badger11’s take on anime

The second episode of Pumpkin Scissors opens with three men chained together while running from an aristocrat hunting them in a tank. As he and his tank driver are hunting the men, the aristocrat is waxing poetic about how good it is to be part of the nobility and other justifications for his actions. We then see the Pumpkin Scissors’ office in the Army Intelligence HQ. Lt. Alice Malvin is angry and getting angrier because Oland, the giant, former Anti-tank Trooper with the blue lantern is late on his first day in Pumpkin Scissors. Malvin is so angry that she’s swinging her dagger around in the air. Oland is outside trying to get in, but his disheveled appearance is causing him trouble until he shows the guard his papers. Stekkin is glad that she’ll finally outrank someone until Capt. Hunks, leader of the entire unit, asks where Mercury, the messenger dog is. The dog (who bit the head of a senior officer in the last episode) is barreling through the hallways, chased by Stekkin. Back in the office, an angry Lt. Malvin is lecturing the rest of her team when Stekkin and Oland with Mercury biting his head show up.

As Oreld and Machs issue Oland his uniform and equipment, Oreld is describing Lt. Malvin as straight forward and stubborn. He also explains that Pumpkins Scissors is regarded as a joke with no potential for advancement. They’ve also been called “the peaceful and easy going Imperial Unit III. All they do is fill out reports and do inspections. Surprising the other two guys, Orlad likes the idea of a peaceful and easy-going outfit. As the team heads out to Viscount Wolkin’s lands, the nobleman from the beginning, to investigate a report about a disturbance, Capt. Hunks is thinking about Oland. He’s thinking about the fact that Oland doesn’t seem like a solider due to his mild, withdrawn manner, but that his combat skills are “abnormal”.

Once the team gets to the Viscount Wolkin’s lands, they see a funeral procession which causes Oreld no concern until Malvin points out that as bad as things are, its unusual for three people to die at the same time. They hear from local townsfolk about “The Game”. Wolkins and his tank driver, Hosslow, are having dinner in front of Wolkins’ starving maids. He throws his food onto the floor making a passing reference about forgetting to feed his pets. He tells them they can eat the food. The Pumpklin Scissors team storms into the dining room where Malvin accuses Wolkins of being a war profiteer. Wolkins retorts that the Pumpkin Scissors unit and its “war relief” efforts as nothing but a sham used by the military as means to have more access to the nations budget. The unit places him under arrest. Wolkins has his maids draw weapons on the team.

With Malvin sitting on a balcony with the Maids pointing their handguns at her, Wolkins and Hosslow are sitting in the tank, giving a chained Oland and the others a five minute head start to run away. As Oreld picks the locks on their chains, Malvin figures out that the maids were the ones to report Wolkin’s hunting games. She asks why they don’t point their handguns at him. One of the maids responds that they can’t because he’s part of the aristocracy. Malvin then tells them that she’s part of the Malvin family, one of the 13 appointed families of the country. She then cheerfully tells the maids that as commoners, they’re pointing a gun at a noble.

As this is going on, Hosslow is telling Wolkins about a story he heard from other tank soldiers. The story goes that if you see a foot solider with a blue steel lantern, don’t consider them as allies. But don’t turn them into enemies either. Wolkin dismisses the story as a fairy tale. He then starts to react to loud noises coming from outside the tank. He sees that the maids and Lt. Malvin are shooting at him. He starts shooting at Oland, Machs and Oreld who are now free from the chains. Machs and Oreld run away, but Oland stands still, is talking to himself about commoners, nobles and the sham that Wolkin claims Pumpkin Scissors is. As a shell explodes nearby, he decides that it isn’t important at what class you’re born to, its important about how you live your life. Flicking on the blue lantern at his belt, he becomes the glowing tank killer that we saw in the first episode. Surviving shell after shell shot at him and getting wounded in the process, Oland attacks the tank. Lt. Malvin and the team race up in the jeep. The tank tips over throwing Orland off. Malvin jumps out to catch him. Wolkin crawls out of the tank and asks that if stopping him will change things.

Back at the Army Intelligence HQ, Oreld is reciting a list of Oland’s injuries who says he doesn’t mind getting injured in combat but doesn’t feel things will change. Alice, hearing this, basically asks that if he’s so tall, can he see the future. She then compares him to Wolkin. Once in the office, she reads a letter from the maids out loud. The maids thank them and say that they’re heading home. While they don’t know what the future will hold, they’re happier for the change. Malvin tells Oland to not worry about the future so much, but pay attention to the change in front of him.

