Umineko no Naku Koro ni episode 1 review; a first look at a new series.

One bit of warning, please forgive me if I’ve misspelled any of the characters names, it seems like they’ve thrown more names at me in this first episode than some shows have for an entire series, I’ll correct them as the series goes on, plus I’m on my fourth…fifth..now sixth, Crown and Coke.

 

       This episode begins with a old man (Kinzou) finding out from his doctor that he only has 90 days left to live, and after hearing this he calls out to a woman that he’d give anything just to see her smile again. We then see a young man heading by boat to an island called Rokken, and it’s entirely owned by the Ushiromiya family (his family).

        When the boat docks we see several people disembark and they are, a young man named Battler the narrator, another young man battler’s cousin George, a very young girl and Battler’s cousin Maria and her mother Rosa, a married couple, Battler’s aunt Eva and uncle Hideyoshni, and Battler’s parents Rudolf and Kyrie. The disembarking group is greeted by Battler’s hot cousin Jessica and two house servants.

        A typhoon is heading towards the island and it’ll probably be raining by nightfall, Maria point to a rocky peak, and cousin Jessica says that where the old shrine was located but it was destroyed by in a storm, Maria says it’s sinister. As everyone is walking up to the manor house Battler says that the Ushiromiya family gathers back here once a year to discuss what’s been happening with the family. We also meet three of the house servants, Chiyo an old lady that Battler calls granny, Kanon a very quiet young man, and a middle aged man named Gouda.

      Once they enter the house, Jessica tells them that Kinzou is doing well and that you can’t tell that he only has three months left to live, and Battler meet another servant girl named Shanon (hot maid girl).

       Later, Krauss, Kinzou’s oldest son, calls his father out saying that everyone is now here, Kinzou yells at him to leave him alone. As Battler, Jessica, Maria, George, and Shanon are walking through the house Battler spots a new painting and asks about it, Jessica says that it was just commissioned. Maria says that it’s a painting of the witch Beatrice, and Jessica says that grandfather thinks the witch still lives.

      As the whole group sits down for lunch Battler gives us some family history, in 1923 their wealthy family lost almost all of it’s wealth and family members in a great earthquake, and in less than 20 years grandfather (Kinzou) rebuilt the family’s wealth to even greater levels than before. Then discussion of the family wealth begins to take place with Eva accusing Krauss squandering the money, Krauss wife Natsuhi tries to defend him, but Eva calls her a whore and a rented womb, Krauss makes Natsuhi leave the room.

       While the money discussion is going on, George, Battler, Jessica, and Maria are back by the painting, Battler is looking at a stone inscription and Maria says that’s where the gold is hidden, Jessica says the legend is that 10 tones of family gold is hidden (roughly 300,000,000 USD). Then Battler explains the family legend, grandfather (Kinzou) traded his soul to the witch Beatrice for fame and wealth, and he received 10 tones of gold from her, Battler thinks it’s BS, but Maria says witches do exist.

       Back in the greed room, the other siblings lay a bunch of conditions down on Krauss about how and when father’s money will be divided, basically they tell him that he can have half the gold and money if he coughs up 10 percent now and the rest by the March following dad’s death. Krauss responds by letting them all know the he knows of all their own financial problems, he would like to help them but he doesn’t know where the gold is, so they should work together to solve the Beatrice riddle.

       While the money talk is going on, Jessica, Maria, George, and Battler are at the beach having a picnic, Jessica and Battler laugh about the whole witch story and this worries Maria. She says the witch will be angry so she gives Jessica and Battler each a charm that she says will protect them from the witch and evil magic.

       When the group is heading back to the house Maria notices that a rose she and George marked is missing, Maria gets really upset over this, and her mother Rosa wants Maria to go inside the house but Maria refuses and starts crying. Rosa slaps Maria around for a while but Maria refuses to leave so Rosa tells her to stay outside.

