The episode already began with removing one of the major annoyances in this anime: Papu who talked! Thank goodness he can do more than just “Papu Papu Papu”. In any case, this episode improved my overall opinion of the anime yet again. You can really see that it’s been building up perfectly.
We start out with Pietoro getting extremely worried about Pinon. Narcia tries to comfort him. Meanwhile, Papu explains that the three of Pinon, Luna and Papu have ended up in Phantonesia, or the world of the Seirei. Pinon’s quite startled when he hears Papu talking. What follows is both Papu and Luna trying to hide their secrets. It’s as obvious as a hammer near a pile of balloons, though Pinon decides not to question them. Or he’s just too busy with other things to notice. ^^
Papu also explains that the golden key, otherwise known as the key Narcia used to transform to Kai, has also the power to transfer to Phantonesia and back. It also seems that the Seirei of the wind has been captured. This causes wind in Phantonesia to stop, and the winds in Popolocrois to go out of control. Luna comes with the impulsive idea to save the Seirei. Pinon, of course, hesitates. He’s very different in this when you compare him to his father. Pietoro would’ve gone in, no matter what, and no matter how weak he was. Pinon keeps clinging to his father. It’s interesting, as he suggests for them to go back to the castle, in order to make Pietoro save the day. When you realize that Pietoro hates it when he’s compared with his father, you get some interesting results. Then again, he’s only just a child.
In any case, as there’s no alternative, Pietoro decides to go. Meanwhile, we switch to the bad guy, who appears to be the one who captured the wind-Seirei. He seems pretty confident in this, and his ultimate plan is to wrap the world in darkness. I hope that this part gets fleshed out soon, though he looks evil enough. Pietoro, meanwhile, is extremely worried about Pinon. Something his father would’ve done differently.
Pinon, meanwhile, stays gloomy. Then the threesome reaches a point at which they have to advance on bouncing rocks (think 2-D platform games). I liked that scene. Pinon’s very scared to jump. After all, if he fell, he would’ve fallen a loooooong way. Still, Luna managed to give him courage, and the two of them jump together. Luna also reveals that she’s been longing to be Pinon’s friend for a long time. This means that she’s heard about him before. Still, her background remains a total mystery.
Then, Pinon, Papu and Luna reach a small tornado, which keeps staying on one place. The Wind-Seirei seems to be sealed in here. Pinon plans to jump into the eye of the tornado from above, in order to not get bothered by the huge winds. In order to do that, he is helped by Punpun and Kogoto. Pinon manages to trick the two of them into dropping him off above the tornado, parachute included. While this scene may have been interesting in order to flesh out Punpun and Kogoto, it also was annoyingly long. The two of them are far from as awesome as their father.
Anyway, inside the tornado, we finally get to see a Seirei out of its little sparkly form. It’s indeed been captured, inside a barrier, which is preventing everyone from entering or exiting it. Except Pinon, for some reason. The creators’d better have a good reason for this. In any case, Pinon saves the Seirei (who looks too cute, by the way) and the Seirei seems to know Pinon. The Seirei gets all giddy, though she soon loses energy when it seems that her powers are stored in the bottom of the tornado. Papu seems to know the little creature, as the Seirei seems quite scared when she sees him. Papu, however, quickly shuts him up.
When they head down towards the bottom of the tornado in a dark-looking cave, Pinon gives Luna and Papu the two herbs he bought in the previous episode. When they reach the bottom of the tornado, a wind-beast shows up. It was interesting to finally see a wind-monster use wind in its attacks, instead of the usual blades which form out of nowhere. An interesting touch. Luna and Papu offer to act as decoy, so that Pinon can get Punpun and Kotoro to help. Still, Pinon uses his dragon powers to save the two of them. While a bit cheesy, the animation looked awesome. It really made up for this flaw.
In any case, the monster seemed to guard the Seirei’s power. With it gone, everything seems to be fine and the Seirei shows up in a third form: a large version of the second form, minus the chibi-speech. The Seirei then sends Pinon, Luna, Papu, Punpun and Kotoro back to Popolocrois. Pietoro’s too glad when he finds that his son is safe, though the interesting part comes from Narcia when she sees Luna. She, of all people should be able to recognize the golden key, though she decides not to mention it near Pietoro. I wonder when she’ll confront Luna about it. We’ve already seen her personality, so she’ll definitely wait. But for how long?
In any case, it seems that Luna’s been travelling, and that she’s been sleeping under rocks, etc. Pinon therefore offers Luna to sleep in his bed. (*big grin* ^^;) Luna’s a bit startled at first, though she doesn’t mind in the end. Then the Wind-Seirei shows up in yet another form. It’s also the one we keep seeing in the OP and ED. The Seirei transforms to its fourth form after Pinon gives it a name. He first considers “Hyuu”, which just shows the similarities between Pinon and his father. In the end, the name gets to be Hirarin.
And just when you thought that the episode couldn’t get happier, more laid-back, more peaceful. The bad guy appears, attempting to kill of Pinon. Pietoro then rushes in and defeats the guy. Both parties end up heavily wounded. Seriously, I would never have expected such a heavy scene after what just happened! In one turn, the anime turns darker than ever. It also displays Pietoro’s concerns and love for his son more than ever.
I also have to say that the ED greatly helped to accompany this. It’s one of the better ones I’ve seen. We also have to remember that there are some characters who look major, but haven’t appeared at all. The little guy with the painted face, for example. His mother as well. Not to mention his and Luna’s Seirei. It seems that Luna’s got something to do with the water, while the former has affinity with fire.
The music also is a major plus in this series. 1998 already featured an amazing soundtrack, and this was only strengthened with 2003. I’ve also noticed that the ED is one of the few which actually tells a small story. We first see Luna create light with her own powers (say, doesn’t her wand look suspiciously much like Narcia’s?). The little guy with the painted face looks astonished when he sees this. In the next screen, he uses fire in order to impress the others (and cook some fish). The next screen features the three of them playing with their Seirei, while Papu, of all creatures, looks agitated, wanting them not to linger. In later screens, Pinon directs the way, while Luna’s happy to follow him, and the little guy with the painted face has a weird expression on his face, I wonder what he thinks at that moment… On the last screen, Luna is carrying the other two along with her water powers. It looks pretty awesome. I may be wrong, but I guess that the next episode will introduce the little guy with the painted face. That, or Luna will meet her Seirei.
Overall, my respect for this series continues to grow with each episode passing. The ending was just perfectly executed. (After all, most of the times when protagonists mess up the plans of antagonists, we switch to them, while they find out about it. The antagonist screams a bit, and swears to get back at the protagonist. This time, these scenes are just skipped and the antagonist comes to kill the protagonist immediately). On a side-note: why did the creators decide to dye Pietoro’s hair brown?
Memorable Moment: Pietoro at the ending. Definitely a scene to remember.
