Preview VS Actual

It’s been a long time since the last post was made and I finally have something to write about Pandora Hearts’ anime adaptation.

The palette used in the show is great for most scenes, it’s ugly when it’s inappropriate. Take Cheshire’s realm as an example, the objects in the background do help in creating a creepy atmosphere but the light colours used ruined it. I’d prefer it if the objects were just floating around in the purplish-black void seen in the preview of Pandora Hearts.

I didn’t quite like the colour of the spiraling energy around Sharon being black either. The preview has shown that a greater visual effect could have been produced by making it translucent purple. (Her shoes in the preview were better too.)

The coordination of scenes along with the music is amazing imo, I just love it when the preview music comes along with scene changes. (E.g. The final scenes of Episode 12)

I’d assume that it’d be at least another 5 more episodes before XXXXXX XXXXXXXX makes his appearance. I think I went off tangent again and didn’t type what I intended to, which is speculation.

Here’s a brief description of my thoughts about the Will of The Abyss and Alice. The Will of The Abyss is Alice who somehow gained supernatural powers to scatter memories she wanted to forget.The Alice that Oz met is probably a part of her that still views her past in a positive manner.

No offense to K-ON fans, I’m one too(in a way), but K-ON would have been much more better un-moefied with its slapstick removed. Thinking about it, we have approximately 24 episodes of K-ON, why waste them on moefied characters when the plot is promising. Sawako Sensei’s past would’ve been much better elaborated if she were to reveal it after persistant harassment from the girls. Mugi’s sexual orientation would probably be revealed in a moe fashion too.

Nevertheless, chances of any change are 1 to 100 considering the fact that the show runs on MOE. I’m still trying hard to appreciate the MOE but it’s hardly getting into me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater, the plot is generally enjoyable as of now but could have been better in my opinion if expressed in a less MOE and slapstick perspective.

On another note, Coalguys’ subtitled ED looks better than the raw, it must be the typography.

Overly said as it may be, episode 3 was better than the previous 2 episodes as the Abyss was an interesting place and has interesting inhabitants thanks to original anime material. In addition, the music used was great and I’m starting to get used to the animation.


I thought the inclusion of the little creeper at the start of the episode made the Abyss more creepy than how it was portrayed in the manga. The only danger Oz faces in the manga were shown in a couple of frames whereas the lengthening of the scenes in the manga and addition of new ones make the Abyss become the terrifying place as mentioned in descriptions. The seemingly harmless chain Oz encountered was pretty amusing as well.

The music included fit well and I like them, hopefully there are still more. The animation on the other hand doesn’t look that bad now, I’ve probably gotten used to the colours used. I’m inclined to comment on Alice possessing Oz, it’s scary that she cuddles herself and smirks in her original body but it was completely comical when she did that in Oz’s body.

The anime is currently covering a chapter per episode, given it’s a 2 cour series it may only be able to reach volume 7 at this rate, viewers may be in for speeding up of plot development halfway through the series.

P.S.
B-rabbit seems better when in appears briefly in bright lighting than in last episode’s fight scene. It’s front teeth showing was an added bonus which makes it seem more likeable.

B-rabbit is definitely horrid-looking. It’s overly bulky though meant to be large, and makes Alice a complete joke. It lacks an overpowering presence and wasn’t that much intimidating. The manga version of B-rabbit is more pleasing to the eyes in my opinion. B-rabbit in the anime would be better off being a promotional mascot. For that, the fight scene seemed completely illogical.

A Short Comparison…

Alice floating around would look much better than an oversized humanoid rabbit. In any case, B-rabbit has to stay since it is a significant part of the plot.

The fighting was bad due to B-rabbit yet good due to it being illogical. The people B-rabbit was engaged in combat with were able to parry attacks from it. That is obviously close to impossible, the size of B-rabbit’s weapon is likely to add a large amount of additional force to each swing and disarm the opponent upon hitting his blade. That’s simply too illogical. The fight scene was an addition from the manga so I would assume it would be better if the scene were not present or made more believable.

