It was only a matter of time. Last month I uncovered a really forgettable title in my backlog that I convinced myself to finish. Today, I found a title that earned redemption. And so far, it’s the real winner in my bizarre backlog so far. ONTO THE ANIME IN QUESTION…
(I lie: it’s the last thing I talk about!)
Completed
Phi Brain Season 1
Rating: 7 out of 10
Believe it or not, what managed to somewhat kill my goodwill for this show, or at least Season 1, was Rook’s arc. Again, episodes 8-11 were fantastic, with Elena’s arc rounding things up in a case of fun puzzles, good drama, and a villain who’s JUST SO MAD:
AGAIN, HE SO MAD DOT GIF
Unfortunately, that turned out to be the last great arc in this show, as, aside from few moments here and there, there was too much talking, the puzzles weren’t all that great (well except the last one between Gammon and Kaito), and the characters were hard to care for. Now maybe it’s my fault since, no matter what was going on, since there’s two more seasons I could assume most of the main characters would be around. But personally, I don’t think Gammon joining the POG in the second half was a good thing, and ultimately, the reasoning for why he joined was lame (probably rushed) since he’s creating puzzles to kill.
I could have dealt with that if only Rook was actually interesting. He was not. He was built up with someone with sinister intentions, but how he went about it didn’t work at all for me. And then to make matters worse, he happened to be the one who took over the POG. Yeah, no. Did Rook do some ok things? Yeah, I did like his absolute freakout after Kaito shed Orpheus. I didn’t like what happened after that, and the last episode felt like Sunrise saying, “hahaha f*** it!” Overall, the second half of the show was a letdown, and it didn’t even end with Kaito and Nonoha “officially” a pairing.
…I was hoping for too much for a show with shounen tendencies.
Still, despite my distaste for the second half, there were some things I liked from the show, and I definitely still want to check out the second half to see where the hell this show can go from here. I mean…no seriously, where can it go from here?
Magi
Rating: 8 out of 10
“And they said anime was for kids…” “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH–” “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-” AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
So I ended up finishing Magi over the holiday weekend. After I had watched 5 episodes prior to starting it last Thursday, I blitzed the rest with great desire. This definitely says more about me than it does about Magi. I really liked this show. I especially liked it from Episode 5 to Episode 20. It had an inordinate amount of fretting over Alibaba and if his head would ever get in the right place, a great character in Cassim, and a pretty nasty villain in Judar. Combine that with some Sinbad, Kougyoku seemingly a villain and then falling in love with Sinbad, and a bunch of other great things, this show was awesome! Pretty great.
Then came the struggle…oh, it was mighty.
Just a heads up, Episode 18 of Magi was definitely not finished, holy crap. How a studio could allow that to happen is pretty weird. But hey, it didn’t kill the show. What did was when Aladdin, Alibaba, Morgiana, and Hakuryuu were sent to the dungeon. All of a sudden, the show became a drag. It’s basically action you’ve seen before, combined with feeling cheap (Morgiana would happen to have some energy left to help at the end, for example). Kougyoku suddenly changed personality drastically, and not in a good way. The final enemies were mostly forgettable, mainly marred by the fact that they didn’t get any screentime (aside from the OP), so all these flashbacks to what happened to your land Princess is great, but at this point, I know you want to kill for…for…wait, what does killing Aladdin and Alibaba accomplish again? Manipulated by Al Saruem or not, that’s hard to swallow, mostly considering up to that point how solid the writing was. So in all, that was a letdown, which is why it’s not gonna get any higher from me.
It doesn’t mean this wasn’t a good show. This is a fun, exciting shounen title that I guess starts slow, but picks up greatly by Episode 4, Episode 5 takes it to another level, and it keeps going until it peaks at Episode 20. After that your mileage will vary. You’l have to watch it before attempting to start Season 2.
The Eccentric Family
Rating: 9 out of 10
That chick with the phone’s acting like she’s never seen a train on the street before. She needs to go see the world
The Eccentric Family is a good example of sensing when the time isn’t right to watch something. Everyone in the summer really liked this show last year, aside from a few, and it definitely seemed like a solid title, from its visuals to its writing. While I was watching it, I couldn’t care less what was going on. I could acknowledge it was well made, but something about the show didn’t click with me, so I gave up and decided to place it on-hold.
It was the best decision for me.
I was able to, instead of waiting week to week to see what new developments was going to take place and potentially struggle with it, absorb in 5 episodes straight over a couple of days, how this story about humans and tengu and tanuki would ultimately come together. I’m not sure if it did that because it was mostly having fun with itself. I mean, in a situation where the Shimogano family (sans mom) and the prof go to a hot spring and get surrounded by members of the Ebisugawas, that should be a moment where crap’s gonna go down and get serious. It ends with Ginkaku and Kinkaku getting thrown in by their bottoms — despite wearing a special metal underwear that prevents them from shitting properly basically — by a tiger, into the cold area of the spring.
What kind of a sentence is that!?!
Needless to say, The Eccentric Family had more going for it then I had thought. The writing is great, the comedy was timed well, and most importantly, some really stupid stuff took place that I could only go and laugh at, sometimes unintentionally due to the moment. Then it got serious in a hurry, and all of a sudden, I became invested and hopeful crap would get fixed up. And when it did, it went almost back to normal! I mean seriously, after what Ginkaku and Kinkaku had done, why the hell would you play with them in the snow at the end Yasaburo?!?
I guess the show, which beat this theme over the head of everyone, proved one thing: Tanukis really have idiot blood.
Oh, and this too:
Hey, you never know what people consider fun these days!
Anyways, much congrats to The Eccentric Family and it’s redemption, as it’s the first title I’ve given a 9 to that’s existed in my backlog. For those keeping track of the ratings of the shows I’ve finished:
The Eccentric Family: 9/10
From The New World: 8/10
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic: 8/10
Kimi to Boku: 7.5/10
Love Live Season 1: 7.5/10
Sakurasou: 7/10
Uta No Prince Sama Maji Love 1000%: 7/10
Henneko: 4/10
