(Where Wraithstrike Watches) The Anime thread

[Wraithstrike]

I'm going to have two concurrently running Where I Watch threads going.

My Anime review plans for this year are Suite Precure and Xros Wars, as done by Aquaman and company from the Outlaw Star reviews.

Both of these series will wind up in this thread, while the Sentai and Ranger reviews will go in one thread in the Henshin Justice subforum.

The adventure begins on January 15th. Come share it with me!

 

[Wraithstrike]

Where I Watch: Suite Precure Episode 1: Suite Precure are Born!

Blue Beetle sits in Aquaman's lair, looking around at the banners for the Superhero Viewing Club. He's early, by almost ten minutes. But he was told to be here by Aquaman, So now he just waits.
Scarab: *indistinguishable beeps and bleep*
Blue Beetle: No, I'm not going to 'just settle in.' I'm a guest, and I'm waiting for the others.
Aquaman enters from the east, carrying a large platter of sandwiches.

Arthur: "Ah, Jaime! Welcome! I was just getting some snacks ready for the party. Did you bring something interesting for us to watch?"
Blue Beetle deactivates his armor and helps Aquaman move the sandwiches to a table.

Jaime: "Yup. It's much newer than Outlaw Star, but I'm sure we're going to enjoy it. Here, take a look!"

Arthur: "Suite Precure. Did Stargirl suggest this one?"

Jaime: "Nope. Actually, this recommendation came from Metamorpho. It's a show about girls who kick butt with the power of music. Hey, where are the others?"

Arthur: "They are on their way. We'll have Plastic Man, the Firestorm boys and Black Canary joining us for the opening of this Anime Club."

Jaime: "You make it sound like we're all still in high school."

Arthur: "If you can come up with a better name, I'm willing to hear it."

Jaime: "I don't know. How about 'Fighting Frames?' Or the 'Super Cel.'

Scarab: "Beep-boopity-beep."

Jaime: "Yes, thank you, Scarab. It was a pun."

Arthur: "If we're a group of heroes just enjoying good animation, then I see no reason why we can't call it the Super Cel. Well named, Jaime."

The remaining heroes enter. Of them all, Plastic Man looks the most beat up.

Eel: "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate fighting Solomon Grundy? Because it certainly bears repeating. So, what are we watching today?"

Jaime: "It's called Suite Precure. If everybody's ready..."

Firestorm transforms down into Jason and Ronnie

Ronnie: "So, this is a magical girl show? Should Zatanna be here for this?"
Aquaman pops the dvd into the player.
Jason: "She said she'd show up at some point. So let's get into it. Now, if I may geek out here, even if they're not animating this by hand, this opening bit is amazing. We go from rippled on a pool to properly shown perspective in the water. That takes some real talent."

Eel: "This is certainly an interesting world. It's based all around the performance of a song of happiness...though the fact that the musical instruments have eyes is just terrifying. And here's the first major plot important character, Queen Aphrodite of Major Land."

Dinah: "Peace and Happiness come through the music, which is performed by a little a cat fae named Hummy."

The music itself is self-aware and tries to scatter throughout the world, and it requires a yearly performance to keep the music in one place."

Jason: "Enter Mephisto, the ruler of Minor Land. He starts scrambling the notes around to make it a Melody of Sorrow. I'm sorry. Between the color-blind outfit and the bonespikes, it's going to be really hard to take this guy seriously. However, he does have his own cat to perform the Melody of Sorrow, a cat named Siren."

Dinah: "Once Siren starts singing an appropriately haunting song, the audience has the joy stripped out of them. Aphrodite notices that as the song is played, the notes get locked in their position, making this Melody of Sorrow permanent. So she summons the notes to her in a grand display of light. She launches the Notes into the world so Mephisto can't take them."

Arthur: "Mephisto's got his own minions, Trio the Minor."

Jaime: "I don't know. Wouldn't it work better with a real barbershop quartet? The trio is sent out after the notes, and Hummy is sent to follow and find those who love music, the legendary warriors Precure."