B-rabbit aside, the first 2 episodes were great. I’m slowly realising some things I didn’t in the manga, such as the reason why Gilbert protected the person in red. I’ll probably have more chances to speculate when the anime reaches the third volume’s material; I’ve only read the manga till the third volume and given up continuing reading the manga in traditional chinese.

First off, the OP wasn’t that bad. The ED, however, just didn’t fit into the backdrop of the show well in my opinion. It sounded too Japanese for a story set in possible Europe. The music used in the preview was MUCH better than the OP and ED combined.

Secondly, I didn’t quite like the animation. The characters just weren’t as easily likable as their manga counterparts, perhaps it was the ill-defined hair which look too cluttered. Also, the colour contrast was occasionally irritating.

Well, it did not quite meet up to my expectations but the anime remained relatively faithful to the manga. I enjoyed how extra information from later manga chapters was set in, such as the Tragedy of Sabrié. I’m currently at the start of the third volume and the Tragedy of Sabrié has only been briefly mentioned in a line. Perhaps there would be an original ending to the anime since future plot elements are brought in in the first episode. Or perhaps it’s just an attempt to make the story more cohesive and understandable.

Anyway, I’m glad that I’m watching the anime adaptation of Pandora Hearts. I’m also getting hunches about Oz’s sin from the ED. I’ll continue reading the manga meanwhile. Hopefully the animation would improve in the subsequent episodes, and more engaging bgm are played.s I was

I haven’t posted in a week or so, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the final 2 episodes of Clannad~ After Story either. I’ll be watching Pandora Hearts and K~ON this season but I’ll only be making posts about Pandora Hearts.

I read the first volume of Pandora’s Heart yesterday and I must say that its plot is interesting. The story goes about as such, Oz Bezarius turns fifteen and is prosecuted at his coming-of-age ceremony for a sin, his very existence. Oz is placed in a prison known as the ‘Abyss’, and meets Alice, a ‘chain’ he met in a flashback caused by a mysterious stopwatch he found on a grave. As the plot unfolds, Oz learns more about Alice, the Abyss, Pandora, and most possibly his sin.

I like the concept of unraveling mysteries with a sprinkle of action in between, its not too shabby in my opinion, I’ll watch Pandora Hearts. I just hope the music in the anime is just as impactful as the one in its PV.

The concluding episodes of Asu no Yoichi weren’t too shabby in my opinion, a second season might be required to tie up loose ends.

There was a fair amount of humor involved in the final episodes, from the maids who wield guns which shoot cork to the butler clones which repeat themselves. It was also amusing that Yoichi converted Saginomiya in an instant and overpowered him.

Other than that, 11 and 12 failed to further develop any relationships between the characters as they were focused on Ibuki’s rescue, hence leaving the pairings unresolved. I don’t think that Asu no Yoichi had much fanservice other than the beach episode, however, it finally dawned upon me that Tsubasa is charming in her work outfit only after the final episode. Her fighting outfit on the other hand is just plain ugly in my opinion.

Nevertheless, the series as a whole was good considering that Yoichi’s lines are interesting at times and the humor is relatively decent. I wouldn’t be sure if there would be a second season as the anime adaptation makes me think that it’s a one-shot deal with the merging of several parts of the manga.

Anyway, who’s the person who appeared shortly after Yoichi and gang fell into the lake. Does this indicate a second season? D:

What an impactful final episode. It’s interesting to see that many implications are used to advance the plot smoothly and effectively.

The episode plunged straight into serious drama which didn’t seem all that serious but still emotional. That answers one of my primary concerns from the previous episode that the episode might advance in a similar fashion to Toaru Majutsu no Index, where characters reveal plot details without a reason to.

