Category: Popolocrois Story 1998

Ah, what an adorable ending. It was a bit cheesy here and there, but overall it reminded me why I originally fell in love with this series. To think that I took two years and four months to fully blog this series. That’s been longer than any other show I’ve blogged, even Saiunkoku Monogatari, Jigoku Shoujo or Higurashi. It’s been a wonderful ride, that’s for sure, and Bee-Train’s debut surely showed a lot of promise in the studio that they were to become.

I decided to not write a review about this series, simply because it’s been too long since I watched the real meat of this series, and my memory is too fuzzy about it. (Plus, I’m rather tired right now, which probably also plays some kind of factor) If I did review it, I bet it would rate high, though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up above 90/100. I do remember how this has been the best RPG-adaptation made, simply because of its wonderfully charming cast of characters, and definitely recommended to any fantasy-fan.

With that said, I’d like to thank Wyrdwad and the other ones who contributed to the fansubbing-process: you ROCK! I also must say that I really enjoyed reading the different episode-notes for each release. They provided interesting insights in the Japanese language and culture. Most times when fansubbers try to insert something personal in their work, it doesn’t really work, and most of the comments end up being in the sense of “yea hot!”, but Wyrdwad’s writing style is really fun to read. When watching a raw series, I now keep chuckling at characters who use “ore-sama” or “Otoko no ROMAAAAN!!!” 😛

Now with that said, I’m really curious to the final episodes of the 2003-series. 🙂

Bakuretsu Kagekidan Gamigami Shinkansen, DOSUKOI!! *ahem*… now that that’s out, I’m really happy that the next instalments of Popolocrois have been released again. Many thanks to Wyrdwad for continuing to sub these wonderful series. The current episode for the 1998-anime was a typical “calm before the storm”-episode, before the finale really begins. Still, despite this, lots of things happened, and I couldn’t help but love the episode. 🙂 The major focus is for Hyuu, to finally sort her thoughts out. For nearly the entire anime, she’s been in doubts, but now that Gamigami has left her and she can’t return to him anymore, she can’t flee from Pietoro anymore. And with a bit of help from Kai and Narcia, she finally realizes that she wants to stay in Popolocrois. The best moment of the episode, though, was when Pietoro saw his parents again. So cute. ^_^ He definitely is one of the more unique children to get featured in anime, and he probably really missed his parents while he was travelling. Gamigami also was as brilliant as always, for the short screen-time that he had. It’s strange to think that this anime is nearly over. I’ve been blogging it ever since I started thIs blog, back in November 2005, and there are only two episodes left. It’s promising to be a huge treat, though. I’m really curious how Hyuu’s problems will be resolved, or whether the Anemoritos will cause another tragedy.]]>

Short Synopsis: After a fansub-hiatus of six months, Popolocrois Story 1998 is finally back!! It’s a definite Hyuu-episode this time, when the wind-kind line up around the castle and she actually almost marries Gamigami! Good: It’s Back! It’s Back! It’s Back! Hyuu, Ston, Sanda and Gamigami were amazing! Bad: Bad points? Popolocrois? Hah! Overall Enjoyment Value: 9/10 I was SO glad that finally, after six months of inactivity this series finally appears again. It may be my joy that it finally returned, or it may be the episode itself, but the fact remained that this one was amazing. Lots of juicy plot twists and awesome characters. 😀 First of all, Hyuu has been an extremely unpredictable character. I kindof forgot this, though, which made her decision to marry Gamigami and become the queen of Popolocrois quite a shock. She really doesn’t want to go back to the wind-kind. For this, she decided to use her last resort, make Gamigami swear he’d protect her. Quite an incredible moment, but things get even better. Most of the episode develops the preparations of the marriage. Ston and Sanda have finally had enough, and they head to Hilda’s house in order to search for something. The latter happens to be away, to investigate the strange stone which appeared in the previous episode. No results yet, though. In any case, Ston and Sanda were quite funny when they tried to guess why Hyuu would want to marry Gamigami anyway. ^^ Then the time of the marriage. Everything goes well, until an entire ARMY of wind-kind appears. Then, when Gamigami is about to protect Hyuu, Ston and Sanda appear, and drench him into a cure of the love-potion! His love for Hyuu is now finally over, and he’s back to worshipping Narcia again! That is so awesome! Because of this, she runs away, and attempts to use Gamigami’s transportation device, in an attempt to run away. However, Gamigami’s inventions are known to be rather busted, so instead, it switches Gamigami’s and Paolo’s castle back to their original places, while leaving Hyuu. The episode ends with Pietoro noticing the same thing, and heading over to the castle. This episode already was amazing. I can’t imagine what the final three episodes would be like. Especially since Gamigami is back to his original self again, while Pietoro now is the only one Hyuu can turn to. And don’t forget that Hilda and Narcia didn’t just spent an entire episode near a giant stone without a good reason. 😉 It’s such a pity this show is so unknown. It’s awesome! :D]]>

