YES! YES! YES! What a way to start off the finale of this series!
To put the play here of all places, I love the idea. It was foreshadowing, it showed a completely different side, it was very different from the previous episodes, it was based on a solid idea, it had already gotten a lot of build-up, and at the same time it stays true to the series’ core: school life.
I’m not sure whether I’m the only one in this, but I personally love the series with short climaxes. It doesn’t always need to have months of build-up, but with the motto of “say more with less”, I’ve found that some of my most memorable climaxes are actually the ones who put their finales in a relatively short amount of time. After this episode, this means that there are just three episodes reserved for the climax of Star Driver. And this episode really pointed towards the fact that the creators are planning something really interesting for the final episodes here. Finally this series makes use of the fact that it’s an original story!
What really would have made this series a force to be reckoned with would have been more of these kinds of episodes. The ones that are based on a strong idea, and what would have allowed each episode to stand on its own, rather than just being a collection of episodes all about school life and robot battles. I mean, that’s why I’m currently such a big fan of Level E: all of its stories are different and based on great ideas rather than cliches. That’s the one thing that Star Driver lacked and what really could turned this into an amazing series.
What also was short but sweet in this episode: that aftermath. I mean, dear lord, how many new things did we learn about the characters in like, what? A minute? I mean, the stuffed animal talks, the president of the drama club is an alien, the cybodies come from space and Tauburn was specifically created for a human? Talk about creating intrigue for next week.
Overall, there is only one bloody show that aired during the past half year and that isn’t going to end within a month: Gosick. At the moment, the endings that are looking the most promising are the ones of Level E, Madoka Magica and Star Driver here. Let’s see which one can deliver the most interesting end here.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
Truly the best episode of Star Driver yet. The play really shed a lot of light on the main story. They really nailed it, using the play to finally flesh out and fill in the missing pieces in the storyline so far. It really is a shame that the earlier episodes were filled with too much filler and not enough focus on the main story.
Cute stuffed mascot character that’s actually an alien. How cliche.
Anyway, Wako looks A LOT better with long hair. I think she actually has a chance now to win Takuto from Sugata.
Well the idea to flesh out the backstory with a play was already used in Utena, so I kinda expected this episode to pull the cart out of the mud a little…and it actually did.
Sadly the third part of the series kinda lost it’s focus, especially through those two ‘female’ antagonists who practically served no real purpose apart from drawing out the finale.
Some things this episode also could have been foreshadowed a little more for my taste. Especially the ‘Entropeople’ and the president of the drama club could have at least been hinted at…like Anthy’s actions in Utena were full of hints.
@chounokoe Actually, there’s quite a bit of subtle foreshadowing. You just kind of had to dig really deep and remember obscure hints. There’s a shot of Sarina talking to VP in episode 7 and the phrase ‘Apprivoise’ comes from the book ‘The Little Prince’. In the same book, they mention aliens and exploring the galaxy etc
@chounokoe: How do you think that Sarina knew all about the secrets of the Cybodies, what the Crux was doing, etc? She was the organizer of the resistance, so that counts as foreshadowing IMO. And if this is going to be anything like the other show that Star Driver draws from heavily (RahXephon), there are probably a lot of subtle conversations and hints at it that were missed the first time through.
Poor Keito.
Sugata finally finds out what she has been doing for him all this time and the first thing he does is go off and start hitting on Wako big time next episode.
The President and VP being aliens though… talk about coming out of nowhere.
@chounokoe
I think it wasn’t the third part that lost focus, it was the middle part that, as it seems to me, was kind of meandering without much focus on things that seem to be important now. I mean it was nice that say, the Adult Bank got so much screentime and development, but are they important in the grand scheme of things? I think there should’ve been more focus on Takuto, Sugata and Wako, and on Head. Instead we got what is little more than a string of fillers. I feel that the Mizuno/Marino arc was also needlessly drawn out.
I’m planning to rewatch the series after it’s over, to see if my knowledge of the ending will put things in a new light, but as of now I feel that the series has wasted a lot of potential.
“I feel that the Mizuno/Marino arc was also needlessly drawn out.”
Funny because the Mizuno arc was what got me and a lot of people into this show. Let’s face it, Takato/Wako/Sugata aren’t exactly interesting characters.
@Kyubey: Maybe not by themselves, but I find Wako/Sugata/Takuto very interesting when together. That might just be me, though. ^^
Great ep, great review~ Can’t wait until this is over so I can rewatch it too.
More foreshadowing on Sarina, during the beach episode all the non Crux members who knew about Cybodies were listed and Sarina was not listed, that should’ve been a red flag there (heck, I think I thought of the “Sarina is an alien” theory then).
Also, it was stated in the early episodes that the cybodies were from the remains of some galatic civilization so it was stated early on that the mechs are alien in origin (remember, they were discovered underneath the island, not nessecarily created there).
DEAR GOD….
Kyubey has broken the fourth wall and transcended into another show!
I will admit that it was an interesting way of showing the past. Still I am not hopeful for some great climax. Star driver has already steered off course every time it looked like it was about to go down an interesting path. At this point in the series it can’t do that any more but it’s going to take a magnificent finale for me to rate this show more than a 4/10.
I just hope they somehow tie up some of the loose ends because the more I look back on this show the less sense it makes.
@AidanAK47, I’m kinda confused as to why you’ve been watching for so long. Isn’t a score of 4/10 venturing into unwatchable territory?
Each of the maidens arcs develops the maiden in a particular way. This is Keito’s arc, and her development is reserved and at a distance. The idiot lesbians are an instrument for her development, but they also served to develop Wako as well. This approach to exploring Keito’s different masks and the conflict that underlies them also provided a convenient way to present background information and motivate the final conflict between the members of the trio and between the trio and Head. Now when they avoid the dual tragedies of Columner and Head, we’ll see what they did there. Somewhere before the end of all of that, we expect the conflict driving Keito to come to fore and maybe the trio saving her from having her seal broken. But since the ending of the show should break the cycle of the island and allow everyone to take the last ferry off the island into adulthood, it might not really matter.
@brianwuzhere
I kept getting fooled by those points were it looked to be getting interesting. By that time I was halfway through the series and I thought I might as well finish it. Anyway I acknowledge that it is mindless entertainment. Nothing more.
@brianwuzhere
I kept getting fooled by those points were it looked to be getting interesting. By that time I was halfway through the series and I thought I might as well finish it. Anyway I acknowledge that it is mindless entertainment. Nothing more.
Definitely the best episode of Star Driver. However, I greatly disagree with you about short build-ups being better. It’s probably going to be the biggest flaw in the finale of Star Driver: the lack of build-up will end rushing the plot.
However, the foreshadowing was truly something to behold. Too bad Star Driver had such an awful start and picked up only later. It’s an anime that would have greatly benefited from a 18~ episodes run to make up for the lack of focus it had until the Mizuno arc.