Toradora caught me off my guard more than usual this time round. Everything was resolved without compromising the pacing of the episode, especially with the implied plot details. One of my favorite scenes of this episode was when Ryuuji’s situation was compared to his father’s. It was hinted that Ryuuji was hurting Yasuko by leaving her even before she mentioned it explicitly. I thought it was much more emotional that merely having the lines below.
“Why are you crying?” -Ryuuji
“I’m afraid you may run too!” -Yasuko

I never thought that Taiga would abandon her life at school and with Ryuuji to resolve issues with her family. It was absolutely paramount in Taiga’s realisation of her true self would never have been possible. It also served as a better conclusion to her ignoring her family and staying; an overly romantic and potentially cheesy one. It also further elaborated Ryuuji’s love for her and made way for repetition extremely romantic and poignant lines, which finally make sense at the end of Toradora.

I must say I felt a tad bit depressed when the credits rolled, I thought the two would never meet again. The epilogue which I thought was non-existent started playing then, it cheered me up definitely. The epilogue was memorable and it made the story of Toradora feel like a legend and much more significant and spectacular than it already is.

I can’t help but to yearn for OVAs to ensue. Possible content I would be looking for would include focus on the lives of the characters after the graduation, a NotoxKihara side-arc, and perhaps if Ryuuji is still determined not to join college.

Scary kids, this scene was too hilarious.

This was a pretty decent episode setting aside the usual problems such as villains revealing their plan or past to the protagonists. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when Shelley explained her rationale of attacking Index. Though it is understandable that there would be difficulty explaining Shelley’s past, I thought the scene would have been much better if she didn’t explain it that comprehensively and left it vague.

I thought the episode was in a nutshell good because the animation quality was amazing. Perhaps it’s just me but the city landscape is beautiful. Hyouka somehow attained inexplicable inhuman strength and the episode did serve as a decent prologue for the second season since many things are hinted at and a new character was introduced.

At least this season of Toaru Majutsu no Index managed to introduce a villain for the next, Aleister Crowley. We could probably expect Season 2 to dive into the issue instead of having random arcs which may not be relevant like the Deep Blood arc. The Deep Blood arc spend approximately 3 episodes introducing Himegami whom I assume is absolutely necessary to the main plot of Science meeting Magic. As of now we don’t even know much about her. Hopefully I could be proven wrong in the following season.

I could use more coverage of Accelerator, hence I look forward to the next season reasonably much.

P.S. Would someone explain this illogical happening?

I must admit my jaw dropped when I watched this week’s installment of Toradora. I would never have thought that things would become as extreme as what happened.

Ryuuji proposed leaving the city and returning to marry when he turns 18 in two months’ time. That was a completely rash decision in my opinion, how are they to face the people who search for them during the two months when they return? At least, this complements the swift change of events — Ryuuji changing from being uncertain about his feelings to being confident that he could get married to Taiga. A certain amount of excitement is injected into the plot when Ryuuji and Taiga are “on the run”.

I thought Ya-chan’s insturctions for Ryuuji were oddly similar to Sanae’s from Clannad; Ditch the kid and leave him with a suggestion on a place to go to. He’ll be brainwashed at the specified tourist hotspot by old people. The situation is remotely similar to what happened in Clannad.

I’m glad that Ryuuji and Taiga now admit their love. This vast improvement occurred in a matter of minutes in this episode so I thought that was weird, but justifiable since they were literally dating each other daily. I always that Toradora would end when that occurs but I was wrong. Ryuuji’s financial background does play a huge role in the final arc. It partly caused Ryuuji and Taiga’s belief that there was opposition to their relationship (miraculously), and they planned to leave the city. Quite unfortunately they were redirected to Ryuuji’s grandparents instead of a hotel where they would have some hot steamy sex.

Anyway, we might learn more about Ryuuji’s father in the next episode, I’ve been wondering all this time if he was actually a good person or just another good-for-nothing. Still, I don’t get how a visiting his grandparents would change Ryuuji’s relationship with Taiga significantly. I’m probably wrong here as Toradora never failed to surprise me in recent episodes. I just hope the conclusion is witty, sound and incorporates a tinge of poignant emotions. I have my fingers twisted.

Moral of Toradora! 24 — keep away from society and return at marriageable age to get married