Aah, I’ve been waiting for this! I’ve been dying to know how Pietoro’s adventures would continue, and I have to say, this was an awesome episode!

It all starts when Gamigami discovers that the roses he prepared for Hyuu have been eaten by someone. He immediately blames Pietoro, though Sanda seems to be the culprit. This doesn’t stop Gamigami’s grugde against Pietoro from becoming worse, so he puts it all in building his new invention: Gaminator. And yes, it is as scary as it sounds. Probably Gamigami’s strongest invention thus far. It’s powered by the anemoritos.

Still, like every invention of Gamigami, something goes wrong. This time, it’s the target detection system. The robot first has to lock on a target, though this takes a while, and the target mustn’t move during that time. Once the target has been identified, Gaminator will stop for nothing until he annihilates his target. Guess what happens? Because Pietoro can’t keep still, Gamigami forces him to stop moving. Gaminator then scans both of them, making both of them the target.

And if you think that this wasn’t great, the story takes another turn for the better when it starts focusing on the main story. Narcia ran into Hyuu, looking for Gamigami, Ston and Sanda with the message that Pietoro’s in trouble. The wind-kind, meanwhile contacted Ston and Sanda. Hilda, meanwhile, got her hands on the item she set Narcia out to deliver for her. It’s a seed from an ancient tree, it’s able to tell the history of the world. In her first attempt, she goes a bit too far back in time when the seed tells her about how the world was born. Once there was darkness. Into that darkness, the will of light, Duon was born. Duon then created the heavens, the earth and the seas. Nice info, though not really useful.

The second attempt reveals quite some interesting information. Once, the wind-king, the dragon-kind and the human-kind tried to unify their powers by using the anemoritos. Once this happened, a huge catastrophe occurred. At the same time when she discovers this, Hyuu tries to take out Gaminator by using her wind powers. The same Gaminator, carrying the anemoritos, already filled with the power of human and dragon kind. The wind-kind realizes this and tries to stop Hyuu, though he gets hit by the Gaminator and disappears. That was so awesome. Hyuu doesn’t realize this, so she fires at the anemoritos once again. Because of this, its power has become too big, and it explodes.

We also get some nice background information about Gamigami. He’s born with nothing, and because of this, and his eccentric personality, he decided to build his own country. Beloved by everyone. That’s why he hates Pietoro, because he keeps getting in his way. Man’s romance seems to be his way of living. It was a surprising, though appreciated bit of information.

This episode entirely changed my view of the wind-kind. After all, all he’s been doing is trying to get Hyuu back. He does love her, in the end, though he has no idea what’s happened with her on when she was away. He also really tried to protect Hyuu, no matter what.

The tombstone, shown at the end of the episode also was quite interesting. Remember around episode two, when the small print of the wind-kind was shown? It seems that it was part of a larger image. A dragon is flying at the top. Wind-kind are flying below it while humans are working at the ground. I’m not sure about its meaning, yet.

Something happened in the past. The dragon-kind, human-kind and wind-kind tried to unify their powers, using the anemoritos, as a step towards the future. This, however, backfired an a huge force was unleashed. Something happened, in which the wind-kind and dragon-kind were severely damaged. The human-kind possibly as well. In the end, the wind-kind died out for some reason afterwards. The dragon-kind still are alive, though they’re very rare. The human-kind somehow managed to recover a bit. It’s probably because they’re the hardest workers of the three. They’ve got the least amounts of power, so they had to already live their lives working hard. Something the dragon-kind and wind-kind had less problems with.

Overall, this episode was amazing. Not the best, but definitely among the better ones.

