Ao no Exorcist (END) – 87 points

RAWR BRO, RAWR

Ao no Exorcist had the worst ending I’ve seen in a while. See, I really like it when an anime knows what its doing. I like the idea that somehow the story is planned from beginning to end. You know those, “Oh this happened because of that!” kinda thing. Stuff like Steins;Gate and Madoka had this in particular. Ao no Exorcist did not.

Its like the series didn’t know what to do after its mid-season climax (I’m guessing Episode 16). It created plot points, threw them away for other plot points, created new ones about 3 episodes away, somehow making me care about those plot points in the end. . . I don’t know. It just failed.

Its not entirely bad though. When Ao no Exorcist doesn’t focus on its overall plot, it gets good. I MEAN REALLY GOOD. Character-based episodes, Rin-development episode, character introduction episodes, and even stand-alone/one-shot centric episodes were magnificent. I even liked that pirate-eyed teacher’s little story, even though it came out of nowhere.

You might be feeling that I hate the series, but I really don’t. I can shrug off that ending JUST LIKE THAT, and still like the series. The characters are likable and had really good development. They can introduce characters in a click and an episode after, you would feel like you’ve known them for the longest time.

Another good thing about Exorcist is its themes. Brotherhood, fatherhood. . . sounds like FMA? It does it well here too (albeit not as complexing as FMA’s but its good in its own right) with their Father’s death being the anchor of the series.

Also, another thing that AnE held well is its coolness factor. The designs, the ideas, heck just the blue flames are enough for me to like the anime.

Production values. . . it looks good all throughout! Its not eye-catchy or anything, but the movement of the characters flow really well. The OST though is top notch. Its probably one of the best this year, some episodes were really memorable because of it.

Well its time to rate this:

Execution: 32/40 (Didn’t know what to do in its last third)

Engagement: 28/30 (I really liked it though)

Characters: 18/20 (Amazingly developed)

Production: 9/10 (Great animation, Wonderful OST)

Overall: 87/100 

About Animation (You know, those drawings that move on TV)

There’s a recent hot topic in Animesuki about Hanasaku Iroha being “sterile” causing quite a debate on art and animation. I am quite firm on my grasp that Hanairo looks quite amazing, one of the best ones I’ve seen in recent times. But. . . I do get what the topic starter is saying.

Beautiful or Lonely?

Looking back at Hanairo (checked out some episodes), there is a point to why it would be called sterile. The argument was that Hanairo had way too many lone shots/backgrounds that’s just way too perfect to look like its in this world. There’s a point to it since PA Works uses a number of CGI techniques on its background. But saying it’s sterile is just going too detailed. If you watch Hanairo casually, you’d just go “Wow that looks nice”. You won’t notice that way too shiny CGI pole sticking out too much, and frankly Hanairo really does its best to make their CGI very seamless.

Noting on the animation itself whatsover, Hanairo still excels. Remember, PA Works (the production team of Hanairo) are professional animators/the best of the best. The movement of the characters in Hanairo is perfect. It really exhumes how a person would move in real life.

Then again, sometimes being too perfect is a bad thing (I don’t think so). There are some animation that truly excel in fluidity, some examples this year would be Anohana and Ao no Exorcist. The characters really move more than anything. The whole production really centralize on the character’s movement. Some of the best ones I’ve ever seen are K-ON!! (note the two exclamation marks) and CLANNAD (both by Kyoto Animation).

There’s also Sakuga to note. Sakuga itself, is animation done by one animator. ONE ANIMATOR. See animation is usually done by a team of people. Some would do the key frames, while the others do the in-betweens (to make it smooth). Western Animation usually completely abides to this rule. With anime however, there’s sakuga. With sakuga, creativity and style can really flow. Different techniques that cannot be done with many people are used here. Oh yeah remember that episode in Naruto where Sasuke and him had that awesome fight in the river. SAKUGA THE WHOLE EPISODE BROS.

My whole point is that- I don’t know what the hell was my point. I just wanted to share what little knowledge I have about animation. Correct me if I have some details wrong (though I’m sure I’m right) since I do want to learn and Animation is really quite a nice topic to talk about.

By the way if you ask me, everyone should just watch Nichijou. Probably the MOST visually stunning anime in TV in recent times.

So. . . yeah!

