Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 5-7

EPISODE 5: Beyond the Red Sky

At Todo's suggestion, Tekkadan enters into an agreement with Orcus Company to guide them en route to Earth. However, Orcus double-crosses Tekkadan and leaks the route to Coral, who then sends Gjallarhorn Grazes to ambush the group. The ambush informs Tekkadan about Todo's betrayal although Todo protests that a Gjallarhorn ambush was not part of the deal. In response to the threat, Orga puts in place his contingency plan, revealing that Mikazuki with his Gundam is on board. While Mikazuki engages the Gjallarhorn, killing Coral in the skirmish, Orcus tries to sink Tekkadan's shuttle. Akihiro arrives just then to lend fire power. Meanwhile, Gjallarhorn Specialist Majors Fareed and Bauduin are tipped off that Kudelia is aboard the Tekkadan ship. As they try to intercept it, their attention is drawn to Mikazuki's gundam. Fareed correctly identifies the unit as Barbatos and tries to attack its weak points. But Mikazuki notices and escapes through the Tekkadan ship before major damage is dealt. In the aftermath, Tekkadan celebrates their victory as they continue on their journey to earth while Gjallarhorn finds itself the recipient of a bound-up Todo on a shuttle.

EPISODE 6: As For Them

After their skirmish with Gjallarhorn, the Tekkadan crew occupy themselves during the downtime with repairs and other maintenance task. Kudelia explains her mission to Mikazuki and Atra while distributing lunches. In the course of their talk, Kudelia finds out that Mikazuki can't read or write so she volunteers to teach him. When other crew members hear her, they also volunteer to join her class. Meanwhile, with Orcus out of the picture, Orga and his group contemplate reaching out to Teiwaz, a conglomerate based in Jupiter sphere, to serve as their new guide to Earth. The task proves to be difficult when they realize that they need a middleman to negotiate the deal for them. Just then, Tekkadan receives a transmission from an angry Maruba Arkay, the president of CGS. On Fareed's ship, Ein asks Fareed to let him join the pursuit force.

EPISODE 7: Whaling

President of the now-defunct CGS Maruba demands the return of his ship, the Will-O-the-Wisp, accusing Orca and his crew of theft. Maruba's ranting is interrupted by Naze Turbine of the Turbine group under Teiwaz, who reveals that his business relationship with Maruba and that he is there to collect CGS property. Biscuit tries to get Naze to support their bid for Teiwaz to guide them to Earth but Naze refuses and Orga draws a hard line with the "return" of property. The disagreement spurs both groups to prepare for battle. Mikazuki and Akihiro are deployed to handle the enemy mobile suits. Eugene pilots the Will-O-the-Wisp while Orga works out a plan to board the enemy ship in a daring maneuver. In the heat of battle, Maruba accidentally spills that Tekkadan's crew have Alaya-Vijnana System, causing Naze to put a halt to the battle and resume talks.

COMMENTS:

It's now seven episodes and the characters still aren't shaping too well. Kudelia is still irrelevant and the other Tekkadan crew are still interchangeable. But the one thing that's changed for me is understanding the relationship between Orga and Mikazuki better. I always found the uneven dynamic between the two rather unsettling ever since that episode where Mikazuki killed a CGS crew member for Orga. I did not like the idea of Mikazuki being used by Orga, an obviously older kid, as a weapon to do all his dirty work: fight battles for him, kill for him. It sends out the wrong message. But Episode 6 explains it a little for me and I'm satisfied for now.

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Kagewani 7-8: Tremors

EPISODE 7: Slashing Strike

A teacher stays late in school to clean up when she notices two kids playing with the chickens. After she scolds them and tells them to go home, one of the kids draw something on the ground. Suddenly, the earth moves and the teacher tells them to stay down because it was an earthquake. A few minutes later, the earth moves again in an aftershock. Just then, a large claw bursts out from underneath the ground, separating the two kids. As the other kid runs towards his friend, the teacher quickly tackles him, barely avoiding the claw to catch them. Sensing a threat, the chickens began to make a ruckus, attracting the creature towards the coop and prompting it to attack them. While the creature is distracted, the teacher and one of the kids find a higher surface to stand on. The teacher concludes that the creature is attracted by vibrations on soil. She tells the other kid not to move and asks the other to distract the creature by throwing rocks while she attempts to rescue the former. Her plan backfires but just before the creature could get her, the kid throws a piece of rock at a nearby trolley, causing the balls they contain to bounce on the ground.

EPISODE 8: Camouflage

Banba drives his geologist ex-girlfriend to the school where the creature from the previous episode was found. On their way there, they go through a tunnel, which suddenly collapses on them. When an injured Banba comes to, he can't find his ex anymore but he sees other motorists trapped inside the tunnel with him. He notices a woman inside her car and while he tries to get her attention, the woman is suddenly attacked by a gigantic tick that sucks out all her blood right in front of a horrified Banba. As the tick leaps away, Banba then notices other motorists dead on the ground with their blood sucked out. Banba searches through the wreckage for his ex-girlfriend and finally finds her sitting on the ground, conscious but unresponsive. He takes her hand and drags her out of the tunnel just as a jet bombs the place. The tunnel collapses in on what looks like Banba's ex. But when his vision clears, he sees that what he thought was his ex was actually the tongue of a huge creature and that part of the tunnel was the inside of this creature. Suddenly in the sky Banba sees a claw and he realizes that this creature is the same one that caused the earthquake.

