arrives this spring.

Everything seems wonderfully normal, as you might expect, as the series begins, until Daichi introduces his buddy to a "Dead Face" web site called Nicaea - a site where you can snap a photo of a friend, and at some point you'll receive a message showing said person at the time of their death.  Ghoulish thought it is all and sundry assume this to be little more than a piece of technical trickery in spite of urban legends that the service seems to be actively predicting people's deaths.

Naturally, it isn't long until Hibiki and Daichi get to see the Nicaea's true purpose for themselves - after both receiving messages showing a video on the other's death at the very underground station at which they are standing, the exact same events unfold right before their eyes, killing them both.  That isn't the end of the story however, as they're both offered another chance to live, in turn being provided with a so-called "summoning" app.  No, the series doesn't turn into another season of Baka and Test at this point, but instead the massive natural disaster that has caused the train accident and untold damage across Shibuya also brings with it the appearance of all sorts of monsters.  Confusion reigns in the wake of these strange goings-on, but it soon becomes clear that this summoning app is the key to survival for our two male protagonists and fellow student Io Nitta, while a government agency known misleadingly as the Japan Meteorological Society are also taking action of their own in response to the unfolding situation.

All in all, this was a pretty strong opening episode of Devil Surivor 2 - it introduced its characters quickly and succinctly, wasted no time in throwing us into the midst of its premise and then constructed enough action, drama and intrigue around the whole thing to hook the viewer in for the foreseeable future.  In this sense, it's following very clearly in the footsteps of Persona 4: The Animation (for obvious reasons) which is certainly no bad thing, and with a concept that feels rather like Persona 4 meets Gantz I'm certainly keen to see whether the series can continue to keep its delivery slick, and of course whether it has a strong enough story to back that up.

Red Data Girl - Episode 1

Izumiko Suzuhara is a girl who wants to change, and understandably so - her looks her plain, she's teased and bullied and school, and her father who lives in America is insistent that she go to high school in Tokyo; exactly what a quiet girl such as she dreads.

No matter how clumsy and ordinary she might look from the outside, there is clearly something decidedly unique about Suzuhara - no, not just her wealthy background or a supposed inability to use the Internet, but the fact that when she does try to use a computer all sorts of weirdness ensues.  Thus, a normal lesson in the school computer lab turns into an underwater videoconference with her father which seems to be decidedly dreamlike, but ultimately proves not to be as the incident ends with all of the systems in the room blowing while the content of Izumiko's conversation with her dad turns out to be entirely accurate.

Although she might want to avoid attention, this proves rather difficult when her father sends someone to look after her who kicks things off by landing a helicopter on the school grounds.  What's more, the man in question - Yukimasa Sagara - has brought a boy with him; a sulky and incredibly rude boy who Izumiko remembers from his past.  It appears that time has changed the already fractious relationship between the two of them, as Miyuki Sagara is now to all intents and purposes introduced as Suzuhara's "manservant".  So just why does everyone tread on eggshells around Suzuhara and treat her like some kind of royalty?  That's a question we'll have to wait a little longer to see answered.

That's right everybody, it's new anime season time again, meaning that the circle of life, death and slumping in front of the TV every night has begun again.  As openers go, Red Data Girl just about gets its balance right - it doesn't dump huge gobs of exposition upon us, nor does it keep its powder completely dry, giving us just enough information to reel us in without telling us anything near all of the salient points we need to know to get a full grasp of the story.  This is an episode that is more a case of "not doing anything wrong" rather than explicitly doing anything particularly fantastic, and the result is an opening gambit that has left me suitably intrigued and wanting more to see how things develop - a clear case of "mission accomplished" at this point, in other words.

Saki - Episode of Side-A - Episode 15

It's very much crunch time in Episode of Side-A as we reach the show's penultimate episode, and its final round of matches to decide who reaches the national team final.  Can Shizuno really hope to hold her own against the "monsters" she's been pitted against?

Certainly, things don't look like they'll be easy for Achiga, and right off the bat Awai Oohoshi makes life difficult by effectively slowing down all of her opponents hands - add in Shindouji school's Himeko Tsurata and her double-act with previous match-up star Mairu Shirouzu and it's no surprising which individuals dominate the early play.  However, don't underestimate Ryuuka's part in proceedings, as it seems that some of Toki's abilities have finally rubbed off on her - or more precisely, they've rubbed off on her thighs.  Stop looking at me like that, I don't come up with this stuff.

Things only get worse still when Awai demonstrates what you could call her "real" power - the ability to produce a double Riichi, which she duly does while in the dealers seat, first to create a bonus round, and then to try and win that round.  While nobody else seems to have sufficient data to really know how to handle this turn of events, it's finally Shizuno's time to shine thanks to some handy hints and top coaching by Harue.  There's still something of a mountain to climb during the second half of this match however.

After once again suffering simply from the huge gap in time between episodes, which again has left me taking quite some time to acclimatise to this show's rarefied air, the second half of this episode in particular came along nicely.  Yes, its special powers and abilities are becoming ever-more ludicrous by the episode, but somehow it never reaches the point of imbalancing the match in progress too far or draining the unfolding events of their tension.  It's perhaps this ability to list the sensational and the mundane which is Saki's own superpower, and even though it would be enjoyable in a more concentrated form without months between episodes, it still has quite a lot to offer.  Then again, surely the fact that we only have one episode left to go with the semi-final unfinished is in itself something of a spoiler for how things are going to end in Achiga's case....

Bakuman Season 3 - Episode 25 (Completed)

After three series and seventy-five episodes, we come to the end of Bakuman.  Tissues at the ready...

