Very interesting, Ark really is gone now. I didn’t realize that after the previous episode, but with Okuhara’s death, they really are gone now. Right now, Night Head Genesis is working towards its finale with its final case. And surprisingly, it even introduces a bunch of characters with just two episodes to go! Was this a good idea, or would it have been better for this series to consist of 26 episodes?
If you look at it from one side, the fact that the creators are trying to cram the final arc in two episodes is a bad sign. They’ve skipped eighteen months, and now introduce the second of the two people (with Okuhara being the other) who predicted the “upheaval” beforehand. She predicted the place where everything would start, and the creators introduced the major characters involved with it locally. This does mean that in terms of development, these characters are far behind all of the others in terms of development and fleshing out. There also are quite a lot of questions left unanswered, and I hope that the creators will manage to cover all of them.
On the other side, if it’s done right, a fast-paced ending really works. If the creators manage to actually know what they’re doing, the ending can become very interesting. I think they have to waste as little time as possible, and introduce Shoko as soon as possible, seeing as it’s almost impossible for her not to be involved in saving the world.
Still, it’s interesting to see how Naoto and Naoya have changed. With 1,5 years passing, they’ve both become a bit more relaxed and concentrated, not to mention that their hair grew a bit. ^_^ It seems that they just lived their lives peacefully during that time. Even though I would have liked some scenes during that time, if it actually does turn out that the creators ran out of time for the final, these scenes would have been the best to be scrapped. There needed to be some time dedicated to the newly introduced characters. After all, even though they’ve been introduced so late in the series, it would have been worse if just some place was pinpointed on the map of Japan, Naoto and Naoya would head there and they’d solve the world’s destruction. After all, there wouldn’t have been anything for the viewer to relate to. And besides, the newly introduced characters might provide a twist or two.
I highly doubt that the final episode is going to equal the awesomeness of the previous episode, unless something really amazing happens. Still, I’m interested to see how this will end, as it’s not your standard ending. I especially like the lack of Ark. You would expect them to last till the final episode, though the final episodes are saved to show how the upcoming upheaval affects the lives of a small amount of individuals.]]>
Category: Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense
Night Head Genesis – 22
Okay, so what if Naoto awakened again without a good reason? This episode was damn awesome! This is one of the reasons I love shows with lots of mystery. There are just so many things you don’t know, and if they’re revealed in a good way, the results can become awesome. When a show combines good mystery with good character development like Night Head Genesis does, the results become even more awesome!
One of the reasons this episode was so good was because it deeply delved into the minds of its characters. Both Naoto, Naoya, Mikumo and Sakie. Naoto truly had become pitiful in the past few episodes. His power just was one source of destruction, and he was more and more running after Naoya than the opposite. This continued, until Mikumo made him crazy and he died. Then, for a while it seemed that Naoya would indeed take care of Mikumo, and we indeed see him actually go crazy when Naoya doesn’t do what he thinks he’ll do, and he goes berserk. But even then, he executes his plan and takes Sakie away, who just saw her sister with a knife through her stomach, causing the entire neighbourhood in a radius of 25km to delve into chaos.
But then, Naoto actually wakes up and takes care of the guy like it’s nothing. It may have been a one-sided battle, though these kinds of battles can also be great if they’re timed well, just like this one. Okuhara played a role in this as well, when she suddenly realized that Naoto indeed has become a wild element and goes crazy.
Also, the driver with an actual personality was greatly appreciated. You hardly see any goons who don’t look like each other. Most just are bunch of clones with different haircuts, while all they do is follow orders. They’re perfect employees, though not really interesting and realistic. Though making this guy actually comment on the things that have happened, the creators put him aside from all of these other goons.
So, in the end, Mikumo is killed. And before he dies, he has his moment of weakness where he tells about his past. A bit directed, but greatly appreciated. I love it when we see the histories of the different good and bad guys. It gives them so much more perspective.
Then, the final part of the episode features Okuhara, contacting Naoto and Naoya, who are about to wake Sakie. She finally reveals why she did the things she did, and if I had to say so myself, it’s a better reason than you usually see. At least she wants to improve the world, instead of your usual power-hungry guy on crack. Then we se the scene in which a person raises his/her finger into the air again, and some rather unexplained events begin. Okuhara mentions a Great Consciousness, and Naoto and Naoya also have stopped being wild elements in her prophecies. We then switch back to reality, and see a scene which does suggest that Okuhara has died. If I had to guess what happened, then she finally saw a true prophecy about the two brothers, which possibly has to do something with the sparkling ball up in the air. This prophecy had made such an impact to her, that she didn’t mind taking it to the grave. So what exactly did she see?
Also, there’s one more thing I’ve been wondering.
What the heck happened to Shoko?!
