Star Driver - Episode 25 (Completed)

It's taken what seems like an eternity, but we're here at last - the end of Star Driver.  I think it's fair to say it hasn't exactly dazzled the stage but let's see how it winds up, shall we?

As the end of last week's episode suggested, this finale is one long, balls to the wall battle in Zero Time, with the appearance of Sugata piloting Samekh for seemingly unknown reasons while Head now has his own Cybody in the form of Sinpathy.  With Keito's seal broken, anything can happen and duly does, with Head taking control of Samekh using that aforementioned Cybody before disowning the rest of the Glittering Crux as he unveils his grand plan involving the destruction of the whole planet and the use of Samekh's resulting powers to travel back in time over and over again to what he considers his golden era.  An allegory for the desires of the older generation in Japan, perhaps?

If that isn't bad enough, Head also resurrects all of the Cybodies Takuto has defeated previously to rise up against him, while Wako Apprivoise's to protect Tauburn only to find herself seemingly at the mercy of Head.  Can anyone save the world?  They certainly try, as the remainder of the Glittering Crux pull some kind of stunt out of their ass (it wouldn't be Star Driver without doing that, right?) to retake control of their Cybodies before launching an ultimately fruitless offensive against Head.  Cue Takuto's turn to do the impossible and save the day, before going on to break Wako's seal (oo-er missus) in an attempt to stop Sugata sealing himself away with Samekh, preferring instead to risk the entire planet for the sake of his friend.  Mission accomplished after a final battle in space, Takuto and Sugata both float to their certain deaths in the airlessness of space.  Probably.

It's taken half a year, but we finally we get the episode of Star Driver everyone had been crying out for from the very start.  Okay, it still has an utterly stupid plot (Head's motivations and actions come straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon, and Takuto's decision-making isn't much better), but it had lots of awesome action and visual spectacle to make up for that lack of coherency.  Having seen this example of what Star Driver could have been all about somehow only serves to make the rest of the series all the more disappointing - if only the series had this level of tension and peril written into it from the very start, then we might have been able to forgive the ridiculous dei ex machina that turned up on a regular basis and the distracting slice of life shenanigans that would have served better as a spin-off series in its own right.  In terms of wasted potential, this Star Driver must rank at the top of the tree for the last year, and one line in this final episode really said it all: an exclamation of "this battle meant something".  At the show's own admission it took twenty-five episodes to have a meaningful battle in a series built around such action sequences - I rest my case.

Star Driver - Episode 24

Even a show as largely dull and tepid as Star Driver can't screw up its penultimate episode on account of being too dull... although episode twenty-four certainly tries its best at doing just that before the sheer weight of interesting stuff available to the series finally forces its way through.

Ignoring the largely uninteresting slice of life angle to the episode, things start to warm up as Head's "experiment" (for want of a better word) Shingo awakes, transferring his powers to Takuto's daddy and thus bringing us a step closer to the prospect of some excitement.  It's up to Keito to do the rest of the work however, as she pledges herself to Sugata in the aftermath of his defection to the Glittering Crux (the guy just couldn't resist the opportunity to swan around in a daft costume, I suspect) and thus kicks off the beginning of the end... of this series, if not the whole island and beyond.

With Kanako showing a surprising amount of concern for the island's residents and Keito providing a flashback that neatly sums up the origins of her connection to Sugata and how it relates to Wako and Sugata's own relationship, it's finally Zero Time... err, time.  This gives the show the chance of two big reveals as Keito shows her face as a Glittering Crux member before Sugata makes his fabulous entrance for the Glittering Crux.  Head breaks Keito's maidenly seal (ooh-err missus) using his own newly procured Cybody, bringing them into the next phase and, with Sugata seemingly ready to make use of his own power to help things along, Takuto seems to be in an almighty pinch.

Okay, I have to confess, the end of this week's episode of Star Driver was pretty damn cool - once I'd suppressed my laughter at the sheer stupidity of nobody recognising any Glittering Crux member until they remove their mask and go "hey, guess who?!", there were some awesome visuals on show and everything seems set up right to deliver a finale free from all the fluff and nonsense that the series has drowned in up to this point.  The fact that it took half the episode to get to this "good bit" remains a blatant reminder of everything that's wrong with Star Driver, but at least for once it seems set to actually deliver on its potential - if only it hadn't left it so late to do so.

Star Driver - Episode 23

Another week, another sparring session in the dojo between Sugata and Takuto - however, this time it seems that Sugata is trying to up the stakes as he brings the love triangle between the two of them and Wako even more into focus; an attempt that might as well have been a big neon sign above Sugata's head for the entire episode reading "PLOT TWIST AHEAD".

