Night Raid 6, Working! 7, Maid-Sama 8

Senkou no Night Raid 6 brought to my mind a quandry. While this is a show full of unnaturally powerful people, that’s the only fantasy element involved. Meanwhile it’s a historical show where we know pretty much how things will turn out. And I don’t think any of the regular characters are going to be allowed to change history or be instrumental in what happens. Japan will continue to be aggressive in Asia, a war will break out. This means our group of heroes are essentially useless; their only use will be to watch and have an occasional adventure that won’t change anything.

That means much of the effective drama (Not all of it. It would still be interesting to see how they depict historical events) will happen personally to the characters. They’ve already worked this. Yukina is searching for her brother Isao, who might be a traitor. Last week Kazuna went against orders to try and find a friend. This week it’s Aoi’s turn. They’re trying to track down where a meeting of resistance leaders from a dozen Asian countries will be held, but he’s momentarily distracted by a pink parasol. We’ve seen this girl before, his sister, perhaps, and there’s no reason for her to be around. Alas, we learn nothing more, except she’s probably working with Isao.

As Aoi watches from above.

Later, he’s abducted and made to sleep on the balcony of a tea house. When he wakes up there’s the clandestine meeting happening below him. Isao has brought him here to watch. The meeting itself is interesting enough, though nothing is resolved (that we’re allowed to see). The countries want to throw off colonial rule (in a meeting where everyone speaks English) and present themselves as a united Asia, but most of them don’t want Japan running the show. We learn a little about Isao’s intensions here, both for the Pan-Asian movement and for Aoi himself. He must have known that Aoi has doubts about Japan’s presence on the continent.

And then it’s over. There’s a meaningless fight outside. Yukino misses her brother by seconds. Aoi can give a full report on the meeting. And nothing can be done. We know that no Pan-Asia alliance formed; instead, Japan became more aggressive. They don’t know it but all they can do in this story is what Aoi did at the meeting: stand there and watch, and wonder about the girl in the pink parasol.

I guess the creators of Working! Decided that they had reached the limit of possibilities with what they had, so for episode 7 they add a new character.

Aoi Yamada, obviously a runaway, was dragged in by Otou and has the brilliantly bad story that she lost her memory after escaping from her burning home so she doesn’t know who her family is. Souta is the only skeptical one, or it could be that the others understand too, but see nothing wrong with another oddball working there. Besides, Otou, the boss, brought her there. At this point you might be thinking that we’re in for a “Bratty youngster comes in and annoys everyone,” and to an extent you’d be right. But the damage she causes is absorbed into the overall chaos of Wagnaria. What’s more, the other characters’ antics and reactions cause her a lot of trouble, too. She’s just another part of the team.

Her schtick, besides her fake past, is trying to form a new family unit around her. And she can’t keep secrets well. When she learns of Satou’s interest in Yachiyo, she blurts it out to the latter, causing the only genuine crisis she’s able to make.

When that’s cleared up, what have we got? Nothing much, just another weird character in a show of weird characters that do little but bounce off each other.

Kaichou wa Maid-Sama 8 is disappointing. They had set up a pretty good story, with the twisted Miyabigaoka prez Igarashi tempting Misaki to switch schools. They lay it on thick, not only with gifts but with other forms of pressure.

As she wonders what to do, so do her classmates. None of them, not even the boys now, want her to leave. On the other hand, a chance to get into a prestigious school, and for her sister to join too, that could certainly be a life-changing experience for someone so desperately poor. This takes up the first half of the episode, and it goes on a little long, especially when we remember last week’s preview and some of the things Igarashi has in store for her.

When she does visit the school and meets Igarashi, it works out pretty much as expected. “Whoops! We stained your uniform. Please use our showers. Oh, we’re cleaning your uniform, so wear this maid outfit.” That’s okay as far as it goes, but then things turn ugly, as Igarashi tries to molest her.

This doesn’t work at all, for a number of reasons. First, it’s ugly to watch in a comedy. Second, Misaki doesn’t show any of the great strength she has in the past. I mean, she’s broken handcuffs! Okay, he knows judo, but she’s no slouch either in fighting. Third, she quietly calls for Usui, who magically appears and rescues her. I find this completely unsatisfactory for her to all of a sudden become a helpless female in need of a male to rescue her. And fourth, in a gesture of solidarity with Misaki, Seika High School decides to come over in a group to retrieve her—and just wait there at the gate. No, not a satisfactory episode at all. What’s more, we’re going to see more of Igarashi and his cronies. I’m sick of them already.

