[dreamcastegirl]

Isn't it great that "Escape" and "Enter" got their own special?

Being forever a step behind everyone else, I watched this earlier—mostly because I was interested in what would happen to Azu after the last movie—and I was really impressed in how different the tone was from what I remember of the episodes I did watch of the show. I'm not going to lie, I feel that the absence of Hiden Aruto really helped with the shift of tone, and I don't really feel bad about that as, well, regardless of Takahashi's ability as an actor, the character was one of the main reasons I stopped watching the show.

Having said that, I don't necessarily think the special was perfect; like everything over the past year or so, it's very noticeable how the plague must have impacted on development—everything seems so sparsely populated, all the scenes filmed in small, quiet areas. Despite this though, I really enjoyed the more brawling sort of fight scenes, especially where the collective MetsubouJinrai was involved, and I thought Arkland was a suitable villain and the actor was clearly having a great time hamming it up in his portrayal of the character.

I guess what really appealed was the suggestion of a different direction that this special offers. I'm not really too invested in Zero-One as a series, so I can't say as to how that must feel to people who really enjoyed the series, but I personally was pleasantly surprised.

I don't know. Look you guys, I'm slightly tipsy when writing this so I don't really know what I'm saying. I did really like Azu's wardrobe though. Those Chelsea boots with the clear heels were really nice, I'd really like a pair like that.