Not a bad episode of the show. Malvin is certainly a dynamic character, as opposed to Oland whose basically Dr. Jekyll and them Mr. Hyde when the lantern is turned on. I hope, as the series progresses, we see Oland doing other things than attacking tanks. I’m also curious about the class distinction between Alice and Oland as hinted in the show’s opening. I agree with Garten over at Memento that the show needs more complex bad guys. The one thing about the episode that bothered me was Captain Hunks’ reaction to Oland. It seems that he’s not too familiar with Oland’s background. While I’m sure that some parts of Oland’s records would be classified, I get the feeling that the show will portray Hunks as a crafty intelligence officer. And if he is the crafty, knows-all type, then he really shouldn’t be unfamiliar with Oland as a secret weapon. I plan on watching the show and hope that they’ll show more interesting bad guys and deal with the class distinction in a smart way.

Now that its been a few days since the show that hype built landed on us and I’ve gone back and watched it half dozen or so more times. And I still like it. I have to suspend any opinion because KyoAni is taking their time in introducing the characters and what’s will undoubtedly be several involved plot-lines. We’ve been introduced to the main character, Yuuichi, his cousin Nayuki, and his aunt Akiko. We’ve also been introduced to two characters who are, if I remember right secondary characters (I’ve only seen a few episodes of the first one). So we need to be introduced to three more remaining character within the next few episodes before the show really gets going and picks up in pace.

I’m predisposed to liking this show because of KyoAni’s work on The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Also, the artwork alone would be a great reason for me to watch it. As I seaid before, I’ve watched it a half doze times already. The show doesn’t necessarily get any better with each viewing, but excluding the artwork, there’s a quality about it that I like. Granted there isn’t the potential for a deep, intense story line like Death Note seems to have. Its pretty much a show that just are along for the ride. So enjoy the artwork, be amused by the story (and probably get depressed here and there). Oh, and decide which girl will you become a fan of. On a few blogs I’ve read, the Ayu vs. Nayuki camps have already started to rally.

Well, I’d suspect that wearing a uniform like this one in wintertime, the girls’ track team would be popular since they undoubtly have to run as fast as they can to stay warm.

Yes, I’ve been wanting to say that and no, I couldn’t think of anything funnier to say. Hey, I didn’t say that these were deep thoughts.

The anime based on the Death Note manga finally appears. I haven’t read the manga series, so I’ve only got a passing familiarity with he story. So I was looking forward to the anime (and the movie if it ever gets released Stateside … released not remade by Hollywood). The show opens with the world of the Shinigami (gods of some sort). We some Shinigami sleeping or gambling. Finally the camera lands on Ryuk who’s off, brooding by himself. Next we see straight A student, Light Yagami(?) in class. We follow Light walking through crowds while news reports are played about murders. In a split screen between Light and Ryuk, they think to themselves that day after day nothing changes. They pretty much think that their worlds are rotten.

Then we see Light in his class (presumably the next day) and while he’s staring out the window he sees a book fall onto the school yard. After class he goes and picks it up and sees that the book is a blank notebook with the title “Death Note” on it. At first he thinks its a joke but takes it home anyways.While at home, he finds instructions on how to use the notebook. They are:

• The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
• This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
• If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject’s name, it will happen.
• If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.
• After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

Still believing it to be a joke, he almost writes down a name, but pauses, wondering if he’ll become a murderer if he writes someone’s name in it. He still thinks its a joke. To test if the book is true, he writes the name of a hostage taker that he hears on a news program on his tv. 40 seconds later, the hostages come running out and its reported that the hostage taker is dead of unknown reasons. Even though he’s shocked, he thinks its a coincidence. His mother reminds him that its time for cram school so he packs the notebook up. It at this point that he gets the idea to only write down the names of criminals.

On his way home from cram school, he sees some motorcycle gang members raping a woman. He over hears the name of the leader and hides in a convenience store where he writes down the leader’s name and how he’s going to die. The woman breaks free and runs away. the leader follows after her on his motorcycle only to be hit by a truck. Which is what Light wrote in the notebook. Finally, he’s convinced that the notebook is real and that he has the power of death over someone.

We then see Light coming home and going to his room where he flips through the notebook, laughing at all of the names he’s written. He’s surprised by Ryuk who claims that Light is enjoying using the book. Even though he’s surprised by Ryuk, he’s not scared by the visit since he knows the book is supernatural. Ryuk explains that once a Death Note falls to the Human world it belongs in the Human world. Ryuk also explains that since Light found the book, its his to keep or to give to another human, but if he gives it to another human, he has to erase Light’s memory concerning the book.

Light wonder’s about the price he has to pay for using the book. Ryuk tells him that the only price he’ll pay is that he won’t go to Heaven or Hell. Ruyk tells Light that he’s the only one who can see Ryuk because of a bond between Ryuk and Light through the Death Note. We also see that Ryuk discovers a love for apples that were left by Light’s mother. While Ryuk is eating the apples, Light asks him why he dropped the Death Note. Ryuk answers that he just dropped it somewhere and didn’t single out Light. He dropped it because he was bored. Which is the same answer that Light gives as to why he used it.

