Posts Tagged ‘volume 4’

The Story

In the final four episodes of Baccano, all three years will be more or less tied up. In 1930, a standoff in the alley will finally reveal who drank the juice of immortality and who is devoured. Quates and Ennis have Firo, Isaac, Miria and Maiza all pinned down in the alley. Having made friends for the first time, Ennis has second thoughts about her orders and Quates will have more enemies than he expected coming after him instead.

Jumping ahead to the Flying Pussyfoot, the train is finally nearing its destination. Jacuzzi has come face to face with the leader of the black suits and must put on his bravest face to save the passengers. Meanwhile, Chane and Vino have a standoff of their own that will intertwine their lives forever. Finally in 1932, Eve learns what really happened to her brother, Dallas, and gets the miracle that she has prayed for.

But wait, that’s just what happens in episode 13, isn’t Baccano a 16 episode series? Why yes it is, how observant of you. In episodes 14 through 16, a three episode epilogue of sorts attempts to give some closure. With the cast now trimmed down to the essentials, the focus moves to one place and one time: Manhattan in 1932. In this time and place, Jacuzzi and his friends are recuperating after their experiences aboard the train. After hearing what has happened to his idol Ladd Russo, a new psychopath has decided to step forward and get revenge for his fallen hero. This leads to a new plot that will involve Chane, Vino, Jacuzzi and the rest of his gang on a complicated rescue operation.

While all this is happening, Rachel learns the truth about the immortals from a passenger on the train she thought was dead and Eve goes after her brother with the help of another family.

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After a less than thrilling close to the first half, ‘Claymore’ returns with new awakened beings and a new mission for Claire.

The Story

Having become half awakened and armed with a new right arm, Claire is now being sought out by the Organization. While Claire continues her search for Raki, she happens across an area where four Claymore led by the number nine, Jean, are crossing to fight an awakened being. Completely outmatched however, Claire finds herself pulled into the fight in an attempt to save the ‘Claymore’ from certain death and a twisted plot to torture them into submission. 

When she joins the fight though she learns a number of new things from Rafel, one of the strongest awakened beings in history known as creatures of the abyss, and the one charged with bringing her back, Galetea who carries the third highest rank amongst Claymores. Heading for the north with new information and a new mission, Claire will join dozens of other ‘Claymore’ as she continues her search for Raki and the awakened being who can tell her where to find the one she seeks revenge on, Priscilla.

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Now moving into the second half, this volume of xxxHolic gives the audience just enough to keep going.

The Story

In the first three episodes of the volume, the first half of the series will end and the second half will begin with more lessons for Watanuki to learn. In episode thirteen, Watanuki will meet a girl named Mie. She seems nice enough, very polite and everyone loves her but something about her has been changing lately. Her personality has grown darker and Watanuki is seeing wings growing out of her back. With a warning from Yuko, Watanuki will investigate further and find out the truth behind the wings.

In the next two episodes, Doumeki and Watanuki meet twin sisters. While they may look alike though, their personalities are completely different. One is always cheerful and talkative and one does nothing but sulk and lets out a negative attitude. As the four go out on a couple of double dates, Watanuki will learn the true power of words. Especially their ability to bind ourselves and others to a dark fate.

Finally in episode sixteen, Watanuki has grown tired of his full sized pipe fox. Yuko helps him to get the fox back to its travel size but along the way, will also help reunite him Ame-warashi and Zashiki-warashi.

Good and the Bad

As with the three previous three volumes of xxxHolic, the four episodes on this volume accomplish their intended purpose of keeping the audience interested. In the first three episodes, the series moves into short story arcs before building to another episode that creates a new interest in seeing more.

In this case, Watanuki is learning about words and wings. Episode thirteen comes across as once again largely filler. The audience is going to see a few noteworthy things in this episode. The festival scenes spent with the three main characters are fun for the most part but it takes very little time for Watanuki absolutely fawning over Himawari’s every word and desire to get old. Even in the end though, the entire festival sequence feels as though it were placed to simply serve as the transitional setting for Mie.

The next two episodes serve as the launching point for the second half of the series. In the two episodes, Watanuki and Doumeki go out on a couple of double dates learning about the twin who constantly bounds herself to failure with her own negative words and thoughts. The premise for the episode and theme behind Yuko’s lesson for Watanuki is a slightly new twist on the tried and true ‘think positive’ message. The change in the older twin though really happens way too suddenly. Just a couple of small nudges to think positively and suddenly her world is changed? As though she had never heard that once before in her life?