*I don’t want to mention SHAFT since that’s a whole different ballpark to talk about (literally cause they’re weird) 

Ao no Exorcist – 22

Lolwut?

 

So Ao no Exorcist decides to replay the Crusades, thinking it would acapture the effect. All I got was Yukio’s character being destroyed, exorcists destroying the ecosystem, and annoyance that they’re fucking making this at this series goes along. Oh yeah, Yukio almost killed Blackie.

 

Oh well I’ll forget all about that so I can appreciate this episode. It did deliver some kind of plot that pleased me. Wait- I still can’t get over the exorcist destroying the ecosystem. Poor pig, being shot by Yukio oh-so many times.

 

Gahhh whatever I’ll take everything by face value. It’s the least I can do since this series has been generous to me for like 16 episodes. Just make the ending awesome, or at least for it to make a bit of sense.

 

Comparing this to how the original FMA ended it, my god Ao no Exorcist disappears. Oh well, its not like Ao no Exorcist had depth, even more so pretended it did. Until this episode.

 

GAHHHH

Rating:♥♥ (Maybe if you deliver a Jesus ending, I might smile on how things are going.)

 

 

AUGUST ROUNDUP

Magazine cover thanks to ahelo- oh wait that’s me.

10. Ao no Exorcist: 32/50 (4)

Ao no Exorcist has taken quite a dip this month. I guess I just don’t like the way it handles original material since characters like Konnekomaru get ruined. The easy-going pace it has that I actually quite liked disappeared with the twists and turns too. But I still like it, and by the looks of where its headed, we might get a good finale.

9. Hanasaku Iroha: 36/50 (6)

It managed to save a little more face than AnE, but it surged down a lot too. Why is Minko annoying again? Why does Tohru keep showing up and making love triangles everywhere when I clearly don’t like him? Who the hell cares about Enishing and Takako? The only thing is has going for it is Grandma which is getting a lot of great lines.

8. Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Nii: 38/50 (14)

It may not be as funny as the first season, but its doing a lot of things right. The “trying to find who was taking the pictures” arc went a tad bit too long, but it had its moments. The main gist of my praise though is the Minami-centric episode which was perfect in every way.

7. No. 6: 39/50 (8)

Well I don’t get the hell what’s going on most of the time, but hey I’m having a lot of fun with it. I love the overly metaphorical dialogue everyone has, the getting-gayer-by-the-second relationship of the main characters, and the overall story they are telling. It never changes feel and its firm with its grip on its story.

6. Kamisama Dolls: 40/50 (7)

I really like Kamisama Dolls, if you haven’t noticed. Its storytelling is very solid, and completely flaunts it off in the flashback episode. Man, that episode with the teacher was awesome, albeit a bit creepy (the teacher’s actions). It also sets a more darker edge to the series (well not really, haha episode 8) but. . . OH WHATEVER I JUST LIKE IT.

5. Dantalian no Shoka: 42/50 (10)

Unlike Memochou which never got out of the “I think there’s something missing” and is slowly getting worse, Gainax’s Dantalian no Shoka just gets better and better in my eyes. Of course the beautiful animation helps, but the story it presents, the little mysteries, have quite a soothing feeling to them. Some have relevance to today’s otaku society (too much sometimes) like the fujoshi who keeps killing the writer because he’s not writing the end the fujoshi wants, or the followers of that Frankenstein Girl. Also they’re putting a lot of Gainax trademark, like the lovers who turned into a new being (fujoshi episode), some fight scenes that utilizes that black color, and more.

4. Mawaru Penguindrum: 45/50 (5)

It just gets more awesome doesn’t it. From Penguin Queen trash-talking Ringo, to Kanba’s moment of manliness, to Ringo making a frog lay eggs on Shouma’s back on hot temperature to her trying rape, and Fabulous Max,. . . god I love this anime. I am getting worried that I like way too much anime this season.

3. Usagi Drop: 46/50 (3)

Usagi Drop is DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. This is why I don’t blog it.

2. Nichijou: 46/50 (1)

There was no moment that reached Mio’s wrestling episode, but there are a lot of skits that came close. Did I mention that I also LOVE THIS ANIME.

