yeah, so there is no doubt that this show is getting cheesy. The thing is, however, that I’m much more interested in how this finale uses the build-up that has been provided by the rest of this series. In a way, I can understand the criticisms to this series: standalone the characters indeed aren’t the reason to watch this show.
I haven’t really been watching this show for its characters, though. The reason I became a huge fan of this series was because of its storytelling: the way it managed to weave so many storylines together. The boldness of the script and the way that it was able to write these gripping action scenes, simply with this plot that had so many interesting ideas stuffed into it, combined with its powerful and over the top soundtrack.
I really love it when anime decide to show off what they’re good at. The reason why I’m also such a big fan of Noloty and Volken was not because what they were, but what they represented. I really believe that every anime should focus what it’s good at, and this finale has been truly action-packed, throwing tons of plot twists and ideas into the mix and exactly what I’ve been looking for! While other series this season have more realistic characters, none of them really excell in the same magnitude that Bantorra’s plot has been impressing me with, week after week after week. THAT’s exactly why I already consider this to be a huge contender for my favourite show of 2010, even though we’ve still got three seasons to go before I can say for sure. it’s SO going to be a shame to see this series end next week, because I’ve been enjoying every single minute of it.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
there were some cheesy parts, buts its not that horrible… people were like complaning bout how cheesy the episode was, so i thought that we were gonna have a horrible episode, but we didnt
Who cares if it is cheesy as long as it is good? And this episode was awesome 😀
finally i watched hamyuts defeated for someone at least for some time ,but the true is i wanted hamyuts for be the winner ,but at this part i don’t know exactly who was the good side and the evil side ,but i think it was very sad when mirepoc was very frightened and she ran to the place of the acting director and was in shock when she saw hamyuts like that, it must be a great shock saw the most powerful person who you think can protect you like that,but i don’t know if hamyuts was only acting her defeat because in the last part she was very confident
It seems like some characters are coming back next episode! That’s what I was hoping for, even though it’s cheesy haha. Seriously enjoy this show a lot! It’s way underrated IMHO.
It was just the end of the episode was cheesy, and that it’s setting up the next one for it. Was it a bad episode? Not at all, but it was also not one of the show’s best.
Terrible episode
What with the random reviving of people and the crap explanation of why Hamyuts didn’t die. Plus Hamyuts acting really out of character in the talk/fight with Ruruta.
Such a shame. All that buildup wasted
Mwoha: um, you do realize that all of this happened inside Ruruta? What we was was merely the same that happened in the Enlike arc, just on a larger scale.
I’ve been disappointed with this last story arc. Watching the invincible Hamy go up against the near-invincible Ruruta for ten minutes was pretty boring and its easy to predict how its going to end.
I think the show really shines when it focuses on multiple storylines and multiple characters simultaneously, not so much when there’s only two or three real characters (the others just kinda came, threw some punches, and vanished) and one storyline.
I am curious how the revival of Mirepoc will play out though.
@ Psgels
I think where this differs from the Enlike arc is that it had some sort of purpose, and the dead characters only appeared to say half a sentence each in a cameo by departed spirits sort of way.
Here it just looks like it’s been done because there needs to be an end to the story and they couldn’t be bothered to flesh out new characters to play out the story in a convincing way, so they just pulled the old “Mental Battle” trick to reanimate old characters and finish off whatever story part is left.
I still think the story up to this point was brilliant, and hope they can pull off an ending that will at least be enjoyable to watch, but I think this episode definitely took away something from the Bantorra experience
They havent brought any characters who have died in the ‘real world’ back to the ‘real world’. Any of the character cameos in this episode and the next exist only because their books were fed to Ruruta (his power).
Anyways I think they’re doing a great job with this anime; everything makes sense on one level or another, whereas many anime series have had trouble simply creating a story that works from beginning to end.
This is one of the better new animes I have seen, and I hope next weeks finale lives up to the expectations I have for it.
@Billish
True, it’s just seeing pretty much every single character that they killed of again in a sort of OH HI way (except Volken!) sort of cheapened death for me.