COMMENTS:

Tremors did a way better job. I loved that movie.

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Subete Ga F Ni Naru 4: Clues, clues

CHAPTER 4: The Rainbow-Colored Past

The group makes a cursory examination of the director's corpse and Nishinosono makes the following observations: (1) his body is still warm, which means he hasn't been dead for long; (2) he is stabbed with a knife on the back of his neck, which means he didn't do it himself and that his killer is someone he knew; (3) the helicopter radio is destroyed, which means the police have not yet been contacted; (4) since there are only ways to get to the rooftop and they didn't meet anyone at the elevator, the killer must have used the other door and he must still be in the lab.

The group goes back to the main room where they check the security logs on the two doors leading to the rooftop. The logs reveal that only Yamane has used the elevator to the rooftop but the time does not match the timeline of the murder. The other door has not been accessed since yesterday. This leads them to conclude that the Deborah program is not entirely perfect. Next they examine Magata's room through Yamane's voice and palm biometric data. It is established that the door can be opened from the inside the same way using Magata's voice and palm biometric data. Once inside the room, they observe that Magata has a receiving room although she never sees anyone, her library does not contain a single work of hers and that she appears to have been working on metal.

As they explore the room further for more clues, they come upon a closed door that is locked from inside and someone with Magata's voice asks them who they are. Yamane immediately identifies himself and asks for the door to open. However, it revealed that the voice belongs to a robot that Magata made and named Michiru. The room also hides a large lego British guard, a box of legos, a teddy bear and three pieces of party balloons. Magata's bedroom appears neat as though nothing horrible happened in it. They find nothing there, not even Magata's limbs, which makes Saikawa wonder about a trash chute in the room. However, the chute turns out to be too small.

Next, they check Magata's desktop computer and they find out that Magata has designed a new platform, Red Magic ver. 6 when the lab is still using ver. 4. An entry on her calendar from the day before contains the mysterious phrase: "Everything becomes F." They also find a text file that contains what apparently are the last words of Magata and her other personalities.

Later, Nishinosono and Saikawa check out a room in Magata's apartment that contains the single window. Saikawa mulls over the meaning of "Everything becomes F" while Nishinosono wonders about the wedding dress that Magata's corpse is wearing. Although they find a sewing machine in Magata's room, the wedding dress was bought three years ago. The wedding dress leads to a talk about dolls, which reminds Nishinosono about Magata's saying that a doll murdered her parents. However, doll seems to represent Magata's personalities, Magata also revealed in her conversation with Nishinosono that Magata is the only one who knows about her parents, making her the only suspect in her parents' murder.

In a flashback, the director is revealed sitting in a hotel room with a drink in hand. He talks about hearing Magata alone in the bathroom, talking to one of her personalities. The persona appears to have already slept with the director and Magata is asking her advice on what she's going to do, which is to sleep with the director, too. When Magata finally steps out of the shower, the director tries to tell her to stop but Magata throws herself on him.

COMMENTS:

Alright so now we have two bodies and we're all assuming that the killer is one of these characters inside the lab. So far the characters that have been fleshed out are Yamane and the director's wife. 

Yamane is implicated because, being the vice director, he is the one guy, save the director himself who is already dead, with the highest level of access in the lab. He is also the only person who used the door leading to the rooftop. As for motive, his being vice-director to a dead director is plenty of motive. Yet, our intrepid investigators do not seem to consider him a suspect. Perhaps, because Yamane has been with them from the moment they arrived at the lab and so on. He hasn't really left our investigor's side, which diverts suspicion from him.

Our next suspect is the director's wife. We don't know much about her except that she seems to be taking her husband's gruesome murder very well. She's baking cookies and exchanging gossip about Magata's multiple personality disorder. Her motive is of course that of an avenging wife who finds out that her husband has been cheating on her with a kid genius. But there seems to be no indication whatsoever that she knows about Magata's affair with the director. Besides she doesn't appear to be smart enough to be able to pull off such a murder.

As a subplot, we are also trying to solve the murder of Magata's parents fifteen years ago. Magata is the prime suspect but she cryptically told Nishinosono that a doll did it. Incidentally, the latest murders may also involve a doll, Michiru, who is one of Magata's personalities.

Some nitpicking about the show: it is a leap for Nishinosono to assume that the police were never contacted just because the radio is destroyed. There's no showing that the director didn't already make the call and then got murdered. Likewise, I don't remember how they end up concluding that Magata was murdered only a few minutes before the director's murder. Sure, it narrows down the timeline and is a plot device to ensure that the killer remains in the building. But if Magata has only been dead a few minutes or hours, why is Nishinosono covering her nose when she checks the corpse?

