Korova Milk Bar

Peace Maker Kurogane is one I finished this morning. The synopsis at Anime News Network is a little misleading, in my opinion, however. My Anime List has what I think is a more accurate synopsis.

This is another one that really could have been told in half the number of episodes (13 vs. 24). Up until episode 22, it didn’t really feel like the story was actually going to go anywhere. All of the other characters were just kind of swirling around Tetsunosuke, while he basically did nothing. Most of the episodes are filled with Tetsunosuke either whining, or getting into trouble by goofing off. It doesn’t even really feel like he’s trying to become a full member of the Shinsengumi, which was the whole premise behind the series.

When Tetsunosuke finally gets to confront the person he thinks is responsible for killing his parents, the guy has no clue what Tetsunosuke is talking about. We never really find out who killed Tetsunosuke’s parents, or why. We also never get to find out why Tetsunosuke is referred to as being “tainted”.

Unless you enjoy watching anime with whiny main characters that complain all the time, and always seem to be saying “why me”, I’d skip this one.

Finished watching Oban Star-Racers on Thursday. It’s not bad over-all, but definitely glossed over the more interesting bits. I found myself being more interested in what was up with the temples all over the galaxy, who built them, why they’re in ruins. You do end up finding some things about them, and very little about their creators, but not until the last couple of episodes.

Every time there was a race, I kept feeling like I was watching pod racing from Star Wars: Episode 1. Eva/Molly’s “Star-Racer”/ “Pod racer” felt a lot like Sebulba’s.

Even though it’s 26 episodes, they probably could have told the same story in 13, without losing any actual content. There was a lot of focus on Eva/Molly’s “emo” moments, which got a little annoying after a while.

There is a pretty decent, unexpected surprise (at least for me), at the very end, involving one of Eva/Molly’s love interests.

Probably not a show I’d bother watching again, nor one that I would recommend anyone go out of their way to watch. If this one falls in your lap for some reason, it’s worth watching at least a couple of episodes to give it a try, though.