Now this is really more like what this series should be! A four episode arc that really allows the creator to take their time to flesh out everything, to build up intrigue and atmosphere. The mystery in this series really is excellent and really well written. If the next episode handles things right, I can see little in the way for this arc becoming the best arc so far.
What I really like about this series is that the mysteries aren’t just of “the butler did it”-variant, but there are tons of details about them that just make them more intricate. There are many layers that make solving them a lot more challenging than usual. Unlike Gosick, the gathering of intelligence makes sense and things flow logical into each other.
I also think that amongst the Gosick Trilogy, Alice is the best amongst her counterparts, or at least around the seven episode mark. Dalian of Dantalian no Shoka unfortunately turned out to be just annoying, but I even feel that she’s more dynamic than Victorique, who at the beginning was just a simple genius who once in a while showed a cute side. Alice’s dialogue is always interesting to read whenever the fanservice isn’t involved, and her bond with the male lead doesn’t just consist out of tsundere type insults. Instead they can just have normal conversations, and Alice’s insults are usually much more subtle than her counterparts.
Now, whether Alice will really turn out better than Victorique overall… that totally depends on her development of course. This episode gave a big hint that that’s coming somewhere, but the problem with this series is that it still feels like a 13-eepisode series, pretending to be a 24 one. This show is arc-based, so it won’t have an as big of an ending problem as No.6, but the current pacing makes sense for 24 episodes, but not for 13 of them. With one arc taking up a whopping four episodes, there’s hardly any time left for the rest of the content.
Oh, and the characters were actually playing the Colonists of Catan here. That’s a reference I never expected to see in an anime. 😛
Rating: *** (Awesome)
I guess I could not agree more on Dalian and Alice. Dalian was pretty interesting at first, but she is becoming more and more generic tsundere, grating on your nerve. Dantalian no Shoka has a very, very good and appealing male casts (all the key keepers), but most of the female casts (villains and side characters included) are so plain…Such a waste of great asset 🙁 On the other hand, you have Narumi who sometimes grates on your nerve and other considerably generic male casts (I like the NEET trio though).
I don’t know what’s happening this season, but most anime I am following seems to have female casts that are likeable at the start of the serie but become somewhat boring as episodes pass by, in contrast to the male casts that start to grow on me more and more.
Settlers of Catan rules! I have to pick this show back up solely to see that!!!
This episode really took me by surprise. I expected this arc to wrap up here, so the expanding depth was a true twist, and I’m looking forward to next episode.
Regarding Alice vs. Victorique and Dalian: Dalian is generic tsundere, not worthy of being included with either of the others. Victorique didn’t have an opportunity to get out and do much, but that was the concept of her character, and is the foundation of the larger story arc, which is great. Alice is interesting to me, because she is still a bit of a mystery, and because she has been treated as a side character up to now.
Well, I have to disagree. Out of the three, Dalian is my favourite by far. But then, I couldn’t stomach Gosick, and i was creeped out by the fanservice at the end of Memo-chou’s first episode. Aaand Dantalian no Shoka has the visuals and atmosphere down.
I’m tempted to watch this arc over again, since i haven’t really been paying attention during the first episode of it due to Renji seeming like an unimportant character at first, but after seeing this episode, i think that’s exactly what i”ll do
I wish this series would just stick to mysteries and forget the fan-service moe antics! Now I’m interested by this story…but really it took 3 whole episodes of a 13episodes series? This is a big problem. Overall for now I’m dissapointed in this show, it could have been much better.
This episode alone provided enough hints to solve one of the biggest part in this whole case, that is the (true) fate of Hison. Did you get it, psgels? If not, I suggest watching this ep one more time and see if you can connect all the dots. It’s not hard at all, really! 😉
On a side note, have you watched Kamisama Dolls 7? I really want to know your opinions about it. :p