It appears that Magata is the person who designed Red Magic, the program that controls Deborah security system, and that she is able to freely move about the lab. Yet, somehow I had the impression that Magata is supposed to be a prisoner? What kind of prisoner has freedom to get in and out with her prison and tinker with prison's security? 

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Kagewani 4-6

EPISODE 4: Double Bow

A couple of kids are playing with a drone by the riverbank when their drone crashes into the water. The current carries it into a sewer which the two reluctantly enter. As they go deeper, they finally find their drone but it's resting on the back of a giant turtle-like creature. The creature chases them and they escape through a tiny passageway leading to the surface. The passageway, however, is blocked by a corpse. Trapped, the kids wait out the creature which passes right below them. One of the boys goes down to investigate only to be grabbed by something or someone -- Banba! He tells the boys to run away as the creature returns to attack them. Just when the creature almost gets them, someone shouts for them to jump into the water. Without thinking, Banba grabs the boys and they jump into the water. Men in white suits, black gloves and gas masks soon appear and incinerate the creature. When Banba and the boys surface, a man in a dapper suit holds out his hand to Banba. It turns out that the man works for a pharmaceutical company that is using these creatures for research. He wants to enlist Banba's help but Banba refuses to do so. Even though the creature died from the fire, the man is able to collect an egg from it.

EPISODE 5: Strange Color

In a small convenience store, a guy clocks off early to go on a date, leaving his co-worker behind to close up. While the co-worker who is left behind goes inside the office, a girl comes in and shoplifts. On her way out, the guy who left early comes back running as though he is being chased by a ghost. The "ghost" attacks him and as he flails around, the "ghost" finally appears. The creature, which looks like a chameleon and can blend into its environment, eats the guy, much to the horror of the girl and his co-worker. With the guy dead, the girl fears she's next. The co-worker signals her from the office but as she crawls toward him, the item she stole fell, drawing the creature to the noise. Before the creature could attack her, however, the co-worker throws something at the creature, distracting it. While the creature is distracted, they both run inside the office and lock the door. But the creature comes after them, breaking the door and forcing them to flee through the vent. Before the creature could get to them, the men in white suits, gas masks and black gloves rescue them and kills the creature.

EPISODE 6: Deep Abyss

While in a cruise through the South Pole, Banba recalls his meeting with the guy from the pharmaceutical company. The guy again tries to convince him to work for them but Banba says that he is not studying the creatures for money. Meanwhile, a submarine where a young couple just got engaged is attacked by an unknown creature from the depths of the ocean. A closer look reveals that it is a gigantic humanoid creature with fish-like features. It attacks the submarine as it tries to surface, sending out a powerful sonar that causes ice bergs to sink. The force causes the submarine to lose power, rendering it vulnerable to an attack from the creature which is fast approaching. Banba advises the young man to use the sonar in order to fool the creature that the submarine is one of its own. It is a gamble since pressing the sonar would use up the rest of the submarine's power. Nevertheless, the young man uses the sonar and the signal causes the creature to stop and sink back into the abyss.

COMMENTS:

I'm probably the only person in the world who is blogging this anime. LOL It's so bad, honestly. I don't even know why anymore, except that it's easy to watch and even easier to recap. Anyway, at least, in these last episodes, we get a semblance of a plot. The pharmaceutical company is obviously up to no good. Naturally, they want Banba to work for them and naturally Banba refuses. I can't say I'm looking forward to what comes next. I do like the design of the abyss creature. Its face reminds me of a blob fish.

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Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans 2-4

EPISODE 2: Barbatos

Under Orga's orders with help from Old Man and Yamagi, Mikazuki pilots the Barbatos, the ancient gundam used during the Calamity War, and defends against the attacking Gjallarhorn Graze company. After one of their numbers is injured, the Gjallarhorn's commander, Crank, issues a retreat just in time for Barbatos to run out of thruster fuel and Mikazuki to lose consciousness from the shock to his nervous system. Although CGS successfully repels the attackers, they nevertheless suffer heavy casualties, especially among the Third Corps rank. However, when the First Corps return, their leader beats Orga for diverting Gjallarhorn forces on them. Orga takes the beating but plots with his comrades to overthrow the First Corps and take control of CGS for themselves. Meanwhile, Coral orders Crank to eliminate all traces of the attack and to seize Kudelia from CGS. Crank hesitates at first upon learning that he is fighting against child soldiers but reluctantly complies. Back on Mars, a girl named Atra, accompanied by two other girls Cookie and Cracker, from Sakura-chan's farm, arrive at the base with supplies. Kudelia helps them as they prepare dinner for the boys. Atra attempts to give a bracelet that matches her own to Mikazuki but the latter is too distracted with plans of mutiny by the Third Corps.