1. Steins;Gate: 49/50 (2)

I think its appropriate to put this on first. It started slow with the Rukako episode, but quickly picked up pace with Moeka’s and to Mr. Braun’s. It got really dark and creepy, death toll went up, and finally we see Kurisu leave. Well not after a kiss and confession. Also after she leaves, Suzuha reveals that World War III will happen in the future. I don’t know about you, but that’s plot talkin’.

JULY ROUNDUP

So it’s July and it’s time for a roundup! I decided to screw the Mid-month impressions since I realized it was a bad idea so I just tried to stick with the traditional monthly impressions. The total score per month would be 50 and by the end of the season, I’ll add everything up and do a seasonal ranking. I love rankings btw.

16(new) BLOOD C – (15/50)

The fourth episode was very interesting, a step up from the disappointment of the first three. It’s still a disappointment though, these four episodes, and CLAMP needs to give better execution for me to rate this any higher.

15(new) Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi – (18/50)

I think I’m gonna hold this for a while. While it has an interesting story, it doesn’t execute it well. The characters are bland, there’s the bad type of fanservice, and it has a problem of telling and not showing. For now, I’d consider this dropped.

14(new) Baka to Test To Shoukanjuu Ni! – (22/50)

I love the first season a lot. I guess this one is much of the same but those first two episodes were very lukewarm and boring in terms of making me laugh. I just hope it doesn’t go to the same pile as Maria Holic.

13(new) Sacred Seven – (23/50)

It has an interesting premise but not executed well. I’m very engrossed to the series but it has a lot of glaring faults. There’s still a lot more episodes to fix that though.

12(new) Mayo Chiki – (27/30)

It would’ve made it to the passing mark but the third episode sucked. I think this is my guilty pleasure series this season though so I’m tentatively positive about this one.

11(new) It’s the NEET thing to do – (34/50)

The dialogue and the mystery is the main hook for me. It’s well done and it’s just so witty. There’s still something lacking though and I can’t point my finger at it but it’s a nice start for this series.

10(new) Dantalian no Shoka – (34/50)

The GOSICK this season, Dantalian doesn’t disappoint at all. Animation-wise it;s the best this season, and the plot is also pretty good. The main characters have great chemistry (the fact that they’re both smart is already a win factor) and its building up to something interesting. Again though like the other mystery-solving series before it, there’s something lacking that I can’t point my finger at.

9(new) Moe in Paris – (35/50)

It has a solid start for a heartwarming, educational, and cultural story. It is very laidback, the soothingness creeps to you slowly making you go AWWWW and Dawwwww. I realized though “WHY THE HELL AM I BLOGGING THIS?!!?”. It didn’t cross my mind until now that it gives me the same feeling as Usagi Drop and would be hard to blog. AHAHA I’m dumb.

8(new) No.6 – (36/50)

This is the BL Dystopia fantasy anime of the season. One moment everyone’s serious and then the next moment everyone’s hinting BL undertones on each other. Not that it’s a bad thing since it’s so LOL and they are chugging in an awesome plot. . . I’m very excited for this!

7(new) Kamisama Dolls – (38/50)

This series is completely appealing to all my Anime tastebuds. Interesting story: Check!, Interesting Characters: Check!, You know it will explode sometime soon: Check!, There’s the intrigue you really like in anime: Check!. This is how awesomely Kamisama Dolls rolls.

6(4) Hanasaku Iroha – (38/50)

I think I went overboard in praising this. Episode 16 I was all like, “It reminds me of Toradora! This is the shit!”. Then episode 17 came in to ruin he day. Damn episode 17, Hanairo was getting really consistent! I do hope they start tackling the main characters again now. It seems that the series is at its best when they put Kou-chan (though I personally lost interest in him when he dissed Ohana). Besides it was gonna be hard topping last month’s awesomeness.

TOP 5

5(new) Mawaru Penguindrum – (40/50)

There’s actually two new series I’m in love with this season. This is the one of them. Now that I’ve watched Revolutionary Girl Utena, I totally get why people are so excited about this. It’s very layered with symbolisms (not as bombarding as Utena) and there’s a good story to be told. It seems that the series is concentrating on beliefs; Fate or no fate. It’s not technically bltantly pointed out, but it’s something to realize. Also, those penguins are awesome.