I finally managed to catch up with the fansubs. Now all that’s left is hope that they come out soon. Overall, the series was at its best at episodes 8-14. At that time, Gamigami played a huge role, though now he’s a bit too pityful. He doesn’t really work if he’s trying to be serious, although episode seventeen remained awesome. Though that did make me hope for the love-potion to wear off soon.

This episode, Hyuu tries to tempt Pietoro by promising to return his dragon powers, if he promises to stay with her forever. I feel that she tries a bit too much and too long. Though I don’t think that she has any better methods of convincing Pietoro, so we might see some change in this soon. The great element in this episode came from Ston and Sanda.

The two of them are just so incredibly indecisive. They were looking like crazy during the previous episode, but at the beginning of this one, Ston had already given up. Only to realize that the wind-kind will punish him if he doesn’t look after her. Later in the episode, they attempt to actually kidnap Pietoro, because he is the one who makes Hyuu not want to go back.

Overall, Gamigami was funny, though his brilliance lies in his countless inventions. He hasn’t been inventing much lately, unfortunately. Narcia was still extremely cute, though. The entire episode was focused on one decision Pietoro had to make. He chose the most ambitious option, though it’s indeed clear that Hyuu won’t continue as queen much longer. The last five episodes will probably focus on getting rid of the wind-kind.

Memorable moment: Ston and Sanda trying to kidnap Pietoro. And failing.

Another Hyuu/Narcia episode. This time, it’s a bit different from the previous one. In the first one, Narcia wanted to check out Hyuu’s intentions. This time, the two of them just run into each other.

Narcia starts out incredibly naive. She believes that Hilda sent her out only to do a particular errand, while in fact, she should be looking for Pietoro. Hyuu also sees this and she can’t understand Narcia at this point. She begins yelling at her, and she calls her a witch who hides her own feelings deep inside of her. She even goes as far as lying to Narcia that Pietoro has confessed to her. Narcia’s a bit startled with this, though she is the one who wants to be with Hyuu.

Eventually, the two make up. Most of these thanks go to the wind-kind, who continues to try and kidnap Hyuu. The creators did a very good jop of putting tension in these scenes. Especially the climax was great. The two of them also got to experience what happens when you lose all of your powers (wind-kind’s work, again). It was really cute to se them like that.

Anyway, about the other characters. Gamigami still hasn’t found Hyuu, though his determination hasn’t faded yet. Ston, meanwhile, shows signs that he actually cares about Hyuu and it becomes clear that Pietoro likes to talk to himself.

The Wind-kind also will be interesting. He clearly has been sent to retrieve Hyuu, though she doesn’t want to go along with him. He can’t see that. He only wants Hyuu to come back, and he can’t see that she wants to stay. He also gets enraged when he finds out that Hyuu made friends with a human-kind. Hyuu also makes a nice statement. The Wind-kind always live alone. It’s the fate of every creature, even human-kinds, though teh human-kinds are too scared, so they flock together. If you combine this with what Hyuu said at the beginning of the series, in which she claimed that she wanted to search for other wind-kinds, it really becomes clear that she’s just plain lonely.

Overall, this has been a great episode. The tension it created was perfect, although Gamigami needed a bigger role.

Memorable moment: Pietoro getting surprised by the rain. Not nessecarily his reaction, but the way the rain introduced itself.

This episode was totally unique. It takes another break from the usual storyline to develop each of the characters a bit more. Each of the characters encounters a travelling circus, and a juggling clown, balancing on top of a big balloon points each of the characters towards a strange-looking forest. The thing they’re looking for is supposed to be there. Well, it isn’t. Instead, they get confronted by their unconcious thoughts and worries, and some of them get healed.

Each of the characters get transported to their own setting. In Hyuu’s case is this a flashback from when she was still with the other wind-kind. Her case was the simplest of the five which were shown. But it also gave some info regarding the nature of the wind-kind, and what Hyuu was like when she was young. It seems that she continued to struggle forward on her own powers, instead of letting her be guided by others. A past case illustrates this: Hyuu wanted to prove herself, so she attempted to fly from a very high point, only to end up being blown away by the strong wind which rages on at the high places. She was trying to force herself through the air, instead of letting the wind carry her. We also see a couple of shots of her father, probably the one who appeared at the previous episode. The wind-kind appeared to be travellers. They were always in search of something, but they never knew what it was.

