Musings and Reflections – Spring 2017 Week 11

Re:Creators (Ep. 10)

      At this point I can describe the show as a fun one, not really exploring every interesting possibility given the premise but nonetheless providing enough entertainment. Everybody fights everybody, Altair spices everything up by ass-pulling a mecha and Magane builds her own force with style. This episode I was particularly impressed by the visuals – CG mechas weren’t that bad, various fire effects were done well, there were some interesting camera angles and, of course, fighting didn’t disappoint. Yet, some details were less compelling. Why does Alice look so confused and surprised when someone she tries to hit actually gets hit? And how many lives exactly do Meteora and Selesia have? Yes, they both are not of this world but general human physiology should work in a same way, at least similar enough to have both them killed instantly. Why was Selesia’s transformation (as spectacular as it was) only temporary? Does that mean that getting a tweet popular gets a character a temporary stat enhancement plus some healing? The mechanics of that (as well as everything that Altair did) feel too shady at this point. But why am I complaining? Meteora will probably spend half of the next episode sharing her ideas how everything works. Another nitpick – why did no one think about calling medics while Selesia was just lying in a pool of blood? Is it normal to try doing something on your laptop that has a pretty low chance of working out before anything else while a person lies nearby with her intestines totally destroyed? Do they think soothing talk works better than some doctors? And the last one – even if these characters are not from this world, shouldn’t a guy with a gun just slaughter everyone else equipped with close ranged weapons? Or at least Blitz could try to snipe everyone in the opposing group if Altair really wants a confrontation. But oh well, drama is needed more than realism.

Little Witch Academia (Ep. 23)

      A very emotionally charged episode. I’m very happy as it turned out that even after countless episodes of meandering around and without flashy action scenes LWA is able to provide really enjoyable content. Who would have thought that such a fun OVA that the first LWA was turned out to be way deeper and complicated? Starting from the Chariot – Croix conflict, the show elaborated their relationship well enough to highlight multilayered dynamics between the two. Croix even way back had her villainous side, teaching Chariot the ability-stealing magic, wishing to justify that her own way is better and she is a more respectable witch than Chariot even if it was Chariot who was chosen to rekindle the magic. Chariot on the other hand just like Akko didn’t think deeper and therefore was burnt, even so when her own audience began to disintegrate. I guess Chariot’s tragedy is even worse since she just can’t escape her past – Akko with her youthful vigor started going the same way, but Chariot doesn’t even need that – almost every night the Moon is there as an indelible sign of her past life. The only thing of this part that didn’t really sit well with me was the fact that Chariot was a bit absolved from using the special magic by being played by Croix. It’s true that Croix in this way is made a more villainous character, but rather than that (Croix is already established as an evil one) I’d have liked to see Chariot get frustrated enough to find the new kind of magic on her own and learn about the side effects independently some time later. Moving on, not having Akko around for a long time made me realize how integral she is to the show – her silliness practically has been the energy to move every last bit of the story. Having Diana involved was a nice touch and that also tied in the fact that she also was at the Chariot show. Diana is the second most important character of the show, who has to overcome very similar problems that Akko faces, although in a slightly different way. Diana’s importance (to the show as well as to Akko) was clearly shown when Lotte and Sucy ran to her when Akko disappeared rather than getting other closer friends such as Amanda on board. I don’t know how it was possible for Diana to overcome her magical ability loss but I guess it was magical. As Akko’s spirit seems to be fully rekindled, the final confrontation can’t some soon enough.

Natsume Yuujinchou Roku (Ep. 10)

       Didn’t expect a longer story this time. Usually the last episode of a season had been reserved for a little story that would be a pretext to gather many different youkai to have sort of a party and to restate how Natsume has grown and how many friends he has acquired. It appears that the ending of the 6^th season (oh dear, it past so quick) will just resolve this story without any parties and celebrations. On the other hand, the fact that Natori finally learned about the Book of Friends is a pretty huge development. It appears that it won’t change character dynamics much as Natori seems to be able to respect Natsume and his possessions. Sure, he might find the Book handy but thinking realistically someone as powerful as Natsume probably is worth more having as a friend rather than an enemy, and that’s not even counting Nyanko-sensei and other youkai friends Natsume has made. So yeah, the time has finally come for Natsume’s secret to come out but I doubt it will change anything. Anyway, longer Natsume stories usually are good and, especially since the next episode will close the season, it should be worth waiting.

Sakura Quest (Ep. 11)

      In the end, that was beautiful. Still, at first I need to complain a bit that the part with the stalking ex wasn’t that satisfying. Sure, last time it worked wonders when paired with the depressing weather and overall gloomy and mysterious atmosphere, but as everything turned out, it undermines that build up. I understand that Sakura Quest won’t ever throw away the realism for the effect but if you decide to use some creepy dude in a serious setting, you better think something more convincing than a comedic reason. Speaking about other stuff, Riri’s parallel with the dragon legend felt very natural, only the finding of the alternative story and even more the sudden reappearance of the song were too unlikely to be believable. What are the odds that not a single person in the whole town remembers the song, especially since the old chief dude said that he sort of has heard it before? Despite these suspension of disbelief breaking moments the ending had one of the most memorable scenes in the show. It must have been especially hard for Riri to overcome herself and sing publicly, even more since some people were totally unknown to her. Still, she once again proves that she has enough courage and determination hidden inside when there’s a desperate need. I wonder whether I could call Sandal the official mascot of the show. Either way, he seems to have become an irreplaceable asset of Manoyama. More of him, please!

Tsuki ga Kirei (Ep. 10)

      At first, still the problems with the visuals are too apparent and overshadow the story. Rotoscoping the festival scenes may have been a good idea in general but now they just stand out too much compared to the rest of the scenes. It’s just that the festival stuff and other stuff aren’t that different (not counting the changed location) so that the drastic change in quality could be justifiable. Especially when other aspects sometimes are quite weird, just like some faces of the bystanders in the backgrounds or odd lighting. The story took an unexpected turn, showing that Curly’s jealousy scenes are far more melodramatic than Akane’s. I understand that jealousy is a natural feeling and you may not be able to control it at all, but especially after Akane’s explanation Curly‘s brainpower turned out to be not powerful enough to disable his jerk mode. Well, maybe that’s just youth. Still, even after thinking everything over ignoring Akane though it was clearly Curly who was at fault wasn’t the greatest decision in the history of relationships. Late apologies also mean little. I guess many of the nitpicks about melodramatic stuff concerning this show can be discarded because of the age of the characters but still that doesn’t feel satisfying enough. At least the couple’s relationship seems to have solidified a bit more.

Posted by Aldael on June 17, 2017

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