Night Raid 5, Arakawa 6, Maid-Sama 7

Senkou no Night Raid 5 gives us people on the outside looking in, and we the audience join Kazura in doing the looking. But we’re farther outside than he is, meaning what happens in this episode is partly unexplained. Kazura won’t tell us what he knows or why he’s following Nishiro.

He recognizes Nishiro’s face in a picture Aoi developed and immediately tries to track him down, leading to his abduction and beating at the hands of the Nationalist Party. After being freed he learns that Nishio was a spy for the Communists who infiltrated the Nationalists and procured some funds. Shin makes it quite clear that this and the subsequent arms deal going down have nothing to do with him and to stay out of things. Surprisingly, he doesn’t.

As for me, the viewer, there are two mysteries going on here. The first involve the various factions trying to take control, and who’s on whose side (Well, that’s always the case in this show). But more importantly, what the hell is Kazuna thinking? It’s not like him to disobey orders and cause trouble for his own group like this. The link to Nishio must be very strong. When the two meet, it’s not the best timing for Nishio. We get a few cryptic remarks from both and he runs off. We still don’t know what the connection is, or why Kazura continues to keep an eye on Nishio’s lover, Airin. It’s tough watching a show like this and trying to piece together the factions, even tougher when one of the characters won’t say anything, not even to his own group. On the other hand, Kazura’s motivations carry the episode and give it the human touch that the broader story cannot give us.

Arakawa Under the Bridge 6 takes up where we left off, with the musical showdown between Recruit and Hoshi.

I have to say I think the show works better when Recruit has at least some sort of command over circumstances. Just watching him being the figure of ridicule all the time isn’t all that interesting. I don’t expect him to have complete control, and indeed, though he wins the contest, Hoshi’s howl of despair becomes a hit under the bridge for months. “Freeloader! Freeloader!” But it’s good to see Recruit acting rather than reacting.

Recruit does pretty well for himself elsewhere, too. Still considered a freeloader, he manages to teach the kids to float using styrofoam kickboards, which makes them think he’s the coolest person alive. Nino is impressed.

Recruit has been looking for something to do down there so they’ll stop calling him a freeloader (while at the same time looking for a real job), and now maybe he’s found one: teacher! Of course, he runs into obstacles, changes his strategy, and finally abandons the idea. But that’s to be expected in this show. What works is that Recruit is more and more finding ways to fit in, or try to. I wonder if he realizes yet that his so-called elite breeding and fancy education are just his own schtick under the bridge, like Kappa’s suit or the kids’ helmets. Probably not.

Kaichou wa Maid-Sama 7 sets up a longer story arc concerning a rivalry between Seiko and an ultra-expensive school with a long name I didn’t get. Starting with an altercation between some students. Misaki drags the offenders to the rich school in order to apologize, only to get insulted. Heh. DO NOT insult Misa.

The rich kid is taken aback. Fun to watch, especially the admiring look Usui gives her, but given Misaki’s sense of honor and famous anger, predictable. So was the result, a chess duel between the rich kid and Usui. Guess who wins? Got it in one try!

Things get more interesting later. The rich school student leader takes an interest in Misaki and pays a visit to Seiko in order to flatter her, and to get her to transfer schools. On the surface this looks like a great deal for the impoverished Misaki. But the guy has ulterior motives, probably to make her his slave or something. Also, she’s just managing to turn the school’s reputation around (more scenes of delinquents turning to her side after she defends them). What will happen if she leaves?

He's doing it for Misaki's benefit. No, really.

This is an interesting enough problem, but Usui complicates it further. Noticing that Misaki hasn’t been able to focus since he kissed her, he kisses a guy, which turns her off of him. Well and good, but a flustered Misaki isn’t as much fun (Angry is best). Also, it means that when the rich school’s leader turns on his charm she is more open to it, and so to transferring. What’s more, Usui goes a bit further, and she snaps at him, tired of his games. For the time being Usui’s forced himself out of the romantic picture. You have to wonder if he planned it this way.

So we have a story arc (apart from the romance) going more than one episode for a change. Not that I minded the one-shot episodes, but it suggests that the show is now broadening its horizons. Could be good.

Night Raid 4, Daimaou 5, Working!! 5

Senkou no Night Raid 4 doesn’t push any overriding story arc, unless you count the brief appearance of the long-haired guy for the second straight episode. Rather it’s a character study of sorts between Aoi and Kazura.

