Mawaru Penguindrum Episode 3 and 4 Review

Dat face. With dat outfit.

Episode 3:
The search for the penguin drum continues as the boys continue to monitor Ringo. Himari's possessor/alien thing/penguin hat decides to remind the two brothers of the consequences they will receive for ignoring  her request for the penguin drum by briefly killing Himari off (and bringing her back to life after the two have learned their lesson). Ringo is given a bit more background, featuring her family life and obsession with curry. Oh yeah, and there was this:

*Sparkles*

There's a lot more symbolism in this episode (as if the opening and ending videos didn't have enough, not that symbolism is a bad thing), and, I'm going to take a guess here and say that Ringo's diary is the penguindrum. I may be wrong, but seeing as it appears in the opening and Ringo is always seen carrying it around with her, it's most likely plot-related. Anyway, Ringo is coming off to be a rather...interesting character. She isn't really a creepy stalker, completely, and she has her cute little moments here and there (though, not as much as Shoma or Himari). A new character, Yuri, Keiju's girlfriend, is also introduced. Ringo, who had planned to surprise Keiju with her homemade curry...DOES.NOT.TAKE.THIS.WELL. Before leaving Keiju's home, she switches her curry with Yuri's and takes her leave (forgetting to retrieve her shoes in her haste, foreshadow~).

Uh, yeah...

Himari also gets more screen time (yay!) and the two end up becoming friends after Himari's penguin accidentally collides with Ringo and her curry. And thus, Kanba and Shoma start planning their next course of action...
First off, the part where Himari was wearing a cute cow costume was just fudging adorable afaghkgahfsvc (at least until she briefly died). Second, I still think that Ringo was probably dropped when she was a baby. Third, I am so glad that this series is running for more than 20 episodes, because I cannot handle another short 11-episode anime series (*cough*No.6*cough*). The animation is still nice, fluid, consisted, and colorful. The characters and (especially) the penguins are alot of fun to watch, and the voice-acting is top-notch.

Himari looks so cute with this hairstyle.

This episode gets:

It's been a while since I've seen a night cap...

Episode 4:
Ringo and Himari have gotten quite close and are shown cooking together at the start of the episode. While Kanba does his own "thing", Shoma is tasked with keeping an eye on Ringo. Sadly, Himari doesn't do much in this episode again, and the main focus is Ringo and her obsession with curry and Keiju, again.There was also a skunk, which might be something symbolic, which is something this show seems fond of using. Oh yeah, and Ringo's over-the-top old-school shoujo-esque imagination spots. And singing. Lots of it.

Fabulous Max~

 Ringo was kind of, okay, really annoying in this episode. And its pretty hard to get me to dislike a character (unless they're meant to be disliked), so I'm hoping that Ringo's character develops into something more likeable as the series progresses. One of my main gripes is how Ringo kept talking down on Shoma (precious waifu~), blaming him for all of her mishaps, and the fact that almost every time she gets an internal monologue, the words "Tabuki-san~". There was also alot of ship tease between Shoma and Ringo, so if that girl doesn't straighten her act together, I am not jumping ship.

Oh No.1, you lovable sex maniac you...

Kanba has troubles of his own in the form of ex-girlfriends. It would also seem that he's dealing with something related to the Penguindrum on his own...Anyways, back to happy picnic time a crazy stalker girl's Ringo's little fantasies. Something unexpected: Yuri is EVILZ. Well, not really, but she most certainly has a dark side. But Ringo will not give up! DESTINY! Though her little plan results in her nearly drowing in a lake and getting saved by Shoma while his penguin watched with a fish in its mouth.

The penguin kind of ruins the silhouette, but its forgivable. Everything's better with penguins.

Another solid episode with a another huge plot twist at the end. This show just loves dropping huge bombs at the end of each episode. And the singing...Just, the singing... This was an over-all fun, comedic episode that poked fun at cliche old-school shoujo series and had stalking groups of birdwatchers. As annoying as Ringo is, she does have a promise and I really do hope that she gets some character develop (which I'm sure this show will have time for). Whatever Kanba's up to also shows promise...
This episode gets:

Ikoku Meiro No Croisee Episode 3 and 4 Review

Claude's imagine spots are so cute.

