Tokyo Ghoul ep8: why don’t you understand?!

I’ve never been a huge fan of justice.  It’s not to say I don’t feel that those who break the law shouldn’t be punished, nor do I feel divine retribution or karma are wasted hopes and dreams for the weak.  I just have come to the understanding that justice is relative.  Just as good or evil can be a matter of perspective and circumstance, so can a person, culture or society’s views on punishment and retribution.  I’m not telling you that the person who bombed a bus a bus of civilians or shot up a school or mall is in the right, or should get off without issue.  It’s just that when you see a horrific action, it should be the burden of those who witness it to think about why it occurred.  What is for the other side a demand for justice may have been the very thing that spurned that action forth.  If you don’t think about how you contribute to the cycle, and where you are in it, then there’s no way to figure out how to stop it.

Check-out Station: Aldnoah Zero

I’m left questioning my love of anime sometimes. Not anime as a whole, but modern anime and some of the pains I myself have had to endure as my fandom has progressed and matured. An example of this is the current popular format of 12 episode series, or series that air for that length of time, take a break, then continue after a season long break or so. This isn’t all bad. And enduring cliffhangers is just something you have to endure when enjoying some forms of storytelling. But I find there to be a strong difference between a cliffhanger leaving you wanting more, and just pissing you off.

Aldnoah Zero ep11: the princess you’re trying to murder is in another castle, your castle

It’s always interesting to see a person break out of the cocoon of denial.  It’s often a painful process, where the person has the feel the pain and see the results of their delusion to come out.  They have to feel pain from within that cocoon, or see the damage wrought outside of it to people and things they care about.  So I found it a tad perversely entertaining to see Princess Asseylum’s cocoon finally crack under her latest crisis.  No longer could she hide behind hope, that people that pledged to be her protectors and comrades held her hopes and interests in mind.  Nay.  In contrast, the couldn’t want her dead more.  You can’t hide or deny reality, especially when it’s trying to kill you.

Aldnoah Zero ep10: some issues with forgiveness and reality

I found this to be a very forgiving episode, in a completely literal sense. There’s a lot of unrealistic forgiveness and reactions in my opinion. But I still find myself enjoying the show and letting these things go because of it. I guess the theme of forgiveness extends to the viewership as well.

Aldnoah Zero ep9: everyone gets a little PTSD every now and then

Oh joy. One of those “downtime” episode where we barely learn anything new about the characters and there’s a bunch of boring childish hijinks and love geometry. I could do without any of this sh-! What’s this?! A MURDER! A murder in the showers?! Now I am intrigued!

Honestly, not the most exciting episode for the most part. But some important business was taken care of. For starters, it really does appear that Count Cruhteo is dead. Ho-hum. True or not, he won’t be missed. Slaine is now in the custody of Saazbaum, and I find myself intrigued by this head conspirator and current main villain. He’s incredibly blunt and honest with Slaine once they get to talking. And when Slaine sternly asks him to stand down and not pursue his path, Saazbaum is able to actually look him in the eyes and justify his actions without a moments’ hesitation. Granted, he’s still incredibly bitter and jealous, and all this is a terrible idea that makes him a pretty terrible criminal and perhaps a mass-murderer. But he’s not a cowardly villain, he’s one of those impassioned villains that has been wronged and doesn’t care about consequences any more. He’s on a mission!

I had good laugh on the inside when scene switched to Inaho and the other Earthlings on the Deucalion. We can quickly see a little harem being developed around the character in the show with the least personality. I just couldn’t get over how his sister is constantly trying to tell a story with that same unchanging face of his. It’s a classic example of why I find so much about romance and relationships laughable. It seems the fantasy has become the norm too often too easily. But that’s a subject that needs to be more concretely addressed on its own.

The real spice to this episode was seeing Rayet taking her opportunity to finish Asseylum off. It’s a desire I didn’t even know she still held that strongly. Sure. i knew there’d be hate and jealousy, but I thought it would take more time and events to manifest. It was almost like she was under a spell. And of course, the Aldnoah drive doesn’t work without someone of the proper lineage to power it, so the Deucalion immediately crashes. That was unfortunate. I don’t doubt that will set the stage for another attack.

