Haha! I couldn’t have expected a better finale than this one! Seriously, it’s so great to see that this has been a series where everything went right, apart from the smaller budget, perhaps. This is really why it was such a good thing that the original mangaka had been assigned to do the Screenplay and Series Composition. Sure, some changes may be forced, but in this way you can be sure that the vision of the original writer will be translated perfectly. Seriously, more series should do this.
And here I thought that this episode would primarily be about the fight between Pinocchio and Triela. Sure, it takes up a large part, but yet again Franca came and stole the show’s best moments. She and Franco originally came to rescue Pinocchio, and yet they only managed to rescue Christiano, while leaving Pinocchio behind. Very impressively, they manage to pass two of the girls, though Franca has been hurt too much, and drives off a cliff, taking Christiano and Franco with her.
Looking back, I must say that this series made best out of its limited budget. On one hand you can say that it does look cheap at times (this episode again featured some speed-lines), but if there’s no budged there’s not much you can do. From that viewpoint, I’d much rather see a series that at least tries to showcase some great fights with some great coordination, than a series that just chooses the easy way around with lots of still frames and no animation at all. Shion no Ou really has been the series to show this: the show clearly received a small budget, and yet the animation-department went all out.
That line of Pinocchio was also right on the spot: “who’s the monster now?” Especially since afterwards, we saw Rico mercilessly banging the head of a guy against the window of a car. She and Jan were most definitely the closest things resembling monsters in this series, and that’s the beauty of it, because at the same time Rico is also the most cheerful member of the cast.
Thankfully, there are still two DVD-only episodes left. I wonder what they’ll be about, though I’d guess that they’ll develop the girls some more. I’ll be blogging them when they show up, though for now I consider this series finished. Let’s hope for a third season to get announced soon, because this is one manga that deserves to be fully animated!
Thank you for blogging this series which is undeservedly written off as “inferior” by many watchers. While I agree that animation is lacking the quality of the predecessor and the new voice actor cast is rather hard to get used to, especially Henrietta, it nevertheless tells a solid story, and even the animation gets better by the later episodes.
Regarding the DVD only episodes I would hazard a guess it’ll be about a new girl who is the main character in the manga after the Pinocchio arc. Moreover, we’ve seen her already in the episode 5 albeit for about 40 seconds. ^_^
what did other people say about this being inferior? i can’t spot any specific detail about this series that would put it in that position. btw if blog host reads this.. i’ve been reading the manga and tho i’m couple volumes behind, i believe this series only covered about 50% of what has come out between the first series and the end of the second series.. about twice as much story has come out than what the second series covered.. there were supposed to be older assassin girls too like around age of 20, but obviously they didn’t cover that story here. i’m pretty sure there’ll be more seasons coming.
Anyone know when it is to be released on DVD?
SPOILER REGARDING END BETWEEN TRIELA AND PINOCCHIO BELOW:
Can you tell me exactly how Triela kills Pinocchio at the end? I watched the raw, but even though I saw them stab each other, I can’t tell what it was that she used. Clearly he used his keys (I think)…
The fight between Triela and Pinocchio was certainly very well choreographed and really amazing. As they fought, I could tell that they really are rather similar, in the way they’re main reason to fight is for the love of the person that saved them, which are Hilshire and Cristiano respectively. We can also see the different way of fighting between a normal elite assassin and a cyborg assassin. Triela depends a lot on her superior body, and she can also disregard minor injuries because she is safe in the knowledge that those can be easily healed. Meanwhile, Pinocchio fights using his speed and agility to his advantage, besides using his superb knife wielding skills, making him a formidable opponent in short and medium range fights.
In this fight, compared to how Henrietta fought Pinocchio in the previous episode, we can see the flaws in the fighting style that the cyborgs currently employ. They’re too dependent on the strength of their enhanced bodies and their appearance as little girls to get their enemies off guard. In a one on one against a skilled assassin like Pinocchio, they just don’t have what it takes yet. Triela only succeeded because she really went all out this time, and also with the experience of that training stint with Hilshire’s friend, while Pinocchio being saddled with that hesitation also contributed to his downfall.
I also think that Jean and Rico are the most effective but also the most cruel fratello due to how immoral and impersonal Jean acts on any mission. Each action he does or order he gives is only for the success of his mission without thinking on the “rightness” or “wrongness” of his actions. I really felt that Pinocchio got it right when he questioned Triela “who’s the monster now?”.