While I was looking forward to this show, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This was a good episode and I hope the rest of the season is just as good. I’m pleasantly surprised that I liked it a lot. While I know that I was going to be impressed with Kanon, I didn’t know that I’d be impressed with Death Note. The artwork is good, the moral implications and how the show handles its great. Because of his boredom and disgust about the crime in the world, he used the Death Note. We see Light go through the process of justifying his use of Death Note, just like a politician. Because he’s targeting criminals and those people he thinks of as rotten in an attempt to build a better tomorrow, a better world with only people that he considers good. Hell, let’s call it a utopia.

I think there’s a flaw in Light’s plan to build a world filled with people according to his standards of good. Nature abhors a vacuum, so where Light kills off a criminal another will appear. And so on and so on, until the criminal might not be an actual criminal, but won’t measure up to Light’s definition of “good”. And if a Death Note user doesn’t go to Heaven or Hell, where do they go? Do they become a Shinigami? Or something worse? I hope the producers of Death Note maintain the moral aspect using a Death Note, even if its going after criminals. If they do, then this will be a great, cerebral show to keep watching. I’m looking forward to the next few episodes.

Based on some of the anime blogs I visit, Kanon is one of the more anticipated shows out there. I know I was anticipating it also. The first episode is long and drawn out, introducing the main character of Yuuichi who used to live in the city where the show takes place, but doesn’t remember much about it. We are also introduced to his cousin Nayuki, who has a huge collection of alarm clocks, Nayuki’s mother Akiko, and Ayu, a girl who literally runs into Yuuichi. There really isn’t much to tell about this episode as it just introduces the characters. Considering that Kyoto Animation (KyoAni) has about 24 episodes to work with (as opposed to the 14 for their previous show, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya). Having a slow open for the series isn’t too bad (jpmeyer describes the opening of this episode as “90 seconds of stuff blowing in the wind porn“).

This episode shows Yuuichi moving in with his aunt and cousin, whom he hasn’t seen in seven years. He and Nayuki tour the city and run into a couple of classmates, Kaoria and Kitagawa. These two have a pretty good interaction with each other as Kaori has Kitagawa carrying all of hers bags and he keeps saying that they’re out on a date.

After watching Kitagawa run after Kaori with her shopping bags, Yuuichi wants for Nayuki outside of a grocery store. He claimed that he’d get lost inside. At this point he hears someone shouting to get out of the way and sees Ayu running towards him. Before he can get out of the way, she bowls him over. She then drags him along, running away from someone chasing her. As they hide in a cafe, Yuuichi sees that its a shopkeeper she’s hiding from. Ayu explains that she got scared by him chasing a off a cat and ran away with some pastries. Yuuichi drags her to the shop (well, its actually a van) and they pay and apologize Ayu’s theft. as they start to part from each other, they finally introduce themselves. Ayu has a reaction when she hears Yuuichi’s name, as if she knew him when he lived there before.

Based on a video game, Kanon was already made into a series a few years ago by and outfit whose name I can’t remember (and am too lazy to find out). I’ve caught a few episodes on Youtube so I have a basic idea of the story. This version is done by Kyoto Animation (KyoAni). From what I understand, excluding the male lead, all of the original voice actors are back for this version. The male lead is done by the actor who voiced Kyon in KyoAni’s recent show, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. That was a show that I liked also.

This is so from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

I thought the artwork in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was pretty good. I sort of suspect that show was just a training session for Kanon because the artwork here easily out does the artwork in Suzumiya. And that’s one of the few things that I think most viewers will take away from this show. Visually, this is very well done. The story itself, I don’t think will be complex, but it should be enjoyable nonetheless.

As I mentioned, one of the strengths about this show will be its visuals. Lush, beautiful landscapes. All of the females characters are almost guaranteed to make you fall in love with them in a moe sort of way (at least as I understand it). I even found myself saying “kawaii ” a few times. Especially whenever Ayu said “Uguu”. This show is probably going to be the fall cotton candy show for me.

This episode ended with a new ending song and visuals. It starts out with the off-line group enjoying their last meal around a bonfire while Hitomi’s boyfriend, Misaki, and Yamazaki race to find and stop them. In the car, Yamazaki states that it shouldn’t be surprising that Satou was committing suicide. He didn’t have a job or a girlfriend. he wasn’t in school and the game that he and Yamazaki were making was basically finished. The most damning piece of evidence was that Misaki was spying on Satou. When Yamazaki asks Misaki why, all she says was that he was important to him. On the island, Satou is still trying to figure a way out, stating that all he wanted to do was to hang out and have a good time with Hitomi, his senpai. While the others in the group reiterate their determination to go ahead with their deaths.