4(5) Ao no Exorcist – (42/50)

It had an awesome mid-season climax; not to mention how it’s getting more and more exciting with the plot starting to finally roll. Big-boobs is a great addition to the cast. The awesome thing about this series that differentiate this from other Shounen action is the focus. It’s very character-oriented. Friends are a dominant team as also is teamwork. Also one must note that this series is really coll. Saying it’s not cool means your blind or something.

 3(new) Usagi Drop – (42/50)

When I watch this series, the thing that keeps coming out of my mouth is the word “DAWWWW”. Damnit the parenthood being shown in this series is so realistic and down to earth. It can really attack anyone who’s watching this. Rin is the most adorable thing ever and I’m glad 2ch isn’t into boning her because if they did, Imma kill all of them. Nice to know that sometimes, people like the idea of parenthood. Afer a long meditation, I realized I liked this quite a bit more than Penguindrum, thus the high score.

2(3) Steins;Gate – (49/50)

The series is completely chugging the plot. . . it’s getting more and more interesting as the episodes progress. I love the idea that Okarin and co. is trying to reverse engineer everything to the point that Mayuri wasn’t endangered at all. But yeah “No hope goiys” so far. . . SUZUHA!!!!!!!!! L

1(1)Nichijou (50/50)

So it manages to be funnier than it already is. . . WHATTUP! I think Mio’s wrestling spree propelled this into a perfect 50.

Addendum:

It seems that the gap between second and third place is getting bigger. Steins;Gate and Nichijou just keep on getting better and better! The new series are sure to challenge that though, especially Ping Duramu and Usagi Drop. So far no disappointments besides BLOOD CLAMPYCLAMPCLAMP.

Ao no Exorcist – 15

RAWR

Wether you like Ao no Exorcist or not, wether you find it original or cliche’d, the one thing you can’t take out in this series is the coolness factor of Rin’s flames. You’d be blind if you didn’t go “Hah. That’s awesome” when you see Rin’s power. The blue-ness of it is very appealing to the eyes.

Enough about Rin’s power. This episode was amazing in epic proportions. Unlike the Hanairo who’s fairly inconsistent, Ao no exorcist just keeps getting better and better. You just know this series is character driven when someone’s fighting and the series keep on showing the different characters, how they would react and even Rin himself, with his purpose in fighting. It’s already cool but it also has depth. That’s the thing Ao no Exorcist thrives on.

Also Mephisto was extra cool this episode, sitting drinking tea while Rin is fighting. He also said some lines which somehow foreshadows what could happen in the next few episodes.

Ao no Exorcist – 13

Motivated Rin. Do the fangirls like this?

Well this was quite an awesome episode. Jiji never really feels dead since they keep developing his character so much. Also Shura, the biribiri voiced big-boobed exorcist, is a really nice addition to the cast. She’s jolly and the animators really gave an effort on her boobies.

Biribiri in Ao no Exorcist!!!

Well her voice I mean.

Mid – Month Impressions [JUNE]

How is this animu season doing lately?

11 (9) – Maria Holic Alive

Shaft Seguelitis is definitely showing. The series really just isn’t as good as it was before. It’s not fresh. Well it’s not bad and I do like the new characters especially Matsurika’s brother which reminds me of my friend who keeps talking about military weapons.

10 (7) – Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

I did drop blogging this even though it is still good. It still exhumes WASTED POTENTIAL and I really don’t like wasted potential. Also it can be dry sometimes; SHAFT visuals is surprisingly not helping no matter how good it looks. One good thing to say though is that Episode 8 was very DAWW-ish. I just wish moar of the ALIENS kind of craziness that I likes from the first few episodes.

9 (8) – [C]

This show is solid in its storytelling. It’s well paced, well planned and well told. The thing is, it’s not as engaging as I thought it would be. Engaging in a way that it doesn’t make me care about the characters or that the show just isn’t for me. Sometimes the money babbling can be Index bad and it leaves me trying to understand what the hell is going on, even with its solid pacing. The recent episode are getting a bit more exciting as the series comes to a close but it’s definitely fallen a bit from what I expected it to be.

