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03-19-2021, 10:33 AM | #281 |
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Quote:
In regards to the writing style… surprisingly, Blassreiter comes up nowhere in this description of his various tropes of choice. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...or/GenUrobuchi
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03-19-2021, 07:18 PM | #282 |
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Episode 16: Reunion Urobochi returns as head writer for this episode. And I... actually didn't mind this one, really. Like, yeah it still has issues, but overall it was a step up from the standard. Unlike alot of other episodes, this one not only has a proper grip on atmosphere, but it's one of the few character focused episodes. While there's the typical eye-rolling with certain scenes, it mostly worked! The scenario is that Hermann is alive, having been saved and converted into an Amalgam by Beatrice. He infiltrates the Zwolf headquarters in order to try and rescue Amanda, but things go south once Hermann eventually realizes what exactly happened to him. The conversation between Hermann and Amanda really is the highlight here, with Amanda trying to tell Hermann that there's more going on than what he's aware of, Hermann insisting that there's no reason to be involved with any of this, and the eventual sanity slippage he goes through once his body begins to shift about and regenerate. In other words, Hermann has become the new Gerd, and Amanda has become the new Hermann. It's an interesting dynamic shift that I feel could really work in the show going forward, but unfortunately, I am all too aware of what show this is, and thus I'm not exactly getting my hopes up. There's also Beatrice's' forces using Hermann as a distraction in order to launch an assault on Zwolf, but who cares about that, really. Oh, and the song choir kicking in right as Hermann steals a new Super Bike from Zwolf was hilarious, even if the show didn't intend for it to be.
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03-20-2021, 12:58 PM | #283 |
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Episode 17: Bellow of the Beast Most of this episode was filled with typical hollow melodrama. You have Joseph blaming Xargin for everything(despite defending the guy just last episode), as well as him getting an upgraded Amalgam form. You also have the usual action movie dialogue that doesn't work because most of the characters involved aren't engaging and the previous episodes fly in the face of any sort of real sense of camaraderie the story could hope to have. So yeah, business as usual. However, there is exactly one scene in the middle of all of this that shines above the rest. The scene where Hermann and Amanda just sit down and talk about Hermann's' condition, and that he shouldn't give up, as it would be a huge dishonor to their comrades in the XAT, as well as Hermann's' best friend, Gerd. See, this is what I'm talking about when I say that all I'm asking for is just the tiniest bit of effort towards characterization. I am not a hard man to please! Now, do I have any faith that this is going to hold up and keep the pace in future episodes? No, but I'm still giving credit where it's due in that, the few times that this show has gotten something right, I give props. I know it's just set up for both characters to most likely get murdered, especially since the episode ends with them leading a suicide charge against Wolf, but you know I'll take what I can get at this point. So yeah, overall a dull episode with one really good scene towards the end of it.
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03-21-2021, 07:22 PM | #284 |
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Episode 18: The Fourth Apocalypse Unfortunately this has nothing to do with Far East of Eden. Also that title has literally nothing to do with anything that happens in this episode. Not in the loosest of sense. Ai Ohta returns as the writer for the second time, and frankly this is another one of those episodes where I feel like I'd just be repeating myself, given the flaws this anime has displayed over and over again. So, it's another recap post. The experiments that Zwolf has performed on Joseph causes him to go insane, with Sasha devastated at what's become of her brother despite the fact that she's the one who put him under said experiments in the first place. As such, Joseph can no longer distinguish between friend and foe. Wolf decides that he's not dealing with this and runs away, causing Beatrice to disown him from Xargin's' forces. In the aftermath of the battle, Obama(yes, seriously) decides that the German government is incompetent and pushes to invade and take control over all of Germany. Because ya know, the one thing I really wanted in this anime was political commentary(bite me). And in the end, Amanda meets a new Amalgam named Snow, and I really gotta ask, does this show really have any business introducing us to yet another character this late into the game? It barely has "characters" as it is, so is introducing yet another undeveloped piece of cardboard really going to improve the quality of the story that much? You'd think focusing on the cast you already have would be the way to go, but I guess not. So, again, another dull episode where not much of worth happened. I'm sensing a trend here.
