Awesome episode! With all of the small hints to Alice’s past and all, the actual revelation of how deep it actually is really amazed me. This episode was full of awesomeness that further developed the mystery that’s going on, instead of just answering some of the lingering questions. After a small dip in the middle, this series sure as hell picked itself back up again.
And I really have to say, that with this episode Xebec has shown that they very well know how to animate an anime. Especially in the first half of the episode, there was lots of movement, and the entire episode was full of really good and creative camera-angles. Xebec really is a strange production company: a lot of their shows just aren’t good, with especially disasters like Kanokon and To Love-Ru going nowhere, and yet there are some of their series that are nothing like their usual series, or any other series for that matter. Hitohira had a unique chemistry between its main characters; I’m still looking for a series that managed to attain the same feel as The Third, and now Pandora Hearts does it again, with this really dark gothic fairy-tale like style that again I’ve never seen before.
The big revelation in this episode was that Alice erased her own past. She didn’t want to remember it, so she tore it up and had Cheshire Cat guard it, she just didn’t make sure to prevent Alice from trying to find out her own past. A hundred years apparently, something huge happened that somehow involved her getting betrayed by the one she loved (Jack Bezarius, to be exact), and blowing up an entire city. But still, where is B-Rabbit’s place in this? What does the white Alice have to do with all of this? How exactly is Jack Bezarius tied in with the rest of the Bezarius family?
And really, what the heck is Vincent Nightray up to? All this build-up was put into making him a huge villain, and yet this episode showed that he regards his relationship with Gil above anything. At the same time, he really seems to hate Vincent, as this episode showed Echo doing… something to Sharon while she was investigating what happened 100 years ago.
I also have to praise the amazing voice acting in this series. Especially Cheshire Cat’s actor was really good.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
Lots of juicy revelations, gorgeous visuals, plus an awesome performance from Cheshire Cat.
The animation of this eppy feels “unique” for me xD
(But… Jack’s was the best!!!
…ah! My post! ( OAO)
Sry for double repost (>_
Again!? Ah… my internet really hates me…
So, yeah, Kappei Yamaguchi proved himself the right voice actor for Cheshire Cat xD Bet he’s gonna be the best Seiyuu of 2009 with this xD
Oho, so that’s your speculation eh? Mada mada da yo~~~~ Next week’s eppy will be awesomer! The preview has said it!
as many of its animation moved me like no other, xebec is the only one manage to irritate me. you are right, it is a very strange production company. it once had one of the most talented staff and the most creative interedting idea, yet it screwed these up by splitting people apart. it never seems to realize stories such as Kanokon and To Love-Ru aren’t just notwhat it is good at. along the way, many animators leave the company and go to other production such as gainax and a-1 pictures. my biggest fear is xebec may never pick up nadesico and stellvia again, and even when they do, xebec may not have enough staff and strength to pull it off.
for Pandora Hearts, besides the already nice plot of the original mangan, people should give the honor to the enshutsu(演出) and animation director of this episode, the same combination who the animation for episode 5. jouden taku is one of the young animator who hasn’t left the company yet and kamitsubo ryoki adopt style from shaft very well and did some really interesting stuff for hyako, kyo no go no ni and etc. you can tell the animation here is quite different from the other episodes. There is a lot of movement and detail. some may found it dizzy and uncomfortable. but the art style and direction really give the story and atmosphere a deeper touch.
i hope this makes some sense. english isn’t my first language. but like i said before, i have mixed feeling for xebec. it always holds a specail part in my heart. and the original manga of pandora hearts has some very interesting elements and quite different from a lot other stories now. i wish xebec can make this work.
Yeah Xebec is kinda strange, and yeah, Kanokon and To-Love Ru were ABSOLUTELY HORRID and AWFUL. But Pandora Hearts really takes the cake! Wanna know something? I actually met Kappei Yamaguchi at Otakon last year. I have pictures to prove it.
