Sekai Seifuku / World Conquest Zvezda’s Plot Episode 10 – Homeless. Alone in the Cold.

(Note: Episodic notes are still mostly to be found on the Episodics Notes’ page, but up to a couple every week will have their write-up appear on the main page, when I think they warrant it. For those who don’t know, I take the notes as I watch the episode, and merely re-order them afterwards.)

Last episode ended ominously, with Kate looking long and hard at Asuta before letting him go (an ominous phrasing on my part? Yes it is). Renge knows who Asuta is, and there’s an invisible wall between them. Yasu teaming up with White Falcon? The city being all torn up, or perhaps it had always been this way? The remark that they no longer have a home to return to, when the one theme this show had always pushed was that of having a home, of finding one, of creating one?

Oh boy, seems we might get a continuous story from here on out. Then again, it’s Sekai Seifuku, and I wouldn’t put it past them to mislead us ;-) (Especially considering a novel had already been announced!)

Thoughts and Notes:

1) Brave New World…?

Winter 2014 Anime Mid-Season Impressions

So, another season of anime reached its half-point and it’s time to watch my mid-season impressions, where I talk a bit of the show and rate it. Shows will be listed in order of my enjoyment of them. I’d summarize my thoughts on this season as “Shows just good enough to not drop, and Fall 2013 carry-overs”. There’s a lot of half-assed plot-progression, a lot of tired shows this season. There’s action, and there’s comedy, and there’s next to nothing else. It’s as if everyone is keeping their energies for Spring. Fall 2013 shows carrying over had more or less been saving this season, honestly.

I’ve decided to only cover shows I’ve watched at least 5 episodes of (with two exceptions), as I’ve given a whirl to plenty of shows I then dropped. This is aimed at helping people pick up shows, so continuing shows from Fall 2013 aren’t included, but for the record? Kill la Kill, Nagi no Asukara, and Log Horizon are all making very strong showings, and I’m a few episodes behind on Samurai Flamenco.

Shows covered, in Alphabetical order: Buddy Complex, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren, Gin no Saji S2, ‘Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha’, Nisekoi, Nobunagun, Noragami, Pilot’s Love Song, Pupa, Pupipo!, and Sekai Seifuku Bouryaku no Zvezda.

Got Me Hooked:

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren / Chuunibyou 2nd Season

Rikka, afraid of being left behind.

First of all, this show had been somewhat disappointing. I’ve hoped we’ll get a couple already in a relationship, but 8 months later Rikka and Yuuta had their first kiss, on the cheek. Well, the show is still endearing, and I really like the cast. We’ve had a couple of filler episodes, but it’s indeed better to shove them early so they won’t get in the way of the actual plot later on. Romantic advances? Facing your own self? One can only hope. Nibutani does serve to showcase how Rikka is accepted by others, for being herself, whereas Nibutani’s attempt to not show her true nature only backfire.

Episodes Watched: 6/?

Current Grade: A. One of the fillers bored me, but the other had me laughing and smiling.

Write-up Status: Short notes, longer thoughts now and then, moving to just watching and enjoying it.

Sekai Seifuku / World Conquest Zvezda’s Plot Episode 4 – Abandon the Past, Obtain Udo!

(Note: Episodic notes are still mostly to be found on the Episodics Notes’ page, but up to a couple every week will have their write-up appear on the main page, when I think they warrant it. For those who don’t know, I take the notes as I watch the episode, and merely re-order them afterwards.)

This show isn’t the show that I’m enjoying the most this season, but is definitely the one that intrigues me the most and that I find the most impressive this season, by a large margin. Third episode was so similar to the third episode of Gatchaman Crowds, and I sure do love me some Gatchaman Crowds – and in case you hadn’t heard, aside from the 2nd season, a movie had been announced as well.

Anyway, what will this episode bring forth? Considering that the themes and behaviour carries over, but that each episode thus far is pretty episodic, I can’t say. So let us observe, world conquerors in their natural habitat.

Thoughts and Notes:

Act 1, Part 1: Home (Sanity):

Winter 2014 Week 4 Overview – (Anime Power Ranking)

(Shows Covered -Nagi no Asukara, Sekai Seifuku, Nobunagun, Gin no Saji, Kill la Kill, The Pilot’s Love Song, Log Horizon, ‘Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha’, Nisekoi,  Tonari no Seki-kun, Tokyo Ravens, Noragami, Buddy Complex, and Pupa)

This week I actually wrote as close as you’ll get to editorials on several episodes, so just head to the main post to see my thoughts on the shows that interest you, and how they stacked up this past week.

Anime Power Ranking is no longer held, so here are the shows I’ve watched this past week and how I order them. Each link leads to my episodic write-up of the relevant show. Since I missed the post on Saturday, and all the shows from last Thursday to yesterday are in one post, there’s no relative placement this time around.

1) Nagi no Asukara Episode 16 

Sekai Seifuku Bouryaku no Zvezda / World Conquest Zvezda’s Plot Episode 3 – Smokers as Inhuman, Smokers as True Believers.