And I’m was probably being rather harsh there by saying it was a terrible episode. I suppose after those runs of brilliant episodes can’t really be put out by a few cringeworthy moments in a couple. By any other anime’s yardstick Bantorra is still doing pretty well I suppose, though I maintain that it is still a dip in its form by its own standard.
by the way just wanna take a moment to thank psgels for the blog, I always look forward to your take on Anime as normally it is put together in a straight to the point kind of way. Thank god for at least one blog on the internet without the blogger being an insane fanboy or a sucker for moe or whatever. Plus the commenters also say interesting things 😮
We’re not going to see Volken, since his book is with Mirepoc… though maybe the way Mirepoc is crucial to the whole plan is that she has to get him in there somehow (or influence Ruruta in some way).
the true power of HAMY!!!!! *random cheese wind blows around her* and then she says come to my aid “those who love me” HUH????? didn’t you kill their asses for no discernible reason and don’t most of them despise you for how you went about things??? WHO WRITES THIS $HIT ?… but comparing “this $hit” to other selections this season i guess this is one of the better shows *rolls eyes*
Very bad episode. The series is falling apart with this rushed and non-sensical ending.
And you are saying Code Geass was a trainwreck?
Why can’t a good series end with a good ending that actually makes sense and completely answers all the questions for a change?
I can’t remember the last time I saw a good ending. What I saw here so far, makes me go WTF?!? Not a good feeling for an episode before the last one.
Most of the stuff that happened in this episode just went over my head. Storytelling? Are you kidding me?
I think the thing with cameos or ‘revivals’ of dead characters is it will always run the risk of being cheesy or come of as ‘cheap’. Precisely, as it runs counter to logic and lets face it not much shows can pull off suspension of disbelief easily (nor is it easy to pull it off, not just in anime but in many things best I’ve seen are those that use it as hallucinations and such).
Yet, as noted there is some attempt at least by the show to suspend disbelief since what we’re seeing are the contents of Ruruta’s stomach. From the previous episode, upon seeing Colio, you’re already aware something is off. What I would criticize instead is what could be the choice of characters brought back to help Hamyuts, since I’d be wondering as to whether or not they were devoured and should be there (Mokkania ok I’m fine but Noloty?). Still it would be an exaggeration to call this episode terrible without taking into consideration the first half.
Seeing Hamyuts completely unhinged as she attacked Ruruta and enjoying herself to the fullest so far is one of the best scenes I’ve seen from this anime. Its completely twisted and just so Hamyuts, furthermore I’ve never seen such a great way of showing a masochistic. The fevered pitch is what sticks to me for this episode. Of course the change of heart on the latter quarter is well disheartening but nevertheless though it is cheesey at least the build up to the end leaves a sense of plausibility, meaning its not just some random strawn together happy ending for the sake of it ala Clandad.
@MachiYou make very solid points, nice.
As for myself, i have very much enjoyed this series, even at this very episode. so far, the events are playing out to the logic of the universe. I dont see any “Deus ex machina” cuz so far all of the events till now have been carefully planned out and characters deaths and emotions well told. I see some poeple starting to build up the “bash ball” and that normally happens when a series comes close to its end. this series has been and stream of well told events and plot twists and i think poeple expect the ending to be one big plot twist with no real answer so they can expect more in the future.
The thing about Noloty is that Ruruta has demonstrated that he likes to eat books of people who follow some path to its fullest, Ruruta loves extremists, and Noloty had an ideal that she followed more fully than anyone. Mokonia had one of the most fearsome powers in the story, only schlamuffen could counter it. And honestly, a little cheese is good for the lymph…would we really want to see their deaths be totally meaningless? I dig some kafka, camus and hesse from time to time, but that kind of existential soul-battering isn’t why I watch anime. Yes, I want some realism, or a good enough reason to suspend my disbelief based on prior foreshadowing about the possibilities, and that was done here. I don’t want a happy ending at the cost of undermining the story. They didn’t do that in this episode, instead they brought together a number of elements of the show, and numerous things foreshadowed from every arc in the story, to build toward an ending that should be as satisfying as the rest of the series, without leaving me feeling like an alienated cockroach unable to approach humanity.
It was glorious to finally see Hamyuts in despair – after 25 episodes of her being solidly confident, it had an awesome impact.
The animation with the faces in this episode was something special too – it really added to the drama.
And, really, I appreciate the drama – even Lascall Othello herself says that if it ended without a bang, it would be disappointing.