Matters are further complicated a little later that same day, as Sugata receives a portrait of himself painted by Takuto's father - a revelation that doesn't really bother Takuto in the slighest... you'd have thought he could at least pretend to be invested in proceedings while we're all sat here at home trying our best to care in the face of utter mediocrity.  Anyhow, Sugata turns up the brightness on his plot twist sign by inviting Wako out on a date, where he goes on to ask her to kiss him, very much testing the waters of their relationship while Takuto mooches around, seemingly lost in his own thoughts of Wako before a brief interlude which involves punching his father in the face - this guy has clearly been taking too many relationship tips from Takuto.

That evening it's Takuto's turn for a date with Wako, which is of course interrupted by the appearance of Zero Time right on cue.  This time however Takuto finds himself facing not one, not two, but three enemies, making fending them off a seemingly impossible task for Tauburn.... except of course this is Star Driver, so instead of worrying about such things we just had to watch the clock and wait for Takuto to pull a new move out of his ass.  He duly does exactly that, albeit using Sugata both for the suggestion of how to win and the actual implementation thereof, emerging victorious once again.  Back in safety of the cafe, Wako confides that she's never worried about Takuto and Sugata losing - it's nice to know we aren't the only ones bored to tears by the action scenes, I suppose.  But what's this?  A major plot twist involving Sugata?  Wow, I never saw that one coming at all.

Okay, so Sugata's defection does make things a bit more interesting for the final couple of episodes, and it does also fit in better with the evolving relationship dynamic between the remaining maidens, Sugata and Takuto.  However, that doesn't make this anything less than another clumsy implemented slice of utter mediocrity where Zero Time also means Zero Excitement and Zero Peril.  Nothing has grabbed or surprised me even at this late stage of the game, meaning that the only real excitement I have left is the thought that in a couple of weeks I'll finally be done with this tepid series - fingers crossed it doesn't get licensed in the UK so that I have to watch it all over again though.

Star Driver - Episode 22

Now that the lead female role for the drama club's school play has been decided, you can probably guess what takes up almost the entirety of Star Driver's twenty-second episode.  That's right, this week we get two contrived storylines for the price of one!

The play in question tells the story of a girl who nobody can see (played by Wako), aside from one man alone (played by Sugata) who sets eyes on her one day.  Of course, the two fall in love, but this man named Columner is still unable to touch or hold the girl, Kleis - something that he learns to live with until he's offered an opportunity to change this by a mysterious woman in return for sailing a ship.  This is no ordinary ship however but some kind of magical device, and drunk with power Columner forgets all about Kleis as he becomes king of this particular world, leaving Kleis alone until the appearance of another man named Mark who is played by Takuto and really doesn't do anything interesting at all aside from getting to kiss Wako at the end of the entire ordeal.  Which is, to be fair, a pretty awesome thing to do.

Aside from this attempt to paint Star Driver's story and character interactions with a different brush and offer some additional foreshadowing for the final few episodes, this episode also introduces Takuto's visiting middle school friend and first crush, while also seeing Sugata discover just what our East maiden has been up to with him in the dead of night.  Above all though, much of this episode is really just about hammering home the current state of Wako's heart when it comes to choosing between Sugata and Takuto, as though the end of last week's episode didn't make that entirely clear and we needed to sit through all of this to explain things.

I probably wouldn't be so harsh on this episode if it were ensconced within the first half of Star Driver, but with only three episodes to go the series still seems intent on pissing away what little time it has left on incredibly dull and forced plot devices in the hope of somehow seeming "deep" that really add very little to either the show or its characters.  I know that Star Driver is a lost cause now, but there's still so much I want to like about it that even at this juncture I get frustrated by its inability to do anything worthy of note with its setting and the individuals within them.  Goodness knows it has enough intriguing, likeable or downright cool characters to play with, so how we ended up with this tepid and clumsy cluster-fuck of a series is becoming increasingly mind-boggling.

Star Driver - Episode 21

After laying a revelation about Takuto (or rather, his parentage) our way last week, you might have thought that Star Driver would want to build on that intriguing turn of events in episode twenty-one.  However, you might then remember that this is Star Driver we're talking about, and assume that it'll be back to business as usual as per the rest of the series.  And you know what?  You'd be absolutely right.

The big news this time around is that the Glittering Crux Brigade are finally ready to début their "Overphase" system for Cybodies - a technology which won't allow them to reach that much-vaunted fourth phase (they still need a maiden for that), but will allow them to boost their powers above that of a standard third phase encounter.  Of course, the use of this untested technology will be potentially dangerous, but Madoka Kei (aka Window Cleaner... sorry, Window Star) is up for having another crack at Takuto and Tauburn.

So, with the Overphase technology put to use, we find ourselves faced with an intriguing new threat for Takuto to handle - a literal mix of Cybody and Madoka so that we can't tell where one begins as the other begins, or to put it more bluntly Takuto is going to have to wrestle with a giant, horny Madoka Kei.  No surprise then that Takuto struggles to fight against an opponent it appears he'll have to actually kill to win against, and no surprise either than this entire state of affairs pisses off Wako something chronic... so much so that it's her turn to pull a special ability out of her ass this week, unveiling the power to "downphase" a Cybody and reducing Window Star to her usual third phase state so that Takuto can beat her, which he duly does.  Still, it looks as though Wako has chosen her man at last; let's face it, anything must be better than that stuffy old Sugata.

