Going through this process once again has reminded me of just how much interesting anime there is out there to watch, and how little free time there is to follow everything that I would like to follow. When you haven’t sampled a little of everything, it’s much easier to look from outside and decide that this show or that show doesn’t really look that interesting. Watching it, though, causes you to invest yourself sometimes, if even just a little bit. Of course, being invested doesn’t always mean that the investment is going to pay off; in the words of Kenny Rogers, sometimes you have to “know when to walk away, and know when to run.”
In this entry, I’ll be checking out some more of Island, Phantom in the Twilight, Planet With, and Angel of Death. If nothing else, this definitely gives us a taste of many genres!
Island
Episodes Viewed: 2 and 3
Thoughts: Episode 2 sees Setsuna settling into his new job as hired help at Rinne’s family’s mansion. He doesn’t have experience doing housework, but puts in the effort. After learning that Rinne can’t go out in the sunlight, Setsuna starts to research the “soot blight syndrome” she mentions. He learns from Sara that it’s something endemic to the people of the island, and possibly has to do with a long-ago legend about some individuals who happen to share his, hers, Rinne’s and Karen’s names. Setsuna learns from Rinne’s mother Kuon, however, that Rinne doesn’t actually suffer from soot blight syndrome.
In the next episode, Setsuna, Karen, and Sara make an effort to get Rinne to come outside during the day, constructing a ribald scenario to lure her out to investigate. Eventually this works, and Rinne begins to face up to the revelation that she isn’t actually sick. While exploring the beach, the group discovers a wooden shack on a cliff. When Rinne approaches it, she passes out. Later that evening, she reveals that she experienced memories of meeting someone there named Setsuna. The friends spend the remainder of their Summer enjoying the time off and doing fun activities, but as the season draws to a close Karen’s father discovers that she’s been holding down a Summer job. Sara reveals that she doesn’t believe Karen is serious about actually leaving the island; otherwise she would have been successful already.
What I can say about this show is that it’s a “two steps forward, one step back” type of experience. Every time its mysteries begin to ramp up the intrigue, something distracting happens to remind the viewer of what type of show it actually is. For example, the second episode is mostly played straight and Setsuna learns a lot more about the island’s history and how he may be connected to the other three main characters. Then Sara (the character who most looks like a child) starts pawing at Setsuna and trying to get him to fall for her “honey trap” in exchange for more intimate details. Yikes! The opening of the third episode is an extended scenario where Setsuna and crew try to get Rinne to join them by reading off a script that describes a multitude of lewd acts; Rinne overhears their voices in her sleep and begins dreaming about the things they might be doing (including Setsuna oiling up both the girls and face-planting into Sara’s chest). The remainder of the episode is mostly plot-related again. I suppose it’s sort of par for the course for visual novel/eroge type antics and fans who are willingly engaged in that type of story might not care, but as an outsider all I can really think about is how much the story could be improved by removing these moments.
The strengths that came through in the first episode are still present, including the beautiful setting of the story. The scenes that take place at night still seem sort of otherworldly, which helps accentuate some of the local mythology that Setsuna learns about. There are some interesting things to speculate about, including whether there actually is something supernatural or sci-fi about what’s happening, or if there are entirely mundane explanations. I don’t feel as though this series is quite so rote as I made it out to be from the first episode. It’s difficult to want to discover more, though, when the series continues to fall back on decisions that reduce its potential audience by being squicky and offensive.
Would I continue watching? – In a season with fewer series I was actually excited about I might be tempted to follow through with this one out of pure curiosity. As it is I already feel like I don’t even have enough time for things that bring me joy so it’s unlikely curiosity alone will cut it. I definitely believe one could do much worse than Island, though.
Phantom in the Twilight
Episodes Viewed: 2 and 3
Thoughts: Ton’s best friend Shinyao has been kidnapped (a development that was teased at the end of the first episode). She appears to have been snatched out the window of their fourth-floor dorm room, though the kidnapper would have had to have been either very athletic or some kind of superhuman creature to be able to reach such a height unaided. It could be another werewolf, but Luke only gives a non-committal reply to that theory. Ton, being the person she is, takes it upon herself to find out where Shinyao is, and uses a very popular app called “Magic Mirror” to tap into a security camera feed and make her way to an abandoned building. She’s somewhat outmatched by the Jack-the-Ripper clone who has Shinyao in custody, but Vlad (who reveals himself to be a vampire) arrives in time to shut him down. Shinyao is still out of reach, though; it appears that the werewolf hypothesis might actually have some truth to it.