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03-22-2021, 07:48 PM | #285 |
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Episode 19: Quondam Affections This episode has two plots. One being far more interesting than the other. Unfortunately, the more interesting one is the one less focused on, while the boring and trite one take center stage. In Plot A we have Snow, who just so happens to be an Amalgam that Joseph created years ago. She also just so happens to be in full control of herself. And she just so happens to know how to get Joseph to regain his humanity. Literally her entire purpose is to get introduced, then play sacrificial lamb so that Joseph regains his mindset by somehow drawing a parallel between her and the Priest who raised him. Meanwhile, there's literally no reason none of this could've been done by Amanda, but I guess the writers felt obligated to kill someone. In other words, the typical trite storytelling I've come to expect from Blassreiter. Meanwhile in the far more interesting Plot B, Hermann and Amanda rush off to finish things with Wolf, but little do they know that Wolf now has the corpse of Al fully under his control. In the end though, Al manages to regain his senses and helps to finish Wolf off, then wandering off to die in peace. I'm giving proper credit here, that entire sequence was pretty solidly done. Though I do wonder how the heck the Japanese on Amanda's' Paladin is what got Al to come to his senses. It's never said that Al is Japanese, nor that he can read it. But screw it, I'll take what I can get at this point. The atmosphere was also handled pretty properly here too, and it was nice to see some actual camaraderie between some of the characters for a change. Just such a shame that this seems to be the part the episode is way less focused on. It's great how Blassreiter is now so focused on death as drama, that they now literally introduce characters with their sole purpose in life being to get killed off. What a great way to get me to care about the people involved in this plotline. Top notch. A+. Literally no other way this story could've been handled. Uuugh.
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03-23-2021, 08:07 PM | #286 |
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Episode 20: Legion from the Netherworld It's official. I am actually going insane. Why? Well you see, I started writing up my thoughts on this episode, only to realize that I already have. Quote:
It was really easy to tell that Kobayashi was the one who wrote this episode.
Because here's the thing, if this show had at all any amount of better setup in regards to the events of this episode, this would've really worked. Why? Because unlike the past few episodes, this one actually attempted to give a crap about its characters, ontop of having an appropriate amount of atmosphere to the carry its emotional weight. It's just that, unfortunately, the character interactions and events of the previous few episodes make those of this episode really ring hollow. Seriously, this episode felt like a continuation of some alternate draft of Blassreiter that never got put to animation. But... yeah! I almost liked this one! And it's all because they put the most minuscule of effort into the characters! And it's not even like they did some huge leap in character development here; What we end up getting is actually pretty small, all things considered. What's also funny though is that this episode is a complete turnaround from the previous one in terms of which plot I found more interesting. Atleast this time though the episode has a better way of balancing said two plots, rather than giving the primary spotlight to one and having the other essentally just as an add-on bonus. On one end, you have the continuing plot with Hermann and Amanda, where they fake Amanda capturing Hermann so they can sneak into the Zwolf base in order to rescue Malek. Being someone who doesn't give a crap about Malek, especially since he's been out of the show for the past 10+ episodes, I really didn't give much of a crap. Like, yeah, from a character standpoint, it's understandable, but on a me personally note? Hard pass. Oh yeah, and there's also Amanda's' crisis of faith in God that comes out of nowhere and goes completely against her prior characterization, but whatever who cares at this point. On the other end, we have the far more interesting plot with Beatrice, Joseph, and Xargin. Xargin is leading an army of Amalgams to raid the Zwolf headquarters, and all the while Beatrice, in a rather nice step forward for her character, begins to show signs of insecurity towards her relationship with Xargin. Given the very heavily implied abusive relationship going on between the two, I actually almost felt more for Beatrice than I did alot of other characters in this show, and considering she's one of the main villains that says alot. The fight between Beatrice and Joseph is actually pretty good too. It's nothing super spectacular, mind you, but considering how lackluster the action in the show has been so far, it was a noticeable step up. All that said though, one major gripe I'm now having is... goddamn is Xargin a boring villain. He's too invincible, he has the personality of stale bread, and his motivations don't even make any sense. The best I can gather is that he wants Joseph to kill him to end his suffering... despite that flying entirely in the face of how we got introduced to his backstory? And that it would result in Joseph himself becoming a full fledged monster, which is something Xargin would've wanted to avoid at all costs before this point? Even the reveal that Xargin has a thing for Joseph only confuses me more than adds any meaningful layers. In the end, by the normal standards, this episode was still trash, but by Blassreiter standards? Probably one of the best we're gonna get. God have we sunk so low.
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Last edited by DreamSword; 04-21-2021 at 06:44 PM.. |
03-24-2021, 07:55 PM | #287 |
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Episode 21: Phantom Rider This episode is all about trying to make you feel sorry for nothing characters. Unfortunately, most of the episode is spent focusing on Xargin, and I made it pretty clear how I felt about him many times. Yet again I have to stress that he doesn't make any sense, in anything! His abilities as a Amalgam don't make any sense because he underwent the same transformation process as everyone else, for starters. His hatred of Victor also makes no sense considering Xargin outright went to Victor to be converted in the first place, and if he really wanted Victor dead he had a ton of opportunities to do it years ago. Even insane people make more sense than this guy. Heck, Sasha's' death doesn't even work as his primary motivator anymore because upon meeting Sasha, he outright ignores her and insists that he's doing the right thing anyway, making him a huge hypocrite ontop of things. I get they're trying to go for a guy who's emotionally dead, but considering his interactions with Victor and Joseph, that's clearly not the case with Xargin. What makes this infuriating is that the shows actually seems to unironically side with Xargin's' nihilistic philosophy: That we all deserve to die and that redemption and atonement are outright impossible to achieve. Sasha countering his philosophy with one of hope for the future is outright portrayed as stupidity and cowardice on her part. Granted, Sasha is in no way a better person than what Xargin is, but... GOD I hate this! Oh right, we're also given last-minute characterization for Shido and Victor, which is of course the usual trite nonsense from this show. "They totally had a tragic backstory this whole time, thus justifying their awful behavior and as such you should feel bad as they die." Considering what is done within this exact same episode with Xargin... mixed messages, much? You can't say "everybody dies" is the happy ending and then expect me to therein feel bad when people infact do die, that's not how this works. The short version is that this episode ends up with every bit of substance that Xargin has to offer. That is to say, none at all.
