Viper's Creed - Episode 1

2009 may be the Chinese year of the ox, but it appears that it's also the anime year of the motorbike. First we had Rideback and its story of bikes with arms, and now here we have Viper's Creed, another series which makes heavy use of motorbikes.

If you're looking for a show that takes time to slowly set out its stall and introduce the major storyline first, then you can forget Viper's Creed, for it cares not for such trifling concerns. Instead, this opening episode is pure, masculine, blood pumping action. We don't really get regaled much as to the why or the where or the what (it's something to do with a private company fighting... stuff), all we really know is that a bunch of mercenary types are chasing an unmanned robot around a city's freeways, using motorbikes that look rather Akira-esque on the surface but also have the ever-handy ability to turn into mechas as well. Oh, and they have a ridiculous arsenal to hand too, from chainsaws to rocket launchers. Between these guys and a Rideback, the latter wouldn't last five seconds.


If there's one thing that becomes an immediately fun game while watching this series, it's playing "spot the anime rip-off". The design of the runaway machine could easily have come from Ghost in the Shell, the half-underwater city reminded me of Kurokami (amongst other things), and the limited battery life of the mechas once they're off the road has obvious Evangelion comparisons. Throw in some good old-fashioned bullet time, and you have a shopping list of things to make the average anime action fan go "oooh".

Arguably the one interesting aspect of the series is the way that (in this episode at least) it focuses quite largely on the task in hand through the eyes of each rider's operator, a female assigned to a particular driver, from their control room. Our introduction to the series is via a new operator, assigned to Saiki, probably the most kick-ass rider of the lot (albeit a man of few words). It probably speaks volumes as to how little this series cares about anything other than the action though, as I don't even remember hearing this female protagonist's name (it's Sakurako, by the way) until almost twenty minutes into the episode.

If you haven't guessed by now, this first episode of Viper's Creed has one modus operandi, and one alone - To woo you with its prettiness, its explosions and its action set to a pounding soundtrack. And you know what? It worked. This is probably the dumbest anime I've watched so far this season, but I really don't care, there's a lot to be said for watching motorbikes that can turn into robots blowing things up, however cliched it may be. I may well get bored of it as the series progresses (and episode two looks like it's going to be flashback-tastic - Who cares, just blow more stuff to smithereens!), but from this opener the action loving side of me is sold.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 17

Following Nagisa's death at the end of the last episode, this instalment of was always going to be Tomoya's version of The Smiths' Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, although thankfully the self-loathing was kept to a relative minimum here.

For starters, this episode fast forwards us five years into the future, and a world where all Tomoya does is eat, sleep and work, and when he has nothing better to do smoke and drink - Like father, like son you could say. In the meantime, young Ushio is being looked after by Akio and Sanae, so Tomoya barely sees her at all.


However, Sanae et al have clearly decided that this really isn't the way things should be moving forward, and thus Sanae draws Tomoya into a plot where he is left alone with Ushio, leaving him no choice but to care for her. Of course, he does this in a clueless, uncaring manner, just about scraping by at feeding and looking after his own daughter before the episode closes with him finally deciding to take her on the trip Sanae and Akio had intended him to take her on in the first place.

While I was more than a little relieved to find that this episode wasn't as relentlessly depressing as I was expecting, it was hard to reconcile the "new" Tomoya with the guy we've grown to love throughout Clannad up to this point - Somehow, the change from the really rather caring guy who he was into the asshole we see before us here is a little too hard to believe, even taking into account Nagisa's death. I realise his inner turmoil and hatred is supposed to be clear for all to see, and I realise that the parallels to his father are deliberate, but despite that it just doesn't quite feel believable to me. Aside from being distracted by Ushio's occasionally cute behaviour, it was this thought that bugged me somewhat throughout the episode - Perhaps I'll manage to resolve those doubts internally by next episode and perhaps I'm being too naive, but at the moment Tomoya's personality change just rings a little hollow as a step too far in that particular direction to me.

Toradora! - Episode 18

Ever since that scrap between Taiga and Sumire, Toradora! seems to be on an ever-deepening emotional spiral when it comes to the relationships between the major characters, and despite being quite a slow-paced instalment episode eighteen moves things on a little further in this sense.

Of course, the main focus is the continuing preparations for the school Christmas party, with Taiga continuing to try her best to be as good as gold, while Minori seems to be trying her best to avoid both the party itself as well as Taiga and Ryuuji. During this period we learn a bit more about Taiga's past, the reason for her unswerving belief in Santa, and see a rather generous side to her (even though she sees it as being self-centred herself).


However, the important moments of this episode come courtesy of Ami and Minori. Starting out with the former, Ami continues her knack for telling it like it is as she discusses how he feels watching everyone's attempts to set Taiga up with Kitamura, while also dropping what seems to be a not so subtle hint about her own feelings towards Ryuuji. Then there's Minori, who is still clearly deeply troubled by something, but we still get no real clues as to what this might be, despite an accident during softball training potentially bringing her closer than ever to Ryuuji.

As I've come to expect from this series, Toradora! continues to be nothing if not a triumph in characterisation - Even in a relatively quiet episode, the behaviour of both Ami and Minori could easily fill of a volume of a book on psychology and body language, with their words and actions often telling very different stories, and offering an added layer of depth to the series. The character growth on show here is well worthy of note - Take Ami as a perfect example of this, an initially hateful character who has, as the series has progressed, grown up to reveal a lot more about herself, in turn becoming more than just your generic bitchy good-looking girl. It really is compelling stuff.

Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino - Episode 12

Well, I predicted this penultimate episode of Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino to be an action-packed one, and although I wasn't entirely wrong, I can't really say that I was right either.

With Franco and Franca preparing to blow up the experimental bridge, and the Social Welfare Agency all set up and ready to stop them, it wasn't going to take long for the two to clash, and so it came to pass, with Henrietta and Pinocchio trading blows before all three terrorists manage to escape by boat, although not before Henrietta manages to lodge a bullet in Franco's shoulder.

Of course, with all of this going on their plan to blow up the bridge fails (although they do manage to deal it some damage), and thus Cristiano's future looks bleak. Franco and Franca have to break the news to Pinnochio regarding his uncle, which of course sees him set off to try to help and protect him. This sees him walk straight into a trap, and sets him up for a rematch against a rather vengeful Triela in the series final episode.


While Gunslinger Girl as an entirety has often done better when it's stayed away from pure, honest action, this episode actually felt rather empty aside from the two slices of action that acted as bread to the episode's sandwich - It didn't cover anything we hadn't seen before, and felt rather like it was retreading old ground despite the long gap since I first started watching this series. Still, it remains a passable attempt at story progression, and I can't pretend that I don't want to see how Triela fares when facing off against Pinnochio once again in Il Teatrino's grand finale.

Minami-ke Okaeri - Episode 5

"The pool" is a staple part of pretty any anime series diet, especially when it comes to slice of life shows, so I can't pretend that I was exactly shocked to see an episode of Minami-ke Okaeri focusing entirely on swimming pool related shenanigans.

If I'm honest, the whole thing started in a rather mundane fashion - It's a hot day, but Chiaki's class have to clean out the pool ready for use at the start of the Summer. The trouble is, Chiaki still can't swim, so she initially tries her best to complete this cleaning from being completed. When that fails, she instead decides to "become one" with the water by raising her body's own water level from 70 up to 80% (which, by the way, is never a good idea). Of course, this attempt fails, but she still feels bloated (and thus buoyant) enough to float - A plan which is dashed by her using bandages on her finger to distract people from her swollen stomach, as she's then told to take it easy on account of her "cut" finger.


Chiaka isn't the only one with the swimming pool on her mind, as Kana is also pondering it in her own inimitable way. Despite just enjoying some time in the school swimming pool, Kana wants more, and so invites a couple of her friends to go to the pool with her outside of school time. Cue a certain amount of amusement as both Fujioka and others try to suggest that she should invite other people along, while Kana of course gets entirely the wrong end of the stick.

The episode finishes with a failed game of "tag" at the pool, which then takes a similar turn back at the Minami sister's apartment, with things getting awkward for Touma as Fujioka's boisterous tagging gets a little too much for her. Again, there was a certain amount of amusement to be derived from this, even though gags based around Touma's gender-swapping have been done to death by now between this series and Minami-ke Okawari.

All in all then, a pretty typical episode of Minami-ke - Neither laugh out loud funny nor able to break out of its own well-worn jokes, but still somehow just about entertaining enough not to feel like a complete waste of time. It does again serve as a reminder of how much better the first series was though, proving that this franchise has never quite gotten over its "difficult second album".

Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino - Episode 11

After deviating somewhat from the series' Pinocchio arc over the past couple of instalments, episode eleven returns to the real meat of Gunslinger Girl - Il Teatrino.

However, with Pinocchio, Franca and Franco still in hiding at some quiet vinyard, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they'd all forgotten about their terrorist ways - Picking grapes, reading and lounging in the sun, even Pinocchio seems relaxed to the point of happiness.


This enforced rest is soon broken as word reaches the group that the political situation surrounding them is shifting and changing on account of recently failed missions, making it a distinct possibility that their own mission is to be canned unless they switch allegiances. Rather than do that, Franco decides that it's time to strike at the Messina bridge immediately - Or rather, the experimental "test" bridge which has sprung up alongside it. Needless to say, the Social Welfare Agency has somehow picked up on this change, and sends the girls and their handlers to meet this threat, setting us up for a potentially action-packed episode twelve.

Overall, this particular episode was a bit of a slow burner, giving us some back story on Pinocchio, and arguably spending too much time showing him and his group lounging around for the sake of filling up the episode. Beyond the political movements in the background and this back story, there isn't a massive amount to get your teeth into, as this episode looked simply to ease us into the show's penultimate instalment. Given this slightly laborious route to its grand finale, let's hope its a suitable climax to revive the Gunslinger Girl anime franchise.

Hetalia Axis Powers - Episode 2

It's WWI. Err.... Hurrah? So, episode two of Axis Powers Hetalia has come and gone, and I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this ONA.

In essence, what it appears to be trying to teach us is that Italy has been, is, and always will be, rubbish. Well, thanks for the insightful and not at all stereotypical information Hetalia! To be fair, there is the odd vaguely educational vignette hidden away in here, but it's buried so far beneath the dim-witted, cowardly, pasta obsessed portrayal of Italy, you'll be lucky to find it.


In comparison, Germany circa World War I seems to be quite forgiving and curmudgeonly, because of course Germany was a very kind-hearted nation at that point in its history....

Now, I have nothing against leaning on stereotypes for comic purposes (witness Fawlty Towers' infamous "don't mention the war" episode), but when those stereotypes are so weak they don't even offer one joke worthy of the name, then you have to wonder what the point is. Thus, I find myself wondering what the point of Axis Powers Hetalia actually is. Still, no sign of any Koreans yet.