       As the storm begins to rage, Maria is still outside looking for her rose and we see a golden butterfly (?) leaving the rose bed, and we see Kinzou shouting to Beatrice that he’ll give everything back. Later, Akira asks the group where Maria is? Oh shit, everyone realizes that Maria is probably outside in the storm, and they rush out to find her. Rosa is the first to find Maria, she rushes over and hugs her and says she’s sorry about everything, then they notice that Maria has an umbrella, Maria says that the witch Beatrice gave it to her. Well, that’s all for this episode.

      OK, here we go, this series has received plenty of hype but I don’t see what the big deal is yet. I found the initial plot to be interesting, but it’s basically gonna be a treasure hunt with mysterious events occurring to the main players, Maria, Battler, and Jessica. So far, my impressions of the main characters are; Battler-he’s likable enough, minus his stupid breast infatuation; Maria, the typical young girl that has a sensitivity to the supernatural, her mind isn’t clouded by adult programing, she still believes in magic; George, he seems nice enough; Rosa, she seems to be a good mother that’s under financial stress; Jessica, a nice girl who cares about others and will keep Battler’s urges under control; the rest of the adults are more worried about money than anything else; Shanon, Battler’s promise girl (?); the old man Kinzou, a typical person who’s made a deal with the devil and doesn’t want to payoff in the end; and finally the witch Beatrice, I haven’t figured her out yet, maybe she and Kinzou have something more than just a contract between them, maybe a romance in the past.

      Well, I’m going to give this series a couple of more episodes before I pass judgement on the product because the plot has potential. So far I find myself caring about Maria, George, Jessica, Akira, Shanon, Battler, and maybe Krauss and his wife and the servants, the rest just seem greedy to me, maybe my opinion will change.  

 

Aoi Hana (sweet blue flowers) episode 1 review; a first look at a new series loaded with yuri subtext.

      

       This episode begins with a young girl (Fumi) crying at school, and we hear a voice telling her that she’s always so fast to cry. Then the series moves forward several years to the present day. We see that Fumi’s family has been away for several years and they have returned because her father has gotten transferred back onto town, and it’s Fumi’s first day at her new school.

        In the kitchen Fumi is talking with her cousin Chizu, she tells Chizu that she never should have come back to this town and she doesn’t want to be here. She asks Chizu to stay awhile longer, but Chizu says her vacation is finished and she can’t stay any longer. Then we jump to another girl’s house (Akira) she running late for school and her mother tells her that her older brother will drive her to school. Her brother tells her that her new uniform suits her and he’ll drop her off at school, she refuses and tells him to drop her off at the station, she’ll be embarrassed to be dropped of by her brother, and he tells her that she’s only cute when sleeping.

         After Akira gets dropped off at the train station she bumps into Fumi at the station and they board the train together, while riding the train Akira notices that Fumi is crying because she’s getting groped by a guy on the train. When Akira sees that Fumi isn’t doing anything about it she stomps the guys foot and saves her. After leaving the train, the two girls walk together towards school, and when Fumi has to split off she thanks Akira for her help. As Fumi walks off, Akira says that seeing such a tall girl who cries is kind of cute, and she heads off towards her school.

         Later, we see that Akira is beginning her first year at a private girls school, and that Fumi is attending a public girl’s school. At Fumi’s school we see that she’s very quiet and shy, in contrast to Akira’s outgoing and lively personality. Later, we see three girls from Fumi’s school looking for new members for their drama club so they asks Fumi. But, Fumi doesn’t want to join a club, they tell her that club membership is required at this school. The girl (Pon-chan) who asked Fumi to join their club introduces her friends Miwa ”the fluffy haired girl” and Misako ”the short haired girl” to Fumi. Even though Fumi tells Pon-chan “no” she agrees to have tea with her on her way home from school.