Arthur: "Let's talk about this opening. We start with a scale, and then it kicks into rock music. And it introduces us to our two leads: Hibiki Hojo, the athletic type and Kanade Minamino, who prefers cooking. I wonder if their friendship is based on a fated encounter... As the opening shows these two girls in their everyday lives, the tempo changes again, as they start fighting."

Dinah: "Their outfits aren't that bad for fighting. They don't look restricted at all. Their hair might be more of a problem, but it's got some kind of magic keeping it off the ground. You know, I'm pretty sure that in this case, the city it's based out of doesn't exist."

Jaime: "Maybe it's set in the indeterminate future?"

Dinah: "Possibly. So our heroines attend Aria Private Academy. Hibiki's giving us an introduction to herself. She loves sports, hates to study and...pause it for a moment.."

Scarab: "Beep-beep-whirr."

Jaime: "Hey, you take that back. Hector's not a scatterbrain! So that's Hibiki, and now comes the introduction to Kanade..."

Aquaman: "She's one of those who get dangerous when she's angry, which will probably happen now that she's spotted Hibiki stealing her sweets. This kind of argument seems to happen a lot between these two. Hibiki storms out, and both of them wonder why they fight so much. There's also a difference of opinion on how their childhood went. Hibiki is certain that they had fun together, but Kanade is certain that it was nothing but fighting."

Dinah: "I think this music is the common point of interest for these two. Hibiki confirms it at the concert hall. They used to sing together, but she's afraid that things can't go back to the way things were."

Ronnie: "I'd like to tell this Ellen chick that she's wrong a hundred ways about friendship being pointless. She's got to be the evil cat, especially since she can see the note in Hibiki's heart. Yup, it's Siren. She's going to take the music from Hibiki's heart to power their Song of Sorrow? That's kind of dark, isn't it?"

Jason: "Ronnie, have you ever seen a magical girl show? The villains are more likely to do dark things than do what we'd consider supervillain stuff. In the previous Precure series, they ripped people's souls out to make monstrous automatons."

Dinah: " The little airheaded cat Hummy is there. Kanade arrives with a record the girls used to listen to, and she gets caught up in the talking cats and Trio the Minor. Both of them wind up getting attacked for their emblems, and both manage to repel their attackers through some kind of previously mentioned harmony."

Eel: "One of those notes from the symphony is hiding out on the record, and Siren calls forth a Negatone...

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting the monster to look that fearsome, but we're only seeing it in profile. Now the girls remember the importance of the record. Once again, the girls harmonize as they declare that this offense is unforgivable. The music creates a pair of devices so they can become Precures."

Dinah: "The transformation phrase is 'Let's Play! Precure Modulation!' Which the girls use to literally prevent the monster from going to town."
Dinah bobs her head in time with the transformation music.

Eel: "Something I like here is that their hair changes color and length. It works better than a mask for keeping a secret identity. 'Playing the Frantic Rhythm, Cure Melody! Playing the tranquil Melody, Cure Rhythm! Resound! Our Suite! Suite Precure!' Now that's an introduction. And it's also the end of the episode. We're going to see the first fight next time."

 

[Wraithstrike]

Suite Precure Episode 2: The Precures Might Be Splitting Up Already.

Arthur: "Before we move along, anyone have a crisis to deal with?"

Jaime: "Nope. I've got Guy covering for me."

Eel: "Metamorpho for me. Let's move on. The girls, while unified in their desire to get back their record, aren't exactly synced up in their fighting for two minutes. Because they can't sync up, they lose their power and end up up a tree. And here comes the plot drop."

Dinah: "It seems everybody sees Hummy as an airhead. But the little cat knows how serious the situation is, and tries to motivate the girls to fight the real villains."

Jaime: "What's really painful about this scene is that Hibiki wants to fight, but Kanade is certain that she'll just be dead weight. Kanade's dead set on believing that she can't do anything and their friendship is over."

Arthur: "And during all this, the monster's still getting closer to town. The Trio and Siren are having a discussion with Mephisto about the way to recover Notes. And the best way is to just keep the girls from being around each other."

Jaime: "Kanade and Hibiki figure out what happened on the day they drifted apart with the help of two girls in a similar situation. It was all a mixup. The Trio and Siren take this moment to attack the people in the park."