When Samazaki and the others get to the wharf, Hitomi’s boyfriend tries to find out any information about the off-line group, Yamazaki tells Misaki that since she was spying on Satou, she new he was lying about being a game designer. He also tells her that he’s a victim here too because he agreed to make a game with Satou in order to keep up Satou’s lies. All Misaki can say is that she wanted to help Satou who Yamazaki compares to a stray dog. Hitomi’s boyfriend comes back and tells them where the other group is and that he has rented a bout.

The island group starts to walk toward a cliff when one of the members, and ex-medical student, suddenly stops, not willing to go any further. He keeps saying he can see his mother’s face and her pain. A second member decides not to go through it also. This member is a young teenager and he admits to stealing money from his parents. This leaves Satou, Hitomi and the island owner. The medical student starts trying to talk everyone out of jumping by saying that even they have something to leave for, such as family. The island owner tells everyone that his wife left him and won’t let him see their son. This sets the medical student off, calling him irresponsible even if he can’t see his son. Hitomi, dragging Satou along (still unwilling to end it all) continues to the edge. Right at the last second, Hitomi’s boyfriend calls out from the boat below telling her not to jump, he needs her and then he asks her to marry him. This was what Hitomi always wanted to hear, that he needed her. Satou, hearing this decides to jump.

His crush on his Senpai has now been broken. As he starts towards the edge, the others grab him and Misaki shouts that he’s important to her, that she finally found someone lower than herself in life. Finally Yamazaki shouts to Satou that people like them aren’t allowed dramatic deaths. No matter how depressed or in pain they are, they have to stay in their daily routine lives. This snaps Satou out of it and as he starts to step back, the cliff edge collapses under him. Hanging on to the side, he’s saved by the others.

Even though I was sure that Satou would live in this episode, I was half-expecting that someone from the suicide group was going to die, even though Misaki and the others would get their in time. I also wasn’t expecting the cliff to collapse under Satou. I found Yamazaki’s statements to Misaki to be a little weak, especially when he claims to be vicitimized by her too. The thing is, he could easily have said no to helping Satou lie about being a game designer. I can only assume that since Satou was his senpai in school that had a lot to do with him helping Satou. However, Yamazaki totally redeems himself with the smartest lines said in the show. I think Yamazaki telling Satou that people like them weren’t allowed to have dramatic deaths and could only live routine lives wasn’t brilliant, instead it was practical, which is the brilliant part of this episode for me. This part really made this episode my favorite to date.

On a side note, the first manga book, that this series is based on, will be released sometime this month in English. I’m planning on picking it up, but I don’t really intend to compare the show and the manga.

Pumpkin Scissors takes place in a country recovering from a major war. Three years after the end of the war, the recovery effort doesn’t seem to be going to well. The show starts off with a military ceremony where the cease-fire is announced and we catch a first glimpse of Lt. Alice Malvin. The story starts when we catch-up with Malvin and two other soliders spying on a group of renegade soliders holed up near a dam. Malvin and the others are part of a military intelligence outfit called Pumpkin Scissors.

Next we’re see Randel Oland, a huge, scarred-face man eating a salad in a restaurant. Malvin and the others enter the restaurant and when she passes by Oland, she gets a feeling on the back of her neck. When Malvin is about to talk to him, an explosion shakes the palce. The renegades have brought their tank into town to extort supplies. Malvin confronts them and they back off after firing a blank artillery round. Soon the villages fall sick and the team realizes that the blank round shot from the the tank was actually a chemical weapon.

Next we see the Military Intelligence HQ. The head of the Pumpkin Scissors, Capt. Hunks, gets ordered by his superior to pull out Malvin the her team. While this is happening, Malvin, Oland and the team come up with a plan to attack the renegades to get an antidote for the villagers. The two soliders under the command of Malvin act as decoys while Malvin and Oland sneak into the base. Here we start to see why the hairs on Malvin’s neck stood up when she’s around Oland.

He turns on a blue light attached to his built and his eyes start to glow. While Malvin searches for the antidote, Oland opens the floodgates on the dam, making it difficult for the tank to manuver.While the tank is trying to escape, Oland attacks it, taking out everyone except for the renedage’s leader, Graywolf. At the end of the fight, Graywolf taunts Oland into shooting him while he’s holding the antidote. Malvin jumps in and gets the antidote.

This show is put out by Gonzo and Geneon.It looks good. Better than Welcome to the NHK! that Gonzo is also involved with. But the, it could just be my monitor. There’s a bit of a spoiler about Oland in the show’s opening, so that has me interested in where they’re going to go with that. Is there going to be a morality tale somewhere at some point in the show?

Overall, its too early to decide if I’m going to like the show or not, but I’m leaning towards the like side of things.