Posts Tagged ‘mamiko noto’

Ok... So That Is Alot of Cute to Resist

So, if you happen to be reading the website at the very moment that this gets published you might want to hang out for awhile. I’ve had a busy couple of days which means I’m about to play a major round of catch up. Lots of updates to follow but the first thing that I missed over the last day is ‘Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu’ getting a second season. The announcement was made in the same issue of Dengeki Bunko Magazine that brought the third season (?) announcement of Shana so that sorta explains it.

If you’re not familiar with the romantic comedy, it premiered last summer and centers on Yuto and Haruka. On the surface it looks like the shy boy has managed to get into a relationship with the popular pretty girl. In reality though it’s actually closer to Yuto has discovered Haruka’s big secret: She’s a closet anime otaku. The second season will feature the same cast, crew and production studio as the first season. If you pay attention to names than this is good news with Mamiko Noto (Narue in ‘World of Narue‘, Aisa in ‘To aru Majutsu no Index’) and Wataru Hatano (Jun’ichi in ‘Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka’) reprise their roles and Munenori Nawa (‘Kiss x Sis’) will be returning to the director’s chair. No release date for the second season has been revealed yet.

07-Ghost
Studio: Studio Deen
Premiere Date: 4/6/09
Genre: Action

Action, suspense and just a hint of boys love makes ‘07-Ghost’ one of this season’s winners.

The Story

Taking place in a gothic, military fantasy world, the main character in this series is Teito Klein. Once a slave in the former kingdom of Raggs, Teito eventually joins the military academy despite his lack of memories about his past. Eventually Teito becomes one of the top graduates from his class, in line to become one of the very few chosen as a begleiter (executive military assistant). That all comes crashing down however when he remembers something that quickly leads him down the path of a wanted criminal. Now on the run from the same Barsburg Empire that he was training to serve, Teito takes refuge in a church city as he attempts to learn more about his past, who he is and how to save the best friend he left behind while escaping.

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Moving into the second half, ‘Witchblade’ takes a break from the action to spend some time with the characters.

The Story

In the second half of the series, the story picks up with the cliffhanger of volume three. Masane has been informed that she is not the real mother of Rihoko and her real mother wants her back. Forced to deal with this reality, Masane tries to escape but eventually learns about Reina and gives Rihoko up.

Everyone tries to make the best of the situation; Rihoko does her best to bond with her new mother while Reina treats Rihoko as an experiment that needs to be studied. Meanwhile in the NSWF, Maria has kept her promise to keep up with her studies and training earning her reward. After learning who her real mother is, Maria goes on a quest to find her and the happiness that she is certain is waiting for her at the reunion.

At the close of the volume, ‘Witchblade’ diverts even further from its established format giving the audience a break with a beach episode. It’s time for Tozawa to cash in on the favor that Chou did for him which means a group date at the beach along with a trio of hot young co-ed’s who have some less than honest impressions of Chou.

Good and the Bad

One of the most prominent faults that ‘Witchblade’ was never able to shake during the first half were the paper thin characters. While so many things surrounding the characters helped things such as the action, music and backgrounds; the characters were never developed nearly enough to make the story as engaging as it could have been.

Watching this volume however, fans will be pleased to be able to say ‘better late than never’ as four episodes focus on who we’ve been watching and where they come from. It took half the series but on this volume, ‘Witchblade’ finally managed to touch me on an emotional level. The big swerve from last volume with Reina being Rihoko’s mother really could not have been a big shock for anyone watching as the series had been telegraphing it for a number of episodes. The outcome of that will catch audiences off guard. When Rihoko learns the truth and starts crying at the idea of being separated from Masane, it is exceedingly difficult to not genuinely feel sad for Rihoko. Her tears aren’t loud and annoying, they’re soft and pleading.

‘Witchblade’ follows up on this really well as the story progresses further through the next couple of episodes. Seeing Rihoko really attempting to bond with her new mother gives the series a really good chance to segue into the other characters without leaving the audience to actively wonder about how she’s doing.

Since the beginning Masane, Takayama and Tozawa have been the characters the biggest question marks above their heads. Throughout these four episodes, all three of these characters are going to see varying amounts of development with revelations about the character’s various histories. Not all of the development is large (honestly, only Masane gets what I would call a large amount of development) but Takayama and Tozawa still manage to get in enough.