By the way, if you’re a fan of series or movies that go from light-hearted and soft to dark and twisted, you should definitely check out this 70’s anime movie called Ringing Bell, or Chirin no Suzu. It seems like a kiddie movie at first, but after the first 10-15 minutes, it spirals into a COMPLETELY different direction!
I felt really let down by this about six or seven episodes in, but I’m starting to think I need to pick it back up…Those must have been building up to something better
Great comments from astro. I saw the striking difference in the animation of this episode and started looking around for the staff myself — but astro knows a lot more about them. Thanks.
Yes, Yamaguchi Kappei is great here. Just perfect. Of course, I do get some L vibes from Cheshire, lol.
This is one of those series that seems to grow rather than shrink, as many others do.
there is some misspelling and grammar error in my last comment. i appologize for that.
i wouldn’t hold my breath for the next episode. the drama in manga is great, but the guy directs next episode is ueda shigeru. he has a talent breaking gorgeous passionate scene into poor unimpressive ones. and he’s going to write the storyboard! …yeah, i hate him.
I’ve noticed that most of the anime watchers seem to love the animation this episode, while most of the manga readers think the animation took a nosedive. Since it’s not the animation that usually has the diverging opinions but the story, I wonder why that is…
The animation this episode was choppy in some parts and gorgeous in others (coughJack’smouthcough). I have a feeling I’d like the animation a lot better if the broadcasting quality wasn’t so bleh. :/ Ah well, I’ll be waiting for the DVD version.
astro// Is that so? That’s unfortunate, since the next episode is arguably the most important episode of this arc.
Asa: I’m curious: did you mean by “choppy” the beginning of the episode, after Oz and Gil just landed in Cheshire Cat’s dimension?
psgels// Not exactly, just various things throughout the episode. The Dormouse, many scenes with Gil (seems like the animators didn’t treat him very well this episode…), some parts where Oz is getting choked, this, ect.
And then there’s Jack’s mouth.
Gyaah, half the message got cut off. Good thing I copied it beforehand.
psgels// Not exactly, just various things throughout the episode. The Dormouse, many scenes with Gil (seems like the animators didn’t treat him very well this episode…), some parts where Oz is getting choked, this, ect.
And then there’s Jack’s mouth.
Ehm, actually, “less than three” is the problem. 8D; One last time!
psgels// Not exactly, just various things throughout the episode. The Dormouse, many scenes with Gil (seems like the animators didn’t treat him very well this episode…), some parts where Oz is getting choked, this, ect.
And then there’s Jack’s mouth. ♥
There are parts that are really well animated but still look kind of rough, like Oz’s movements in the beginning. Can’t quite pinpoint why though… Something like the combination of bad broadcast quality + bad video quality + Xebec’s lineart + lack of shading in the hair when there’s lots of movement going on (noticed that happening quite a few times before…).
But seriously, Jack’s mouth. ♥♥♥
Everyone loves Jack~~~
@astro
Seriously?! Aw, hopefully that guy got fired or anything that could stop him from ruining next episode! Seriously, I can see two chapters being smashed in… and they are VERY important for the story!
@Asa
Are you Asa from Curious? xD
Metter// Yep, yep~ Using your nickname proves it, yes? =P
Well, even if the storyboarder does change next episode, I don’t think the episode itself is going to change much from the previous ones. We’ve stayed fairly consistent in terms of adapting the manga so far, so I don’t think they’ll make any drastic changes…
Still, the staff next episode isn’t exactly superb… Let’s see, Ueda Shigeru. Produced episodes 1 and 7 of PH. Episode 7 was the one where they changed one of Oz’s best scenes… bleh. = =
Yep, Asa-tan xD
… that’s what I’m dreading of ( =A=)
Meh, if only someone could someone blackmail that dude from downtone next eppy’s awesomeness… PH is not for kids from the beginning anyways so no point of erasing the gore of it. Still remember Shaman King and what they did to it? I personally think it was ner meant for kids yet those guys…. Ugh, hopefully it won’t… must NOT happen to PH