One thing I love about Toward the Terra is how it manages to keep every single episode high-paced for the plot. There are no silent episodes, there are no episodes which are solely meant for building up, like you see in so many other good. Instead, it builds up its characters more logically, instead of the forced episodes which leave out any major plot-elements for the climax-filled episodes, the characters here get developed between the different climaxes and revelations of the episodes. While there have been really good anime who attempted the former, the latter approach really remains the better one, and towards the Terra shows it. Its pacing really reminds me of a crossing between Red Garden and Visions of Escaflowne somehow.
In any case, I think we all know that the next episode is going to be a special one: Blue is going to die. There is no way he won’t, based on the cliff-hanger. He kept giving hints that his time was over, and that the Myu should be lead by Jomie, and the episode ended with a planet-destroying beam fired at the poor guy. I wonder what role Toni will have in this, as his awakening must mean something, otherwise the creators wouldn’t have shown it along with Blue getting hit.
And we finally know the link between Keith and Physis: they were both raised in the test-tubes for the first years of their lives. Physis probably got out of them when she was around five or six, when she was rescued by Blue. Keith probably left them when he entered the school we saw in episode six. I suspect that Keith and Physis at one point were linked to each other, which is why his Mother Eliza looks so much like her.
This episode also surprisingly gives a proper introduction of the different babies that have been born on Nazca, now that the Myu have been forced to leave Shangri-la: Twellen, Pestazio, Cobb, Tardyon, Artella, Takio and Tony (surprisingly, only one girl among six boys). Does this mean that the journey will now be continued in the space-shuttles we’ve been seeing throughout the episode? I’m anxious to find out. :)]]>
Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 54
Words can’t describe the awesomeness of this episode. Basically, it concludes the Cult-arc, but it’s so much more than just that. We finally learn why the leader looks so much like Doushu: it’s because he’s small Riou’s brother, and used magic and Doushu’s head to change his appearance. It seems that everything was a plan of revenge by big Riou to do something nasty and magical with Shuurei, though why did he make small Riou intervere with this plan?
It also seemsthat his and Riou’s mother also needs to fit in the picture somehow, as she was the one who told him to get Yougetsu and Shuurei. Still, what do they hope to gain with them? Why does Riou want Shuurei’s spirit (at least, I assume that that spell-circle was meant to separate her spirit from her body). And why did Riou contact Shuuran, out of all possible people? And where the heck does Sakujun fit in with all this?
Still, these events with the cult and all, they were just minor, when compared to the other major event in this episode. Eigetsu finally dies, and it was so sad to see Yougetsu run off with his body. Still, I’m glad to see that he did get the chance to say goodbye to Doushu in the end.]]>
Seirei no Moribito – 16
I’ve wondered about this ever since Chaggumu “died”, but why did it take this long for people to pick up Chaggumu’s body from the canyon? Wouldn’t people need his body, because it’s holy, royal, important and inhabited by the egg of the water-spirit? Why on earth would people leave it there, when this episode showed that covering your mouth is enough to avoid getting suffocated by the fog?
Anyway, this episode finally shoed me what the previous eight episodes had been missing: the four warriors that Barsa battled in episode three. Without them, this anime just isn’t complete, and only they make the best out of the huge amount of detail that went into the scriptwriting. The slice-of-life elements were nice and all, but their only role was to flesh out the different characters and develop Chaggumu. The political elements were interesting, but they’ll never beat those of Saiunkoku Monogatari, and the fight of episode 13 was great, but it never had any relation to the main story, making it feel a bit empty. But these four warriors all change this when they show how carefully they carry out their work. I’m glad to see that Seirei no Moribito is finally moving forward again. 🙂
It’s a shame that WRex has stopped doing his summaries for this series, as I rather relied on him to fill in the blanks I didn’t understand. It’s going to be tricky now to find out the new intentions of the four warriors. They’re still after Chaggumu, but do they want to capture him and take him in alive, or does he need to get killed?]]>
Toward the Terra – 15
Seriously, this episode turned out incredibly exciting. I know I already wowed over the first half of the series, but as things look now, the second half of Toward the Terra is going to beat it in every single way. If the series can keep up the pacing for the final episodes, then when we’re talking about one of the best science-fiction anime of the past few years.
Anyway, things didn’t turn out like I predicted after the previous episode. Toni and Physis get taken hostage by Keith, to help him escape, but both of them manage get away safely from him. Karina, however, is not so fortunate, and she dies through her worries of having lost her only son. Her death certainly was a memorable one, and it puts Toni in an interesting position, because some day, he’ll have to face the fact that he indirectly killed his own mother.