Episode 3:
Claude learns more about Yune's culture, though he does misinterpret most of her explanations. The little shota from the first episode is shown again, but we still don't know much about him as Claude discourages Yune from making contact with him. He then lectures her on not being too "friendly" with people she doesn't know well, especially street children. Later, we are introduced to two new characters: Alice and her older sister, Camille. They are both the daughters of the wealthy Blanche family responsible for running most of the surrounding stores out of business.The two also have an older brother, but we have yet to be introduced to him. Alice, a fangirl of all things Japanese, is revealed to be the one responsible for purchasing Yune's mother's kimono.  Elsewhere culture clash session, and Claude goes off to sell his latest sign, leaving Yune in charge.Oscar comes back not long after and Yune goes after Claude, umbrella in tow, when she realises that it will rain soon.

Alice annoys me so far.

And now I'm hungry.

Yune earns a few stares from the passing Parisians with her foreign umbrella. Aside from the backgrounds, another thing I love about this show is the sounds. In the first episode, we had Yune's disting sandal clanking. This time, we're treated to the soothing sound of rain which resonate through Yune's traditional Japanese umbrella. Elsewhere, Claude stops by the stationary shop on his way home to buy proper paper from Yune to write letters with. He bumps into Yune on the way out, and the two share the umbrella along the way. Claude comments that "Rain doesn't last long in Paris". Yune, (adorably) flustered by this information, seems set on apologizing a thousand times again. Claude, however, points out how nice the rain sounds on Yune's umbrella. The two share a cute little moment together that's topped off by a pretty sunset.

SO. DANG. MOE.

I don't know why, but I felt compelled to cap this.

Another adorable episode, the relaxing type that just wants to make you unwind. Which is a good thing, considering that Natsume Yuujinchou was the only other show that made me feel relaxed on a regular basis, it's good to find another show to just sit back and enjoy. Claude and Yune's dynamic reminds me of the protective older brother and his adorable younger sister type of relationship, which I'll admit, isn't anything new, but it's not too over-used either. And seeing them together like this gives me warm fuzzies.
This episode gets:

Episode 4:

That poor butler, having to put up with someone like Alice everyday.

 In this episode, Alice's butler tells her about Yune, and she doesn't hesitate to send out an invitation. Claude initially declines, believing that it may be too soon for Yune to attend a party. But Alice doesn't give up and barges into the store the following day. Meanwhile, Claude and Yune have another culture clash session involving baths. Japanese take baths on a regular basis, Parisians on the other hand...Not so much. That night, Claude accidentally walks in on Yune with her make-shift bath. They make a mess of things, but since Yune's only, like, eight, we don't really see much of her body (thank God, I'd rather not enjoy some lolicon-fanservice anime) other than her little back. The next day, Alice and Yune finally meet. She immediately falls for Yune's adorableness, though she doesn't seem to be fond of Claude.

I'd react the same way if I met Yune for the first time too.

I immediately recognized Alice's voice actress to be Aoi Yuuki, and let me just say, she can make her voice really high pitched. And I thought she was high-pitched as Ichigo from Yumeiro Patissiere, but that's nothing compared to how giddy and hyper Alice's voice is. Anyway, back to the episode. Alice takes Yune to visit her home, she learns more about Japan and tries to convince Yune to dump Claude and live with her. Yune, being the sweetie that she is, refuses the luxurious lifestyle and the opportunity of taking back her mother's kimono for free. She returns home to Claude, Alice in tow, and makes the three the Japanese stew she promised to make Claude earlier.

;-;

D'aaaaaawwwww

 What I really liked about this episode was the way they showed Yune's stubborn and determined side. Her growing relationship with Claude is also a key role in this episode as well. The fact that Yune was willing to throw away such a luxurious lifestyle just goes to show how much she's grown to care for Claude, and vice-versa. Claude, on his part, had a worried expression the entire time Yune was gone. Alice, on the other hand, may actually be a good addition to the cast, if only for acting as Yune's foil (at least for now).

This episode gets:

1/2

Gintama Episode 217 and 218 Review

And some water, while you're at it.

