Ah, what an adorable ending. It was a bit cheesy here and there, but overall it reminded me why I originally fell in love with this series. To think that I took two years and four months to fully blog this series. That’s been longer than any other show I’ve blogged, even Saiunkoku Monogatari, Jigoku Shoujo or Higurashi. It’s been a wonderful ride, that’s for sure, and Bee-Train’s debut surely showed a lot of promise in the studio that they were to become.

I decided to not write a review about this series, simply because it’s been too long since I watched the real meat of this series, and my memory is too fuzzy about it. (Plus, I’m rather tired right now, which probably also plays some kind of factor) If I did review it, I bet it would rate high, though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up above 90/100. I do remember how this has been the best RPG-adaptation made, simply because of its wonderfully charming cast of characters, and definitely recommended to any fantasy-fan.

With that said, I’d like to thank Wyrdwad and the other ones who contributed to the fansubbing-process: you ROCK! I also must say that I really enjoyed reading the different episode-notes for each release. They provided interesting insights in the Japanese language and culture. Most times when fansubbers try to insert something personal in their work, it doesn’t really work, and most of the comments end up being in the sense of “yea hot!”, but Wyrdwad’s writing style is really fun to read. When watching a raw series, I now keep chuckling at characters who use “ore-sama” or “Otoko no ROMAAAAN!!!” :P

Now with that said, I’m really curious to the final episodes of the 2003-series. :)

Ah, like expected, things make a lot more sense now that the introduction-episode is over. This really was a Chane-episode; as she really gets a lot of development that built further on her encounter with Vino on top of the flying pussyfoot. Om top of that, Jacuzzi and Nice also get some really appreciated background. Now all that’s left to wonder is what the purpose was between Rachel and Czeslaw’s encounter…

Jacuzzi this time really shows that in Baccano! characters go much further than in regular anime, and it’s not just limited to Ladd Russo and Graham Spector. What other character would scar his face, just because a friend of his got scarred for life due to an accident? What other person would just turn himself in to collect money from a bounty to release another person from a ransom? I think that in his case, he’s able to do these extremely nice things because of his friends, who somehow manage to pull him out of any screwed-up situation he got himself involved in.

Chane is after Czeslaw the second person to undergo a drastic change, when both Jacuzzi and Rail Tracer treat her nicely, something that she only knew from Huey.

I think we’ve also got a first for a Baccano! episode: there was no Isaac nor Miria. They’ve been surprisingly distant from the DVD-only episodes so far, especially considering how they’re the two most central characters in this series. I do hope to see a bit more of their antics in the final DVD-only episode. It should be released on the 28th of May, and according to the title, we should see Carol again. Fair enough, that should provide a nice closure: to end where everything began.

Just a small note before I start: this review contains spoilers for the end of .Hack//Roots. You need to have seen that series anyway in order to understand Trilogy. In any case, .Hack//Roots has been my second-least favourite Bee-Train production (the least favourite being .Hack//Dusk, but that’s a totally different story), and that was a real pity because of all the great ideas it had. The Trilogy-movie at least eliminates one of the problems I had with this series: it provides closure! It answers questions! The movie still has its problems, but it’s a must-watch for everyone who managed to sit through the original series.

Nearly all of the bad points of this series can be traced back to just one simple decision: the decision to not include the final scene of the original series. The scene where Haseo stopped angsting and actually learned his lesson. In Trilogy, Haseo actually continues angsting, even after being defeated by Tri-Edge. The result is an obnoxious amount of forehead-shot and more scream-fests than you can shake a stick at. The character-development that does get included was by no means as memorable as in the original series (about the only thing that went right in .Hack//Roots).

In addition, the music has been down-graded as well. In addition, though, the graphics turned to 3D, which is of course perfect for a setting of an on-line game. The good parts of this series, however, are the times when characters aren’t screaming. There’s a clear line between angst and emo that Trilogy continues to hop back and forwards to, and the moments you want to watch out for is when the characters are on the angst-side of the spectrum.

I have no idea why this movie is called “Trilogy”. I can understand how the combination of .Hack//Roots, .Hack//GU Trilogy and .Hack//GU Returner together form a trilogy (Roots asks the questions, Trilogy answers the questions and Returner provides the aftermath), but I didn’t really recognize three parts in the movie. Trilogy is by no means a great movie, but it is a good one nonetheless, worth of your ninety minutes of attention. Oh, and be sure to watch the parody-modes that come included. They’re hilarious!

