September 24, 2010
HotD Season 1 Finale: We Will Survive
When we saw those nukes rising up into the sky over the remains of civilized Japan, we already knew that deep shit was already on its way. It might be considered almost unexpected that Japan, the only country that has ever felt the nightmare of the atom’s destructive powers, would be the country to feel it again when civilization is on its death knells.
As fate (or word of god) would have it, the nuke never strikes land and explodes over the atmosphere, sending electron shock waves that, in reality, might simply be worse than simply wiping Japan from the face of the earth. Now with humans still alive, they’ll have to deal with the aftermath of an atmospheric explosion: EMP.
September 13, 2010
HotD Ep11: And By Nuclear Fire Be Cleansed
As the captain puts it so aptly, it is Armageddon.
The final battle between the living and the dead had already begun days ago with the first infected bite, yet by now national governments have concluded that human society as we know it is lost, and all that remains is to wipe away the major centers of infection in one last ditch attempt to save what’s left of a dwindling humanity. All the major powers have in one way or another arrived at this conclusion. The major metropolitan centers are lost to the undead and what’s left of humanity have scattered into the wind, trying to find sanctuary on hell on earth. If Armageddon had not already come, then now it surely has.
So with that most terrifying of weapons unleashed, the world will be cleansed by nuclear fire.
September 7, 2010
HotD Ep10: Family Ties
Mutiny on the Bouty eh? This reference is also from the source material, and as Takashi puts it bluntly, it’s a very apt description of what’s already happening in the Takagi household. It’s not simply an issue of adults vs. kids, us vs. them or whatever, but more of complacency.
It’s only been a day since they arrived and they’re already starting to get soft. While they do know that this sort of peace can’t last forever, it’s a very tempting offer considering the hell that they’ve had to endure up to that point. Regular people would have dropped from exhaustion but they still manage to keep chugging along.
They’ll need to keep chugging along though, when one considers what is about to transpire.
September 4, 2010
Ookami-san to Shichinin etc. Ep10: Man Training
Man training! Man training! Man training!
Of course what it means to be a real man is sort of relative, but we can all agree that while Ryoushi is slowly making his way up the testosterone ladder, there are still a lot of things that need some real working on. Not the least of it all is his phobia which is still getting the better of him especially during important fights. Nearing the end of the series run it’s pretty much expected that it’s time for him to take that level in badass we’ve been waiting for for a while.
I guess it’s a good thing that it came during the time that the proverbial shit has finally hit the fan.
August 31, 2010
HotD Ep9: Bloodlust
Some people lose themselves in fear, too afraid to act or move in their catatonic state and thus the zombies have a free meal. Others take advantage of the situation and enact their own grandiose schemes for the future, as evidenced by Shido’s attempt to manipulate the minds the terrified lesser minds. There are others who, despite the odds, try to make sense of the situation and try to struggle on the desire to survive and live another day. Most of everyone else falls under this.
There will also be others who become intoxicated in the maddening allure of power and control. The violence they unleash on their weaker enemies takes control of them and inside, with every swing and every shot, they realize the need to feed the bloodlust brewing inside.
This would be Saeko.
He's doing it on purpose.
This is Takashi’s second separation from the group and Saeko’s first. While the others have been rescued from their predicament, these two have to find another route towards Saya’s house, which is likely one of the few safe havens left in the city. Their travels take them to a auto shop where they commandeer a amphibious vehicle and seek temporary refuge on the river sandbar which, as the pic above shows, puts him and Saeko on a rather questionable predicament.
It doesn’t take too long for them to try and fight their way to a temple where they plan to seek shelter for the night, and it’s here that Saeko’s problems become readily apparent.
Strike a pose!
Upon seeing little child zombies, she suddenly realizes the directions her own humanity has gone to. She suddenly loses the will to fight and the will to dismember zombies with a wooden sword, and this forces Takeshi to take her and find safe havens in old temple. Here she goes into a little ball and tells him her story. The story of her “true nature” that she thinks does not give her the right to be a “normal girl”.
The monster inside her.
Interpret this as you want.
Getting lost in madness is something more people probably understand than they are willing to admit. Power has always been intoxicating and controlling as the old cliches and sayings say. Saeko admits to how she is no different, as she recalls to Takeshi the first time she realized this when she beat a man who assaulted her to within an inch of her life. Self-defense is one thing, but goading them into assaulting just so you could exercise the deadly force that you possess is another. She comes clean with her bloodlust and calls herself a monster for enjoying it. Unlike Takeshi she’s been like this for a while, and this is the darkness inside her. This is the monster she lets loose when the need to do so becomes uncontrollable.