It would be really nice to learn more about these characters before it’s too late. Already ‘Witchblade’ has squandered more than one chance at creating much more memorable and impactful death scenes for their characters and if the history of the previous episodes has taught the audience anything, it’s that you should always be prepared for anyone to die.

The better news about these episodes of ‘Witchblade’ is that these episodes are filled with silver linings. With all of the time that these episodes are spending on a sudden surge of character development via some tangent story arcs, it’s very enjoyable to see that the series isn’t ignoring the various subplots that they have kept going. Very short scenes are scattered throughout these episodes reminding viewers of Wadou and the fate that will await Masane once her body reaches its limits of witchblade use.

Music

Constantly throughout these episodes audience members are going to be completely wrapped up in excellent musical arrangements. Early in the volume there is a wonderful violin piece during an elevator sequence and then there are the wonderfully unique themes that play during the first and last fight scenes.

The new music that everyone really will be paying attention to however are the very nice new opening and ending themes. The new opening theme (‘Dear Bob’ sung by KOOLOGI) has a very interesting sound to it. While there aren’t any horns within it, the beat and sound to the song has a very distinct ska feel to it which is a dynamic change from the gothic rock theme that started the series off. Closing out episodes starting with episode thirteen is the new theme ‘Kutsu Himo’ sung by Asami Yamamoto which is, once again, different from the first but not a step down at all thanks to an upbeat pop sound that closes out each episode on a strong note.

Dub vs. Sub

Two words: Monica Rial. An actress who can always be counted on to deliver a memorable performance, Rial once again delivers strong with her performance of Maria in the dub cast. Whiny, arrogant, spoiled; the performance matches the character perfectly until you just want to smack her around… repeatedly… with a bat. Also showing a strong outing on this volume is Mamiko Noto as Masane. Inside the building that Takayama takes her to Masane delivers incredibly strong dialogue that Noto just makes into memorable moments.

Extras

Continuing the series that began last volume, the second episode of ‘The Witchblade Forged’ takes the audience deeper into the process of making ‘Witchblade’ into an anime. Coming in at seventeen minutes long, this episode focuses on the series itself and what made it into such a successful series to begin with.

In the next interview segment, Mie Sonozaki (Reina) takes her turn at fielding questions about the series and her character. In the eight minute interview, Sonozaki will answer a question from Rikiya Koyama (Takayama) regarding the relationship between the two characters before sharing her thoughts on some of the finer details of the story and character. The interview is as interesting as previous segments though the amount of detail that she uses to answer Koyama’s question is probably the most amusing part.

Overall

Interestingly enough, after getting involved with the second half to this series I am finding myself with a new found excitement to see what happens next. Now that ‘Witchblade’ has decided to give their characters a bit more depth, it’s already becoming that much easier to get into the stories that the series has slowly been seeding along the way. In an ideal world there will be a lot more of the development that the series started here but if the story in the final third can live up to the expectations the staff has set up for itself, it may still able to get by on its action.

Witchblade proves that sometimes it really is the little things that make the difference.

The Story

In this futuristic series, the setting is Tokyo six years after a massive earthquake. The heroine is a woman named Masane Amaha who was found in the rubble of the epicenter with an infant named Rihoko. In the first episode, the two arrive in Tokyo to make a new life for themselves only to be hounded by Child Welfare who don’t believe that Masane is a suitable parent and eventually separated. Rihoko will find temporary shelter with an aspiring photographer working on the latest big lead while Masane will find herself in the company of the Douji Group.

Soon afterwards though, Masane finds out something even more troubling; she is the wearer of the Witchblade, a weapon that has been sought after by various groups for centuries. The Witchblade chooses a female to be its bearer and turns them into a powerful living weapon with an unquenchable thirst for destruction. Two groups are currently after the Witchblade, the NSWF (whose name is dangerously close to being a punch line in itself for audiences) and the Douji Group.

