AniFriday Issue #7 (December 20th 2013)

This has been a tiring and hectic week for me, but it has also been a week with one of the best moments of my life.  Sunday my sister graduated from the UNC Chapel Hill!  I don’t know what her major is, I think it has something to do with some holistic medicine, witch doctor mumbo-jumbo.  But that doesn’t matter right now.  I’m intensely proud (and a bit jealous) of her.  And if she gets to read this (because I didn’t really talk that much that day), I wish her all the happiness in the world, and a good job, too.

Now then, onto the anime and manga commentary.  Here’s what I’ll be covering this week, in order.

• Tokyo Ravens ep11
• Ms. MONOCHROME ep12
• Valvrave ep22
• Coppelion ep12
• One Piece ch732
• Naruto ch659
• Bleach ch562
• Team Medical Dragon ch90
• The World God Only Knows

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the change in titling for these posts from being named parts to issues; I’m attempting to go with the magazine theme I love so much.  I know this is a blog, but humour me.  This is a hobby after all, I’m gonna f*ck around and experiment any chance I get.

Valvrave ep15: because my problems are more important than your’s

I don’t know why I’m such a stickler for military discipline in my anime, especially when the medium thrives on stupid kids not following orders. But it still irks me when the writers decide to strip a character of any sense to drive home a dramatic point. Oh wait, we’re talking about Haruto here. He’s never had any sense to begin with!

Valvrave ep14: My Little Sister Can’t Be This Justified in Hating Me

*groans*

I will admit that this isn’t nearly as bad as slogging through Rinne no Lagrange, but sometimes an episode just wears on me. I mean, there’s just stuff that can make you like an episode, like having a character you like get more screentime, or an episode that is more focused on an aspect of the plot or setting that you find interesting. But then again sometimes stuff is just kinda stupid and fails to capture your imagination. That’s this episode.

Check-in Station: Valvrave ep13 (to Earth! Vampire Illuminati Earth!)

It’s okay buddy.  It’s just a pinch, a little blood sucking, DNA changing pinch!  MWUAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Check-out Station: Valvrave ep12 (a fun waste of time)

Well, what did I expect? The series started off an incomprehensible mess, of course it’s gonna end in a swirling storm of nonsense, shenanigans, convenient contrivances and an ending scene that places it firmly atop bullsh*t mountain. Now I have to reflect on this episode and see if I can still standby previous comments about it being “stupid but fun”.

Valvrave ep11: how deep is your bag of stupid?

…..

I believe the words intelligent and dumb both apply here. Though I’m loathe to admit that there’s a shred of intelligence in this bloody show. *sigh* Welcome to episode eleven of Valvrave.

Valvrave ep10: it really could have been worse

My head. My head is swollen and full of – stuff, right now.  That said, you people overhyped this episode of Valvrave.  You think this episode was terrible?  You think it was terribad?  I could give you twenty series with episodes worse than this.  This isn’t Valvrave at its lowest.  This is Valvrave ALL THE TIME! You need thick skin for something this ridiculous.  Let’s get this over with.

Valvrave ep9: protect and punish

So begins the first test of L-Elf and Haruto’s alliance to keep everyone safe and defeat the Dorssian fleet.  And things seem smooth in the beginning, as most things do in anime before they go to sh*t. The real conflict in the beginning is the internal one within Kyuuma.  He so desperately wants the power of the Valvrave, and he wants it in order to avenge his never-girlfriend Aina, who by the way, is having one hell of a wake online.  It’s a nice, but shallow gesture in my opinion.  But I won’t be too hard on the people who did it, because she was just a young girl, and there’s no other way to express remorse for her death in war time.

Valvrave ep8: to many more bittersweet victories

While I can’t say I completely understand the overall view of Valvrave the Liberator, I can say that episode by episode, I can tell what message they’re trying to get across. The overall theme seem to be getting things to mix, or work well together. Which is a welcome theme for this show, because it has so many interesting elements that I’ve been waiting to see come together.

Valvrave ep7: an epic sweep

Well the tone has certainly shifted!  Though the situation is still at a stalemate, we’re starting to see bodies now.  And an alliance seems to be inevitable between the two more powerful characters in this show.