Anime Watch kicks off this week with Gundam Reconguista in G, Psycho Pass, and Terra Formars!

You know what? This was actually a pleasant, entertaining 21 minutes of Psycho-Pass. Held up against the rest of the season, it’s one of the better episodes, but given that there have only been about 2 other good episodes this season, that’s not a good ration at all. Constant complaints aside, let’s jump into this already so I can move on to other series where I bitch and moan, so I can get to the series I praise endlessly!

Picking up exactly where we left off last episode, Mika is dumbfounded and praising the Sibyl System true capabilities (though she’s likely trying to ensure she’s alive for a little while longer to expose Togane and the Chief). Focus then turns to Akane and her relentless hunt of Kamui and trying to learn anything else to help bring him to justice. She has a discussion of what’s known as the “Omnipotence Paradox”. If you’re unfamiliar, the Omnipotence Paradox is asking can God create something that He Himself is incapable of interacting with. The example used here is can He create stone so heavy that even He is unable to lift it? It’s not a new idea that shows or entertainment in general has thrown around, but in this scenario, it’s applied to the Sibyl System’s arrangement.

If God Himself is unable to do anything with his creation, what hope does humanity have; what is it about this particular creation that takes away His power? It truly shows the folly of Sibyl System (something found out in season 1, but it’s a system still in use for whatever reason) and will likely bleed over as the series continues. I recommend reading about the Omnipotence Paradox, as it is a fascinating idea to think and talk about. Bah, that aside, we wrap up the episode with a dinner party and massacre via Koichi Kuwashima, a gentlemen who was actually supposed to be on Kamui’s disastrous childhood flight, and has been nothing but guilty on having avoided it.

Using his connections, he allowed Kamui to take out his long-standing aggressions against those who allowed and benefitted the accident to even take place. As the evidence burns, and Koichi is confronted by Akane and company, Akane is presented a gift: her grandmother’s ear. Livid, she’s pulled off Koichi as we head into the credits, Kamui is still on the move, and planning another plan to cause as much chaos as possible. It was a stirring 21 minutes, but there’s another thing I want to say: why did they have to show Togane killing puppies? Beagle puppies at that, those are my favorite kinds of puppies! It was heartbreaking (and yes, I understand the reason for it) and immediately makes it so that no matter what he will do henceforth, he will be hated forever more! I hate you, Togane, I hate you!

Terra Formars Episode 11

I feel like I really missed an episode of Terra Formars while watching this episode. I’ve been critical of its storytelling since the get-go, but this had me worrying for too long as the episode continued to deliver a personal tale, but about a character we really have zero reason to even care about. That’s about par for the Terra Formars course though, as unfortunate as it sounds.

Keiji Onizuka’s backstory and fight were the primary, singular focus on the eleventh episode, and while it was nice to get background on a character, it’s too late to start this now. Especially when you consider the sheer size of the cast of Terra Formars and how . There are easily about 40 different crew members on this voyage, and although it’s been reduced significantly, there’s no way we’ll get stories on every single one of them; nor should we, as it would be a gigantic waste. This series does indeed work best as a manga than a weekly anime, given the fact it wants to focus on its characters one at a time, but when you’re on a tight schedule to fill only a handful of episodes, spending that much time on rather irrelevant storytelling is a big unwanted things to do.

If you have the budget or even popularity of shows like One Piece, wherein no matter what you throw onscreen, people will tune in, you are more than welcome to air whatever you want, and stuff like this is bearable. But, airing episodes about completely unheard of characters while you’ve already introduced a bunch of other scenarios that are going on, with unknown outcomes, it’s hard to even bring oneself to start to care about anything you’re sharing. Keiji’s story about his boxing career and ill mother, along with why he underwent the surgery and trip to Mars was a succinct, entertaining story, but it still was out of place and ultimately filler for the larger story at hand. This is one of the major flaws of Terra Formars that’s been causing me to find it harder and harder to tune in every week. With only two episodes left, it’s highly unlikely, even if this gets a second cour that I’ll be coming back for more. I had my fill with the OVA series earlier this year, and this series hasn’t done anything for me more than keep me mildly entertained in between strained watching of Psycho-Pass and World Trigger.

Gundam Reconguista in G Episode 11

Do these people ever take a break from fighting? It’s a never ending war between the Pirates/Amerian and Capital armies. Even if the battles are happening in space, it’s still a ludicrous amount of fighting and battles taking place, even for a Gundam show.

We have some new mechs and tactics shown off from both sides this week, as Captain Mask returns to the fray (did he ever really leave the fray, or has anyone at this point?) in the new Mack Knife mobile suit, a sleek, quick machine. Unfortunately, he’s still not too familiar with it, or the low-level space battles, and it shows, as he’s quickly dispatched by Bellri. This is actually an interesting dynamic to introduce into the show: the lack of experience and inability to adjust to the various locales they will fight in, and the effect it has on them. I’d rather it is sporadic and minimal, but I welcome the refreshing take on inexperience they’re showing with the various characters.

Most of this episode focused on the space battle, but set up for more down the line, like we didn’t see it coming already, but the Megafauna and Amerian army are still headed for the Moon, in order to determine the threat that’s lingering there. My bet is that will lead up to the finale, and leave us coming back for the second cour. At the pace we’ve been moving, and the lack of answers already not given at this point, unless the finale leaves me in a really good place, I sadly won’t be returning to Gundam Reconguista in G in 2015.