With all of its major elements effectively put to bed before we even reached this finale, this last episode is really something of a love letter to the series and its characters, giving us one last look at what they're up to while reminding us that the rivalry between Nizuma and Ashirogi Muto still burns strong.

The real focus of the episode however is, of course, Mashiro and Miho's relationship, as it finally comes to fruition - unfortunately, this also means a reminder of just how stupid pretty much all of the romantic relationships in this series have been in terms of being both unbelievable and downright silly.  Still, it's hard not to enjoy the happy ending somewhat having enjoyed all of the trials and tribulations of the main cast up to this point.

Putting the daft romance concepts aside, this third season of Bakuman as a whole has been by far the most satisfying, not just because it largely ignored its romantic elements but also because it somehow managed to draw all of the best elements out of what has made the wider series so enjoyable - the drama, the tension, the strong relationships between characters.  This adaptation hasn't always been a triumph, but this final series hit the target far more often than it missed the mark, and as a result it's given us a fitting end to a show that has been both enjoyable and, in its own way, informative.  I would say "if only there were more series like this", but I'm not sure that Bakuman's particular slant on the world is something that could be readily repeated.

Little Busters! - Episode 25

After the onset of another bout of narcolepsy, Naoe feels like there's something important that he's forgotten that he can't quite put a finger on.  But never mind that, there's baseball to be played!

At least, there would be if the Little Busters weren't still one member short of a full team - something which looks set to be problematic given that Kyousuke has lined the group up for their first match against a team of "all-stars" comprising the captains of the school's various sports clubs.  For Kyousuke's part, he seems confident that they'll have their final member soon enough, but who could he be thinking of?

This concern fades into the backdrop as our attention turns to Miyuki Koshiki, an archery ace who has had to quit her club after her eyesight was damaged by illness.  Cut adrift by this loss of her hobby, Koshiki turns to Kengo for advice, and when his words are less than helpful it seems that she feels no other option than to commit suicide (from the school rooftop no less).  Still feeling guilty at his own words however, it's Kengo who steps up to save her as she falls from the roof, breaking his arm and destroying his own short-term dreams in the process.  It's of no consequence to Kengo however, as he opts instead to join the Little Busters for their inaugural match - it's almost as if Kyousuke knew what was going to happen...

Now that we can look towards its final episode, it's clear where its major hook emanates from, but unfortunately the whole thing was set up via another clunky episode that introduced a new character and then threw her to the wolves so quickly that we had no time to empathise with her at all.  It's a problem that has plagued much of Little Busters, and is a real blow to a show that leans so heavily upon its emotional angle, and I don't see even a stellar finale undoing much of that longer-term damage to what the show has tried to achieve.

Space Brothers - Episode 51

Nitta has recovered his phone but missed his all-important phone call as this week's Space Brothers begins - so what next for this rather different pair of space brothers?

Although the obvious answer to this seems to be "call Kazuya back", Nitta doesn't even really entertain this notion (surely it would have been worth a try), instead bemoaning the difference between his relationship with his brother and those of the Nanba siblings.  Of course, the external view of Hibito and Mutta as perfect brothers is far from true, as Mutta tries to explain, but Nitta is perhaps too caught up in his own perceived failings to really register this.

Meanwhile, Nitta might have missed the opportunity to talk to Kazuya directly, but he seems to have reckoned without his ability to talk to his brother indirectly via a video interview on the JAXA web site, which borrows some thoughts provided by Kazuya himself in his youth while also delivering a stirring speech on the importance of always moving forward.  Is it enough to bring Nitta's brother out of his slump?  Perhaps not in isolation, but it seems to be an important first step along his road to recovery.

Even in this arguably weak story arc, there's still something to be said about Space Brothers' delivery here - its willingness to eschew a "happily ever after" ending for something a little more realistic works in its stead, as does the subtlety of some of its emotional content.  That said, I'm looking forward to (hopefully) returning to some "proper" space-centric narrative again going forward, as ultimately that's what we're all here for each week.

Sasami-san@Ganbaranai - Episode 12 (Completed)

After all of her mutterings about plans and her organisation, the finale of Sasami-san@Ganbaranai finally lifts the lid on exactly what Jou Edogawa's plan is (nope, she isn't a chuunibyou) - oh, and the reason for that whole part-time penis thing as well.

Given her demeanor and constant assertions that she's going to kill Sasami, it isn't a huge surprise to find out that her plan is an entirely nefarious one, which involved summoning Kuzuryuu, a rather nasty deity who should, in theory, have the power to destroy and/or subjugate the entire world.  With Sasami outside of the barrier created around the island where her plan is being set into motion, it seems as if everything is in place to achieve her goal.

Certainly, Jou and her henchmen have little trouble doing away with Kagami and Tsurugi, while Tama is chosen as the centrepiece of the ritual to bring Kuzuryuu back into being - from here, it's simply a case of making a link to Sasami and offering her a position as the priestess which rules over this new world.  Defeated and with no other option at hand, Sasami is all set to accept this proposal... or is she?  Instead, it seems that the whole thing was a bluff, as Sasami reveals her true location as the plan to defeat Edogawa and Kuzuryuu swings into action.

I think it's fair to say that the stellar first episode of Sasami-san@Ganbaranai somewhat blinded me to the reality of what the series as a whole would be like - an occasionally entertaining, often convoluted show that often seemed better served at using its premise for comedy than it did any kind of supernatural drama.  It's certainly the kind of quirky offering that suits SHAFT's production values and sensibilities down to the ground, but that still wasn't really enough to lift it from the depths of mediocrity more than occasionally.  Once the cat was out of the bag regarding the show's main hooks, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai was (ironically, given its title) workmanlike but unspectacular save for the odd moment here and there.