EPISODE 3: Glorious Demise

That evening, while the boys have their dinner, Biscuit and other Third Corps members serve food laced with sedatives to the First Corps. This allows Orga and his comrades to seize control without shedding more blood than necessary. However, Mikazuki does shoot the First Corps leader point-blank and another protesting First Corps member in payment for their desertion of the Third Corps. This scares the other First Corps members into submission. With CGS firmly under their control, Orga's next challenge is how to financially support themselves. They are informed that most of the company's savings are gone and they only have enough to support themselves for three months, which means they have to find work soon. Todo, an adult former member of CGS, suggests ransoming Kudelia to the Gjallarhorn and pinning it all on the CGS leader. While Orga appears to contemplate this plan, they are interrupted by the arrival of Crank. The latter issues a challenge to a duel with Mikazuki's Barbatos. Mikazuki accepts the challenge and, after an intense fight, disables Crank's Graze. Mikazuki then steps out of his gundam to speak with Crank, who asks to die. Without hesitation, Mikazuki draws out his gun and shoots Crank. After witnessing all that happened and knowing the financial status of the newly-named Tekkadan, Kudelia decides to continue with her mission to Earth and hires Tekkadan as her escort, thus, solving Orga's financial woes for the moment.

EPISODE 4: The Price of Life

Tekkadan plots a course to earth, avoiding Gjallarhorn routes. In order to accomplish this, they need a guide. The course would take them through an area of space used mainly by civilian companies. Todo volunteers to contact the civilian company, Orcus, claiming that he is good friends with the CEO. Meanwhile, Specialist Majors Fareed and Bauduin from the Gjallarhorn base on Earth, conduct their inspection of Coral's base. They discover that a company of Gjallarhorn forces (Crank's company) have been dispatched to Mars and has not returned. Coral excuses unconvincingly that the move was to suppress a riot. Meanwhile, Orga sends Dexter and former human debris (slave) Akihiro to formalize the name of the company from CGS to Tekkadan. While Tekkadan is busy arranging Kudelia's transport, the latter speaks with her sponsor who wires her the money for the mission. Mikazuki later invites her to Sakura-chan's farm where they have a little light fun helping Sakura-chan, Atra and the kids harvest corn. Not too far away, Fareed and Bauduin investigate the site of the recent battle. Fareed deduces that Coral had attempted to kill Kudelia in order to remain in good graces with Earth and, thus, not have to worry about Fareed and Bauduin's inspection report. Later, they run into Mikazuki's group at Sakura-chan's farm. Mikazuki attempts to strangle Bauduin for apparently running over Cookie and Cracker. But Sakura-chan stops him and Fareed makes peace with the girls by giving them candy. As Kudelia is about to join them, her secretary, Fumitan, leads her away to hide from Fareed and Bauduin. Back at the base, Orga shows to everyone Tekkadan's new logo: an iron flower.

COMMENTS:

Okay, I think I'm dropping this show. I don't like the art and the character designs. I don't like the characters. I don't like the implication that Orga is using Mikazuki as some sort of personal gunman, who kills and fights for him. Especially since I don't get why Mikazuki is so enamored with the dude. Also, if it was this easy to overthrow the adults, why didn't Orga never try this before? 

Kudelia is annoying. None of the characters are likeable.

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First Impressions: One Punch Man 1-3

I was mildly interested in this when I learned that it was animated by Madhouse. However, I was not attracted by its premise and thought other series were a better option. Fast forward to now, the series is well into its 6th episode and I keep hearing rave reviews about it. The other shows on my watchlist aren't panning out well. I already dropped Young Black Jack from the roster and I'm barely hanging on to Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. I need a show with a good hook and found that One Punch Man has got it in spades.

I'm sure everybody is already familiar with the premise. This is about a guy, Saitama, who is very strong but claims to be a hero only for fun. He lives in a city that appears to be constantly attacked by strange monsters, which Saitama quickly dispatches quickly -- with just a single punch! However, precisely because he's so strong that Saitama is bored. He's looking for a challenge. He finds an unlikely disciple in a hot-headed 19-year old cyborg instead.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

I love Saitama. I've never liked a single main character in a show, but Saitama is so average, he could be a background character. And that's the entire point of his character. Average guy living an average life in an average apartment, doing average things, except for one teeny, tiny detail: this guy happens to be a superhero. I can almost hear Miranda Priestly sardonically saying, "Flowers for spring? Groundbreaking."

But baby, believe me when I say this anime turns all the superhero tropes on its head. First of all, Saitama does not look at all heroic or cool. He's bald and, when he's not serious, he can look pretty spacey. This non-heroic look he has can't be any more clear when he stands next to the stereotypical cool anime guy, Genos, a cyborg that can shoot fire out of his hands. Very cool.

Second, although this is a shounen anime, unlike most shounen main characters, Saitama does not spend most of the series trying to become strong. Saitama, in fact, spends each episode looking for enemies strong enough to defeat him. This part reminds me of a wuxia character called Dugu-Seeking-A-Loss. Dugu, like Saitama, is so strong he spends his days looking for an opponent that can defeat him. Hence, his name. But where Dugu is a serious heroic type, Saitama couldn't care less about being a hero. As a matter of fact, he claims to be a hero only for fun and that it's a hobby.