        As the school day ends at Akira’s school we see a girl (Kyoko) introduce herself to Akira, and they walk home from school together. At home Akira tells her family about Kyoko, she says that she gives off the air of a princess, and her brother asks her if she’s sure that she belongs at that school. Soon Akira’s mother gets a call from her old friend and they’re going to hookup and she wants her daughter to be there, and when they meet up we see that Akira’s mother is a old friend of Fumi’s mother. So, the two girls from the train manage to meet up with each other again.

          Then the memories come flooding back to the girls, Akira was the girls who always comforted Fumi when she was little, Fumi always cried easily and Akira was always there for her, and they were best friends when they were little. Fumi thought that they would always be together forever, but Fumi had to move because her father had to transfer work offices. Both girls had promised to write each other, but neither Fumi or Akira ever wrote to one another.

        While the mothers talk, Fumi is hanging out in Akira’s room and Akira tells Fumi how much she’s changed, she now taller than her but she’s flat chested, and Fumi now has a sometimes scary face. Back at home, Chizu is up in Fumi’s room talking with her, and Fumi tells her about every thing that’s happened. She even tells her cousin about the flat comment, to which Chizu says they might be small but they’re perky. After a little while, Fumi’s mother calls the girls downstairs where she presents Chizu with a cake celebrating her upcoming wedding, Fumi is shocked at the news and Chizu says she’s sorry.

      The next morning, Akira rushes out of her house to head off to school, and we see an argument between Akira’s brother and her mother. Akira’s mother thinks that he’s too worried about his sister and not worried enough about his own future, like his future job after her finishes college. When Akira makes it to the train station she sees Fumi crying by herself, Fumi is upset about her cousin’s marriage, she thinks that it’s only natural for Chizu to get married because she’s a girl. Akira walks up to Fumi and hands her a tissue and makes a comment about how easily she cries, Fumi than thinks about how a 10 year time leap occurred in an instance. Well, that’s all for this episode.

         Well, I like the Aoi Hana manga, and I really like this anime adaptation. When I watch most anime that contain yuri subtext or a yuri storyline I find them too over the top and silly. But, I think that the yuri subtext in Aoi Hana is very subtle and nicely done. I think that Akira and Fumi make a nicely contrasting couple, Akira with her perky and outgoing nature matches nicely with Fumi’s overly serious and sensitive nature. I look forward to watching how Akira and Fumi will fit in at their new schools, how they’ll get along with the other student, how they’ll make new friends, and how they’ll rekindle their old friendship.

 

Minami-ke: Betsubara (another stomach) OAV review; Eat Drink Man Woman, Fujioka & Kana?

 

         This OAV episode begins with Hayami watching Hosaka doing some planning on how he’ll cook some food for Haruka, and she decides to interject herself into the situation. She tells Hosaka that Haruka’s cooking is about love and his is about ego, so he can’t make her happy. He tells her she’s wrong and that his feelings are pure, she realizes this but she feels his approach is wrong. As Natsuki is walking down the hall Hosaka passes him and exudes such bad vibes that it even scares him.

         Later, as Chiaki is doing some grocery shopping, she and Hosaka run into each other, Hosaka picks up some carrots and says that they’re filled with love, Chiaki also picks them up and wonders if they’re filled with love. Later, as the three sisters are eating dinner, Chiaki blushes as she looks at the carrots and thinks of love, and she soon manages to eat a carrot.

         The next day, Hayami’s games with Hosaka backfires on her, Hosaka corners her in class and basically performs food rape on her to prove his love for Haruka. Also, Haruka takes Chiaki’s acceptance of carrots too far, she starts planning all kinds of carrots dishes for dinner.

        Back at the Minami household, Yoshino stops by and Mako-chan asks Kana if she thinks that Yoshino has found out about his secret identity? Kana says that she’s smarter than Uchida, so maybe, but she won’t say anything because she’s a sadist, because that would ruin all the fun. After Mako-chan hears this, every-time he looks at Yoshino he sees evil thoughts and intentions coming from her. When Yoshino talks with Mako-chan he takes all her words as meaning that he’s been exposed, and Kana’s no help to him. Haruka tells Kana to clean the tub but Mako-chan’s so frightened of being left alone with Yoshino that he/she volunteers to do it for Kana.