Seeing character return for the final episode of the volume is where this series once again manages to bait me in. The episode itself has a strong story and premise within it. Yuko helping Watanuki to get the pipe fox back to normal size works as a solid premise to get Watanuki into the setting he needs to be in. While the relationship development between the characters is still rather weak, the scenes they spend together come across well. The primary reason for this is that while there is some physical comedy with Zashiki-warashi, most of these scenes were played down. xxxHolic is a series that never lets herself enjoy the quiet moments nearly enough so letting these two have some time to just be quiet and smitten is fun.

As with previous volumes, the development of characters in xxxHolic remains much too slow. In this volume Watanuki will see his token development but there is one piece that gets completely cut off. In episode thirteen, Maru and Moro have a very sudden and abrupt piece of character development inserted. The scene will catch audiences off guard as they learn a new truth about these characters… before it is just as abruptly cut off by a Watanuki/pipe fox gag. I can’t imagine how many audience members would have loved to have heard those two continue their little speech for just ten more seconds.

Music

Episode thirteen features some very nice background music. There is a very nice string melody in particular while Watanuki and Doumeki are having lunch. The haunting feeling that this music instills within the dialogue plus the progressive beat really adds a lot to this scene. Later in the episode, the soft piano that plays with a jazzy bass beat during the festival is also very well placed. It segues well into a nice traditional sounding beat.

Starting with episode fourteen, the series will feature a new ending theme. The new song, “Kagerou” by BUCK-TICK, is a soft rock song that fits well with the closing each episode. The song is accompanied by Maru, Moro and Mokona doing air band to the song as the closing animation. That proved to be interesting to watch a couple of times.

Dub vs. Sub

As with previous volumes, the constant use of Japanese words and phrases make this series much more enjoyable in the original Japanese. Brina Palencia does a great job with the role of Zashiki-warashi, J. Michael Tatum as Doumeki and Colleen Clinkenbeard remain highlights of the dub cast. The original Japanese makes all the terms and phrases sound much more natural though.

Extras

The extras for xxxHolic continue to remain slim with only an image gallery and clean animations included.

Overall

Once again I find myself torn on how much I actually like xxxHolic. While the characters are continuing to encourage curiosity on what will ultimately happen to them, I’m still not excited to see more. With its very slow story pacing and yet more overreliance on sight gags, xxxHolic has so far not lived up to the hype. With the second half now completely underway though, the series has at least earned enough passing notice to pull me in for the rest. Recommended but with very little enthusiasm.

Final Grade: C+

With this volume the series moves into its second half. It’s not quite what I was expecting but it will do.

The Story

Sato is out on a deserted island with Hitomi and three other people who all want to kill themselves that night. And they all think that Sato is planning on joining them. Obviously it won’t be the end for Sato but the trip back will put him in an even worse mood towards Misaki. Though she isn’t giving up on him. As a way of saying thank you, one of the other off meeting participants gives Sato a free pass to an online game which seems to be perfect timing.

When his allowance gets cut in half, he remembers hearing about gold farming in online games as a means of making income. Soon though, he makes a friend and forgets all about the real world as he finds a brand new addiction. It will be up to Yamazaki and Misaki to save him but their means might be a little unusual. When Sato gets an unexpected phone call however, he disappears again suddenly leaving everyone to wonder where he’s gone this time.

Good and the Bad

Starting immediately with the dramatic conclusion to the cliff hanger (literally), the series lightens its mood considerably even with the dark subject matter. The characters will all eventually come to their own conclusions and ultimately there will be characters coming off the island. The conclusion to this story arc just has to be mentioned though since there were just so many things about it that stuck out.

In this entire episode, it never ceased to amaze me at how easily Sato and Hitomi are swayed to a new line of thinking. While it makes sense due to his decreased social awareness, watching it play out in front of your own eyes can be perplexing. Hitomi is the more surprising of the two since in the end it trivializes her problems by making her seem like she is just being overdramatic.

From here ‘Welcome to the NHK’ segues into a new story arc not nearly as dramatic for the beginning of the second half. Instead one of the characters that returns from the island gives Sato a free trial to an online game that he just happened to have on him. Naturally the issue here is that he’s giving the invitation over and yet disappears for the rest of the volume. It just seems like if you’re giving someone an invitation to a game then you probably are inviting them to adventure with you. It made the complete transition feel a little forced and almost telegraphs the phone call Sato gets from his mother.

The new story itself is entertaining once it begins and the series shifts its setting. Having the series change its format to match the new fantasy setting breaks up the pacing of the series nicely. The change of pace helps the audience transition from the dark drama back into its comedy roots with little issue as well.

