Oh boy, it seems that in 400 years, Allah has died and been replaced by either Kami or God.

Still, I like how this series turned the middle-East into the worst battlefield on the planet. It does make sense somehow, although I would have liked to see a bit more development from the regular citizens. Right now, it seems like the country is full of bloodthirsty hounds. This episode makes a very small attempt to show something beyond these stereotypes when Setsuna walks in the middle of a street of Azadistan, but it’s not enough.

I’m also not sure what Sumeragi is thinking, sending Lockon alone towards the battlefield. The guy is a sniper, but he’s horrible against moving and unpredictable targets, as the past episodes have shown us. Isn’t there some kind of plan for when an enemy gets close enough to him? That’s really a major hole in the strategy of the Gundams, and knowing Tieria, I’m really surprised how nobody seems to notice this.

In any case, this was an Azadistan-episode. Both Marina and Setsuna got a lot of screentime. Marina is getting more helpless by the minute, though, and I just can’t help but compare her to Relena from Gundam Wing. Please don’t let her end up as queen of the world in the future episodes and just stick to her own country. I liked Setsuna, surprisingly. He ends up back at the place where he first saw the Gundams, and tries to recreate that scene for the kids who are now fighting… and fails. I like how he doesn’t go completely emo and is able to reflect on his own actions. But yeah, that doesn’t solve the problem that he’ll probably go back to his old tricks as soon as he meets up either Marina or his long-haired acquaintance.

Oh, and Saji is getting more and more friendlier with Louise’s mother. What the heck this has to do with the main storyline is beyond me, though.

When I first started out writing reviews, I reckoned it would be best for shows with a sequel to wait until I got the chance to watch everything of the sequel, before writing the review of the entire series. Then, Red Garden came along. Along with its sequel Dead Girls, which seems to have gone up into smoke. At this point, I honestly doubt whether I can still write an accurate review of that series that ended nine freaking months ago. Hence my decision to just write a review after the end of every series, regardless of whether or not they’ve got a sequel coming somewhere.

Anyway, onto the review. I’m not sure about others, but my favourite type of comedy is the witty one. The kind you see in Blackadder, Monty Python and Stephen Fry for example. That’s also the reason why I’m a large fan of the British humour. In any case, it’s a shame that there aren’t many anime like this, though Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei turned out to be one of them. It’s Akiyuki Shinbo’s new show, and really, it’s probably his best series yet.

Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei has really been one of the smartest comedy-anime I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t take anything for granted, and takes its comedy further than most other anime. It’s one of the few series that actually builds up its jokes. It’s quite formulaic, it starts with one concept, introduces it, and then makes it increasingly more ridiculous. And yet, it works, and the final episode showed no signs that the creators were running out of inspiration.

I’ve also never seen a comedy-anime that addresses so many taboos as this one. There are indeed a lot of stereotypes in this series, but each and every one of them is made to look ridiculous. To make things even better, it also takes the Mick out of the anime-series that try to divert from stereotypes by adding the most obvious personality-trait to said stereotype. The series is also not afraid to keep carrying its jokes further and further. This might lead to repetition in most other shows, but Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei uses this excellently to flesh out its jokes further.

The main character also fits this series perfectly. He’s basically a teacher with an incredibly pessimistic outlook on life, and he’s seen committing numerous suicide-attempts throughout the series. The graphics for this series are also absolutely gorgeous, both the character-designs and the background-art. Like expected from Shinbo, his unique sense of direction also adds an extra spark to this series.

If you’re into comedies, then I see no reason not to recommend this series. The only bad thing I have to say is that it tends to delve into useless fanservice at times. Especially episode five was bad in this, and all it does is distract from the jokes. Apart from that, though, we’ve got ourselves a gem here. The characters are smart and complement each other perfectly. There’s always at least one character that has critique on a certain scene. Now let’s hope that the second season, which should air in less than two weeks, will remain with the same freshness.

As usual, the episode had its good and its bad points, but I don’t care! At the end of the episode, the creators finally showed what I’ve been longing for ever since this series started: Regal and Presea! They should come in action on the next episode. (Because yes, Tales of Symphonia has been extended to eight episodes!).

About the rest of the episode, a few changes have been made. First of all, now that the green light has been given for an extension of the series, the creators suddenly decided to include Yuan. That’s got to be really confusing for the ones who haven’t really played the game, with the guy’s introduction being mercilessly cut from the second episode. Ah well, I’m glad that the creators decided to include him after all, and I like how the creators changed his personality from the game. He’s much more confident here, and he can actually stand his own against Kratos.

And obviously, there’s yet again a lot of emphasis on Collette, but in this episode, it’s not just Lloyd who is worried about her. Genis and Raine also show much more involvement with Collette than in the game. I like that. I’m also surprised to say that Sheena joined the party much later than expected. She never played a role in the tower of salvation at all, and instead saves the group when they’ve been captured by the Renegades. The interesting thing is that unlike in the game, she’s much less compassionate and a lot less easy to read. That does make me wonder what her relationship with Zelos will be…

Overall, I was a bit wary when I found out that Ufo-Table would be producing this series, with their previous works consisting out of Coyote Ragtime Show, Futakoi and Ninnin Ga Shinobuden. Still, I must say that these guys are learning quite quickly. It started this year with Manabi Straight, and now with Tales of Symphonia too. While they still have much to learn, it’s good to know that they’re keen on improving themselves. If this tread continues, we can expect more interesting things from them.

And we’ve reached another two-episode arc that would have easily been put into just one episode. I’m not sure whether I like the new happenings on the Starside-hotel, it’s a bit one-sided, if you ask me. Still, perhaps the conclusion will prove to be more interesting. I’m not sure what exactly it is with this series, but there’s something that rubs me the wrong way. I’m not sure exactly what, though.

Surprisingly, we don’t see Furuhata and Andou back, though the old guy returns. So I was mistaken after the previous episode: he and the manger are completely different. He’s now turned into someone who keeps clinging to Kaiji, whom he knows he can trust because he was saved by him before.

The game this time is completely different from the restricted Rock, Paper and Scissors. This time, the contestants (i.e. Kaiji&co), have to engage in an incredibly reckless stunt in front of a number of drunken bastards who are betting on them, fighting for their lives. Basically, there’s a 30-meter long bar that needs to be walked across. If you’re the first to reach the other end, you get 20 million. For every three people, there’s one bar, so if you’re second in line at one bar, the only thing that can make you win is push the one in front of you.

Still, I doubt that this arc is over with just this game. Kaiji, the old man (Ishida) and Sahara didn’t get to share the same bar for a reason: they need to survive for the next stage.

It’s strange… usually I can easily write enough for at least paragraphs for an entry, but for my entries for Kaiji I never seem to have any inspiration.

In any case, this episode is an intermezzo: we see Kaiji, as he spends a few months living and working to pay off the huge debt he has now, before he gets recruited for the next arc by Endou. We also see the final major character introduced: the guy we saw in the ED. The guy really fits into this series: he likes to trick and make fun of people, but he is alert and can see through people, just like Kaiji. I liked the beginning of the episode, where Kaiji basically refused to socialize because he’s just not good at it. But one thing… his new manager, was that the same old guy as before? Well, there goes his image of a nice guy.

And so, finally the Espoir-arc is finished. And really, the conclusion was awesome! It really showed the worst ides of human nature: the ease to lie and deceive. I was surprised at the way that Kaiji found his way out of that room, by actually stealing from Okabayashi.

Overall, I think that anyone could have predicted who would survive the games right from the start. While it was awesome to see that probably the only honest guy on the entire ship was saved too, it had it coming. Otherwise he wouldn’t have had so much attention in the beginning-episodes. Predictability isn’t really Kaiji’s strongest point, but fortunately it makes up for this with excellent character-development and screenplay.

If you’re looking for a short action-anime, then Karas is the way to go. Consisting out of six OVA-episodes, the purpose of this series is to deliver lots of action, stunning production-values and an engaging story. And I must say that it did pretty well. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s excellent for a quick watch.

The graphics and music are absolutely stunning. Both the computer-generated 3D-images and especially the traditional drawings are beautiful, rich and detailed. My only complaint is that at times, the two don’t blend in together. The music consists out of lots of violins and cellos, creating an epic atmosphere for this series to work with.

But yeah, the plot is just decent. Thankfully, it’s much more detailed than with a show like Afro Samurai, but it’s still not one of the selling points of this series. The setting is quite original, though the plot itself is just enough to keep the action going without feeling annoying. The final episode also is exactly what you’d imagine: an incredibly blown-up fight between the main protagonist and antagonist. While there are a few interesting twists and turns, the lack of time and the other priorities of this series prevent it from becoming really interesting. More time could have been used to flesh out the story a bit much, but instead the creators decided to show more action.

Luckily, the characters do a bit better. While they aren’t the best or truly original, the creators do manage to develop them and flesh them out. This prevents Karas to become “just another action-flick”. Obviously, the characters aren’t that deep, but they’re deep enough to make you care about them, and they’re the real reason why the action remains enjoyable through the three hours length of this OVA. The only exception to this is the major bad guy, he really was in need of more depth.

One thing that should be noted before watching this is that this isn’t such a good movie to show to your little brother or sister. There are quite a few bloody scenes. Obviously, if you like a quiet pacing, this isn’t an anime for you, but if you’re into action, are easily bored or just a fan of great graphics, then Karas is quite a good recommendation.

There are more than enough anime-series with high-school antics. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about university-antics series. I could be mistaken, but 2007 only featured two of them: Nodame Cantabile, which aired earlier this year, and Moyashimon. Incidentally, both were noitaminA-series. Basically, Moyashimon takes place on an agricultural university. The selling-point is the strange ability of the main character, though: the ability to see bacteria, depicted as cute stuffed-toy-like creatures.

The great thing is that Moyashimon would have been an excellent series, even without the germs. It’s got enough material to remain fresh for eleven episodes, and some of the best jokes of the series don’t involve any germs at all. The major good point for this series is the script: the dialogue has been cleverly written to not only teach a few things about germs, but also showcase some hilarious situations in which the characters end up in. If it wasn’t for Suteki Tantei Labyrinth, I’d label Moyashimon as the most eccentric series of the year, but unlike with Labyrinth, I mean this in a good way.

As this series takes place in college, it also means that the characters are refreshingly different from the high-school-kids, and they’ve all gone out of their puberty. The result is that the series doesn’t seem to care about stereotypes beyond the main character, and all but him are immediately fresh and different from usual. I especially liked the antics of the two upperclassmen that Sawaki, the main character, befriends. There’s a bit too much useless fanservice here and there, but that’s just a very minor problem.

The major problem with this series is that it could have been more. Some scenes drag on a bit too much, and it really feels like the cartoony germs had much more potential than what they showed in the series. The final episodes are also not something to look forward to, as they suddenly introduce a dramatic element that gets nowhere, resolves nothing and has a rather bad conclusion. The scriptwriters of this series are really talented, and I wish they’d have more opportunities to show it.

Still, what they do manage to show here is excellent. Moyashimon is a short, well-scripted and imaginative comedy about campus-life at an agricultural college, with perhaps a few humps and bumps along the way. It’s a shame that there doesn’t seem to be a noitaminA-show scheduled for the Winter-Season, because this timeslot always offers refreshingly different and yet excellent series.