weyrbunny

Ep. 1.5 - The Potential of the Dead Oh good grief, the falling over last episode was foreshadowing for the flashback?! At least Enamori’s fall was believable. It was so sudden and brutal—I found it and the ensuing moral dilemma compelling. The irony of the “ghosts” killing the person who had been enabling their existence was also well done. Frankly, this flashback was such better storytelling than ep. 4’s horror grab-bag. The SPCR needs to form a Japanese chapter and sic itself on Kyoma. In ep. 3, he kicked Mira. Here, he punched and slapped her. (Glad he got a bruised hand for his efforts.) I’m guessing the show is trying to establish how “edgy” it and Kyoma are, or how damaged his backstory left him, but because Mira is so sexualized and anthropomorphized, Kyoma’s abuse of her is conspicuous. It hasn’t reached the titillation levels of the ghost torture scene, but it’s veering that way. It was at the end of ep. 5. DW’s dialogue is similar in the two versions. I was actually surprised—I’ve seen a lot of disparity, as you say. But there’s some weird stuff too, like a scene in ep. 4 where Mira inner-monologues over another character’s line in the DUB, but not the SUB. An anime about giant tomatoes sounds completely like something anime would do. But you’re talking about that food-weather movie, [Googles…] Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs?

1.4 – The Mystery Hidden in Lake Yasogami Was that… a giant, horned bird-head mounted on the wall? Please let that be relevant later. This episode was such a discordant assemblage of details: part Nancy Drew mystery, part carpet from The Shining, part pratfalls, part…people sitting around reading a book titled Asbestos. Some of its attempt at ghost-story atmospherics reminded me of Hell Girl, but the rest was such a jumble. I want to know why the sister (hotel owner) has to be asleep in order to connect to Dimension W. Unless the show is just going to copy Paprika or Inception or something. Then, never mind. I did not care for either time that Mira fell over. She was standing still both times!? I suppose poor execution or poor direction could be to blame for why it seemed fake. Had some movement been shown—I'm noticing that the characters rarely move in the show as well as they do in the opening credits. And then of course there were the sexualized, "helpless female" poses that she was put in when she fell. BTW, I switched back and forth between the SUB and DUB of this episode, and the SUB's dialogue is better at explaining some things, I think.

Catching up... Ep. 1.3 – Chase the Numbers Headless Mira saved this episode. Before that scene, it was seeming mundane. Even the slight A Room of One’s Own subtext while Mira was making herself a home in the trailer wasn’t holding my attention. My mind kept wandering to how it was the worst-kept secret that NT is covering up Dimension W disasters. Or, how the XYZW axis in the prologue is still only showing 3 dimensions. Why does Mira talk to herself, out loud, when she has an inner monologue? I’m hoping Kyouma’s traumatic backstory is more unique than the Giant Cactus/Coil Disaster that the flashbacks are revealing. So far, there’s nothing unexpected about his backstory, nothing we couldn’t have guessed. I want some spark of originality there.

Finally rewatching…. I never noticed before how Reid connects Susan’s crimes to Jack the Ripper’s—two unsolvable cases, both lacking the necessary evidence (in that moment). But for Reid, it’s about how he and the police react to the two crimes. They can swallow their own tails like the ouroboros, never letting go, or they can move on. Reid chooses the second, for once. And in fact I see now that almost every character must choose this episode. It really is one of the most thematically tightly-written episodes of the series. Years ago in college, I read some text—the name of which I can’t recall—that said the idea of the “tragic flaw” was incorrectly translated from the Greeks and then frequently misused in fiction and philosophy ever after. The correct translation was in fact “tragic mistake,” and it was about choice. It was really interesting that Reid played out both sides of this with Susan and her father. He encourages Susan’s confession by emphasizing how she simply made the wrong choice, a tragic mistake, but her father…his evil is more inherent flaw. There was no element of mistake, and so he was dealt with accordingly. Jackson had perhaps the most impactful choices though, and I think he chose not just the past (Susan) as has been said, but also the future (telling Reid about the fingerprinting).

Oh, sorry. Loser is played by J. Michael Tatum, who is also the voice of Sebastian Michaelis, the Black Butler. I instantly associate Tatum's voice with Black Butler, regardless of which show or role he's in. Except for [C]-Control. Tatum's performance in [C]-Control was excellent, and so it managed to push out all thoughts of Black Butler.

