Short Synopsis: Manji faces off against the masked guy.
Highlights: Those writers are… messed up…
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
I’m curious here: is there any fan of the manga who did enjoy the animated version? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who liked both the manga and the anime. :P I’ve never understood why people would want to watch the same story twice anyway. I mean, take the big plot twist in this episode for example: one of the reasons why this episode was so awesome was because that plot twist where the masked guy had the heads of his loved ones sewed on his shoulders. That’s just bloody sick, but just like Death Note, it’s not going to make the same impact if you’ve already watched this plot twist.

In any case, this episode confirmed that Bee-Train’s slow pacing is perfect for Japanese styled horror. The entire episode had me on the edge of my seat. What caught my attention is that the background music is either vivid and wild, or totally gone during the quiet parts, which does make for a great contrast. The animation was simple as usual, but then again, you don’t want to watch this series just for the fight scenes (are people still watching this series for the action? Hah!).

I really liked how this episode focused both at horror and characterizations, and it did a great job of establishing Asano’s character. She didn’t do much in this episode (but after all, she stood before a screwed up old guy who put her mother’s head on one of his shoulders, of course she’d be incredibly intimidated), but I can see that she’s going to grow a lot in this series. She really wants to have her revenge, she just can’t. The other bad guys also got their share of attention (including a flashback of when the old guy replaced his first shoulder), and with Bee-Train, we can be sure of some great character-growth.

With the guy behind Kakurenbou as director and the director of Akira behind the screenplay and character-designs comes the ambitious project called FREEDOM, one of the few anime to be totally rendered in 3D cell-shaded CG. It’s obviously a technique that has its pros and cons, and most people will probably need to get used to the style, but once you can look beyond this, you’ll be rewarded by a charming little science-fiction series.

The big strength of this series is its cast of characters. Even though they’re a bunch of hot-headed 14-year-old guys, this series somehow makes them worthwhile. The stereotypes are there, and yet the antics of the main protagonists turn out very charming. The flaws in this series mostly pop up in the final episode, where the creators try to be a bit too epic for their own good.

Ah crap, this review is rubbish. Apologies, I’m having a blackout right now. A tip for all you reviewers out there: do not write a review if it’s been half a year or more since you saw the majority of it… If you want to get a better idea of this series, then read the rest of the posts I’ve written about it. It’s a very nice OVA to watch with great characters and it’s got a soundtrack that’s among Ike Yoshihiro’s best work. Period.

Short Synopsis: The big finale of Freedom, where Takeru tries to reunite Earth with Eden.
Highlights: Straightforward but fun finale.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Well, the final episode was bound to lack in terms of realism. It’s impossible to change the entire political structure of a country with just the words of one guy. Why else do you think that China is currently still happily continuing its violations of human rights? The main leader of Eden also just didn’t get enough proper time to be fleshed out, so his rather stupid decisions were the worst thing of this final episode of Freedom.

I mean, making Kazuma, the one who helped Takeru escape, into one of the highest ranking-officers in just two and a half years. Who in his right mind would do such an unsafe thing? Kazuma was bound to use this power to rebel. There was also this strange fight scene between Kazuma and Takeru, which left both with scratches and bruises… only for these to magically disappear in the next scene…

Still, apart from that, the finale was done very nicely. The ones who were left behind on Eden changed very interestingly, especially Taira turned from Takeru’s rival to the one who organized the rebellion. For a bit, I feared that Ao would turn into a damsel in distress when she got caught, but at least she didn’t sit still and do nothing, but instead tried to convey her ideals to the people from Eden.

It was obvious that despite the doubled length, this wouldn’t be the best instalment of Freedom, but thankfully it could have gone a lot worse. I liked the romance: it was there, but it was really subtle and never really interfered with what was really important.

Short Synopsis: The “detective girls” go after a rumour about two teachers that seem to fancy each other.
Highlights: The French was nice and all… but NOT with a Japanese accent!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
This episode convinced me that the “detective girls” only exist in Haruka’s head. The creators have no intention to just end the series with a bunch of random detective story arcs, because this episode set up the story and characters for the rest of the series. We get introduced to a bunch of new characters, and Nijuu Mensou’s past is revealed a bit more.

In the meantime, Chiko’s classmates have already started the fanfiction…

In any case, this episode introduces a former university professor who knew Nijuu Mensou when he was young (I wonder, do we ever get to hear what his real name is?). I didn’t quite catch what he told Chiko exactly, but it seems to come down to that he was once a brilliant scientist when the war started, and so he ended up developing all those supernatural weapons for killing. Since his motto was “look and think for yourself”, at one point he abandoned his research, and now that everything comes to try and bite back at him, he’s had no choice than to use Chiko as a decoy.

The next villain is someone who’ll be a big problem for Chiko to escape, as he’s basically just as small and light as Chiko, and the guy’s even stronger and faster. Ever since the train incident, Chiko has only had to fight people who were much bigger than her, so the guy might be one of her toughest enemies yet.

I also wonder how the creators are going to use the story of that washed-up cleaner, and when that super-powered woman of a number of episodes back is going to return. This episode showed that she’s indeed the product of Nijuu Mensou’s research, but is she going to play a bigger role than just a bit of background for the guy?