August 22, 2008

Bonen no Xamdou - 06

Filed under: Finished Series:/Bonen no Xamdou



Short Synopsis: Haru receives Akiyuki’s letter
Highlights: Haru, you seriously rock.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10
I think that with the arrival of Akiyuki’s letter, the introduction of this series is finally over and the plot can start to really develop. The time for mourning about the tragedy of Sentan Island, and it’s time to move forward. Furuichi joins the military, and to my surprise Haru does so as well! I sort-of suspected that she wouldn’t sit still for the entire series, but to think that she’d actually join the army. That really makes her much more interesting than most other female love interests, whose majority seems to degrade into a damsel in distress.

Toujirou also doens’t seem to be the bad guy I originally thought he would be. There are a lot of parallels between him and Dominic of Eureka7: they’re both young leaders who have troubles with their subordinates. Toujirou in this case is fundamentally against these experiments with the Xam’d, and this episode gave him reasons enough to worry when one of these Xam’d that was supposed to be dead revives and starts rampaging. I guess that this is another way that a Xam’d can turn into, without the help of Nakiami. This begs the question: why can Nakiami safely control the Xam’d, while a scientist from her people can’t do the same, and ends up with the Xam’d going berserk?

Akiyuki’s fight against that humanform reminded me of Eureka7, where Renton suddenly realized that he’s been fighting humans. I’m surprised at how different this was done in Xamdou with its subtle approach. But then again, Akiyuki is a lot more mature.

I’m also reminded of another series, which disturbs me a bit. I just keep comparing Haru and Nakiami with Shirley and Karen from Code Geass, even though the former two managed to get about as much depth in six episodes as the latter did in 46 of them… It’s strange, there are of course a few similarities, but also just as much differences, but I just can’t seem to stop comparing them..

Macross Frontier - 20

Filed under: Finished Series:/Macross Frontier



Short Synopsis: This is the episode… where all hell breaks loose.
Highlights: Sheryl, Kuran and of course Michael.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
So this is where the big climax of Macross Frontier begins. Ranka’s pet has finally revealed its true colours as the larvae of not just one Vajra, but an entire Vajra colony who go rampant as soon as they’re hatched. To make matters worse, the Vajra’s from outside have noticed this ad come to help their new comrades. Leon manages to make use of the confusion in order to successfully carry out his coup, but that still makes me wonder how he’s planning to solve that Vajra-problem he’s ended up with.

I really liked Sheryl in the episode. I remember how in the first half, she was one of the more annoying characters, but her character is really the one that received the most development through this series, and it’s really beginning to show now. Like expected, in this episode, she overcomes her anxieties and provides the support for not only Ranka, but also for the people who are hiding for the Vajra. Her character is really getting stronger with every episode, and I appreciate that a lot.

I wish I could say the same about Ranka, though. That girl is getting more annoying with each episode, and especially here she keeps whining and clinging to Alto, now that the shock of seeing Alto with Sheryl caused her song to lose its power over the Vajra. At this point, she really is my least favourite character of this series, and that’s not a good thing, seeing as how she’s the central character in this series. I really hope that she doesn’t end up ruining the finale of this series.

The real climax of this episode was of course the scene between Kuran and Michael. It’s the creators’ way of saying: “yes, we mean business” by killing off Michael so easily, just after he officially became a couple with Kuran. It’s an often-used plot-device, but the interesting thing is obviously going to be how this is going to affect both Alto and Kuran for the final five episodes.