This episode. There was someone involved who made the execution slightly different from usual. The way in which the characters interacted with each other was slightly different from usual, but very noticeable. There were these scenes which were a bit deformed, but very well animated in terms of character movements: they moved all over, and the episode had a lot of strange yet dynamic facial expressions. Most notably the animation at times was very smooth and the movement was very elaborate.
A quick look-up of the animators and directors involved with this episode doesn’t really point to one source that caused the change in style. My best guess is that a few people sat together and came up with the idea to try something new this time, because it’s both the storyboard, animation and direction that have changed. I like this a lot by the way, these experiments. Bones is usually a studio that thrives on consistency, especially in the past years, so seeing Eureka animated so whimsically definitely was a surprise here, but I liked how well that scene brought forth her emotions. Now that was some good use of fluidity.
What also caught my attention was the climax of this episode. This whole episode was basically about Elena. We now finally know all that is up with her: she was accidentally brought in from the past, but somewhere along the way she started finding herself special and thought that she came from a different world. That’s also why she probably created all those alternative personas. But anyway, her climax: she starts yelling and after just one love declaration of Ao she completely calms down. That was very unusual, and while it was a bit weird it worked surprisingly well there. Those emotions of hers were quite nicely done there and I really like these kinds of episodes in which the creators try to do things a bit differently.
Rating: 5.5/8 (Excellent)
Look at that helmet face.
Ahah! Cute.
But don’t worry — this isn’t a Higurashi- or Code Geass- level breakdown.
I was very pleased. Truth as I thought has turned out to really be an interesting and exciting character. This show had gotten a bit slow, but I’m glad to see some of that Eureka Seven flare. I’m all shaken up about how this is all going to end though. Where can it go? I don’t know, but I’ll be happy to find out.
shit show deserves to be cancelled lol
It’s not EVOL.
Ao’s talking-down of Elena was quick, but Elena was almost aware that she was acting out and all she wanted was some kind of anime-like dramatic catharsis.
If playing the role of the bad-ass masked evil traitor or the golden child from another world didn’t work, at least she gets a love declaration, leading to a sudden change of heart!
Haru’s breakfast scene and Fleur’s politicking in a borrowed pantsuit are also amusing, down-to-earth scenes of two girls whose roles have changed dramatically since the early episodes.
Naru.