Hello, Black Butler. Still a ton of details and designs referencing others shows in this episode. Kyouma gets the requisite military background, just like Spike, and Loser looks an awful lot like Darkman, of all things. (Kyouma needs more personality ASAP to keep up with Loser, by the way.) I’m glad the story is diving right into the mysteries about dimension W and coils and showing, not telling, why they’re dangerous. I find myself thinking about Japan’s 2011 nuclear disaster more and more and wondering if the show is building the allegory. The dimension W “power plant” looms over the city in so many shots… I liked that the flesh-robot-prism-coil-nightmare sculpture, as I think of it, resembled the sculpture that Loser was stealing the Numbers from. I saw it as just a power button, with the on/off. The coil Q then was symbolically inverted power, since it was the other direction. Is 1/0 symbolic of something else? Also, you're right. It's unlikely that Mira's tail is a power cord. It just looks like one in some scenes. Mira’s markings and robot accessories have reminded me of something. I finally realized it was Aya from Green Lantern. I’m guessing Aya was influenced by anime, not the other way around, though. Fan art source: http://comicvine.gamespot.com/images/1300-2932325

I’d watch a third YJ season, definitely. I’ve discovered that there’s a new Bunnicula cartoon from Cartoon Network. It’s abhorrent: a s****** Scooby-Doo knock-off that seems both outdated and littered with “cool” tween marketing ploys that will immediately be outdated. Three episodes, and I’m out. The Bunnicula books are a charming series of children’s mystery novels—those I highly recommend.

The fanservice was absurd, not just because of the quantity, but also because some of it was so zoomed in, it was practically a disembodied body part. Some of the images of the robot's butt were edited in so randomly too, I kept thinking "Garth Merenghi would make fun of this." And I don't know if the show was trying to be punny by repeatedly showing Mira's "tail," but the fact that it resembled a computer charging cord at times stripped it of sex appeal. Yeah, so, I'm saying the fanservice was half-assed.

Alright, I'm in. The pilot episode smacks of Cowboy Bebop, but as Coyote Ragtime proved, copying Cowboy Bebop en masse can turn out really well. (Even this guy's hair is Spike-y, and don't get me started on the "he lives and dies in the past" flashback with the rain.) The dancing in the opening credits made me laugh out loud. I'm kind've hoping Kyouma breaks into dance throughout the series. I do wish the pilot were better written in places. It's ultimately entertaining and does its job introducing the characters, but the ending in particular is rushed. Other scenes seem pieced together, too. It's just not cohesive, yet. Bonus points for the reference to the blimp from Blade Runner. Though, it was so sunny and well-lit, they sucked every ounce of Noir out of it.

Rewatching... OK, ep. 3.7 is definitely a companion to the last episode—both exploring characters fleeing a woman’s life and marriage. It’s nice to see Reid still mellow, still focusing on investigation and policing. The beach scene Mathilda describes here—I realize now that This is puzzling me now, too. Perhaps Susan told the doctor that she wasn’t married when they met and was simply maintaining the lie. Unless she and Jackson were common-law married or something?

Rewatching... Huh. I remember Reid reading about fingerprinting in an earlier episode. Was it The Incontrovertible Truth? If so, well done, Show. This was sadder, more cynical than I remembered—a woman choosing her own death after not having the option to choose her own life/marriage. (Though, she certainly tried to subvert and pervert it as she could.) Thematically, this strikes me as seeding the ideas for ep. 3.7, which is also about women’s lack of choice. I laughed when Reid and the guy he was interrogating looked at the ceiling during the Sergeant’s screamed, when Jackson’s girlfriend stepped on his gouty toe. Because it was a funny callback to Drake threatening to shoot off the prisoner’s toe. And, because Reid barely paused the interrogation with a look of “Huh, someone’s screaming. Now back to your confession…”

Rewatching… I’ve noticed now that both sides of this case-of-the-week are about following someone else’s example. On the criminal side, the younger brother emulates his brother’s violence, trying to assume his role as a leader. And, Drake, the duckling, Jackson, and even Abberline all practice Reid’s forensicating ways. Abberline also assumed Reid’s role as the physical, violent one during interrogation. Abberline was like that before of course, but Reid has been filling that role this season. Reid’s cataloging and archiving of crime details is paying off—it’s rewarding to see. I laughed out loud when Abberline threatened Jackson with “A man’s never too old to put his boot up an American’s arsehole.” It was Drake’s “Damn!” grimaced expression in response that made it so funny. This was a nice break from Reid’s rages and melodrama. The story’s references to taking a life for a cause and street justice vs. police justice pull it back to the season’s larger themes, I think.

