Cinnamon Ass - Reborn Like a Zombie

Speed Grapher Episode 12 - Sleeping, Embraced on the Left

We have an OP! And it's great! I forgive Gonzo entirely for spoiling so much of the earlier episodes. Seriously, it's really stylish and groovy. Hopefully they'll do the same for Trinity Blood as well. The OP does, unfortunately, highlight that they STILL haven't got Kagura's face to look the same in more than one episode!

This episode goes under the spoiler tags too - goodness me, everything seems to be developing a plot lately!

Shinsen reminisces about when she stole the Tennouzu Group from its real director, who talent-spotted Shinsen as a poor struggling actress - when Shinsen failed to turn up for work, the director went in search of her and was involved in a car accident, and now Shinsen keeps her in a wheelchair locked up in the Tennouzu building. Meanwhile, Kagura escapes from Suitengu's labs, holding a perverted scientist hostage by threatening to kill herself, and Ginza is attacked by the new Freak of the Week, who has power over his tattoos and literally "bugs" her.

Shinsen herself decides to stop the marriage and Suitengu from taking control, and orders her guards to kill him and his goons. Suitengu, of course, bloodies them to death, and assassinates the director before choking Shinsen to death, revealing that he has inherited some kind of power that Shinsen's first husband had by showing her a tattoo on his hand. As Kagura cries over her mother's dead body, Suitengu announces his new intentions - to take over the Group by marrying Kagura.

Well, there was a lot of point of putting Shinsen in the opening sequence, wasn't there? Curiouser and curiouser, I certainly thought she'd last longer than that. Speed Grapher continues to get more interesting, and I'd like to see how far Suitengu's machinations are supposed to go. Shame about the awful animation, still.

Speed Grapher Episode 11 - A Sudden Change in Mother's Sickness

Ginza picks up Kagura, telling her that Shinsen is sick and needs to see her, but it turns out to be a trick - Ginza merely wants Saiga for herself, and proceeds to ravish him while he's unconscious, while Suitengu hauls Kagura off to his labs where his scientists proceed to experiment on her bodily fluids (not like that). Meanwhile, there seems to be something up in the Tennouzu Group - Suitengu announces his intentions to marry Shinsen, but one of her chief supporters is mysteriously bumped off, and Suitengu bribes some shady businessmen to support him.

Well, I'll be surprised if the director's cut of this episode actually manages to be any more explicit than it already was! Goodness me, my British sensibilities were most offended.

Not really, it's only Speed Grapher and the sex/violence/rock'n'roll is pretty old hat by now after the first episode. I quite like that Kagura and Saiga have been captured, actually - the writers keep throwing neat little twists at us, like the upcoming marriage (although I'm surprised that Suitengu's scientists haven't found out about Kagura's brain tumour...) which keep everything afloat despite the ropey animation.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing the proper OP on the next episode, incidentally...

Speed Grapher Episode 10 - Suitengu Comes

Why does the damn OP have to SPOIL EVERYTHING ABOUT THE COMING EPISODE! Gah, this is why I wish there was a proper opening sequence for Speed Grapher. Anyway, moving on...

While Ginza and Tsujidou continue to try and track down Saiga and Kagura, they make their way to an abandoned genetics research facility where Kagura digs up more information on the enigmatic Kazuki Odaware. However, Suitengu also manages to track them down, and Saiga confronts him to stall for time while Kagura escapes. What Suitengu reveals is a spoiler, so into the extended entry we go...

Suitengu reveals that he has already died once and been revived as a biological weapon created by the Tennouzu Group's labs. The Euphoria factor is some kind of viral transmission that Kagura facilitates, and Suitengu offers Saiga cash and a cure if he hands over Kagura - unsurprisingly, he refuses. Then Suitengu, using his own blood, transforms into some kind of blood-winged angel and almost kills Saiga, who escapes by blowing a hole through the floor and collapsing onto Ginza's car - she picks him up to take him back, leaving Kagura alone to be recaptured.