Episode 3 proves the hypothesis correct, when the identity of the kidnapper is revealed. Chris, a werewolf, is Luke’s brother, but has fallen off the path of living harmoniously with humans. He seems to be working underneath someone else and Shinyao was likely targeted by mistake; they’re really after Ton. Ton learns a bit more about her great-grandmother, someone who worked not to kill Umbra (creatures created from human fear) but to exist alongside them. Luke takes it upon himself to go after his own brother, but eventually receives help from Vlad, Toryu, and Wayne (a friendly ghost inhabiting a mannequin). They get close to rescuing Shinyao, but Chris makes an escape with her in his arms.
This series is becoming what I’d describe as “pleasantly ridiculous.” It takes itself just seriously enough that it doesn’t accidentally undercut its story, but it doesn’t take itself so seriously that it becomes an unintentional joke. One of the things that makes it so enjoyable is Ton, who just does not have any time to be told what she can and cannot do. She’s skilled enough by virtue of her bloodline to feasibly involve herself in the supernatural adventures around her, but still has room to grow and manages to get into interesting trouble. We learn a bit more about Ton’s great-grandmother over these couple of episodes, and while the two characters obviously will never meet in person, I feel like it’s a good choice to build upon the spiritual connection between grandmother and granddaughter as Ton comes into her own as a heroine. One can’t say for sure just yet, but I get the impression that Ton’s spunk and “can-do” attitude is a modern incarnation of the person her ancestor was. Even the other characters seem to feel the connection (especially since they’re long-lived and actually knew the elder woman).
On the downside, I’m a little disappointed to see that Shinyao has definitely been damseled, as I suspected she would be. On one hand, I don’t believe putting a layperson in a situation where they’re unable to defend themselves is necessarily unrealistic or negative; someone with no training in (or talent for) magical defenses or melee weaponry probably wouldn’t be able to defend against supernatural creatures. I recall a conversation I had about the anime series Snow White With the Red Hair, in which the young female protagonist is kidnapped by some pirates and the male protagonist comes to save her. The heroine is smart and can think on her feet; she proves this many times throughout the series. Despite that, though, she’s not trained in swordplay and doesn’t have a strong physical presence because her occupation involves creating medicines, not training for war. It sucks that she’s physically overpowered, but I probably would be too, to be honest. Shinyao is definitely the less physical of the two women in this series, but she’s literally knocked-out for much of episodes 2 and 3, so while I want to give the show the benefit of the doubt in terms of how her character will be used I’m not seeing a lot of encouraging evidence.
The other appeal of this series is the modest array of cute guys to watch. I especially liked the fun banter between Ton and Luke over the course of these couple of episodes, though I think the show seems poised to have Ton and Vlad end up with one-another. The animation quality unfortunately can’t keep up with the attractiveness of the characters; there are a lot of mid-range shots where the characters are severely off-model and even the action scenes are fairly clunky most of the time. This isn’t a huge drawback for me but I know many fans are irritated by anime that isn’t, well, animated.
Would I continue watching? – I think this is the perfect show for me to watch after a rough day; I actually had kind of a tough week for various reasons and ran straight to this series because I thought it might be helpful to my mood (it was, mildly). It’s not a huge priority for me to watch but I feel like it definitely has its uses.
Planet With
Episodes Viewed: 2-4
Thoughts: After his victory against a mysterious opponent, Soya learns a bit more about the aliens called “Nebula” when another terrifying(?) entity approaches Japan over the sea. The organization “Grand Paladin,” on of whom Soya fought, is finding itself in a fight for power against Nebula, but Ginko explains that Nebula has multiple factions attempting to influence the course of human evolution. Soya continues to seek his revenge as he sees necessary, defeating another Paladin foe before being surrounded by the rest of the group. Ginko orders him to escape, but he wants to defeat them all, for the purpose of his own vengeance. When the Grand Paladin leader enters the fray Soya is nearly defeated before a giant entity (that looks like a larger version of Sensei swallows them all up. Soya watches Sensei argue with a white dog of similar stature over what should be done about humanity. He recovers a bit more memory about his situation and where he came from, which may be a good or bad thing depending on your vantage point.
When things settle down again Soya finally returns to school, which makes class rep Nozomi happy. She forces him to join the occult club so they’ll have enough members to continue existing, and they get a visit from a flamboyant senpai who’s already graduated (but likes to borrow the club’s books). Nezuya-senpai feels as though he recognizes Soya, but neither of them can place the other. As Soya ponders his situation over another vegetarian dinner, the air-raid sirens begin to blare once again and another Nebula creation makes its way to the mainland. Haru overcomes illusion to defeat the entity, but what of Nezuya who entered with her? He appears to be asleep and within his own pleasant dream, but Haru wants to continue the fight from earlier. Her continual desire for power in her battle with Soya causes her to lose control and be swallowed up by the power of the dragon. It takes a partnership between both factions to bring Haru back, and the event shatters the unity from within Grand Paladin.