Rewatching… This is my favorite episode of Series 3, possibly of Ripper Street. All of the storylines finally intersect and leap forward together seemingly. Oh, and that ending with not just the twists but the look of panic on Susan’s face…it’s still freakin' brilliant. And riveting. Episode 3.4 is just so purposeful compared to the last one. And yes, it pays off Susan’s desire for connection (or even family) that was stirred up by caring for Mathilda in episode 3.3—explains why she sleeps with Jackson here, IMO. The gossip mill in Whitechapel is HUGE! Susan, Best, and Abberline all conveniently hear every rumor about Reid…that the plot needs them to hear. I never noticed before that Reid accuses Jackson of murdering Creed, the prisoner who could identify Capshaw back in the first episode. It’s crucial, because it sets Jackson is motion, but it was also a reminder of how unequal their “friendship” is. Jackson covered up Buckley’s murder, to save Reid, and Reid then attacks Jackson and accuses him of murder. It's Reid demanding another oath of fealty, like he did with the Sergeant, I suppose.

Rewatching… In retrospect, 3.3 isn’t complete without 3.4. And it doesn’t come alive until Drake and Rose’s reconciliation and conversation. It’s nice to see Drake’s subtle investigation and interrogations skills, but chunks of the case-of-the-week are slow and disjointed, IMO. The Amazon UK cut of episode 3 is 1:07, btw, making it 9 minutes longer than the US version. I had forgotten that Jackson actually falsified Buckley’s autopsy, and I like that Abberline questions it—he’s no fool or, at least, not fooled. It always puzzled me that Mathilda would run away, into maze-like streets, after being loudly phobic about leaving her room/pupae in ep. 3.2. I finally realized that she escaped simply in order to find Buckley and return home. Makes sense now. So much here pays off in the next episode, even the little details, like Susan’s nostalgia for Jackson and trying to reconnect with him.

Rewatching… Damn! I always took the River Lethe (river of forgetfulness) dialogue in ep 3.2 as symbolic for Reid, but it’s actually a metaphor for Alice/Mathilda: she died, drank from/was drunk by the river, and forgot her waking self. Both Susan and Reid really are at their worst here. Susan’s lies are so multi-layered, so manipulative, so good at setting the murder in motion that I was impressed for a moment. (Maybe Capshaw was actually the lies’ architect, but she carries them out.) And Reid…well, he’s definitely not delegating the physical violence anymore, like in earlier seasons. Episodes 3.1 and 3.2 both subtly compare Capshaw and Reid, I’m realizing. They’re both shown as everyday bullies, and then Reid even murders Buckley in the same location that Capshaw murdered Buckley’s wife. It struck me as fitting that Reid paused for a moment to steady himself with his hands on Buckley’s shoulders and then seemed to decide to kill him as though he were restoring order to chaos. Fitting with the earlier “we are the abyss” conversation that followed the River Lethe references, that is. Is this the first mention that Reid is an atheist? Also, Reid keeps revealing what he does/does not know to Susan and Capshaw by rushing to accuse them…he really should stop giving things away like that. It's helping them plot.

I think the clues were the few references to what happened at the end of Series 2, where Drake decided to leave and Jackson and Reid argued. (I had finished Series 2 right before starting Series 3, so it was still fresh in my mind.) The Amazon UK "cut" has a running time of 1:06 though, which makes it 7 minutes longer than the iTunes version, for example. ------------------- A few random observations during rewatch… It’s hard not to read everything as foreshadowing in this first episode. I never noticed before that Reid pulls a girl from the train wreckage and can’t let go of her, for example. Reid’s sadness is a little bit heartbreaking, and I have true sympathy for him, for once. Macfadyen does a beautiful, quiet job in the lingering camera shot afterwards. Also never noticed Jackson’s “Got any idea what to do with one of these?” line when Drake asks him to look after the orphaned boy. Again, foreshadowing. It’s all very meta, as well. There are so many comments about being dead (“What is this, a hallucination? We’re all in fact dead and you’re here to greet us?”), returning from the dead, and time turning backwards as the core characters reassemble–like the show itself returning from cancellation and reassembling itself. Suddenly, also, I’m seeing the beauty of the clothing and costumes. What at first glance looks like dark blue, brown or black suits and dresses is actually complex plaids, rich greens, and textured and layered fabric. I must associate Ripper Street with dark colors and, well, Gothic-ness, but there is in fact visual complexity everywhere.

Two of my coworkers won't shut up about One-Punch Man, so I'm curious about it as well. I'm guessing it has to finish on Daisuki or wherever, before it can show up on Toonami. Too bad about Psycho Pass--It's been on my watch-someday list for a couple years now. Dimension W's description isn't ringing any originality bells, but the reviews have been solid, at least.

Well, sure, if you want to make it seem all classy...genetically engineered tentacle-monster abomination mobsters are much better. Heh.

