Star Crossed Anime

Short Synopsis: The Semi-ending of Red Garden, and what an ending it is. Let’s just say that lots of people die. Good: The final scene of Hervé and Anna. God, that was so good, I actually cried, and that doesn’t happen often. Bad: 8!? August!? That long till the OVA comes!? Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10 Oh boy, that surely was an awesome episode, as it marks the end of the struggle between the animus and the Doral. Still, the characters who really stole the show were Kate and most especially Hervé and Lula. The episode starts with Kate and Hervé yelling at each other, which clearly shows that he lost it, due to his concerns for his sister. Still, that was just an introduction of the following events. First of all, Lula sacrificing herself to mortally hurt Hervé was amazing. Right before she hit her, I could really see in her eyes that she was trying to avenge her brother. Well, she didn’t necessarily kill him, but what she did do was erase all Hervé’s chances of success. So sad. But the definite highlight of the episode, and quite possibly the entire series, was Hervé dying himself. I don’t cry often, this probably happens once a month or something, but that scene did it. Seeing Hervé kill his own sister, whom he cared about so much was just way too sad. The ending was a bit strange, though. But then again, you can’t really call that the ending of the series, with an OVA coming in august. I wonder what it’ll be about, actually. Everybody apart from Kate, Rose, Claire and Rachel died. Will it show two episodes of them, living with their memories lost? While that would be awesome, I think that there’d be some kind of twist included. But can the creators really do so much in only two episodes? Still, looking back, and not taking the OVA into account, I have to say that Red Garden appeared to be the best series that arrived in the Fall-Season. It may never had episodes with a rating of 9/10, but those who’ve been keeping an eye out at my episode ratings have noticed that Red Garden has been getting the most consistent and yet high ratings. Nearly every episode since episode 15 has gotten a 8,5/10. Asatte no Houkou was great, and Bakumatsu is great, but they haven’t really reached the heights of Red Garden yet. Death Note stood a chance of beating it at one point, but it destroyed this chance due to the rather bad Yotsuba-arc. Ghost Hunt turned out disappointing, while Jigoku Shoujo is quite fun at the moment, but again, it can’t just reach Red Garden yet. At least, unless its final three episodes turn out to become really awesome. :)]]>

Short Synopsis: If there ever was a “calm before the storm”-episode, it’d be this one. This episodes showcases the final interactions Kate, Rose, Rachel and Claire have with their surroundings. Good: Even though no major events happened, this was a heart-warming episode. Red Garden just continues to deliver. Bad: Ooh, let’s hope it won’t have a screwed-up ending. *crosses fingers* Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10 I’m going to be quick with this review, as I can hardly wait to see the next episode. Like mentioned above, this episode showed the last interactions the girls have with their friends. It’s slow, it’s quiet, but it works perfectly. Every scene just has some kind of deeper meaning. I just loved Rachel, as she was in the cafetaria, all alone, drinking coffee. I just loved Claire, as she sees her father in a car next to her, and has trouble speaking. I just loved Rose, as she covers her siblings with a blanket. I just loved Kate, who was given some make-up by Paula. And I can continue for a while, weren’t for the fact that I’ve got episode 22 waiting on my hard-disk. There was no tension at all. Except perhaps with the only scene Hervé appeared in, in which he watched his sister, and the ending of the episode, but the huge number of hidden meanings in the different scenes made this episode just as enjoyable as the previous ones. Also, a total irrelevant, but nevertheless interesting fact: JC’s real name is Jeremy Charles Ferhlan.]]>

Short Synopsis: Okay, so Kate doesn’t die. Instead, others do. Quite shocking at this point of the anime. Good: Kate just continues to be an amazing character; The Deaths were awesome. Bad: So, the series is going to end at episode 22, while the final two episodes will be released on DVD? I don’t think I can wait that long! Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10 Oh god, that was an amazing episode! First of all, Kate was awesome when she was in the building. I haven’t seen many characters which acted so genuinely at those points as she did. And can you blame her? I mean, she has been abducted, she wakes up, half-drowsy and then she suddenly sees Lise, whom she thought to have died long ago. Claire and Rose meanwhile continue their own stories with their fathers a bit. Especially Claire was heart-warming when she found out that the reason her father was in Europe while Randy committed suicide was because of Randy himself. Her father finally has the courage to speak his mind to Claire, and this has some great results. And then the deaths! Emilio, Hervé’s uncle and the main researcher just die like that. Especially Hervé’s uncle was something I SO didn’t expect at this point. Hervé then makes use of the confusion in order to make himself the head of the Doral. Lise, meanwhile, hit the limit, and transformed into the beasts we’ve been seeing. The final explanation of the story is also given at the end of the episode. Doral once stole one of the cursed tomes from the animus. This caused the leaders of the animus to be frozen in time, unable to move, only speak. They’ll be able to die when the stolen cursed tome is obtained.]]>