The Douji Group wants the Witchblade and Masane to help them. Before the earthquake, they created and lost a line of robots that look like normal humans until they transform called X-Cons. Lately they have been surfacing and killing local women, the Douji Group wants Masane to track them down and kill them in exchange for helping her get full custody of her daughter. The NSWF want it for entirely different reasons and before the close of these first four episodes, Masane will finally be in a position to find out what it is.

Good and the Bad

Based on the comic from Top Cow, on the surface Witchblade does many things in these first four episodes that the audiences expects it to. Right away the animation produced by Gonzo has a very nice feel to it. The opening introduction is very strongly presented and sets up the story and tone instantly (though that tone is dramatically different depending on which language you listen to it in, see below) and the characters are likable right away.

Setting up the emotional story arc right away, Masane and Rihoko personalities are cemented almost instantly; Masane is the adult who just wants to protect her daughter and Rihoko is way too mature for her age but still irrepressibly cute. The set up here works instantly, the two characters are believable right away and the series sells the emotional arc easily.

Witchblade is primarily an action series and the action itself isn’t bad. The fight sequences usually move at a very brisk pace with all the usual high flying jumps and large explosions that fans would expect. There are little things that are hard to ignore though. The armor for the Witchblade is exactly what you would expect and from what I have seen of the comic artwork, it matches very closely to the original. Made up mostly of an unidentified type of metal that covers mostly just naughty bits it’s hard to tell if the armor actually covers any of her ass though audiences will get about a half dozen chances to study that for themselves… up close.

Of course then there’s the pierced tongue. This may qualify as nitpicking but it makes you wonder when during the transformation sequence does the Witchblade insert the tongue bar. And did the Witchblade always have a pierced tongue or did it come up with that on its own sometime within the last couple of centuries on its own?

The exposition and movement of the story is another area where the series drops the ball on at least one major occasion. Episode three in particular features a scene in which the Douji Group is asking Masane to work for them. The scene reeks of cliché almost instantly as Masane and the director literally climb onto a platform which carries them higher until they are standing on a platform facing a horizon (she’s rising to the challenge of a new horizon, get it? Yeah, even Stevie Wonder saw that one coming). What kills me about this scene however is that the staff spends so much time building up this scene complete with very dramatic music and then they cut away before she even gives her answer and moves on? Now the buildup means nothing!

Music

Matching the hard rock look of the warrior heroine, the music in this series has nice hard edge to it. The opening theme, XTC by Psychic Lover (by the way, GREAT name for a band!), is a very solid opening. The hard guitar riffs really pumps the audience up to see something thrilling and sets a great mood for the series to begin. On the other side of each episode, the ending theme is a soft ballad titled ‘Ashita no Te (あしたの手)’ sung by Mamko Noto. The ballad is a nice fit for the series but failed to stand out as particularly memorable and interesting.

The background music rarely stood out as particularly memorable unless the scene really did something interesting (either good or bad). The earlier mentioned scene has a particularly strong score but comes across as a waste once the scene is finished. Rihoko gets the softest themes of these first four episodes and music fans will want to pay closer attention to the music when she is on screen.

Dub vs. Sub

The opening introduction to this series is one of the most night and day differences audiences will hear in a very long time. In the original Japanese, the intro dialogue is practically whispered giving the audience a chance to sympathize with the poor heroine who has to shoulder this burden. In the dub cast, the introduction dialogue is delivered with a deep voice and intensity is the overriding emotion. The tone is very dire and serious throughout every single word. The difference between these two is monumental and can completely alter the way someone sees the series.

Viewing this series in both language tracks, Witchblade manages to get strong performances out both casts. Akemi Kanda and Carrie Savage both do excellent jobs with the headstrong and mature Rihoko creating a strong character to support Masane from the start. The always pleasant to listen to Mamiko Noto turns in a very different performance as Masane. With the character having two very different sides, the role is essentially two characters and Noto turns a performance that is so unlike many things that I have heard from her in the past and that is always a good thing. On the English side, Jamie Marche seems equally up to the task. The difference between the Witchblade and Masane is a complete transformation and very well done.