Yay! I'm not dead! I know what you're thinking, my few readers, "Another unannounced hiatus?!" I have a good explanation for that...I have a DELL. And it's charger broke down again, so I had to wait for God knows how long for it to arrive in the mail. No, I did not get distracted with playing Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World or finishing up the summer homework I ignored for the past two months...Okay, on to the review!
Episode 217:
Since it's summer now, Gintama takes this opportunity to do a pool episode. Hasegawa gets a new job as a lifeguard, but makes the mistake of asking Gin to help him out. Kids are traumatized, Tsukuyo exhibits how much of a cool big sis she can be, we find out that Kyubei is actually more developed then Otae (despite being a reverse trap), Katsura continues to be Katsura, and the stalker trio show up. Things go incredibly wrong from there.

Fabulous~

Poor guy never catches a break. On a side note, how did he catch fish in a pool?! You know what, never mind...

This won't end well.

The usual insanity ensues and then the shogun shows up and he's made into a butt monkey all over again. Matsudaira, sadly, only gets a brief appearance as well. For one, he doesn't have any trunks, so he ends up swimming in his briefs. His dirty briefs.There are some attempts at fanservice, but this show doesn't even take stuff like that seriously. In the end, we're treated to butt shots of the male cast. But on the bright side, the shogun actually enjoyed himself and leaves the pool feeling satisfied. This was by all means a funny episode, just not the funniest out there. I know that toilet jokes are pretty common in this show, but seriously? I think we had enough of those dirty brief jokes from the Hot Springs Arc. I'm not all that surprised that the Shogun ended up naked again, but expandable briefs? Where does Sorachi get this stuff?!

Hey! It's Taka-tin! Hey, hey! Taka-tin!

The highlights of this episode was seeing Tsukuyo in cool big sis mode around Seita (who was also a welcome sight since he hasn't been in the show for a while). Katsura's random surfacing to the water moments were also downright hilarious. But, seriously, they have to at least give us a break on those toilet jokes.
This episode gets:

Ah, the great fourth wall has been broken once gain.

Episode 218:
This episode's entire plot revolve around eating a crab. No, seriously. Feeling generous for once, Otose decides to share some leftover crab with the Yorozuya trio. Sadly, she only gives them one to share. And then, it's every man for himself in the battle for crab meat (or whatever that white stuff is). This isn't the first time the show has pulled off this type of episode. Previous episodes had the group fight over hot pots, nabe, and meat. But those previous episodes had a larger cast, and were just plain funnier...

Leave it to Gin to casually jack up history.

So then, Kondou's the culprit?

Now, don't get me wrong. This episode was still pretty funny, just not fall over your chair funny. In fact, I started spacing out in some of the battle-esque dream sequences. Those battle allusions were an interesting idea, and the logic being used in this entire episode was also pretty funny in its own right. But the ending was predictable, with Kagura one-upping Gin and Shinpachi again because they ignored her thinking that she was just a harmless kid. This stunt was pulled in the previous food-centered episodes, so you'd think the two of them would have prevented making this mistake again.

No comment.

I thought Daigoro was that kid from the factory episode...

The inner monologues between Gin and Shinpachi were one of the few highlights in the episode, but nothing new. I would have liked to hear Kagura's thoughts as well, but the fact that she lacked her own inner monologues and was omitted from the battle scenes practically screamed: SHE'S GONNA WIN AGAIN!!!
The ending was actually unexpected, though. The crab paste princess sacrifices herself to save the trio's friendship and in the end, the three of them decide that crab chips taste better than the real deal.

They get extra points for another Castle in the Sky reference.

This episode gets:

Nichijou Episodes 16 and 17

The taste of defeat.

I'm finally back from my trip, which means that I'll be dishing out a bunch of lump reviews. Expect alot of these as I'll also be attending to my neglected summer homework before school starts. Anyway, on to Nichijou!
Episode 16:
Yuuko checks out a new cafe, but has know idea how to order her coffee. It's one thing to not know what a doppio is (this is the first time I've heard of the term myself), but to not know the difference between small and tall? Oh, Yuuko. The skit that follows is much funnier, with Mio owning three people and a goat in an attempt to hide her yaoi art work. Mio just keeps getting better and better.

