Weekly Anime Roundup – #2 (Part 1: Secrets and Suppositories)

by Moonlily on May.27, 2009, under Anime

Somehow, I’m getting the feeling that my weekly posts are divided into two different posts. Part 1 seems to have all the good shows and Part 2 seems to have all the shit shows. So I suppose if people wanted to get recommendations on the good stuff, they’d just read Part 1.

As is the usual drill, keep in mind that the sarcasm factor may be high and that all shows that are mocked deserve it. On the flip side, shows that earn my praise are also very deserving, so let’s have at it!

Asura Cryin’

What happened: The showdown between Shuri Kurosaki and Yoh Susugihara comes to a head when Yoh delivers the ultimatum: give her the stabilizer unit that Shuri had been protecting in return for the letter that Yoh had in her possession. Shuri was having none of that though, and with Tomoharu sick and unable to summon Kurogane, it was imperative that Shuri find some way to cure him of that cold to get him in fighting shape. Several chase scenes later, they bring Tomoharu to Kanade’s place where Ritsu was on hand to cure Tomoharu’s cold… with suppositories. A large-scale combat then takes place between Shuri and Yoh and just when all seems lost, Tomoharu jumps back into the scene, Kurogane and all, to bring the fight to an end. Kurogane manages to nab the stabilizer, causing Misao to become corporeal, and Tomoharu’s life becomes a notch more interesting.

What I thought: Putting execution issues aside, this episode manages to stay fairly entertaining all around since explosions can be said to make everything better. Again, Shuri’s vast array of weaponry manages to be amusing and the addition of a glider/jetpack and the huge, artillery-type beam cannon that they’ve added to her arsenal manage to sweeten the deal. As cool as it was, the weapons are predictably useless since Sasugihara’s Asura can cut through space-time as a means of dodging, but hey, the whole point is to watch the Asuras go mano a mano anyhow and this episode wouldn’t be complete without it. As some people have observed, the fight was kind of anticlimactic, but that hardly makes a difference since seeing a corporeal Misao is reward enough.

Cross Game

What happened: The upcoming baseball season is well under way and Kou, Akaishi, and Nakanishi put their plan into action of getting into the varsity baseball team by first, pretending to be sick during the tryouts, and then sneaking onto the team by defeating the people who managed to pass the tryouts. This plan effectively relies on Kou to really show up with his A-game as well as get some of the lazy, but talented upperclassmen to realize the importance of this upcoming match to prove themselves. Aoba also senses this and as such, is doing all she can to get those who were denied a spot on the varsity team some practice time.

What I thought: Cross Game still manages to be very enjoyable because the way the story builds up through the characters in a manner that’s really well done and maintains a high level of emotional honesty. That is, you don’t really feel like you’re being jerked around because the process in which the characters interact with each other just feels natural. Even tsundere Aoba feels just about right.

Either way, this episode has done a good job lining up the plot points and through its execution, I’m left feeling really impatient as to what’ll happen next. Needless to say, I’m eagerly awaiting the next episode.

Eden of the East

What happened: The members of the Eden project have not heard from Oosugi in quite some time and the fears begin mounting when they discover pictures being uploaded to the Internet that seem to indicate that Oosugi was kidnapped by the infamous “Johnny Cutter,” a murderer who kills her victims by snipping off their penises. Through the Eden image identification website, they manage to figure out where he’s being kept and Akira wastes no time in getting to the hotel where Shiratori is holding Oosugi. Though Shiratori does throw a few traps his way, he largely succeeds at getting into the hotel with Saki not too far behind. Akira then proceeds to have a discussion with Shiratori before blacking out from the injury he suffered en route to the hotel and Saki manages to arrive when Shiratori flees the scene by turning into a winged figure.

What I thought: I don’t get why more anime series aren’t as awesome as Eden. The amount of exposition is much less and this episode does a particularly awesome job when it comes to delving into their characters, which, given the scope of the plot, requires a lot of fleshing out so that people gain an understanding of the characters’ motivations. From the details that Shiratori gave us through her dialogue, it’s evident that her hatred doesn’t stem from an irrational origins and that she does have her reasons for doing what she’s doing even if it doesn’t change the fact that she’s creepy as all hell. The plot twist at the end clinched the deal and while it left us with a lot more questions than answers (especially as to how this series will wrap up), it confirms that Eden of the East is the most compelling series from this Spring lineup.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

What happened: The brothers begin looking into the secret behind the Philosopher’s Stone by heading to the library, only to find out that the library was burned down. However, they do find Sheska, a former librarian who has near-photographic memory and was able to give the brothers a transcription of Dr. Marco’s research. The boys continued, day and night to find the secret behind the stone and finally come across the deadly revelation. Though crestfallen by this discovery, it does spark a bit of interest in the military’s activities and this leads the boys to an abandoned research lab where Ed begins exploring what’s inside.

What I thought: So the whole scuffle between Scar and the two Homonculi was really well done with a lot of tension thrown in, but the highlight of the episode remains that soul-searching moment when the boys have finally stumbled across Marco’s dark secret. The problem with that though is the pacing, which felt like it was going at too fast a clip and not letting the audience savor the horror inherent in the stone’s secret. Some of the humor, again, is poorly executed and distracts from the seriousness of the plot revelation, making it yet another ho-hum episode that is neither bad, but not remarkable either.

That’s it for this first segment. I’m thinking of doing 3 entries for this week since I’ve been watching quite a bit and I do want to go over Hatsukoi Limited and maybe Kara no Kyoukai in a later post. So stay tuned for that and looking forwards to your comments.

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