What an incredibly awesome cliff-hanger in this episode. Absolutely fantastic how I never saw this coming. It has been a long while since I’ve been this impressed and shocked by a sudden plot twist. Obviously, MAJOR SPOILERS coming up. This sentence is there to prevent those spoilers from showing up in the blog aggregators.
Because holy hell! Kuniko’s grandmother was the first CEO of Atlas?! Now that gives a totally different meaning to the entire story. I just kept thinking that she in her early days worked as some sort of idol or something, and while I did suspect that there was more going on with her, I never expected this. That figurine turns out to have a completely different meaning now. It wasn’t just one of grandmother’s escapades when she was younger, instead she had quite a following in those days because she was similar to Kuniko, and hence why her loyal fans started to make figurines of her (something which I suspect is going to happen with Kuniko as well at this rate).
This now also explains why she has one of the daggers, and this makes it a bit more plausible as to why Kuniko of all people turned into a Digma. Something must have happened, involving her decision to step down and leave Atlas. Now we also know why Kuniko’s mother is in Atlas: for some reason she decided to stay, while Kuniko’s grandmother took Kuniko along with her for some reason. But really, it still baffles me that her initial ideas were so much different from Kuniko’s.
But the rest of this episode also kicked ass. The whole mind games that involved the strange machines that can fully alter their environments (to a certain limit of course: sand remains solid floor) gave a really nice effect to the infiltration scene this episode. Because the metal-age has broken up into three different groups, this sense of Kuniko not exactly knowing what’s going on and still having to hand out orders worked really well.
And then to think that Sayoko was released by some mysterious member of Ryouko’s assistants. Who exactly was behind it, and why? And what’s in the future for Shion? His lifetime as Ryouko’s personal toy really seems about finished. And Ryouko too is starting to become really interesting now that she can’t move freely anymore.
For me, I think that the reason why I’m enjoying this series so much despite its flaws is that I tend to overlook flaws in series, as long as it has enough to make up for it. Personally, I’d rather watch something with a lot of flaws, but very ambitious, creative and daring, rather than something flawless without ambitions. Although flawless series are definitely worth the watch, they really need to do something extra for me to consider them a classic. For that, it becomes much easier to make mistakes, but that’s exactly where anime needs to go.
So what if this series has its flaws? It’s imaginative, ambitious and it attempts to be ground-breaking despite Gonzo’s financial issues. Is it really that much worse than those solidly produced series that don’t take any risk and just repeat a tried and true formula? Heck, this episode reinforced even more that this is my favourite show this season. Phantom is going to have to try hard to be able to beat it.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
Great cat and mouse game, followed by an awesome cliff-hanger at the end. The setting just keeps getting more intriguing by the minute.
Those of us who have stuck with this show are getting our reward, it seems.
I’m not actually watching this right now, too busy with other stuff, but definitely still keeping an eye out for how the rest of the show develops and your reactions to it.
glad i never dropped this. it’s getting so fun, and i’m actually looking forward to this every week, more than phantom. (well actually, this and Guin saga)
I’m not as taken with the most recent episodes as you are, though I liked the start of the series quite a lot. I find the action scenes a bit hokey (especially things like Kuniko running around on the surface of the flying wing — though the flying wing itself was a nice “really big boomerang” touch). And Kuniko’s followers are already making little figures of her:
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/3665/kunikochan.jpg
I don’t think there’s such a thing as a flawless series *absolutely believes that nothing in this world could be perfect* but . . . I also love it when a series with so many flaws tries to be daring and imaginative. I’m so happy that GONZO did such a good job on this one~
I want next episode . . . badly xD so badly . . .
Were Nagiko’s initial ideas all that different from Kuniko’s? Kuniko seems to be just as eager about people living in Atlas, it’s just that she can’t stand everyone outside being disregarded and how Atlas currently does things.
Yup, I’ve always loved when Gonzo’s done this kind of ambitious scifi. This was the stuff that made them one of my favorite studios.
Agreed Shounen A, I think that Kuniko and Nagiko clearly have similar ideals from the series so far.
While Nagiko was formerly one of the previous CEOs of Atlas that doesn’t mean her ideals are different from Kuniko’s since she left Atlas some time later and is extremely heavily involved in anti-Atlas operations (and has been leading Metal-Age) just like her granddaughter who she’s been hoping would come to her own conclusions about how Atlas isn’t being run the right way. So I’d say just because she was with Atlas doesn’t mean her ideals have ever been the same as current Atlas.
I’m guessing the ideals or current goals of the Atlas project changed from what they were when Nagiko initially took the position or something along those lines which caused Nagiko to leave and join/be part of the foundation of and then become the leader of Metal-Age (depending on whether it had already existed or not) due to the same reactions as Kuniko, and they are both fighting against Atlas now which is what Nagiko has been doing even before Kuniko got heavily involved and she’s the one that wanted Kuniko to inherit the leadership if she felt the same way as Nagiko did once learning some of the truths about Atlas first hand without being influenced by Nagiko’s own position (she clearly wanted Kuniko to make her own choice even if she was hoping Kuniko would become the next leader).
(something which I suspect is going to happen with Kuniko as well at this rate)
they already made one (episode 12)http://users.telenet.be/Eshu/pic/kuniko.jpg
Shangri-La quite possibly marks the end of an era. I can’t say I’ve been entirely happy with the show, but it most definitely possesses the ambition and creative spirit that made Gonzo famous in the first place.
For the project, they recalled many of the people who helped shape the company’s early success – former president Shoji Murahama (who left just days before Shangri-La began airing), Koichi Chigira, Range Murata, Umanosuke Iida, Takeshi Mori, Takahito Kusanagi, and Shinji Higuchi. I can’t think of a more appropriate swan song, and I suspect that this may have been the intention of the producers.
There’s a HUGE difference between being creative and ambitious and having a storyline so flawed its hardly hanging together let alone coherent.
I personally don’t regard the mishmash of every sexual deviant and wacky stereotypes as creative or ambitious. Rather a gaudy attempt to shock for the sake of being different. In addition the weird defiance of logic or fundamental science just indicates a willingness to throw away rationality for plot device – something NOT to be admired. I can just tell this entire series will end by “Deus ex machina”.
Gonzo is also capable of far better such as: Samurai 7, Afro Samurai, Origin: Spirits of the Past, The Tower of Druaga etc. etc.
If Shangri-La is a yardstick to go by then I can’t say the blog author’s recommendation of Phantom is going to be any good.
As for the episode the inside of Atlas is a Star Trek Holosuite. Who wants to live in the same shitty Tokyo place as 50 years ago?
Again carbon taxes, who enforces this? The entire system IN REALITY is meant to encourage INDUSTRY to reduce carbon emissions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tax#Economic_theory
Revenue goes to the government of that country. If a country fails to meet is Kyoto pledge then it can’t trade its carbon credits, there is no extra financial penalty. THIS UNDERMINES THE ENTIRE FOUNDATION OF THE SERIES.
After all we’re meant to be going to CARBON-FREE economies NOT carbon economies.
In addition Atlas can only house 3.5 million, so what has happened to the other 170 million people in Japan?
Is Kuniko also impervious to shrapnel? Strange how it affects everyone else. As I said before this series could have started at episode 13 and you wouldn’t have missed a thing.