Extras

In the first extra, Marc Silvestri will take the audience on a tour of Top Cow. The tour takes about fourteen minutes and mostly just covers Silvestri pointing out all the different releases and merchandise of Witchblade. For fans who love that sort of thing though (such as myself), there is a hidden Easter egg on this disc. From the extras menu, hit left when the cursor is on the Top Cow tour option. Hit enter when the W is highlighted and you’ll see a special feature showing eight minutes worth of outtakes from the tour. A couple of the outtakes are funny such as the exit sign and the cow tie but for the most part fans will be able to tell why these were cut out.

In the second extra, Mamiko Noto sits down for an interview about her character. In the nine minute interview, Noto will talk about the series, her character, initial impressions, playing the Witchblade as opposed to Masane and recording the ending theme. Noto comes across very well in this interview and shares some interesting stories about recording the first couple of episodes.

Overall

These first four episodes set up a solid story. The little things that I pointed out are things that I can see myself getting over easily provided that little tweaks are made to the storytelling along the way. This is a decent way to start the series but it’s certainly nothing stellar. Fans of the comic will want to check this one but those not familiar should enter with caution.

Final Grade: B-

Ending on the same high note it started on, Hell Girl’s finale leaves audiences satisfied and wanting more.

The Story

In the final four episodes of Hell Girl’s first season, the stories will all start to come together. Tsugumi will have her thoughts and notions challenged right away when Ai has to ferry a nurse that everyone loves to Hell. Faced with this new reality and Ai herself, Tsugumi and Hajime are led to a small village.

While they are there all of the truths will come out. Ai’s past will be revealed, what her connection to Hajime and Tsugumi are and Tsugumi will be put to the ultimate test as Ai seeks to consign her final grievance to hell.

Good and the Bad

Besides the overall story arcs, these final four episodes mark the first time that Hell Girl has attempted to sustain an actual story arc. The opening to the arc also marks for the series revealing just how twisted the staff can be. The opening story with the nurse that everyone loves moves in fantastically twisted layers. This episode also provides an incredibly real way for Tsugumi’s eyes to be opened. The twist in this episode will really catch the audience off guard and leave them with an uncomfortable feeling as Tsugumi is left searching for answers.

Tying the other stories together in the final three episodes, the staff does a great job of finding just about every loose end and bringing them logically together. While there is always the fear that a series that has been this consistent will drop it in the end, the staff really ties it off well here. The staff for this series has always been very meticulous about making sure that all of the stories that interweaved made sense. The final end game here really shows the audience how far back some of these events were first being planted.

The finale to the series is really satisfying for the audience. All of the characters will come out of this story changed in one way or another. The changes will be real and tangible from the moment they appear on the screen and the emotional impact is intense. To listen to Tsugumi’s speech near the end of the series and not feel the power delivered by the dialogue is a difficult thing to do indeed. The anguish that these characters are going through as they deal with the darkest parts of their lives is delivered with such force that it’s impossible to ignore.

The animation in these final episodes looked absolutely gorgeous. The colors were bright and crisp. The only small thing that stuck out while viewing is how Ai has a much more natural skin color. In all her previous lightings and scenes, her skin has been much paler. It was an odd change to see but not really a negative to the series.

The pacing throughout the story arc remains consistently fast the entire way. The four episodes fly by and each episode flows seamlessly into each other. This keeps the story moving fluidly throughout. Rarely was there a gap in the story movement. It seemed as though every second was written so precisely to keep something happening at all times.

Music

The music in the final episode of this series is some of the best heard from the series. The string and piano music that plays as Tsugumi is alone in her apartment, face to face to Ai is riveting. Without that music, this scene would have been very difficult to pull your eyes away from. With this music playing, I couldn’t take my eyes away from the screen.

Dub vs. Sub

Both vocal casts had their work cut out for them in these episodes. The emotional range that Brina Palencia and Mamiko Noto as Ai have to go through is very sharp. The same goes for Luci Christian and Nana Mizuki as Tsugumi. Both casts deliver sharp performances that pull their audiences in. Nana Mizuki delivering Tsugumi’s speech at the end is voice acting gold.