Episode 4 seems to mark the end of this show’s first act which is why I continued on instead of stopping an episode earlier. That, and I had trouble tearing myself away. As I may have mentioned, this series wasn’t on my radar at all going into the Summer season, but as of right now it’s jumped nearly to the top of my watch list. The content itself isn’t all that unique and the action genre isn’t necessarily a favorite of mine, either. But I find myself very intrigued by the nature of the actual conflict because it’s not really just a battle of two differing opinions; it implies a much greater choice that the human race will have to make between forced “peace” through restrictions and a truer peace based around chosen acts of love.
I’d commented before that Soya, Ginko and Sensei seemed like antagonists, and while that’s turned out not to be entirely true (or rather, it’s a matter of perspective based on the alignment of various other characters, as these relationships should be) they’re still definitely not “heroes” as is traditionally defined in these types of series. Sensei and Ginko have very sympathetic ideals, the issue is more their methods which currently rely on the participation of a boy who hasn’t had much of a choice in the matter. Though we still don’t know much about it, Soya comes from a situation that seems to have caused differences-in-opinion within Nebula. He just knows that he wants revenge for the loss of his home and family. I suspect that the scope of the story will eventually make its way around to Soya, in that he’ll have to choose between achieving vengeance or taking a more pacifist route. But I don’t like to speculate about plot or make declarations about where a story should go, so I’ll leave it at that.
Really the only issue I have with the show is that Sensei continues to look at the underwear of the female anime character figurines in their home. I believe this is supposed to be funny, but it’s a joke that wasn’t really interesting the first time around, so why keep beleaguering the point? I’m afraid it will turn out that it gives him energy or something.
Will I continue watching? – I plan to go right back to this as soon as I’m finished with everything else. So far this is a really interesting little show and one of the reasons why I’ve always found it valuable to watch first episodes. I probably would have skipped right over it if watching things more haphazardly.
Angel of Death
Episodes Viewed: 2 and 3
Thoughts: Rachel and Zack make a pact with one-another; Rachel will help Zack escape the building, and then Zack will Kill Rachel, because that’s what he likes to do. The problem is that the building they’re in is like a maze and the elevators don’t just take them up and out. Once they get the elevator open and ride it to the subsequent floor, they come face-to-face with several gravestones, one of which has Rachel’s name on it. They split up to look for a door or a switch that might provide them with a straightforward path to their next goal, but all Rachel discovers is a strange records room with information on herself and Zack. They keep retracing their steps as Rachel receives letters from a mysterious individual. As the lights flicker off, Zack is faced with a very irritated gravedigger named Eddie, the proprietor of this floor.
Eddie wants to provide Rachel with a beautiful death, and since this is his floor he supposedly has the right to do that. Zack’s and Rachel’s agreement, though, stands in his way; because Zack “swears to God” that he’ll be the one to deal the deathblow (and Rachel seems to have something of a religious streak), Rachel holds his word in great esteem. Eddie traps the two in an alcove and his mastery of the darkness nearly clinches his victory. Rachel’s ingenuity proves to be stronger, and Eddie finds himself bleeding out of a scythe-inflicted abdomen wound in the flower-filled coffin he’d intended for Rachel. Zack and Rachel find the elevator to the next floor and make their way to yet another hall of horrors.
The first episode of this show reminded me a lot of some older survival-horror video games I’ve played in the past, and these two episodes only cement that connection in my mind. The disorientation, the backtracking, the flickering lights and unsettling background movements… they’re all here in a way that’s reminiscent of some of the more “video-gamey” aspects of Resident Evil or Silent Hill. That of course begs the question – should an anime feel like a slow-paced (and honestly, pretty clunky) video game? I’m not sure if I can answer that question for others, but while I don’t feel like this series really captures the creeping horror of something like Silent Hill, it still gives me a very nostalgic feeling for those types of games and I think there’s something to be said for that.
The downside to this series, besides the sudden and bloody violence that occurs whenever Zack’s involved in a situation, is that the central relationship is so flawed that it’s difficult to look past it. I don’t know if this is just me, but I feel as though the story is setting up Rachel and Zack as a possible romantic coupling. Considering that Rachel is essentially dead inside and Zack is a serial killer, this doesn’t exactly set my heart aflutter (can a heart cringe?). There’s a part of me that’s curious as to whether Rachel is actually as emotionless as she seems; there’s enough reason for her to be acting in that manner for purposes of self-preservation that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was conscious. I would love to learn at some point that it’s been a manipulation on her part. That said it doesn’t seem as though the show is that sophisticated.
Would I continue watching? – I’m not especially motivated, but once it gets closer to Halloween I might feel more inclined. I did actually purchase the game on which the anime is based (it’s available on Steam) so that might be an option as well.