Eel: "It all boiled down to a failure to communicate, and now the girls are ready to get back into the fight. And now they're synced up, and open up a six-pack on the Negatone! They're using a twin beam attack called Passionato Harmony. It puts the monster to sleep, returning it to a record. Hummy calls the note from the record and it jumps into one of the Fairy Tones. That's how it's going to be through the whole series, isn't it?"

Arthur: "Not at all. They're likely to get weapons and power upgrades, new allies and the villains will occasionally win. I think it's a bit of a shock for us to come into this off of Outlaw Star, where almost nothing played to formula. But so far, it has been rather enjoyable."

 

[Wraithstrike]

Suite Precure Episode 3: Hibiki hates Music

Aquaman is called away by a small crisis invovling his brother. He urges the others to stay put and keep watching.

Ronnie: " Like me, Hibiki's got an issue waking up in the morning."

Dinah: "That's not uncommon, Ronnie. Most of these shows have one lead that doesn't like to wake up early. It's not like she has much of a choice in the matter, as her dad is a conductor.

Enter Metamorpho bringing with him eight 2-liter bottles of soda.

Rex: "Hey guys. I miss anything that wouldn't be found by a quick lookup on wikipedia?"

Jaime: "Nope. One of our leads comes from a musical family, though she doesn't seem to like it. And for someone with only a passing interest in music, fate smirks at her by making her live in a city where everything is about music."

Rex: "Ah yes, and here comes Ouji, the blond idol to the schoolgirls. Speaking as a former blonde guy, as far as you know, I can see why the ladies like him. He's performing with Hibiki's father in a concert later, and we have the dramatic setup for this episode."

Eel: "It is biologically impossible to hate music. Even Batman has his own favorite things to listen to. You can see that it stops Hibiki in her tracks when the music starts up. I'm going to lay down a prediction here. What Hibiki hates about music is that the people in her city expect her to become a great musician like her father."

Jaime: "Possibly, Eel. Or maybe it's just that she thinks that's what the people want. Kanade catches up to Hibiki and they hear the sounds of the quintet playing from the school. Wow, that school has some really fine acoustics to allow that."

Dinah: "Ah. Some kind of musical backstory involving a piano. If it's as simple a solution as the third tree problem, this issue won't last very long."

Rex: "Not very long in our terms. But if it happened in the third grade, Hibiki's been sitting on this for a few years now. Wow, it seems to go a lot deeper. Not only is Hibiki's father a conductor and music teacher, her mother is a concert violinist currently on tour in Paris."

Jaime: "I'd probably have the same reaction that 'Ellen' and Trio the Minor are having if I had to hide out in anything resembling 'It's a Small World After All.' But nonetheless, they know about the upcoming concert. Hibiki rushes home to cry, and winds up getting locked in her room. Kanade brings the greatest diplomatic tool known to man. Cake."
Plastic Man picks up a piece of cake and drops it down his throat in one bite.

Eel: "Yeah, you're absolutely right, Jaime. there should be cake at every major peace conference. So, because Hibiki's locked in her room, she's got a captive audience on the other side of the door. With a threat to quit being Precure, Hibiki finally opens up. She had performed flawlessly at the concert, but her father told her 'You weren't really playing that music.'"

Rex: "I get it. Both Hibiki and Ouji were playing for the sake of being praised, not for the music itself. But now Hibiki is out and they're able to get to the concert in time for Siren to show up and claim a note on the cello..."

Dinah: "What I find most frightening about these negatones is two things. In the initial transformation, you can literally see the music being tortured, almost as if someone is pulling a hacksaw over the strings of a violin. And the second is the musical staff that forms external ribs. With the audience crippled by sorrow, it's time for the Precures to step into action."

Eel: "So, they just use this one bit of animation over and over?"

Jaime: "If you've got a working animation for it, use it."

Dinah: "Hibiki's father is immune to the sorrow effect and he paralyzes the Minors with an upbeat tune on the piano. Hibiki finally gets it. and the Precures cover for the escape of the musicians. Another hit from the Passionato Harmony to take out the Negatone and the concert can continue."

Eel: "Got to admit, the answer to the problem wasn't as bad as I thought it was. We're only three episodes in, so I can't say specifically that this was a bad episode. I'll have to see a few more."