Extras

For this final volume, the extra included besides the clean animations is titled ‘Office Kitchenette of Hell’. In this eleven minute extra, director Takahiro Oomori, series organizer Kenichi Kanemaki, producer Ai Abe and Character Designer Mariko Oka will talk about the series. As you may have guessed already by the title, they have decided to film this eleven minute ‘casual chat’ as I suppose it is supposed to look like in the production office’s kitchenette. Though I’m sure it’s a very evil kitchenette. Points for innovation I suppose though perhaps someone can explain to me what’s wrong with just doing a round table discussion?

The interview itself is interesting if you’re the type who likes to know about the inside scoop on things. The staff will reveal some interesting tidbits about who didn’t want to be on the series initially and who didn’t even realize they were directing the entire series.

Overall

This is how a series should be produced. From start to finish, Hell Girl has focused on telling a solid story. With compelling characters to push along a mesmerizing story, the finale delivers a great ending that wraps up the story. No loose ends or plot hooks are left dangling to compel audience members to watch the second season. Instead I’m left wanting to watch second season because I want to watch it, not because I am left feeling like I have to. This is easily going to end up on my top ten list this year.

Final Grade: A

Hajime and Tsugumi will continue to debate the issue of Hell Girl back and forth on this chilling installment.

The Story

In these four episodes, Hajime and Tsugumi will continue to encounter Hell Girl via Tsugumi’s visions. In episode nineteen, it is a woman named Inori who is being tortured by her future mother in law who wants her to be still and soulless like a doll. Before episode twenty which has Ai facing off against a psychic medium named Gilles de L’Enfer on television. After exposing a fraud on television, Gilles uses the man as bait to lure in Ai for a showdown.

The battle of wills between Tsugumi and Hajime reach a boiling point in episode twenty one when the one who seeks vengeance is Yuko, the daughter of Hajime’s old colleague. Her life in ruins, Yuko seeks vengeance against the one who caused the death of her father. Tsugumi argues that her friend deserves vengeance for what had been done to her leading to a clash.

In the final episode of the volume, while Ai is taking care of a woman who sees men as nothing but cash, it is the anniversary of Hajime’s ex wife and Tsugumi’s mother. In many flashbacks, the audience will finally learn the troubled family history of Hajime and Tsugumi including what caused the death.

Good and the Bad

In these four episodes, Hell Girl continues with the same format that it has established as its trademark since the beginning. Each episode on this volume will focus on one single individual who has a right to seek vengeance while Hajime and his daughter attempt to stop them. Already near the end of the first season, it has long since passed the time for Hell Girl to attempt to introduce a new kind of storytelling format and so sticking with what they know works.

A big reason why it works though is because while the format of the story telling has remained the same, the substance within each one is continually changing as well. In this volume, the staff behind this series decided to keep things interesting for the audience. Some episodes will end with an ironic twist and one has an open ending that will leave the audience guessing.

The only place where these episodes really deviate from this is in the flashback episode. While finding out the whole torrid history behind Hajime and his family, having the flashback episode so late within the season feels almost weird. While normally one might just assume that the series placed it in there to be filler but the impact of the flashbacks are quite incredible. The moving nature of the story and the present day reactions from Tsugumi and Hajime also make the audience believe that there is a reason for the staff to be bringing up this story at this moment. If there wasn’t a reason to watch the final volume before, there is now.

Beyond the primary story, the individual stories about the seekers of vengeance were presented very well in these episodes. Episode nineteen in particular hits one of the high notes in how creepy this series can really be. I rarely get startled by horror anime but even I jumped a little during some of Ai’s later scenes in this episode. Later in the volume Yuko will have a scene in episode twenty that again reaches new heights in how much tension Hell Girl is capable of creating in its audience members. To watch Yuko debate back and forth in her head over if she should pull the string or not is mesmerizing.

The episode where this series seems to take the biggest bump is with episode twenty with Ai and Gilles facing off. The buildup throughout this episode is very well written. Despite never making an appearance in the city before, the staff do a remarkable job of building him up throughout the entire episode as a credible threat to Ai. His arrogance is expertly written and his examples really sell him to the audience. The payoff is where Hell Girl takes a dive however.

Without revealing how the episode actually ends, suffice to say it is extremely disappointing. With the episode building up the encounter so heavily, the entire thing will come across as over much too quickly and easily. There are many things that happen in this episode to keep it relevant but overall it’s a letdown.