8 (10) – Deadman Wonderland

Unlike C, this series is totally engaging. I cannot get enough of this from episode to episode. I just want more. It’s addictive in a way. Ever since episode 5, the series has been nothing but awesome thrillers. It keeps getting better and better. The downside of this series though is that it’s dumb. The premise, while very interesting, is not very believable. The characters themselves are dumb. This dawned to me in Episode 10 where how the hell did they not realize that the data chip wasn’t a bomb when Shiro threw it and an explosion occurred. Ganta’s pissing me off even more as he even punched Shiro. THE MAIN HERO NEVER PUNCHES GIRLS AND THAT’S A DEFINITELY BIG MINUS TO GANTA AND THE SERIES.

7 (11) – The World God Only Knows II

Recent episodes finally focused on Keima. He started finally doubting himself on the way he looks at reality. The current arc, the student teacher’s, is a nice arc but the Chihiro’s has got to be the best we’ve seen in Kami Nomi. It was solidly executed and I like how ironic it is that the boring girl gets the interesting arc. Also this arc made realize that the relationships Keima created weren’t for naught like Ayumi’s. Well it’s a relief this series got back on track on what the premise presented a season ago.

6 (6) – Yondemasuyo Azazel-san

Same old crazy Azazel, same old. You’d think there was finally continuity in this series with Moloch dying (I literally screamed PLOT SIGHTED when he died) but it turned into some joke and made me facedesk which is also what Azazel is good at.

TOP 5:

5 (4) – Ao no Exorcist

Some kind of plot finally started and the Hogwarts setting is finally starting to change. An exorcist finally pursued Rin and it resulted into nice developments and action scenes. The brother relationship is incredibly lovable; it’s nice to see that Yukio also respects Rin the way Rin does to him. Even if Yukio is technically the better brother, I like how he still admires and respects his brother. The series got derailed a bit with too many initial standalone episodes (which were still really nice though) but it’s getting back on track now.

4 (5) – Hanasaku Iroha

The series attacked with a slew of completely awesome episodes. It’s finally very consistent. No more of those standalone episodes, we got to see the whole staff of Kissuiso go crazy in a busy day which resulted into some pretty awesome scenes. The current arc right now is the part where Ohana goes back to Tokyo and the series really dealt on the different issues Ohana has, with Kou and her mom. I’m just gonna say that “Patience is a virtue” finally paid off.

3 (new) – Steins;Gate

Well I managed to marathon 11 episodes straight and goddamn this series is awesome. The characters are a big hit to me, with the way they interact with each other. Scenes where everyone just bickers is really awesome and enjoyable. One thing this series did is create a really awesome character in the form of Marise Kurisu. She’s your typical Tsundere but she’s just really awesome the way she insults Mad Scientist Hououin Kyouma (Or Okabe Rintarou; he’s an awesome character too) yet manages to lose sometimes bacause of how weird Okabe is. The idea of time travelling to me is quite a hard subject to talk about and to create, which is why I’m amazed on how this series hasn’t fallen into plot holes or anything. Also some episodes can get really creepy; in some cases I need to look a t my back to see if anyone is watching me. Am I getting as paranoid as Okabe???

2 (1) – Ano Hana

The series finally laid all it’s cards and the episodes this month is leading to an UNLIMITED TEARS end with all the main characters on the edge of their seats. Tensions were created and exploded in these episodes and now we are all left with the question “Is Menma going to disappear?” I still am on an impression that this series would have been better suited for a two-cour rather than the 11 episodes Noitamina always give. DAMN YOU NOITAMINA!

1 (3) – Nichijou

Nichijou being Nichijou- nuff’ said.

ADDENDUM:

This half May; half June month has been awesome. If I were to rate all of these series now, none would go below an 80. I’m having really fun with anime this season; the consistency is crazy! Though it’s a bit sad that I don’t have any series to bash on right now. No Fractale- wait no Bakuman. . . sigh.

Ao no Exorcist – 09

PLOT!!!! HAXXXXZZZZZ

Ao no Exorcist finally starts it’s plot. While the Proffesors One Eye’s plot was a bit cliched, it was executed brilliantly. The whole Stan’s son is taboo thing is very well played this episode. There’s Shiemi too finally deciding on becoming an exorcist after seeing Rin wounded which was very cute. Yukio’s revelation that he also looks up to Rin is a very nice touch too.

Like what I said with Hanasaku Iroha, “Patience is a virtue” finally paid off (albeit less here since Hanairo’s latest episode was just AWESOME)!