And it’s finally over. I’ve decided not to write a review about this series, though. I’ve watched this series the wrong way, and it turned out to be a big disappointment, save for four or five episodes. I feel that I’m way too biased to give an objective view about this series. It already was difficult to give this series a fair rating during my monthly summaries. Kaiji is a series that you need to marathon, in order to pump yourself up with adrenaline. It’s not something you can watch casually. Having said that, if you haven’t seen this episode yet, you might want to close this window, as SPOILERS will follow.

Overall, this episode disappointed, especially considering the enormous build-up that preceded it. This arc was in no way as intense as the E-card arc, simply because the creators refused to show Kaiji’s reaction after his hands got cut off. And to think that the gore was actually one of the best parts of this series. The raw emotions when seeing Kaiji, cutting off his own ear, and my favourite moment of the entire series: seeing Tonegawa punish himself: even though this series mostly bored me, I have to admit that these moments were truly unrivalled. It was a real downer that the screen just blacked out and we saw Kaiji’s hand wrapped in bondages.

What also disappointed me is that we never really got to look in the mind of Hyoudou, but that’s only natural, since the manga went on for much longer. This episode also hinted at a second season (although with Madhouse, you never know; yes, I’m looking at you, Shigurui), though it that ever comes, I don’t think I’ll end up blogging it.

Having said that, I at least like that this episode wrapped up this entire arc well enough. The aftermath wrapped up all of the loose ends of the storyline, and it didn’t really leave a bad taste behind, apart from what I just mentioned. At least we got to know a bit more about Hyoudou when Kaiji figured out how he won. I like how Kaiji himself figured it out, instead of in regular anime, where the opponent just brainlessly tells his opponent all of his plans. The guy is smarter than he looks, and I like that.

Yup, like expected: the entire success of this arc will depend on whether the final episode will deliver or not. Unfortunately, I’ve also been spoiled about it, so it’ll all depend on the execution. What I’m most curious about is the chairman himself. We know Kaiji by now and his fear is nothing new by now. But what I really want to see is the tricks up on the sleeve of this old master. He says that he’s a king and he can draw whatever he wants on a second turn, but it this just a bluff?

My guess is that he very well knew that Kaiji was cheating. I mean, what other idiot would just throw away his fingers? The guy checked out all possibilities, and probably found the second winning lot when he was checking every corner inside the box. He didn’t draw it, and instead mixed it with the other lots in order to make the gamble more “fun”, and make it last longer.

I admit that the choice to blog this series was a wrong one. During the past fall-season, I ended up blogging a lot of “wrong” shows. Shugo Chara, Suteki Tantei Labyrinth and Gundam 00 were also nice series and all, but I didn’t feel like blogging them was really interesting, especially with Shugo Chara. During the past Autumn-season, I really found out that I have the most fun in blogging a series that I can sing praises over and over about. Of course, making fun of bad series is fun as well once in a while, but you don’t want to do this for every episode. This is why the final episodes of Claymore and .Hack//Roots also felt such a chore for me to blog.

It’s the same as with Kaiji, although I don’t mean to say that this series isn’t good. This isn’t a show like Jigoku Shoujo that’s different with each single episode, so that I can have something to say for each single one of them. This is a series that is intended to be marathoned for entire arcs, just to beef you up with adrenaline for some kind of major sporting event or something.

As a continuation to Mahou Shoujotai, Studio 4C brought out a six-part OVA called Arusu the Adventure. There are a few things you should know before watching it: it’s in no way as epic as the original series. Everything about Arusu the Adventure is light-hearted, and if you were put off by the childish moments of the original series, then you certainly won’t like the OVA. Arusu the Adventure has no main storyline, and instead is a string of standalone episodes, all dedicated to either flesh out certain points of Mahou Shoujotai, or showcase some more cultural habits in the world of the witches. Ever wondered where the dragon house came from? Or the background of Grand Master? Well, this OVA provides the answers.