If it wasn't for the STUPID BLOODY OPENING SEQUENCE I would have been niftily surprised by Suitengu's angelic powers. As it was, I did look forward to seeing them and as a whole this episode was nicely animated and exectured in general, but the surprise was totally negated by the opening; I guess I shouldn't watch it but I like listening to Girls on Film, so...

Speed Grapher Episode 9 - At the Baths

Kagura and Saiga continue to head away from Tokyo, with Tsujidou following behind using his amazing sense of smell to track them. They make a stop to buy new clothes (because let's face it, Kagura's main role in the series is to look cute in a succession of different outfits) and then head off to an onsen which Kagura remembers from a photo her mother gave her (obviously she wasn't always the psycho bisexual she is now!). Whilst there, they hear a story about the man in the photo, Kazuki Odawara, whom Shinsen was in love with but was later found murdered with his left arm missing. Meanwhile, Shinsen visits the real chairwoman of the Tennouzu Group who is convinced Shinsen is a fake, Ginza continues to investigate where Saiga has gone, and Suitengu decides to take matters into his own hands...

Although I do "complain" that Speed Grapher is a shounen fight show with fetishes, I think this episode proved me slightly wrong - we managed to get by with no fights whatsoever, not even a freak of the week, and it was all pretty enjoyable, especially the hints as to Shinsen's past. I was also worried we were going to go down some kind of Saiga/Kagura route but that didn't really happen, surprisingly (I'm not totally against it despite the age gap, I just think it's a little too hackneyed and overdone). Plus, with the relatively sedate pace of the episode, the animation wasn't a problem at all - I think it was actually slightly better than usual. The key animation is always fine, it's just that Gonzo appear to have used all their inbetweeners for their other shows...

Speed Grapher Episode 8 - Kagura's Light

Suitengu "recharges" himself with some kind of electrical doohickey before visiting a factory which seems to be relying on Kagura's DNA to mass produce Euphoria Factor people. The rest of the episode is taken up with Dr. Mizonoguchi the creepy dentist and his battle with Saiga - we get our standard disgusting fetish bit when Mizonoguchi gets off on Kagura's tooth, before Tsujidou and co. lead the attack on Dr. Ryuugoku's house. Cue lots of dental tentacles (dentacles!), multiple cameras concealed on Saiga's body, and an utterly unsurprising win for Saiga - and so he, Kagura and Dr. Ryuugoku flee once more.

I find it hard to get particularly wound up over the actual fights in Speed Grapher - not only is the frequently crummy animation making it hard to enjoy them despite the clever choreography and character designs, but it's still so early in the series that there's no tension whatsoever in the battles, as I moaned before, because Saiga is certain to win and come away completely healed. That said, Mizonoguchi was suitably creepy, and it wasn't exactly bad or anything. Next episode looks to feature no fighting at all, which could be interesting (although I'm not necessarily that keen on Saiga's forthcoming lust for Kagura as implied by the episode preview - she's not a camera, damm

Speed Grapher Episode 7 - Weird Drills

Dear Gonzo.

Please, please, PLEASE get consistent character designers in. At the start of the episode I thought Bob was a completely different character from before for a moment.

Thank you.

Now, on to the episode.

Saiga gets Bob to bring him some of his lenses and so forth, and then drives off with Kagura. However, she develops a stonking headache along the way, so he drives her to a doctor he knows to check them both out for alterations in their DNA and so on, while Suitengu's goons on their tail (the Freak of the Week is a dentist with drills growing out of his back, it's pretty grim). At the same time, Ginza continues to investigate what happened to Saiga, eventually learning about his past as a war photographer (complete with Engrish!) and then heading off to find him. The tests on Kagura, on the other hand, reveal she has a brain tumour - and the doctors only give her half a year to live.

Interesting! I wasn't quite expecting that little twist at the end there (we're early enough in the series that I don't consider it too spoiler-y, apologies if you feel otherwise!), I'd assumed Kagura's headache would be something dental related given Saiga's next foe. More Ginza is definitely a good thing, as well. It's a shame the animation is really quite dreadful, since this episode was a nice break from the action of the last couple of episodes.

