The Anime Review #4

Blue Drop Ep. 2

I'm relieved the school aspect is still the most prevailing in Blue Drop. Not to say I'm worried about the sci-fi trappings lurking, well, beneath the surface, but it's really the experiences Mari has at her new school that interest me the most. Hagino is also fascinating by being at once incredibly charismatic; though, equally, we wish Mari would just punch her in the face. She's obviously key in forthcoming plot developments, but I hope she'll retain all the enigmatic mystery I'm loving her for at the moment. The troublesome yuri inclinations grew a little stronger this episode, too, but I remain cautiously optimistic that Blue Drop will develop into something special and not some silly faux-lesbian melodrama. I just find myself drawn to its melancholy approach and get all sorts of warm fuzzies from watching. It may well be the gorgeous music clouding my senses, but what's the point of a soundtrack if not to set the tone and subtly direct emotions?

Rental Magica Ep. 2

A pretty dramatic shift in pace this episode. Rather than seeming to cram in as much as humanly possible (as with episode one) it took a more staid approach that suited the dominating history lesson well. I'm glad we're learning more about the main cast this early on; Darker than Black, as Karura maintained, left its protagonist development far too late, and suffered a strange, bitter-sweet renaissance of affection in me as it concluded. Hopefully Rental Magica will bank on its fairly amiable cast members as soon as possible, making way for the inevitable episodic approach that we can see from a mile off. I enjoyed this character exposition driven episode. Apart from the fairly stark continuity issue (could've sworn Adilisia was introduced to Iba last episode, as well as already being in his class at school . . .) Rental Magica is proving to be reliably entertaining.

Gundam 00 Ep. 2

Eh, stupid mecha fun. Gundam 00 is acting as the guinea pig in the experiment of how long I can stick with a show that I watch purely for the action. Not to say I'm adverse to, like, some plot and characterisation emerging, but so far I'm satisfied with the whole 'cool robots blowing shit up' ideology Gundam has been towing for a while now. There's something wholesomely anime about watching Gundam. It might be nostalgic attachments of simpler times, or merely how Gundam flaunts shamelessly what other anime try to hide; either way, I'm judging it as disposable fun at the moment. I'll reserve any brutalising assessment for when it actually attempts to do something worth criticising.

Suteki Tantei Labyrinth Ep. 2

Disappointing. Not only did the production values take a surprising dip this episode, with everything looking rather stationary and fuzzy, but the storytelling also lost a lot of its intrigue and charm by simply being dull. As a result, most of the irritating aforementioned tropes became harder to ignore. I'm not writing Suteki Tantei Labyrinth off entirely just yet . . . only it's definitely on probation from this point onward. I'm fairly doubtful it will go the way I want it to, but anime has proven time and again that hasty dismissals can be foolish. What was probably more foolish was hoping for three decent shows this season. Roll on Ghost Hound, for the love of god PLEASE.

Comments

[Karura]

I think Rental Magica episode 2 was meant to be a flashback to explain how Itsuki came to accept the role of president- they never explicitly stated that but it's the only way to clear up the continuity issues.

Blue Drop sounds potentially worth a try, but I'm watching too much anime as it is. If only technology existed that put anime episodes into my brain whilst I slept.

[Martin]

I agree 100% on Gundam 00! I'm still not sure about how it's going to pan out but for now it's all about the shiny mecha action. I have so much on my watchlist at the moment (just finishing a Lucky Star marathon), but I'll be carrying on with Blue Drop for another ep or so before deciding if it's worth sticking with.

[Hige]

Karura: Ah, that would make sense. Was a bit silly they didn't make that explicitly clear from the beginning, though... at least for the more cognitively challenged among us. Ahem.

Martin: I'm probably more unsure about Blue Drop than I'm willing to admit, but it's good to give something a chance if it suggests even the slightest amount of promise. Especially when the pickings are slim.