The best parts of this OVA, however, are the stunning visuals. Mahou Shoujotai already looked absolutely gorgeous, but Arusu the Adventure looks even better, and it made perfect use of the experimental nature of the series. Throughout the six episodes, the creators keep changing from one art style to the other, and each and every episode, no matter how strange they may look, turns into a visual feast. The soundtrack also got updated with a few new tracks, and they too fit this series perfectly.

Standalone, Arusu the Adventure isn’t anything special, but it does contribute to my most favourite series ever and for that I’m more than willing to call it a success. The storytelling may be very sloppy at times, but this is a perfect OVA to watch if you want to relax, as opposed to the chaotic nature of Mahou Shoujotai, and it still shines in terms of graphics, music and creativity. I’m really looking forward to find out Studio 4C’s next work. Pleeaase let it be another tv-series!!!

Ah, and so it’s finally ended. With this, after 52 episodes of 10 minutes, or 26 episodes of 20 minutes, whichever way you look at it, Mahou Shoujotai is now really over. This episode was like the others: light-hearted, yet strangely compelling. And finally Alice plays the part of main character again. And is it me, or did this episode feature some brand-new tracks of soundtrack?

I’m going to keep this entry short, because everything I wanted to say about this series has already been said in my entries of the previous five episodes, and I still need to write a spoiler-free review about this one. I do want to say, however, that the graphics for this episode yet again looked awesome.

If you’re looking for a standard anime with a standard storyline, then you should stay well away from Ghost Hound. This is one series that tries to be different, and it’s at the same time after Shion no Ou my favourite series to have aired during the past Autumn Season. It does feature a bunch of fourteen/fifteen year old boys, but this series manages to use them to their full extend.

One of the major themes of Ghost Hound is psychology. You can see that the creators are very knowledgeable about the subject, because this series really delves into the details of this subject. All main characters have run into their own kinds of traumas due to various things that happened in their childhood, and everyone has reacted to this differently. Ghost Hound shows how these people can be cured, and how just a small push in the wrong direction can lead to disaster.

There’s another thing that really sets this series apart from most others: it’s been directed by the director of Serial Experiments Lain, and it shows. Apart from that series, there is no other anime I can think of that puts more focus on its sound effects than Ghost Hound. The result is an continuously tight atmosphere as the events slowly develop.

And yes, this is a slow series, but don’t make the mistake that nothing happens. In fact, every episode builds up for the next one, and it keeps you on your toes, because you’ll never know when a sudden plot-twist might arrive. In this series, it’s not the destination that matters, but the road at which you get there. Because of this, the ending ended up being a tad rushed, but thankfully entertaining enough to keep interesting.

I didn’t have much series to look forward to at the previous Autumn Season, but this one really stood out, and it’s along with Shion no Ou my top-recommendation amongst the shows that aired back then. Don’t worry that it’ll start off slow, it’ll pick up its pace quickly enough and deliver a great storyline, an interesting cast of characters that develops very natural-like and a feast for the senses.

It’s strange. This episode was far from perfect. Like expected after the previous episode, a lot of things indeed had to be crammed in one episode. We still don’t know where Masayuki’s mother went (either that, or it was mentioned somewhere in a previous episode and I didn’t pick it up), and just happily reappeared again at the end of this episode. Makoto’s mother also didn’t show up at all, and this episode yet introduced all kinds of new concepts. Compared to the extremely solid series, this episode wasn’t careful in its building up at all. So why did I like this episode so much?

I think that there are a couple of different endings a series can choose. Endings often used in comedies and light-hearted series are the “life goes on”-ending, the “there is no ending”. There’s also the “aftermath ending”, where nothing exciting happens and instead the series closes off with a quiet episode. Then there are the series who want to end with a bang, and they can usually be divided into three categories.

In the least exciting of the three, the final episode just takes the end of the semi-final episode and wraps up all the threads that were still left hanging from it. Most of the series from the past fall and winter-season belong in this category, and while it’s nice and all, I don’t really see such an ending as anything special. Shion no Ou is one of the few series who actually made such an ending really work, but that series was awesome to begin with.

In the second category, the creators basically solve all of the problems in the semi-final episode, apart from one major thing. Think of it as, the evil emperor’s plans have all been destroyed, and now all that’s left is to defeat the evil emperor himself. These endings are usually very solid ones, take Clannad’s ending, or one of my favourites: Bokura no. These endings, however, also have a tendency to get quite boring if you’re not into the series.