But doesn’t everyone have something like that? A dark secret in their souls that they are ashamed to speak of, yet are forced to let loose when the caged animal cannot be contained?
This is her madness.
All it takes to get her back to her senses is the Boob Grab of Destiny (BGD). The male equivalent would probably be the Junk Grab of Destiny (JGD) but that isn’t the point right now. While over the top, Takeshi’s speech to her probably was not. We can say that he understands the madness that fuels her drive to fight and live. It’s very easy to get completely lost in the madness of this crazy new world, but it’s much harder to admit it and take control when the need to arises. Takeshi tells her that he will stay beside her despite the madness and the insanity she displays as the zombies converge, and he will help keep her in check in all this fighting so as to keep her “herself”, to not become like the monsters that now infest the planet like a pandemic.
Himura would be proud.
I find it odd that the sword she got in the temple that she used to quite easily dispatch of the zombies in their way is gone at the end. They probably left it there, but everyone agrees that she would be far more awesome than she already is with it. Whether or not she’ll get a new one viewers are likely to hope for, but at the rate the series is going I have an idea of where and when the season is going to end.
If it ends there, suffice to say that a second season is very possible. This is a ridiculously popular series after all and I wouldn’t be surprised.
August 24, 2010
HotD Ep 8: Boobs and Bullet Time
Some say boobs and bullets don’t mix. I say that these two factors make up two of the three essentials of a Michael Bay movie (the other being explosions every 5 seconds). This isn’t a Michael Bay movie so I think we can safely disregard that. What we do see is lots of boobs and lots of bullets, including the tried and true bullet time.
Bullet time as probably existed in cinema for a while but most people will remember it’s overuse in the Matrix films. The series takes it’s cue from that with a generous share of slow motion projectiles and slow motion… mammary vibrations.
August 16, 2010
HotD Ep7: We Are Still Human
Honestly, who here wouldn’t want to save a loli in distress in a heartbeat?
One could call Takashi and Hirano impulsive, foolhardy or whatnot, but you can’t deny that they did what they felt was right. While Saeko so rightfully implied that it is unrealistic to want to save everyone, it doesn’t also mean that you shouldn’t save the ones you can. Everyone wants to survive and will do whatever they can, but again it doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to throw your humanity away to keep on living at the end of the the world as we know it.
Did the two badasses make the right call? You decide.
August 9, 2010
HotD Ep6: A Brief Shot of Heaven
And by heaven I mean a brief respite in the middle of hell. And by respite I mean a brief moment of recreation and relaxation. And by R&R I mean that Takashi might be the luckiest (living) human being on the face of that earth.
Considering that this is almost purely a fanservice episode, let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first.
August 2, 2010
HotD Ep5: Exodus and Anarchy
Obviously not everyone gets turned into zombies. The massive wave of humanity that clings on to their lives have to go somewhere, whether they must crawl or drag themselves, as the desire to survive overwhelms everything else. While we see the people of Japan desperately pull themselves from zombie-eaten corpse of their modern civilization, the same can be said of everywhere else in the planet. We see people clinging on to dim hope in their bid to escape the undead nightmare that has befallen their lives.
We see both the good and the bad sides of people in the turmoil. While we’ve seen enough of the main cast to see how people still retain their humanity in the midst of the inhuman, we also see the chaos dealt by those who try to leave their violent mark on this new world.
In that sense, this is an exodus and anarchy of Biblical proportions.
July 26, 2010
HotD Ep4: Boobs and the Moral Collapse
When you think about it, utter chaos doesn’t actually last forever, especially when there’s really no one left to do it. When the initial frenzy has gone and the dust has settled, you’re left with much of the aftermath in disturbing silence. What chaos would ensue when most of everyone’s already either dead or a zombie? There’s no chaos without an established society, and when that’s gone, when all everyone cares about is their own needs and survival, it becomes “Me, myself and I”. In the end you still need to look out for number 1, even if it means you’d be doing things you’d never have thought of doing just the day before. There’s no longer anyone to judge you for it.
But does that make it “right”?
Medical Student vs. Anime 