So, I've watched a bunch of stuff over the last couple months and keep forgetting to post about it. Thus, in this brief moment of non-laziness, we get ze monster post. (Note: said post does not involve Monster). Alphabetical order! For justice.
Ah! My Goddess: So yeah, romantic comedy isn't really the Cid's thing. No surprise there. It's cute and harmless, at the least, and surprisingly devoid of fanservice for something that basically has the typically spineless anime male accreting a circle of superpowered women. I do approve of the fact that the show decides to be about a specific relationship rather than having every woman in the world swoon over the lead and going "Which will he pick?" Of course, that would be more rewarding if the relationship actually moved faster than a glacier. On that note, I have to punt Skuld for being the enforcer of the status quo. Also, since she kicked off the chain of events that led to armageddon, I'm deciding that that's entirely her fault. Anyway, Belldandy is too much the perfect domestic to be my style, but she's okay. Urd, on the other hand, is basically an omnipotent bum. You know I approve of this.
Black Lagoon: Now, this one was a lot of fun. I can't really think of anything it does wrong. Well, unless you're a plotaholic, but I'm usually satisfied with solid character work. I don't see anything wrong with an episodic structure as long as you do it right, and Black Lagoon does. Vivid cast and entertaining individual storylines. Revy is my kind of psychopath. Props to the ending credits, on that note. Mellow synthesizer music, camera trails along a beach behind her feet as she drops her familiar weapons and ammo, and you're supposed to go "Right, this is where the hardened killer shows her soft side, yada yada yada,"...and then finally the screen pans up to show us an expression of pure homicidal rage, and she's got a shotgun clenched between her teeth which she proceeds to level directly at the camera. Gotcha! Ahaha, nice. Show does need more Balalaika, though. And...I am hearing now that plans to release the second season stateside have been scrapped. Is this accurate? Most unfortunate, if true, as I am wanting more.
Boogiepop Phantom: Interesting. The show's structure can be perplexing at times, what with minor characters showing up with a sufficient gap between appearances for you to forget who they were. For those who haven't watched it: every episode has a different central character, but all the individual stories concern supernatural events in the same city and often overlap or share what we may as well term the main characters due to their more frequent appearances (Nagi and the title character--Nagi's pretty cool, on that note). The overall effect is mixed, but I think the show succeeds more often than it fails, even if it's not good about answering the questions it tosses out regarding the overarching cause of the city's problems (why are there two of the title character? That never made sense). I particularly liked the episode with the mother trying to make peace with the embittered ghost of her daughter--and the one where the retrograde amnesiac (think Memento) meets her daughter for the last time. Very poignant, that. I also have to say that I like how consistent the show is about there always being a price tag for superhuman abilities of any kind. Will have to watch this one again at some point.
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue: Fanservice anime! Well, it had Reki's VA from Haibane-Renmei. I can give it that, at least. And Gloria's rampant stupidity was vaguely amusing ("Ha ha and ha!") That's as far as I can be complimentary to generic fluff, though.
Ergo Proxy: Good show. Excellent atmosphere and style. It was looking like a keeper for the first half of the series, but there's a good deal of flailing late in the story. A couple people go mad bomber for no real reason, and some of the background provided for one of the central characters is less than satisfying. Also, there's an Omniscient Council of Vagueness. I hate those (though at least this one takes the form of classical artwork). Also, fuck the Smile Land episode. We didn't need that kind of change of pace. Still, the show does a lot of things right in terms of building a vivid setting. I love post-apocalypse environments and this one's quite meticulously constructed. It's worth watching just for that. And, as always, I approve of solid development going into AI characters. Pino wins. Close enough to human to pass when she needs to, but with those telling lapses of empathy and common sense. Also, excellent opening sequence ("Someone saaave me" kicks in at just the right moment). It nails that tone of "Yeah, the world's right fucked, but there's a way out if we try" that I love about this kind of setting. And Paranoid Android plays over the end credits. Score. So, flawed but interesting in the final analysis. Another show that bears a second viewing eventually.
Fate/Stay Night: Mediocrity. I was told this was the case, but had to watch it anyway. Swordgirl, y'know. And Saber was okay, but that's about as much as I can say in the show's favor. Sakura was offensively moe and the rest of the cast were shades of meh. Main is the typical blockheaded Messiah type. His power was unusual, but I suppose credit for that goes to the original game. Rider wins for style points and wanting to kill the rest of the cast. Really, there was no reason for the evil loli to leave the mains alive after their first encounter. Well, beyond Writer On Board, but that doesn't count. So yeah, decent eye candy and that's about it.
Paprika: May as well toss this in here too. I usually enjoy Satoshi Kon's mindbenders, but there was a decided lack of focus here. Surrealism we expect in a movie about diving into someone's dreams. There isn't an excuse for lazy plotting, though. It's not bad, I just can't really praise it beyond the striking visuals.
Xenosaga: You know I had to watch this, just to see how much it failed. The answer is...a lot! Take the game, subtract Mitsuda music, Cherenkov (well, he *exists* here, but he's killed quite unceremoniously in the second episode), the database, add in worse voice acting. Voila! Also, they tried to carry over the angular facial features some of the XS characters had in episode one. This didn't look great in the actual game and it sure as hell isn't improved by the transition to hand-drawn animation. Basically, it's a hack job in every regard (no shock, I know). Even the OP is just a clipshow of unremarkable moments from the first couple episodes of the series.
The best thing I can say about it is that the level of badness did not fail to meet my expectations.
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Right now...starting Le Chevalier D'eon. Already impressed. Court intrigue in 18th century France, black magic in the mix to spice things up, solid action sequences...oh, and the main character morphs into his dead, vengeful sister when it's arse-kicking time. You know this makes me happy. There's also a badass UOM, for those who are into such things. I can only hope it continues to be this awesome. Haven't enjoyed a show like this for a while.