With the series needing to find a way to return to its original story, the change in scenery does the trick nicely by pulling a bait and switch. Instead of moving the series immediately back to its original story with Sato and Yamazaki’s game, it moves in an entirely new, unrelated, direction. While the original subject matter hasn’t come back up yet, the audience will remain distracted from that fact for all three episodes of the story.

The entrance of the new female character that Sato becomes friends with plays really well. The change in character design for Sato is good for a laugh right away but after that the design is easily adjusted to. While it’s a shame that Mia won’t be returning as a regular character in the series, the time that she spends within the story is fun.

Music

From both the background to the insert music, the music in this volume is where these four episodes really accomplished the most. Episode thirteen features wonderful music throughout with a prime example being the tense string music that plays late in the volume. The music is very well layered and adds a lot to the scene. Also featured in episode thirteen is a new ending theme by Yui Makino (Misaki) titled ‘Modokashii Sekai no Ue de’ which is another soft ballad. The song fits well with the series and sounds very good coming from Yui Makino.

The insert songs continue to be well composed and placed within the series. Sato’s sad slow walk home in episode fourteen was perfectly matched by the soft acoustic insert song.

Dub vs. Sub

While regular readers of this site might see this one coming, Monica Rial deserves the standout performance of the volume. Monica is absolutely adorable as Mia the fantasy cat girl and really comes across well in this volume.

The dialogue remained consistent in both language tracks. The comedy didn’t always get the laughs that the writers were intending to get but they were always worth a chuckle or an eye roll. Either way audience members will not be able to stop themselves from reacting.

Extras

Clean animations.

Overall

Despite its predictable nature, the episodes on this volume managed to keep me entertained. While the stories aren’t the strongest the series has told so far, the second half of the series starts fresh by changing the format for a little while. The change of pace ends up being a shot in the arm for this series as while my interest isn’t nearly as strong as it was four episodes ago; I’m still very interested in seeing where Sato ends up next. Recommended.

Final Grade: B-

Five episodes filled with tears and a new direction leads us into the final climax of the series.

The Story

Gearing up for the climax of the series, the sibylla are faced with trials as their battles heat up. Rimone and Dominura have gone missing in battle with no one really sure if they are alive or dead. Upon their return to the Arcus Prima the girls all learn that they are all that’s left after most of the other sibylla are sent to the spring.

Tensions grow worse when the sibylla grow tired of war and being treated like soldiers instead of priestesses leading to yet another loss amongst their ranks. A decision has to be made and it is by the high priestess: Aer and Neviril are to undertake a very special mission that will open the door to a new world.

Good and the Bad

Simoun finally removes the brakes and goes all out to engage the audience and yet still manage to drop the ball more than once. First off, if you are particularly attached to any of the characters you might find yourself more than a little upset with this volume. With volume three ending solidly on the disappearance of Dominura and Rimone, audience members would naturally assume that more time would be spent on the girls and their loss but in this case they would be wrong.

Instead, the two priestesses’ departure from the series is glazed over and the girls deal with the losses in a sad but understated way. Instead of focusing on them, the series shifts its focus slight onto Mamina giving her some late series development that audience members won’t expect. The development of Mamina is interesting since new sides to this character are finally seen including a vulnerable side that has been severly lacking from this character thus far.

Always shown as a very tough sibylla who did not need the compassion of her comrades, in this volume the series finally lets the audience see her vulnerable side. Certain things could have been done much more cleanly though. Over the first three episodes, at least half the Chor Tempest team will comment vocally on the changes within Mamina which felt like overkill almost right away and takes away from her development. The audience can clearly see that this character has undergone changes without every other member of the cast mentioning it just to make sure that the audience caught it. Trust me, we did.

With the series so focused on certain characters and other characters being completely ignored despite their roles in pivotal plot points, it seems to telegraph the coming events of the episodes quite badly. While the development will keep audiences entertained and distracted, later events had me looking back on the previous episodes wondering how I possibly missed the huge amount of foreshadowing and set up that had been presented to me. With the series so close to its finish and the staff doing all it can to keep everyone interested in the final climax, the emotional impact almost feels forced.

The pacing in this volume maintains a steady pace throughout the episodes. In fact, if you are the type of person to skip over the opening and ending animations (such as myself) it won’t take long before audience members realize how difficult it is to keep track of the episodes. While every episode has its own points and place within the story, it never felt like any of the episodes had a solid stopping point. This made it very difficult to remember where one episode ended and the next began as one episode blends into the next. While some will count this as one of the strengths of Simoun, some could make a strong argument that this also means none of the episodes had singular plot points that stand out from the rest of the story.