Shirokishi also surprisingly took part in this play. He got a little test, to see if he really was determined to obtain the King Knight Sword. In the end, he really proved he was, after getting motivation from a single growing flower. It really seems like this guy has a goal, and he won’t stop living till he obtained that goal. He also didn’t get angry when he found out that a fake sword had been used in order to test him, he was rather content that he managed to succeed in the test. This really gets interesting when you compare it to the wind-kind. Both the wind-kind and Shirokishi are travellers, and both are searching for something. In fact, the only difference between them is that Shirokishi knows what he’s looking for. The Wind-kind don’t. Does that automatically make the Wind-kind’s search fruitless? Does the reason they died out in the current world have something to do with it?

Gamigami Maou gets some heavy smacks in the face when he gets confronted with the fact that he’s leading a country without any people. He gets transported to a setting which plays in about thirty years into the future. He’s still king, though he still hasn’t got any citizens who support him. And then he openly yells that he doesn’t want to be leading a country without any citizens to worship him. He finally realizes that he’s been doing the wrong things. I’d love to see his attempts into getting the people obey him. ^_^

The shy Narcia gets confronted by the outspoken Kai. As we’ve seen, Narcia has huge troubles telling her feelings to others. Especially when these involve important decisions. This way, she mostly ends up at the shorter end of the rope, she always ends up in a miserable state afterwards. She knows that she has this problem, but she’s too scared to do something about it. But now, she really has to say something, otherwise Kai will leave her, forever. Kai’s had enough of Narcia, and decides to go her own way. In the end, Narcia managed to throw away her fears, and she’s able to beg Kai to stay. I think she’s gotten a little stronger out of this. ^_^

Pietoro’s case is rather unique among these five. He doesn’t really learn anything himself, but he does manage to teach his seventy-year-old self a couple of things about not giving up. It seems that the seventy year-old Pietoro has traveled for his entire life, without finding anything. Eventually, he gave up, and came to live inside a castle made out of candy. The young Pietoro, however, has yet to have these feelings. Still, it this really is how Pietoro will end up to be, with a broken anemoritos, things can become quite interesting in the last part of the anime. 🙂

I’m still having trouble finding out what really happened and what didn’t. After all, Hyuu had been taken away by the Wind-kind. If she was, then why would she end up at that circus? The clown also appeared to be a straw doll in the end. Were these just visions? Were they real? Do each of the characters remember what happened?

Overall, this episode achieved a very rare effect. While I watched the episode, it seemed like a decent episode. It had some nice character development, but it was nothing special. But now that I look back at it, I’m really beginning to see its brilliance. In fact, the more I look back at it, the more brilliant it becomes. Everything seems to fit. Everything seems so perfect now. There’s a good chance that I’ll be remembering this episode as one of the best of the series. This really was an episode which makes you think. And I’m loving it more and more!

Not a lot of major thing happen during this episode. Still the major things that do happen will have a huge influence on the rest of the anime. This episode introduced us to the third, and probably final part of this show. The first was in which Hyuu appeared and got to know Pietoro. In the second part Gamigami was infected with the love-potion and Hyuu joined up with him in an attempt to discover about the Wind-kind. The third part will probably feature Pietoro getting Hyuu back from the Wind-kind, who took her away at the ending of the episode.

Preceeding this event, Pietoro and Hyyuu finally have some time alone, which they use to have fun with each other at a beach. The two of them looked like they really enjoyed themselves while playing with each other. They also acted more and more like a couple in this way (I loved it when Hyuu adressed Pietoro with “Anata” ^^). Then at the evening, the problems began. Hyuu has been struggling with her feelings for a long time now. When she finally met up with Pietoro again, it was like a dream come true. She was finally happy again, though she lost her ability of rational thinking this way. Add this to the fact that Pietoro’s rather thick-headed, and the two come into a bit of a fight. Hyuu just can’t accept that Pietoro doesn’t plan to continue to stay on the beach forever, and Pietoro doesn’t bother to think about what’s going on in Hyuu’s mind. Though before this conflict can be resolved, the other wind-kind blows away everything when he takes Hyuu along. (Interesting note: wasn’t Pietoro the one who gave Hyuu her name? How come the wind-kind addressed her in that way?).