Not for the first time with this series, Star Driver hits upon something interesting only to render it utterly dull and useless with its staunch refusal to add any kind of peril to proceedings.  In this case, we were finally faced with a conflict where someone absolutely had to die, no questions ask or no chance to sidestep this brutal truth... until the episode pulls out a deus ex machina so it can all end without anyone getting hurt.  What. The. Fuck. Star. Driver.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is why everyone is raving about Puella Magi Madoka Magica and the world it's woven where everything has serious and realistic consequences; this is also why nobody gives two flying monkeys about Star Driver any more.  The sooner this show finishes and puts us all out of its abjectly mediocre misery the better.

Star Driver - Episode 20

With Star Driver fast running out of episodes, its time for this series to start getting a serious move on in terms of plot development and adding some spice to its major story lines - thankfully, that's exactly what this twentieth episode sets out to do.

In essence, this week's instalment is a tale of two love triangles - of course, we've been watching the triangle that encompasses Sugata, Takuto and Wako since the very start of the series, but that particular conundrum sees something of a shift as Takuto finds himself jealous of the close relationship shared by the other too; indeed, it's the same quandary that it appears caused Keito to separate herself from her former friends.

However, that scenario is well and truly cast into the shade compared to another love triangle we're introduced to this episode, that being the relationship between Tokio (aka the head of Vanishing Age and the Glittering Crux Brigade), Katashiro (another Glittering Crux member) and Sora, a girl who started with an arranged marriage to the latter before falling in love with the former and seemingly bearing his child before leaving the island - no prizes for guessing who that child is...

In the midst of all this we see Camel Star (not sponsored by a cigarette company, in case you're wondering) trying to shake things up, as he figures out the true identity of the East Maiden and puts his own plan into effect to break the Southern Maiden (aka Wako's) seal.  Cue a Zero Time battle than sees Takuto fighting whilst somewhat disabled courtesy of Camel Star's first phase, while his plan ends up causing a minor civil war between Glittering Crux Cybody drivers, in turn allowing Takuto and Tauburn to win the day... as per usual.

After frittering away so many (read: almost all) of its episodes, it's nice to see things finally building in an interesting direction at this late stage - although I can't quite get my head around Takuto's parentage at this juncture (is Tokio really that old?), we did learn some significant information about the man at the helm of the Glittering Crux Brigade, finally see a fire (or at least a slightly damp match) lit under Takuto's feelings for Wako, and perhaps most important we got a Zero Time battle that was interesting for almost thirty whole seconds, which is a new record on my watch.  With next week's episode also promising to continue in the right direction, can Star Driver pull out a decent ending to this tepid series?  It won't be enough to save it from the halls of anime mediocrity, but regardless of that I sure hope it does so that my hours of watching this series don't prove to be in vain.

Star Driver - Episode 19

While Ruri's relationship with her boyfriend is going well (and seemingly involving kissing both with and without glass), there are more important fish to fry for Star Driver's nineteenth episode - namely Wako's birthday.

Of course, Wako spends said birthday with both Takuto and Sugata, who proceed to spoil her by cooking her a curry and giving her... well, some rather rubbish presents to be honest.  With karaoke next on the agenda however, the group's celebrations threaten being ruined by the appearance of Madoka and Kou, with the latter revealing her first phase ability to effectively steal the body of another.  You can probably tell where this is headed, with the two girls stealing Sugata and Takuto's bodies for a while; not that they succeed in fooling anybody, with Wako in particular showing a rather vicious streak when it comes to dealing with these imposters.

From here we move straight on to the episode's big battle sequence, and in keeping with what went before this time around it's Kou's turn to have a crack at Tauburn with her own Cybody, complete with a ridiculous introduction (which is nicely poked fun at by the show itself) and a Cybody with the ability to transform into a jet-like flying machine that looks like it could give her the upper hand against Takuto... until of course he pulls the ability for Tauburn to fly out of his own ass to continue this show's long line of having no idea how to end a battle and choosing to just make shit up as it goes along instead.

In fairness, this was a pretty cool battle sequence even if that ending was so predictable it rather ruined the whole thing, and bonus points to this episode for poking fun at itself on a couple of occasions which amused me somewhat.  That aside, I felt that the whole "body snatching" aspect of this episode was rather a wasted opportunity - not much was done with a scenario that was ripe with potential, and Kou and Madoka were both so useless in their body switching roles that they frittered away the chance to cause some genuine chaos far outside simply messing with Wako's head.

Still, this was one of the more entertaining Star Driver episodes of late that didn't leave me watching the clock and waiting for it to end for once, so that can only be a good thing.  It's still hardly boosted my interest in the broader facets of the storyline though, and at the rate it's going it looks like it's simply going to run out of time to explore them all while it concerns itself with Sugata's cooking, pointless mecha battles and the like.

