Oh, it’s only been two episodes since her introduction, and I’m already a big fan of Cal (apparently not Drei, who has yet to show up). This episode really reminded me why I’m such a big fan of Bee-Train. This episode was mostly building-up, but the superb characterization made it all worth it. With an already excellent game that this series is based on, they really managed to get the best out of it. It’s a shame that this episode got the short end of the budget for this series, but apart from that I loved it.
Cal’s surprisingly sharp wit really has the ability to open up Reiji who has closed himself ever since Helen’s death. She may look like an innocent girl, but time and time again she proves to be observant, curious and direct, and yet she is full of weaknesses, like how she hates how she isn’t able to do anything on her own, and how she’s deeply affected by the death of her caretaker. That’s why it surprised me when she suddenly popped up with five million dollars in stolen cash from Inferno, asking Reiji to kill every single one of the bastards that killed off Judy.
The plot for this arc is again promising to be really interesting, with multiple sides, none of them being completely good or evil. We have Reiji and Cal, who are after the mysterious people who killed off Judy, at the same time they have to try and hide the fact that Cal just stole five million dollars from an angry Isaac, and something tells me that the mysterious Drei is part of the people who killed off Judy.
Oh, and on a side-note: one detail I also loved was that Reiji still bears the scars of the gunshots that struck him six months earlier. That really is a detail that many anime simply forget to include, but big wounds like that obviously take ages to heal properly. Like expected, he was mostly hit in the shoulder, and not in his heart, so that explains why he managed to survive that day.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Very intriguing build-up with an increasingly awesome Cal.
Spoiler:
Just amazing story, Bee-train is becoming one of my favorite production companies..
I can’t wait for this thing to be subbed..
It was only a hundred thousand dollars? I thought it was five million stolen from the dead yakuza.
Ah, that’s my mistake. They indeed said “go-hyaku-man”, and I mistakenly thought that “man” meant one thousand, rather than ten thousand, and I failed to pick up that “go” in front of it. ^^;
Damn Cal is really cute. Let’s just hope that nothing tragic will happen to her
I would like to credit my superior listening skills ;), but despite having played the game so long ago, five million felt much more like the correct dollar amount. ^_^;; BTW, I’m pretty happy with how the game is being adapted into the anime, this episode being a prime example.
Reiji is in deep, deep trouble: 1) To save Cal from a horrible fate in the hands of the Bloodies, he had to claim she had great potential as an assassin (wouldn’t it be funny if it turns out to be true?), 2) He has to handle the five million dollars somehow without fingers being pointed at himself, Cal, or Claudia, 3) There’s this shadowy third party that has made such a mess of things.
Yep i think he is capable… this is one bad mother… Older looking, bad ass haircut, designer clothing, yeah he upgraded to top grade assassin here man.. Can’t wait to see how this turns out..
Well… Reiji’s becoming as pimping as I remember him in the game. I’m still treating the anime and game differently just because the portrayals of the characters are so different despite having the same role, and story following so closely. Reiji’s pimping attitude in the game started after killing the Navy commander and passing his initiation. Here, they changed his attitude after Elen died, so yeah, there are differences.
The Cal story could be shaping up to be something like “LEON/The Professional.” I like it!