Hell yeah! This episode was all kinds of awesome stuck together! Talk about a complete change of atmosphere.
The way this episode started out… out of all the things that the Japan Arc would be about, the last thing I expected was that the show would end in a high school setting. The OP… was so much different from what I expected and fitted these final six episodes so well. There’s a lot of chaos going on, and yet this episode has been more slice of live than this series has ever shown! That shows some awesome possibilities, and I know that Koichi Mashimo is going to be able to get the best out of this.
So basically, two years (!) have passed since the last episode. Reiji and Helen have travelled the world; they first came to the Philippines and now have moved into Japan half a year ago, and they’ve been pretending to be brother and sister, since it would have been a bit awkward if a teenaged couple suddenly moved in and started following classes. They’re also back again acting, like they did in one of the beginning episodes. Especially Reiji has gotten a lot better at it now.
But yeah, just about everything in this episode was perfectly executed. Reiji’s time spent with his potential girlfriend did exactly what it needed to do: show how he and Helen changed, and how they’ve come to live their lives now. It’s a perfect build-up, since we also got to know much more about them, and the setting which they moved into.
But the real moment of epic in this episode was obviously the point at which Cal shows herself. Typical of Bee-Train’s storytelling, but it works so incredibly well.
And to think that even in this episode, so close to the ending, there still are new background tunes being played, and they rock just as much as the rest of the soundtrack while at the same time being completely different in tone: the first arc had a really dark and melancholic soundtrack, the second arc was more upbeat and pimpin’, while right now we got more… colourful atmosphere, if that makes any sense. The soundtrack here has a lot more warmth than we’ve seen so far.
In any case, this is one of these rare series in which you can really see that the creators spent lots of time thinking of how to make it work in the absolute best way, and where it actually works out incredibly well. In 2009, I can only recall 3 other series which managed to do the same: Ristorante Paradiso, Tokyo Magnitude and Birdy the Mighty 2.
Rating: *** (Awesome)]]>
Phantom – 20
I wonder how many times people will rewatch the “Cal revelation” final scene. I’m in the medium double digits now, I guess 😉
Indeed Mentar, the revelation scene was awesome 😀
Much, much better then in VN, IMO.
i’m still having a hard time equating Cal’s growth spurt in just 2 years. Scythe Master does more than brain-washing?
They really overdid it with Cals breasts -_-
I also can not believe that she grew up that much in only 2 years – how old is she now o.O ?
@Sirenja: 16 years
Whoa! They came to my country?! (Philippines) Rarely is that country mentioned in anime/manga xD Yay!
Cal sure grew up. . . . so fast o_O 2 years, seriously?
So she’s 16? I really wish they would just make the time skip more believable. They put so much effort into making everything else in this series somewhat realistic, I don’t see why they had to make the time skip so short. Maybe it’s just a Japanese thing and they like seeing children do unbelievable things, but I really wish they made her older. Actually, I really wish they made Elen and Reiji older too, and I really wish they made his training more realistic (ie last a couple of years instead of what..a month?) Besides that though this series has really been enjoyable so far! It just bothers me that everything else seems realisitc and the creators put a lot of effort into making a solid story, but these little things hurt the story in the end I think. But I’m still looking forward to how it all plays out.
omg this episode rocked. My jaw totally dropped when they showed cal, so much growth in only 2 years and then at the and omg again how they remixed the super gentle music from her clock into something colourful that rocked too.
Seconding the Cal comments. This was a great episode, but the way the creators overdid her development (kids grow a lot between 14 and 16 but…not that much) ruined the episode for me personally. Surprised psgels didn’t mention it at all.
Cal did grow a little bit too much, just look at her Breasts… I’m still loving cal but I though that game did the change better.
You can see similaties better in the game. (she retains more of a cute factor, while still looking sexy) and though it will still suprize you, the anime made the transformation look a bit too different. Still..as long as Cal is back! I’m happy.
Great reunion scene XD. The next episode previw looks interesting. The show is going to get darker. Its awesome too see alot of the characters in part 2 returning straight away. I was worried that the happy-school setting might of been like that for a couple of episodes, but it sure ended fast xD
@ethereal0: I saw a lot of people grow up so fast in the real life… some even faster then Cal in Phantom
@randomguy: True, but in chapter 2 she looks younger then her anime counterpart
Yea if you did compare younger game Cal, to her anime counterpart she look a bit younger but not by much at all imo.
The problem I have with the anime, is more towards the designs. Since if you looked at two seperate pictures it harder to see similarities. But if you look how the game done it, I can see that older Cal does resemble her younger conterpart more so than the anime.
Sure people do grow alot and fast, but I think just for the sake of being able too relate to her character a bit more. I would of liked seeing her look a little bit more like her younger counterpart.
I don’t mind the new Cal’s design, though might change my mind after seeing the episode. As this anime is based on a hentai game, there has to be at least one girl with big breasts, doens’t it?. Besides it’s a factor Drei can beat Elen with (and possible win Reiji to her side, if she still loves him + more suitable non-loli sex scene.).
Subs are finally out.
Ooh~ evil Cal
Wait, Phantom is a hentai game? How does that work?
Also, Cal looks like she’s 20-25, haha.
But Cal should be 16. Yes, the anime is based on the hentai game called Phantom of Inferno. Hirameki released a censored version of the game in the US with voice actors. The game has been pretty popular because it was re-released later in Japan in the name of Phantom: Integration.
@supertauren: that’s what makes Reiji the best assassin, and even Sycthe admitted that. He was the perfect assassin, with a genuine killing intent and makes a solid, calm judgments. Of course the problem for Sycthe is that Reiji acts on his own will, and so Sycthe cant make him obey.
Also, yes you are right, Reiji’s training did take a mere month compared to Ein who took 2 years just as Cal did. The reason I believe was that Reiji’s killing talent, skills, and potential are all part of his instincts. Like he was born with them, you could say a true killer in the utmost sense of the word.
After all, we saw in the episode where he was to be terminated by Ein because he got indirectly involved, he was able to dodge her attacks, even countered! He even eluded her for days! Also another evidence that he is the superior assassin, was when McGuire was utterly amazed by his achievements, far more that he was with Ein.