Music

While the music has never been a strong aspect to Simoun, this volume highlights some wonderful pieces. All throughout the series Aer has played with her music box but I’m finding it difficult to remember instances where the melody played is really fleshed out before now. Early in this volume however, the melody that comes from Aer’s music box is heard in the background while she speaks with Neviril and finally audience members really get to hear how beautiful the soft waltz melody is.

Near the middle of this volume, there is also a wonderfully placed and composed insert song sung to Mamina. While short, the lullaby sung is a beautifully composed piece that fits well with the series. Even the lyrics are apt and fitting for the scene and series making for one of the more touching scenes of the episode if not series.

Dub vs. Sub

The cast behind this series continue to do a good job with their dialogue. While I’ve still yet to really find myself getting behind the female voices coming from male characters , the tension between the upper ranks in these episodes is delivered particularly well.

Michi Niino and Rieko Takahashi provide very strong performances on this volume as Aer and Neviril respectively. With so many characters making exits within these and the previous couple of episodes, these two have had to give some of the most powerful scenes life. Aer in particular shows very deep sorrow over the loss of her friend and the scene where she mourns is tragically sad.

Extras

In the latest edition of the Simoun Monthly ADR Bulletin, Mikako Takahashi (Roatreamon), Rika Morinaga (Mamina) and Kaori Natsuka (Yun) sit down to answer more questions about Simoun in true or false format. After that, the ladies offer a refresher course on terms heard throughout the series (which is always appreciated since even I still get confused). The interview is only a little over eight minutes long and despite their best efforts, the three seiyuu really do not have much information to offer the audience.

Overall

With the series so close to its finish, it’s hard to say that I am excited to see the conclusion of the series. While the series is finally ready to make its last push towards the finale, it’s just not possible to say that I am coming along for the ride because I want to. The staff has told an interesting story thus far and they deserve credit for that. But with a stilted execution and a world that never quite felt real enough to get into, it will be interesting to see how many in the audience go out their way to see the conclusion. Recommended but not enthusiastically.

Final Grade: C+

Moving solidly into the second half, volume four delivers four episodes that takes the audience right back to the roots of this series.

The Story

In these four episodes, the series moves into the second half by taking the audience back to where it all began with its storytelling and punishing of evil. Tsugumi is still having her visions and Shibata is following them wherever they take them. First they will visit a small island in the middle of nowhere. A girl there named Mina is being held captive on the island by her aunt who refuses to let her leave with the man she loves. Then the two will visit an old fashioned traveling circus where a girl named Yumi is being physically abused on a daily basis, locked away in a cold cell.

While the three straws have finally figured out how Shibata is getting all of his leads, Shibata and Tsugumi have gotten in over their heads in the latest case. In this episode, the two are led to a sanatorium in the middle of nowhere where a young girl named Nina lives. She obviously has a grievance against someone but with no staff visible, it’s hard to tell who it actually is.

In the final episode of the volume, Tsugumi has begun to question the motivation to hinder Ai in her cases to banish souls to hell. In this case, Miki Kamikawa is being used as a slave by a bitter older woman named Simono. The woman has taken Miki’s dogs hostage and threatens to kill them if Miki doesn’t come to her home every day to cook all of her meals and do all her bidding.

Good and the Bad

As mentioned earlier, this volume really moves the series back to where it originally started. While the previous two volumes had slowly started to move the series away from the evil and torture that Ai inflicts, this volume very abruptly moves the audience right back to it.

While the motivation behind the sudden shift back makes sense, the transition comes across as very rough. The staff seems to have used this transition to allow Tsugumi to have her dialogue that challenges Shibata’s line of logic but after so many episodes that had mellowed the tone, it felt odd to move back with absolutely no transitional phase.

What is even more peculiar for this series is that it seems as though after so much time away from that initial horror that the first volume or so delivered, the staff seems to have forgotten to how make these stories really flow. While the stories delivered in this volume are all quite captivating and intense to follow, the pacing of them felt off. The episodes on this volume rarely felt like they transitioned well from one to the next and each episode felt like it took twice as long to watch.

This series does many things right however including taking more chances with its dialogue and characters. The first episode in particular takes a bold step by allowing Tsugumi to really show some spunk by adding in humor to her dialogue. While the series has made small attempts at comedy in the past (again, usually with Tsugumi) this is the first time that I can remember the series really letting a character get away with going for the laugh. While the dialogue itself isn’t filled with punch lines, the simple biting humor of Tsugumi aimed towards her father as he searches for answers on Mina really comes across well. This is particularly true for the dub track (see below for my compliments to Luci Christian).

Music

There are some wonderful examples of music used on this volume that while I’m certain won’t play well out of context, convey great emotion when played within the episodes. In the second episode (episode 16) in particular there is a wonderful soft piano tune that fits so perfectly with its scene. The music box theme of episode 17 is also a great example of well placed music to fit the episode and purpose.

