My blogging of this series stalled at the third episode because I found Kuu’s incessant, rampant cluelessness and whining to be very irritating. But I was curious to see how KyoTowa compared to Kannazuki and saved up the rest of the series for a marathon viewing. In a sentence: It made more sense than Kannazuki but had less dramatic impact for me. As such, I’d be happy to fork out for the three Kannazuki R1s as and when they turn up in the TSRI bargain bin. KyoTowa, I’ll be deleting my downloads to conserve harddisk space.
That’s not to say that I thought it was bad or that I regretted watching it but I just did not find myself rooting for Kuu or Kyoshiro in the way that I rooted for Chikane in Kannazuki. Even after the Bladerunner revelation for Kuu and Kyoshiro finally realizing that Kazuya-niisan is Not Nice, I still couldn’t open up my black shriveled little heart to them. The constant repetitions of ‘Let’s go. Together!’ felt hamfisted after the Nth time. ‘Go where? And do what!?’ Plus how the pun about Kuu (空) as sky and empty in the title of the final episode (and the series title) was simply orz-inducing and I could just imagine Osaka trying to make one of her uniquely excruciating jokes based on that.
I liked Mika-sama a lot as her backstory and motivation was revealed. MOAR yuri 4TW. But also share the opinions of Xebek, TedFox, Leon and Adun that Setsuna was probably the most interesting and sympathetic character. The blonde meido design probably didn’t hurt either. :3 Shirukii might have wailed at how she cut her hair at the end but it’s a common indicator of moving on as seen with post-Shiroi Sei Satou in MariMite and even Chiyo, at first, thought that Tomo had cut her hair because of a break-up ("No way that’s possible!", laughed Yomi). Speaking of Azumanga (again), I just burst out laughing at the Kuu x Kyoshiro reunion scene because of how the former was running with a Tadakichi-like big white dog in a field of flowers - for me, forever now an immortal euphemism (complete with its own guitar score) for Nyamo’s sexual exploits.
I was also impressed by the work of fansubbers Ayako which took up this series as their inaugural project. A great balance between the numerous factors of speediness of release, quality of translation, video/sound quality and so on. They’ve become my fansub group of choice for series I’m catching this season. Thanks guys for your hard work!
Enjoying this series very much at the moment. Not least because of Clare-nee and the importance of dietary fibre. Yet I can’t help but suspect that I would enjoy this series soooo much more if Lucky was a girl instead and addressed Clare as “Oneesama~~~ ♥” :3
Enjoyed the first half rather more than the second half. Former was about Machi-nee vs Ayane and their respective attempts to manipulate Suzu through her love for their mother’s daifuku while latter was about Suzu’s fear of ghosts - at least it did reinforce Ikuto’s closeness to Suzu and make him more useful too but the way he defeated the ghost just seemed too easy, making the girls seem wimpy rather than making him more manly.
Continue reading ‘Nagasarete Airantou 4′
I agree completely with Owen S’s observation that the 1 vs 2 cour comparison to explain why StrikerS has been off to a slow start is deeply flawed. In the first season, Fate didn’t even show up until the middle of the fourth episode while we had a relatively slow buildup about ‘Hi, I’m Nanoha Takamachi, this is my family etc etc.’ and then gradually levelling up under Ferret Yuuno’s instruction.
There appears to be a similar structure in StrikerS. The main new character Subaru has her back history and connection to Nanoha built up and, with the other three newbies, are being levelled up. Although we do know the members of the original cast, there is also considerable ground to cover, given that ten years have passed since the end of A’s (not counting the last few minutes of the last episode), such as the setting up of Hayate’s new unit - which isn’t covered in the A’s to StrikerS transition manga.
It’s quite hard to do the ’start in the middle’ narrative IMHO because although that was used in A’s, we have the same knowledge about the new characters as Nanoha. That’s not the case in StrikerS where the studio has decided that we, the audience, should be levelled up in our knowledge of the new characters to what the original cast members know. In any case, I have this sneaky suspicion that it’s a no win situation either way. Instead of complaints about slow pacing, the ’start in the middle’ alternative would probably provoke complaints of ‘Who are these people!?’, ‘What’s going on?’, ‘needs MOAR background’ etc.
Continue reading ‘Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 4′
Doctor Akamashi makes his getaway under the cover of the other goth-loli robot’s MLRS. Alita takes the throne while Milano assumes her meido identity. Comedy ensues from the bounty-hunter-turned-princess’ reluctance to take on her new role, exacerbated by her lack of knowledge about court etiquette. The doctor makes another attempt on her life with a new giant minion. The Murder Princess goes berserker FTW but is stopped by Milano as she charges a young girl and her puppy.
Enjoyed this episode for the action. Not so hot on the social misfit comedy as it seemed a tad predictable. Hints of political scheming too with scytheman Dominikov questioning Santa’s Little Helper Shudoo after what Akamashi is after. Of course, the yuri tension and development of Alita x Milano’s relationship was the highlight for me.
Continue reading ‘Murder Princess OVA 2′
