Short Synopsis: Lief, Barda, Marasu and Jasmine head to to the city of Raradin, after which they reach the Nageki Lake, in order to collect the second gem.
Good: I still love how different this anime is from your usual adventure-anime; great cg.
Bad: Predictably, Lief is the only moderately annoying character.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

Quite an interesting episode. In only 7 episodes, two gems will be collected. I’m looking forward to the fight next episode, as I’m interested to see how such a huge sea-monster can be defeated. Another thing I really liked is how Lief and the others have learned from the previous episode. During this episode, they’re extremely careful not to run into unnecessary danger. The Rara-tribe also shows quite an ingenious method to remain hidden from the Gray Guards. For also one of the first times ever, a wound actually remains for more than one episode, and it actually has to be healed. Quite interesting when you compare it with other anime, in which characters magically heal all of their wounds within ten seconds.

Sure, it may have cheesy elements, but the fact does remain that a lot of thought was put into the storyline. The only bad part is probably Lief. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great character, but the fact does remain that he’s a bit annoying. Still, things could have been a lot worse. At least he’s not incredibly stupid, and he actually manages to use his head.

Master of Epic is really recommended for all the MMORPG-fans out there. Basically, it’s just one huge parody of nearly all aspects of a MMORPG. Things like fighting monsters, shops, reviving, clothes, haircuts, quests, dungeons, cooking, weapons and item-collecting are just a small collection of all these things it pokes fun at. Heck, most of the characters have some sort of recycled clone with different hair-colour of themselves running around, in true MMORPG-fashion. Oh, and let’s not forget the sentai-team parodies.

Master of Epic definitely is a unique anime. If you’re looking for a continuous story, then you should stay far away from it, as every episode is a collection of the most random sketches. No overall story is present, even the final episodes don’t introduce some kind of dramatic element for the show to close on. The best you’ll get in terms of a storyline has to be the Waragecha, who return in nearly every episode and do something random. Apart from that, other sketches feature former characters returning, but an overall storyline is nowhere to be found.

I’m probably the only one who thinks so, but I found these sketches, with a few exceptions, very funny. They either made an aspect of MMORPGs look ridiculous, or they were just plain random. Certain sketches also were just plain wrong (imagine a couple of tough guys doing silly dances, or a male orc-like creature dressing like a female), while others were too cute at times. My personal favourites were the sketches which featured Bukotsu and Chuu. The first episode already starts them off with Chuu eating a live bat.

In terms of animation… well, Master of Epic was produced by Gonzo. With Gonzo-anime, the animation either is incredibly good, or incredibly bad, and this is the same with Master of Epic. Some episodes have some great animation, while others look horrible. (Small note: especially the earlier episodes feature bad animation, while the latter showcase the better animation, unlike most other anime which feature beautiful animation for their first few episodes, only for the rest of the episodes to look horrible). The soundtrack features a selection of J-pop. It’s not really my taste, but it does fit the mood of the anime well enough.

Aired in the winter-season, Master of Epic quickly became the black sheep. I’ve seen very few people who actually gave it a chance. While I did see this coming, (after all, it’s based on a MMORPG, and it has all looks of a cheesy moe-show) the fact does remain that this is another one of those neglected anime which doesn’t deserve it. The MMORPG- and moe-elements are perfectly parodied throughout the series, and a good balance is kept between male and female fanservice. Another interesting note is that this is one of the very few anime without a main character. The closest person you could call a main character (the orange-haired girl who shows up in the centre of all the promo-art and the OP) never really has a major role in any of the sketches. Heck, she appears in probably the most sketches of all character, but her only role is that of a random passer-by. She’s got like 3 seconds of airtime at most, before she disappears again.

Short Synopsis: The end of Master of Epic. The last bit of budget is spent on a rather strange song, while the Waragecha-arc literally ends with a bang.
Good: In terms of an ending, it was a great one…
Bad: …but I want more!!!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

Bummer, the moment is finally there to say goodbye to this awesome anime. The worst thing about Master of Epic is probably that it left me wanting so much more, as I’m really craving to get more of the different characters. I’m really rooting for a second season for this, which focuses more on the characters themselves, but that’s probably a futile hope.

Anyway, sketch 1: the last Bukotsu and Chuu-sketch. They comment on that strange dance, performed by Bukotsu in the previous episode. This is the first time Chuu made herself look like an idiot. XD

Sketch 2: the party with the noob again. Their hair seems to have grown back, and they’re now out to tackle a huge sea-monster. Miraculously, the Elmony manages to defeat it.