Dub vs. Sub

In the first episode of the volume, Luci Christian had kind of a tough task by having to interject comedy into a series that has had practically zero since its beginning. She absolutely nails it and Tsugumi is hilarious. Also in this first episode, Christine Auten is wonderful as the aunt Fujie. It’s always fun to listen to Christine get to play insane since she does it so well and this is a prime example of this.

Extras

Besides the clean animation, the primary extra on this disc is labeled as ‘A Past Revealed’. In this twelve minute interview, Hiroshi Watanabe (original concept), Ai Abe (producer), Masashi Suzuki (script writer) and Minoru Yamada (sound design) sit down and discuss the journey from design to anime.

Unfortunately while the interview itself is interesting, the presentation is severly lacking. Presented as a ‘top secret’ meeting, the perspective used is from what is supposed to be a hidden camera in the wall which includes the poor video footage and never getting to see the faces of those involved with the meeting as they discuss the series and its evolution. This is certainly something that I really would have liked much more had it been presented as a simple round table discussion.

Overall

It’s hard to say that I’m disappointed with this volume but I really am. The episodes all told very interesting stories but ultimately it feels as though their only purpose was to allow Tsugumi to speak her perspective at the end of the volume. The shift back to its original form, which includes the torture scenes, isn’t a bad idea but with absolutely no transition period to take the audience back the shift is just too sudden. While this volume will certainly entertain you if you’ve been enjoying it thus far, this series has proven that it’s capable of much better and this is a poor way to start the second half.

Final Grade: B-

Picking up a series that I never wanted to lose track of but still want to catch up with.

The Story

It’s time for summer break on this volume and that means misunderstandings, summer vacations and large jungle animals. When everyone goes on a summer camping trip, Tenma gets the wrong idea about Harima after she sees him talking to Yakumo. Naturally Harima gets the wrong idea about Tenma when she challenges him to be her partner during the scavenger hunt. After they get caught in a rain storm though, Harima finally sees his opportunity.

When everyone gets back into town, it becomes a pressing issue to deal with the animals that Harima has been keeping at school. Meanwhile, Tenma and Yakumo welcome a young runaway into their home for the night named Shuuji… who happens to be Harima’s younger brother and has a crush on Yakumo.

Finally, it’s time for the second term and for Imadori to pay up on the date he accidently got from Karen while they were working together over the summer. After she reveals that she’s never been on a date before though, Tenma volunteers to help make it a success.

Good and the Bad

In these next four episodes, School Rumble manages to do a lot while keeping things exactly where they are. Starting the volume off is a fun episode that takes the attention off of Tenma and puts it on the secondary characters, Eri and Mikoto. The two of them are still misunderstanding Harima and he is still misunderstanding them. The action and comedy in this episode is strong. Seeing Harima have some time with the secondary characters without Tenma is a nice change of pace. The chase scene has a nice sequence to it that keeps it funny for far longer than the joke normally would have been. Looking back on the episode though, beyond selling the character conflicts, the episode does little to move the story forward.

Once the series moves past this though, the next three episodes pay off big starting with episode sixteen. The camping episode works really well for all of the things that are done right with it. The comedy in this episode layers so well on each other. Every joke in this episode serves as a great setup for the next scene until we finally get to the abandoned school house at which point the episode had me in a constant state of giggling fits.

Moving into the second half of the series, School Rumble uses a lot of running gags to keep things fresh for the audience. Now that Harima and Tenma are in a weird sort of misunderstanding bubble, the opportunities for Harima to confess his love to Tenma are endless. The staff is well aware of this too which is why the audience gets treated to a number of insane reasons why Harima is never able to tell Tenma how he feels.

There are more than a few cultural references that are going to fly over the head of a lot of people in the audience. While there may be some watching this series that are perfectly aware of what the Awa Odori dance is and why it has any sort of significance to that scene, most of us are going to left with a blank stare.

For the most part the animation in this volume retains the same high quality that audiences have been expecting but there are a few scenes that really stick out on this volume. Episode eighteen for instance has an early scene with Imadore and Karen walking in the hallway. The layering in this scene looks absolutely terrible. The background has a very odd blur to it but the sharpness and brightness of the characters in the foreground just make the two elements feel completely wrong for each other.

On the other hand, episode seventeen ends with a completely random and yet oddly exciting CG short. The animation in this feature looks like it comes straight out of a PC action game while featuring Akira on her summer vacation. Everything about this short had me confused until the very end. If the staff plans to do something with this in the future I would certainly like to know what it is.