       While Mako-chan is cleaning the tub, he thinks that he’s finally got some alone time, but Yoshino comes in and says she’ll also help. She sees that Mako-chan’s skirt has gotten wet and wants to wipe it off, Mako-chan says she’s OK and tries to get Yoshino to leave. They end up slipping on a bar of soap and end up falling into the tub, Mako-chan breaks his fall so he doesn’t land full force on Yoshino. Later, Yoshino says that she’s surprised that Mako-chan’s so strong, it’s almost like she’s a boy (wow, this would make a great start to a great H-dojin where a sweet innocence young girl discovers a hidden trap and the benefits of having a trap for a friend).

        Later on, Kana, Chiaki, Uchida, Touma, and Maki are hanging out and the topic of Valentine’s day comes up and Kana wants Maki to give advice to the other girls. Maki asks Uchida what the it means to win on “V-day”, and Uchida says it’s to get candy from someone you like. Maki says, wrong, winning is getting candy from anyone! Chiaki is unsettled by the idea of getting candy from someone she doesn’t know (come on Chiaki we all know that strangers have the best candy), Kana tells Maki that Chiaki isn’t suited for V-day, and this sends Chiaki to the floor. Then Touma says she’s been getting candy from strangers for years, she always eaten the chocolate that her brothers have gotten for V-day.

This one is for Chiaki.

       Kana then tells Maki that Toumalives in a different cultural world from the rest of us so just ignore her like Chiak, and this sends Touma to the floor with Chiaki. Uchida asks them what she should do because her fated lover hasn’t shown up yet, and Kana plays a joke on her and she ends up on the ground with Touma and Chiaki. Soon, Kana realizes that she’s ruined every one’s mood, and tries to lighten up the mood by asking Maki about her happy V-day experiences, stunned silence.

       When Haruka returns home with chocolate every ones mood improves, and soon the doorbell rings. Kana goes to answer door saying it’s probably Fujioka sending all the other girls into a panic, Maki says it’s improper to let guys see the girls getting ready for V-day, and poor Fujioka is just standing outside the door. While Fujioka was on his way to the Minami-ke household he saw Hosaka standing by a advert for V-day, of course Hosaka is being Hosaka, but it serves to remind Fujioka that V-day is coming soon.

           Once Fujioka finally gets in their house, Chiaki assumes her natural seat on Fujioka’s lap, and Maki asks him who he wishes to receive candy from? Chiaki asks Maki where her courtesy is, Chiaki says that guys are sensitive to this issue, and Fujioka’s body twitched when V-day was mentioned. Maki smiles and calls into the kitchen looking for Kana, and Chiaki says that Fujioka’s body twitched again, making Maki even more happy. Maki tells Fujioka that there are things as a guy that he can do about it, so struggle. The next day at school, Fujioka asks to hold one of Kana’s books for her then he hands it back to her, and then day after day he tries to help Kana and get closer to her, but every time he does so he melts down from being close to her. Kana is perplexed by Fujioka’s behavior and goes to Keiko for advice who says it’s probably about the upcoming soccer competition, but he’s really stressing about V-day.

 

         The next day, the big V-day, Kana come to class and gives Fujioka a dark sweet chocolate bar making him very, very, happy. Keiko tells Kana that she thought that Kana didn’t care about V-day but she gave Fujioka chocolate anyways? Kana forgot that today was V-day and thought she was giving Fujioka a chocolate bar for energy during his soccer stuff. Then we flash over to the high school where we see Hosaka waiting with a rose for Haruka to give him some chocolate that will never come. Well, that’s all for this episode.