Star Driver - Episode 18

Whoever could the oh-so mysterious Eastern Maiden be?  If last week's episode didn't ruin any surprise that revelation could have brought our way within seconds of posing the question, then the beginning of this eighteenth instalment of Star Driver duly ensures that any dramatic tension along these lines are summarily ruined.

That aside, this episode begins with an end of summer barbecue party and Takuto and company's dorm - a party which ends up turning into an outright firework battle once Madoka and Kou get involved in matters.  Next thing we know, Takuto's room is ablaze, leaving him having to stay with Sugata while his decimated living space is rebuilt.

From here, the rest of the episode is spent hammering the identity of the Eastern maiden into our brains over and over again, just in case we were so stupid we'd somehow missed it already.  Okay, I'm being a bit harsh, as we also get a bit more insight into Keito's personality as her importance to the series grows all the way through to the intriguing final scene of the episode.

Still, rather than a Zero Time battle this week, we instead get "treated" to a little scrap using Madoka's First Phase, as she butts into the middle of some sword training between Sugata and Takuto before creating one of those confusing, all-enveloping darknesses where you can't tell whether you're about to strike friend or foe - you know, the kind you've seen a million times before in other anime and cartoons, only far less interesting in this case thanks to Sugata fixing the problem with a quick blast from his King's Pillar (which sounds like a euphemism for something, but really isn't).  So, the day is saved, and so is BONES' giant robot animation budget for this week.

If you can't tell by my world-weary cynicism in this entry, I remain both bored and unimpressed with Star Driver again at present - every time is looks set to do something to come out of its coma of predictability, it somehow manages to ruin the whole thing.  For what is supposedly an anime about Cybodies which could change the entire world as we know it if the Glittering Crux Brigade succeeds, there's still no tension or drama in anything we see - battles are finished with the equivalent of a flick of the wrist, and more time is spent on school life shenanigans than any form of character building or plot development.  Perhaps someone should get the Madoka Magica team onto a mecha series when they're done with that show?  By all accounts they could do a far better job than this effort which seems to borrow from numerous other similar series whilst completely missing the point of what makes those shows great.

Star Driver - Episode 17

It's time for the seventeenth instalment of Star Driver, which can mean only one thing... it's beach episode time!

Thus, the first eight minutes or so of the episode are filled up with the usual pointless staples of such an episode - sunbathing, having oil rubbed onto your back, and beach volleyball, which on this occasion takes place between Wako and Ruri on one team against a pair of new-comers on the other, with Takuto in place as the prize for the winner.  One thing there won't be prizes for however is figuring how those two new girls fit into the rest of this episode.

Just as night follows day, so these shenanigans are followed by a meeting of the Glittering Crux Brigade, and a very important one it is too after the events of the last episode, with Vanishing Age's leader announcing that he knows the identity and location of the East Maiden, but refuses to divulge this information due to the changes which come from their reaching the fourth phase.  Oh, and while he's at it Head also announces that only those with "marks" will be able to fight in Cybodies from now on since the move to the third phase, rendering much of Glittering Crux aside from a select few redundant.

Amongst those still capable of fighting are, of course, those two new girls, and it's one of these who takes to the stage that is Zero Time to fight Takuto and Tauburn this time around.  The individual in question is Madoka Kei, aka Window Cleaner... oops, sorry, Window Star, who brings us another battle free from the restraints of second phase combat, while also showing some of Takuto's motivations when fighting before he inevitably shows off an upgrade to his own Cybody to win the day.

Just as it seemed as it Star Driver had broken free of its repetitive episode conventions, it looks like the announcement of third phase combat last time around has seen a return to the tried and far from trusted episode layout of weeks gone by - high school hijinks, Glittering Crux meeting, big battle where Takuto wins via some previously unknown/unexpected deus ex machina.  Yawn...

In fairness, at least the mysterious movements of the Glittering Crux Brigade and its members make for some intrigue in this episode, but this isn't really enough to cover for the fact that the series as a whole has slipped back into "boring and predictable" mode, just as I thought it had broken its old habits.  I wonder how many weeks we'll have to wait for something out of the ordinary to happen this time?  And no, another change of background colour in Zero Time doesn't count.

Star Driver - Episode 16

It's no coincidence that Star Driver breaking with its traditional episode layout also brought about one of its best instalments yet last week, allowing us to dip into episode sixteen of the series with renewed hop.

No matter how you slice it, episode fifteen was a rough one for Mizuno, and despite the help of Wako et al things really aren't getting much better for her, with her sister seemingly missing and the news that her estranged mother will be sticking around on the island for a few days.  It's no surprise then that she jumps on the offer of a way to allow her to escape the island - an offer which isn't technically incorrect, but one which also proves to be a trap as she falls right into the clutches of the Glittering Crux Brigade.