Music

The music remains a very low key feature to this series. The background music remains very simple and few of the songs featured are particularly deep instrumentals. Ending episode eighteen with the theme song from the date movie is a really fun way to close things out though. The ending animation that goes with it is classic and I’m certain more than a few audience members out there are going to have vivid flashbacks to their childhoods.

Dub vs. Sub

In the dub cast, Luci Christian continues to be a great leading actress as Tenma. As with other series that like to make cultural jokes though, the Japanese cast will sound more natural. The subtlety of the jokes in their original Japanese is really lost within the English dialogue. And while the dub cast manage to put on a really enjoyable show, the jokes aren’t nearly as funny when they’re made so obvious.

Extras

Continuing the series of interviews with cast members are two more on this volume. In the first interview, Yuuka Nanri (Karen) gets her time in front of the camera. In the almost eight minute interview Nanri will speak about her character and the series plus more. The interview turns out to be much more interesting than usual when she attempts to do her best ‘Tenma’ voice.

In the second interview, Yuu Asakawa (Itoko) will talk for five minutes about her character and the series. Asakawa has quite a few interesting observations about the series and its comedy. The interview isn’t particularly deep but it is fun and worth watching once.

Overall

Call me cynical or pessimistic but I have waited with fear for a long time that somewhere along the way this series was going to find a way to derail and completely lose me. Now that we’re in the last third of the series, I am abandoning that fear and going forward. The characters and story in School Rumble continue to be charming and hilarious to watch. The characters are a perfect fit for their roles and with more hints being dropped in this volume, the final two volumes just got that much more appealing. If you enjoy light hearted romantic comedy, this is the one for you.

Final Grade: B+

Wow, I can’t believe that I almost lost track of this series.

The Story

In these four episodes, all four of the girls and a few of the guys go through some pretty big changes in their lives. Rose is continuing her quest to find her father while also dealing with the issues of being the weak link on the team after a freeze in battle puts Rachel in danger. Rachel is still having problems balancing her boyfriend with her new life. Kate is still seeing Herve with no clue as to who he really is while he manipulates her to get what he wants and finally Claire’s family is melting when her brother stands to lose everything due to a very shady financial advisor. Even more surprising for the girls though is a discovery in battle relating to the mysterious power that hasn’t been seen since Vol. 1.

In the hospital, Herve is having issues coping when his cousin gets worse and worse while Lise is starting to remember more of her previous life. This drives him mad and drives him to push the battle further. This will bring the girls face to face with not only their enemy but a large number of people on the same team that they’re fighting for that they never knew existed.

Good and the Bad

Taking us solidly into the second half of the series, the four episodes on this volume provide the audience with a very odd and off balance ride through the series. The plot on this volume really starts to amp it up as the mysteries of the series that have been dangled in front of us since the beginning are starting to take a real shape.

The pacing on this volume is where the biggest issue lies though. With the first three episodes of the volume, there are so many things happening that it’s hard to keep up. More importantly though, there is a real issue with the storylines having no real flow. The segues from one scene to the next rarely feel like a natural change and leads to a real feeling of being jerked around from one character to the next to get caught up. This problem is very quickly rectified in the last episode of the volume due to an absolutely amazing climax to the volume.

Unlike previous releases, this animation on this volume didn’t come across as all that impressive. The colors on this volume didn’t look nearly as impressive as on other volumes and there were very few scenes (besides a couple of fight scenes) that really showed anything particularly impressive; not even some red butterflies. Beyond that though, the backgrounds never maintained a very clear image quality and I could see some very faint fuzziness in the backgrounds. It was never a distraction and you’d have to look pretty hard to notice it.

The way that the story played out on this volume was slow but the pieces of development that were put onto this volume were very well placed. This series has done a great job with its liberal use of foreshadowing. When the girls first realized that they had powers on the first volume, it seemed a foregone conclusion at the time that they were going to develop these powers right away. It was a very welcome and nice change of pace to see the staff hold off on that piece of development until after the halfway mark when most of the audience had either completely forgotten about it or hadn’t thought about it since that episode.

Music

The music in this series has always been particularly strong and on this volume there are a couple of very strong tracks. The first real battle theme of the volume is definitely one for fans to listen for. Also a strong track on the volume is played in the scene where Jessica and Kate are meeting in the third episode. The strings in this scene were very well placed and really highlighted the gentle manipulation that Jessica was trying to use. Well composed here and placed.

The sound quality on the volume remained strong throughout each episode with no drops that I could detect.

Dub vs. Sub

Both the dub and sub tracks were very strong on this volume. Melissa Davis as Kate was a standout amongst the four girls this volume. But I also have to point out Chris Patton as JC and Shelly Calene Black as Lula. These three are certainly ones to listen for as you watch these episodes.

Fans really can’t go wrong with either track here. Both are highly enjoyable performances though I did find that the Japanese track was preferable this time around. There are quite a few scenes that involve shouting matches and if you want to catch both sides of the argument the subtitles really help.

Extras

Still just clean animations.

Overall

With the first three episodes providing such slow pacing, there was genuine worry that the series had lost its steam and was finally starting to suffer from the hands of its own early momentum. When the final episode of the volume played out though and I saw how everything came together, my interest in this series instantly returned to its previous heights. With the stories finally starting to come together and the girls on the verge of learning some pretty huge truths, I can’t imagine wanting to turn away now. A great way to really get the audience ready for the last few episodes, one can only hope that it does itself justice in the end. Recommended.

Final Grade: 86% – B

I bet I could’ve seen some great anime in the time that I spent watching this series.

The Story

The Battle of Metasequoia has begun. Aoi and Keel both try to stop the battle after Wei Nation is taken out of the equation but it’s already started. Teen tries to convince Keel to leave with Isla but won’t leave himself. Finally it comes down to one last ditch effort: convince Aoi to release the world map to the public.

Good and the Bad

In the final three episodes of this series, the characters will all make their final stand and it will be time for the grand climatic battle. You know, the one that every military/war anime has? The one where either the hero or the villain gets put into the position of almost complete annihilation until they make their huge speech about not giving up and then either fight back only to win (if they’re a hero) or die with honor and glory (if they’re a villain)?

Yeah, not happening here. We do get the battle though. The volume opens with the Battle of Metasequoia. Three different forces are present in the battle including Gould, the UN and Wei Nation. Instead of the battle though, the anime at this point focuses on the characters forming their plans. It’s completely understandable that you’d want to focus on characters at this point but after all of the politics and strategy that the audience has been forced to sit through thus far, couldn’t they have given us just a little more battle? Just a few more explosions and deaths would’ve been nice.

The conclusion of the battle is where any perceptive member of the audience is going to want to throw things at the television though. While the result of the battle will remain a real secret for you to view on your own, you should be forewarned that just about the entire Gould storyline will have been for mostly nothing. There is absolutely zero resolution to the Gould storyline. None. Perhaps this was done so that the staff would have an excuse to create a sequel series but it’s very hard to imagine that the staff really thought that they were going to get away with that kind of loose end, even if they were trying for a sequel series.

The characters on this volume really provided some issues of their own. Aoi came across as highly unrealistic throughout so much of the volume. The first primary example is easily when she found out that Teen had told Keel about the map. At that moment, you see Aoi shoot Teen a very angry glare as though she didn’t once think that he was going to share top secret information that involved his mission and his family to his commander and his brother. If this woman didn’t see that coming and is leader of the free world, the free world is pretty screwed.

Beyond that, the final episode takes the series is an entirely new direction. With a resolution in place, the characters are able to completely forget about their worries and stresses and become comically close to each other in a very short amount of time. The most present of these changes are in Aoi and Isla. While Isla is mostly the same in the final episode (just very bubbly and chipper), Aoi becomes an entirely new character that is hard to believe. The change isn’t bad but it is absolutely too sharp to the point of becoming unbelievable. Keel and Teen’s scene did highlight how some things never change though, they’re still both clueless.

Music

The music in this volume remained unobtrusive. It did its job but nothing stood out as particularly good. The theme played during what little battle sequences we did get is well done but it didn’t leave any sort of lasting impression beyond that scene. The audio quality remains strong throughout the volume.

Dub vs. Sub

The opening scene aboard the Freedom is dreadful in the dub cast. I was unable to locate the names of the actors playing Teen and Keel’s parents during this scene but the dialogue was terrible. The writing itself was bad in this scene but the over the top soap opera performances really killed any sort of emotion that was coming out of that scene.

Other than that, both casts remained strong throughout the volume. I preferred the original Japanese over the English but neither cast had any major flaws in them that would cause me to steer someone away from one track or the other.

Extras

On this final the volume, the extras include three different versions of the opening theme song. The theme song is the same in each of the clips but there are three different clips that show different characters. The first one shows Keel and Teen, the second is Isla and Josie and then the third is a full version which shows clips from both.

Overall

This series has always had potential. Keel was a really weak lead character to attempt to host the series off of but the strong supporting cast and a villain that the audience could truly sympathize with made this series have promise. Then they started talking and it all kind of went downhill from there. That is kind of a harsh statement but after the close of this series, I really am not sure that I am better off for having seen it. Some of the plot hooks along the way were interesting but three volumes of politics and strategy for an ending that barely pays off the investment leaves me feeling jaded. And now in the end, I can really say that you can do better than this series.