 

[Wraithstrike]

Where I Watch Suite Precure Episode 4 The Fighting Spirit Recipe for Kanade
Aquaman returns, with Zatanna behind him.

Zatanna: "Hey, everyone. Looks like you're running low on snacks. Ekac Tae Meht Tel!"
A massive red velvet cake appears on the table in front of the heroes. Plastic Man takes a large chunk.

Plastic Man *mouth full of cake* Mmhhm, a great choice of snack for this upcoming episode."

Zatanna: "You guys are watching Precure? I love this series as a whole, because of how they treat magic as a living thing."

Ronnie: "It's not half-bad, Z. Coming in off of Outlaw Star is wild. So let's get started. Surprising no-one, Kanade works in a family bakery called Lucky Spoon. Kanade's trying to make something artistic, but it's a lost on Hibiki who just eats sweets for the sake of sweets."

Jason: "This scene is a lot like the scene in Ratatouille. Remember how Remy demonstrated how he experiences all the flavor and Emil has the same thing, but muted? Kanade puts her soul into these recipes, and Hibiki only tastes sugar. And the reason for this is because of a contest."

Dinah: "You know, I've been there. Sure, it would be awesome to have a professional celebrity chef tell you you made something awesome, but didn't we just come out of an episode where seeking a professional's praise caused the person to hate their passion?"

Jaime: "They're really more alike than they think. Now Siren's still trying to drive a wedge into their frinedship and she takes the appearance of Kanade's favorite chef. Not a bad shapeshifting. The plan involves a specially made black cream frosting that just drips with evil. Kanade hasn't had time to hone her 'Sense Evil' ability, so the chef's three associates are only vaguely recognized."

Eel: "Ok, hold it. Let me get ahead of this. While Hibiki might not know what kind of work goes into making a beautiful cake, she does praise Kanade's work in one of the two ways that chefs love the most. Hibiki licks the plates clean!"

Jaime: "Hopefully, this is the lesson Kanade will learn. OK, so Hibiki's been eating Kanade's cakes, with and without her permission, for years now. While she might not know what Kanade does, she knows what she likes. And she knows that this evil cake isn't the same kind of thing that Kanade usually makes."

Ronnie: "And as Kanade watches her parents enjoy each others cupcakes, there's a sonic boom as the whole point flies right over her head."

Aquaman: "Harsh, but accurate. And Hibiki gets a chance to tell Kanade the real truth. Just as you said, Jaime. She's been eating these cakes for years. She'll eat any cake that Kanade puts in front of her and tell her honestly if it's good or bad. And what happens when Kanade goes to bake a cake? She winds up making the same cake that Hibiki's loved for years."

Eel: "Once was fine. But having the celebrity chef show up in their school? You're pushing it, Siren. Well, there's a Note on the cake, so it's Negatone time...In full view of the entire baking club. I guess they don't really teach subtlety in Minor Land."

Dinah: "Eel, you wouldn't know subtlety if it kicked your butt."

Eel: "I was a thief, Dinah. I might be over the top now, but I do know how to do things without pomp. It's just not as much fun."

Dinah: "Fair Point. The Precures transform and dodge ballistic strawberries. You know, Ballastic Strawberries would make a great name for a band."

Ronnie: "Oh yeah. That's my jam!"

Ronnie is forced to dodge several pillows thrown at him.

Zatanna: "They get caught in the cake when they try to kick it. But at least Kanade finally got the point. She catches the arm of the monster and kicks the cake Negatone across the field. And the Passionato Harmony kicks the evil right out of the cake. And everyone tries the cake and loves it. What did you guys think of my cake, by the way?"
Aquaman looks to the crumbs left on the table.

Aquaman: "I believe the appropriate response is "'What Cake?'"

 

[Wraithstrike]

Where I Watch Suite Precure Episode 5: The TV Reporter Challenge

Arthur: "So the Precures are fighting some kind of electric squid monster and fail to truly grasp the concept of the power of harmony. I can't expect they would. Even by the timeline of this show, they've only just gotten their rocky friendship back on track."