And then the third, which is my personal favourite but also an incredibly double-edged sword: introduce new things in the final episode. And this is exactly where Ghost Hound’s ending belongs. There were only four series for the past season who did this, I think: Mokke, Ghost Hound, Hakaba Kitarou and Wellber no Monogatari. While Wellber’s ending was a string of bad ideas, the other three contained some of my favourite endings of the past season, simply because you really won’t know what to expect. A lot of my favourite endings are also of this type (Ooedo Rocket, The Third, Night Head Genesis, Noein), and now I finally see the resemblances.

But yeah, endings like these can also go horribly wrong, simply because there’s so much that happens in just one episode. Ghost Hound barely avoided this, and thankfully it more than made up for this by resolving more than I thought it would. Hirata gets a very nice closure, and in the end, it didn’t leave a bad taste behind.

Strangely enough, my favourite character in this episode ended up Michio. He was really fun to watch as he tried to use the ghosts of the deceased bioids to get rid of the strange typhoon. The old guy in the woods got a very interesting role as observer, along with a bunch of psychics who were alarmed by Noriko’s actions. And of course Tarou looked awesome in his priestess-outfit.

And really, what was up with that sudden landslide that destroyed the Oogami house? I guess that the spirits must have been pretty angry at Noriko. ^_^;;

The thing about this episode was also that it lets the viewer figure out what happened, and gets away with it pretty well. Either that or I didn’t pay attention during the previous episode in which everything about that typhoon got explained. Makoto suddenly summoned his ghost hound in front of a bunch of goons, at first sight this may have come from nowhere, but I guess that with the typhoon, certain spirits that would have been invisible otherwise appeared for everyone to see.

The same goes for that green-haired guy. I’m still surprised that he featured such little screen time. He was just there, never said anything, stole the completed bioid and threw it in the lake. After that, he’s gone! With no traces left behind. Did that guy work for Noriko as well, or did he have his own plans in the end?

And in the end, Tarou has managed to figure out what happened to his sister’s spirit. Miyako wasn’t the reincarnation of her at all, it indeed seems that the two just looked alike. Instead, she has been inside Tarou all this time. This episode also ended on an interesting note, with a picture being taken, just like what happened with Makoto’s parents.

Before I start with the usual review, I’d like to point out that this is the 250th review I’ve written for my blog. Yay!

In any case, if you’ve watched the original Gunslinger Girl and plan to watch Il Teatrino, there’s one thing that you need to take into account: a lot of changes have been made. The soundtrack has changed, but most importantly the character-designs have been redrawn completely in a totally different style and the animation-budget has suffered a great loss. The bad news: the fight scenes will look fake, and there will be speed-lines. The good news: this is about the only thing that’s wrong with this series.

The change in art style is something you’ll either love or hate with passion. Not considering this though, they do look gorgeous, and even though the animations in the fights looks fake, the animators have tried to make up for it with some awesome fight-choreography. With this, fights are much more than just brainless gunfights, and are much more based on tactics.

In addition, the storyline has developed into something amazing. The most notable thing is that there is NO main character whatsoever. Even though the girls are the centre of this series, do not make the mistake into thinking that they’re the one with the most screen-time. The creators have made sure not to give any character special attention, and because of this, this is one of the very few series where the “good guys” are just as developed and fleshed out as the “bad guys”. And yes, I put the quotations there on purpose, because sometimes it really feels that the girls are the bad guys. Especially Rico can be really scary at times.

Gunslinger Girl is also one of these series that delivers with every single episode. Introductions, climaxes and aftermaths follow each other in a rapid succession, and there’s so much going on in each episode. The cast of characters may be amazing, but it’s the storyline that pushes them forwards. This is one series that knows how to wrap up all of its storylines at the end, and provides a very satisfying climax.

It may be that I just don’t care about the changes that were made, but Gunslinger Girl has turned into one of the best series to air during the past winter-season, along with Porfy’s Long Journey and Hakaba Kitarou. At first sight, the characters may look “moe-ified”, but this series cleverly shows that the girls are much more than just a bunch of cute angels. Really, the adults end up stealing the show in this series much more than they do.