And so, the Sisyphus impersonation begins…

After 12 hours of travel I’ve pretty much hit the wall, so about the best I can do is touch base briefly on what I’ve missed:

Concrete Revolutio – 03: This remains one of the strangest shows of the year, but it’s so distinctive that I’m leaning towards staying with it for now.  With androids at the heart of the story this was by far the most Cyborg 009 episode yet, though Ishinomori Shoutarou has clearly been a major influence right down to the character designs.  There’s something intriguing in this time-skipping look at just how complicated notions like justice and righteousness can be in the real world, though I think Concrete Revolutio is a bit too self-consciously avante garde for its own good.

Tantei Team KZ Jiken Note – 03: Not much changes here.  Still likeable and fun without pushing too many boundaries.  Aya’s sense of isolation is slowly being fleshed out a bit – turns out she has a pretty classic middle-child syndrome.  Lines of dialogue like “I want them to need me” are the reason why I really like what this seres is trying to do.

Kidou Senshi Gundam: Tekketsu no Orphans – 03: I’m still waiting for Okada-sensei to do something remotely original with this take on the Gundam mythology, bur as you’d expect with she and Nagai Tatsuyuki at the helm it’s more than competent.  Crank Zent fulfilled his role in the story and died nobly right on schedule, and the iron-blooded orphans staged an uprising against their adult overseers and took control of their own destiny (to such extent as that was possible) and got themselves a new name – Tekkadan (iron flower).

Mikazuki is stepping nicely into his role as a stone-cold and dangerous anti-hero, thinking nothing of shooting enemies (whether they deserve it or not) in cold blood.  And we’re starting to find out which of the holdover adults will play roles in the story – the bespectacled accountant, the Hitler-moustached schemer.  It’s all fairly stock stuff thus far, to be honest, but I won’t say it’s not entertaining.  With Okada here I keep thinking the other shoe has to drop sooner or later, and I’m hoping Nagai makes sure it falls in the right place.