Kaiji S2 2 – Oh, Kaiji …

I’m waiting for the crazy, overwrought visual metaphor where Kaiji sticks a needle full of LIQUID GAMBLING in his veins.

This is the Kaiji who has been waiting to burst out from the moment the season started. Really, exploring Kaiji’s gambling addiction could be an interesting route to travel — it’s definitely an impediment to him at points, but in his situation, it could sometimes be a positive as well. After all, Kaiji is at his best in the first season when his back is against the wall, and the firing squad is aiming right at him. He needs that sense of danger, that rush of adrenaline that runs through him when the wave is crashing down. Kaiji’s plans always have this weird sense of practicality mixed with recklessness . . . his grand plan in the final game of the first season is proof of that. It’s perfectly conceived and play, but . . . well, those who watched the first season know well what Kaiji did to make it happen.

Deadman Wonderland 2 – Felons Are Dumbasses

Someone should tell HanaKana that you never go full retard. Man, I thought I escaped this shit after Fractale ended! Damn it all!

Anyway, I don’t have much to say about this episode, because, frankly, it kinda sucked, but I do want to address one thing: How in the fuck did a dumbass like that MMA fighter felon because such a big cheese in this prison? I mean, holy fucking shit, he makes Nessa Shiro look like Stephen Hawking. He slide kicks Ganta even though he has a clear path to the ball, and then he acts all pissed because Ganta got the ball first. Um, you kicked him toward it, you fucktard. And over sliding the tiles? Are you fucking kidding me? Never mind HanaKana, this guy is the one who went full retard. Unfuckingbelievable. He deserved to die, what a shitty fucking villain, my god.

Also, that obstacle course sucked — it’s like a bad Super Mario 64 level, complete with camera angles shifting at random. Someone get the C stick under control over at Manglobe! You’d think a privately funded prison would come up with some better traps for people to watch. A bungee jump? Are you fucking kidding me? Arrows? The temples in Raiders of the Lost Ark had better traps. The Peruvians are outdoing Deadman Wonderland.

Astro Fighter Sunred – Playing the Role of Hero and Villain

I recently blew through both seasons of Astro Fighter Sunred and enjoyed both (though I prefer the first season). It’s very much in the tradition of the absurd meeting the mundane that you see in anime every so often (like Cromartie High School or this season’s Nichijou or whatever). The base of the show is the evil organization Florsheim (led by Vamp, the dude with the helmet and killer mustache/beard combo in the above screenshot) battling Sunred (pretty obvious who he is lol). But these battles are always anticlimactic (Sunred is guaranteed to beat the shit out of whatever monster Florsheim throws his way), and they are surrounded by characters — including the Florsheim monsters — living normal lives. They work normal jobs, go on dates, attend community meetings, and a few monsters even go clubbing at one point, haha.

And that’s where the absurdity comes in. Everyone (with one notable exception that I remember off the top of my head) plays everything straight. For the citizens of the town, every monster may as well be a human. The audience can never forget the fact of their appearance (not to mention their alignment), which makes a lot of what happens so damn funny. And there’s something about how Sunred plays with roles and appearances that not only amused me but that I also found somewhat interesting.

Deadman Wonderland 1 – Conspiring to Theorize

Still catching up on the rest of the spring crop, but Deadman Wonderland‘s first episode and premise are engaging enough for me to be interested enough to write about it. So here I am! I know the manga has plenty of fans, so I’ll say this out front: No spoilers. I mean, don’t even hint about that shit, even if you see me (or someone else) say something or express confusion about things that will be cleared up later. I know some folks are just trying to be helpful, but try to curb that instinct. Sometimes fans just need to grope around in the darkness, you know? If I catch the slightest whiff of a spoiler, I will come down on that shit like Makina putting the heel down on this guy here.

Kaiji S2 1 – Just One More Beer …

Been slow going so far this season because nothing I’ve watched as of yet has interested me enough to write about it save Fireball Charming (but that’s just one-shot post) . . . nothing, that is, aside from Kaiji. I’m a big fan of the first season, and while writing about the second may get frustrating at times due to the show’s notoriously slow pace (which is on full display in this episode), I’m sticking with it because Kaiji is just that awesome.

Fireball Has Charmed Me

When Scamp initially posted about Fireball, for some reason I thought he was joking with his enthusiasm for it (although now I am not sure why I thought this). Then last week I was scouring for stuff to watch, and remembered that, as a whole, Fireball‘s first season is about 20 minutes. “Why the hell not?” I said to myself and fired up the videos on YouTube. 20 minutes later, I was raring for the newly started second season, Fireball Charming.

Level E 13 – Making Chump Meat Out of the Maestro (END)

Holy crap, I think I’m in love!

So, even though I think I enjoyed the final run of episodes more than some other people, I think we can for the most part agree that the second half of Level E isn’t quite as good as the first half — it lost a bit of steam, and the comedy didn’t have quite the same bite to it. But I’d say this final episode is a worthy conclusion that captures the same sense of unpredictable fun that made Level E so good from the start.

Rio Rollins Tachibana Is My Goddess

You are missing out if you did not watch Rio: Rainbow Gate!

I know what you are thinking: “That anime is the dumbest thing in history. It’s based off a pachinko game, is stuffed full with sleazy fanservice and all the characters are stupid, lazy moeshit.” All valid points. But those obscure the true brilliance of Rio.

A lot of shitty anime exists, but I don’t believe creators are stupid. They know a bad show — a bad idea — when they see one (doesn’t mean they aren’t cynical, though, but that’s a post for another time). Nobody in his or her right mind could look at the genesis of Rio and think that this series could even be average, much less good. And that’s where the genius of Rio comes into play: The creators don’t try to make something good; rather, they go the opposite direction. They make Rio into the goofiest, most god damn absurd show I’ve watched in quite a while . . . and some way, somehow, Rio is endearing in its utter awfulness.

Fractale 11 – God Is a Retard (END)

I think Enri had the right idea here. We should all have been watching Fractale with no eyes.

So, Fractale is over, and the ending is a hilarious mess. Nothing really makes any sense at all, but the characters are all happy, so I suppose we should be happy, too, although it does not seem to take much to make these characters happy. Give them some vegetables, a dog doppel they can tease with food, and a 16-year-old in a coma and they’re set for life. Good times. Or bad times.