Hozuki no Reitetsu
Kuuki: No humans have been harmed in the making of this series. Probably.Now that my quirky introduction is out-of-the-way, I shall present you the story of Hozuki no Reitetsu. Hozuki is the best assistant to the King of Hell, and as such he is always asked for advice on various subjects pertaining to the administration of Hell. He also has strange hobbies.
Well, Hozuki is a top administrator in hell and we follow his adventures. That’s pretty much what it is all about.
I am not sure of what else I can say about this episode. There does not seem to be any kind of continuity in the story, or its mostly composed of small stories put together.
I don’t think I mind. At least if I don’t like whatever story they are telling I can still go to the next.
I heard it was supposed to be a comedy, the problem is that I did not laugh a single time. I actually barely smiled. This aspect was quite a letdown.
I was happy to see another take on Momotaro’s story though. It was interesting to see what he became after death and a more human reinterpretation of his character.
The King is truly an idiot, grotesque at best. Not very funny either but maybe that’s just me.
I have strange humor it would seem.
Hozuki is funnier because he is also more serious. His secret hobby actually is a surprise but it is also so fun, that moment is the one that made me smile. It is a bit hard to talk about Hozuki, we see him all the time but at the same time we did not really see him. I liked that the episode was divided between a part dedicated to his work and another one dedicated to his hobby. It made him more interesting. Actually, he reminds me a lot of one of my bosses, another top administrator, and it adds a dose of accuracy that is quite strange when put with all these stories about Hell and Heaven.
In the end though, I am not too sure about Hozuki no Reitetsu. I was not totally bored, but I was not totally entertained either. I figured I would like it more. That is why I try to never have expectations about anything, they are always betrayed.
I am going to keep on watching anyway but it is on my “maybe” list.
Silver Spoon 2
I am now talking about the return of Silver Spoon on our screens! For those who weren’t with us last season, the story revolves around Hachiken, a smart boy who, in an attempt to escape his parents, decided to go to a boarding agricultural high school.
And there comes my usual problem: it is hard to talk about second seasons when it’s really just a continuation of what happened previously. It’s exactly what happens in Silver Spoon.
We had a small moment of reminiscing about what happened previously, and, to be fair, they did not jump back on things so abruptly. It felt as if we never stopped watching, quite a nice feeling.
But I am still going to nitpick a bit. I have to, that’s my job.
I was bored during this first episode. It might be because now I have read the manga or it might simply be because nothing at all happened in this episode.
Wait no, things happened, but it was mostly an episode about character development.
I was under the impression that they wanted to start things off slowly, as to not put off eventual new viewers, but somehow I think they failed. Sure, they only focused on Hachiken and Mikage, and it was good because it is always hard to get used to a bunch of characters at once. But the story focused on the friendship between them and their respective character traits. Again that is a good thing, there is no way I could ever say character development is a bad thing, but if there is nothing else in the episode, I finish it with a bad aftertaste in my mouth and that is definitely not a good thing.
In short, if I didn’t know better I would drop Silver Spoon 2 right on the spot. On the other hand it is still a faithful adaptation of the manga, it’s just that the timing is bad. Starting off a season with this arc was definitely not a good idea, it wouldn’t be the first time they mess up actual chronology.
Thankfully I know better so I will keep on watching Silver Spoon 2 and hope for the quick return of Hachiken and his agricultural antics. Which is, actually, the best part of the anime.
Magical Warfare
~Sigh~
Justin: The quality of the first episode of Magical Warfare (maybe you’ll recognize it as Mahou Sensou) ranged from interesting, to dumb, to bland, to just what the heck is this show trying to do, and to probably frustration. Combine that with its really adorable visually generic animation and designs, this is going to have to get better real fast, as in, probably Episode 2 fast, for me to continue with it.
Takeshi Nanase happened to be heading to what seems to be his clubroom when, nearby, he sees a girl in a school uniform unconscious on the ground in front of him. After taking her to the nurse’s office to get her help, she ends up waking up, and a big misunderstanding occurs. Before Takeshi can figure out who the girl — Mui Alba — truly is, a strange group of humans with magical powers arrives and threatens to kill him and take the girl. Soon enough though, he realizes he has a magic ability, and now is going to be thrust upon some sort of journey…
There were probably only two good things to take out of this episode: first, the Ruined World at the end, where I’m guessing all the Magicians and Humans supposedly live together, except the fact the place looks like a dump, and something out of those buildings in Inception. Or basically just a post apocalyptic setting where buildings are inhospitable and stuff. That will most likely be more interesting than continually staying in the human world.
Well good use of that magic
The other good thing was the fact that it was vague with its information…to a point, sadly. That’s also when this show goes downhill. See, it went through a phase where it basically showed instead of having the main characters talk — one instance is at the start, where Takeshi is actually a good kendo student and can hold his own — or can he? Maybe not, since he apparently has magical powers. But how did he get said magical powers? By nearly getting shot at by Mui’s magical bullets. Now, ignoring the fact that he never seemed frightened with a gun pointed at him (unless his backstory involves having family as drug dealers or got himself involved in gang wars, all of which I doubt), while I personally had issues with them not telling me how Takeshi was able to hold his own against a guy with a magic sword, I could have chalked it up to, “It’s the first episode, they’ll explain it later.” Well, I would have preferred that over the constant chattering at inopportune times (I mean seriously, why a long monolog when they were supposed to be running away?), which pretty much bogged down most of its moments. Even at the scenes where characters — from Takeshi’s friends Kurumi and Kazumi — ended up getting random magical powers left and right, at the worst of the times, they stopped and explained. You’d think the part where Kurumi’s boobs magically got bigger by accident would have been nice, but instead, they talked their way out of it. Amusing scene, ruined by talking too long.
So aside from that, and maybe some of the character interactions, Magical Warfare doesn’t have much going for it. Not even its visuals (which I thought was just from a low quality trailer, I guess I was wrong) can save it from being pretty average. It’ll have to be more than average in Episode 2 if it’s going to keep my attention.