Death Note – 12
When I first saw Misa, I doubted whether she could be a large challenge to Light, though after watching this episode, I have to say that it’ll definitely be interesting to see how Light will deal with such a huge idiot. She actually mentioned the existence of the eyes and shinigami on a tape which got sent to the police. L also reacted quite strangely when he heard about the shinigami, this does suggest that there’s some kind of connection between him and the death gods, which suggests that there will be a point in which his childhood will be shown. 🙂
I also keep wondering the meanings of Ryuk’s maniacal laughter. Like shown before, he laughed when Naomi gave a false name. Was there also a reason why he laughed when L asked Kira to play Kira, or did he just laugh because of the irony? He’s smarter than he looks, after all, he did trick the king of the shinigami-world to give him a second Death Note. In any case, it’s good for light that he was at the scene when L watched the tape, otherwise, L would have pulled his own conclusions. This episode showed that L does listen to Light’s words.
Red Garden – 11 – Nice :)
If you’ve been wondering where the heck I’ve been for the past few days… well, it’s like this. We’ve recently moved from one house to another, and upon arrival, I found out that our wireless didn’t work. My parents have bought a house in the centre of Amsterdam, and anyone who’s been there knows the typical 5/6-story houses that cover it. Nice houses, though the huge amount of floors isn’t good for setting up a wireless. Even as we speak, my connection’s still buggy as hell.
Anyway, back to the episode, and boy, that really was a great one. Probably one of the best of Red Garden yet. This is where the building up of the previous episodes really comes together, and how it does! Both Kate, Claire, Rose, Rachel, Herve, Paula, Luke, Kate’s Sister and her newly found boyfriend, Emilio receive a healthy dose of character development and attention this time. Some of these cases were just awesome to see. 🙂
Rose’s case was the least significant. Basically, she and her friend spend the episode scouting for different addresses and finding false leads. Though something’s telling me that she’ll find something interesting in the next number of episodes. Still, these travels are definitely making her a bit stronger than she already is. 🙂
Claire, meanwhile, finally gives in to her pride and heads back to the hamburger store she originally worked in. A really touching conversation follows, where the owner convinces Claire to come back working at his place. That really was one of the best parts of this episode.
Rachel, meanwhile, has a bit of troubles with her relationship with Luke, and this episode really delved into this. Deeply. For a while, it seems that the two made up with each other, though the annoying little butterflies put an end to that. In the end, Luke ends up doing what he accused Rachel of: making out with another girl. One of Rachel’s friends.
Paula also showed a very interesting side of herself. I kept wondering about her reason to support Kate so much, though this episode actually showed that she thinks very highly of Kate. Perhaps she’s even in love with her. This can be very interesting, especially since she can’t just ignore the rest of Grace forever.
Still, Kate actually was thinking of resigning from Grace herself, and probably with good reason. I originally thought that she was going to have struggles in the future, trying to keep up with the other Grace-members. Now it seems that Paula will keep dragging her, and pressuring her further, or something similar.
Also, why are the Animus Hervé’s enemies? After all, he created them himself, in a way. Why are they so dangerous? Does it have something to do with the strange power they’ve been given? (Remember Rachel leaping over the fence in episode 2?) Could that be the reason they he those zombified guys after them? In any case, he finally found a connection between him and one of the Animus (Kate): her sister’s boyfriend, Emilio. It seems that he’s also one of Hervé’s kind.
Night Head Genesis – 21 – Whoa!
Now THAT’s more like it! I can’t believe how far the creators would go, as to kill of one of their main characters at this stage. The question now remains: is he really dead, or has he joined Shoko? The episode ended just a bit too soon to be able to confirm this. Speaking of the devil, what’s Shoko been doing for the past few episodes?
Still, this does mean that Naoya’s on his own from now on. This can become really interesting. Surely, Naoya has been growing, while Naoto hasn’t, though Naoto has proved to be handy at times. Still, now that I think about it, that was only in the first couple of episodes. Oh, wait. He did kill the three backgroundless goons. That was useful.
Night Head Genesis – 20 – “I want the Red Balloon!”
Hmm, not as good as the previous episodes. It’s probably due to the lack of mystery in this episode, everything was rather straightforward while nothing really was resolved. Still, the new powers who were introduced were interesting. I can understand why Ark needs Sakie, seeing as when you put her under mind-control, some terrifying things can happen.
Mikumo is another one of those guys with mind-control, though his powers are a tad different from Sonezaki’s. While Sonezaki could just take over the minds of random people and make them do whatever he wanted them to do, Mikumo works mostly with visions and illusions. Still, the crazied parents of the dead schoolgirls suggest that he can also make weak people do whatever he wants them to do.
This episode was mostly focused on Naoto. He’s beginning to see more and more how useless he can be, and with Mikumo’s arrival, he’ll never know who he’s blasting, seeing as he almost killed an innocent bystander, mistaking him for Mikumo. It’s the same with the cliff-hanger. We can see that Mikumo his holding a knife to his throat, but what if he just made an innocent bystander do this? But then again, knowing this show, this time, it’s probably him in person. 🙂
Red Garden – 10 – Become strong if you don’t want to die
So far, Red Garden hasn’t been one of the best shows to air during the fall season. Still, I’m really looking forward to its second half, as something’s telling me that this series has yet to display its trump cards. Seeing Lula get an actual personality also increased my opinion of this show for the better. I really liked how this episode ended as well.