Sketch 3: the fishing scene returns Chuu alone when she fishes up a rather strange bloke with a big sword. XD

Sketch 4: Angelica and her quirks again. This time, she attempts cooking. Obviously, she overdoes it yet again, and the boy she loves runs away from her in the end, having gained “a few” pounds. On a side-note: this is the first time we actually see someone log-out. I kept wondering when that would come.

Sketch 5: Chuu doesn’t have it easy, when she gets featured in another fishing-scene. You would expect the closing sketch of Chuu to feature a huge monster, but instead she’s being tortured by a strange kappa-like creature who attacks her with leaches.

Sketch 6: The Radio-show. The hosts talk about pets this time, and one sells another strong story about how pets can cook for you… right. XD

Sketch 7 is probably the weirdest one in Master of Epic yet. We see two tough fighters (Bukotsu and the grown-up version of Philippe) fighting monsters when suddenly people dressed up like cute and cuddly animals perform a cheesy song and dance in front of them. And the two of them actually participate. XDXDXD One shot of the two of them was particularly wrong, and I loved the expression of their faces when the song ended. XD

Sketch 8: the final Waragecha scene. I wondered how the creators would end the Waragecha-arc, but it turned out quite good. First the five get nostalgic a bit due to boredom, after which the guys from the first few episodes return, armed to kill them. Then another team of Waragecha appears (and YES the main character is among them!!! It’s probably the first time she actually played a role in a sketch, apart from bein an NPC XD). I also loved the Bukotsu-clone dressed in the Waragecha-purple outfit, and what was up with Warage-Black’s expression? XD And of course. How better to end the Waragecha-arc than with a BIG bang? :)

Sketch 9 recycles Sketch 7, where the same fluffy animals appear in front of an Elmony with his bat. A bit cheap, but still hilarious. XD

Sketch 10: the end of Master of Epic, with the announcers announcing that the show has ended. It’s interesting. Usually an ending is very hard to do, as it has to close off a big story in just one episode. But Master of Epic doesn’t have this problem, and it’s perfect to just end the show with a little announcement in the end. Of course, I’m hungry for MORE, but I’m really glad to see that this is like the only anime which didn’t reduce to melodramatic crap in the end, although that would actually have been interesting with this anime. ^^;

Also, the closing picture of Chuu smiling was just perfect to really end this one.

Sayonara Master of Epic, things have been really fun. :)

Every season comes with its surprises. The summer-season last year had Night Head Genesis and Chevalier, the fall-season had Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto and Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club, and winter-season had Manabi Straight. I normally tend to dislike school-based slice-of-life series, and okay, the series wasn’t awesome, perfect, stunning or extremely heart-warming. But I still have to say that I had a good time watching this series.

The thing that immediately strikes about this anime is its energy. Seldomly I’ve encountered an anime which almost sparkles with its energetic characters. The unique art style, the great animation and the perfectly fitting soundtrack turned this into one of the few slice-of-life series which actually caught my interest.

Another strong point of this anime is how it quite easily breaks a lot of stereotypes that have been plaguing other school-based anime oh so often. The most striking is the student-council president: Manabi, the main character of this anime. Up till now, a student-council president either was an arrogant but rather stupid bitch who likes to abuse his/her students or a perfect human (you know, the rich, smart, talented, high-classed and uberpopular one). Manabi Straight finally puts a human being in the seat of the student-council president, someone who loves her school, and wants to keep it alive.

Not only Manabi, but also the four other main characters felt very refreshing. Usually, in a show of this nature, the story usually revolves around two characters, while you can replace the other main ones with paper bags and still not notice any difference in the story. Manabi Straight makes sure that each of the five heroines has a significant role in the story. Sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious. Also, even though Manabi is the main character, and the central person in the story, she doesn’t necessarily get more screen-time than the others. Mikan and Mei get just as much airtime as Manabi, while the other two also are quite present.

Okay, so the anime is not going to go down as the “best anime ever” anytime soon. At times, the drama was a bit too forced, and the ending was a bit cheap. And okay, for a show which is supposed to take place in 2035, the only thing we got to see to illustrate this were strange-looking gadgets. I still enjoyed the unique parts in this one. I liked the quirky humour which showed up once in a while a lot. The animation was excellent and full of creativity, I hope it’ll set a standard for future anime to work towards. It’s a show, perfect for a light watch, but don’t expect anything amazing.