The humor in the series is shown in the character designs of its characters. From Saitama's shiny bald head to villains dressed in ridiculous outfits. The way Saitama dispatches his opponents can be quite brutal and graphic but they are also riddled with comedy, you barely notice.

All in all, I like this show. I'm gonna blog about it. The fact that this is based on a webcomic also interests me as I am dabbling in a webcomic series myself.

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Kagewani 03: Underwater Horror

EPISODE 3: Return

A young couple goes snorkeling in the sea. While underwater, they spot a fissure on the seabed. The girl signals to the guy to explore it but the guy wants to go back up. While the two are distracted, something grabs the girl from inside the fissure and takes her. News of the missing girl spreads just as a typhoon is poised to hit the island community. Banba-sensei is called to the place by a colleague who shows him a picture of a dead tentacled sea monster. Meanwhile, another tentacled sea monster shows up on the beach, leading the young man to go after it with a trident. He "kills" the creature and later sets it on fire. Banba-sensei goes to talk to him, telling him that the creature he just killed could be the very girl he was looking for. He then shows the young man an x-ray of the sea creature, where it is revealed that the creature has fused itself with a human body. The young man refuses to believe him. That night, the authorities impose a curfew to prepare for the incoming typhoon. A man notices that the burned corpse of the sea creature had disappeared. In the house of the young man, he hears a strange noise coming from outside. But when he opens the door to investigate, he finds it is only one of his friends. The girl tries to sympathize with him but while they talk, the young man notices the sea creature appear behind her. He leaps towards it with a knife and stabs at it, all the while denying that the sea creature could be his missing girlfriend. He is taken aback when he sees a vision of his girlfriend inside the sea creature. While he is distracted, the sea creature takes him and together the two of them fall into the sea. The next day, two dead sea creatures are washed ashore.

COMMENTS:

I've long stopped trying to figure out the overarching plot of this show. Maybe there is no plot and it's just one monster story week after week. I'm not complaining though. Each episode is too short to merit nit-picking. The episode entertains enough as it unfolds. While I am not wowed by the story each week, I am nevertheless fine with watching and blogging about it. Anyway, it's just seven minutes.

This week, they've chosen to entertain us with a tentacle monster. But instead of giving us the titillating story of the fisherman's wife, they decided to make a straightforward horror story of a girl inside a monster. We're supposed to feel for the young man, who has to find out the hard way that the monster he hates so much is the very same girl that meant the world to him. And the way the story ended lends it a sort of poetic justice. But it's all ham-fisted and shallow and I felt that the story could be told better. 

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Subete ga F ni Naru 2-3: A surprising turn of events

EPISODE 2: Azure Encounter

The whole gang -- and by gang, I mean the lab rats -- go on a company outing. Nishinosono invites herself to the event despite the fact that she's just an intern and shocks her co-workers with a display of her wealth. While in camp, Nishinosono and Saikawa discuss Dr. Magata with the former baiting the latter once again. Nishinosono agrees to let Saikawa go with her to her personal meeting with Dr. Magata, who is living in isolation in a secure facility on an island. They are met on their way there by the Vice Director, who explains how the facility works. While there, Nishinosono pretends to have a headache in order to be allowed to enter the facility. However, her ruse is found out by the Vice Director, who is nonetheless cool about it. Their casual conversation is interrupted by a power outage. Something goes wrong with the programming of the facility's security features. While the staff tries to fix the problem, the door to Dr. Magata's room suddenly opens and out comes a figure in white, seemingly gliding in the air. The staff is terrified due to the fact that Dr. Magata had murdered her family as a child. In a flashback scene, a young Dr. Magata is seen going on a car ride with the Director of the facility and her actions seem to suggest that she is trying to seduce him although he is married.

EPISODE 3: Red Magic

The power comes back on and the system resets. It is revealed that the white figure is Dr. Magata. Nishinosono and Saikawa try to approach but are deterred by a strong, rotting smell. Just then, another member of the facility's staff arrives and, after he is told that Dr. Magata is out of her room, the staff member investigates the body. He concludes that Dr. Magata is dead, her arms and legs severed. He also deduces that the killer could still be inside her room, prompting them to immediately lock her room. They attempt to call the police but the place has no signal and no cellphone service. Fortunately, the facility's director is arriving any minute now on a helicopter with Dr. Magata's younger sister, Miki. When the helicopter arrives, the Vice Director tells him about Dr. Magata's death and to call the police from the helicopter's radio. Meanwhile, Miki disembarks from the helicopter and she is escorted in by Saikawa, Nishinosono and the Vice Director. Miki is allowed to look at Dr. Magata's body and she looks understandably shocked. Saikawa and Nishinosono try to figure out what happened and who killed Dr. Magata. It is mentioned that with Dr. Magata dead, the only living relative of the Magata family left is Miki. And if the killer is after the Magata family, she could be next. While Saikawa and Nishinosono look for clues and analyze the facts, the Director is found dead in the helicopter with his throat slit. In a flashback scene, a young Dr. Magata successfully seduces the Director while they are on a cable car ride with fire works in the background.

