Tokyo Ravens #19 — The Birds
February 18th, 2014
 
How perfectly balanced.
Impressions:
I hope I wasn’t the only one who was a little disturbed by them animating Red walking with her mouth wide open at the start. And yes, that was one of the most notable things of this episode. They didn’t even give us the satisfaction of seeing Huffy slap Moron. Maybe they were afraid that might overshadow the bird fight CGI feather rain or post-credits ear cannibalism for the action of the week.
Just for a change of pace, this episode reversed things from last week, putting the awful teen melodrama in the second half instead of the first. The story, however, continues to go absolutely nowhere. What are the characters doing? What are they planning to do in the imminent future? What are their goals? What is keeping them from their goals? How are they progressing towards it? The answer to all these questions is a choose-your-own assortment of “nothing,” “have feelings,” “be talked at,” and “a dicking.” Well I guess Red got her hands supposedly on the widget. 20 minutes well spent. Thanks, Courier Service.
Posted in Tokyo Ravens | 5 Comments »
FlameStrike 
Aroduc 
The Phantom
Wasn’t a great episode, but I again feel like you are glossing over all the good parts. Red’s “adventure of friendship” didn’t add much apart from making her more sympathetic, but two people casually coming back from the dead (and the accompanying revelation that magic is way more powerful than we thought) didn’t even warrant a mention?
>What are the characters doing?
Trying to protect one of their friends from a powerful government agency that has been corrupted by a dangerous cult.
>What are they planning to do in the imminent future?
Investigate who their friends and enemies are, while not giving too much away to their enemies (which seems to have been blown in the last 2 minutes).
>What are their goals?
Protect their friend and potentially launch a preemptive attack.
>What is keeping them from their goals?
The political power, magical superiority, and authority of the Bad Guys, along with the complicated web of interpersonal relationships between Good and Bad. At least two of the heroes are children of villains, and Red clearly has ties to the Tsuchimikado.