I’m curious about what’ll happen in the next episodes. After all, Hyuu wanted to return home from the beginning. The only thing trying to stop her was a certain cheerful little prince. Now that the Wind-kind have finally found her, she can return home again. This is, of course a painful decision. In the end, her desire to come back home won. At least, there could also have been some other factor playing. A factor which would probably make things worse if Hyuu didn’t go along with the wind-kind.

Narcia, meanwhile, spends the episode excercising her magical skills. Hilda gives her a couple of tips on condentration, and she also encourages her to go after Pietoro. Gamigami keeps looking for Hyuu, though the both of them are kept away from the major events of this episode. It was really meant to focus on Pietoro and Narcia, and nobody else. Overall, when I have to give a one-word summary on this episode, I’d say: “cute”. That’s the best way to describe how Pietoro and Hyuu looked, together with each other. Especially at the beginning of the episode.

(On a side-note: I loved Ston and Sanda once more. They’re just so horribly indecisive. ^^).

This episode was another brilliant one. It’s major focus was around Gamigami Maou-sama. For one episode, he loses the effects of the love potion. The result was absolutely hilarious.

We start with Gamigami, Ston and Sanda in their eccentric zeppelin. Apparently, Hyuu has run off again, and they’re still searching for her. Gamigami’s getting all giddly over a badly-drawn picture, while Ston and Sanda are making some sarcatical comments. The flight comes to an abrupt halt when they fly above a field full pollen-producing plants, which make the zeppelin crash.

Pietoro meanwhile sets off to tht same area, leaving Narcia behind. Narcia then blames herself for not being able to ask to join him. She scolds herself for not having the courage to do the things she wants to do. Hyuu, meanwhile enjoys being alone, and flying free in the air. Until Pietoro’s memories hit her.

Meanwhile, Ston and Sanda suddenly realize that Gamigami’s love potion has worn off, as he suddenly seems to have no interest in Hyuu at all. He’s meanwhile planning his ideas for world conquest. ^^ When Ston and Sanda start to get annoying, Gamigami kicks them far away. He still hasn’t lost his “Man’s Romance”, though. ^^

He then managed to turn the zeppelin into a weird crossing between a car and a zeppelin, though it can’t fly yet. Meanwhile, his love for Narcia has fully returned. What follows is Gamigami getting his own theme-song (guess the title ^^), in which he goes berserk in a nearby village, destroying all kinds of homes in order to collect enough material to fix his vehicle. After this plan has been carried out succesfully, he keeps raving about how good and awesome he is. He’s even great enough to have the sun kneeling for him. I laughed so hard when it actually did. ^_^

Gamigami spends the rest of the evening fixing his vehicle. Meanwhile, he’s still sneezing. Then he runs into Hyuu. The combination of the pain in her heart with the pollen has made her very sick. And this is where Gamigami really gets awesome. He’s lost his love for Hyuu, so he just leaves her for dying. Hyuu also finds out that the love potion has worn off. Gamigami also mentions the difference between her and Narcia: Narcia is selfless, while Hyuu is selfish. Hyuu then finally realizes her problem. Gamigami really gets his doubts when he leaves her. You can tell that he’s getting embarrased. Especially when he has to explain Hyuu the meaning of “Love”. ^_^;

Gamigami really begins to get annoyed when Hyuu attempts to dring the dew of a poisonous plant. He spends a couple of more hours fixing his vehicle, and once it is finished, Hyuu’s health gets worse and worse. All that’s left is to put one of the jewels he stole in his rampage inside the generator, in order to deliver enough power to fly. Though, he can’t get Hyuu out of his head. He finally ends up bringing her to a nearby house, and trading this very jewel for the antidote of the poison. He uses the excuse that he forgot his wallet. He was so cute at that time. ^_^

Ston and Sanda, meanwhile, have a great idea: stop looking after Gamigami Maou. The love potion has worn off, so he’ll treat them like trash, instead of listening to him. They then realize that the two of them are free at last. I wonder how the two of them will end up.

Gamigami, meanwhile, runs into a strange situation when Pietoro runs into him and Hyuu. Gamigami now has to make Pietoro believe that he was the one who hurt Hyuu, as it wouldn’t be good for his reputation when it came out that he actually did something nice. What follows is a huge wave of pollen blown his way by an enthisiastic Ston, which causes the love potion to get active again.

Overall, this episode was great. It’s the standard “bad guy sees good guy in trouble and helps”, though Gamigami manages to turn this into something awesome.