A bit cheesy, but since I love Hamy’s character, I really don’t care all that much for the ending of this episode. Was it iffy? Yes, absolutely.
I just want to read the light-novels, you can really tell that they’re cramming so much content in only 20 minutes of screentime.
After what she did to Volken, and I don’t mean killing him but cruelly and without any reason destroying his ideals before doing so, I just couldn’t love Hamyuts anymore.
That’s exactly why I find her charming. She’s a complete asshole that can still act noble from time to time.
And of course because I’m fed up with moe and its submissive doormats.
I just think she crossed a line at that point that could no longer make her a sympathetic character for me. I like strong female leads also, but not evil bitches…
I disliked Volken and was happy to see his sense of justice being dwindled away. I guess that has something to do with it too. Hamy’s by no means a Balsa or Alita, but I still like her.
Ah, too me Volken and Noloty were the real leads in the show, with their strong ideals. I like characters with strong ideals when they 1) Have the bad-ass-ness to back them up and 2) Aren’t just stupidly simplistic in their worldview. Volken couldn’t help that he didn’t know about the corruption in the library, since nobody else really knew either. And his sense of justice was more complex than your usual clueless “everybody just play nice” lead. And, if Mirepoc hadn’t first tricked him, I think he would have succeeded in revealing the truth to everyone. His only mistake was not telling Mirepoc what was going on before he took off. If he’d done that, and she hadn’t wiped her memory, everything would have gone down really differently. Granted, I love the show for the boldness it took to kill him off and I hope he stays good and dead. I just don’t care for Hamy anymore because of it. And I’m cool with that.
Wow, what’s with everyone missing the entire point of this episode (and maybe even the series), i mean finally everything is coming full circles and making sense and people start complaining about “deus ex machina” and cheesiness … did you people actually watch the series !!!
There is nobody ‘brought back’ .. everyone shown in the episode IS still dead .. everything is going inside Rurata not in the real world .. that dimension clearly and from the very beginning of the series -as seen in the Enlike arc- has its own rules, Rurata is as we know now an avid book eater like Enlike host was … so every single person’s book that has been eaten by him means that person’s essence is trapped inside of Rurata …. it would only be cheap if at the end of the series they return back to the real world .. but i don’t think that will happen .. actually being helpful to Hamy’s fight gives way more meaning and value to their deaths .. and their life which they lived to the fullest.
And as for how everything is coming full circles … well … for the reason above they ended up inside Rurata’s body .. who was trying to find happiness in their stories to help Nienu out of her despair (Nienu who also happened to be trapped inside his body as well) … but now he figured out her despair is incurable and that she became the incarnation of destruction … destruction that those he ate to please her will help him stop … things has been going in this direction from the very beginning .. and if you don’t like it you probably should have quit watching the series at the beginning instead of complaining now.
And as for Hamy .. i really liked her this episode … IMO she isn’t really evil at all .. it is the hell (all the torture and experiments) that she went through that twisted her personality like that (having her character and entire life cast to love death and kill Rurata)… probably she can be called one of the best anti-hero female characters … seeing her in despair was really strange and touching considering how strong and lunatic she was during the entire series .. but i guess everyone has a break point .. funny thing though .. she finally showed her good side after dying in the real world XD
Now i wonder what role will Meripoc play … it is probably something very important .. important enough for Lascal to sacrifice its existence to wake Meripoc .. interesting .. can’t wait to see the final episode.
I really don’t see the cheesiness in this episode …
Ruruta is a demi-god who has consumed 100,000 books, there’s really no way for anyone to take him down in the real world. The ‘mental battle’ finale actually makes sense … Makia knew that engineering a mortal to rival Ruruta in raw power would have been impossible, and so he engineered someone who could attack Ruruta from within, where the rules of reality do not apply
Shiron’s interaction with Colio and the dimension inside Enrique have already made it evident that ‘Books’ are not simply static things which are read … but actual Souls which possess some consciousnous of their own. So a final battle between the Souls of Books and Ruruta is not something which has been sprung upon us out of the blue.
Where’s the cheese?
@Anomandaris
Well said indeed, but there is something here … i don’t think the final battle will be aganist Rurata .. but actually aganist Nienu (who is now a manifestation of destruction).
Actually Rurata seems to have realized his mistakes and had a change of heart (specially after the talk with Colio Tonnis spirit.