Rental Magica – Episode 04
30 October 2007
It’s been a while since my last entry, give or take a week? I’ve been lacking the will recently to write about anything. Gundam 00 came and went, Hero Tales is really starting to disappoint me and at the end of the day, I’m glad I have Rental Magica to look forward to. It’s probably the only show right now I look forward to watching each week.
There’s just something great about Rental Magica, I’m not quite sure what it is yet, but at the end of each episode, I just feel like the happiest person on the face of the Earth. Think of it like one of those candies that’s sour and hard on the inside, but once you get past the outer shell, you taste the sweetness within.
On one hand, Rental Magica manages to scare the bloody hell out of me. Cmon, with that eerie music, the red moon, those damn bloody hand prints crawling up the hallway! And then, and then, the soul eater? “Food, food, food, food.” Demonic blobs devouring people. Even Hostel didn’t scare me that much. But, at the same time it also manages to makes me want to hug Itsuki and everyone else to death.
Astral, in some strange way, seems to be made up of a company of misfits. Itsuki, the president, has a weak heart, scares easily and faints every once in a while. And he also hides a demonic eye under that eye patch of his and suddenly becomes Lelouch in times of urgency. There’s Mikan, short, hyper and pink-haired. There’s Ichimaru, I mean Ren, who controls cats. That alone is weird enough. Kuroha’s a ghost and an apprentice. Honami feels like a tsundere, but she blushes too much and cares for Itsuki too much to be a real tsundere. She’s dressed and ready for Halloween and Christmas all year round, donning a pointed hat and cape, tossing mistletoe. And, of course, she’s in love with Itsuki.
Each episode focuses on a different member of Astral, episode four deals with Kuroha, who is apparently a ghost. That was a pretty big shocker because, well, she seemed perfectly alive to me in the other three episodes! I also love that it focuses on the individual characters. I’m a total sucker for good characters, I’m convinced that the characters make or break a series, or anything for that matter.
I love each and everyone of them to pieces! In short, Rental Magica, right now, feels cute and creepy…at the same time. The animation is also still flawless and gorgeous, which is something to take note of because episode two of Hero Tales looked terrible.
The main plot of the series didn’t even begin yet, it feels like we’re still in the prologue. The meet ‘n greet where we’re still shaking hands and repeating introductions. There’s a peculiar guy in the opening sequence, who looks to be the main antagonist and is somehow related to a dragon. But no one’s said anything about that, and I’m tempted to look it up on Wikipedia. I’m scared to death of spoilers, but at the same time I can’t help but spoil things for myself.
In any case, here’s my two second random post. I’m pretty excited about Rental Magica. It has the potential to be a truly memorable series. The characters are great, the animation is smooth and it’s really just a matter of how long it can keep it up, or how soon someone drops the ball. (Please don’t drop the ball.)
Oh my god, Xerox posted! This is a cause for celebration! I know, how about tonight we all go around and visit our neighbors and ask them for free candy? I bet it will work! 😉