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Last edited by DreamSword; 04-21-2021 at 06:47 PM.. |
03-25-2021, 11:39 AM | #288 |
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Episode 22: Drifting Hearts Urobuchi is head writer for this episode and I... Call me crazy, but I actually really liked this episode. Its style, tone, and overall message is completely out of place with the rest of show, but that's a good thing! I'd say the only real weak part is the the very beginning, where Sasha hands over the anti-nanomachine data over to Amanda despite Amanda in no way being a scientist, and then declares she doesn't want another Zwolf to be formed. Which is double weird since Sasha's' entire introduction was her parroting Zwolf's' ideals of bringing about an early apocalypse and then you know, subjecting her brother to experimental torture. But I guess the show is just gonna pretend that none of that stuff ever happened. Right after that though, we get what actually might be my favorite scene in the entirety of Blassreiter. Hermann sits down with the comatose Malek and gives a monologue that's just so... anti-Blassreiter that it's absolutely incredible. He talks about how even if you royally screw up, all it means is that you have the opportunity to learn from it and to do better next time. Honestly, and I'm kinda getting ahead of myself here but... it really feels like Urobuchi saw the previous episode and right then and there started making this episode specifically to counter it. The message Hermann beings to Malek is one of hope and redemption, as well as one of introspection and self-reflection. He basically outright says that people can change, people can improve, and that our lives have meaning, regardless of how bad things might get. Heck, ontop of all that, the backstory we get in this episode is really good! Yeah, it's minimalistic, but the atmosphere, the elaboration on scenes we've seen in previous episodes, as well as how it has to do with characters we've actually grown to have a solid idea of in terms of their personality and characteristics make these scenes really engaging. Xargin's' horse gets a backstory here, for crying out loud! So I gotta ask, just where was all of this the entire rest of the show!? If this anime had this sort of quality for most of its run that'd've been great! Beatrice is the one who shines during these segments though. We finally fully learn just what her deal is and why she's so devoted to Xargin, and how her past experiences over the years did so much to harden her heart into the fearsome warrior we now know her as. She used to be a kind-hearted stable girl who took care of horses. One day though, due to being overworked, the owner's' favorite horse breaks its leg, and rather than try to treat it, the other stable workers opt to try and force Beatrice to kill it. Beatrice attempts to run off with the horse, only for them both to be caught and get beaten nearly to death. It's then that Xargin appears and saves them both. Again, it's not some super deep or complex backstory, but it's pulled off well, and does just enough to get you actually feeling for how Beatrice became the way she did. I liked it! This all leads to a fateful showdown between two people who both come from similar stances in life, yet chose different paths. Both carrying the burdens and ideals of those they hold dear. Hermann with Gerd, and Beatrice with Xargin. And I'll admit, it is hands down the best action sequence in the entire show thus far. The entire fight scene not only carries a solid bit of emotional weight, but the action itself is swift and well choreographed. Given the homing lazers and spinning camera angles, it makes me think the director(Itano) took inspiration from Eureka Seven, and I am a-okay with that. In the end, the fight ends in a draw, with Beatrice having delayed the counterattack on Xargin, but Hermann having avenged Gerd, as well as having waken Malek up from his coma. And honestly, for the first time ever, these deaths are actually pulled off very well in terms of the emotions they carry, and are in no way wasteful or feel like they were done for the sake of cheap drama. Very well done here, Urobuchi. In the end, this might actually be my favorite episode in the entire show. It's not perfect, but most of what's here was very well done.
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Last edited by DreamSword; 03-25-2021 at 07:18 PM.. |
03-25-2021, 11:44 AM | #289 |
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In all honesty, I can see why Urubouchi wrote, co-wrote or supervised the writing of almost every episode of his later shows (the two movie tie-in episodes of Gaim seem to stand out).
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03-25-2021, 07:19 PM | #290 |
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From what I've heard, it does seem like he does alot better when flying solo, rather than being in group projects. Though, far as I know he was the sole writer for the Netflix Godzilla Trilogy, so kind of a minus mark there.
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