Category: Reflection

Packy Master Hayate

Posted by Ryan A - September 28, 09

PACKY

I was impressed

Congratulations! You Are a Champion

Hayate the Combat Butler, the second coming, recently ended. Overall, it was great, but the merit is restricted to a select number of episodes (let’s say 3-8, 10-13, 15-17, 18, 23-24)1. Hmm…

Wow, actually that’s a good 75% of the series being at awesome-level lovecom. Given, the general power of the franchise are the subtleties between the main quattro, Ayumu, Nagi, Hinagiku and of course Hayate, but this is precisely where the 2009 version brought out it’s A-game. Although…

As with most of these long-running series, the episodic nature offers a mixed bag of relevant and non-relevant material, but one thing I enjoyed with Hayate is the distinction between these episodes; it was easy to determine on and off-track episodes.

Comparatively2, the 2007 version was like a scattered slice/comedy affair with less relevant lovecom accentuation3. With 20 episodes left in my first season marathon, I feel I can safely say S2 was a delight. Despite the positive attributes, I do not think S2 can stand alone without most of the first 17 episodes of the season one.

Side stories and irrelevant episodes aside, Hayate the Combat Butler is quite charming4.

Liveblogged on Melative

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Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Posted by Ryan A - September 18, 09

tm8
This moment was felt.

Not a review, not a final thought, just some thoughts

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 was a dramatic ride over the course of 11 episodes, and having finished the series, I can say it was worth the experience. Much of the final story was focused around Yuuki1; he became a centerpiece in the last third of the series. In my opinion, his role is heroic in a sense, and at some point in the finale I thought, “Yuuki has reached the level of Densuke.”

An interesting factor which I felt played into my viewing experience, was a certain lack of identification, and I was able to watch from an outsider’s perspective. Some may find that a terrible feeling, but when we identify, we are more compelled to feel and empathize.

With little motive aside from the human condition, TM8 was able to hold my heart as I sympathized for Mirai, Yuuki, Mari, and their families; it felt natural. I feel this speaks very well for the series in what it accomplished, a human2 story of disaster.

〜悠貴が見てる〜

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Toradora! Complete

Posted by Ryan A - March 25, 09

taiga sky

Ah, and good. After all the reflections [optional RSS], I am not sure what else to say about this delightful series. It was a lot of smiles, some doki-doki, delicious characters, and finished clean.

I haven’t necessarily changed my thoughts on the nostalgia of it all, and I may never rewatch it, but as a single, quantified experience, Toradora! was definitely enjoyable in nearly every aspect.

In terms of overall satisfaction, I would place it near the ranks of Autumn 2007’s Clannad or Winter 2008’s Shigofumi, which would definitely make it in the top 5 for 2008. Hey, good job!

So, cheers to Toradora!

While Eyes Are Heavy

Posted by Ryan A - January 31, 09

Nagisa

The Toradora Split

Posted by Ryan A - January 23, 09

Toradora

Toradora has been an excellent series, but when it comes to it’s high school, lovecom atmosphere, can it really hang with the sentiment of greats, particularly the notorious, youthful, and vigorous School Rumble. This is by no means a true comparison, only an evaluation on sentiment.

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Finish Geass R2

Posted by Ryan A - October 3, 08

This is totally for Michael, who managed 5++ consecutive Geass posts. Here’s the melativity:

I have 43 levels of anime rated. CG was on level 38 around episode 19-20. I hadn’t moved it, but checking it, and with respect to the ending I bumped it up to level 26 [of 43]. So what the hell does it mean?

Points-wise: having 43 levels I can award a maximum of 43 points to a title (if one wants to think about the points, but it’s not necessary), but because of the exponential decay, level 26 (sharing with 2 other titles) receives 8.3542 points. This is all in the algorithm so it’s not manual.

Percentage-wise: on levels 26/43 = 60.47%, on points 8.3542/43.0000 points = 19.4284%

The indicators do have differences, but there is strong protection against over and under rating when spread across many users who have rated the same title.

On a point scale, I would give R2 roughly 7.85 out of 10.0. Here is why that 60% does not equal 6/10 and shouldn’t be treated as such, and neither should the 19%. But do you really trust my x out of 10 rating, because everyone’s scales vary.

These numbers completely mean nothing, unless they were taking in the context of other titles, where we would be able to see how it compares to other titles. So yea…

I should add my little perception on Lelouche’s “death.” Many are split with this, and it’s open => subjective, but there are logical arguments based on character emotions etc (if that is possible?). So I don’t believe Lulu is dead, not in the least, and there is good argument for his immortal survival. Though, if that is the case, it does take critical points away from the rating because it is much too Sunrise. Yet, there is no way for Lulu to have survived [in the flesh] if not immortal. What I’m saying is that Lulu is possibly a Jesus reference. I won’t defend this, but in the end, I do believe C.C. has some form of contact with Lulu, and whats more…

I do believe C.C. is still immortal.

note: episode 25 reflection.

Finally Gundam 00

Posted by Ryan A - September 13, 08

Marina

Yes, I managed to finish this super-solid first season in light of the coming sequal. Why the hell didn’t I finish it until now? Not sure, but, I’m glad to be amped for next month.

Most of my Gundam 00 episodic impressions can be found at melative, but I will say this about Gundam 00: It surpasses Code Geass by a big margin. Which sort of redeems the Sunrise in my eyes, after R2… but doesn’t G00 predate R2 O.o

My real beef is that, Code Geass S1 was quite a good series, and ended decently, but G00 had a much better first season than Geass. Now, if Sunrise decided to take to R2 form with this second season of G00, I will be _______. Right!

Simply, here are some points G00 has over Geass, which Sunrise could totally FFFF:

  • Composure (G00 was well-oiled, Geass was shredded tranny)
  • Beauty (Space-Beautiful vs ugly persona, or die)
  • Resolve (G00 has a handle to grasp, Geass is excite bike on acid)
  • Identification (I can feel for members of Celestial Being, Geass everyone has un-human decision-making skills)
  • Meaning (Eradicate war vs the world as a chess board)
  • Justification (sound flow to Geass’s inverse variant of logic)
  • Romance (mine as well, even if it is faint… Setsuna and Marina have a deeper relationship than everyone in Geass except Lulu X Suzaku)

Har Har. Whether I exaggerate or not, I still believe Gundam 00 has more wholesome attributes than Geass, and by far a more invigorating watch, without the eyerolls and doggie bag.