Getting ready for the final four episodes of the season, Hell Girl is already moving in new directions to form its final push. The encounter with Gilles will leave Ai changed in a way. Hajime and Tsugumi are also headed for more confusion and debate over the theme of revenge.

None of this would even be possible to begin with however if it weren’t for the strong characters that this series has created. Ai and her crew have been wonderful pillars to balance this series on. When the series needed a protagionist with a strong willed sidekick, Hajime and Tsugumi stepped up and filled the roles perfectly.

Using a child as a sidekick doesn’t always work. If the character is written too much like a kid they’ll never be credible, too serious and it’s the same thing. Tsugumi isn’t written as incredibly smart though. She’s a normal kid in that regard but with her history and her maturity, she is able to be strong willed and opinionated while remaining credible. Since she was introduced into the series, audiences have been wondering where her story with Ai will end.

Music

The music in this series remains as one of the strongest selling points this series has. Episode twenty one is filled with remarkable string compositions that add to the tension of the series. When Yuko is in the attic of her home remembering her father, the sad string melody that plays with it is tragically fitting. Later in the episode when Yuko has the straw doll in front of her and she is making her decision, the driving music adds to an already chilling atmosphere.

Dub vs. Sub

One of the reasons why episode twenty fails is due to some poor dialogue writing. In one particular scene, Gilles is alone and utters a curse to Ai, “By the time I’m done with you you’ll be nothing but a Wikipedia footnote.” The line comes across as a terribly trendy thing to say and doesn’t even begin to sound threatening. This ruined a lot of credibility with Gilles that the dub cast had to earn back quickly.

Other than that blip on the radar though, both casts do a remarkably good job. Luci Christian as Tsugumi and John Burgmeier as Hajime continue to steal the show with their debates and monologues. While Mamiko Noto continues to a brilliant job with Ai in the Japanese cast.

Extras

Besides clean animations, the other extra included on this volume is labeled ‘Top Secret Hell Conference’. Like the previous volume, this feature has Mamiko Noto watching a ‘top secret’ meeting between heads of the series such as the producer, director, script writer talking about season two. The feature comes in at about eleven minutes and will drop tons of hints about what audiences can expect from the second season.

The topics included within this meeting involve the Three Straws and their future roles, Hell Girl’s past and future and much more. If you are interested in hearing more about the second season, this will be a great feature for you to watch as there is tons of information to learn. If you don’t want to know anything about what happens in season two you might want to skip this extra. The information given really isn’t fleshed out enough to be spoilers at least.

Overall

A gem of the genre, Hell Girl has done a remarkable job thus far. Besides a short stumble with the introduction of the character Gilles, this series has continued to tell an incredibly complex and compelling story. Pushed forward by a cast of believable characters and leaving the audience asking questions, the ending of this series is easily one of my most anticipated. Very highly recommended.

Final Grade: A-

The Story

In the volume that will complete the first half of the series and start in on the second, the focus remains firmly on Ai and the reporter who is tracking her down. In the first episode, Shibata is contacted by his former boss to track down a politician and create some dirt on him so that the magazine can print a scandalous report that will blow the whistle on his illegal activities. While there though he also meets a man named Kataoka whose family was torn apart by the same magazines dirty journalism and finds out that he has contacted Ai to get his revenge.

The second episode of the volume mostly takes the series back to its original formula and introduces a girl named Sawai who has become socially withdrawn, skipping school every day. The only person she speaks to is an online friend that she communicates with daily. Her teacher comes to visit everyday though and tries to convince her to come back to school so Sawai seeks out Ai to get revenge against him so that he’ll leave her alone.

The third episode ends the first half of the series focusing completely on Shibata. While Ai’s companions continue to worry about what to do with Shibata, Tsugumi has another vision. Shibata pieces together the clues and learns even more about Ai by visiting a man who used Hell Link in the 1950’s to get revenge on his best friend.

In the final episode of the volume and first episode of the second half, Shibata is led to a small town by his daughter’s visions once again. This time the one who wants revenge is a girl named Saki Kirino against the mayor of the town. The last night that she saw her father, he was carrying incriminating photos of the mayor out with him to a meeting. After he is later found dead in the park via suicide, Saki becomes convinced that he was murdered. As with another story on this volume though, this one isn’t as black and white as it seems.

