Kokoro Connect - Episode 9

The last few days have seen this series (or, more accurately, some of its production staff) conjure up more drama than even its premise and characters could dream of in a blaze of bullying and recriminations.  Still, let's put that to one side for a moment to find out what's next for our group of rapidly deteriorating friends.

Having reached a low ebb in last week's episode, it seems that Taichi has finally gotten himself together enough to try and reassemble his friends starting with Iori, who is more than happy to hear his apologies and his realisation that he can be decidedly stubborn to the point of being selfish once he gets a train of thought into his head.  Along those lines, Aoki is similarly happy to be welcomed back into the fold, leaving us with just the remaining female members of the gang to convince.

While Inaba continues to avoid Iori and company, Taichi and Aoki turn their attentions towards Yui, eventually persuading her to talk to them and, in a rather unorthodox manner, they assure her that no matter what happens she won't find herself with an overwhelming desire to hurt people to the point of it being uncontrollable.  Although Aoki doesn't get his wish of spending a night in a love hotel with her, Yui subsequently returns to school to a hugely warm welcome, while the group's after-school club is almost complete again... even if they are finding their desires hard to control when it comes to food.  This leaves us to focus once again on Inaba, as she squirrels herself away from the others - a state of affairs that causes Heartseed to intervene to force her hand into returning to the fold, in the knowledge that her deepest held desire could well cause massive problems for the entire group...

With a major focusing on moving all of its proverbial chess pieces into place for maximum emotional impact over the next episode or two, this was an unspectacular yet solid instalment that perhaps could have done a little more to drill into the psyche of its characters at this point but nonetheless still delivered a reasonably entertaining and somewhat amusing episode.  It's Inaba's current dilemma that is really the most fascinating aspect of the current story arc at this point however, meaning that her return to the group seems assured to cause fireworks next week.  Let's just hope the show's production manages to avoid causing similar fireworks moving forward - there certainly need to be one or two individuals dunked into buckets of cold water before they cause any further damage, that's for sure.

Eureka Seven AO - Episode 18

Ao's defection to America and the Allies at the end of last week's episode of Eureka Seven AO begged plenty of questions, but as far as Generation Bleu was concerned there's no time for such questions as they need to make up for their lost pilot.

As a result, we see Fleur and Elena testing, and ultimately failing, to make use of the Third Engine of their IFOs - a baffling problem given the ease with which Ao succeeded in using it.  Speaking of Ao himself, he's "enjoying" all of the formalities of switching sides, including vast swathes of paperwork.  Oh, and jellybeans.

The stress of Ao's defection inevitably causes friction between his former fellow pilots, and both Fleur and Elena seem to be struggling with his decision, creating emotional turmoil between the two of them which eventually causes them to come to blows while also revealing at least a little more about their personalities and feelings.  With nobody else to turn to, both parties end up making the same decision - to head out and face up to Ao to ask him what he's playing at, regardless of the fact that he's currently situated in the middle of a heavily fortified American aircraft carrier.  Having already learned some more about the cause of Ao's defection, it's perhaps unsurprising that Elena and Fleur's appeal for his return have an instant effect and an equally instantaneous decision for this pivotal player in a battle which is fast becoming far more than a struggle between humanity and the Secrets.

So another week brings us another polished, well-plotted and paced episode of Eureka Seven AO.  Although there is still so much left unsaid, it was great to see the series dig at least a little deeper into the behaviour of its three major child pilots - Ao's decision-making process in defecting away from Generation Bleu seems almost unbelievably flawed until you remember that he's only thirteen and hardly capable of making such big decisions logically, while both the friendship between Fleur and Elena and the secrets they both hold has made them all the more fascinating.  Add in the fact that the series is turning more towards a tale of humanity clashing with itself, and there's rather an Evangelion-esque feel to the subject matter of the show at this point - it's a comparison that Eureka Seven AO can never hope to win in absolute terms, but existing in its own animated bubble it's no bad thing and I'm more than happy to see it continue in a similar vein moving forward.

Natsuyuki Rendezvous - Episode 9

It's a lovely day for a trek out in the country - a good job too, as Shimao continues to make full use of Hazuki's body by taking him out to the one spot he can remember taking an outing with Rokka, unaware that his wife is in hot pursuit of him in the midst of a confused state of her own.