COMMENTS: 

This just became interesting. I can't believe the body the summary was talking about belongs to Dr. Magata. Damn. It's definitely a surprising turn of events and just made the show doubly interesting. I mean, I am still annoyed by the forced romance between Saikawa and Nishinosono mainly because I see Nishinosono as a spoiled ditz. But this episode showed me a different side of her: she is smart and has good analytical skills. Hmm.

I also found it strange that Dr. Magata seemed fixated on Nishinosono's attraction to Saikawa. Indirectly, Dr. Magata seems interested in Saikawa, who has admitted to being obsessed with Dr. Magata.

I wonder if Dr. Magata is not really dead and she just faked her own death. She's certainly smart enough to do it. At the moment, that is my guess for the murderer in this whodunnit anime.

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Young Black Jack 2-3

EPISODE 2: Abduction

Hazama finds himself abducted, along with five other people, by a shady gang. It turns out they all owe a lot of money to the gang who is now looking to collect. However, the gang doesn't want money but their organs, specifically their heart, for the ailing leader of a powerful cult. Hazama and another man are a match for the patient. The doctor is known as the Joker, who operates in the black market and has successfully performed organ transplant on a number of patients despite the fact that the procedure is relatively new. Yabu, Hazama's drug addict friend, appeals to the gang boss to let Hazama go. In doing so, he reveals that Hazama is a genius in medical surgery but his appeal is unheeded. When Hazama meets the patient, the patient chooses him specifically for his spirit. However, before surgery could start, the gang finds out that the Joker has gone underground to escape the authorities, which means he cannot perform the surgery. The cult members pressure Hazama to perform the surgery, much to Yabu's horror. While Hazama and Yabu argue about the merits and demerits of performing heart transplant on a living donor, the donor dies of a cardiac arrest, thus, putting the argument to rest. Hazama's heart transplant operation is successful.

EPISODE 3: Deserter

A couple of American soldiers who deserted their contingent in the Vietnam War is being assisted by a secret organization in Japan to return them to Sweden. However, one of the soldiers, Smith, gets stricken by a debilitating headache. Coincidentally, the group is hiding out in the same apartment as Hazama, who is entertaining Maiko at the time. Maiko offers to help and ropes Hazama in. Hazama realizes that Smith is suffering from intercranial edema and needs surgery. He suggests bringing Smith to a hospital but the group vehemently protests to avoid detection by the authorities. They pressure Hazama into helping. At first, Hazama refuses to do it and walks away but when he overhears the group discuss bringing Smith to Europe despite his condition, Hazama realizes that the journey will kill Smith. He decides to perform intercranial surgery, which was successful. After the operation, Smith reveals that he works for the CIA, who is sent to investigate the secret organization helping deserters. He is brought to the embassy and Hazama is detained for his possible connection with the group. When they realize that he is just a medical student, they let him go.

COMMENTS:

I don't really have much to say about these couple of episodes, except that Young Black Jack is a hot bishie. This anime appears to focus on his pathos as a young doctor.... I can't really relate to that. I'm dropping the show.

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Kagewani 2: Sub Zero

EPISODE 2: Ice Fang

Sousuke Banba receives a call about a friend of his, Kuroda, a professional mountain-climber who got into in an accident and had to be rescued. According to Kuroda, they were five days away from reaching the peak when one of their team members went into hypothermia. The team decided to head back, much to Kuroda's dismay. Kuroda joined the expedition partly to find her father, who went missing in that mountain six years ago. That night, while the team was sleeping, they are attacked by a mysterious creature. The only people spared were Kuroda and the team member with hypothermia. As Kuroda calls for help and lights a flare, something knocks her from behind. She wakes up in a cave filled with human remains. She hears a sound, which turns out to be an old music box. This brings back old memories of herself giving a music box to her father just before he left for an expedition. Not surprisingly, the corpse holding the music box belonged to none other than her father as the name plate on his clothes revealed. Kuroda's sad reunion with her father's remains is cut short when the creature returns. Kuroda realizes that the creature can sense heat so Kuroda takes off all her clothes in order to avoid detection. The creature inspects her, unsure if she was prey. A desperate Kuroda prays to her father's soul to save her. Suddenly, the music box plays and the creature turns to attack the corpse. The creature leaves just as the rescue helicopter arrives. At the hospital, the staff believe that Kuroda's story is none other than the product of fevered imagination brought about by the extreme condition she was in. However, Kuroda shows Banba the name tag that belonged to her father.

COMMENTS:

This was a nice story and reminds me of the Dyatlov's Pass incident, involving the death of nine hikers under very mysterious conditions. According to this show, it was Big Foot.

But this episode has a very glaring plothole: if the bigfoot-like creature can sense heat and that was the reason it attacked the other climbers but not the guy with hypothermia, why didn't the creature also attack Kuroda?