Good and the Bad

With the four episodes on this volume, ‘Hell Girl’ completes its shift from its original form of storytelling for the new that focuses on Shibata and his quest for more information on how to stop Ai. The shift in storytelling has been a very subtle shift that gradually moved the audience towards the new characters but somehow still manages to feel halted. While the series has done a great job so far of introducing Shibata into the series and making his story an intricate aspect of the overall story, the disappearance of Ai’s torture scenes is done so suddenly audiences won’t be able to help but to notice.

The trade off for this however is one that audience members really can’t complain about as now the series has become so much more psychological. The initial episodes of the series really did a great job of getting the audience’s attention because the torture that Ai put the victims through was all quite intense. In these episodes however, the series has begun to challenge the audience in new ways by presenting victims whose crimes may or may not be truly evil and deserving of punishment.

Even the stories themselves on this volume are all quite complicated in their own way with their own unique twists. Episode 12, for example, is very well presented due to the antagionist having such unique intentions behind his actions. Follow this up with an ironic twist and you have an audience that fans of this series will not see coming complete with emotional impact.

To cite another prime example of the shift that this series is taking, episode 13 was put together in a pretty risky measure. Closing out the first half of the series with an episode that almost entirely removes the title character from the episode will always carry a huge chance at backfiring and turning off the audience. Shibata comes across as such a strong supporting character though that the story involving him will keep the audience entranced as he pieces together the clues.

The staff behind this volume however also does a great job with some of the smaller details. In the middle of episode 13, while Fukumoto tells his story, the animation takes on a grainy black and white appearance while Ai is seen in bright luminescent color. The contrast between the two animation styles together is a brilliantly pieced together scene that takes the audience into the past while also reminding them of Ai being beyond time in her role as the ‘Hell Girl’.

Music

While there weren’t many scenes that contained particularly strong music, there were a couple of scenes that managed to stand out. The soft traditional music playing during the first few scenes of episode 14 is wonderful and paints a fantastic soft mood. The mood of the scene is highlighted even more in the early scene where Tsugumi is walking home from school.

The audio quality on this volume remained strong throughout. Both the dub and sub tracks came through clearly on my speakers with no noticeable distortion or drop outs.

Dub vs. Sub

Neither language track carried any issues for me on this volume. While the Japanese actors, Mamiko Noto in particular as Ai, do a wonderful job of bringing out the scarier aspects of the dialogue I also found that the English cast did an equally wonderful job of bringing out the drama of the series. Perhaps this is just an odd idiosyncrasy that I’m picking up the dialogue or stories never came across as creepy as when I listened to them in the Japanese track.

In terms of standout performances however, three actors in the dub cast continue to come across the strongest: Brina Palencia as Ai, John Burgmeier as Shibata and Luci Christian as Tsugumi.

Extras

Besides clean opening animation, the other extra included with this volume is labeled as ‘Emergency Round-Table Talk’. In this feature; Mamiko Noto (Ai), Masaya Matsukaze (Ichimokuren), Takako Honda (Hone Onna) and Takayuki Sugou (Wanyuudou) sit down with the host Masumi Takanushi in the Aniplex conference room. In the twelve minute feature, the actors discuss a couple aspects of this series that they enjoyed and what they look forward to learning more about in the second season.

The interview itself comes across well and I was particularly grateful that the series didn’t include any major spoilers despite being recorded after the first season had ended. Another nice treat about this extra is that the actors were given notes about the episodes and so when they give opinions about episodes, we can actually see them going through the notes to make sure their information is correct while they’re giving their answers. It’s a very small thing to notice but it really does make the cast come across as being a bit more into the series.

Overall

Even though it’s started to move in very interesting new directions, this series continues to be a highly enjoyable view. With the second half of the first season now underway, I’m finding myself filled with questions about what will be coming down the line. Shibata is coming closer to Ai but will her servants allow him to get any closer? Why does Tsugumi get these visions? Every time I watch this volume, I hit stop and instantly I’m thinking about the future of the series. While it’s not quite the horror series that it was in the beginning, the new story has added some great psychological depth to it that I haven’t seen in far too long. Very recommended.

