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Now here’s an entry to the Profiling section of your brain: White men in white collared shirts wearing suspenders and speaking in Irish brogue. I suggest placing it a bit higher over “Bearded Brown Men in robes.”

Of course the people most critical of the English-accented Ishtar would sound like Irishmen. Of course.

This episode pleasantly proves me wrong when it comes to expectations. I was bored last week, yet here I am rather intrigued once again. There’re no L/R antics to be had in this episode, since the two parts of it go off on their own to figure out the Angel situation, never mind the shocking revelation about Mister. Jack goes off in that direction, seeking to corroborate Claire and Dez’s claims of the night vis-à-vis any new revelations. Nothing much to be said there, since this episode is not going to be the Hofner Half-Hour. read more

It seems popular foreign television doesn’t make its way to Ishtar much these days, for Des seems to have only heard OF Get Smart, but has never watched it. Cute cultural gags which are funny in and of itself without one knowing the existence of Get Smart, goes a long way.

So this week is where Noelle gets to hang out with Jack and Rowe again after the events of Episode 7. To the show’s credit, it does not waste any time with having to set up the situation where Noelle escapes her bodyguard’s watch. Right off the opening, Claire has already replaced Noelle, who is supposed to be at Ishtar’s first baseball game. So what wacky adventures do those three have now that the princess-in-waiting’s on the prowl? read more

They’re still having that staring contest since the week before last. Man alive…

In a moment of serendipity, it seems that two week gap between this article and the last coincides with the time passed in the show. L/R’s been doing their thing, and Noelle’s been doing her own thing. The thing is, they haven’t doing a thing involving each other since Angel Island. The former has been keeping a guarded distance from her due to the Angel matter, which is unfortunate for the latter who wants to see both of them. You can tell Noelle’s trying her best given the circumstances, but it is also prevalent how she feels like a caged bird given her new status. Interesting, given her more than affable acceptance in the last episode. Maybe she didn’t anticipate it’d be this difficult? read more

Man, Jack and Rowe must be having a most intense staring contest with one another in that shot.

Jumping into the thick of things, it is up to L/R to continue their mission to find and detain the elusive Angel, who was not Jack’s old flame after all. After some detective work, given the use of old Ivory Island songs, they decide to well… go to Ivory Island. This means we not only see Noelle again, but also get a ground-level view of her island. I guess Ivory Island is supposed to be a takeoff on the hinterlands of the UK, given Ishtar’s propensity to appropriate Anglo-Saxon culture? It makes me wish I knew where Ishtar was on a map since it has already ran the gamut of various geographic locales from mountain ranges, deserts, and now temperate island zones. This all seems very ill-defined and as a result is off-putting, at least to me anyway. Ishtar is such an isolated microcosm. read more

Talk about your super serial episode here, folks. I think we might be picking things up given the goings on here. Ivory Island is back in the show again, with major terrorist attacks on a mining facility and a major official of the corporation who owns it. Now it’s up to L/R to figure out who this bomb maker is and put a stop to him/her before they destroy their next target.

Nothing TOO intense occurs throughout the investigation of the threat. Instead, it is dedicated to more world-building than anything else. It looks like the Ishtari Royal Family is not the only important group in the nation, but this DTI Corporation who has its hands in every pie (including the Princess contest mentioned weeks ago). The show does an effective enough job (wouldn’t necessarily say it’s GREAT yet) in making the audience dislike them, with the most damage done by the toady representative featured here. Suffice to say, there has to be great catharsis at series end in order for this treatment to be a success aside from well-executed plot goings on. read more

The PG rating’s a good thing by the way. This means no chance of insinuation over whether or not an act of taboo is being proffered. However, if it were the OTHER Professional, the one who is also an animu, then this episode would be kinda boring. His surliness has to go hand-in-hand with the sleaziness of his world.

Almost Animu for All Ages up in here, yo.

This is as of yet the highest point when it comes to an overall solid episode. Tension is right, the pacing is right, and the kind of conflict this episode presents is welcome. The fact their antagonist is a sniper, a profession involving pretty quick results unlike the plotting and planning of previous foes, helps matters. So this sniper comes to Ishtar for some job after killing off some celebrity of sorts, and it is up to L/R to stop him from killing his target. Matters get complicated when his daughter, unaware of his job, makes friends with Cloud 7 (beginning with a might bit cute scene with her and Rowe), allowing them to use her to their advantage in figuring out who he is going to kill. read more

Well after the lean (but not quite nothing) burger of last week, it is nice to have an episode with a bit more substance. Even Jack agrees when he gets the feeling he’s being animated with effort this time around.

I’ve had pictures with Jack three times now as the article photo. He’s just so photogenic.

If last week was a downtime episode where everyone took a nap, then this week is one where people are having a ball. We are back to treasure guarding again, for L/R is tasked with protecting a royal treasure situated in a desert’s ancient ruins. However, what ought to have been an easy job turns out to be nothing of the sort when they go up against newbie fanboy doppelgangers, an elderly couple, and a scantily-clad trio that includes a Scot in drag for some reason. Don’t even get me started on how they have to stop it in time before a laser defense system being tested in the area goes back online, and how this is all some plan of a nondescript noble who will reward a cushy security position to those who get him the treasure. read more

In economics, the term “time preference” indicates the value of a good or an item dependent on one’s patience to acquire such. If one has “high time preference”, the item is of high value to the individual right now; if one has “low time preference”, said individual is willing to wait for better return. In a crude sense, it is instant gratification versus delayed gratification.

So why on Earth am I giving you an economics lesson on a 17-year-old animu? Mostly because L/R at this juncture, makes you feel like they are going to take the sweetest of their sweet time to get going. The low time preference is so low it feels like it is six feet underground right next to Grandma. It would go a bit lower, but since it only has 13 episodes it needs to be close to the surface when it is time to clamber out of the dirt. Whether it succeeds or not, we will see in ten weeks. read more

Oh my God, this show’s animation is embarrassing. Look:

Sure the Hellsing TV series had this problem too, but Kouta Hirano’s work is eye-catching enough to numb some of the pain. Here, such a shot rubs salt in the wound when juxtaposed to the preceding screencap. Then it rubs even more when you realize this is the DVD release of the episode, meaning it was not touched up in the slightest since its Japanese broadcast. I make a bit too much fuss, but yegad I have not been this turned off at an animu’s animation since the first Super Robot Wars TV series. However I don’t want to bog this article down any more of this. So I’ll conclude with this actual scene of animation. read more