So, with another of the island's maiden's captured, the Glittering Crux have managed to reach the third phase - an event which also allows them to show off a Galactic Pretty Boy of their own, which seems likely to spell trouble for Takuto and Tauburn as this individual seems rather more proficient in his decidedly Tauburn-esque Cybody.  Just as defeat finally seems to be on the cards for our hero, cue a flashback to Takuto's past which reveals his motivations and the source of the mark which provides his power; a set of circumstances and memories which leads to the inevitable upgrade to Tauburn that gives Takuto the power required to easily defeat his latest foe and free Mizuno not just from her kidnappers, but some of the other baggage which troubles her.

This leaves me with an episode that I'm rather torn about - the revelations and story built around Mizuno turned out to be quite a nice twist in the tale (although they arguably weren't used to their fullest extent) and the Zero Time section this week was absolutely stunning even by this show's standards, while the Glittering Crux finally reaching their so-called Third Phase after blathering on about it for several months is as much of a relief as it is a sign of some tougher competition for Takuto.  Set against that, the whole flashback element into Takuto's past for this episode felt clumsy and bolted on, leading in to a sudden upgrade to Tauburn's powers that was boringly predictable but unavoidably so.

Thus, I don't know what to make of it all - certain elements of the series have moved in some decidedly interesting new directions while others look to be stuck in a rut.  Overall I suppose that's an improvement, but it still isn't enough to turn Star Driver into a good series at this juncture, let alone a great one.

Star Driver - Episode 15

What's this?  An episode of Star Driver that doesn't follow the exact same pattern of nearly every other episode that came before it almost to the second?  Stop the presses!

Unsurprisingly after last week's episode and the way it moved things forward, this instalment of Star Driver focuses largely (although not entirely exclusively) upon Marino and Mizuno, with the latter having a rough time that tests even her exuberant nature to breaking point.  As if over-hearing a conversation between Takuto, Sugata and Wako where the two boys bet upon Wako's engagement to Sugata as part of their training (an exchange which breaks poor Mizuno's little heart), there's also the issue of the two sisters errant mother returning out of the blue - a rather unwelcome occurrence given how she abandoned them in the first place.

With these troubles (and a surprising outburst by Mizuno at Marino) piling up, our western maiden finally decides that she's had enough and packs up to leave the island... only to enter some kind of Endless Eight-esque state where every time she leaves she simply wakes up and has to start all over again - a situation which leaves her a nervous and bawling wreck in a ferry terminal car park after numerous iterations (again, much like most viewers of Endless Eight after a few episodes).  Up steps Wako to the rescue, as she guesses Mizuno's real identity and her big secret - the trouble is, she certainly isn't the only one either...

After moaning about it for so many weeks, simply breaking out of Star Driver's cycle of drama -> Zero Time -> Takuto wins feels like a breath of fresh air which left me watching the clock and thinking "however are they going to fit a pointless Cybody battle into this episode?".  Well, thankfully they didn't, instead giving the rest of the plot some much-needed room to breath - something it did reasonably proficiently with plenty of angst and drama to lean on whilst also shifting the positions of a few key pieces on the show's chess board, most notably Sugata and our "mysterious" (or not so mysterious) painter aside from Mizuno herself.  This alone wasn't enough to make Star Driver suddenly seem like a far more compelling series, but following on from last week's more focused offering the signs of improvement are certainly there to be seen.  It has a way to go, but at last there's light at the end of the tunnel of mediocrity from which this show desperately needs to escape over the coming weeks.

Star Driver - Episode 14

A new opening title sequence means that we're now officially into the second half of Star Driver's narrative.  Who knows, maybe we'll even see some stuff happen in the remaining twelve episodes?

That said, everything is pretty much "as you were" for the first half of this episode - Mizuno is still running around and riding on buses like a little kid, to the point where she ends up leaving her shoes on the top of said bus on one occasion, meaning that she ends up needing a piggyback ride from Takuto to make it home.  Still, things between Mizuno and Takuto seem to be going pretty swimmingly from her point of view, as she's granted the lead female role in the drama club's latest production which involves a kiss scene... of course, Takuto is the male lead in this production, which leaves Wako feeling just a little big jealous.

Away from these high school hijinks there are more important concerns at hand however, with the Glittering Crux Brigade preparing to repair and launch Ayingott, which should give them the ability to search for the remaining and as yet undiscovered maidens on the island.  Of course, with Marino the designated pilot of said Cybody, she's determined that she isn't going to give away the secret about Mizuno, but as we enter the inevitable Zero Time aspect of the series it's clear that this is going to be a rather different Cybody sortie.  Instead of the usual brief fight between Tauburn and whoever Takuto's opponent happens to be, instead we see Ayingott's search for the missing maiden turn into something else entirely, as this Cybody corrupts and takes over its pilot, leading Ayingott to attack Takuto.  Of course, this attack is beaten down swiftly enough and with a minimum of fuss but hey, at least it made a bit of a change right?  Come the end of it all, Marino swears that her Cybody was unable to find their all-important missing maiden but let's face it; she isn't exactly the most convincing of liars, setting things up for some major drama in the next week or two.