Jason: "Hummy, in an attempt to be deep, only comes off as tautological. But the little cat suggests they get in sync by performing something together. Hey...what's up with the intro?"

Eel: "It's a promo reel for the summer crossover movie Precure Allstars DX 3. It's a package deal these days. Kids get to go to the theater to basically watch extended episodes of Precure, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai."

Rex: "You know, that's brilliant. Want some extra money when you're not getting enough from advertising and toy sales? Release a movie."

Dinah: "Could we just watch the episode and leave the business side out of it?"

Arthur: "As you wish. So Hibiki's making excuses for why she can't perform with Kanade. It's almost if she's practiced this speech. I must say though. I love the subtle touch in this scene. There's a repeating animation of the lighthouse shining over the water serving as the backdrop for yet another fight."

Eel: "Hey guys, I gotta get going. I'll drop back in at some point, but I gotta watch the baby tonight."
Plastic Man exits.

Dinah: " Hummy shows Hibiki how to use the musical power of the Cure Module to play an ocarina tune. Wow, Hibiki's got an extremely fast metabolism. She's almost as fast as Flash at going from full to hungry. And here it comes. A conversation with Hibiki's mother over skype, and she gets wrangled into doing a local interest story on their city."

Ronnie: "Hey, I'd do a great number of things for unlimited pizza. I guess any chance the girls have at turning it down is gone. And there's the name of the town: Canon. It's been around since 1775? Not bad. However, the girls get in a fight on camera. Ten'll get you twenty the camera's going to be the Negatone this time around."

Arthur: "That's not a fair bet. You saw that in the next episode preview. I think Siren has a fundamental lack of knowledge of how television. Certainly, some people would be hit by the Melody of Sorrow, but certainly not everyone. And as Hibiki tries again, she starts getting into the spirit of the interview, up until her stomach takes over."

Dinah: "I see that Ouji's back, andd he drops a lesson on the girls about the meaning of harmony. As the It's a Small World starts playing, a little girl loses her balloon and Kanade gives Hibiki a boost to catch it. And I think that was caught on camera."

Ronnie: "Oh look, Siren's going for the Mardi Gras look. The girls are fortunately still synced up enough to move in front of the camera to prevent her from singing. But she spots the Note. Why didn't the little airhead cat claim that note?"

Jason: "If Hummy did, the episode would be nine minutes shorter. And here we see the first use of a weaponized zoom lens. All those legs give it quite an impressive vertical, but we've already seen how they can work around it. They got the message and with their superstrength and harmony power, they're able to win the fight."

Arthur: "And in a bit of comic perfection, Siren's big debut was edited out for the broadcast."

 

[Wraithstrike]

Just a little out of character commentary:

The Negatones are seriously the scariest looking monsters of the week I've run across in Precure. It's not enough to take a normal item and give it a humanoid(or Ridley-esque) physique. You gotta add some extra body horror on that.

In each episode, I'm taking a screencap of the moment the Negatone is revealed so I can have a complete collection of freakish monsters to use as opponents in RPG's I run.

 

[Wraithstrike]

Where I Watch Suite Precure Episode 6 Miracle Berthier Born from a Sermon

The Firestorm boys are called out to deal with an emergency and Blue Beetle joins them

Arthur: "Good luck with that. So, Let's move on, shall we?"

Dinah: "In the space of a few minutes, we get the mention of a coming upgrade, and the appearance of two new characters. One is Kanade's little brother, and the other is a really stuck-up little girl. She's probably going to show up as important later on."

Arthur:" What gives you that idea, Dinah?"

Rex: "No, I see it too. She's a blonde girl with glasses. That's enough of a difference in the visuals to make her a main character later on. So, Hibiki has no siblings, and envies those who do. And we see that the girl's name is Ako."

Dinah: "With all the focus they've put on that soccer ball, it's highly unlikely that the Note of the Day is anywhere but there. And after Kanade berates her brother, she says the wrong thing to Hibiki who storms off."

Arthur: "Siblings are trouble. Those who have them without the siblings tryin to overthrow the kindgom are lucky. But it looks like Souta actually wants to do something nice for Kanade and she throws it back in his face."

Dinah: "Oh, looks like I was wrong. The soccer ball's not the target, it's the cupcake box. Time for battle!"

