lol UNMEI KAIHEN link dump: ep10 of Bakemonogatari, ep23 of FMA: Brotherhood, eps 6-8 of Kare Kano and ep6 and ep7 of Aoi Hana. I'll post about ep11 of Spice and Wolf II later today.
But, for now, here is the weekly word dump!
Anime discussed: Aoi Hana, Axis Powers Hetalia, Bakemonogatari, Canaan, Cross Game, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Genshiken, Hayate no Gotoku!!, Kare Kano, Kemono no Souja Erin, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2, Natsume Yuujinchou, Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, Shugo Chara! Doki, Sora no Manimani, Spice and Wolf II, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Wolf's Rain + OVA, Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
-- Aoi Hana eps 6-7: The Wuthering Heights play is pretty good. I especially enjoy how the girl who plays Catherine is so energetically animated. Hey, the budget has to go somewhere, right? Might as well make an actress look glamorous. Speaking of actresses, Sugimoto sure as hell isn't acting when all that emotion is wrenched from her after the drama teacher praises her performance. A rare crack in the mask for her. That plays into the next episode, with Fumi's suspicions about Sugimoto's feelings about the drama teacher. I'm really loving how the relationship between Sugimoto and Fumi is developing. It is especially interesting to get a look at the more vulnerable side of Sugimoto, since at school she is always so calm and cool, probably because she is not dealing with older and more experienced people owning her in every direction, haha.
What I am wondering most is if Sugimoto knew her relationship with Fumi would be strained by taking Fumi to her home and meeting her family. Sugimoto's invitation to Fumi struck me as unusually cold. And she bristles under the harsh interrogation of her sister, Kuri (played wonderfully by Mai Nakahara, with a voice second only to Maaya Sakamoto's Alphard as the most surprising of the season). Or maybe consciously she thinks introducing her to the family will work symbolically and help bring them together, while it's more unconsciously that she is trying to break things off (because she can sense Fumi's distrust in her, and later she acknowledges that she is not mature enough to be in a relationship with Fumi). It's sad because Sugimoto puts a lot of pressure on herself -- she works hard to present herself as this mature, together person, when she is really as emotionally confused as Fumi. (Poor Fumi btw. She actually tries to bring herself and Sugimoto closer, but her attempts just fail miserably.) Not sure whether this hardship will break them up or keep them together, but I hope it is the latter, because I am growing to like Fumi and Sugimoto as a couple.
-- Axis Powers Hetalia eps 33-34: Yet another strange episode. The funniest part, for me, is the shooting star going all kamikaze on England, and then America totally overreacts like, ":O! OMG THAT'S FREAKING AWESOME" Haha. In ep34, I wish there were more about Germany's adventures in Italy. There is just so much potential with something like that, and all we get is an Italian fruit salesman becoming scared of Germany and giving him fruit for free. America boasting about his crappy drawings (saying they are inspired by New York pop art) is hilarious, though.
-- Bakemonogatari ep10: Huh. Is this really the end of the arc? I think there are some interesting things done regarding the undermining of Araragi's confidence, but it doesn't exactly play out into something that is exciting to watch. The visual strategy, I believe, is to get the viewer to feel the frustration of Araragi's loss, which translates into holding back on the fight scene and cutting away to irrelevant backgrounds rather than showing the fight scene develop. But it's something that is more exciting to think about than to see unfold in front of one's eyes, haha.
-- Canaan ep11: RIP Liang Qi. :( You were one awesome boatload of crazy fun, but your crazy flew too close to the sun. Alas! Alphard's plans are becoming a bit less fuzzy, and I like that she is neither good nor evil. She gives Natsume (nice twist with her pulling a lot of the strings btw) the Borner research data but with the caveat that Alphard's group has the power to destroy whatever weapons any country conjures from it. That is ballsy, my friend. Now that Alphard's motivations are starting to make a little more sense, I can appreciate her for more than having an awesome voice and sweet fighting skillz. Who I don't appreciate, however, is Maria. Yawn. She is even making Yunyun dull. WTF. Stop this madness. (I LOL'd at Natsume being like, "Why did you let Maria go? She's a journalist!" The National Enquirer reporters are Pulitzer Prize winners compared to Maria. Natsume's journalistic standards are not very high at all.) And the Hakko necrophilia scene is just ... uh, yeah. Reminds me of "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, except Hakko is a bit less crazy than Emily. It's more a sense that she wants to be close to someone she was unable to truly love when he was alive instead of being crazy and obsessive. Still, it's pretty nuts.