While a week away from Star Driver over the new year didn't exactly leave me refreshed and ready to face this series again, I do have to hand it to episode fourteen for at least posting some definite improvements over the constant repetition we've seen in recent weeks.  Yes, the overall episode layout is tiresomely similar to what we've seen for the previous thirteen instalments, but the early slice of life comedy was a little sharper (to make me smile a couple of times if nothing else), and the actual Cybody battle and Zero Time segment of the episode was easily the best we've had so far with a little more at stake for all parties involved.  That said, I do have to point out that pretty much everything that was good about the second half of this episode was blatantly stolen from Evangelion (and more specifically its recent movies), but if pinching cool visual concepts and ideas from that series makes Star Driver better than I say go for it.

Overall, this episode hasn't left me with renewed confidence that this series has a clue what it's doing or what its end-game is, but it's at least managed to find a little more potential and promise to keep me watching for the time being.  If only it hadn't taken so long to do so...

Star Driver - Episode 13

This week's Star Driver puts Benio Shinada, aka Scarlet Kiss, into the spotlight once again as we hit episode thirteen.  I can barely contain my excitement, and I seemingly can't contain my sarcasm at all.

Anyhow, this soon episode gets into the swing of things by introducing Shinada as a kendo expert and recent winner of some tournament or other - no sooner is this established do we see her turn up to challenge Sugata to a duel; once which he defers only is she succeeds in beating Takuto in a kendo match.  She does this, only for Sugata to tell her to try and beat him one more time, causing her to storm off in a huff.

Easily the most important aspect of this episode is that we finally reach the point where the Glittering Crux test out their ability to regenerate Cybodies, and of course it's Shinada who volunteers to be the guinea pig in this experiment.  This also gives us an excuse to explain the link Benio has with Sugata, while the wider episode also explains her particular position within the Glittering Crux Brigade.

With the regeneration of her Cybody completing successfully, that means it's mecha action time again, and what do you know?  Takuto wins again with ease and barely needing to break a sweat.  So, another copy of the previous eleven episodes then... yawn.

I really have nothing new to say about Star Driver now - it's utterly dull and lifeless, and the plot of this particular episode was plain to see within the first five minutes of the episode, making Takuto's eventual victory even more of a foregone conclusion then it was already.  With no peril, danger or intense action to this show's name, what is the point exactly?  Answers on a postcard please, I promise to forward them on to the creators of the series in the hope it actually gives them a clue as to what they should do with this dead horse they insist upon flogging until the spring.

Star Driver - Episode 12

As if she didn't seem to be hogging too much of this series already, Kanako Watanabe finds herself at the centre of episode twelve of Star Driver.  Ooh, I wonder what will happen this episode?  Will it be a mixture of school-based comedy, drama and/or romance followed by some mecha action, perchance?

Well, whaddya know, this episode begins with a slice of comedy powered by Kanako's predeliction for kissing people through the glass of the classroom window - it also amuses me slightly how the rest of the class are bored of her repetitive, attention-seeking actions, which sounds rather a lot like a certain anime.  Anyway, Mrs. Watanabe's interest in Takuto still doesn't seem to have diminished, and she ends up inviting him on a rather low-key date to pass some time.

Away from such trivialities, the ability to repair Cybodies appears to be on the brink of completion for the Glittering Crux Brigade, although testing this technology could well prove to be risky given that the process requires the libido of its pilot to succeed, and may suck them dry if it fails.  Wait, I probably should have worded that better...

Anyhow, come the end of it all, Kanako tries to persuade Takuto to stop fighting her group, before taking him on head-to-head in this week's action sequence, complete with a boxing theme and yet another ability for Tauburn that Takato pulls out of nowhere just as things threatened to get interesting for a split second.

While the comedy for this episode of Star Driver was far sharper than anything we've seen from the show of late, that's really all it has going for it as per usual - it got a few laughs, but was otherwise as dull and lifeless as ever.  There are brief hints of movement courtesy of Kanako meeting and conversing with Mizuno, but considering we're effectively at the half-way point of this series it would be nice to see something other than the odd glacial snippet of plot progression.

Star Driver - Episode 11

Star Driver's eleventh episode begins with what appears to be some kind of road traffic accident.  You could say that it involved a "Car Driver".  You can tell this show is going nowhere when I'm reduced to making up lame jokes, can't you?

Anyhow, the early portion of this episode sees Kanako Watanabe wrest attention to herself, courtesy of an offer extended to her entire year to attend a pool party she's hosting on her (well, her husband's) nice boat.  Cue an excuse for swimsuits, Wako singing again, and plenty of cocktail drinking.  Indeed, one individual gets so drunk you could call her a "Bar Driver".  Okay, I'll stop now, honest.

Besides dipping briefly back into the love triangle of sorts between Takuto and sisters Marino and Mizuno, our interest this time around comes to settle on Simone, as we learn both her real name and her relation to Kanako and (far more importantly) her husband.  So, the real reason for her hatred of Kanako becomes clear, and in this instalment it bubbles up sufficiently for her to take on Takuto using her Cybody, albeit whilst employing Takashi to do the dirty work for her.  This combination actually looks as though it might finally work in defeating Tauburn, until Sugata intervenes to give Takuto the extra "va-va-voom" he needs to win.

So, another episode of Star Driver has passed, and I'm still utterly bored with its predictable layout and the knowledge that Takuto will always win his battle at the end of the episode one way or another.  Even outside of the action, the whole story surrounding "Simone" felt horribly forced whilst proving to be equally dull in its own right.  I'm seriously starting to think that this series is entirely beyond redemption now, but can I really drop a show after sinking almost six hours into it?

Star Driver - Episode 10

No anime this season has had a baseball episode thus far - thank you then to Star Driver for ticking off that entry upon our anime cliché card for this season.

Unsurprisingly, this school baseball game also makes for some interesting matches up which reflect the deeper conflicts going on behind the scenes - thus, we have Takuto, Sugata and Wako on one team and Mizuno, Marino and at least one other Glittering Crux member on the other.  Needless to say said game turns out to be a close run thing too; after the expected exhibition of Tatsuno and Sugata proving to be an awesome combination while other characters fail miserably, and via Takuto literally running into Marino and ending up with his face buried in her cleavage, it all comes down to the final innings and a decidedly suspicious winning pitch - surely someone didn't use their First Phase just to win a baseball game?

After a little dramatic reconstruction explaining why Marino and Mizuno are left living without their parents, and with some more scenes of Mizuno generally being cute and happily parading her "witchcraft" to Tatsuno (although it seems that her place as the western maiden is still safe), we move on to the Zero Time battle of the week, with Tatsuno winning seemingly thanks to one of Mizuno's magic spells to protect him.  But who is going to protect him from the harem he seems to be building up during this series?

Really, I don't think I can add any more to my feelings about this show from my post for last week - Star Driver has become dull and predictable, and there certainly wasn't anything on show this episode to change that.  We're now even at the point where those previously spectacular mecha battles feel run of the mill, leaving us with little to look forward to each week.  Something needs to break Star Driver out of its over-used mould, but at the moment I simply can't see anything capable of doing that.

Star Driver - Episode 9

High school hijinks, bit of melodrama, giant robot fight, episode closes with a revelation.  You know the Star Driver drill by now, right?  I almost wonder whether there's any point still 'blogging this show but oh well, here goes.

After the "delights" of a bath scene featuring Takuto and Sugata, this episode gives us a proper introduction to Mizuno You, a rather oddball girl (which is nothing new for this series) with a fascination with animals and little (if anything) in the way of shame or self-consciousness.  This means that for Mizuno, running into the boy's bathroom is no big deal, and it's here that she meets Takuto, falling for him straight away not just on account of his good looks, but also because he saves a falling baby crow, the mother of which Mizuno is "friends" with.  Next thing we know, Mizuno has joined the drama club, largely on account of the Vice President's presence but also due to Takuto being part of said club no doubt.

Meanwhile, with the head of the Glittering Crux's Vanishing Age division on vacation, the brigade has a new leader - the previously unknown and far from convincing Manticore.  However, for all her quirks it seems as though this girl is the one likely to usher in the "third phase" for the group, thanks to her Cybody which can supposedly scan for and find the Western maiden, although there in lies a twist in this episode's tale.  Anyhow, with other members far from convinced about Manticore's suitability, one of them decides to take on Takuto and Tauburn in battle - and promptly loses.  What did you think was going to happen?

To be honest, it's getting to the point where episodes of this series can be watched on auto-pilot, to the point where I know exactly when we're going to shift from a school or island setting to the Glittering Crux, and then on to Zero Time and the inevitable battle sequence.  Frankly, this predictability is getting beyond boring now, and this episode didn't really help by doing little to shake things up before its big (and admittedly tantalising) revelation at the end of the episode.  One line does not a good episode make though, and aside from that finale this was a pretty yawn-worthy instalment.  What's worse, there's little sign of Star Driver breaking out of the groove it's stuck in either.

Star Driver - Episode 8

Sugata might have been spared his life-long coma in Star Driver's previous episode, but something was still clearly not right with this all-important part of the show's trio of main characters following both his ordeal and the kiss from the Glittering Crux member known as "Scarlet Kiss".

If Sugata's behaviour after these events could be viewed as a brief aberration, from the opening of this episode it becomes clear that something far more serious is going on, as Sugata gives short shrift to Wako's concerns at school before walking out of class while others speculate on whatever fight has developed between the two of them and Takuto.

