Luka. He is so badass that even rose petals instantly want to commit suicide by his sword.
Seriously though, I know I often criticise this anime, but episodes like this one really show that it knows how to build up an atmosphere. I really have no complaints whatsoever about that, because this really was an engaging episode to watch. The creators made well use of the background music, characters and visuals to create a bit of a creepy atmosphere that I was able to take seriously, despite the angst and large amount of suicidal themes of this series.
As for the graphics… this episode pretty much showed that we shouldn’t expect too much of the animation itself. The action scenes just consisted out of a bunch of still frames of wounds, and cut a lot of corners. The eye candy here really was in the visual effects, as the creators of this series may not be good animators, but they’re pretty good at CG and blending it in with the rest of the drawings.
Without the CG, this really feels like this kind of retro series that could have just as easily aired fifteen years ago. It’s definitely got its charms because of this.
But really… regarding Shuusei… how? Do we really not get any kind of explanation, other than that Yuki zapped him? I mean, what did the manga artist have in mind when he created him? Having an all powerful character with Yuki, who can apparently heal any kind of wound, while also being able to stop all kinds of powerful magic with his crosses. That’s really hard to balance out! At a certain point the tension will just completely vanish because there’s no reason to fear for any of the characters to die here. Luka with his extreme powers is one thing that still is within bounds, due to his flaws, but Yuki is about to go too far in this.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Yuki healed Shuusei’s cuts and bruises, but Hotsuma brought him back to life with his “voice of God.”
Have not watched the episode (still 1 hr more to go for torrent)
Well in manga, it is not becasue of Yuki that Shuusei came back; it is becasue Hotsuma called out to him… Kind like “don’t you dare leave before me, arn’t you the one who bring me back! So take the responsibility.”
In manga Shuusei has his own issue too as his parents also don’t want him, so he has only Hotsuma that want his existence… when he saw Yuki is the one that can heal Hotsuma’s(mental) wound, he felt he is not needed anymore and lost all will to stay alive…
Boy Love is prominent theme in here as the mangaka’s works are all BL.
Ouch… that’s a really big thing to leave out like that. Now that you mention it, every part about Hotsuma while he was still, um, ‘sleeping’ made no sense because none of it was explained… I didn’t mind it because I thought that it would just be explained later, but why did the creators decide to leave that out, of all things?
And yeah, I don’t really mind about the boy’s love thing. I don’t really care if these characters are gay or not as long as they’re well written (which at least is the case here). But introducing such a hastily introduced power to yell a character back to life doesn’t really sit well with me.
It does seem hastily introduced, I agree. But, it’s a surprise to Hotsuma as well. 1st time he tried it.
I was a little more lukewarm towards this episode. While I like the action and plot moving forward, slowly, I don’t think these types of scenes are what the anime does best. I prefer character interaction and development- that’s where it really shines. Still if the whole series had the energy of the past two episodes injected into it, it would have been much better. I’m not giving up on it yet.
I don’t understand why they left out that part, too.
In the manga, Yuki tells Hotsuma that he has healed Shuusei’s wounds but that he nevertheless still doesn’t wake up.
Then Ashley tells them, that Shuusei had no will to live anymore and thus welcomed her stopping his heart.
I mean… it would’ve been just ONE more line for Yuki to say and would’ve made things so much clearer… but well.
A little more explanation about Hotsuma’s power (God’s voice) will hopefully come later on in the next episode or the one thereafter.
In the manga there was kind of an aftermath to the whole thing with Hotsuma and Shuusei finally talking about their issues and stuff.
Maybe they also insert Shuusei’s past there then.
But yeah, basically it is that Shuusei woke up because of Hotsuma’s sincere cry which held his true feelings of not wanting to loose Shuusei, that reached Shuusei and showed him that Hotsuma still needs him.
When Hotsuma wanted to die, Shuusei brought him back… and now Hotsuma has returned the favor.
Oh, but despite the flaws of the episode in depicting this particular part I really liked the rest of the episode.
The fights were nicely done for such a series, the drama delivered and I LOVED the use of the soundtrack here.
Honestly, those people really know how to create an awesome atmosphere!
I’m a guy like you psgels and I can’t believe I’m still watching this thing, it’s very good especially this episdeo was awesome, good old shonens evryone watches should learn from this:Hotsuma and Shusei actually fought at the same time instead of watching the other fighting, I can excuse DBZ for doing this since it’s old but show like bleach who keep doing it these days I can’t forgive it.
And I agree about the CG thing.And the monsters in this makes me think about the ones from sailor moon for some reason lol.probably the care for fashion clothing and all.