I try to catch up, I fail, I break a laptop. Episode dump.

How can anyone expect me to catch up if my laptop dies one me? … Oh, that’s right. No one does. Luckily, I never save anything too important on it, and I had a backup of Mawaru Penguin 16 on the desktop. But all my screenshots are gone. The gods of computers, at least the faction that hates me, or maybe it’s the god of blogs, must have known that I’m far too lazy to go back and get more. So no screenshots for Mawaru Penguindrum this week.

As for the episode, Penguindrum 16 was going along just fine. I was enjoying the episode as usual, taking in the visual marvels, watching Masako’s flashbacks, the repeated dreams of killing her grandfather, the maid in the clutches of Penguin-Himari, the odd fight between Himari and Kanba, Ringo happily taking on her new role as Shouma’s stalker (being decent enough to tell him), when the episode began to get a little weird. I could handle the thought of Mario being possessed by the Grandfather, even the blowfish-eating duel he offers. What confused me was I wasn’t sure when this was happening. Before or after she started going after Kanba, i.e., is this present day, a flashback, or a flashback that occurs after the other flashbacks? It doesn’t help that we still don’t know much about Kanba and Masako’s relationship, only that they were friends as kids. What about all the MiB, and that line about how they’ll use Kanba like they did her father? And so the series throws up yet another plate to juggle. It’s amazing that so far it hasn’t dropped a single one yet.

To make up for the lack of screenshots for a visually-rich show like Penguindrum, I will give you THREE of a normal high school harem series with nothing striking visually about it. Because Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai 4 brings us three new characters.

'Wagh!'

Okay, apart from her first line (“Wagh!), which made me burst out laughing, Maria is your usual ten year-old nun loli. Also their advisor, and easily manipulated to the point that even Sena is taken aback. After we get a taste of Maria she gets shoved aside and we meet the next one.

I’m not sure how much Yukimura can bring. He either has the Hideyoshi thing going for him to the point that boys in his class avoid him in the changing room or maybe he is indeed a girl who thinks she is a boy, which is more twisted because in that case something’s actually WRONG with him. But what else can he contribute except for this gag? Yozora is working on it already. Already she’s got him wearing a maid costume. We move on to #3:

Rika has potential. Unlike the others, she is outgoing (Yozora wonders why she needs to join a friendship club) and can drive some of the scenes herself, unlike the other newbies who, to a greater extent, need help from others. First thing she does is cause a small explosion in the lab–good start. While thanking Kodaka later for “rescuing” her she goes off on a dirty tangent. Then there’s that hair scene (with two lol moments in it, at least for me), and of course the dirty book business which was great until they pushed it too far. You never really know how Rika’s going to respond to anything.

So that’s five weird characters in this show who are fun to watch, sorry, six. I forgot about Kobato. Judging from the previews I think we’ll see a lot of her next week.

With one thing after another going on around here I have decided I need to simplify my entire watching and viewing practice. I will watch fewer shows an write on even fewer than that. So after watching episode 4 I have decided to drop Mirai Nikki. It’s not that I dislike it. This show is a lot better than most of the things running now. It’s partly because suspense and horror are not my favorite genres, so a show has to have something beyond that to keep me watching shows like that. Also, though this was another good episode, some flaws are beginning to show. Too many diary holders are showing up now, each with their own agenda, and it gets wearing. When that guy who captured the ninth does his silly act near the end I could not believe this was the same formidable person we met last week. Yuno’s crazy act is getting a little stale, even if she’s some kind of inspired-crazy as ninth insists. Show is becoming routine. If you ask me why I’m dropping this while still watching iDOLM@STER, well, maybe I’m crazier than Yuno. So good luck, Yuukii! Don’t turn your back on the crazy chick! Er, any of them!

As for iDOLM@STER, episode 17 is a disappointment considering it features Makoto. We get the whole “I want to be a princess, that’s why I became an idol” thing, and the producer, after some harrowing amusement park rides and a run-in with some thugs, tells her she’s doing what an idol does by letting the girl fans be treated as princesses. Just as expected, but nothing more. First, I wanted to see her rough up those thugs, because we know she could. Roughing up Jupiter or their boss would have been nice, too. We’re still waiting for Jupiter to make their face turn, but I guess it’s too soon to expect that. Nah, we don’t really get much of what makes Makoto one of the best characters in the show: she CAN act like a man. More than the producer, but that’s not saying much.

Three threes and a two: C3, Horizon, Mirai Nikki, Last Exile Fam

I’m coming down with something, but I’m not sure what. All I know is it’s a little harder than usual to concentrate. So I’m going to pick shows tonight that don’t require it. Well, except Fate/Zero, but I’m not writing about that one anyway.

Three episodes in, and C3 hasn’t done what good shows should by now. I don’t find the characters interesting. What we’ve learned of the world is simply tossed in without a thought. Yet I’m going to keep watching it. I liked Fear’s dilemma in this episode, told she was too dangerous to fight, yet not wanting to be simply protected. I liked the scene she had with, er, glasses girl, because I in no way saw it coming and it ended in a silly way. But mainly I’m going to watch because the art and animation, though inconsistant, are often dazzling to look at. I think they try too hard to make it look like something Shinbo would do, but at least their attempts give me something to look at. In other words I guess I’m watching this for the same reasons I watched Yumekui Merry, though I like Merry more than I like Fear. Besides, any villain with a sword called “Dance Time” is worth watching for a while.

This episode is so confusing that even the show's weirdos are taken aback.

Koukai Senjou no Horizon is another show perfect for when I don’t want to think, because I have no idea what’s going on in it and I don’t really care. Episode 4 is interesting because the colorful students, well, most of them, don’t do anything this time but watch. The fighting and important (but incomprehensible) discussions are for Futayo, her father, and others, including the man who groped her butt last week. Futayo’s dad infiltrates something and leaves messages about the Genesis Plan, and the “Fatal wound of New Nagoya will go on a rampage,” which may or not be the same thing. Whatever it is, it’s going to destroy Mikawa. And, let’s see, some nuclear site is overheating. Maybe that’s the same thing. Who cares? And the mountain is glowing and giving off a big ray of light straight up. Meanwhile Kazuno the robo–, er, sorry, self-operating doll, who’s also a maid, and all her maidish lookalikes start to fight against whoever the hell it is who is fighting them. I think the bad guys are invading, or maybe everyone’s fighting each other. Kazuno whips out the “sword of intamacy” (I prefer “dance time”) against a mecha for a good fight sequence, then runs away. By now Futayo is in command of a warship, good for her! And she decides to … stand by. Meanwhile the kids, who have finished reacting to an actual ghost, are all watching this with interior monologues about how the world changed for them forever that day, nothing will be the same, etc. Well, yeah.

Mirai Nikki has done a good job so far. They’ve set up the story and the possible dangers well enough that even during the innocuous theme park scenes I kept waiting for someone to attack the two kids. And even though nothing happened the scenes worked anyway, as Amano tried to figure out why Yuno’s so attached to him.

Wait until you get her home.

They’re not alone, of course. Keigu, who I think is a good guy, and the police are watching them, for they are bait for Minene or whoever else my show up. But interspersed with “oh, my top fell off!” scenes we watch Minene attempt to escape the police patrols. It’s sort of odd at first, to see someone so insanely confident last week become so powerless. And it gets worse for her. Her prediction phone isn’t working right. The episode is getting more interesting. Then it gets flat-out nasty.

But nasty in interesting ways. Minene is rescued by some guy who keeps changing masks, then tortured for information. In the meantime Amano is stumbling around Yuno’s enormous home looking for a bathroom when he sees (and reads about) a sealed-up door. Here’s where it gets really interesting. His phone diary says he found the bathroom, but this sets off some strange impulse in his cowardly brain and he decides to screw his supposed future and open the mysterious door, which had everything but warning signs about deadly leopards on it. This freaks out everything, every magic phone flashes, even “god’s” lair starts to shake. As for what’s in that room, we can make assumptions. Not to mention that Yuno’s suddenly out to kill him. Once again the show has tossed out something I didn’t expect. Good job! Looking forward to next episode.

Confusing, but great to look at.

Last Exile Fam 2, near the end, gets as confusing as Horizon does. It’s the first part that’s straightforward. The Ades federation is invading Turan. Turan is fighting back. Princess Liliana is leading a fleet to intercept the Ades flagship The Impetus, but … well, here it gets confusing. The battle scenes are grand, almost overwhelming for an anime series, so I was distracted and have no idea when or how the Turan Flagship Lasas was boarded and Liliana taken taken. All I know is that plucky Fam and Giselle are now going to rescue her–in their tiny Vespa. Even Claus and Lavie would think this a bad idea … no, scratch that. We get more great flying footage, but now I’m wondering “What are they going to do when they get there?” The answer is, nothing much. The evil Luscinia mutters a few words, Lilian turns to light, and a moon falls out of the sky and sends out tentacles and smashes up Turan’s capital. I told you, just like Horizon. However, unlike that other series, I have some hope that it will eventually make sense.

Crazy girls and competitions: Mirai Nikki 2, C3 3, Chihayafuru 3, Ben-To 2

Mirai Nikki 2 … I thought the first episode was twisted …

Minene Uryuu, perhaps jealous of Yuno’s status as chief psycho in this series, goes for the gold herself, first by trying to kill Yukitero in a classroom, then by holding the entire school hostage with all sorts of hidden bombs. She then tries to kill him by setting them off based on what she reads in her diary. But Yukitero has a diary too, and so does Yuno. Together they manage to escape injury. I can’t say the same for many of the students, however. But they’re still trapped inside the school, and Minene is still in the courtyard shouting crazy things into a megaphone and holding a detonator. Time for some introspection. Yukitero, turns out, is thinking the same thing I’m thinking. First, he’s a wuss who’s avoided people out of fear his entire life, and second, he’s got a girl protecting him. It’s a delicious thought that the only person he can confide in is his crazed stalker.

Yuno isn't giving up her title of Craziest Girl in the Show without a fight.

Meanwhile, we see a couple of sides of Yuno. When Yukitero becomes despondent, she shows gentleness in telling him he has a whole school worth of friends out there. And when these so-called friends turn on him and drag him outside to Minene as ransom, we, er, see her other side. On one hand, it’s good that Yukitero has such a defender; on the other, if I ever see her on the street I’m going to run away as fast as I can. I don’t want to give away the moment, but it’s great, violent fun unless you’re an innocent bystander.

Man, you can't trust ANYBODY in this series.

To further spice things up, not only is Minene a diary owner, but so is the cop, Kurusu. He says he’s not out to kill the other owners but we really can’t be sure what his agenda is. Especially when he nearly decides to shoot Yukitero to save the remaining students. As it turns out, he winds up giving him cover fire while Yuno shouts directions through a minefield and the students, first friends, then enemies, now friends again, flings things at Minene to distract her as Yukitero makes a final dash at Minene. Allegiences shift in this show as fast as Minene can escape (the cherry on top of the episode). I have the feeling the show is going to have to settle down eventually. Probably we’ll get a lot of mind games and soul searching, well, we have that already, but the delightful surprises the show’s brought so far will become routine. I’ll enjoy it while I can.

Yet another crazy girl.

I guess I didn’t have enough of crazy girls, so I put on C3 3 to see what kind of show it would be this week. Cute fish out of water, or crazed bloody action? The answer is: both! Well, after Fear fights off whats-her-name she’s still in bezerk mode and goes after Haruaki, but after that we switch to a new mode: melancholhy. We get a lot more talk about her sins as a bloody murderer, maybe with guilt mixed in. Anyway, she goes off moping, nearly kills a classmate but stops herself, then tries to kill herself. Again, I don’t know if she’s trying to atone for sins or wash away her curse. She seems to feel no remorse for her past, but honestly likes the kindness Haruaki has shown her and regrets that she isn’t entitled to it. Anyway, she and Haruaki make up, or come to an agreement, and it’s back to normal:

Finally, a normal anime show moment.

I’ll add that while the story is a little silly and the thoughts aren’t very deep in spite of the trappings, the show is whipping out some lovely visual moments. Interesting enough to see what else they have whipped up for us.

Let’s turn away from crazy girls for a while and look one who’s just a little obsessed. Chihayafuru 3 continues in the past and shows the three kids bond and, naturally, play Karuta together. Most of this happens in the first part on their visit to a local club where they are immediately goaded into playing a three-on-three match (is every opponent in this show going to be a dickhead?).

They're on the same team.

Arata doesn’t really trust Chihaya and Taichi’s abilities yet. The two get a little annoyed, and the result is they provide more competitiion between themselves than anything the other tean can throw at them. Chihaya is hooked. We get a montage of scenes of them practicing and playing and bonding while they train for an upcoming tournament. “Let’s play karuta together forever!”

We’re only halfway into the episode, so naturally bad stuff has to happen. Taichi, who’s always sort of tagged along with the others, gets into a prestigious middle school with a long commute. Arata’s grandfather, a karuta legend, is mortally ill and has to leave. They can’t play together forever! The first part of this is well handled; Chihaya runs off and temporarily abandons the game, but is easily called back in time for the tournament. But after that the scenes get a bit maudlin. Well, it’s not terribly dramatic to just be dragged off to other places against your will, so there’s not much the show can do. But there are too many moments of one of them sobbing and saying “We’ll never play together again!” Though it is interesting that Chihaya is the first one to bawl. In a later scene she’s recovered enough to console the next person. The music doesn’t help. I’ve praised the soundtrack in the past, but this episode it gets a little overbearing. But hopefully we’re done with the pre-adolescent antics and will move on to the present day.

Two episodes in and I wonder how Ben-To is going to keep up its rather narrow premise, but I’m getting some ideas. Throw in some characters and create a subculture around the bento battles–and lots of fighting.

“The Ice Queen” Sen gives us some basic rules, but after that we don’t see much of her this episode. Instead it’s Satou and Oshiroi, and she bows out early because of her owh situation. The ones picking up the slack of foils are other battlers while they all wait for the “God of Discounts” (the guy who puts on the half-price stickers) to finish his work. We see breaches of etiquette, as a woman named “The Boar” breaks all of the rules. There is the concept of “pigs” (dishonorable) and “wolves” honorable. Oh, Wolves will fight each other, but you see, it’s honorable when they do it. Satou learns as he gets beaten up.

The Wizard out-duels The Boar.

There are more personal matters. Oshiroi is protected by Ume, a fearsome student who’s in love with her and deals with all threats with violence. Since Oshiroi’s been spending time with Satou, he’s been getting abuse in school as well as out of it. And there’s “The Wizard,” the most dangerous of contestants and formerly a member of Sen’s club. Why doesn’t he attend the meetings anymore? Sen doesn’t say. So the show has plot things to work with and a fresh world to do it in, but I still don’t know how much mileage they’ll get out of it all. But after two episodes it’s one of the more entertaining shows of the season, so I’m happy to watch and see what they’ll try.

Episode twos and ones

Damn, I still can’t get 10-bit files playing right on my machine. It’s not only the bricks, but the fact that mplayer overwrites each screenshot I take with the next one. It happened last week, too. So this is the only one I got left. Damned if I’m going to play the episode again to get more …

Well, let’s see. Fate/Zero 2 has a lot of scenes of the servants getting to know their masters. We start with Waver and Rider. I hated Waver from the start, and dreaded having to watch his scenes, but Rider is a hoot, the exact opposite of the little punk. What’s more, he’s more than happy to slap Waver around if he says something stupid. Maybe not what a servant is supposed to do, but it adds a fresh dynamic to these relationships. Then it’s a parlor-room scene between Irisviel and Saber, and more talk about goals. Then we meet a fun-loving killer and his accidental servant, Caster; all I’ll say is that the servant/master shows yet another side … poor kid. Waver/Rider are comlete opposites while Ryuunosuke/Caster are of the same mindset, a sick one. It also shows that the show is perfectly able to get cruel and depraved if need be. It will be fun to see what happens when Caster’s desire for the Grail clashes with Ryuunosuke’s … simpler desires. To finish off the episode we get a battle. Wait, one of the servants is dead already? I’m not buying it, or there’s something to the master’s strategy that he hasn’t shown yet. “Go kill Tohsaka. Don’t worry about Archer.” “Duh, yes boss.” Don’t worry … Sheesh.

'Once more unto the breach, dear friends ...'

Ben-To has the best premise of the season, one of those “only in Japan” type ideas. But this doesn’t mean the show is going to be any good. Take that show where they mixed baseball with Peter Drucker. Awful, just awful. Ben-to, however, has a more promising start. Our hero, Satou, finds himself unconscious in the supermarket and nobody caring much apart from a white-haired girl who says something through the window. It’s only the next day when he returns that things become a little more clear: he was a victim of brawl over the half-priced bento. On the third day, bandages and all, he finds himself competing, only to get knocked unconscious again thanks in part to the girl, known as the “Ice Witch.” There are lots of good little bits strewn throughout: the brawl doesn’t start until the guy with the half-price stickers is finished and leaves the floor. Afterwards, two opponents say a cordial goodbye, until tomorrow. Some of the characters are interesting, like Oshiroi, the bespectacled thing who is too fascinated by Satou’s injuries–Aoi Yuuki strikes again. We’ll have to learn more about Ice Witch Sen. Satou scores points by being both appalled by the fighting and drawn to it–or maybe he’s just starving. Yes, the series has promise. But my big question is: how the hell are they going to milk an entire season out of this premise?

She LOOKs scary, but ... well, okay, she IS scary.

Mirai Nikki follows Amano, a weird kid, who likes to observe rather than participate, which means he doesn’t have any friends, except for an imaginary one (Air Friend!) named Zeus. Turns out Zeus is god himself, and for kicks he sets Amano’s phone diary to show what will happen in the near future. It’s great for Amano at first, aceing tests, avoiding bullies, so we’re waiting for the bad stuff to happen and to get some moral lecture, some monkey’s paw type conclusion. So I’m getting a little bored … then the show ups its game. A girl named Yuno seems to know too much, and then his phone diary announces his death. Suddenly the show has gotten interesting … only to fall a little flat as there’s this serial killer to dispatch, and Deus shows up again and explains the rules to what turns out to be a twisted game. Last one left standing becomes god. Looks to be a confusing time-paradox type of show with lots of mayhem, but with one difference: Yuno is another contestant, and she swears she will keep Amano alive, which is good, but she’s a stalker who’s out of her mind, not so good. I don’t normally care for shows like this, but when it was on its game I was fascinated. Also, I didn’t expect the funny coda. If the show continues to keep me off balance, I’ll keep watching.

Squid girl II 2 had it’s best moments early on, when Ika goes to the elementary school and rouses the kids to join her in her plans for invasion. That’s it! Infect their minds when they’re young! She should have thought of this before! Too bad an incident in the playground distracts her into a silly soccer game. As for the other skits, hmm, I can’t really remember. Cosplaying and weight loss.

I started watching C3 confident that it would remain the same–dumb and predictable, so I could safely drop it. But the show had other plans. Mainly, this woman showed up.

After the usual first-day-of-school shenanigans this crazy lady named Peavy Barroy comes out of nowhere and attacks our cute little girl now named “Fear Kubrick.” Harauka and Konoha join in the fun, and it’s soon blood and screaming and distorted faces. Not only that, it’s directed well and looks great. Alas, I have to keep the show for at least another week.

So I watched ep2 of Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinashi. Last week everyone was playing military games and it wasn’t very interesting. This week they go after a lost dog and discover a warehouse full of weapons, henchmen, and ninjas. It still isn’t interesting. The hero is bland, though his sister is a lot of fun. Miyako can’t go a paragraph without an innuendo. The others just run around. Even the dog was dull. Dropped.