Approaching the final weeks of the season, I’m still playing catch-up on a few shows, but today, I’ll throw out my review for Akame ga Kill, and run over a few other shows of interest.
“Everyone dies.”
I’ve detailed most of my quibbles about Akame ga Kill in my Animu/Mango crossover post that does not bear repeating here. Suffice to say, the ending wasn’t particularly any better, effectively going for the kill-all formula inherit to Gundam seasons among other things. I can’t say I really object to that though, I suppose, because a show like this winds up predictably throwing everyone off to end on that note of reminding you that they fought for justice, and died for justice, and that living would deny them their REMEMBER THE ALAMO status. Still, I was a bit disappointed that the outcome wasn’t a little more different, and I am curious to see if that is how the manga intends to end. I somehow thing the GIANT ROBOT POWER ENDING was a little rushed, and that you could probably do it better.
Overall, AgK wound up improving as a show as time went on, and it owes most of that to its similarly-paced written counterpart. It paced itself well and had a decent cast of characters, putting more effort into the antagonists than most shows do, and fuck if I did shed a manly tear for Esdeath in the process, the only dynamic character worth paying attention to in the entire show.
Title: Akame ga Kill
Sub Group I Watched: Vivid-Asenshi
Episodes: 24
Rating (1-10): 8
“Now with 66% more BEAM SPAM”
If the first half of the show was dedicated to how Ange can get fucked over by the patriarchy, or more appropriated, the monarchy, then the second-half pretty much ratchets up the motherfucking dragons and some mystery-machines that apparently are goddamn METEOR units from SEED. The impression I am getting is that this is going to be some kind of time-transcending age-old war between two girls that occurs every time they reincarnate or something. Even worse, multi-verse. Even worse(r)? Fuck if I know. It’s Angeliese-sama’s Wild Ride.
“Now with 66% more GIRL POWER”
I’ve been enjoying this show for much the same reason as the original season of Genshiken. Shows that lampoon anime nerd humor do better when they accept the fact that the characters are nerds, and don’t deflect themselves to the contrary, or pine after the attention of non-nerds for cheap-shots or validation. The Big Bang Theory, I’m looking at you. But the show also feels very Nichijou in a way, delivering one-shot gags and running jokes with speed and accuracy, never being afraid to fall back to the SHIT GUYS WE GOT NEW BOOKS SCRAMBLE gag when they have a few extra seconds in the episode. It’s a lot like watching Airplane, or any Leslie Nielson movie, really. No one does good slapstick anymore. ;_;
“Here lies Arthur Gaz, President of Verizon”
I have to admit, I was not overly impressed with the final episodes of Chaika, and I assume there is at least a couple more. The ending seemed way too ruched for the MIGHTY WIZARD GAZ to simply fall from his own creation. Either that makes him incredibly stupid, or incredibly smart, as I imagine he probably saw it coming and will end up coming back as a house or something crazy. We all followed this show for the Doge-induced whimpers of Chaika, even after we found out Chaika comes in various flavors of clam chowder, followed by Grand Chaika and her crazy uterus or whatever helped create Gaz II (III? How many times has he done this?). Point is, this show is teeming with absurdity so often that you really can only enjoy it by de-constructing it like you would a hipster chef on Food Network, because as a whole, it utterly sucks, and you were probably chopped.
“Evangelion 4.0 (You) Can Not Die”
For some reason, I kept being reminded of the old series Blue Seed as I watched Yuki Yuna, maybe because both plots revolve around the fact that you’re being sacrificed somehow. But that is where the similarity ends, as Yuki Yuna has more in common with probably Evangelion than anything, but then they sort of threw in a sort of Matrix spin in the last episode, exposing the fact that the ride never ends, and that the sacrifice will continue. Confusing? Sure. But this show is certainly out to turn a trick in an almost SHAFT/Madoka sort of way. Can only see it through now.
“Boss Management 101”
While I am still enjoying this season, I really want this full raid arc to reach some kind of conclusion already. They spent an entire episode doing what most WoW guilds do in five minutes, bitch about their last wipe, and then try again. Only this time, with feelings. But now that they’ve finally reached the Scrooge McDuck vault, hopefully we can make some forward traction with whatever it is next in-store for the series.
“You got cousins trying to kill you, I feel for you son. I got 99 problems, and magic for fun.”
Compared to Mahou Sensou from a couple seasons back, this show does way better as magic, action, and innuendos, with Our Man Arata never shying away from good snark with his female cohorts. Plot-wise, it seems that we’re finally figuring out who Hijiri is, and it seems she is not the goody-goody cousin he knew, instead being a proper-powered demon. Sets us up for a decent finale I suppose, and gives me a reason to hit the manga for it.