We also see Blue back in action, and for some reason, he sees the same memories in Keith as the ones in Physis. The question now remains: why was Blue the only one who could sense the guy’s real memories? The link between Physis and Mother Eliza still remains a huge mystery. The bubbles seen in the memory probably stand for the strange place Shiroe ran into in episode eight, but that doesn’t explain Physis’s role in it.
Anyway, right now, the Myu are in trouble, and the younger ones are going to have to accept that they’ll have to leave Nazca. After all, Keith sent enough back ups to take care of them. I suspect that they’ll be heading for Terra again, but I wonder how they’ll find out its location. We’re in for at least one more major time-leap, up to the point where Tobi has fully grown up. I suspect that next episode will be spent on escaping from Keith, where Blue probably plays his final trump card, after which the Myu manage to remain hidden for a number of years.
But then again, this is all based on the information in the OP, and we all know how misleading that one can be. ^^;]]>
Seirei no Moribito – 15
Okay, so I was wrong. This episode still spent its time building up. There were a number of events important in this episode: Saggumu’s fate, getting Shuga, who finally has been convinced that Chaggumu is still alive out of the library, and the fact that Chaggumu will certainly die if something isn’t done, because a certain “Rarunga” will be after his life once the egg inside of him has developed past a certain stage. For the latter, Barsa and Chaggumu will be going on a journey to try and find a way to stop this.
Still, I’m getting worried. The episode was nice and all, but it should be about time for Seirei no Moribito to get fired off. The fact that there is a huge amount of detail doesn’t impress me anymore about this show, and I’m really hoping that the plot will turn up a gear in one of the next episodes. Lots of building up can be nice and all, but if the things they’re building up for are unimpressive, then the building-up would have been for naught.
I’m not sure what happened to Saggumu, to be honest. The entire episode seems to suggest that he’s feeling unwell, and that cliff-hanger seemed to suggest that he actually died at the end of the episode! I suspect that he just needed a lot of sleep, but still, I’m surprised that his health is so bad.]]>
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 53
If you have yet to see this episode: STAY AWAY FROM THIS ENTRY. Seriously, this is one episode you don’t want to be spoiled about. This is an extremely important episode in Saiunkoku Monogatari, featuring lots of major plot twists. This sentence is meant to fill some space on the blog-aggregators like animenano and animeblogger to prevent spoilers from showing up there. So, this should be enough.
Sakujun lives!!! We’ve been given enough hints to suggest that this was the case, but now we actually see it confirmed. The question now remains: what the heck is he up to? He definitely made clear that he wanted to meet Shuurei, with his fake name of Li Senya. While this makes his death less beautiful, he could be providing some interesting scenes for the future, especially combined with Riou.
Ryuuren gets to be the one to save Eigetsu. We also learn that he didn’t do that, just because Eigetsu was his bosom buddy, but because he actually felt responsible. After all, on numerous occasions he forced Eigetsu to bring out Yougetsu, without a second thought whatsoever. This is actually a very interesting development for someone like him, who acts as random as possible. Shuurei and Eigetsu have quite succeeded into “taming his personality.
Also, the leader of the cult finally reveals his plans, though unfortunately I didn’t understand any of it. All I picked up was that his mother was involved, and he wants to do something with a strange body. And where the heck did small Riou run off to??]]>
Toward the Terra – 14
Whoa!! Seriously!!!
If anyone claims to be able to predict what happens at the end of this episode, he’s lying. Whoa… that was unexpected!!!
Seriously!!!
And I definitely do not mean this in a bad Code-Geass way, where one small, well-timed Deus ex Machina can kill hundreds of thousands of people. No, this makes perfect sense, but holy god… I never expected Toni to have such a great role in this episode. The new OP suggested that he’ll be playing some kind of big role, but I never thought too much behind it.
Anyway, regarding the new OP and ED, they’re quite good, and I like them better than the old ones. I’m also very curious about the way Keith was depicted. He no longer looks like the maniacal bastard in the first OP, and he looks quite pitiful now. But then again, the previous OP also taught us not to take it too seriously, as it was very, very misleading!
So, Keith is going to escape, and he’s going to take Toni, the one who attacked and freed him, along with him. This means that Karina will really be alone now! Also, what will become of Physis now, and what the heck is her link to Mother Eliza? Why did she feel that Keith’s and her own memories of Terra were the same? And what will Keith now be doing afterwards? The fact that Toni grows up does mean that we’re in for a few more major time-leaps. And what further role will Swena have?