Unfortunately, it takes us most of the episode to reach the meeting between these two characters, as the episode instead spends much of its time engaging in yet more flashbacks to Shimao and Rokka's past before the former's death, while Hazuki continues to meander through the fairy tale world in which he's trapped.  While some of these elements (such as Shimao's entry into the Ministry of Silly Walks when he runs) prove to be pivotal to the latter part of the episode, a lot of it simply feels like this series spinning its wheels some more.

Eventually though, Rokka not only catches up to Shimao, but realises exactly who he is to the point where Shimao himself can do nothing to deny it as his plan has spiralled way, way too far out of his control to do anything.  Is it time for him to step aside and let Hazuki have his own body back, or is Shimao's selfishness about to reach a new level now that the game is up and a tearful Rokka has realised exactly what is going on?

That cliffhanger is really one of the few saving graces of an episode which is an exercise in frustration - every now and again you get a glimpse of what Natsuyuki Rendezvous can do as it delivers some poignant musings on a shrinking lifetime with a serious illness and the horrible decisions it forces either you or your loved ones to make, but much of this threatens to be lost in unnecessary flashbacks and prevarication which do little to nothing to advance the story.  I'm beginning to think that this series would have been better served as a shorter OVA - trim the fat and cut out swathes of needless exposition and backstory and you'd have a tightly focused and incredibly emotional story that would blow anyone with a heart away.  In its current form however, Natsuyuki Rendezvous feels like a prime example of wasted potential; a series with lots of important things to say, drowned out in the minutiae it insists on surrounding those key story beats with.

Moyashimon Returns - Episode 9

With Hasegawa's unwilling French adventure still continuing, it seems that she's finally decided to unleash her secret weapon upon the poor, unsuspecting Ryuuta - drunk Haruka.

Needless to say, this is rather a shock to the system for Hasegawa's soon to be husband, which in turn affords her some peace and quiet to go sight-seeing by herself the next morning.  With even Ryuuta's driver seemingly on Haruka's side as he warns her that this is likely to be her final morning of freedom, she decides that she has no choice but to do a runner, and so tracks down Misato and Kawahama to make good on that escape.

While Misato is (rather awkwardly) left in charge of looking after Haruka, Kawahama heads back to the group's "base" - namely Marie's home, where she's currently waiting for the return of the others with Sawaki.  This allows us to dig a little deeper into Marie's relationship with her father and the exact reason behind her refusal to take on the family's wine-making business - a decision that is far, far more complex than her simply having a dislike for that lifestyle; far from it in fact.  Thanks to Sawaki's ability to talk to microbes, he also comes to realise that Marie's father is struggling as the current successor to the business, giving him another problem to ponder as well as what to do about Hasegawa's escape.

Having fallen rather flat last week, this was a far more entertaining episode of Moyashimon - funnier, more snappily paced and generally enjoyable as it had enough faith to let some of its characters bounce off one another without feeling the need to force any of the issues at hand.  It's increasingly feeling like Haruka's "escape" will see us through to the end of this series, which is perhaps a shame in a sense as there's still so much left unsaid and otherwise unresolved back in Japan, but for the most part I'm certainly enjoying this series far more than I'm lamenting its slip-ups.

Joshiraku - Episode 7

Just what is the modern pentathlon about?  And why doesn't the biathlon involve playing karuta?  These are just some of the important (and thankfully still vaguely topical) questions asked by this seventh episode of Joshiraku.

In rather contrived fashion, pondering the point of certain Olympic events evolves into worries amongst our rakugo girls about being left single forever.  There's surely only one way to alleviate that concern and ensure marriage at an early age - become a delinquent.  Naturally, it's to Marii the other turn for the definitive guide to becoming a true delinquent, whether it's from using overly complex characters or creating a suitable legend to confirm your delinquent status - a Legend of the Galactic Heroes, perhaps?  Wait, that can't be right...

For the second segment of this episode, we visit a fish auction for some reason, admiring the voices and movement of those working there before the topic of conversation evolves into discussing dream vehicles - whatever you do, never let Kukuru near an industrial crane.  Some nattering about names later, we move on to the final segment, and concerns from the boss about a high electricity bill.  But where is this high electricity usage coming from?  Certainly not the sumo wrestler trapped under the floor, nor the rats infesting the roof, so what on Earth is the problem?  And besides, can't the electricity companies just use other means to generate more electricity, like a shady "love café" or something?

So concludes another inevitably hit and miss episode of Joshiraku, but one that hit hard and succeeded in causing some great laugh out loud moments when it hit the spot.  Inevitably, the language barrier is what stopped certain segments of this particular instalment from being even funnier, and there are times when it feels as if the series is almost threatening to become over-reliant on Marii as the butt of all the jokes, but Joshiraku remains an entertaining prospect even if it seems to be growing more surreal by the week.

Persona 4: The Animation - Episode 26 "True Ending" OVA (Completed)

I remember a time when a Director's Cut release meant something, but these days they mostly seem to be more or the same with the odd new scene or moment shoe-horned in here and there - so it goes with the Director's Cut of Persona 4: The Animation's twenty-fifth episode.  Still, at least it served as a reminder before delving into the real meat of this particular offering - the additional bonus "true ending" episode to the series, subtitle No-one Is Alone.

After beginning by teasing us with some brief shots of what appears to be a battle between protagonist Yu and the Velvet Room's Margaret, we return to normality, jumping forward in time from the events of episode twenty-five to see Narukami joining the gang in preparations for his farewell party.  Indeed, all seems to be as normal as the usual suspects goof around... but is everything really as it seems?  Something appears to be up, and a letter received by Yu from Adachi confirms it - the Midnight Channel's rabbit hole goes deeper still...

More specifically, the whole thing leads to the first meeting Narukami had after arriving in Yasoinaba, and lo and behold Yu soons confirms his suspicions as he finds the true mastermind between both the Midnight Channel and his own powers.  With Narukami in a vulnerable state as he laments the fact that he's about to lose his friends, this new suspect puts him through the wringer as he points out that the rest of humanity will take none too kindly to our hero doing his part to dissolve the fog that previously enveloped the town, thus stripping people of the opportunity to pruriently see the weaknesses of their fellow man.  Just as all hope is lost, and with Narukami seemingly prepared to accept an illusory happiness rather than his reality, it's Margaret who arrives to save the day and remind Yu of the importance of the truth in everything that he's done up to this point.  This time the struggle really is over, and they all live happily ever after.  Probably.  Who knows, I live in the UK so I can't even play Persona 4 Arena...

For all of my quibbles with the original ending to Persona 4, it still did a pretty good job of rounding things off to the point where this "true ending" didn't really feel necessary beyond the fact that it was part of the original PlayStation 2 game.  Having watched this episode, I'd really rather it had been left out to be frank, as this additional episode was a clumsy, muddled and disjointed affair - sometimes deliberately so admittedly, but it never really seemed to add anything particularly of value to everything which had gone before.  On top of this, it feels as though ever expense was spared in the production of this episode, with decidedly shaky animation quality which only added to the feeling that the whole thing was hurriedly stuck together in the name of boosting Blu-Ray sales.  I guess it's good for fans of the game to get a feeling of closure from the series thanks to it covering all of the angles of its source material, but as someone who hasn't played the game from beginning to end, part of me wishes that they hadn't bothered with this OVA in its current form.

Tari Tari - Episode 9

Now that Sawa's problems are resolved (or at least sufficiently abated to allow her life to return to normal), it appears that it's Wien's turn in the emotional spotlight for this latest arc of Tari Tari.

As our Viennese friend spaces out and frets over the return of some undelivered air mail letters, Miyamoto seems to have conjured up some particularly grandiose ideas for the forthcoming White Festival - a full-on musical drama, complete with costumes and all.  The trouble is, putting on such a spectacular show costs money, and where are they going to get that from?  What's more, Wakana is struggling hugely with how to go about writing a song without her mother to guide her in the right direction.

Still, at least the group's money worries seem to be resolved easily enough, as our quintet of club members are roped into a rather unusual gig by Sawa's mother - dressing as superheroes to promote the local shopping market.  This is exactly what Wien needs to be pulled out of his current funk, and our superhero-lover wastes no time in arranging everything with so much passion that it soon becomes clear that something is wrong, as he spills the beans to his friends about a young boy back in Vienna with whom he's lost contact.  While Wien looks upon his turn as a superhero as a chance for redemption of sorts, it seems as if even the higher-ups in the school are having to face up to problems of their own...

Although it has a fair few different plot threads to run with, this week's Tari Tari was a bit of a mediocre affair - it had its moments, but didn't reach any of the peaks we've seen earlier in the series in terms of either comedy or emotional content.  At this point in time, Wien's troubles feel like weak sauce compared to those of his friends, leaving the unspecified troubles featuring the school's principle and vice-principle as our main hope of something suitable dramatic as the show enters its final straight.  For now though, this feels likely to be the weakest story arc of the bunch so far, although maybe next week's instalment can somehow succeed in proving me wrong.