The actual story of the Dyatlov's Pass incident, based on physical evidence, is much more fascinating. For one, the tents were torn from the inside and the hikers appeared to have left camp without shoes or proper clothing to protect them from the subzero conditions. Until now, they haven't solved the mystery.

At any rate, this episode is fine. But I'm waiting for Banba to actually do something. Isn't he supposed to be investigating these mysterious creatures? I thought this show was about Banba investigating these creatures, with Banba taking a more active role. But he's more of a passive character here, standing in for the audience in the horror stories of the victims.

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Kowabon 2: Elevator Haunting

EPISODE 2

The scene opens with elevator camera footage at around 2:00 a.m. At 6:00 a.m., the lift moves up to the fifth floor where a guy, carrying a garbage bag steps in and steps out again on the ground floor. At around 12 noon, there's a glitch in the camera and something appears just underneath the camera. The elevator door opens to admit a girl, wearing headphones, looking down at her phone. She does not see anything unusual. She presses the button and the lift moves up. It stops on the second floor but no one gets in. The girl looks down the hall, sees nothing and presses the close button. The door starts to close but stops midway and opens. But there's no one there. Creeped out, the girl presses the button several times and each time the door would start to close but stops and opens as though there's something blocking the way. The screen glitches again and shows a girl with long hair standing there. The girl in the elevator screams.

COMMENTS:

Something about this reminds me of the mysterious case of Elisa Lam - especially that part where the girl takes one step out of the elevator to look in the hallway. I guess it's the singular way that the scene was shot from an elevator camera. 

Anyway, I'm not entirely too sure what went on here. I thought the ghost was standing behind her because, as you can see from the screenshot below, there's that tangled mess of hair on the bottom right portion of the camera, right on the time stamp. That's a person. But then, supposedly the ghost was standing/lying/crawling on the elevator door and that's why it wouldn't close? I don't know.

The stop-motion, weirdly angled limbs of the ghost that was popularized by movies like The Ring still scares me. Something about it -- the utter grotesqueness of it -- creeps me out.

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First Impressions: Subete Ga F Ni Naru

EPISODE 1: Chapter 1 - White Meeting

Nishinosono Moe is the pampered daughter of the president of a college (deceased). Every morning, she goes to see Saikawa Souhei, a multi-awarded college professor who was her dad's old student, to banter with him while just barely hiding her attraction to him. Saikawa appears insensate to her amorous leanings and philosophizes through their conversations. The brief entrance of Gido, a colleague of Saikawa, makes it seem that Saikawa is at least, on a subconscious level, aware of Moe since he apparently talks of nothing but her, according to Gido.

In the course of the episode, it is revealed that Moe had met a programming prodigy, Dr. Magata Shiki, through her aunt who is the wife of a politician. She rubs this meeting in Saikawa's face since Saikawa admires Magata, whom he considers a genius. The staff in Saikawa's lab appear to be planning a seminar on an island and Moe invites herself there in order to meet Dr. Magata again. Saikawa, who was not planning to go at first, decides to go to meet Magata.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

This is a noitaminA anime and seems really interesting. Reading the plot, it's supposed to be a mystery thriller with the main characters trying to solve a serial murder case. However, the first episode is purely introductory, establishing character dynamics which will play a vital role as the story progresses into its plot. That said, I couldn't wait for it to be over so we can get to the good part.

I don't care much for the philosophizing. It all seems pretentious. The banter is okay I suppose. The most interesting character I find is Magata. I really liked her conversation with Moe which was framed like an interview. I suppose it was a interview for all intents and purposes but one that the interviewee (Magata), rather than the interviewer (Moe), controls right up to the very end.

The art style is nice. I like the muted colors and the simple lines. The BGM is composed of mostly classical pieces which blends well with the anime's style. I skipped both the opening and the closing theme so I have no comment about those.

My overall impression of the first episode of this anime is good. But, as I said, I can't wait to get to the real meat of the story.

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First Impressions: Young Black Jack

EPISODE 1: Where's the Doctor?

It's the 1960s  and all over Japan laborers are taking to the streets to demand equal pay. In the midst of all this chaos, a train accident leads to an emergency of massive proportions but the nearest hospital is understaffed because most of the doctors and staff are participating in the street rallies. Maiko, an intern, is tasked to find anyone who can help as more injured people come pouring in. Meanwhile, a young medicine student with facial scars, Kuroo Hazama, is persuaded by his classmates to join the protest but he ignores them while he mimes a complicated surgery. After they leave, Maiko arrives and, despite her misgivings, asks the student to assist at the hospital. While at the hospital, a young boy with severed limbs is wheeled in followed by his distraught parents. The ER doctor recommends amputation but Kuroo thinks he can reattach the limbs. After convincing the parents to pay 5 Million Yen for him to reattach the boy's limbs, he and Maiko take the boy to the private O.R. of an acquaintance of Kuroo who happens to be a drug-addicted surgeon who is afraid of drugs. After a tense four hours of operation, Kuroo miraculously reattaches the boy's limbs. However, the boy's father later pays him only 5,000 Yen instead of 5 Million Yen after learning that Kuroo doesn't have his medical license yet.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

I know that this is a prequel to Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka. Though I am familiar with said anime, I don't think I have seen a single episode of it. This prequel would be my introduction to the franchise and I must say that I like it.