Overall, there’re a few interesting things to ponder, even going into the lore of the show.  We have a recurrent PTSD angle brewing with LT. Marito and Rayet.  And while Marito is getting help, Rayet is probably just as seriously f*cked up in the head right now.  I think they’d greatly benefit from spending time together, though I have no idea if that will ever happen.  There’s also Count Saazbaum and his agenda.  He sheds some interesting light on the situation of the Spacenoids, and the events of 15 years ago.  He’s a crestfallen warrior, and he appears to be the only knight I’ve seen so far that doesn’t wholeheartedly subscribe to the dogma of their king.  He doesn’t care for the system, the people who run it or the position of his people.  I have high hopes for him as a villain.  He’s got the drive, the smarts, and may be just dead enough inside to make things interesting.  As for Princess Asseylum, I have serious doubts about her actually being dead, or at least staying dead.  But if she does stay dead, I’ll give this show kudos.

Further Reading:

• Aldnoah Zero ep8 : no one is safe – nowhere

Aldnoah Zero ep8 : no one is safe – nowhere

I need this show to do me a favor.  Don’t ever dip below the quality of this episode for a moment.  It’s gliding on the thin line between getting away with too many coincidences and sloppy set-ups, and getting called out for them.  I dare say it’s flirting with a harem.  But for now, I’d say that this show has had a spectacular beginning that makes me want to go back and judge it against some of the classics.

Aldnoah Zero ep7: the enemy of my enemy is just as dead as my enemy will be

I’ve heard this show be compared to many other things. But to me, it seems to be consistently doing something right. It’s consistently being entertaining and using its cast to its advantage. Despite my fear that I’m seeing too many familiar elements pop up, I see potential in this show. What this show says to me is, “I’ve seen what you can do, I can do it better.”

Zankyou no Terror ep5: may I join this game, too?

Episode 5, the moment things really get interesting. You had to wonder how long this dangerous and childish game would continue. And the answer is made abundantly clear. No more. In essence, Nine and Twelve are being told that they’re not as clever as they think, nor are they hidden.

The formula seemed to obvious for it to continue in this show. But it looks like that was the point all along. I could not figure out what Sphinx was trying to get at after all this time. But it seems they’re pointing their way towards extremely high level corruption in the Japanese government. And since Shibazaki has already made a name for himself (and ruined his career) by doing such damaging investigations, it seems only natural that they’d become allies. And that seems to have been the case all along. Shibazaki’s impassioned speech on national TV to Sphinx didn’t draw their ire, but their attention. A lot of hope is being rested on his shoulders to figure out the message they’re so carefully and dangerously trying to send.

The problem is that their attempts to get attention has done just that – gotten them a lot of attention. And it appears someone else has figured out what they’re trying to do. It’s impossible to deny it. Not when Sphinx’s efforts had been so clearly and precisely thwarted in this episode. Sphinx’s plan to set off the bombs with cell phone signals as detonators was completely block with a mass dosage of electrical cell signal jamming that affected all of Tokyo. Their attempts to find the train they’d placed the bomb upon were precisely stalled and rerouted. And they were directly contacted after the bomb went off. There’s plenty of evidence to show that the interfering party has power, skill and very good knowledge on what’s going down.

At this point, Lisa really does seem like an after thought in the story line.  I’d swear she was fulfilling the role of a mascot character or pet, adding little more than awkward moments, humour and pulling some emotion from the daring terrorists.  I still find myself questioning the worth and weight of her presence so far in the story.  I’m willing to continue overlooking it right now though, because I think the change of situation brought about by these new interlopers was a very good payoff for the set up so far in the show.  I’m very satisfied with what I’ve seen here.  And it makes me think that all the talent behind this show could produce something worthwhile – even memorable if the quality continues to improve like this.  The idea of having a young group of terrorists working together with an old, formerly crestfallen detective who once before was defeated by the corruption that they’re now seeking to vanquish is enough to get my manly blood boiling.  I see now that this is what I wanted more than the mystery that the show offered – Focus!  I want to have something to look forward to in this series.

Further Reading:

• Zankyou no Terror ep4: it’s better to be fair than right

Tokyo Ghoul ep7: are you choosing to protect, or avenge?

If you want change, you have to act on it yourself.  I guess when it comes to survival, it makes sense that you can’t approach it like a 9-5 job. You can’t just leave work, let your hair out and plop down for a view of the game passively. You always have to take the proper steps to cover your tracks, watch your back and keep just enough proper tension to act.  It’s like being on-call, except there’s no pager to warn you of a call to action. It’s just a matter of being ready.  If life calls, you answer or it will be death there to meet your cries.

It is nothing but a tragedy what

Aldnoah Zero ep6: good luck!

This show so far has had a talent for pulling out a good ending to its episodes. It’s as though the show has more of a cadence akin to a mystery show than an action one. Which is fine by me, because it keeps these shows interesting towards the end, and gives me plenty to think about in between episodes.

So it’s war now, full-on official war.