Final Grade: A-

Alright… you’re confused, tired, angsty, etc… we get it already!

The Story

Adjustments and realizations are being made all around in the first episode. Some of the girls are having more trouble than others at adjusting to living on the Messis. Alty is having trouble coping with the blood on her hands after the battle and her older sister Kaim is upset about being paired with her sister instead of Paraietta causing issues with their flying. It’s not until a hidden Shoukoku air base is discovered that the source of tension between the two sisters is truly revealed though.

Feelings between Aer and Neviril are also starting to form but after a major verbal slip by Aer, those feelings may be grounded before they even get a chance. Still, the two are forced together again to do a search for the hidden air base while Dominura finally decides that the mysteries of the Simoun must be discovered once and for all before it’s too late and their country is lost to the war. What she discovers though may stay with her for a very long time though as Massis is attacked by the Shoukoku and only four sibyllae to fight them off using the same Emerald Ri Majon that has killed many sibyllae in the past, including Neviril’s former pair.

Good and the Bad

With five episodes, the story spends the first three episodes almost entirely away from the primary war that is being waged and the roles that the sibyllae are playing within it. Aboard the Messis, the series decides to spend most of this time on developing relationships between the various sibyllae.

So many new relationships are being developed between characters that it’s almost hard to keep track of it all. What bothers me the most about this though is that besides Aer and Neviril, none of the characters have been overly developed thus far and that makes it really hard to get into the drama that these new relationships are creating. This creates very slow viewing and while the pacing of the first two episodes manages to get by with little discomfort on the audience’s end, the third episode is where things take a drastic nosedive.

The third episode absolutely kills the pacing of the volume and I actually found myself having to take multiple breaks throughout the episode in order to refresh my mind and keep myself focused on the series. The primary reason for this is actually because the staff uses this episode as a segue of sorts. While part of the episode is spent on developing the character relationships some more, some of the episode is also used to ease the audience back into the primary story with Dominura taking steps to find out the truth behind the Simouns. The issue here is that besides those two events taking place, there is a lot of dead space that is very poorly filled leaving a huge vacuum that the audience is certainly going to notice.

Music

The soft Parisian accordion theme continues to be played at the oddest moments such as when the drama is climbing and yet seconds later during a softer scene, such as when Aer and Neviril are talking on the flight deck, a beautiful and well placed piano theme plays and highlights the mood perfectly. This is an odd inconsistency that has plagued this series since the beginning and one can only hope that now that the series has reached the halfway point, the staff will finally figure out the musical direction that they are seeking to keep the drama and tension at its proper levels.

Dub vs. Sub

The cast in this volume does their very best to keep the audience interested in the story but with so many scenes that struck me as mostly time filler, there is little they can do. The pivotal scenes however were well done as with previous episodes and the final scene with Yukana (Dominura) and Mamiko Noto (Rimone) came across really well.

Extras

There are two extras included on this volume for fans to enjoy. The first is a staff commentary piece which is labeled as part three. In the 15 minute clip, the director and character designer sit down to view the dreaded third episode of the volume to give their thoughts and insights about the series and characters. The commentary is interesting to listen to for no other reason than its fun to listen to the two of them talk about their favorite characters and joke around with each other.

The second is a cast interview. In this seven minute feature (which once again takes on a very over the top and fun presentation almost exactly like what we saw on the previous volume), Mamiko Noto (Rimone) and Yukana (Dominura) get to talk about their characters, get quizzed on general Simoun knowledge and more. While you won’t gain a whole lot of insight from this feature about the series, I still found it to be a really fun piece to watch.

Overall

Moving away from the story in order to develop new relationships between the characters was a bold move that does not pay off this time. Having spent so little time developing the supporting cast in earlier episodes, these episodes play out as drawn out and boring and by the time they get back to the primary story, it’s hard to really care. Being that we’re only at the halfway point though and this volume ends on a note that I certainly didn’t see coming, I’m willing to bet that this series will make a nice comeback and find a way to regain its momentum for the second half. This one though we’ll chalk up as a tragic misstep.

Final Grade: C-