Oops...lost track of when this ended on Toonami. Here are my thoughts on the finale: Hiroshi being a waste of time and a loser was the story's point, IMO. The whole series was ultimately about Michiko and Hatchin letting go of various idealizations of lovers and fathers and making their own, new family. If you look back at the examples of parent-child relationships within the show, most are variations on that theme. And I dislike a lot of the show's examples of love--because they're misogynistic or abusive or a child in love with an adult or something else creepy--but they're significant because they teach Hatchin about relationships, about emotional resilience and surviving heartache. They're preparing her for being the single parent in the coda. A coda about a single mom is really interesting, because it's progressive and different for anime, I think. It's a lot more interesting than a lot of the subplots in Michiko & Hatchin, too. If only the show hadn't wasted time being repetitive or meanderingly paced--not enough story for 22 episodes, really--and had instead shown us more of Hatchin's later life. Like Gungrave. Gungrave was about two friends growing up and how relationships change and are destroyed. (And also zombie mutants or something--yeah, it's anime.) It's realism and exploration of relationships were really good, though, and the coda here instantly reminded me of its quality. I just realized: Michiko & Hatchin might be the first josei anime I've ever watched. I look forward to seeing more. ETA: Kids on the Slope is josei, actually. So this isn't the first after all.

Just chiming in to say that I love Samurai Champloo and that it gets better with age, IMO. When it first aired, I suspect it suffered from being a Watanabe show that wasn't Cowboy Bebop. Viewed as its own entity, though, it's incredibly funny, with excellent fight scenes. I don't know if I have time to rewatch it now, but I might be swayed by Momo's cuteness.

My family eschews most holiday traditions, but we do watch anime DVDs from the library. This Christmas’s selection was The Wind Rises, Patema Inverted, and my repeated favorite, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. The Wind Rises is beautiful, excellently made, and with the thoughtfulness and intelligence that you’d expect from Hayao Miyazaki. But the “expect” is probably why it will never be one of my favorites; it was ultimately too expected, too...mundane. Mainstream might be a better word. Movie reviewers have heaped praise on The Wind Rises for being Miyazaki’s most mature, emotional drama, and by inference, for setting aside the fantastical or whimsical. But I think Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away—just to pick two—were far more multifaceted. They were definitely more visually creative. If it really is Miyazaki’s swan song, The Wind Rises is a worthy legacy. It just didn’t engage my imagination or provoke thought the way that his earlier films do. (Oh, and the dub is embarrassing in places: lips still moving after they stop talking! WTF Disney?!) Patema Inverted has visual creativity in spades. The direction by Yasuhiro Yoshiura is Hell Yeah Awesome! too, especially the vertiginous, upside-down action sequences at the end. (I’m always compelled to watch the ending again immediately, just because it’s so thrilling.) And I salute whomever planned out all the reversed-gravity scenes. The details of who or what are being pulled in which direction(s) are so visually mind-bending in places, it must’ve taken a great deal of planning to get it right. Which it does. What Patema Inverted lacks, though, is character depth. Or, maybe it simply needs more expressive dialogue for the characters, so that they’re not only serving the plot. I like the characters, but the film doesn’t give a single one a unique voice, really. Plot over personality is what the story calls for, but exploring the characters, and by extension their societies, would’ve given the story more weight. Or, gravity. (Ba dum bum ching.) You know what I realized about The Girl Who Leapt Through Time? It’s hysterical. The last time I watched it, I found it bittersweet and melancholy—about lost love, lost time, and a dystopian future. This watch: physical comedy, comedic timing and there’s a TIME-WALNUT—hee! And this is why I adore The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: every rewatch, I discover new elements to enjoy. I also really enjoyed the dialogue and characters this time—they have the unique personalities and voices that are missing from Patema Inverted, actually. (And the story’s ambiguities and complexities make The Wind Rises pale in comparison, too.) It’s one of those rare anime where the dub improves the dialogue, making it more layered, funnier, fuller of personality. Speaking of ambiguity…previously, I accepted The Girl Who’s... ending scene ambiguity as a metaphor for Makoto’s growing up and chasing after love and the future instead of running from it. Now, I want a more literal happy ending, for Makoto’s time leap back to the beginning to have restored Chiaki to more than one time leap, for them to really meet in the future. But…that’s the beauty of the ambiguity: either is possible, and there’s always a third option. I realize that none of this makes sense unless you’ve seen the movie. I’m being vague and not overviewing the plot and characters because a) Google and b) I don’t want to give away any of the twists. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is great anime, and I can’t recommend it more. Actually, you know I’ll rewatch it next Christmas and find a way to recommend it more. :)