Seriously, I loved this episode, especially the ending. The fact remains that this series can just continue to dish out surprise after surprise, and we’re only at episode fourteen. What will the rest of the series offer us?]]>
Saiunkoku Monogatari – 52
Seriously, I couldn’t help but shed a tear at end of the episode. Now that the main focus of the anime has turned back to Shuran’s home village, and Eigetsu’s fate, it’s promising to be incredibly sad, and if the cliff-hanger was just a sign of things to come, then I can’t wait to see the next couple of episodes. Seriously, that was awesome, and most definitely one of the highlights of the entire series.
Most of the episode spends its time building up. Shuuran and Riou tell the meaning of the kanji that’s used for their names (and Riou isn’t his real name, by the way). If I had to guess, then the home-base of the cult indeed is in that village, and “Riou” somehow ended up involved with them (after all, he did spend his childhood with Shuuran, that is a fact).
We also finally get to know what happened to Kourin: she got captured, mistaken for Shuurei (again ^^; Shuuran also guesses that Kourin looks a lot like Shuurei). She then got locked up, along with about thirty people, suffering from the disease. Ever since, she managed to convince her guards to let her help them. Right now, she manages to escape with the help of Shuuran, and finally gets her teary reunion with Eigetsu! So sad.
Oh, and Ryuuren returns again. Seriously, when I first saw episode five, in which he got introduced, I never thought he’d have any big role, but he did turn into a vital supporting character, who provided lots of support to both his bosom buddies #1 and #2. We also see him more serious than ever when he turns up, it seems that he went to the village as fast as he could (by the way, how did he know where Eigetsu was locked up? Did he ask people at Korinjou?)
Anyway, it’s such a shame that the episodes only air once a week. I want more!!]]>
Seirei no Moribito – 14
This one’s another plot-heavy episode, in which a few new things get explained regarding Chaggumu, by both Torogai-shi (who returns) and Shuga. We also get to see quite an exciting chase (god, that Torogai-shi is quite tough for her age), and Shuga gets locked up. Intentionally or by accident, I don’t know, however.
In any case, the reason why Torogai-shi went on a trip was to speak with a colony of water-spirits. Shuga meanwhile acquires the favour of two of the palace guards, so tat he can finally get a chance again to look at the old library we saw him in a couple of episodes ago, when he was ordered to research Chaggumu by Seidoushi. They both find out the same thing (and please, PLEASE correct me if I’m wrong, because it’s a MAJOR plot twist): Chaggumu’s existence won’t cause the drought.
It seems that two-hundred years, a similar story happened, when another boy got implanted with the egg of the water-spirit. If I understood things correctly, this boy eventually transformed into a water-spirit himself, and had to be slayed by the royal guards. Will the same thing happen to Chaggumu, or can he somehow be saved? Also, if you pay close attention to the episode, you see that Chaggumu is starting to behave like a mother to the egg inside of him. That really was kind of cute. ^^;
This episode also introduced a new party: the fire-nation, as one of their beings starts attacking Torogia-shi. I’m not sure why, it either doesn’t like intruders, or it doesn’t like Torogai’s involvement with the water-spirits.
In any case, I really enjoyed this episode. It was fairly easy to understand it, in terms of Seirei no Moribito, and I feel like I’ll be able to rely on other people’s summaries for the things that I missed, unlike the previous episode, where it took me a week to realize that the “ronin” actually was the leader of the royal hunters that noticed Barsa.]]>
Toward the Terra – 13
Another major episode: the first contact between Jomie and Keith. Seriously, I love the fast pacing of this show, it’s only been a few episodes, and already the plot has taken leaps forward. Physis also played a bit role in this episode, the first time she actually does, and it seems that the Myu will be leaving Nazca quite soon, depending on how Keith will get out of the situation he was in at the end of the episode.
The highlight of the episode was definitely the showdown between Keith and Jomie. Keith decides to go down on Nazca’s atmosphere in order to find him, and Jomie immediately senses that this person may not land. After quite an exciting battle, Keith manages to get captured. Physis, however, who has been watching from the sidelines, feels some strange things coming from this guy. I couldn’t exactly understand what, but he seems to hold the key to the location of Terra. When his mind is being read, though, all that shows up are the images of earth that Mother Eliza has been implanting in him.
The next episode is promising to be really exciting, and I’m glad to see that Physis finally gets a bit of development for herself.]]>