(Note: Episodic notes are still mostly to be found on the Episodics Notes’ page, but up to a couple every week will have their write-up appear on the main page, when I think they warrant it. For those who don’t know, I take the notes as I watch the episode, and merely re-order them afterwards.)

Well, the message of the last two episodes had been two-fold. First we have had our message about how family is important, and how you get to choose your family. People aren’t replaceable, even if Asuta might think so. The second is about obfuscation, about seeing the truth, about lying. Well, dunno where they’ll go with this, but let us see together.

Thoughts and Notes:

1) Yasu: On Self-Identification and Growing Up:

1) Foolish Yasu. He really gives a strong vibe of an annoying teenager poseur, which if Pepel (the general) is truly his father, makes sense. But even if he’s not truly his father, they’re all family, and until Jimon had come along he was figuratively at least the youngest child. He wishes to think of himself as cool and powerful, but/because he’s a nobody. The knife, the cool pose with the cigarette, all of it.

Winter 2014 Anime Season Overview Week 2 – Thursday through Saturday (Anime Power Ranking)

(Shows Covered – Kill la Kill, Nagi no Asukara, Gin no Saji 2nd season (Silver Spoon), Log Horizon, Nisekoi, Sekai Seifuku  – Bouryaku no Zvezda (World Domination – Zvezda Plot), “Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha”,  and Pupa)

Anime Power Ranking is no longer held, so here are the shows I’ve watched this past week and how I order them. Each link leads to my episodic write-up of the relevant show. You will notice half the shows do not have descriptions, these appear in this post, covering the Sunday-Wednesday shows, while this post describes the episodes that aired during the latter half. The numbers in parentheses are where a show’s episode placed compared to its placement last week.

Now, I have too many shows, so I’m going to be dropping shows each and every week until I’m fine with the amount of shows I have left, so keep reading for summaries of new shows, how the shows stack up against one another, and which shows had been eliminated!

Sekai Seifuku ~Bouryaku no Zvezda~ / World Conquest – Zvezda’s Plot Episode 2 – Obfuscation and Friendship at the Dinner Table

(Note: Episodic notes are still mostly to be found on the Episodics Notes’ page, but up to a couple every week will have their write-up appear on the main page, when I think they warrant it. For those who don’t know, I take the notes as I watch the episode, and merely re-order them afterwards.)

Though I rated other shows higher, due to enjoyment, and this show still needing to stretch its legs and prove to us, this show fills me with much excitement, it might be my writeup darling of the season, it might be my Gatchaman Crowds. It has a lot of interesting themes, and characters, and is moving things along briskly. I’m excited to see where they’re taking us next.

Thoughts and Notes:

1) On Truth and Lies (Nietzsche reference? Surely not!):

1) Hm, it’s always interesting, when champions of truth and justice hide their faces, what sort of message are they sending? The masks, the ridiculous riddle, the “White Light”, they are as ridiculous as Zvezda. No, pay attention, they are exactly as ridiciulous as Zvezda. “White Light”, to counter “May the Light of Zvezda shine upon you.” – They try to spread their message, they try to control the world, from the shadows.

Zvezda is a public entity, they try to show the truth of the world, whereas the “White Light” tries to blind you to the truth of the world. It’s almost a religious battle, one within the family, as the two sides are so similar in how they operate and see things, it’s just the goal that differs. It might be “What?”, but it’s definitely also a fight over “Who?“.

Winter 2014 Anime Season Overview Week 1 – Thursday through Saturday (Anime Power Ranking)

(Shows Covered – Buddy Complex, Kill la Kill Episode 13, Nagi no Asukara, Samurai Flamenco Episode 12, Magical Warfare (Mahou Sensou), Gin no Saji 2nd season (Silver Spoon), Log Horizon Episode 15, Nisekoi, Sekai Seifuku  – Bouryaku no Zvezda (World Domination – Zvezda Plot), and Pupa)

Anime Power Ranking is no longer held, so here are the shows I’ve watched this past week and how I order them. Each link leads to my episodic write-up of the relevant show. You will notice half the shows do not have descriptions, these appear in this post, covering the Sunday-Wednesday shows, while this post describes the episodes that aired during the latter half.

Now, I have too many shows, so I’m going to be dropping shows each and every week until I’m fine with the amount of shows I have left, so keep reading for summaries of new shows, how the shows stack up against one another, and which shows had been eliminated!

Sekai Seifuku ~Bouryaku no Zvezda~ / World Conquest – Zvezda’s Plot Episode 1 – A Crazy New World

(Note: Episodic notes are still mostly to be found on the Episodics Notes’ page, but 0-2 episodes per week will have their write-up appear on the main page, when I think they warrant it. For those who don’t know, I take the notes as I watch the episode, and merely re-order them afterwards.)

Slept in and then my internet decided to be shit, argh! Well, let’s dive into it, one of my more expected shows of the season.

Thoughts and Notes:

1) This is Serious Business™ into the Illusion of Comedy Comfort:

1. Well, the opening sequence told us one thing – the world conquest story, it will succeed. But, considering it did not tell us what “True World Conquest” is, unlike the fake illusionist world dominations, and considering how ruined the world looks, we don’t know what its “success” means.Yes, feast your eyes on what “success” looks like.