I was so impressed by Tokyo Ghoul. It’s a flawed show, but I don’t care, because its whole is greater than its parts. And, it so frequently subverted my expectations, I still can’t believe it! It doesn’t subvert anime tropes; it deploys those constantly. But, the show isn’t interested in stepping through them the way that every other supernatural-teen anime seems to be. Here’s what I mean: the pilot sets up the banal story of a special-snowflake teenage boy (Kaneki) who has to come to terms with being a zombie. And he cries a lot. And he’s going to learn to fight, of course. But Tokyo Ghoul doesn’t stay that story. It, and Kaneki, progress quickly, constantly and often violently. It’s as if the show uses familiar tropes as shorthand, so that it can devote its time to exploring the psychological horror or consequences of each character’s choices. The show even turns into an ensemble in season 2—aka Tokyo Ghoul √A—with Kaneki becoming a mystery to the audience and other characters. It also uses inference and visual clues A LOT. Man, is some of the storytelling ambiguous. It does an excellent job of exploring both sides of arguments and both sides of a fight, which adds to the ambiguity. (And gets back to the theme of consequences…) Tokyo Ghoul uses some common zombie or Frankenstein metaphors, by the way, to comment on urban crime, racial profiling and even eating disorders. Season 1 sets up zombie-ism as every eating disorder, I think. “Ankle-biter” takes on new meaning—heh. I love the artwork and animation, of course, even Kaneki’s nightmare-fuel mask. Striking visuals abound, but being a horror show, they include really bloody, violent fight-scenes and bodies falling from the sky. Anyway, the best compliment I can give Tokyo Ghoul is that I want to watch it again. I’ll miss being surprised by the plot and tension, but I can’t imagine it could be less…forlorn and haunted. How interesting. A couple notes: There’s now a prequel OVA: Tokyo Ghoul: Jack Season 3 is supposed to start in 2016 Also, the best commentary I’ve seen on the season 2 finale is A Tokyo Ghoul Retrospective; Or, “Waiter, There’s a Tragedy in my Horror Anime!” Spoilers, obv.

It was worth it, just that once!! Though technically—as I learned from the commentary—The Critic aired on ABC for a season before moving to Fox and then eventually to Webisodes. I’d say my favorite quote from the show was “Like most members of America's cultural elite I worship Pan, the Goat God!” I died laughing. Speaking of dying…a close second is “I’ve been declared dead by better coroners than you!” So many applications in today’s zombie/vampire/vombie TV landscape. And why isn’t “fantacrap” used constantly?!? So many shows truly are a mixture of fantasy and crap. Of all the mashups that didn’t catch on…I must endeavor to use it often. Though, usually if I think an anime is fantacrap, I stop watching after 3-5 episodes and don’t post about it. Still, I can try. More in a bit on the awesomeness that is Tokyo Ghoul.

Agreed, Sandman87. I knew Hiroshi wouldn’t live up to Michiko’s hype, but the low-life, tomato farmer described is actually worse than imagined. , thankfully. I can never find the time to watch Michiko & Hatchin on a weekly or bi-weekly or, hell, monthly basis. So I just marathoned the whole thing this week. From what I can tell, Toonami has aired through ep. 17—yes? More than several. I swear they meet the same characters/archetypes over and over, really. And, they have the same, often sexist, conflicts with the new characters, because of Michiko’s one-note insecurities, jealousies and lack of impulse control. Michiko as a character does not marathon well, in retrospect. And speaking of doppelgängers, for once in an anime, the meta seems unnecessary: the telenovela explains “the show,” when its themes are already obvious, I mean. The soundtrack I like a lot, though, both songs and score. Speaking of Ghibli, lathspel, some of the piano music reminded me of Spirited Away. Overall, I truly enjoyed the show's atmosphere and style, the animation and art. And I do believe the ending redeems chunks of the story. (But more on that later, of course.) If only the storytelling weren't so flawed...

Disney XD is reairing TRON: Uprising? Its name is usually mentioned along with the movies, so I’m guessing it has benefitted from the sequel press lately. Actually: 9 reasons more TRON Uprising is the answer to Disney's TRON sequel problem. I do recommend TRON: Uprising. (It’s why I was watching Disney XD in the dead of night. Or, at all.) I remember it having a dull start—it had to burn off some lame, teen sports episodes or whatever was supposed to appeal to the Disney demographic. But once it dived into the TRON mythology and developed its characters, it was great—freakin’ amazing visuals, excellent voice acting, and a good story. Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) was the standout performance, for me. Darn good soundtrack, too. Wow: -------- I’m almost done watching The Critic. It’s brilliant, witty, and mean. How funny that so many of the movies that it was OK to hate in the 90’s are now considered unimpeachable “classics”.