Something really interesting happened in this episode. The stage was a large scale battle, probably the largest scale we’ve seen so far. It’s something anime has always been weak at: animating small armies and the battles between them. So I’m really surprised at how much detail this episode managed to put in it. Seriously, this was much more realistic than what you usually see!
Take for example the shot from far above: the creators actually tried to animate it. It was clunky, but heck: you could see how every figure moved. That really is something I have never seen in anime before and this episode actually managed to show the sheer size of the armies it was dealing with. The soldiers weren’t just specks, they actually had movement and weight to them.
Then, the actual battlefield: again you usually see people just swinging swords randomly in the midst of the plot. After this episode I realized that a common tactic is to show one character, then the next, then the next in order to keep the action going. The way in which this episode kept focusing on Sasuke gave it a completely unique dimension. It still was a complete brawl, but it also focused on the moments of silence on the battlefield, when there was nobody coming after Sasuke or when he was lying down, nearly knocked out. Also, instead of just showing a bunch of guys coming after Sakuke all at once, this series actually made all of them have their own purpose.
It’s really much more of this “screw conventions, we’re re-imagining this one completely!”-attitude that I love, and this show rocks especially because of how well it works. It’s all incredibly detailed, authentic and well written. I love it in particular when not just the characters, but also the creators use their brains during a major battle scene, and that’s exactly what happened here.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
After reading your post I went and downloaded the episode and I really don’t know what I was expecting, maybe Seirei no Moribito on a large scale, ofc that would be impossible lol…in the end the battle was ok, but I can’t say I share your enthusiasm, I was not impressed by the battle but by other things in this episode. Having a large scale battle in a live-action costs a lot so I imagine anime producers have the same problem. Sometimes I wonder if skipping big battles would not be better if you don’t have the budget to do them right!?
@Pax, I think that was his point. It costs way too much so it is never done. Here we get people who say “F-that! We’re gonna do it any ways.” The result is something somewhat unique in anime, which is what this show has been delivering all along.