Visionary Nexus Network

I’ve no idea myself. Here we are on the cusp of the end to a so-so anime season, and we have all these enjoyable shows that might not have a clue as to how to end. I predict a rush job, and not of the zerg variety either. I’ve also decided that numbering the weeks is kinda dumb, so I’ll just switch to poking fun of what I’m watching through the post titles.

Here are the summaries, part 1 most likely. 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: Time passes, and with that, things have only become more dangerous, prompting Kanade’s group to have her stay at Tomoharu’s house since they figured that Tomoharu is capable of protecting Kanade from the fact that he was able to battle Yoh to a draw, at least, if you conveniently ignore the fact that Yoh pretty much let them go scot free. As they were discussing the details, Shuri decides to drop in, carrying with her Ania Fortuna, a demon loli who has the power to steal people’s luck by biting them. Tomoharu, to his disbelief, finds out he has to guard Ania as well, and so, tries to adjust to his new life.

While all of this was transpiring, there have been reports of a demon hunter out on the loose, and attempts to capture it have been in vain. Aggravated by his failure to capture the beast, Reishirou of the Sacred Defense Squad asks Ania about her sister’s whereabouts since the beast bore the Fortuna’s signature effects. Ania, distraught by all this bit of information, refuses to cooperate and runs off, forcing Tomoharu and Co. to go find her. When they do, she spills the reason why she is in Japan and, just when things get all happy, they feel some rumbling noises and run towards the source only to find that the demon hunter has been cornered and is morphing into something really deadly.

What I thought: Thirteen episodes, nowhere close to a resolution, and erratic pacing result in this head-scratcher of an episode. I have been watching quite a few 12-13 episode series this season, and while this is one of the more involving ones, I still have no clue as to how they’ll wrap it up. The episode was erratic, jumping from serious moments to forced comedy, along with a deluge of snide remarks, courtesy of Shuri, and moments where Ania goes about biting people to cause them a spur of bad luck. At least it’s somewhat funny and I got a good chuckle out of it. Still, this series has a hard time deciding what it wants to be. It is, for all intents and purposes, a Mai HiME-type show in the way it combines various genres and I just wish they’d try to keep themselves to a genre because this show is nowhere as awesome as Mai HiME. It’s already gotten fairly ridiculous trying to keep track of who’s who and who hates who and who is allied with whom… you get the idea. Oh well, watch it for Misao if nothing else.

Cross Game

What happened: The game between the pre-fabs and the varsity team has finally come and the turnout is stacked in the varsity team’s favor. EVIL coach has opted to use Senda as the starting pitcher to show off the varsity team’s defensive skills, while the pre-fab team plans to use the seniors to start off the batting order. Unfortunately for the seniors, they get themselves out in rapid succession, prompting a switch, allowing Kou to show off his pitching skills. Much to EVIL coach’s chagrin, Kou strikes out the opposition rather quickly and when they move on to the next inning, Kou manages to take advantage of Senda’s shoddy pitching to hit a home run. Akaishi follows suit, and the team ends up leading 3-0, that is, until Azuma manages to hit a home run against Kou’s pitching when the varsity team is at bat. With the score at 3-1 and Kou tiring, it’ll be hard to the pre-fabs to continue with this momentum.

What I thought: There’s no comeuppance like humiliating comeuppance and all signs indicate that the varsity team is in for, if not a victory, a narrow escape by the skin of their teeth. I particularly love the level of recon that Akaishi and company have gone through to unearth the varsity team’s biggest weaknesses. Of course, we’re going to have some problems since Kou has never pitched a whole game before, but at least the audience is treated to the EVIL coach looking like a fool. If the pre-fabs can pull of an upset, I’d love to see the aftermath since this series does such a good job of pulling the strings so that we become really sympathetic towards the pre-fab team in a way that doesn’t feel forced.

Eden of the East

What happened: Yutaka Itazu has agreed to help Akira by using his supercomputer to track down the rest of the Selecao, but already, the results are starting to feel rather eerie, especially in the way Akira is involved in the Careless Monday incident. It becomes all too evident that the terrorist attack was fueled by another Selecao, but his motives for doing so remain unclear. All signs point to another attack though and this bit of news is alarming enough to prompt Akira to act.

Unbeknownst to him and Yutaka, the two are being watched by Ryo Yuuki and Daiju Mononobe. One was a former anti-government sympathizer who now works with Daiju, a former governmental official to see their goals come to fruition. Upon seeing Akira leave Itazu’s apartment the two discuss matters further until they spot Yutaka hurrying off after Akira with another Selecao phone. Daiju forces Ryo to run Yutaka over, killing him, and the two destroy Yutaka’s phone, preventing him from delivering the message to Akira (as if killing him weren’t enough).

What I thought: Yes, the writing may be somewhat suspect and this episode offered a deluge of information that may take multiple viewings to square away. There are only a few episodes left in store for us, which triggers alarm bells because there’s no possible way this show can make sense unless we have mass Selecao genocide and that would be pretty laughable. Somehow, I’d imagine the interplay in such an event to be similar to Death Note’s level of silliness, but that’s for another day I suppose. Never happening would be better, but I’ll take what I can get.

But is it enjoyable? Sure, no question about that. Each character has a set of motivations that make them stand out, and as a fan of character-driven shows, this one is right up my alley. The two personas that we get to take a peek at, Ryo Yuuki and Daiju Mononobe have an aura of mystery that feels really intriguing and those two would be excellent subjects of analysis, especially in considering how the former ended up partnering with the latter given the former’s dislike of government officials.

This still continues to serve up a nice dose of political thriller. I’m just praying for a proper, well-executed conclusion at this stage in the game.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

What happened: Ed’s forced to lay his pride on the line by placing a special call to Winry so that she might repair his broken piece of automail, which she does after making fun of his habits. Al, on the other hand, was feeling resentful after the idea that Barry the Chopper had implanted into his mind and so, he continues moping.

After Winry finished up with the repairs, she ends up staying with Col. Hughes for the night where she gets a chance to meet his family and finds a place of solitude. Early the next morning, she makes her way back to the hospital to say goodbye where, to her shock, she finds that Al and Ed had been feuding after Al questioned his very own existence. Ed stalks out of the room and heads towards the roof, leaving Winry, who, shocked by Al’s behavior, explains to him the state of Ed’s mind after the incident. Realizing just how hurtful his words had been, he heads over to the roof where the two brothers reconcile.

What I thought: This episode had its fair share of tender moments though Hughes emerged from it much more annoying than I remember from the first (and better) season. While his doting tendencies were endearing back then, they have become annoying in this edition and that just gets me irritated since a part of what made him awesome was his fine sense of balance between competence and silliness. I also feel that we haven’t had time to be more sympathetic towards Hughes, which will make the BIG EVENT feel less like an impact than a “oh, so it goes” reaction. But I’m getting ahead of myself (and the show).

The part where Al confronts Ed about the beliefs that Barry the Chopper had instilled within him did bring out the requisite emotions to make the scene decent, especially if you throw Winry’s reaction into the mix since the way she acted felt genuine and it helped bring Al back to his senses. The combat part at the end was for show, but the resolution was fine as is.

That’s it for this first segment. Stay tuned for the second and looking forwards to your comments.

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