It’s also meant to be a comic episode. It doesn’t work terribly well. Basically Fuu gets the boys to photograph her restaurant’s food in order to draw customers. While doing so Aoi and Kazura talk, mainly argue, about the proper way of doing things (There is one interesting moment when Aoi says he doesn’t think Japan ought to be the ones to decide what happens in China, which Kazura thinks is ludicrous). When the bag with the film vanishes, their approaches for finding it are supposed to demonstrate their disparate techniques. Yet they keep winding up in the same place.

Aoi and Kazura track down the perp, by looking to the right.

Even when they discover the culprit, their routes toward finding kitty differ, though frankly I can’t see much of a diffrence. Aoi uses the direct approach, Kazura goes more roundabout, and again they wind up in the same place, which is, of course, the point. As a postscript we get a scene where Yukina says more or less what the episode had already shown us. Well, good to have it official, I guess. As for Aoi and Kazura, we know about as much about them at the end as we did before. They have different techniques and bicker a lot. No, not much to this episode at all.

On the other hand, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou 5 has way too much going on. I sat there as they threw plot bomb after plot bomb at me until I gave up trying to figure it out.

Don't ask what Fujiko, Keena and Junko are doing there. I barely know myself.

I partly gave up because none of it was making sense. Everyone has their own reason for collecting the three treasures (which are surprisingly modern, considering), or for stopping others from getting them. I don’t know what the hell Eiko was on about here. Junko says she’s a government agent, or something, but apparently all she really wants to do is get Akuto alone for some shenanigans. When Akuto “chooses,” i.e., rescues Junko, she runs off in a naked huff. Oh, yeah, there’s a naked girl swordfight in a hot spring, just for cheap thrills. Fujiko is looking for information about her disgraced dead brother. But what makes the least sense is that the whole thing was set up by the student council. Except that they do it in ruined underground cities where relics of the demon lord are kept. What a great place for a scavenger hunt involving a future demon lord!

Actually, Akuto looks pretty comfortable up there.

But we also get surprises! Fujiko learns the truth about her brother (We already knew, but she didn’t)! The dragon they wake up accepts Akuto as his master and has a sense of humor! Apparently Akuto also seems a little more content with this demon lord stuff. Really, this was one of the most confusing story arcs I have ever seen. Or maybe I was distracted by the naked swordfight in the hot spring.

Not too much to say about Working!! 5. The first half consisted of dithering scenes that didn’t do much except play the characters against each other. Souta decides that the girls’ weirdness level increases with their height. There’s a bit where Hiroomi tries to communicate with Inami via cellphone, because he’ll get hit if he gets too close …

Then there's the weird relationship between Satou and Yachiyo.

It’s fine with me, really. This is a slice of life show made of little vignettes; the quality is determined by how well they work. Though I have one qualm I’ll bring up later.

The second part has a consistent story. Souta can’t come in because of his sick sister, so they’re understaffed. And the restaurant fills up with men, meaning Inami can’t help out much. They all switch places. The cooks do the waiting, Inami becomes the cook (Never mind that it means there’s one cook in a packed restaurant. There are things in any show that must be ignored in order to enjoy it). It works well enough, but I think the show is getting a little heavy on Inami’s side. All the other characters interact with each other for the laughs, but Inami’s tendency toward violence sort of trumps all that. It’s become the dynamic of too many of the little stories. As much as I enjoy Inami, they might want to ease up on her a little. And they will, for next week is all about Souta’s very interesting sisters.

Night Raid 3, Maid-Sama 4

In Senkou no Night Raid 3 Yukina gets a letter from her missing brother, asking her to meet him at a certain place, but she and the team are distracted by some bombs in department stores and a guy who can both read minds AND teleport. Hey, that’s not fair!

He wants Yukina to come with him to see her brother. I’m trying to puzzle it out. Why is the guy hanging around the bombs, anyway? To keep the team from finding them? To find Yukina when she didn’t show up for her rendezvous? No matter, the hunt for the bombs, coupled with his interference, was gripping enough. Our suspicions are raised when we see his gun raised in scenes in each store. Even if we can’t see his face, the uniform is the same. We wonder how he gets around like that, then put two and two together. Then there’s the lost little girl they throw in to make Aoi’s life even more complicated. Though I had to laugh as they manage to get two of the bombs safely away just seconds before they go off. The team knows something about dramatic timing.

