The character-designs in this show kept bugging me. For some reason they looked different from usual anime, but I can’t exactly put my finger on why. It’s definitely something with the line art, though. In a lot of series, they’re shaded and coloured along with the colours around them, but in this series they’re all the same dark colour, and this series does nothing to mask or hide it. But then again, there are plenty of other series with the same, so that can’t be it. This effect especially stands out at some of the far away shots, where the line thickness is exactly the same as with the close-ups. The effect gives off something very old school, which combined with the modern CG shading and background art gives off a very down to earth feel for this series. It’s a very nice style for this series, although it is a bit of a pity that the animation budget isn’t as good as it used to be. The creators thankfully haven’t resorted to an increase of still frames, but the amount of distorted faces has increased drastically.
Anyway, about the rest of the episode: you can see that this series has changed A LOT since the Ein arc. While this of course is nothing new, it really doesn’t happen often for a series to have a really, really dark start, and then become much lighter in their atmosphere. There’s this warmth between Reiji and Cal that wasn’t there when Helen was still involved. Even when the characters are feeling down, it feels nothing like the tension between Ein and Zwei when they still were a team.
This episode was mostly light and quiet, but well worth that awesome climax of this episode, where the character-development really came together, and Reiji couldn’t shoot directly because he suspected the sniper to be Helen. He was about to both take revenge on the guys who killed Rose, complete a mission that would cause a lot of benefits for Inferno, but after being shaken up by Cal, the news that Helen might still be alive has really struck him. And ZOMG: Ein indeed is alive! I’m interested in how she survived: I could buy Reiji, but she was shot through the heart. That’s not something you can survive easily, can you?
Anyway, Cal obviously has the downside that she’s only been introduced a few episodes ago, and the majority of this episode therefore felt surprisingly light, but DAMN: seeing her crying when Reiji nearly got shot really was adorable. It was an excellent performance from her voice actress.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
A surprisingly light episode with some lacking animation, but chockful of character-development.
There have been a couple of flashbacks showing Elen to be shot: That’s not where the heart is. The human heart is located significantly lower – the bullet hit her in the upper shoulder.
And in case you’re worried: The show will turn dark fairly soon. Plenty dark. Enjoy the lighter parts while you can, and memorize them well. They will come back to haunt you.
This continues to be one of my favorite parts of the story, particularly because of the Cal-Reiji dynamic as previously described. Even though I still need to see this episode for myself, what I’ve heard here and elsewhere about it is pretty positive.
I actually do like Phantom’s animation style since it fits the story’s atmosphere but yes, it’s true that the available budget is probably not that high. The show doesn’t seem to be doing that well in Japan either, but hopefully it’ll get a better reception in the West. Now if only Funimation were to fix some of the issues with the official streaming and so forth…I hope it’s just a matter of time.
In addition, I’m not really expecting them to explain how Ein survived in too much detail or in any particularly realistic way, besides probably showing a brief flashback if even that much.
Mentar: That’s not the heart, of course, but even then a real person would still be more likely to die in that situation as a whole, period, which is why I don’t think there’s much of a point in expecting realism here. At best, you only need to go by Hollywood action movie logic.
And yes, it’s clear that the show is getting darker…but one would think having Ein around already indicates as much, considering how that complicates the situation even without adding in all the other factors.
I know how it’s all going to go down and so do you, but I’d rather leave it at that.
Cal’s voice actress is the great Sawashiro Miyuki (Puchi Charat in DiGi Charat, Shinku in Rozen Maiden, Claire in Red Garden, Shinkuro in Kurenai, Tsugumi in Kannagi, Canaan in Canaan).
I KNEW IT!!! EIN IS ALIVE!!!! YESSSSSSSSS!!!!
I am curious to see that crying Cal scene *_*
damn, I’m tempted to watch this raw . . .
Actually she probably got shot in the lung.. The heart is actually pretty centered in our bodies.. Though majority is over to the left side… She probably barely missed a kill shot..
One thing I wish was mentioned (but understand might not have fit well with the dialogue) is that Ein’s shot should have been impossible, with other candidate sniping locations being too far away. Hence Ein using a huge anti-tank gun. Just shows she can still outthink her student. 🙂
Heh yeah that was one hell of a shot. While her previous exploits were within human range, that kind of feat is bordering it. She even choose a secure location where counter sniping is impossible. However, if her real intention was only to miss, the lowered accuracy caused by using an anti-tank gun is a moot point. So it’s the perfect weapon.
I think Ellen was definitely just going for an impression rather than accuracy. It’s still a tough shot, but the AT rifle produces much more satisfying damage/intimidation.
I only recently realized that Sawashiro Miyuki has played a ton of roles that I love…