And finally, Soukou no Strain continues after its new years break. This episode was all about Ralph and Emily. It explains why Ralph did what he did, and the secret behind Emily. Ralph also did something incredibly reckless. Especially Ralph and Emily’s backgrounds were very interesting to see.

Again, with this being the raw version, I didn’t manage to pick up everything. What I think happened was that there once was an alien race, aka Emily. It consisted out of a number of girls which were exactly alike, and basically, they were all linked with each other. (As in, when one feels pain, the others do as well). This explains why Emily felt the same as Emily.

Anyway, the Emilies were quite advanced, as they had the technology to build spaceships. Then, at one point, they were discovered by the humans. Since humanity is evil, it realized the potential of the Emilies, and started to experiment with them. If I’m not mistaken, it’s because of them that people were able to build Mimics. In the end, the Emilies were totally controlled, and used to power certain variations of Strains. I’m not sure why this ended up to be Ralphs enemy, but the fact remains that he was sent on a mission to defeat an enemy base, full of these sorts of Strain-like things. Obvioulsy, he knew nothing about it, and when he found out, the shock drove him crazy.

It seems that all of the Emilies were there, killed by Ralph, except for two of them. One Emily was being stored in the school we found Sara in during the first episode. The second one had her mind transferred in a mimic, to later become the doll Emily. Her purpose was forgotten, and she was discarded as a useless Mimic. For some reason, she ended up on the same spaceship Sara was in. When Ralph killed the last one of the alternative Strains, it broke and revealed the girl. She begged him to save one of their remaining sisters, aka the Emily on earth. I’m not sure what he did after that, but it made him end up with Deague. If I had to guess, it was to get his hands on a special type of Strain which would make it possible to attack the place where Emily was kept. What Deague gained from it still beats me.

In any case, Ralph went to rescue Emily, with perhaps a bit extreme methods. He had been so emotionally wrecked that he stopped caring for human life, other than that of Emily. We see that during this episode as well, when he’s even starting to get problems not killing Emily herself. Still, I’m not yet sure what was behind his attacks in the third and fourth episode. Based on the later episodes, he didn’t know that Emily was so special, otherwise he would have just taken her in episode 8. Also, what are these goals he’s been after that required such intricate planning? Is he planning to destroy humanity because of the things they did to Emily? (I hope not, by the way)

In any case, in this episode, something similar happens when Melchisidec starts experimenting on the Mimic-Emily. Of course, this would evoke bad emotions with Ralph’s Emily, so she starts begging for him to save her. In the end, he kills off the entire crew of Deague. Quite reckless indeed. He’ll be screwed if some technical failures suddenly turn up.

Ah, finally Studio 4C releases something again. This time, it’s a collection of four music videos, Global Astroliner, Glass Eye, Kung-Fu Love and Joe and Marilyn, all combined in one package of Amazing Nuts! After watching this, I really have to say that the people behind this were simply brilliant. If these were actually anime, they would have been awesome. It’s such a huge pity, seeing as Studio 4C is an amazing studio, though they spent most of their time on music videos, instead of a compelling anime series.

Global Astroliner has a real urban feeling. It features pointy and shady-looking character designs, and portrays the relationships between corrupt officials and people from the street. It’s the only video which doesn’t feature a love-interest of some sort. I’m quite fond of the art-style here, think Tokyo Tribe meets Gorillaz with a high amount of imagination. All characters look quite unique this way. I wish more anime would follow this example. ^^;

Then comes Glass Eye, with a totally different focus. We see a girl who’s probably suffering from an overdose of some kind of drug, in the middle of a street. While Global Astroliner was more stylish and funky, this is more sad and touching. This girl then meets a boy, all surrounded by some great CG and animation. The characters themselves also look to be completely made out of CG, but not as crappy as the usual 3D series you see. This actually looks very good. Glass Eye really had a dreamy mood, when you combine the great CG, character designs and background art with each other.

Then Kung-Fu Love comes, and this is the first time we have a bit of a descriptive title. It once again is entirely different from the previous one when it features a kung-fu girl, taking on various opponents, and eventually running into a boy she loves. Qute standard, though the thing I really loved in this one was the art and animation. This anime has a greatly colourful style. Perhaps the closest to Studio 4C’s original art style. Each of the characters look beautiful, especially the main character looks gorgeous. The only real disadvantage is the music in this one. While none of the songs really fit my taste, Global Astroliner and Glass eye managed to capture my interest with some very interesting songs, though Kung-Fu Love comes with a cheesy pop-song. Could have been much better.

Joe and Marylin was the worst of the four, though. This time, we have a ballad between two loved ones, one of them being a singer. And well, that’s basically what happens. It features some strange 3D-animation, which unfortunately doesn’t really work. Also, the attention to detail we saw in the previous three movies is also a bit lacking, apart from a beautiful cloudy background, perhaps. The music also didn’t really do anything to improve this, it tries to create a romantic feeling, though Glass Eye was far better in this.

Overall, if you’re bored, and looking for some eye-candy, this is definitely one to recommend. Though the fact remains that we’re just talking about a bunch of music videos here. They would have rocked if they were genuine anime-series, though right now, they’re all a bit lacking in the story and character development department. Still, this does prove that Studio 4C haven’t lost their touch. I’m therefore looking forward a lot to their upcoming releases of Tekkon Kinkreet and Genius Party. And with a bit of hope, they’ll start on another tv-series in the future. I’m really hoping for that to happen, as their talent is just too big to waste.