Meanwhile, our girl in the birdcage with a penchant for writing Squid Girl fan fiction finds herself released from captivity, choosing to leave the island for pastures new.  As she sings to herself on the boat leaving the island, so the brewing conflict between Takuto and Sugata comes to a head... just in time for the inevitable Zero Time fight sequence, which sees Sugata take over Scarlet Kisses' Cybody to take on Takuto and Tauburn.  Impressive fight ensues, Tauburn wins, rinse, repeat, come back next week for the same all over again.

Herein lies the major problem with Star Driver as it continues on its merry way - no matter what happens to the major characters within the show and no matter what developments emerge, it seems like the series is Hell-bent on keeping its episode format intact.  This makes for a tiring and predictable viewing experience where we know exactly what's coming, but we still have to sit and wait for most of the episode for it to happen.  This wouldn't be so bad if the build-up to the giant robot scraps were packed to the rafters with fascinating drama and character development, but this is rarely the case, instead leaving us with some rather overblown stuff that doesn't have any real impact.  Sugata's plight should have made for a huge amount of potential, yet here we are with that part of the story seemingly resolved and yet virtually nothing was made of it.  No matter how much I want to like Star Driver (and those fight sequences really are increasingly impressive), it just seems to disappoint me every time I try to give it another chance.

Star Driver - Episode 7

Just as Star Driver was threatening to become a little too predictable for its own good, up popped episode six to give it a shot in the arm and shake things up a bit by revealing some all-important information about Sugata and then throwing the poor guy into a coma from which his predecessors have never recovered.

Needless to say, the reverberations of this development are felt heavily throughout this episode, with Wako distraught and the normally out-going Takuto pondering his own responsibility in goings-on and his true place in the lives of both Wako and Sugata.  Even the Glittering Crux members are unsettled at what has happened, eventually deciding that the only way to proceed is to ensure that Sugata is killed to make sure him and his King's Pillar are no longer a threat to them.

Than in turn means that this weeks Zero Time battle takes place earlier in the episode than usual, as the girl who was responsible for last week's attack steps up to the plate in an attempt to do the job properly.  In the midst of this battle against Takuto and Tauburn, Sugata begins to come around, spurring Takuto to ends things quickly before racing off with Wako to see Sugata back in the real world.  All is still not well for this all-important part of the trio however, as we see the King's Pillar activated once again before the Glittering Crux members manage to get to a missing Sugata before Takuto, seemingly planting a seed that is going to cause Takuto and Wako yet more trouble in the near future.

Although this episode didn't provide quite the high drama and change of pace I was hoping for, bringing Sugata well and truly into the fray rather than leaving him as "that nice bloke no-one worries about too much" has certainly helped to move Star Driver along a little, and this progress only looks set to continue given how this particular instalment came to a close.  While its giant robot action continues to impress, it still feels as though there's something missing from this series that I can't entirely put a finger on - at the end of the day, it's still yet to really make me care about the fate of any of its characters (no matter which side they're fighting for), and without that all of the impressive and pretty action scenes in the world can't draw me entirely into this show.  Things are certainly getting better, but Star Driver has a way to go yet.

Star Driver - Episode 6

Given how its last episode was played for laughs in many respects, I suppose it was inevitable that Star Driver's sixth episode would return to the show's "serious business" - although I wasn't expecting things to get quite this serious at this point in the series.

The signs of a "heavy" episode are there from the very start, with Sugata looking a little depressed and distant while Takuto frets over a watch he owns and as chosen to take with him for one day only which has stopped working (and who is that depicted within the case of the watch?).  Wako's appearance soon brings about an opportunity to cheer Takuto up at least, with the prospect of a "date" as she takes him into town to get the watch fixed while Sugata makes himself scarce.  Cue a date/shopping montage full of the usual fun and frolics... although it seems as though the pair of them are being watched by a particularly disgruntled girl, which can never be good news.

With this distraction over, we get to the real meat of what this episode is all about - The day in question is Sugata's birthday, and an event he refuses to celebrate as it also happens to be the day he learned of his place in this weird world of Cybodies and the like.  In short, Sugata controls what is effectively the "king" Cybody - a fact that is not as much of a blessing as it sounds, as anyone who has ever Apprivoised with said Cybody has fallen into a coma, never to awaken.  Of course, you can probably guess what happens next - our mysterious disgruntled girl uses her power to attack outside of Zero Time, and only one person can prevent this attack on Wako from killing her....

At last, this feels like a real step forward for Star Driver, away from its sometimes frivolous characters and plot progression towards what feels like a more solid footing.  Sure, this is achieved via the same regimented episode layout of previous weeks (which could do with being mixed up a bit if you ask me), but I'm willing to forgive it that when it does such a decent job of progressing and shifting the inter-relationships of the show's main trio of characters while also moving other aspects of the plot forward substantially.  Just as Star Driver was threatening to lose interest to me, this instalment has managed to grab my attention somewhat.  Let's just hope it can keep it now.