Short Synopsis: Finally, after the Fantine- and Jean-episodes, we’ve got ourselves another Cosette-episode. And what’s more, Jean meets Cosette for the first time.
Good: Cosette was SO sad.
Bad: Jean running into Cosette was a bit too coincidental.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10

Boy, this episode definitely showed that Cosette is the star of this show. The past few episodes have been dedicated mostly to Jean. They were very interesting, but this episode definitely stole my heart when the anime starts focusing on Cosette again. The awesomeness begins when Gavroche is taken away. It’s probably to some labour-school-kind of thing. In any case, Cosette won’t see him again, and she sends Shushu after him, in order to look after him. This means that with the priest also gone, Cosette is all alone now. When I saw the episode-title, I never knew that it would go this far.

Cosette was so sad afterwards. Only now it becomes clear how heavily she relied on Gavroche, when she has to get a bucket of water in the middle of the evening, due to the fact that the original water-supplies for the day mysteriously vanished (courtesy of Eponine). What normally was a routine-task really becomes too much for her at that point. It’s there where Jean coincidentally runs into her. I forgive the lack of reason for this, as it’s an interesting twist. After all, right now the Thenariers won’t be able to fool him anymore about Azele being Cosette. Still, next episode is promising to be a beauty, as not only is Jean going to try and retrieve Cosette from the Thenardiers, she’ll receive probably one of the worst punishments she’s ever had. Definitely looking forward to it.

This episode also raised an interesting issue. Christmas in such clear weather? This means that we’re somewhere in southern France. I never really thought about things like that. Javert also was interesting this episode. This really shows that he’s convinced that Jean is evil, even though he knows about the things he did for the city.

Short Synopsis: The big climax: Cendrion is defeated.
Good: Considering the show’s genre, the ending could have been a lot worse; good to see Souta’s mother living.
Bad: Cheesy, but what else did you expect? :P
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10

See? Now that Souta’s away from the main focus, this series is turning a lot more interesting. Due to the nature of this show, this episode obviousy had to follow a number of patterns, but overall, I’m happy with it. The animation was quite nice, and I liked how everyone worked together in the end. The end of the episode also was really nice. Normally, I don’t like characters who seem dead, only to be revived later, but as the death of Souta’s mother was rather disappointing, then I’m glad to see that she lives.

Next episode will be an entire episode dedicated to the aftermath, which should be quite interesting to see. Ringo also should have a bigger role (I still didn’t like how little attention she got in this episode). It’s sad to see this anime go at last. Overall, it’s been awesome. Just too bad of the horrible episodes that were 36 and 37.

Short Synopsis: The case with the devil’s child really gets out of hand now, when people find out that putting the blame on the devil’s child is actually easy.
Good: Hajime and Tsugumi are back. Well, at least Tsugumi.
Bad: No major twists in this episode.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10

This episode was definitely meant to show one of the main themes of Jigoku Shoujo even more: the fact that humans will commit sins when they’re easy and easy to cover up. Before, the thing that prevented people from sending a person to hell wasn’t because of the thought they’d go to hell themselves, but “what will everyone else think of me”. “Hell” is a nice concept, but people nowadays just don’t know how cruel hell can really be, so they pay no attention to that part. Now that the devil’s child has been an excellent person to put the blame on, people suddenly start cursing and cursing each other.

I’m also glad to see that Tsugumi has returned. She didn’t do much yet, but this episode mainly was meant to build up for the finale. Hajime also returns, but only in third person. We never really actually see him. Still, I’m glad they’re back. The only interesting parts in the episode were the ones that involved the Hotaru and Takuma. Sure, seeing random people send each other to hell is nice and all, but you can’t really connect to their characters, can you?

This episode also confirmed something I suspected ever since I saw the very first candle-scene, in the first episode of the first season. Ai doesn’t have to work forever, once she reaches a certain amount of clients, she’ll have accomplished her task. This isn’t mentioned directly, but Wanyuudo’s statement can’t mean anything else. I’m still not sure how Kikuri is going to get herself even more hated by showing the candles to Hotaru, but I’m sure we’ll find out about that next week. Remember, she has still to find out that her brother’s in the hospital (at least, I assume he survived the beating at the end of the episode).

Short Synopsis: A Hijikata-episode. Last episode, we saw him finally realizing that Soutetsu’s up to no good. This gets continued in this episode, while Enomoto masters the power of the Lord’s Head even more.
Good: The past few episodes have been building up quite nicely for the climax of the series…
Bad: …now let’s hope that the next two episodes won’t mess up.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

And there goes Hijikata. Ever since episode 18, Akizuki has been kept away from the main events of this episode, and he’s been in the shadows, walking around a bit while the side-characters finish their stories. This episode, it was Hijikata’s turn. Next episde will be a great one, as it’ll continue Akizuki’s fight versus Kanna. I’m looking forward to the final episodes a lot. I finally realize that Bakumatsu is a good series overall, but masterful in its climaxes.

So far, we’ve got ourselves quite a formidable foe in Enomoto. In this episode it becomes clear that he actually brainwashes people. Judging by the fact that Kakunojou and Kanna have been affected, while Soutetsu and Hijikata have not, then it must mean that he can only do this with weak-hearted people. Hijikata, meanwhile, meets his end in the episode. With the end so near, I’m actually wondering whether the troupe is going to play a major role in the final episode. It would be awesome if they were, but somehow I’m feeling that they will just be spectators.

Still, a formidable foe Enomoto may be, the fact does remain that Akizuki is an excellent swordsman. He already showed that he’s capable of cutting the lord’s head more than anyone else has, and he probably also has some kind of trick up his sleeve to take care of Kakunojou. Soutetsu also is a good swordsman, but his skills will probably never match those of Akizuki’s, which means that the next episode is going to be very exciting. Speaking of Soutetsu, I’m still wondering why he needs Akizuki. Do his and Kakunojou’s sword have to meet under special circumstances or something?

And silly me. For episodes and episodes, I kept wondering what this strange “Hasha no Kubi” was. Some kind of kingdom, or something with a fog? In the end, it appears that it’s been the Lord’s Head all along. Things make much more sense now.

Short Synopsis: Shuurei and Eigetsu get officially appointed to their posts, Eiki reveals the truth behind Chuushou’s death and Enjun’s massacre and Tei Yuushun’s identity is revealed.
Good: Great to see another light-hearted episode.
Bad: While it is nice to see that Sakujun has another chance of living, I do feel cheated somehow.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

This episode reminded me again why the first half of Saiunkoku Monogatari appealed to me so much. It’s a great combination between complex storytelling, compelling characters and at times a bit of quirky dialogue. The Sakujun-arc has been really different from this first half, it’s been way more focused. But that can also be because I watched the first half raw. Watching raw and subbed does make me experience things differently.

Also, Sakujun was removed from the spot where we left him after the previous episode. This can mean two things: either someone found his (dead) body and dragged it away, or he wasn’t dead at all, and just walked away on his own. While I do believe that the first option was the case, the fact that his body wasn’t found does mean that he’s still alive, due to the general rule of anime which says that unless you explicitly see a character DIE, he’ll live. (A notable exception being Shouko from Night Head Genesis)

In the end, it also appears that neither Enjun nor Kokujun has killed someone. Enjun took the blame from someone who admired him enough to kill off everyone in his path, while Kokujun got protected by his father from Chuushou till the end. The real reason Enjun also tried to kidnap Shuurei also gets revealed. In the end, he did it so that the Sa clan would get investigated upon, so that all the bastards in the Sa-clan would be removed. Quite a noble goal.

So, this episode formed the aftermath of the Sakujun-arc. That still leaves us with three more episodes, from which I really wonder which path this series will take. Will the first season end with a huge climax, or will the final episodes of dedicate themselves to a bit more character-development? There’ll probably be some kind of time-leap in one of the future episodes as well, showing how Shuurei got experienced as a governor.

Quote of the day: “Excuse me if I wasn’t lovable.” - Ensei

Nice benchmark. Just a couple of hours ago, om369 posted the 1500th comment on Star Crossed Anime Blog. I missed the arrival of the 1000th one, but 1500 comments also is quite an achievement. When I started this blog, I probably never even imagined getting this amount in only 1,5 years.

Anyway, the people from Sea Slugs take art-requests whenever they hit such a benchmark, but I can’t draw to save my life. Still, it’s a good chance for a little experiment that I’ve always wanted to try out once. Basically, you can post a comment with the name of an upcoming show for the spring-season. The show with the most votes will be blogged by me, no matter what. Because he made the 1500th comment, if om369 posts, his vote counts for three. Be careful, though, because if I don’t like it, I reserve the right to bash the hell out of that anime.

I have no idea whether this will work out, but it’s worth to give it a try. In the worst-case scenario, I’ll just drop it in the end. Plus, it’ll be interesting to see what show my readers are looking forward to the most.