Seems to be a trend with winter being a slow season, which I suppose is good. School’s been picking up again, and lately I’ve been feeling horribly drained and empty. But on with the impressions!

Shows covered in this post:

• Chu-Bra!!
• Seikon no Qwaser
• Dance in the Vampire Bund
• Ladies vs. Butlers!
• Omamori Himari
• Durarara!!
• Ookamikakushi
• Sora no Woto
• Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu

Chu-Bra!!. Man, it’s really hard to not associate this show with fanservice. I mean, a girl who has an interest in women’s undergarments. To be honest, judging by the premise alone, the anime would probably turn out to be, well, crap. Rather than being full-on fanservice comedy, it seems to be telling one of those coming-of-age stories with the three girls, and how they use the magical wonders of lingerie to overcome their problems! (probably).

There’s really nothing that makes the show stand out to be honest, even with Chihara Minori’s voicing and all. Overall, it wasn’t really engaging, or interesting, but I do admit, the premise really has me being judgmental about it all. There’s actually quite a number of things that you could learn about women’s underwear (like that bit about children vs. adult panties); not that the non-female half of us can make use of it, however. I suppose it’s just a matter of wait-and-see if things get any better (hopefully so).

I had a quick peek at Seikon no Qwaser’s online webcast and suddenly WHOA NIPPLES AND LACTATION. The TV broadcast didn’t have that, but it had some of the most poorly implemented censoring ever: zooming in on half the picture, destroying the picture quality and making an awful lot of camera angles look even weirder. I didn’t bother watching any other part of it after that. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything less, however.

SHAFT likes to mess with things. Sometimes, as in the case of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, it works quite well. Other times, not so much. Dance in the Vampire Bund falls under the latter case. The entire thing felt so off from the source material that the entire show, there was a sense of incompatibility between the media. And while I do acknowledge the differences in media, there is such a huge disconnect that the liberties taken with the show almost come off as insulting to the manga, which I had been reading two months prior.

For a minute or two, I couldn’t help but associate Ladies vs. Butlers! to Gurren Lagann, thanks to Miss S. Flameheart’s twin drills that would pierce the heavens. Excuse the bad joke. Moving on, what have we got? Middling production values, less-than-satisfactory music, and the censoring was painfully strong in this one.  It’s one thing to use censoring to drive DVD sales, but it’s another thing when over half the screen’s whited out. Hell, the entire show feels like an exercise in mediocrity. And the biggest problem for me – the characters are boring and one-dimensional. For a show like this, where the characters are the lifeblood of the entire gig, writing their personalities to be as flat as a board – the complete opposite of just about every girl in the show, mind you – is just going to cause the  viewers pain.

The second episode though, for some reason, was quite enjoyable to watch, if only for the above  scene.

Omamori Himari was one of the shows I was really looking forward to this season. After the first episode, I was just kind of speechless. It felt so, weird. What I can definitely be sure of is that the anime production designs really don’t convey Matsura Miran’s (really really hot) character designs. Some people likened them to Kanokon’s and of the little I’ve seen of it, I would have to agree. Also, apparently, the voice actor for Makoto (of School Days and Nice Boat fame/infamy) is doing Yuuto’s voice, and he is using the exact same Makoto voice! Yuuto’s a pretty decent lead, I would say, and to constantly associate him with one of the most pathetic, most useless leads just kind of irks me.

The first episode’s camera work in the fight scene was a huge disconnect from the rest of the show, cinematography wise. Whoever was in charge of that had a real fetish for cut-ins, I think. Half the freakin’ scene was made up solely of cut-in shots. All in all, it doesn’t manage to make a big impression. Hopefully the succeeding episodes won’t have the just-satisfactory feeling that this first airing had. And even if it did turn out to be mediocre, I’d probably watch it anyway because Koshimizu Ami does antiquated dialects so damned well. Plus Lizlette is too damned cute.

Durarara!! (or Dullalala!!) is penned by the same guy who came up with the highly enjoyable Baccano!, and it’s animated by the same studio too – Brains Base, also responsible for Spice and Wolf II, among other shows. As with Baccano!, there is an ensemble cast with a lot of interweaving stories, but rather than a pulp fiction sort of setting in the prohibition era, it’s set in trendy modern-day Japan.  It just oozes with style, and despite the slow start in the first third or half of the first episode, it quickly picks up the pace in the latter part and never really gets boring. Hopefully it’ll keep this up through its run.

Lately, Ryukishi07’s  been on a spree of bad luck, with both of his works (Cicadas and Seacats) being rather mercilessly butchered by Studio DEEN, but here comes Ookamikakushi! It wasn’t released under 07th Expansion proper – rather as a commercial game with the scenario written by him and character designs by Peach-Pit. Overly round heads aside, the show looks to be another one of those guy-goes-to-town-with-weird-traditions-in-the-middle-of-bumfuck-nowhere-and-suddenly-mysterious-murders-replete-with-killer-lolis plots. Not that I have any problems with that! Lolis are cool! Yeah!

A load of people related a bajillion and a half different anime to Sora no Woto (or So・Ra・No・Wo・To), and despite the fact that it’s (probably) not all copying, I assume that the K-ON!-like character design was most definitely because they wanted to pander a bit to the moe-loving crowd. And of course, the archetypes – clumsy girl, serious girl, jealous loli, lazy/sleepy girl, and carefree girl. But I suppose this is a bit harsh – with the huge variety of shows available to the casual viewer today, we could probably classify any character X under any archetype Y, which I suppose could be the result of having watched so much anime within any period of time.

Anyway, onto the show – it does feel like a slice of life anime; girls in an oft-overlooked military installation just spending their days. It’s almost iyashi-kei, but it’s yet to truly cross that line, I think. I love the setting of a peaceful, rural French town, with a defunct yet high-tech tank sitting in the hangar for a pinch of contrast, and then we have the strange mishmash of Western and Eastern cultures which others have covered in greater depth and breadth than I ever will. It is a very interesting point of discussion though, but as it stands, I have nothing in particular to point out about it. Personally, I would hate it if the show ended up shifting into high gear and getting serious at one point or another, because as it stands, Sora no Woto is perfectly fine as it is.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu is apparently done by SILVER LINK. but it feels so SHAFT (because apparently one of Shinbo’s staff is working on this). Color filters, blackboard scribbles, and all. Not quite the thriller that say, Ookamikakushi could be, nor is it laced with fanservice like Omamori Himari or Chu-Bra!!. Honestly, I can’t put my finger on what kind of show this is – almost like Seitokai no Ichizon, in that it’s very much character driven and that one never needs to truly take this show seriously. I like that, and I like this a lot.

And I’d Hideyoshi. Totally.

On Kobato. – the writeup on bianki’s post here suits it well. While I am a bit fond of shoujo – and this is very shoujo, in comparison with a lot of other shows – I hate it when the female lead’s a dumb moeblob. Heck, Ioryogi strikes me as a funner character. The first episode was bearable, but I don’t know if I’ll go on any further. Though I would like some of that Kobato Stew.

A continuation of the last season, Shin Koihime†Musou is well, pretty much the same as before. Except unlike the more entertaining hijinks of the first season, they decided to make the episode about a topic rather done to death – using true/personal names to address each other. As moritheil wrote – “While this might be instructive to five-year-olds, it’s just not that appealing to someone who already understands the distinction.” In other words, more food jokes + SD + yuri please.

Kämpfer is like Sekirei iwth a transgender and multiple personalities AND yuri. However the problem I had with Sekirei, is the same as this – the plot. I’m just not fond of a girls-fighting-each-other-for-no-particular-slash-specified-reason sorta show, which is exactly what these two are. On the other hand, the character designs are a little to my taste and animation is still of decent quality (unlike Seven Arcs non-DVD QUALITY), so I think I can stick around with this a little longer.

As a final word on things – I’m still a little hesitant to echo bianki’s words of “Fall Fail”. I’ll keep up watching as many (good?) shows as possible and see what sort of gold surfaces from the horrible, muddy rivers.

Given its clear-cut distinction about its target audience (that is to say, people who understand these jokes – otaku being a large percentage of this), the number of people who could possibly enjoy this show is marginally low (in comparison to other shows that have more mass appeal). I guess you could equate it to masturbation (in a figurative sense, of course) – no meaning, no hidden intention. Just mindless fun and pleasuring oneself. I mean, it’s a show about nothing but jokes on otaku-related works and terms. It’s as meta as an anime could be, really. Whoever said Bakemonogatari was a circle-jerk of a show made for otaku can eat their words – SeiZon is miles ahead in terms of this distinction. This sort of show was made for otaku, period.

However, those people who do fall within its target market may quite enjoy it – as I have. This may sound awfully elitist, but the way the show works, it’s almost like it panders to the people knowledgable about its jokes and references – namely, us. It’s just like going to an IRC channel and watching the people randomly talk about anime; you laugh at some of the jabs and some others just fly right by you. Since the show is essentially a mini-dump of jokes, gags, and references on current shows and other media, I doubt it’s one of those things that people who don’t already know what the show’s talking about will enjoy it.

I hesitate to get pretentious and call it a brilliant social commentary on the current state of otaku media affairs; it could be, but I can’t quite find the words to fully describe how exactly it could. What I can say about it is that for those who like a little bit of pandering for their otaku selves, it won’t fail to satisfy. And I’m quite satisfied, even for just a little while.

Side Note: I was supposed to toss in a nice header image, but fail uni internet won’t let me upload anything. orz

Okay, so games first. I only got two right now (my copy of Desparaiso is busted or something) – TWilight refrAIN (aka TWAIN), by 永久る~ぷ, and Armed Seven by ASTRO PORT.

TWilight refrAIN

The sequel to TWilight INSanity; pretty fun game, enough to warrant my desire to write a short guide for it (which I shall get to later this week). The nice art is well, nice to look at, and it’s a good change of pace from ZUN’s eye cancer art; I’m not saying it ruins SA, but eh, I digress.
The game’s bullets behave in true danmaku fashion – heavy, slow, and steady – which is my preferred choice over the other type, light freeform. One issue I have with the game is that you seem to be fighting magic giant boxes and barrels, which is kinda weird, really. Not that it detracts from the quality of the game or anything, but it would be nice to have other enemies that look like, oh, I dunno, actual enemies.
There also seems to be a story with lots and lots of branching paths (notice why there’s a stage C1, D2, etc.), with decision points, well, deciding where you end up. Make the right choices and you’ll get to the true final ending. Make the wrong ones, and you’ll get to not-true, not-final ending. Or something.
We’re offered three pairs (one pair isn’t composed of twins), each with three styles – attack, defense, and balanced. So far, I’m biased towards the defense style because of its emphasis on item collection and lower magic (bomb) costs. I’ll get to the rest of this in the guide.
Another thing this game offers is online scoreboard support. Okay, sure, it seems like common sense in today’s age where we have stuff like E-Amuse and things like that, but this is the first doujin game I’ve seen with built-in in-game score and replay download and upload functions, allowing one to grab replays and watch them without ever exiting the game, and with 99 slots, you’ll have a lot of space to work with. Sadly, by watching a full-clear replay, you’ll end up spoiling yourself on the entire game, plot branches and all. Still, a solid game and a good contender against the seeming monopoly that the Touhou series has on PC danmaku STGs. Plus, it has widescreen support, which is cool! But then it makes fullscreen screenshots look like shit.
Oh, and sad to disappoint, but contrary to what Aroduc says, there are no pretty boys in dresses.

ARMED SEVEN

Hoo boy, an old-school shooter. First things first, this game looks like it came from Dezaemon. There.
Anyway, it’s a simple game. Shoot shit. Period. Multipliers for overkill and proximity need to be heavily utilized in order to score even half-decently. Probably, the main draw of the game would be the weapons. With 4 main guns, 4 sidearms, and 4 charge weapons, one can have 64 possible combinations, which makes for some neat replay value. But! Generally speaking, there are probably only around 12 or some good weapon combinations. Some weapons are just outright worthless.
For the main guns, anything is good, really, but I would say SMG > Riot Gun > Assault Rifle > Laser. Laser is just horrible because it has practically zero spread, has a half-second delay between each shot (a lot when it comes to a fast-paced game like this) and is just a little stronger than the assault rifle, which is much easier to spread when moving. The Riot gun would’ve been at least tied with the SMG, but its firepower, even with all the pellets, cannot beat the SMG’s and its balance between spread, accuracy, and power.
For the sidearms, Cluster Gun > Rocket Launcher > Air Greanades [sic] > Vulcan. The vulcan cannot hit shit and is utterly weak. Air Greanades [sic] are only good against enemies below, but are very strong (up-closing is useful). The Rockets don’t have enough spread and usually only 2-3 hit at most. Cluster Gun is pretty much perfect for taking out stragglers and the small upgrade ships, as well as just plain shooting things.
Finally, for the charge weapons, Missile Pod > Napalm > Pile Bunker > Beam Cannon. The Beam Cannon, while fun to use at first, takes an eternity to charge, thus making it absolute shit. The Pile Bunker’s useful for racking up points (killing something with it usually nets high multipliers) and can cancel out bullets in its vicinity, but seriously, leave it for the experts. Napalm is okay, but it’s slow to shoot, though controlled detonations are neat. The Missile Pod is awesome because it is homing and it shoots like, a shitload of missiles, all of which are rather effective at taking out small fry and mid-sizers, and it works on midbosses and bosses as well.
Anyway, my only main problem with this game is its horizontal orientation. At times, the game goes into danmaku mode, and as Cave learned with Arashi no Progear, horizontal danmaku is bad, wrong, and just plain stupid. Otherwise, it’s a fun, dare I say beginner-friendly game.

Next, I review music.

Here, I write my impressions and opinions on Touhou 11 and the entire Touhou series as it stands today, though I shall concentrate mostly on the former. Feel free to skip this entire post because it’s just a huge wall of text.

I’ve had the good fortune to play a bit of the demo for 東方地霊殿　～ Subterranean Animism (Touhou Chireiden). Honestly speaking (or writing. whatever), Touhou has been going downhill since Mountain of Faith. Both SA and MoF are technically Touhou, but they don’t feel like the Touhou I know. It was a lot slower paced, focusing on bullet-dodging skills and the incredible, intricate danmaku patterns. MoF and SA were just too fast, going more for freestyle (mostly) rather than slow, thick patterns of bullets one had to weave through. The biggest difference between the pre-MoF Touhou and the current ones though, is that the former was composed of games which were tough – damn tough – yet still humanly possible (see: GIL, ASAPIN), but the latter almost feels cheap, in a sense. We have games like PCB and IN. Sure, they both have beefy enemies, but it never really felt cheap. One could still deal with them all, given that enough practice had built up enough skill. On the other hand, MoF and SA (the latter being especially guilty) had too many enemies, with other enemies that took an unfairly long time to kill, even with 4.00 power – so long that you couldn’t be able to deal with all of them, given their speed and endurance. In other words, the game’s design with regards to enemy abilities and player abilities is much more heavily skewed, favoring the former (though considering this is a curtain fire shooting game, any unexperienced person would find that difference unnoticeable).

On the game’s mechanics, well, I never got the hang of how it all works yet but those “belief items” seem to have stayed, and rather than a counter with the total amount of belief collected slowly diminishing (and the possible maximum point item value along with it), we have a “total belief counter”, a “signal bar” (because that’s what it looks like), and a “multiplier counter” ranging from “x 0.01″ to “x1.00″. From the half hour I spent playing SA, I gather that one needs to graze bullets to not only raise the total belief counter value, but also the multiplier counter value to x1.00 so that one can get the maximum value per point item when collecting under the POC border. The signal bar is basically a graphical representation of the multiplier counter, so a full signal means x1.00, and no signal means x0.01. Power levels have been maintained, but the maximum power level is set at 4.00, rather than its predecessor’s 5.00, which allowed an extra bomb (referred to in SA as a “special”. The process in gaining lives has been changed too. Now you need to collect star outlines which look like this:

Bosses drop these whenever you deplete their health, and it takes 5 or 6 to form one full life icon, which is automatically added to your stock.

As before, there are only 2 selectable main characters – Reimu and Marisa. The former can team up with Yukari, who provides rotating options (think Type 4 from Gradius V), Suika, who auto-collects when all buttons aren’t held down and augments your shots with her own “left-right arrangement” options, which are basically straight shots which can turn left or right when they hit something, or Aya with her super-speed (hold ctrl without shooting) and “direction-assign” options, which initially is like a cross between Myon and Sakuya B from PCB (aims at the opposite direction of movement; lockable. As you get more and more, the options position themselves opposite each other, so it ends up looking like this:

Pretty neat, but horrible for bosses. In other words, Reimu sucks without her kickass needles and homing amulets.

For Marisa, you can partner her with Alice, who gives dolls (5 8 maximum) that shoot lasers, Patchouli who seems to have switchable options, though I’ve no idea how that’s done, and Nitori, who – you guessed it – shoots missiles. Not SUPER YOUKAI WARHEADS, but yeah.

The music is… acceptable. Nothing on par with the holy trinity of Touhou (EoSD, PCB, IN), but good enough. Worth mentioning is the 2nd stage’s theme, which totally reminded me of Ryo Ohnuki’s bass synth. It’s not as well synced as EoSD’s and PCB’s are to the stage flow either, but that’s forgivable.

Through the number of playthroughs I’ve done with this game, I’ve realized one important thing as well. I have lost most of my skill when it comes to shooting games. For this, I blame Giga Wing. Its reflect force has conditioned me to be much, much more reckless when it comes to evading projectiles and rushing into the field for score. The lack of a proper playing surface (monitor under level eye vision) means that I can’t dodge for shit either. Hopefully, a bit of remodeling for my desk can fix that.

Until then, I need to get back the skill I’ve lost. And perhaps rekindle the now slowly dying concern I have for Touhou.

By the way, the TouhouWiki is a much better place to go to, in regards to the game’s technical aspects.

Shows covered: Wagaya no Oinari-sama, Kazoku Kyouran Nikki, >Nabari no Ou, Kurenai

Wagaya no Oinari-sama 01, 02

Episode 1 was totally… uneventful, I guess. It took the show 22 minutes to show something worth around 10. Whenever a youkai or whoever spoke in “Old Japanese”, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Horo too for some reason. OP and ED were okay, I guess. The ED was better though, in my opinion. It suited the show more that the OP. Animation… I’m not really sure. It’s pretty good, but there were places where it got a bit spotty, but it’s better than some other shows I’ve seen. The way that the female and male Kuugen were voiced separately was a good touch too, but I guess it’s obvious.
Overall, a decent show, but it’d better pick up the pace soon.

Kazoku Kyouran Nikki 01

Damn, this show makes totally no sense whatsoever. A loli catgirl wife, a killer android, talking lion, non-talking jellyfish, a gay guy, and a regular loli (though bullied) as kids. I loved how Kyouka talked faster than listening to gabbah, but her Haruhi-like attitude pissed me off. Also, the ED was totally awesome. Animation was much better than expected, though I actually didn’t notice that NOMAD (of sola fame) was doing much of the animation until now.
Definitely one of the better comedies out there – filled with non sequitur (I love that phrase) total randomness – though it doesn’t seem like there are a lot this season anyway.

Nabari no Ou 01, 02

Stunning animation by JC Staff, as almost-always. The story makes me think of Naruto, in the “has ninjas” sense, except this is probably infinity times better. And it’s not by Studio Pierrot, who provides us such other thought-provoking anime like Bleach. Now that I’ve listened to the OP a bit more now, I’ve found it to be a bit more to my liking, though like some others said, the song doesn’t really pick up until the chorus, and by then, the song’s almost over anyway. The ED however, is not to my tastes – I’m not too into slow songs, particularly in action shows. Oh, and Raimei is probably one of the few blonde twintails that isn’t a tsundere.
This show ought to be at the top of any spring season watchlist, with the likes of Kurenai, which I shall get to now.

Kurenai 01, 02

I have mixed feelings about this show. Some people panned the character designs, and while I honestly find them… off, they’re actually not that bad. Plot-wise, I’ve totally been pulled in – what’s up with Shinkurou’s body, why did Benika decide to “defect”, so to speak – and so on. Plus it has a loli, yet she’s not a dojikko/a meganekko/a tsundere/any particularly moe thing, nor does she have the hots for the main guy (yet).
A great show, intriguing plot, and interesting characters. Will most definitely follow this quite actively.

What’s left: Kamen no Maid Guy, Neo Angelique ~Abyss~, Vampire Knight, The Tower of Druaga (the real one).

And more Renko and Maribel. All three wallpapers are by Studio S.D.T., by the way

note-edited for redundancy.

I’ve been feeling under the weather recently (colds, sore eyes, and all that), not to mention I have a summer job coming in a few days, so I’ll keep this short.

To LOVE-Ru 01

This show was all about the boobs and fanservice. The story, as many people pointed out, was totally lame and generic. Production values were so-so and music wasn’t really noticeable, including the OP and ED. Voice acting wasn’t memorable, though it’s been quite some time since I’d watched it. I kinda liked the Star Wars parody in the opening, but really, nothing else stood out for me, save for a pair of large melons.
Personally, I’d lump this with Kanokon as one of those mindless fanservice-fests, which aren’t exactly unavoidable, given the Japanese market.

Zettai Karen Children 01

Haha, yeah, Aroduc was right in the series being awesome solely because of the PENIS BEAMS. Too bad the next episode apparently doesn’t have those anymore, but it has a loli meganekko! That totally wins points from me. Still, at this point, the show’s still wavering between good and mediocre.
Animation was pretty good, though it put me off for a bit a while. Despite the many opportunities for panty shots and stuff, I never actually noticed any of them, which is a good thing. Music wasn’t too bad, but the OP wasn’t that outstanding. The ED, however, was quite good.

Soul Eater 01

Out of these three, I’d say this is definitely the best one. Fight scenes were, in my opinion, well-choreographed, particularly when Maka fought Jack the Ripper. The camera kept going all over the place though, which, while making the action seem more fast-paced, makes it somewhat harder to actually follow what’s going on in the scene. Another problem of mine with the series is that the background seems to have gotten more animation detail than the foreground, where we’re supposed to be looking at. Also, in a few scenes, some characters look like they have cat noses for reasons unknown.
Voice acting in general was okay, but Maka’s voice actor kinda delivered the lines a little flatly. Like she had a cold or something. There was a good bit of cleavage shown in the episode itself too, but hopefully, that’ll die down. Hopefully.

To come (hopefully): Wagaya no Oinari-sama, Kamen no Maid Guy, Neo Angelique ~Abyss~, Kazoku Kyouran Nikki, Nabari no Ou, Kurenai, Vampire Knight

NOODLEPEOPLE.

I’m pretty sure everyone by now knows exactly what the hell happens in this episode, so I’ll skip to the comments.

First of all, despite Gonzo having worked on Special A, I don’t see too many dips in quality, nor do I see excessive CG, unlike a certain other show. Instead, we have this; it’s actually pretty good, from what I’ve seen so far (less than 30 minutes). I haven’t been exposed to the original material unlike most other people, so there is nothing for me to compare it with.
In Special A, the story is basically about the rivalry between Hikari and Takishima, with the former constantly trying to beat the latter so that she can be “number one”, but Of course, Takishima is superior to her in every aspect, no matter how ridiculous (lol sexism). So the story might not sound all that special, but it is interesting enough a premise to keep me watching.
I did have some problems with the series itself though. The idea with pro wrestling in the show somehow makes me wonder if the creator just put it there as an excuse to allow Hikari and Takishima to pull off crazy moves on evil delinquents.
Furthermore, the idea behind a “Special A” class, which is actually just a tiny group of students being allowed to do whatever they want in a giant terrrarium – be it drinking tea, eating waffles, or raising sloths – is kinda preposterous, considering the budget required to maintain such things would be insane. However, logic and anime don’t exactly blend together, so I guess the point is moot. I can at least see the reasoning behind people not exactly getting along with them though; even I’d harbor some form of dislike for people like that.
As for character designs, I actually find them to be pretty nice; girls look cute, guys look like… well, half of them look like men, the other half look like pretty men. I guess it’s to be expected though, seeing as this is probably mostly shoujo.
The music was barely noticeable. Or perhaps I just didn’t pay enough attention. I skipped through the ED though, since I was watching this at three in the morning with a jacket draped over my head and the monitor so that my parents wouldn’t see the glow from the monitor through the ventilation fan between our rooms.
All that aside, Special A, while nothing too special, is still a generally enjoyable watch. Of course, knowing Gonzo, it may deteriorate greatly from there.

PS: Trivia: looking at the clock, one can note that the show may place during the year 2007.

Judging from the first episode, this may turn out to be one of the most awesome shows this season, or one of the dumbest.

Highlights of the episode include:
-A wide pan of a huge library complex with barracks, field, what seems to be an armory, and of course, the library, which in itself is several floors tall
-A swat-esque team, complete with gear, guns, and helicopters raiding what looks to be a publishing office of sorts to prevent the publication of a scandalous article
-A couple of soldiers (main + side character) talking in a hallway littered with card catalog cabinets
-Someone who is willing to kill people for a gravure magazine poster (and the main character kicking his ass, as well as his subsequent handcuffing)
-Evil booksnatchers dressed in Red, Nazi-themed uniforms who take books from little kids

Unfortunately, since I only saw it raw, it’s mostly gibberish to me, though I understand much of the general plot.