-- Cross Game ep21: One of those fun Aoba x Kitamura that is a joy to watch and drops a billion hints that those two are meant to be together. But what is just as interesting are the hints of the emotional scars that have to heal before both can be comfortable truly loving the other. With Kitamura, I think it is a bit more subtly done (or maybe there is just a bit less focus on it right now). The show has frequently highlighted Kitamura's devotion to Wakaba. It is good to be devoted and to honor the memory of a loved one, but the fact that Ichiyo has to tell Kitamura to not be guilty about finding another person to love tells me that he has taken his hesitation too far. I can't really blame him too much, though. That is a lot of emotional pain to deal with for a mature, experienced adult, much less a young, innocent child. Losing someone you love with all your heart is just tough. It is tough to recover from something like that. But the Aoba family just needs to keep chipping away at Kitamura until he is able to right the ship. Wakaba would not want him to be miserable, after all.
-- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep23: Good episode. Lots of intense fighting in the first half, with the star of it all being Lin. He is GAR as hell in this episode. Not quite as amazing as ep19!Mustang, but still. Have to give the man his due. I mean, he freakin' jumps out of a sewer and shoves a grenade down Gluttony's gullet. Now that is a hell of an entrance. Also love how Wrath is shown to be an unstoppable monster. My favorite horror shot of Wrath is the fisheye lens look at him stalking Lin and Ran Fan. That is pretty scary. Second half is pretty good, too, slowing it down a bit and squeezing out a bit more emotion with Winry. Allow me a small rant: I've read people completely hating on Winry's storyline the past couple of episodes, saying "OMG IT'S SO EMO" WTF, she's had deep emotional wounds reopened (not to mention she finally found out how her parents were killed), and people expect her to be jolly and cheerful?? Frankly, I think she is being unbelievably brave right now. It takes a lot to not give in to blind revenge, and she does not spend an enormous amount of typing moping and being sad. Instead, she moves forward just like she believes Ed would. If Winry's storyline is emo, then 99 percent of the drama in anime is emo. Good lord. Criticizing the story for being contrived is fine (it is) and criticizing BONES for cutting certain parts of the story is also fine (although I would cut BONES a bit of slack, since I am sure the cuts were a tough choice). But the "emo" accusation is ridiculous.
-- Genshiken ep12: lol, poor Madarame cannot take the pressure of being the chairman anymore. He just can't deal with the fallout from Saki burning things, the suspension of Genshiken and everything. Plus, he really is not built to be a leader, anyway. Madarame can talk a big game with anime, but ultimately, he is not someone who can make Genshiken more than a random gathering place. So ... enter Sasahara, who wants Genshiken to participate as a circle at Comifes. Oh snap. Some real ambition in the house! And then Japan had to wait two years to find out what happened after that, haha.
-- Genshiken OVA ep1: LOL, I forgot how awesome Ogiue and Ohno's rivalry is. They are both epic in this episode. "There are no women who hate homos!" rofl Ogiue's introduction is fantastic as well. She's so wonderfully grumpy. <3 Ohno's ridiculous plan to out Ogiue as a yaoi lover is ridiculously awesome, too. Man, I love Ohno, haha. She gets downright filthy in this one! Another highlight is Madarame's epic "BREAK IS BORING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU EXPECT GUYS TO DO OTHER THAN JERK OFF" speech. Fantastic. The hilarity of this episode is enough to offset the "WTF" at the enormous design changes from the first series to the OVA and Genshiken 2 (which are animated by different studios than the first series). The sharper, rougher character designs of the first season are much better than the softer designs of the later series. Plus ... everyone is just way whiter in the OVA and beyond, which is just bizarre. Madarame looks particularly bad. What did they do to my favorite character?! :(
-- Hayate no Gotoku!! eps 18-24: Oh snap, caught up completely now! Again, really enjoying the romance this season -- it adds a grounding/unifying element that is just missing throughout most of the first season of this series. I think I am slowly drifting toward the Hayate x Ayumu pairing. Nagi is a funny character, and she has decent chemistry with Hayate, but she is too immature to really make it work. Random Hayate x Maria teasings are fun; however, I really don't think Maria is a serious contender. The pairing is certainly less overt in the second season than it is in the first. Hinagiku is in classic tsundere mode, where she is just too stubborn to take a crack at Hayate. Therefore, Ayumu is the most deserving right now. Hell, she's actually confessed to Hayate already! She is way ahead of the other girls. Go Ayumu! I support you!