What doesn’t work so well is the final confrontation on the roof. Oh, the literal mind games bit was fine, it was his request for Yukina to leave with him to see her brother which stumbled. The guy had just planted four bombs (not to mention a balloon full of poison, his final gambit) and battled with her guys. There was no way she was going to go off with him at this point. No suspense there. Well, no matter. It was an exciting episode, or maybe I’m just a sucker for disarming bombs shows.

Kaichou wa Maid-Sama 4 starts with a potentially annoying scenario which is done rather well, followed by some random scenes which work okay and finishes with a nice conclusion. It’s all about the boss’s niece, Aoi, darling Internet idol, and actually a boy.

That last part, when revealed, is only a small surprise. Aoi wants to work at the cafe, then sees Usui, and naturally falls for him. It’s here we have to wonder what is motivations are. At the time his real sex hasn’t been revealed, so we work with that assumption, but if he’s really a boy, is he a cross-dresser, or is he gay? Aoi talks a lot about the power his cuteness has over people, so I’m going to assume the former. The fun is that Usui doesn’t pay attention to him at all, and his barbs at Misa fall on deaf ears, too. They just don’t care what he thinks.

I found this refreshing. No “bratty kid causes trouble at the cafe” scenes here. But it takes up a little more than half the episode. For the second half the outed Aoi drags Misa around, ostensibly because he’s going to find her feminine stuff to wear, but he doesn’t try very hard. Here’s where the random scenes come in. They talk. Misa stops a purse snatcher, how unfeminine of her! She has an obligation to be girly, right?

All right, it’s a shallow moral: “Be yourself.” But it’s brought home to Aoi nicely, that he should accept others for what they are as well. It was a surprising and satisfying conclusion to this episode. I’m still not in love with this series, but it’s working better than I had first thought.

Night Raid 2, Tatami Galaxy 1

I’m still trying to figure out the characters and organizations in Senko no Night Raid. Ep2 helps out a little by providing a number of flashbacks concerning our super-powered spies, even if I’m not sure who’s working for whom. Also, though the backdrop remains confusing, the story in ep2, when they get to it, is straightforward.

The team is out to investigate Krainev, a violinist who’s performing in Shanghai, and visited the house of a late professor who had ties to the Kwantung army. The team is skeptical, but go on the case. They discover nothing, but Krainev has a good memory and could certainly be keeping it in his head. Isao, who can apparently read thought when touching the person, manages a private lesson with Krainev—and discovers nothing of use.

Interspersed are the members’ memories, Takuma being pulled away from his goals because of his power. Isao has a brother who might be working for the other side, and she’s looking for him. The violin playing reminds Aoi of his sister, though we learn no more than that. Because of all this they find it even harder to suspect Krainev, or at least to condemn him. A Russian Jew now living in Germany, he has to survive.

They unravel the mystery—the information is encoded in the sonata he’s going to play on the radio. They cut off the power but Krainev plays anyway, for the pleasure of making music, released from his burden. It was a quiet episode after that first one, but quite effective. I suspect the show will get more so for me once I have the backdrop figured out.

The Tatami Galaxy 1 looks and sounds fantastic; it’s also damn exhausting to watch.

Pretty much my expression after half an episode.

The show throws so much at you with bright visual effects and rapid-fire dialogue, that by the halfway point I was worn down. But once you start watching, it’s next to impossible to stop. We follow, er, never got his name, who meets a guy who claims he’s a god, and intends to match up a girl, Akaishi, with either the hero, or his friend and worst influence, Ozu. Time for a flashback. The two of them had been on the tennis team and had been losers at life, and had decided to ruin the romances for everyone around them, causing much annoyance. The hero finally tells the god that he wants Akaishi for himself, and weird things happen, leading to this …

It’s too much for me to explain, and since the conclusion leads me to think this is not part one of a longer story, I don’t quite know what to make of it. We’d seen the hero do stupid things all throughout, but I rather hoped he’d do something to fix it instead of spending the rest of his life that way. That doesn’t happen, he fails in his attempt to woo Akaishi (by not even trying). The loser in all of us sympathizes with him, yet at the same time we can’t forgive him for his multiple failures. And as for what it was all about, well, I’ll have to wait for the next episode to get a clearer picture.

Durarara 13, Senkou no Night Raid 1, B Gata H Kei 2

Durarara‘s OP features a new song and adds a couple of new characters, not to mention actually naming Mika! We meet some of these folks as the show assembles bits and pieces for the next story arc.