A pre-schooler owning his poor old grandpa in baseball, you don't see that everyday...

Mio is too awesome for words.

This girl is just so fudging awesome.

The second skit is my favorite thus far, and now, Mio is my favorite character in this series. Moving on, the next skit has the girls studying in a fast food joint (no, it was not WcDonalds). The main conflict was that both Mio and Mai needed an eraser. Yuuko wouldn't lend it to them unless they guessed which one of her hands hid it. Of course, Mai figured out how to trick Yuuko into telling them which hand was right. Turns out, she had a character eraser this whole time. The punch line? Character erasers are useless. This wasn't as funny as the skit before it, but it's always nice to see Mai make a butt monkey out of Yuuko. The final skit had Yuuko and Professor meeting for the first time. And it was adorable, to say the least. Yuuko and Professor really hit it off, and the end was actually pretty touching.

The two most immature characters in the show finally meet.

This episode didn't start with one of its best skits, but what preceded after that were all genuinely enjoyable. Mio gets better and better with each episode, and Mai gets weirder and weirder (not that there's anything wrong with that). Yuuko's line at the end of the episode, though not exactly original ("Nano is Nano"), was still pretty sweet. The girls' growing friendship with Nano is also fun to watch. I also hope that Professor will get to interact with Mai and Mio soon, and that we'll see more skits with her and Yuuko together.
This episode gets:

It looks like an arrow.

Episode 17:
The first skit was pretty boring, much like the previous episode's opener, but the skit that follows was...well...Okay, first we have Minorou Shiraishi voicing Sakamoto, now we have Daisuke Ono voicing Crow?! Wow KyoAni, just, wow. Anyway, Professor catches Crow and puts Sakamoto's scarf around him. Apparently, this whole time, the scarf was what allowed Sakamoto to talk. Crow, with his smooth voice and polite personality, immediately wins over the two girls, much to Sakamoto's annoyance. He eventually leaves by the end of the day and the girls bid him a tearful farewell. Sakamoto was pretty upset with his departure too, since Crow forgot to return his scarf. Another enjoyable skit, but what really carried it was hearing Daisuke Ono charm the two girls in the form of a crow. It's no wonder why the guy usually plays the role of bishonens.

Winter already?

The next skit plays out like a silent movie, except, it wasn't in black and white. Mio, Yuuko, and Nano are all freaking out over the last two cards for their tower of cards. Mai, as usual, doesn't give a crap. Nano eventually falls asleep and Mai eventually starts trolling Mio and Yuuko. In the end, the ceiling light falls on the tower of cards. Yuuko places the last two cards on the ceiling light, cheers, and Mio just looks depressed. Mai doesn't care. Okay, this was actually pretty funny mostly thanks to Mio and Yuuko's reaction faces to all of Mai's trolling. Especially this:

It's heart-stopping.

The next skit stars Ms. Nakamura. In an attempt to capture Nano, she ends up capturing (and scarring) that poor mohawk-boy again. Meanwhile, Makoto and that one teacher that has a crush on his sister finally meet. It turns out that Makoto has a bit of a dark side behind that sweet face and  he decides to black-mail the teacher into becoming the Igo Soccer Club's adviser. Annaka comes into the picture, and its EH?!?! all over again. The episode ends with Yuuko contemplating on whether or not she should continue playing the straight man in all of Mai's eccentric actions. This proves to be an extremely hard task because this is Mai we're talking about. In the end Yuuko (unsurprisingly) gives in and decides to continue being Mai's straight man. Yuuko is satisfied and Mai is pleased. Everyone else is freaked out. I will never understand the relationship between these two. While we're on the subject, I'd also like to see Mai and Mio interact more. Not once have I ever seen a skit with just the two of them.

It's always the nice ones.

Yuuko's straight man responses stun potential crimes.

Aside from the episode's opener, the skits in this episode were all enjoyable to watch. It was nice to see some of the other students again, but the crow skit really made my day. The last skit with Yuuko and Mai seemed a little tedious at first, but it worked out in the end.
This episode gets: