Category: The Third

The Third continues its amazingness once more. After the eventfullness of the previous episode, this episode features the aftermaths, mostly focusing about they way Milly reacts to her father’s death and Honoka’s reaction to this, though we also get a bit of info about Honoka’s past, and The Third also get a bit of development. Ikus served as a third party: not directly involved with the storyline, though he starts playing his own part in it. Still, Honoka and Millie were really shining in this episode. I totally loved it.

I’m also surprised that I’m one of the few people who actually likes the narrator. Yes, okay, he may be stating the obvious. Still, I really feel that I have trouble at times to really understand how she feels. Others may be having no problems with this, alas. Another thing is that he can really strengthen a scene at times. For example, when Millie regains her conciousness again. Of course it’s clear that Honoka forgot to put her headband back on. I really think that that scene would have been annoying if the narrator wasn’t there, but somehow, he managed to help and turn that scene into a an awesome one.

The scene starts with Honoka and Ikus seeing the dead body of Zanka (that appeared to be Oyaji’s name), after which we switch towards an important woman of The Third, who seems to recognize Honoka’s eye as “The Blue Space Eye”. The next morning, Millie still hasn’t regained conciousness. Bogie wants to move away, but Honoka believes that Millie deserves to see her father one more time. Honoka and Ikus then search Zanka’s desert tank in order to pick up all of the valuable items that were left in it. It also became clear that Millie’s mother was killed by the Surveillance Force (you know, the ones who kidnapped that guy at the beginning of the fourth episode because he used too much technology).

Then, while the two of them are digging a grave for Zanka, Honoka tells a few things about her own past. She still hasn’t bothered to put her headband back on, by the way. She was indeed born as a The Third, though the color of her eye differs from the red color that The Third have. This means that she was classified as a defective item, and sent towards the earth. The capital of The Third appears to be named Hyperius. Honoka was sent there, and immediately she was sent back again because of her eye. When she was born in the human world, the villagers among her hoped that a being from The Third could actually help to easen up their lives, though this was false hope. Her parents then put her in the care of her “grandfather” (I’m just calling him grandfather for now as Honoka seems to do this as well. He’s not her real grandfather), who was boarding a caravan. In this way, Honoka grew up in this travelling caravan, travelling to all kinds of different places with him.

It also appears that every one of her old friends from the caravan seemed to know about her secret. Only Millie didn’t. Then Bogie contacts Honka with the message that Millie regained conciousness. She really is gloomy at this period. She doesn’t want to talk or socialize, and Honoka really doesn’t know what to do in order to help her.

The Blue Breaker is meanwhile put under a surveillance, about the reason why he abandoned his mission. It seems that one of the officials from The Third (something tells me that this is the same guy from the second episode) ordered him to retreat. The woman, who also sounds important, is not too happy with this. Still, if she’s so important and makes decisions on planetary base, then why are Millie, Honoka and Ikus such a threat to her, to make her view these individual cases like that?

Honoka, by the way, also decided to blow up Zanka’s sand tank. She probably had the same reasons as Roux when he burned the books in Astraea Testament. Millie continues to be gloomy. Honoka plans to bring her to one of her aunts, so that she can take care of her. An interesting development. We all know, of course, that the two are going to remain together, but how will they manage to do this in the end without making it look unrealistic? Honoka’s eye meanwhile manages to discover a rare sight in the desert: a field of flowers. She goes to pick one of them, in an attempt to cheer up Millie. She also reveals to Ikus that she indeed has some kind of power, as she displayed in the third and fourth episode. She gives him a little demonstration.

Back at The Third, meanwhile, the woman from The Third that we saw earlier this episode holds a small talk with Jouganki (the guy who paid Honoka a visit in the second episode), in order to prevent him from intervening again. It seems that he indeed is not after Honoka after all, but after her powers. The woman manages to convince him that there’s no reason in order to let Blue Breaker back away, and he begins to get a bit worried.

Millie, meanwhile woke up, and she broke down. She couldn’t find Honoka in the sand tank, so the act of holding herself strong fades away. What follows is a brilliant scene, of the two making up together. But then, the Blue Breaker arrives again. Somehow, Ikus feels his prescense as well. The episode ends. I really loved this one. Zanka’s death really had a huge impact on our cast. Something you can’t say every anime can just accomplish.

Yes, The Third is great. Most likely one of the best series of the season. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Honoka is an amazing character. The anime really delves in her mind. It shows exactly what kind of person she is, all of her different sides, how she reacts at the things thrown at her and how these affect her. I have yet to see an anime who featured a character at whom the creators spent so much time and details. It’s just brilliant.

The episode begins with another example of the strictness of The Third. If you live a good life, you’re fine. Though when you break the law, they sometimes send their ultimate weapon to take care of them, which mostly means that you won’t be able to live much longer. It’s never mentioned, but I’m quite certain that this “ultimate weapon” is the Blue Breaker, who was mentioned at the previous episode.

Honoka’s right hand, meanwhile, still hasn’t fully healed. She really notices this when she practices swordfighting a bit. She and Ikus are in the desert again, heading for Oyaji in order to collect the PSP she ordered. We also see a little flasback of the one who taught her her fighting-skills. At least, the silhouette of the one who taught her her fighting skills. It appears to be a tall, long-haired person. It would’t surprise me if this guy is with The Third now. Then Ikus arrives, and the two of them talk a bit about each other’s special powers. Ikus holds a little speech, about things Honoka never really thought about. She begins to feel a bit lonely at that time (thanks to the narrator, again).

The next day, they arrive at Oyaji, and we get to meet another one of Honoka’s personalities: her immensely enthusiastic one. At the sight of her PSP, which seems to be an armoured suit, she immediately gets all giddly, wanting to check it out. However, she’s not exactly happy with the suit she has to wear in order to be able to use this PSP, though it appears that she needs to wear it anyway. She spends the rest of the day trying out all of the different functions, and playing a bit with Millie.

That evening, Bogie and Oyaji talk a bit about Joey, and his maintenance-work. It seems that he needs a lot of work, though he has potential. Millie and Honoka also talk a bit, and Honoka reveals that Oyaji’s the one responsible for fixing her Sand Tank, after she bought it, and she really owes him for all the work he’s done for her.

I like Bogie. Even though he’s just artificial intelligence with a voice, I just love his sarcastical comments. This personality seems to fit him perfectly. It’s so much better than just the same recorded tape which gets played over and over again. Anyway, during the night, the two parties break up again. After a couple of minutes have passed, Honoka suddenly realizes that the Blue Breaker’s heading towards Oyaji’s vehicle, in invisible-mode. She speeds up in order to be able to save them, but she arrives too late, and Oyaji’s vehicle catches fire. She then attempts to use the PSP, and thank goodness, she can’t operate it to its full extend yet. That only adds up to the awesomeness of these scenes. Eventually, she manages to hit the Blue Breaker, and manages to send it crashing to some place about a mile away.

It then seems that Millie managed to survive the attack, though Oyaji’s nowhere to be found. And to think that the best of the episode had yet to be shown. Honoka dashes out of her PSP, in order to meet up with Millie, who seems to bewildered to notice what actually happened. Then, it seems that Blue Breaker managed to survive the crash, and attempts to attack them again. Still invisible. During these attempts, Honoka’s headband falls off, and reveals some kind of third eye on her forehead. With this, she disables Blue Breaker’s invisibility mode, who flees afterwards, only laughing at her. On a side-note: Honoka looked really beautiful at these moments. This really was an amazing fight.

The goodness only continues when Millie sees the thing on Honoka’s forehead. For some reason, she gets incredibly paranoid, and faints. Ikus manages to catch up to them, and the episode ends. I’m really curious about what will happen in the rest of the series. It’s getting so amazing now.

When you ask people about the women who can really think for themselves, featured in anime which came out this season, you most often hear Firiel and Shiurei. Honoka, however, is mostly left out of this, while she has all the right in the world to belong in this category. She’s another one of these female main characters that really is unique in her own way, can think on her own way, and has her problems her own way. Shiurei has an amazingly strong personality and great morals. Firiel has her incredible curiosity and self-confidence. Honoka has an extremely cheerful personality and some very sharp observation skills. I don’t think I’ll be able to determine the best among the three of them.

It does seem, however, that this anime will manage do delve better in the mind of Honoka. The narrator was a very good idea, as he is able to inform the viewer about the unspoken and unwritten events that happened.

The episode immediately starts with the footsoldiers of The Third forcefully separating a man from his wife and kid. Lots of drama, though surprisingly nowhere it gets over the top, turning this into a good scene. We then switch to Joey, suspiciously watching Honoka and Ikus talking while he actually should be performing maintenance on Bogie. Honoka says goodbye to Ikus in a bit of a slow discussion. She feels a bit sad when he leaves.

We then get a bit of info about the town which Honoka frequents. It’s called Emporium Town, it’s a rather large-scale settlement in the Rokugou Desert. It’s also good that the cities actually have an explanation for their source of foods, in contrast to a certain Trigun. It appears that The Third loans bio-plants to these settlements, while they can build up their own, self-sustained system. This makes me wonder about The Third. They provide food for settlements, but they also just kidnap people and take them to somewhere remote. Are they good, or are they evil? Anyway, Emperium’s a bit different from other settlements, because of the huge number of mechanics (or Technos) and great mechanical skills posessed by these people. Thanks to the narrator for informing me on this.

Honoka’s meanwhile on her way to a doctor, just in case her wound appears to be something dangerous. On her way, she meets up with a lot of mechanical shops, and she really needs Bogie to remind herself that she can’t spend any more. She also runs into some guy named Kevin. The two of them apparently know each other. He pokes a bit of fun at her, but then he tells her that a certain “Blue Breaker” has started moving.

I also noticed that a fair number of people keep reminding Haruka that she doesn’t look too feminine in her outfit. Still, I have to say that I like it. It’s so much better than the generic maid-costumes. Anyway, Honoka arrives at the doctor’s office, but then it appears that the guy’s a huge pervert. I was fearing the worst, but Honoka’s reaction to this was actually pretty funny, rather than annoying like in most anime. The doctor also mentioned the “Man’s Romance”, which totally reminded me of PopoloCrois.

The doctor examines her arm a bit, and gets a big smirk on his face when he realizes that Hokona might have someone she loves. They also talk a bit about how she fought with the 4th model, and how he adviced her not to get involved with Jouganki anymore. He also mentions that the foot-soldiers from The Third are more active than usual, and that they seem to be looking for someone. Ikus directly comes to Honoka’s mind.

After she left the hospital, Honoka contacts Bogie for a bit, explaining that she’ll be working for a bit while he warns her about the Blue Breakers again. Whoever they might be. Honoka spends the rest of the afternoon taking on small jobs in order to earn enough money for the things she bought last time. Joel, meanwhile, still wonders who Ikus might’ve been. Honoka also hears about the event which happened at the beginning of the episode. It then appears that the guy got kidnapped because he was using too many technologies, as The Third only allows a limited technology. Lawbreakers will be regulated strictly. This is called the Technos Taboo (thanks to the narrator for this information again).

That evening, she suddenly sees Ikus, acting like nothing’s going on, while he’s the one being searched for. She takes him to a bar, which Kevin also seems to be frequenting, and tries to talk some sense into him. Ikus, however, has no idea what she means, so she gets a bit startled by this. Honoka also explains that Kevin works as a mercenary soldier. Ikus then admits that he’s had fun while staying with her, startling Honoka once again. We then get a very small taste of the plotline in future episodes in the scenes which follow.

To begin with, Ikus mentions that Honoka’s more special than any life since he’s been there. The fact that he uses “life”, instead of “humans”, or “people” must mean that there are other sentient beings wandering on the planet besides humans. Then, the series really gets entertaining when the foot-soldiers enter the bar, and approach Ikus. They demand him to come with them and go to the place named Hyperius. He refuses, and Honoka tries to do something. She forms some kind of strange energy in her hand, though before she gets to use it, Kevin smacks the foot-soldiers standing in front of her, pretending to be drunk. What follows is the other people in the bar suddenly getting the motivation to smash some foot-soldiers as well, giving Honoka and Ikus the chance to escape. Still, these scenes to suggest that there’s something special to humans in this world. Honoka is special in some kind of way. It’ll be interesting to find out which kind.

Joel really gets annoyed when he finds out that Ikus asks Honoka to allow him to travel with her. He offers a large sum of cash for this. Honoka accepts after a bit of thinking, but deep in her heart, she’s happy that he comes along with her (thanks to the narrator for this info, once more. He really needs to have some kind of name if this continues). He has his own reasons for joining her, though he doesn’t want to tell her yet.

Honoka definately is one of the most dimensional characters ever. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character with so many different sides as she has, no character acts as natural as she does. In most anime, I’m able to tell how a character feels. Character A feels happy at this moment, character B is embarrased, while character C is thinking. In The Third, I need the narrator in half of the cases, as I just can’t describe how Honoka feels with just one or two simple words. The best examples of this is probably when she meets Kevin for the first time, and when she says goodbye to Ikus.

Honoka heads to the person she was supposed to meet in the first place. It’s a guy and his daugher, and apparently, the three share a very tight bond. The entire episode was again mostly meant as an introduction. We get to see some more sides of Honoka, including a ticked-off side and a motherly side. We also learn that she’s already seventeen years old, which does explain her behavior and reasons a bit more.

We also meet up with an important-looking guy, apparently a member of the third, who makes decisions on planetary level. How he is aquainted with Honoka remains a mystery, though. My guess is that he’ll be some major bad guy in the future.

So far, the only thing The Third has been doing is building up. I suspect that this will continue for a couple of more episodes. Still I’m curious about the final results of this.