I find the character of Black Jack (here called Kuroo Hazama) before he became the iconic titular doctor interesting. It helps that his character design is bishounen with washboard abs. The show even gives us fan service of his beautifully sculpted body, scars and all. *heart eyes* In this episode, he learned a harsh lesson on how clients can be quite base when it comes to paying the fee for service already done.

The setting also provides a good background for Kuroo's story to unfold. I wonder if it will play an integral part in the formation of Black Jack's character. The way the episode was introduced with a background on the social unrest experienced by the country at the time makes me think so. But past experiences with other anime where interesting settings are barely explored instead of integrated into the plot tells me otherwise. So crossing my fingers on that one.

I'm looking forward to the next episode.

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First Impressions: Concrete Revolutio Choujin Gensou

EPISODE 1: The Witch Girl of Tokyo

In a world where superhumans are a common sight and an easy target, the government of Japan established the Superhuman Bureau to protect and keep superhumans in line. One day, a young man enlists the help of Kikko, a waitress at a cafe, in his task of preventing Japan's renowned scientist from giving away important technological data to an industrial spy. During the course of the assignment, it is revealed that Kikko is a magical girl, the industrial spy is an alien and Jiro is a member of the Superhuman Bureau who turns out to be really after an alien, named Grosse Augen, who has fused with a human in order to survive. Together, Kikko, Jiro and Grosse Augen defeat the evil alien, and Kikko is conscripted into the Superhuman Bureau.

In a parallel story, Jiro is on the run from the Superhuman Bureau and Kikko is in charge of hunting him down. It is revealed that Jiro allowed the human that was fused with Grosse Augen to fuse with the evil alien.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: 

This is one mixed bag of an anime. Definitely not what I was expecting. 

First off, the color palette of the series is wild. It's so colorful and I'm not just talking about the characters' hair either. I'm talking the buildings, man. They're like pink and green and purple and blue. 

While I don't find anything objectionable about the whole premise -- think Watchmen, except less cerebral -- there is so much going on in the first episode alone, I'm having trouble following. So I'm pretty sure that some of the scenes are future scenes flash forwarded and interspersed with the present scenes. It's a bold choice, especially considering that the present storyline is complicated enough with revelation and revelation about the characters. But I guess the flash forward scenes have something to do with the present scenes. 

In sum, it's okay. I don't really like it, so I might not pick up the next episodes.

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First Impressions: Kowabon

EPISODE 1

A girl has a "Spike" video chat with her friend, who is going to a party and is trying out new clothes. Something's wrong with the video. Screen keeps glitching. Suddenly, the girl sees something on the camera standing behind her friend. She warns her friend about it. The friend leaves the room after being called by her mother, leaving the girl staring at her friend's room through the webcam. Screen glitches again and a naked girl with long black hair appears.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

That was some scary shit. Jesus. Remind me not to watch anime like this alone.
The plot for this reminds me of Unfriended, a horror movie that recently showed in cinemas and got rave reviews. Like Unfriended, the first episode of Kowabon uses the webcam chat to great effect, giving the audience an entirely new and immersive experience of the horror that's happening to the characters on screen. I was scared and I loved it. 

Now, for the art style. Kowabon uses rotoscope, an animation technique that uses live-action footage and rendering them into animated frames. It looks different from the usual anime out there. In that regard, it gives Kagewani a run for its money. However, where Kagewani animation-style makes the characters look 'off' as they move, Kowabon has a more realistic feel to its animation. 

All in all, I like it. The episode is only about 3 minutes long and about 50% of it is jumpscare. Awesome. :D

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First Impressions: Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans

EPISODE 1: Iron and Blood...

300 years after the war between Earth and Mars, known as the Calamity War, the inhabitants of Mars live peacefully in the terra-formed planet. Two children, Mikazuki Augus and Orga Itsuka are orphans who grew up together within the ranks of Chryse Guard Security, a civilian security company. When Mars colony, through Princess Kudelia Aina Bernstein, decides to travel to Earth to lobby for Mars' independence, Mikazuki and Orga are among those hand-picked to serve as her civilian security escort. However, before the convoy can leave, Chryse headquarters is attacked by a military group known as Gjallarhorn. When Gjallarhorn arrives with mobile suits, Mikazuki defends the princess on board a relic gundam from the Calamity War.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

I like it so far. Much of it reminds me of Gundam Wing. I loved that series. Although Mikazuki is no Heero Yuy and Princess Kudelia is no Relena Peacecraft, there's enough similarity to give that feeling of nostalgia.

I'm not a mecha fan but I've been known to dabble in a mecha series or two. 

This one worked for me. I like the touch of politics and war. Stuff like that always fascinates me. I hope there's a bit of romance, too. Then this would be perfect.

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