10-13-10 Showing: Comments

Grant Walker · October 14, 2010

Hey guys! Me again, just posting about tonight’s showing, because for some reason I’m not asleep yet. This will probably be a shorter post, since I just want to put out some general thoughts, as opposed to going over all of what I thought of every show. And then I suppose others can just jump in an make comments, supposing you don’t want to make your own topic about it.

To recap, we saw the last three episodes of Arakawa Under the Bridge, Black Rock Shooter (OVA), Cat Shit One (OVA), and three episodes of The Legend of Koizumi (OVA).

First, for Arakawa, I actually felt… rather disappointed. I didn’t expect it to come to some big conclusion or anything, but it felt wrong that the last three episodes more or less felt like the rest of the episodes in the season, as opposed to building up to something satisfying. I mean, the show is still funny, and I look forward to the second season, but I would be lying if I said I was completely happy with the way the season ended. Maybe I’m just picky–and I know this is just a straight up comedy show–but I feel like it should have reached some sort of fulfilling end. The relationship between Ko and his father still feels basically as estranged as it always was, so I can’t help feeling disappointed.

/10-13-10-showing-comments/assets/Black_Rock_Shooter_Anime_Character_-_Mato_Kuroi_hu65adbe54cf8e90d617e34d962583296d_23974_206x320_resize_q100_lanczos.jpg — Black Rock Shooter, my new hero.

Black Rock Shooter was pretty great, though. I mean, it’s also kind of confusing. I had seen it prior to tonight’s showing, but it was still understandably enjoyable. I suppose the general idea is simple enough (multiple worlds, persona, etc.?), but it’s still pretty intriguing. I believe Gene said it’s supposed to have something to do with a movie being made? If that’s true, then it’s safe to say I’m rather stoked for the film. The OVA is pretty interesting, so a movie would be great.

Cat Shit One was, indeed, also awesome. I mean, it’s pretty standard in that it’s people-with-the-odds-stacked-up-against-them-end-up-winning-because-they’re-awesome but it’s obviously not-so-standard in that it’s populated by bunnies and camels shooting each other–in three dimensions, no less, with incredibly smooth animation. All-in-all, a very cool little OVA, though it also felt a little bit like it was just an excuse for the animators to show off their skills, since I don’t think anyone would say there was much substantial to it. Nonetheless, very cool!

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:yr2SDFNJruqkEM:http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/434/ggreformwithoutwasteddr.jpg&t=1 — Koizumi, my other new hero.

Legend of Koizumi was amazing and hilarious. I don’t know much about Mahjong, so I feel like I’m still missing some things, but I get the general idea of satire in politicians playing Mahjong to decide world rule. It’s way over-the-top and just kind of awesome. I think I will definitely look into the Manga to see what other stuff the badass Koizumi and co. get up to. I imagine it ends in more Rising Suns and whatnot, but it still seems pretty great. I don’t think there could have been a cooler faceoff with Mao ever.

…And that’s basically all I have to say about the showing. Overall I enjoyed it very much–there’s nothing I would point out as me having disliked, so I call success.

With that said, I should be off to bed. Night, guys!

Responses to 10-13-10 Showing: Comments

Ryan Settergren · October 14, 2010 at 3:14 am

although i did not make this weeks showing, i did recently watch Arakawa on my own time and therefore re-watched the first half or so during the previous showings until i got slammed with tests… I have to say, you pick up a bunch more by re-watching it (especially with the mayor (or village chief depending on the sub group…)), and the comedy doesn’t get old, although this is probably true for most anime series.

but anyways, I really enjoyed this series. At first Ric just bugged the shit out of me. dunno why, but i just hated his personality. but, in hindsight, that was to emphasize one of the main themes of the series (i guess). blah blah blah

Character analysis aside, i concur that the first season didn’t wrap things up nice and neatly. It still makes you wonder what is to come with that “under the bridge” lifestyle. but that is why they announced the upcoming season 2 at the end of the episode (or at least in the end of the episode i watched). just look at code geass for christ sake; season 1 couldn’t have ended in a bigger cliff hanger. the second season will (hopefully) wrap up some of these loose ends/feelings.

and having seen the first episode of season 2 already (and episode 2 being downloaded as i write), you won’t be disappoint.

this reply/review/whatever the fuck you would call it is probably longer than most papers i have written. not sure if its procrastination or my love for this series that inspired me to write so much (especially since i tend to write as little as possible). probably a mix of the two… so sorry if its choppy or confusing or boring or repetitive or uses excessive conjunctions or such. its 3 am and i have to get up for class ~~at 2~~.

now i should probably be getting to studying for that diff eq test tomorrow…

or sleep.

or watch that 2nd episode of Arakawa under the bridge x bridge. whatever.

Jack · October 14, 2010 at 1:29 pm

There’s definitely a sense of incompleteness to Arakawa at the moment. I keep expecting Ko to have a grand epiphany about the people living Under the Bridge, but so far it’s been very subtly creeping in bit by bit instead of all at once, which is sort of refreshing, but it’s still not there yet. Also, since they managed to slip in the “Season 2 Greenlit!” bit at the end, I wonder if they knew ahead of time that they could put off a certain amount of resolution until the second season?

On a different train of thought, every time I read the “Bridge x Bridge” title I think of a bridge standing straight up on end. Goddamn vectors.