I do not know who animated this episode, but whoever they are, they surely rocked. Take a look at the huge frame-rate of some of the scenes in this episode. I never really considered A-1 Pictures as a top-notch animation studio, mostly because they produced a number of series that I really wanted to like… but couldn’t (Fiary Tail, Kannagi, Persona and Valkyria Chronicles… hmm, they should stay away from video game adaptations…). But really: after Birdy the Mighty and series like this, who am I kidding? These guys rock in terms of graphics and powerful animation.
This episode was very interesting. On the surface, it was perhaps a bit of a standard set of two adventures, but there were many subtle details thrown into it that made it into a very touching and enjoyable episode. Basically, Kanata spends time away from the other four main characters. In the first half, we follow these four. In the second half, we follow Kanata. Some events that happen in the first half can only be explained if you know what happened with Kanata. Nice touch.
regarding the setting: Vingt. This episode was all about showing that, while war might be bad, it’s not the only thing that is. That monster who killed a bunch of people in City number 20: who was it? Where did it come from? And where is it now? Also, the financial issues of the corps: to think that they were secretly and illegally distilling wine. That takes about care of their predictable and generic stereotypes, doesn’t it? It does make me wonder: can you really recognize whether a character is stereotypical or not, right from the first one or two episodes? I still believe that it’s possible. It’s series like this that remind me instead of trying to spot stereotypes in first episodes, you should try to spot what makes characters move away from these stereotypes. Even the slightest hints could promise something interesting for the future.
This episode was also a great tease. I mean, we all know from the director what he has done in the past. We know that he can write these disturbing scenes and he he has gone for something completely different with this series. Right at the point at which the series seems to take a darker twist, it all turns out to have been an act that fully makes sense within the setting of this series.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Regarding the ‘monster’, I think you are refering to the ‘invisible angel of death’ that came upon the residents of that region…the fact that the mother and child were able to escape, but she later died in Seize as it seems, implies to me that maybe bioligical warfare or some kind of germs were at work there.
I still remember the story about the fiery beast that threatened Seize, which some people assume to have been a missile equiped tank.
Yeah, now that you mention it: my guess was that that legend was just some very exagerated truth: who knows: perhaps some of the previous soldiers stationed at Seize (when it was still Japanese) saved the town from something similar to that Invisible Angel of Death, and gradualy turned into a legend?
Yeah, we still don’t know how much time exactly since ‘the war’ has passed.
Considering that the army has become voluntary, people seem to live in relative peace and landscape seems to have changed heavily, it could be possible that stories from the war have already turned into legends.
Larger cities have apparently been abandoned, so it’s not impossible to imagine that they are a generation that really does know nothing about advanced technology anymore.
Would be interesting to see, if they could get a video recording out of that tank…
I’ll stick to sora no wota, FMA, armed librarians and one piece as weekly watch for now.
That way, I have some time to catch up on record of Lodoss war which I have never seen. Does anyone know if that series is worth it btw?
and with sora no wota I mean sora no (w?)oto, obviously. Which means what anyway?
“It’s series like this that remind me instead of trying to spot stereotypes in first episodes, you should try to spot what makes characters move away from these stereotypes. Even the slightest hints could promise something interesting for the future.”,
well-said, psgels 🙂
Sora no Woto continues to throw pleasant surprises my way with these new episodes. I haven’t thought about how their legends could be based on events that happened during the war, since I thought it was only a few years after the end of the war. I hope they elaborate on the “Invisible Angel of Death” later on in the series, since it isn’t clear what that was.
And now we know (if anyone still cares) it’s definitely Spain. There’s a plaque saying “Calle Jose Torres Peña” around 13 minutes.
Apparently, Spain has been absorbed by Switzerland (Helvetia), yes. Must be a mountain thing.
Calvados is actually an apple brandy. They probably make wine and a range of other beverages, too, though.
Re: wars, it seems that there was at least one big one a long time ago. (Thus all the longstanding mashed up customs and cleanup of the local environment, except No Man’s Land.) However, a good amount of high tech survives in various places as a legacy. They’ve had smaller wars within living memory with other countries not part of Helvetia, some involving high tech.
I’d say the really big war had to be at least a hundred years ago, probably more. If really high tech was within living memory, the world would have a different feel. These people have never known anything different or better.