Speed Grapher Episode 6 - Goodbye, Madam Diamond

Saiga's attempts to blow up Koganei fail when the flash on his camera basically goes straight through her. The dancing "girls" rally to help Saiga and Kagura, who escape by "borrowing" a motorbike while Suitengu's goons and Koganei give chase - Koganei ends up crashing the bike and kidnapping Kagura. While Koganei mocks Kagura's hope for something beyond mere materialism, Kagura finally completely twigs that she's the one who awakened the Euphoria factor powers - cue angst. Saiga infiltrates Koganei's mansion and cunningly defeats her, but ultimately Suitengu is the one who decides Koganei's fate.

Action, schmaction. The animation is still a bit too jerky for my liking, but this was a fairly enjoyable episode all round - I don't think they could have done much more with Koganei's character so I'm not surprised she's dealt with pretty quickly (it's not as if the episode title gives it away or anything, now is it?). I'm certainly more intrigued by Suitengu now, though, given the end of the episode. Plus Kagura didn't JUST stand idly by! Admittedly she didn't do that much (shoving Koganei a couple of times isn't exactly amazing), but I can at least hope she won't be a terminal damsel in distress.

Speed Grapher Episode 5 - Madam Diamond

The Freak of the Week is a lady named Koganei, whose particularly fetish (unsurprisingly) is for diamonds, stealing them and eating them when she can. While Kagura adjusts slowly to real life as Saiga keeps her hidden from Suitengu's goons, they end up hiding out in a transvestite club called David, where Kagura gets roped into performing in the show (it would have been funnier if it had been Saiga, but ah well...) While Kagura shows she has an amazing singing voice (is that really her seiyuu singing, though?), the fun is cut short when Koganei turns up, and reveals how diamond-sharp she is...

Looks to be a two-part episode, spoiled somewhat by the fact that the next one is called "Goodbye, Madam Diamond" - it's fairly obvious she won't prove much of a threat, but still, a little subtlety goes a long, long way.

I'm not quite sure where all the money's going on Speed Grapher, the animation isn't really that great in a lot of places - sliding car drawings abound, and it's frequently quite static. Nevertheless, the show's keeping up the sleazy atmosphere quite nicely, and the relationship between Saiga and Kagura is still pretty nicely judged.

My one request is a proper opening sequence at some point, the current one is just Gonzo being lazy alas.

Speed Grapher Episode 4 - Booty Girl

As Saiga works on tracking down Kagura, Suitengu works on him - Suitengu sends his goons to kill Saiga, but Saiga and Ginza plan ahead and ambush them (Ginza's gleeful cries of "It's self-defense!" as she shoots with wild abandon were rather amusing), while Saiga ties up Kagura's teacher and takes her place to infiltrate her prison. They escape successfully thanks to Saiga's explosive photography, but Suitengu sends Shirogane out to finally finish the job on Saiga...

The animation is still vaguely all over the place in Speed Grapher, but in this episode it was mainly veering between excellent and not so good - there's a couple of shots featuring characters stretching their arms out into the camera where the proportions just look totally wrong, but then the climactic fight between Saiga and Shirogane was awesomely done. As I previously surmised, this is basically a slightly more grown up version of shounen superhero stories, but there's an interesting enough plot and the superpowers are innovative enough that I approve heartily. Thumbs up!

Speed Grapher Episode 3 - Death by Photo

Kagura's kiss awakens the "Euphoria Factor" in Saiga, and thus he not only survives being stabbed but also develops the ability to make things explode when he photographs them. He escapes the Club with Kagura, who snaps out of her hypnosis to find herself covered in blood and wearing very little, always a pleasant experience.