Final Grade: C-

Intro

            Five years later this series has aged beautifully and is still a tense ride.

The Story

            In the next four episodes of this series, loyalties are starting to become divided between Kirika and Mireille. In the first episode of the volume, Kirika takes up a hobby and make a new friend despite all the warnings from Mireille to stay away. The second episode gets us right back on track though as Mireille gets a surprise visit from the uncle that saved her as a child only to find out some very disturbing ties to the Soldats lie within her family tree.

            The second half of the volume begins a new mini arc as the girls are hired for a job by the Soldats in Taiwan. Despite obviously being a trap, Mireille and Kirika head there to take on the job of assassinating a top member of the Triad there. It’s there that the girls start to run into more issues than just the Soldats, Kirika and Mireille have their first real test of trust when it becomes obvious to Kirika that Mireille has become blinded by emotion and revenge.

Good and the Bad

            While this series reached the point of getting me emotionally invested in the story a long time ago, the first episode of this series was the first time that I truly felt emotionally invested in Kirika as a character. The story that was told was really mostly filler with a dash of character development thrown in but it was still very engaging and moving on another level. It impresses me that even around the halfway point, the staff threw in an episode that took the series to a new level despite having to pause the story to do it.

            The second episode uses some very powerful storytelling devices to keep the emotional impact level of this volume at high as possible. In particular, watch for the scenes that show flashbacks to the childhood of Mireille. Once again, this series did an amazing job of getting the audience emotionally involved in the two characters that had yet to really show a vulnerable side that the audience could sympathize with.

Now within a period of two episodes, every single member of the audience is now onboard with the girls. That’s the kind of storytelling that makes you think that the staff knew that they could just throw those episodes in whenever they wanted to get the audience invested and the fact that they could do that is what you would refer to as skills.

            The mini story arc in the second half of the volume is where this series continues to sell itself to a very willing audience. With this arc, we get back into the main plot with Noir attempting to figure out who the Soldats are. While the assassin, Shaoli, came across as one of the weaker villains to be introduced in this series, her preferred method of killing really made her stand out as a character that is unique to the series.

            The writing remains strong throughout the volume though. Despite being filler episodes, the first two episodes did a great job of developing the primary characters on an emotional level and the final two episodes of the volume did an equally good job of bringing the main plot back to the foreground and teasing the audience with new information about what is coming next.

Music

            The music in this series remains one of its strongest selling points. I’ve mentioned the opening theme more than a few times in the past already but after hearing it performed live by Ali Project at SakuraCon my love for it has been renewed.

            The background music composed by Yuki Kaijura continues to really enhance every scene. ‘Salva Nos’ remains one of the strongest (and most frequently used) tracks from the soundtrack and even halfway through the series I do not get sick of hearing it. It’s just one of those tracks that could’ve been disasterous if it had been inserted improperly to the series but it always provide that strong emotional tie for some of the tenser scenes of the series.

Dub vs. Sub

            Certain actors in this volume really need to be pointed out for their cameo roles and I’m going to start with Jay Hickman because let’s face it, when is it not entertaining to hear a Jay Hickman death scene? He plays a role in the first episode of the volume and does a great job. I’ve lost count with how many times he’s been killed thus far in the series but I believe it’s around four.

            Other notables from the dub cast include Kelly Manison as Shaoli in the second half of the volume and Hilary Haag once again absolutely rocking the role of Chloe.

Extras

            There are a few extras on this volume that are worth referring to. Besides the standard clean animations, original art work and original Japanese promos there is one other extra that fans will want to check out. The interview with Kotono Mitsuishi (Mireille in the Japanese cast) is interesting to check out if you’d like to hear the seiyuu’s thoughts and impressions of the series thus far.

            The final extra worth checking out is another hidden Easter egg. The egg can be found during the third episode of the volume (episode 15) when Saoili is touching her fingertip to the man’s forehead (at the 18:20 mark of the episode), hit up on your remote control ten times to be taken into a hidden commentary track featuring Matt Greenfield (ADR producer and Writer), Shelly Calene-Black (Mireille), Monica Rial (Kirika), Hilary Haag (Chloe) and Tiffany Grant (Altena).

Overall

            More than halfway through the series, I am continually finding new reasons to enjoy this series and all that is contains. With constantly tense action scenes, a mysterious plot that fans will love to pick apart and characters that really make you want to learn more about them, this series remains a strong pick up even five years after its initial release.

Final Grade: 89% – B