Category: Anime

No Case Too Small: Urusei Yatsura

4 Comments

The case in question is episode 75 of Urusei Yatsura: “And Then There Were None“

hisuiconNo Case too Small is the ongoing feature of the blog where we look at a mystery based episode of a non-detective related show. Since today is Halloween we decided to do a very thematically appropriate episode of Urusei Yatsura. Usually Urusei Yatsura is a madcap screwball comedy where the most lecherousness young man in Japan is engaged to a beautiful but jealous alien princess with electrical powers. Around this time in the production of the show you can sense that the crew was getting bored with straight adaption of the manga and were pushing the boundaries of what they could get away with in the series. Episode 71 was “Shinobu’s Cinderella Story”  which was a mostly a humorless noir story involving a Shinobu getting involved in a murder over the inheritance of a vast fortune. This episode also takes the crew of the normally goofy series and places them in a terrifying murder mystery with the cast dying one by one in various gruesome ways. While the mood might be in strong contrast to the shows’ normal vibe it is perfect macabre story for today.

Lum is the type of show where you never know what the next episode will be about, it is a rather odd and varied assortment of short comedies running the gamut of success. But you always expect comedy, and maybe the occasional tender moment, so this episode comes off as particularly creepy. And even the few attempts at silly just cement how bizarre the tale is.

Continue reading →

Fate/Zero TV #005: Magical Mexican Standoff

4 Comments

Well if Iskander did not win over enough fanboys via his actions in the previous episodes than he pretty much conquered his position as King of Bros in the hearts of many this episode. But I would not be surprised if Berserker did not win his fair share of fans this episode as well.  While this episode has the prerequisite Type-Moon levels of dialog the amount of fighting was on par with the last episode with possible even more flashy moves than before. So anyone who was worried we were going straight back into yackity smackity can rest easy for at least one more episode. The action in this episode will calm the need of even the most adrenalin craving soul.

Continue reading →

Ongoing Investigations: Case #142

1 Comment

I along with thousands of others rejoiced to hear that Sailor Moon would finally be rereleased in English and thankfully with a new translation to match. And if that wasn’t exciting enough, there are also lovely color pages! Rereading something with such nostalgia for so many of us can be precarious sometimes because there is always the possibility of being let down. Sailor Moon is not that type of title if you are going in with the knowledge that this is a title meant for little girls; a mighty entertaining fantasy adventure that hits all the right notes for little girls. The strength of friendship is central to the series and it really takes hold of that right away. Equal is the intrigue (totally transparent to the audience) of Tuxedo Mask. The pace is happily brisk as Usagi whisks through villains and gains new guardians. The dialogue is rather stiff at times but not sure whether to attribute that problem with translation or not. The art of course shines and doesn’t feel aged though you can see Ms. Takeuchi getting better as the story goes which is only natural. Sailor Moon is a legendary title that changed a genre so that also means that it isn’t a perfect piece. But not being perfect doesn’t prevent it from being point of delight full of naive fantasy. It is great experiencing it all over again.

Well, if Natutaki is talking about the mother of fighting magical girls shows I might as well talk about one of its most modern grandchildren. I have been enjoying Suite Precure even if I have not mentioned it since episode 12. But since episode 35 is the accumulation of a lot of reveals I think it is worth talking about again. In that time the show has had the birth of Cure Beat,  a major power-up, the many reveals around Cure Muse, and of course the unmasking of the true villain of the series. The birth of Cure Beat was in itself pretty cool but as Narutaki mentioned the transformation from Siren to Ellen was sort of lame. It is like after she officially became a Cure some one switched her from evil to good like she was Krusty doll. The reveal of Cure Muse was better of it does require some Superman/Clark Kent and Batman/Bruce Wayne levels of ignorance. Also the reveal of Mephisto not being the big villain was pretty important as he would have made far to weak a foil especially as compared to previous masterminds. Overall I am still enjoying Suite Precure but 35 episodes in it is clear it will never be as strong as Heartcatch. But I am OK with that.

Continue reading →