          I found this OAV/OAD (I don’t really care what it’s classified as) to be very enjoyable and interesting. Minami-ke has aways been a series that centered around the  human desires of eating and drinking along with friendship/companionship, a vast majority of the episode in one way or another where centered around the kotatsu or kitchen table and involved food and eating. 

        Throughout  this whole episode all the characters were pretty much the same as before but it was quite nice seeing Kana doing something kind for Fujioka, unintentional as it was, if she had known that it was V-day she never would have given him any chocolate, but to me it’s the end result that counts, Fujioka is very happy. Hell, Kana has no idea how much stuff she’ll probable get in return for Fujioka on white day.  I think that it worked out perfectly for Fujioka, Kana’s so dense that if he told her outright that he liked her, she’d think that it was some kind of crazy plot. Every one around Kana and Fujioka knows that Fujioka likes Kana, except Kana, even the fortune telling trick told Kana that Fujioka will be her future husband. Also, I found it very amusing how Hayami’s games with Hosaka backfired on her in a most satisfying way.

         Eat Drink Man Woman, the desire for food and sex (or just a crush) wets the human palate, Minami-ke has always been about a good meal and good friendships (and hopes for more), so I found this entree of Minami-ke to be a very fulfilling meal, seconds please.

 

Marie & Gali episode 7 review; Leonardo da Vinci’s creative destruction.

       This episode begins with Madame Curie having trouble with her sliding balcony door, Gali offers to fix it, but instead she calls Leonardo da Vinci for the repair. After a little while, Gali and da Vinci start arguing, Madame Curie tell Marika that Gali is jealous of da Vinci’s genius. Then da Vinci spots Marika and calls her cute, he asks her if she would like to model for a painting? Yes, of course, if Pet can be in the scene.

        After he finishes the painting, da Vinci gets bored and begins to tear up the place so he can build some of his inventions. Gali starts yelling at him, but all da Vinci says is that he’ll fix the place later. He finishes building a tank and chases Gali around the place, and soon they all blast through the building’s walls. As they’re falling to the ground da Vinci uses a remote control to call his helicopter to save them, but that soon falls apart. da Vinci hands everyone a parachute, da Vinci & Marika’s parachutes function properly but Gali’s parachute opens letting nothing out but a banner.

          da Vinci and Marika float back to Madame Curie’s balcony while Gali falls to Earth making an impact crater. When Madame Curie sees Marika and da Vinci she tells them that it looks like they had fun, and she tells da Vinci to just to fix everything up. As da Vinci runs around fixing the place up we see Gali crawling out of his crater. Later, da Vinci reveals two paintings, the first one is of Marika that looks beautiful, and then the second one is of Gali and it looks like a shooting target. Well, that’s all for this episode.

     Well, this was another strange and wonderful episode of Marie & Gali, this time Marika gets to meet Leonardo da Vinci, and he portrayed as a kindly old man who has a hidden streak of mad genius in him. During the course of this episode Marika and us the viewers are treated to some of da Vinci’s most famous drawings and inventions, including his helicopter, bat hang glider, tank, and the Vitruvian Man drawing (see below for some of da Vinci’s original works for comparison).

       Another interesting thing about Marie & Gali is that most people who run into Marika find her very cute or at least attractive. I think that a major reason for this is that the town of Gali Hubble has almost no, or at least very few (as far as I’ve seen in the anime), cute or attractive girls/women under the age of about 30, so Marika’s a prime target. Overall, I found this episode to be laugh out loud funny, and I look forward to each new episode.

Thumbnails of some of da Vinci’s original work.

 

Weekly Anime & Manga Motivational Posters for the week of 6/29/2009

      Sorry for the delay in my weekly (or at least bi-monthly) motivational posters feature. I had a hard few weeks at work, and I had to keep the 3D GF happy. So, here’s a few new anime & manga motivational posters for the week of 6/29/2009. Feel free to share and enjoy these posters, but please at least give me a link or track back if you’re going to post them to a board or forum, Click on the poster to view at full size, enjoy.