I’m also wondering whether Lise’s memories have really disappeared. After all, she did want to meet Hervé. Even though the guy killed her, she does long back to her boyfriend. And who were the people the police were investigating, by the way? We’ve yet to see them, have we?
Lula indeed has a point. What if they’ll end up fighting on their own, or against multiple enemies? And Emilio, who might he be. He’s supposed to be Kate’s sister’s new boyfriend, but does he have any connections to the main story? Claire meanwhile starts relieving her anger to Ewan, while Rose starts toying with the idea of tracking down her father. It’s interesting, it seems that at one point, he just randomly disappeared. I’m wondering, though. How does she make enough money? Does her family get money from the government?
Red Garden – 09 – The More You Know, The More Dangerous It Gets
The major events of this episode followed Claire as she was trying to solve her money-problems, Lula who showed a different side of her to Kate and Lise, actually coming back to life in her new body. Especially the latter two were very nice to see. You’d wonder whether Lula really was telling the truth when she said that she didn’t involve herself emotionally with her work, though the way she talked to Kate really made me doubt this.
It seems that Herve’s father needed Lisa’s body in a desperate attempt to ensure the survival of his kind. That’s why she was kidnapped in the first episode. Still, I don’t get certain parts of this explanation. For some reason, every woman in that family will suffer from the curse which turns them into these monsters. But does that also count for people who have been married to the family? I would assume so. And weren’t there more groups of girls like Rachel, Kate and the others? Why did they need Lise, out of all people?
Still, I’m wondering what’ll happen to Lise in the future. Has she been properly restored to life, or did something go wrong? Claire, meanwhile, seems to have gotten a bit of character development this episode, in which she desperately needed money in order to remain in her apartment. In the end, she asks her brother, whom she hates. I’m also wondering what’ll happen to him in the future. He seemed quite confident, but if his business fails, he might be the one coming to Claire, begging for money.
Meanwhile, we learn that JC doesn’t eat very much, Rachel meets up with one of her teachers and the two have some coffee, and that Rose’s mother is hospitalized, which would explain why she has to take care of her siblings so much. What happened to her father?
Death Note – 11 – “It’s Not Like Kira”
And with this, Kira finally is about to face an opponent with another Death Note. Still, I think I’m liking his human opponents more. It’ll be interesting to see how normal humans face against someone equipped with the Death Note. And furthermore, this doesn’t seem like a challenging antagonist as well. Okay, she has the Death Note, she has made the eye-deal, though she’s also incredibly naive, from the things that we saw of her. I’d have loved to see a bit more mystery behind her, though the end of the episode basically blew all secrets about her, after all the time the first part of the episode spent introducing her. Also, if you just look at the OP, you’ll see a rather spoilery scene about what will probably happen between the two Kira’s in the following episodes.
Light had a surprisingly small role in this episode, though I really liked him. He does remain an interesting character, and this episode only proved this even more. He’ll also be put in a rather interesting situation, basically hunting himself and his impersonator. The next couple of episodes can really turn out either incredibly good or incredibly bad. It all depends on whether Misa can still be interesting and provide a few twists.
Also, I’m wondering whether the lyrics in the OP show any meaning. I especially mean the last part, where Light says that he hopes to show a certain “you” a perfect world. Could Light be doing all this for a certain person? Up till now, we don’t really know anything of Light’s friends, or the people he hangs out with, let alone his history. Like I said before, I’d love to see some of Light’s and L’s histories. ^^
Night Head Genesis – 19 – A Pool Full of Drowned Schoolgirls. Nice, isn’t it?
Night Head Genesis is getting more and more interesting now, now that its end is nearing. After the events of the previous episode, all dedicated to the main storyline, this episode continues with a side-plot. Still, that does not mean that this wasn’t a great episode, even though it started a bit awkwardly with an extra-long summary of the previous episode, and a perverted teacher who has visions of his students, doing naughty things with him.
Still, the rest of the episode develops this case into a really interesting one. It seems that the guy is running away from Ark, and he has been trying to contact Futami, though failed in this. One of his students also has psychic powers, which can be incredibly harmful if Ark got their hands on it. Futami, therefore, contacts Naoya and asks him to protect this girl.
However, that is not the only problem this girl has, as she seems to be in love with the teacher. Either that, or she has been raped, we have yet to see the full details. Because of that, her fellow-students started bullying her rather extremely. There’s so much mystery in this case. First of all, Tsuzuki (the teacher) went mad at the airport, but later, Naoya sees some ghost form of his running down a busy street. At the end of the episode, we also see Sakie (the girl) lie in the school-pool, along with the classmates who bullied her, with Sakie as the only one left living. We also actually see that woman from Ark successfully luring Sakie out, and doing some strange things to her. What, who, when, where, which and why, we’ll have to find out later. I can’t wait. 🙂