Rex: "The Negatone's going after Souta and locks him in place to hit him with the song of sorrow. Melody moves to stop the Negatone so Rhthym can rescue her brother. She gets through to him and manages to snap him out of the sorrow. And Melody intercedes for two of them."

Dinah: "I get that they wanted to do this power-up. But this was an episode about Kanade learning a lesson. She should have gotten this Miracle Berthier weapon. I do like the Music Round attack."

Arthur: "After the fight Kanade and Hibiki meet with Souta, who gives them a Wasabi Cupcake each. I need to remember that trick for the next time I send food to Orm."

 

[Wraithstrike]

Where I Watch Suite Precure Episode 7 Closing in on Otokichi's Secret

Arthur: "This episode focuses on the strange man who repairs the pipe organ, Otokichi. He's a grandfather and he seems aware that Hummy can talk. He brews up a plan to get the girls to work together, involving a doll his grandkids made for him."

Dinah: "There's a clock reading on the screen to show how much time passes in this adventure. As they look around town, Otokichi rides past them on a velocipede. Ha! The doll is a coin purse and things just get weirder. Between impromptu english lessons and memories of past times on the biggest keyboard in the city, they forget what they were doing. And they're just having fun now"

Rex: " Truly they shall tell stories of the journey through Kanon town for ages to come. For none can navigate their hometown quite like two girls that missed lunch."

Dinah: "Your sarcasm is noted, Rex. Well, the girls found where Otokichi was performing, but left the doll at the beach. And that's where Siren and the Trio are, though the the Trio wanted to claim the note for themselves."

Arthur: "Ah, a sonic blast harmonica. Sounds like one of the Music Meister's tricks. Our heroines have finally found their harmony, and after a really impressive dual dropkick, It''s over to the Miracle Berthier for the Music Round. After 10 hours, they finally get back to Otokichi, who is actually the builder of the pipe organ. He's working to fix it so it can one day play for everyone."

Rex: "I wonder if Batman learned that disappearigng trick from someone like Otokichi..."

Batman's face appears on the communicator

Batman: 'You'll never find out, Rex."

Rex: " Gah! How does he do that?"

 

[Wraithstrike]

Where I Watch Suite Precure Episode 8 Siren's Fake Friend Battle Plan

Arthur: "So this episode focuses on Siren trying to drive a wedge between the two mains. This involves studying Hibiki and figuring out the things that she likes and creating a new identity, Houjou Sakura."

Enter the Flash, Wally West and the Atom, Ryan Choi

Ryan: "Are we late?"

Wally: "Nah, they're only half way through the episode. I got snacks for everyone."

Flash lays out a long spread of snacks on the table.

Dinah: "Are you sure that's enough for everyone, or just your metabolism, Wally?"
Flash looks at the table.

Wally: "Oh man, you're right! I'll get more!"

The table is soon covered with even more snacks, and a second table is spread with a similar amount. Zatanna reaches up and combs the speed lines out of her hair.

Zatanna: "Take a seat, guys. Here's where we stand so far. Two girls with the power of harmony, preventing the world from being plunged into sorrow. We've got a magical cat that's trying to crush their friendship by shapeshifting into the 'perfect friend' for Hibiki, the one with the red hair. This also involves a phone call mimicking the voice of her real friend telling her that the friendship is over. However, the plan is backfiring on her."

Ryan: "As it should. If you try to squeeze yourself into a friendship, you're going to get caught in the emotional fallout. Oh, physical fallout as well, as Siren/Sakura doesn't know how to deal with Judo. When Hibiki falls due to some dirty fighting, it's Kanade that puts the bandage on and giver her back the scrunchie as a lucky charm."

Wally: "It's the fact that the new girl knows about Hummy that clues them into her identity and we're going right to the fight. Wow, even for a thing made from a scrunchie, that monster is frightening. Cure Rhthym figures out that the legs are the weakpoints and Cure Melody can finish it off. I find this is a nice touch. Even though their transformations give them power, wounds that happened before the fact carry over."

Ryan: "Well yeah, you probably wouldn't have access to some kind of healing factor outside the costume. This isn't a bad show at all."