The first is Kuzuhara, a motor cop brought into the city to put pressure on Celty. He and his goons chase her down and threaten her, but they don’t show the final outcome of the confrontation. Nevertheless, Celty is badly shaken by the appearance of people who aren’t afraid of what she is or what she can do—and seem to be after her. And you have to wonder … None of the cops there really looked human.

Then there’s Shinra’s father, Shingen, who wears a gas mask and immediately requires rescue by Celty. We don’t get much more of him than that, but his very presence is going to shake some things up. Then there’s a couple more whom we don’t meet. Just great. The cast is even bigger now!

And there’s the slasher, reintroduced to us (apart from lurking behind a sign peering at Shizuo) as it brutally slices down the three girls who like to bully Anri. This episode has followed Anri for a while, though the only comments the narrator makes is that none of this has anything to do with her. Indeed, Anri’s a bit of a mystery. All we really know about her is she feels she needs to latch on to others, perhaps unsure of standing up for herself. On the other hand, when she’s being bullied, the slasher appears behind them and does its work. Connection? What’s more, there’s a creepy guy on the bulletin boards who freaks out when the slasher appears. But we get no more than that. It’s the way Durarara works, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Senkou no Night Raid 1 takes place in 1931 Shanghai, and tosses out a bunch of organizations, governments and groups all competing for power. But let’s begin at the beginning. The organization we’re following, whatever they’re called, works for the Japanese government, I think. And they have super powers. Some can teleport, some can see through walls. They’re trying to track down a kidnapped Kaburagi, being held for ransom by some Chinese rebels. While the men they follow in the first section turn out to be decoys, we still get some exciting action scenes.

They’re well-edited and fluid. Even if I didn’t know what’s going on, I was sucked in by this first part. Even though I knew I’d have to endure a long talky scene afterward, which is what happens. I’m not so good with series with a dozen factions and complicated intrigue. I don’t mind them, I just can’t get my head around the story. Darker than Black suffered because of this. But this talky scene resolved this by having the “good guys” (who probably aren’t) immediately plan their next operation: the rescue of Kaburagi. Yes, there’s some exposition, but it’s worked into the practical business at hand.

The raid on Liu Tsung-wu’s headquarters give the show an opportunity to expand upon the special powers. The teleporters can only telport for a limited period of time. Aoi perhaps depends on his ability too much, while Kazura would rather not use his at all. Meanwhile Yukina and the big guy whose name I didn’t get guide them using their seeing and telepathic abilities. It’s another good action scene, livened up by another faction’s sudden, highly-armed appearance.

I don’t know if this is going to be my kind of show, but if the rest of it is executed as well as ep1 I’ll have to watch it anyway. Impressive.

After those two smart shows I turned to a dumb one: B Gata H Kei … and felt a little refreshed. I guess it’s good to turn off your mind once in a while. And, they even eased up on the fanservice, that is, the fanservice they did use wasn’t so in-your-face as last time.

They waste no time getting to the pool scene and the obligatory bikinis. Add to this Yamada’s remarkable mood-swings and I suppose it could be worse. Takeshita, Yamada’s sane, sensible sidekick, brings along her boyfriend Daikuse. Since he and Yosuda are calm, sensible people who like to read, they hit it off.

At this point I’ve realized that I like Yamada the most when she’s upset. She’s much more fun, especially since she hasn’t shown us much of a good side, and no maturity at all. The latter comes out when she forces Kosuda to take the water slide again and again, when he’s scared of heights. Her reaction, upon learning that the only reason he was clinging to her was that he was terrified, is to call him a wuss. Nope. Not seeing any good side to her.

The second part was better, if you ignore the entire condom section, which I wish I could unwatch. Yamada spots Mayu, a potential rival for Kosuda’s affections. Through some ridiculous stalking they discover that Mayu and Kosuda’s families are good friends, and that she has an unrequited crush on Kosuda. It’s all very sweet. Naturally, Yamada’s decision is to act the bully and show her who the better girl is, but in a clever turn of events she winds up becoming Mayu’s love coach. In other words, Yamada only does good things in spite of her intentions.

In spite of this, I’m still not quite ready to toss this show. Yamada annoys me except when she herself is annoyed, but the other characters are decent enough, if bland. I’m predicting I’ll watch a few more before I ask myself what the hell I’m doing.