The comedy remains consistently fun, too. I think the romance helps a lot here -- the comedy does not have to carry every episode, so the jokes have far less a chance to fall flat and/or stretch thin. Some of the funnier moments include: Nagi channeling her inner Yugi Mutou and pwning some teens at the Official Hayate no Gotoku Trading Card Game; Maria humming the Gunbuster OP~; Father Linn pulling an epic April Fools gag and getting Isumi into a maid costume; little!Nagi's trip to Africa in ep21 (WTF @ Jenny xD); the manga author behind some of Nagi's favorite comics proposing to Maria in ep22; Wataru completely bombing onstage when Sakuya wants him to be funny; and Hayate pulling the same trick when he tries to comfort Nagi, who is feeling quite lonely. Hilarious.
-- Kare Kano eps 6-8: I usually try to condense my UNMEI KAIHEN thoughts for anime I write about both here and there, but I wrote so damn much about Kare Kano this week, and on so many topics, that I don't think I can do it, haha. So here is the UNMEI KAIHEN post I wrote yesterday. Give it a read if you are interested in Kare Kano!
-- Kemono no Souja Erin eps 32-33: Forgot to mention this last week, but the remix of the show's OP is kind of cool. Not as good as the original song, mind, but good nonetheless. Anyway, a couple of good episodes here. In the fallout from Erin helping Lilan fly, my boy Nason appears on the scene to give Erin a warning about communicating with the beast-lords, and he drops some knowledge about the big Touda/beast-lord fallout way back when. Not really too sure what to think of the king in the story. He has some honorable traits to him, but he also strikes me as a bit of an emotional manipulator in how he seizes upon the strengths of the beast-lords and convinces the people to assault his former kingdom, with the promise that when the soldiers see how hard the beast-lords pwn the Touda, they will be too afraid to continue the fight. But, uh, what really happens is that some bloodlust is awakened from deep within the Touda and the beast-lords, and they go absolutely batcrap nuts. Very scary, and an amazingly directed scene (the whole battle is a visual feast, actually), but there is one thing that bugs me: Why exactly do the Touda and beast-lords go nuts then? Is it because of the conditions in which the Touda are raised? (This is assuming Touda rearing has not changed much since then.) Because beast-lords have eaten wild Touda in the past without going all crazy. Or is it the conditions of the battle that drove them insane? Whatever the case may be, Nason warns Erin that communicating with beast-lords will lead to nothing but destruction, because beast-lords and humans were not meant to get along.
Ep33 has more of Kiriku being wonderfully evil (also love the subtle hint that Damiya orders him to poison all of the school's beast-lords). The crows flying all around him while he tells Erin that caged birds are never meant to be free and that is the way of the world might be a bit over the top, but it is awesome. His "HUBBAWHA?!" shock when Erin actually does fly again with Lilan is pretty funny, too. Wonder what he will do, though. The very fact that Damiya orders Kiriku to kill all the beast-lords tells me that Kiriku has not informed Damiya of Erin taming Lilan. Does he plan to watch more to see if Erin can completely communicate with Lilan, or does he have something else up his sleeve? I wonder if Nason will step in sooner or later, too. He stated flat out that he would kill Erin and Lilan if he had to, and Erin has not exactly stuck to Nason's demands. Erin has to know that Nason is still watching her. Gotta keep an eye on that situation.
-- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2 ep14: I'm not an especially big fan of The Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya, but this might be my favorite episode of the arc. Only thing I don't like is there is not more Shamisen. I love that cat. It's so adorable when he engages Kyon in a philosophical debate when trying to hang onto Yuki's shoulder lol. <3 If I remember correctly, there are some scenes with the cat lazing around at Kyon's house more, and there are OVER 9000 different occasions where Kyon's sister nearly finds out Shamisen can speak. Oh well. Guess KyoAni was a bit pressed for time. Lord knows MOAR "ENDLESS EIGHT" was needed earlier in the season, after all. What's also interesting is that the latent conflicts between the rival groups -- represented by Itsuki, Mikuru and Yuki -- start to show themselves a bit. I can't remember if there is any of this during the first season of the series (it's been a while since I last watched it), but this becomes more important down the road. (Way down the road, haha.) If I were Kyon, I'd throw my lot in with Yuki. She has the craziest powers and would always be saving my ass, whereas Itsuki would just dump a ton of work on me and flirt with me, and Mikuru would stand around and be cute and useless. Go Yuki!
-- Natsume Yuujinchou eps 1-5: Man, I'm a guy, and even I want to hug Natsume in like every story. Ep3 has a particularly melancholy flashback to an early moment in Natsume's life where an Ayakashi (one of the spirits Natsume can see) takes the form of a human and speaks with Natsume because the spirit is lonely. Except poor young Natsume believes the spirit actually is a human who can see spirits just like he can. The brief alleviation of the intense loneliness Natsume feels is quickly squashed by the realization that Natsume is once again alone in the world, still the only person he knows who can see spirits. Really, it's a wonder Natsume did not grow to be more messed up. He is a bit awkward and shy around people, which means he ends up pushing others away more often than not, but he is also kind and helpful in general. Plus, he looks amusingly sleepy all the time. No wonder the ladies love Natsume.
For more general things, I really like the pacing of this series. It is nice and easy without seeming too slow. Probably helps that there are more action scenes than I expected, haha. The fights are not FMA: Brotherhood level, or anything, but they're not meant to be, so eh. Natsume solves his problems more through emotional connection than with his fists, anyway lol. The relationship between Natsume and Madara is fun, too. It's really cool that there is this tension between them (Natsume has promised to give Madara his book, the Book of Friends -- which is capable of controlling any spirit listed in it -- upon Natsume's death), and yet, Madara will save Natsume whenever he is in a pinch because Madara is not an asshole, haha. (He likes people to think he is, though.) They also have a typical comedy relationship where Madara will mock Natsume every so often and then be on the receiving end of a good whack (although Natsume gets his digs in every so often). It's funny, however, so I can't complain too much.
One other aspect of the series that really intrigues me is the mysterious backstory of Natsume's grandmother, Reiko, who created the Book of Friends. There does not seem to be anything particularly sinister about the origin of the Book of Friends; it's just that Reiko has a really complex personality. In certain flashbacks she will be incredibly kind, and in others she will be kind of a douche (especially when she challenges Ayakashi to games, and takes ownership of them as punishment when they inevitably lose). There are just bits and pieces of Reiko's story revealed right now, so I am looking forward to Natsume discovering more about her.
eps 6-10: Ep6 might be one of the most adorable bits of anime I've seen in my life. The fact that Natsume helps an animal spirit in this episode makes it all the more heartwarming for me. They build such a nice relationship, and I love the simplicity of the swallow spirit's wish: She just wants to see the man who helped her when her siblings were killed, and she was left all alone. She does not even need to communicate with the man -- she just wants to know he is well and living a good life. Just a really touching episode. And every episode after that is just as good!
The little fox spirit in ep7 is so adorable in how eager and energetic he is, and how much he cares for Natsume. I mean, he goes all the way to Natsume's house just to make sure Natsume is not as lonely as he is. ;_; Ep8 introduces the possibility that Natsume may one day lose the power to see the spirits, which is an intriguing struggle for him. On the one hand, he wants to be a normal person, but on the other hand, he is such a nice kid that I think he would be miserable not being able to help out these spirits. Ep9 introduces the awesome character of Natori Shuuichi (who bell tells me is in the second season!), played by Akira Ishida in a hilarious performance. That guy freaking rules (both Natori and Ishida). I love how he messes with Natsume, and how his approach to the spirits clashes with Natsume's. If I were the spirit he eventually saves, I would follow Natori around, too. Ep10 is maybe my least favorite of this group of episodes, but it does have a nice story and a cool spirit (lovingly played by Mamiko Noto) and some hilarious gender-bending with Natsume.
eps 11-13: Good trio of episodes to end the first season. It is really cute seeing how much Madara really cares for Natsume in ep11. He is so crushed when he thinks Natsume has replaced him with another cat! Madara's scenes with the little girl are adorable, too. Him flying with the girl on his back is like something out of a Miyazaki movie. Ep12 is pretty interesting. Natsume gets tagged with a curse mark that starts sapping his life away and screwing with all sorts of stuff around Natsume (including Madara, whose size fluctuates throughout the episode due to coming into contact with the curse mark). I like the twist that the one Ayakashi is behind the whole thing as a way to test Natsume's worth. Gives some pretty sharp insight into how some of these big, powerful spirits view humanity. There's another awesome spirit introduced in this episode, Hinoe, who adores Natsume's grandma and slowly warms up toward Natsume himself (plus, she just looks cool). Ep13 is a great pandering episode -- it's an excuse to bring together all the awesome characters introduced throughout the season. I have no problem with this and ate up everything with a spoon, especially when the adorable fox kid made his reappearance. The biggest thing that comes out of the season one finale is that Kaname knows Natsume can see spirits now, and so they're pretty much bros.
(Also, ZOMG at Natori meeting with mysterious people. :O Season two implications?!?!?!)
Natsume Yuujinchou is definitely better than I thought it would be (and I expected something good). I love everything about it -- each episode is just a really nice story that never fails to suck me in. Can't wait to start watching Zoku!
-- Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ ep24: Good set-up episode for the final showdown. Really helps nail the tragedy of Cal going up against Reiji and Ellen, when they really should all be teaming up against Scythe Master and his evil puppet army of doom. Those girls are creepy. But getting back to Cal, gotta say, I got slightly choked up when she flashed back to her younger self waiting and waiting for Reiji to return, and then she has a rare break in the present as she whispers Reiji's name. She is still hurting a lot, and deep down I don't think she really wants to kill Reiji, but she believes she has to so that she can make up for being "betrayed" by him. I feel sorry for Mio, too. Reiji, Ellen and Cal's world is one that is beyond the help of someone as innocent as she is. Mio shows some solid strength standing up to Cal's assault, but strength like that is not enough to beat someone crazy like Cal. Sucks, but them's the breaks. Not really too sure what is going to happen after this. I'm pretty sure Reiji will live and Scythe Master will eat it, but as it pertains to Ellen and Cal, any combination of them living and dying is possible. We'll see what happens.
-- Shugo Chara! Doki ep49: WTF @ Ikuto's new Character Transformation, haha. Amu's is all srs biz, with her new transformation combining all four of her Shugo Charas (although it is weird to see her in a wedding dress), and then Ikuto is a freaking pirate. LOL I guess it's just Yoru's silly side coming through, but still. Mood whiplash like whoa. Anyway, not a bad episode at all -- nice to get the story on Ikuto's past. Kind of confirms everything we already know (or can be reasonably sure) about Ikuto, but hey. Now that we see what the Humpty Key and Dumpty Lock are for, though, I have to wonder why Ikuto searched for them. Did he know what they would do? I guess Easter was just like, "Hm, those seem like acceptable Embryo-hunting tools to us. We want them!" Now Easter knows it just wasted its time with that. Good show! All the heavy stuff appears to be going down next episode ... and who is that in the preview?! Man, I so called that shit. That kid runs the crap out of Easter. I know it.
-- Sora no Manimani ep8: This episode just bursts with adorable. As I've written before, I am not really into Mihoshi x Saku, but more episodes like this would make me change my mind, because they have many cute, heartwarming moments together. There is also a really nice Saku x Hime moment so that fans of that pairing won't give up hope, haha. The execution of "Planet-tan" is nice, too. Boy I'd love to see something like that myself. Also, the Rose of Versailles reference in this episode = win. OSCAR~!
-- Spice and Wolf II ep10: I like how the series is making my brain bend every which way trying to figure Abe out. This episode shows that Abe's plans for Horo are not as sinister as they initially appeared -- at least on the surface. Abe wants to disguise Horo as a noble and use her as collateral to take out a huge loan so that she and Lawrence can buy up enormous amounts of the suddenly available fur stockpiles (which the village has decreed can be bought only if the buyer has money on them to use), so that they can turn around and sell them for huge profits elsewhere. Abe seems upfront about her desire to get out of town: Her relationship with the church, whose bishop she goaded into increasing his influence so that she would have a strong contact, has soured because the bishop is cutting off all the people who could possibly affect his career. Thus, she wants to make a boatload of money and get the hell out of there. Understandable. But there are two things that have me worried: First is the nervousness that Lawrence senses when he shakes Abe's hand. Abe has gone out of her way to present herself as a smooth, confident merchant, so the fact that she loses control for a moment is a bad sign. Plus, there is the issue of the salt that Abe apparently brings along with her wares. It's bothering me, because there is not enough information available right now to understand it, and it strikes me as an obvious Chekov's Gun. This whole plan is quite dangerous (particularly Horo's role in it), so I am just waiting for everything to go completely wrong.
-- Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 ep10: Agh, the hammer has finally dropped -- Yuuki is dead. While Mirai's realization of Yuuki's death is a definite heartbreaker, it's her slow breakdown when she is in Yuuki's elementary school classroom and looking at his drawings and whatnot that gets to me more. By then it is apparent Mirai has blocked Yuuki's death from her mind, but bits and pieces leak through like the tears from her eyes as she gazes upon the drawing expressing Yuuki's wish to cross the Odaiba bridge again with his family. The pain is so tough to bear for Mirai that her subconscious cannot stop it from bursting through, even though Mirai does not realize at first why she is sad. :(
Something interesting I have been thinking about whether Yuuki is a figment of Mirai's imagination, or if his spirit is walking with Mirai. I'm not sure myself, but because other people cannot see this Yuuki, I am leaning toward it being something Mirai conjures up to protect her mind from the reality of Yuuki's death. There's a lot of OMGBITCHING because of this, some of it warranted (maybe strung along a bit too long and takes away a bit from Mirai's mourning) and some of it absolutely stupid (OMG IT'S SO UNREALISTIC). I can accept Yuuki as an apparition of Mirai's mind because of how the reality slowly leaks from her unconscious. Her mind is trying to protect itself, but the image is not perfect. Yes, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is trying to be a realistic series, but at the same time, it is freaking fiction. There are going to be liberties taken. Deal with it. The device is not perfect, but it works for the most part, I think. The other big complaint I'm hearing is that OMG THE ENDING ISN'T A SURPRISE AT ALL. Well, no shit, Sherlock. It's not supposed to be a surprise to us; it's supposed to be a surprise to Mirai, the final punch of reality after she is confronted again and again with the increasing unlikelihood of her brother's survival. If it doesn't work for someone, that's cool, but there are better reasons to hate it than by going all OMG ILLOGICAL/NOT A TWIST.
-- Umineko no Naku Koro ni ep12: Not a bad set-up episode -- like the twist at the end about Rosa having killed Beatrice. Right now, I can see a couple of outcomes with this. 1) Rosa killed someone who was not the current Beatrice. There's a reason why we are shown the scene between the former Beatrice (nicely voiced by Kikuko Inoue) and the current Beatrice. Maybe Rosa was able to kill the former Beatrice somehow. That Beatrice admits she is not as powerful as an Eternal Witch, so while unlikely, under the right circumstances it might be possible for Rosa to have killed her. (We have seen that the current Beatrice is a pretty horrible asshole. I would not put it past her to have set up her teacher's death as a way to inherit the title of Beatrice.) 2) Beatrice trolled the hell out of Rosa and made Rosa think she killed Beatrice when, in fact, she did not. Would you be at all surprised to learn this? I would not. Without more information -- especially without knowing the story behind Rosa supposedly killing Beatrice -- I cannot look at this as more than a cheap trick employed by Beatrice to shake Battler up a bit. The fact that she pulls it out when he corners her by demanding she Red Truth the statement that there are only 18 people on the island, and she refuses to do so, is telling.
Nice to get a bit more background on Eva. She has been a bit cruel the first couple of go arounds, but it would not be surprising to learn that she had to become that way to tough it out in the Ushiromiya family. Looking forward to seeing if anyone will finally try to solve the damn riddle, or if they'll all scatter yet again when a bunch of people inevitably die. Beatrice's butler is kind of cool. Is that Tomokazu Sugita voicing him? Sure sounds like it. The background with Beatrice also sheds some light on her relationship with Maria. She's being groomed to be a witch! Maria is even crazier than young!Beatrice is. I guess the apprentice feels pressure to outdo the master in crazy. Anyway, good stuff. Looking forward to the arc to really start swinging next week.
-- Wolf's Rain eps 19-22: Holy shit. Pretty sure I just witnessed Toboe's Crowning Moment of Awesome. He freakin' took it to that walrus! Damn! That whole scene is great; it is very viscerally animated, and you can really feel the ferocity with which Toboe attacks the walrus. I'm glad to see him be so strong and take such a stand. He struggles so much to prove himself and to keep up with Kiba, Tsume and Hige, so it's all the more satisfying when he goes crazy on that enormous walrus. Speaking of the walrus, his last words have me wondering if he will pop up later in a more spiritual way, or if the way he saves the wolves is simply by acting as sustenance for them. I guess I will find out soon enough, haha.
This set of episodes as a whole has a strong focus on Toboe, actually. Ep19 shows Toboe's empathy for humanity -- even though Quent has been nothing but a raging asshole to them, Toboe cannot help but give Quent a helping hand for survival, partly because of Blue's relationship with Quent, and partly because I think Toboe can sense that Quent has led a rough life. The way Quent talks in his sleep to Toboe just cements it, I think. He is made fun of a bit for not being the "strong" wolf, but that type of empathy is something Toboe should always cherish, because it is on a level that Hige, Tsume or even Kiba do not possess. And in ep20, when Toboe laments that he holds the others back and is not strong enough to keep up with them, it is such a sad moment. I wanted to hug the poor kid the whole time. Again, so glad he gets the opportunity to prove himself after having a moment of doubt.
And now we finally see Jaguara, who is creepy as fuck and is treating Cheza even worse than Darcia and the scientists in the beginning of the show combined. I have read that she eats wolf's meat and drinks wolf's blood in front of Cheza, which is why Cheza screams. That scene is a thousand times creepier now. Good lord. Jaguara has been slaughtering wolves all over the place, and with the information revealed in -- I think -- ep19, I think the series wants to project that Jaguara is killing the wolves so that none of them will find Paradise and cause the end of the world (again, more of Paradise being more dangerous than the wolves initially realize). However, even though I have no idea what else she could be planning, I have a feeling her true goal is something more than that. The way she brings wolves to the Great Hall before killing them seems a bit too systematic to not be suspicious. Is she perhaps looking for a specific wolf that could lead her to Paradise? It seems to me that she is baiting Kiba and his buds to come to her keep.
eps 23-26: Good thing BONES went ahead and made the OVA after this because Wolf's Rain was Executive Meddled into a bad ending, which is weird because ep26 (ep22 in America, I think, because the recap episodes were never aired) is actually a good episode. It's just a really crummy ending because while it wraps up some threads (Blue and Quent's relationship, Hige getting a Heroic Moment after his plot twist, Lady Jaguara getting owned, etc.), there are also a ton of things left hanging, most notably the search for Paradise, and these threads are not left hanging in an interesting, thought-provoking way. It's more of an annoying, "well we gotta do the best we can with what we have" way. But, hey, not going to complain about it too much since I do have the OVA. It's just disappointing seeing another strong set of episodes end in a somewhat weak way.
But, man, the twist involving Hige I mentioned earlier ... pretty damn good. The show got me with that one. I never gave a single thought to Hige's collar -- certainly not that it could be a tracker, or anything like that. I just thought it was a fashion choice, haha. But, jeez, that's so horrible for him, more so because the various packs he has fallen in with in the past all think he led them into death on purpose. That is such a miserable fate -- to be captured, brainwashed into leading your fellow wolves into death and eventually being forced to repeat the cycle again. It does make me slightly confused about Lady Jaguara's plan, though. I get that she wants to destroy the wolves, because she wants Paradise to be for her and Darcia alone. But she needs a wolf like Kiba to open the way to Paradise, right? Then again, she does lead a lot of wolves to the Great Hall before killing them -- does she test the likelihood of the wolves being able to lead her to Paradise before she kills them? That's a cold-blooded plan.
In a way, Lady Jaguara is a similar type of villain to Dante from Fullmetal Alchemist except executed much better. She ultimately does not appear that much, but I think that serves to make her more sinister. Throughout most of Wolf's Rain you just hear about Lady Jaguara, and her army seemingly has the ability to appear practically out of nowhere whenever it wants. That element of secrecy makes her much more sinister and scary, as does her crazy Eyes Wide Shut-style noble garb when she is seen for the first time. Lady Jaguara's reasons for wanting to open Paradise are as petty as Dante's reasons for desiring immortality, but there is just something much colder about the way Lady Jaguara carries out her plans. There is a desperation to what she is doing ("Why can't you love me instead of her?!"); at the same time, though, that pettiness is what makes her truly dangerous, because she is pretty much a black hole of selfish desire. She wants to kill all the wolves so that she can have Paradise to herself and the man she wants to force to love her. Bitch is crazy.
Despite my "eh" feeling at this first ending, the last fight scene with Lady Jaguara, Kiba, Hige and Darcia is pretty badass. Darcia particularly just rips apart Lady Jaguara's desire to go into Paradise with him. Guy just seethes with anger at the way she killed Harmona. What did she expect? Also, he is pretty pissed she has the same selfish desire to claim Paradise that led to his family line being cursed. I'd be pissed, too. Can't expect anything good to come of that. Kiba getting the kill is awesome. Throat ripping ftw.
-- Wolf's Rain OVA eps 1-4: Now this is a better -- though undeniably sadder -- ending for the series. Before I get into my view of what happens at the very end of the series, I'll get to praising the plot a bit. I am not certain whether Hige or Toboe's story is better. Hige's redemption is pulled off very well. It's such a tough trial for him. He certainly does not mean to put his friends in danger, but he has to endure the suspicion of his packmates until the very end when Tsume finally discards his distrust of Hige out of respect for the sacrifices Hige makes. It's so important for him, because he is finally able to prove he wants to enter Paradise as much as anyone else there. He's not just some random slacker who will go with the flow just because nobody else is objecting. And the way he goes out ... jeez. He really deserves the honor of a relatively quick and painless death from a friend instead of being left to suffer after that douche, Darcia, goes wild on everyone.
(Speaking of Darcia, obviously this set of episodes erases my suspicion that he was pissed at Lady Jaguara for repeating the mistakes of his ancestors. That is strictly vengeance for him. Might be a bit questionable why he wants to go to Paradise since his wife is dead, but he probably figures there is nothing left for him in this world, so he might as well snatch something better.)
Toboe, though ... gah, I love the poor little guy. He comes into his own so much through the course of the series. Toboe has the toughest, most relentless heart of anyone in the show. Who else could see through that enormous wall Quent builds around himself and actually feel the good inside of him? Even Blue becomes a bit disillusioned after Quent disowns her! (Although I think it is made pretty clear that Quent just does not want Blue to suffer with him anymore -- he would rather she be free to live her life the way she wants.) But even someone with Toboe's enormous heart cannot save Quent, I think, at least not in the sense of "he's resolved all his emotional issues and can live like a normal person now". Quent is too deeply scarred for that and has been on the path of vengeance for far too long to make amends. Hige is absolutely correct when he says Quent's hatred of wolves is the only thing that has kept him going since his family died. However, the true strength of Toboe's death comes in the message that such a person is worth trying to save anyway. Toboe just cannot abandon Quent, even if Quent is stuck in a spiral of self-destruction that can end only one way. Toboe's compassion at least helps Quent feel some semblance of love before he passes on. The moment Quent realizes Toboe is the wolf he hugged back in the city is wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time, and a perfect end for Quent. (And then there's Tsume's tearful confession about the origins of his scar and how much Toboe's heart and strength meant to someone who considered himself a coward. ;_;)
The final battle between Darcia and Kiba is awesome, too, but this is already getting pretty long, so I think I will just offer my thoughts on the very end now. I've read a good number of theories on the subject, and there is one I agree with almost entirely. The idea behind it is that basically everyone in the series is wrong about Paradise. Where they are wrong, first of all, is that they conceive of Paradise as a physical place, in the sense that you can go from one place to another, and then you will be in Paradise. However, Paradise is more of a condition than a place. It is stated point blank in the narrative that Paradise is the beginning of the world -- a rebirth after the old world finally dies. It is said that wolves will open the way to Paradise, and that when they do, the old world will be destroyed. This is probably where people like Lady Jaguara get their misconceptions about Paradise: The Nobles' greed, I think, leads them to assume this means there is a new world to be conquered rather than a renewal of the old world, with a lack of the poisonous elements.
This leads into my second point: wolves and humans are not meant to inhabit Paradise. This is supported by the final pages of the Book of the Moon. Blue asks Hubb how Paradise is described in the book, but Hubb replies only that the final few pages are blank. Yet after the way to Paradise is opened by Cheza (a Flower Maiden), and the cleansing rain splashes all over the book, the pages reveal fields of flowers, grass and trees, which then give way to Paradise itself, which is populated by what is shown in the book. That is, until Darcia's wolf eye, the one that is left in the pond after he tries to open Paradise, disintegrates and contaminates a nearby flower. This is the point where Paradise is no longer Paradise, because a foreign element has entered the world. This is why I believe only the plant life is meant to inhabit Paradise. There is not a single hint of any other lifeform in Paradise until the contamination, whereupon the episode jumps forward to an undisclosed time, and we see reincarnated (?) forms of Kiba, Hige, Tsume and Toboe in a city much like the one in the beginning of the series. As for why neither being can inhabit Paradise ... I think humans are naturally destructive (this is one of Quent's points -- humans can love, but they must also hate, despair, be joyous, fearful, etc.), and the wolves have an altogether different role in all this that does not include them actually living in Paradise.
As for what happens after this point ... I like the idea that the world is cyclical (after all, it is said that the world has died and entered Paradise several times before), and that it will keep going like this until a true Paradise can be created that will last forever. The wolves' role in this, I believe (and which is constantly reinforced throughout the series), is to act as protectors of those who can open the true way to Paradise. Each wolf has an instinctive desire to head toward Lunar Flowers, and when Kiba and the others find Cheza, this builds into a strong need to protect her from danger. And so they do, all the way until the end. Darcia represents a force that can destroy/contaminate Paradise. He is neither truly human nor truly a wolf; instead, he uses whichever form suits him best in his drive to conquer Paradise. I think his wolf's eye is a poisonous element because 1) it belongs to someone who masquerades as a wolf (so the desire to protect is not natural in him, at least not to the extent it is in true wolves) and 2) it is infused with the hatred of someone who is the freakin' "wretched beast". That destructive element, combined with Darcia's capacity to love (shown in his relationship with Harmona), naturally leads to the eventual formation of humans down the road.
Whew, that's a lot to think about! I don't think I've even scratched the surface -- I'm still struggling to answer questions like whether there can be a Paradise with wolves/humans, if Kiba and pals can ever open the way to the true Paradise and so on. But, yes, I really loved Wolf's Rain. Don't think I would have written that much if I did not! Very glad I finally decided to watch it.