However, despite managing to escape, Kagura is picked up by Shidou and his goons while Saiga gets shot. Saiga heads to Ginza's, while Kagura is imprisoned by Suitengu and co. - while Saiga researches the Tennouzu Group to find out her identity, Suitengu attempts to convince Kagura that everything was a dream, but she confirms that Saiga really exists and hopes for freedom once more.

Ouch, the animation at the start of this episode was mediocre at best, and occasionally the characters really came across as off-model (there's one shot while Kagura and Saiga are on a beacon on the water and Kagura's face looks absolutely enormous). While the drop-off in animation isn't surprising (this is the studio that gave us Full Metal Panic, after all), it's a little worrying that we're going to go into Bakuretsu Tenshi areas here and have everyone looking freakishly outsized at various points - maybe Gonzo's budget is being saved up for Trinity Blood?

As this was a fairly action-based episode, not an awful lot really happened, plus it's slightly disappointing that we're vaguely back where we were at the beginning of the first episode, except now Saiga can't photograph for a living anymore obviously! Let's hope things pick up a bit in the animation and story department for next time.

Speed Grapher Episode 2 - Groaning Banknotes

We get something approaching an OP this time, but I don't think it's permanent as it's just clips from this episode and the previous one.

Kagura Tennouzu has a pretty crappy life. Her mother, Shinsen, deprives her of food and makes her life incredibly difficult for her - she even sleeps with her teacher and pays her off so that no-one finds out about her nefarious ways. While she gets to live in the massive Tennouzu skyscraper, who'd want to live in a building owned by Suitengu, who employs the mysterious masked man Shidou as a hired heavy to rough up those who fail to pay him back, as he proves to one unfortunate young boy? Kagura is forced under hypnosis to become the "Goddess" of the Roppongi Club after a particularly creepy piano lesson, but is still aware of her own fate as she kisses Saiga - but is her desire for someone to help her all in vain?

In a running theme, Memento already has a much fuller synopsis of this episode than I do. While I see his point in not "enjoying" the episode, I have to say I did enjoy it - not because I revel in people being abused or whatever, but because the writing was strong and interesting. The monetary theme running through the show is perhaps a little heavy handed (although at times blackly comic), but I'm sufficiently intrigued by the cast to definitely keep watching it.

Speed Grapher Episode 1 - The Corrupt City

OP - Girls on Film (Duran Duran) - seriously. No, seriously. We haven't seen the OP itself yet, but I have to mention the song because it's so inspired. You MUST know it.

ED - Hinageshi no Oka (Shione Yukawa) - the singer sounds a bit like a Japanese version of Bjork, somewhat oddly.

Saiga was once a war photograher, but now works for the manipulatively sexy detective Hibari Ginza in a dystopian, overly capitalist Tokyo. He is obsessed with photography to the point of fetishism. After some mysterious assassinations of politicians opposing a new drug law (which we learn were committed by Shirogane, a rather disturbing ballet dancer whose body is literally like liquid rubber), Saiga is assigned to follow Suitengu, the man responsible for ordering the assassinations, who is a member of the ultra-secretive Roppongi Club, dedicated to hedonism. Saiga sneaks in to their masked gathering, where they await the arrival of the "Goddess". Saiga, struck by her beauty, photographs her and gets caught as a consequence, and as punishment she gives him some kind of kiss of death which makes him flashback to his war work - and while he is paralysed, Suitengu orders his guards to kill Saiga...

Well, I wasn't quite expecting a cliffhanger after the first episode. But I am DEFINITELY tuning in for the next one! Speed Grapher played to all of Gonzo's strengths - fantastic 2D animation with visceral thrills - coupled with an intriguingly weird plot and an interesting lead character. I even thought what fanservice there was was well done! Although it looks to be a thinly veiled superpowered fight show in some ways, I don't care when it looks this good and has this kind of spin on it - hopefully the camera will be picked up on thematically as well as dramatically, I like cliched stuff about life through lenses or whatever. As long as the Goddess character (whatever her name turns out to be) isn't too annoying, I can see myself in this for the long haul.

Please, Gonzo, don't mess this up. PLEASE.