A pretty interesting way of ending the series, actually.
In the end, Desperaia herself wasn't entirely villainous at all. Similar to all the other masked members of the Nightmare organisation, she was just trapped by her own fears. Her goal of obtaining the Dream Collet and ruling the world with despair was really just her way of running away from the fear and uncertainty that plagued her - she sought refuge in power.
But after achieving her goal of immortality and realising it barely did anything to lessen her fears, she began to see that what she sought may have been meaningless all along. One gets the impression that just as Bloody said, it was Kawarino who was the real driving force behind how twisted their organisation had become, Kawarino who had led Desperaia down this futile path of seeking power in despair.
Come to think of it, even my comment back in the very first episode - about how it was going to be hard to take the monsters of the week seriously when they're crying "I'm scared" the whole time - turned out to be right on the mark. It seems clear from this episode that the "Kowaina" name was not so much an indication of the monsters being scary themselves, but rather an indication that they were the product of Desperaia's insecurities and fears. (Though I won't be in the slightest bit surprised if the series wilfully ignores that significance and keeps using the Kowaina name in GoGo with completely unrelated villains...)
And so in a fitting conclusion, the Cures overcome their final enemy not through force, but by reaching out to her and sharing the Power of Hope, showing Desperaia that there's a better way to overcome fear. Kawarino briefly reappears (seriously, even death can't stop this guy...) in one last-ditch attempt to prevent this change of heart, but Desperaia rejects him and he's dragged back into the void by the hand of Bloody, who he had banished there himself. Ah, sweet justice.
...And then in the least satisfying part of this ending, Desperaia loses control of her own Power of Despair, and tells the Cures that the only way to save the world from her destructive power is to seal her away in this realm forever. And though reluctantly, the Cures agree to this proposition. Giving in to the inevitable and sacrificing the repented Desperaia seems a liiiiiittle out of place considering the themes of the series, but I guess redeemed villains are just automatically doomed like that, huh?
So yeah, the world is saved! The Palmier Kingdom wasn't revived in the end, but all of its citizens were, and so, thanks to a little advice from Milk, they crown both Coco and Nuts King, and set off to rebuild their kingdom by hand. Tearful goodbyes, and all that jazz.
Nuts leaves his Key to the Kingdom with Komachi as a sign that he's letting go of the past. Coco promises to invite Nozomi to see the Palmier Kingdom once they've rebuilt it. And as for the Cures, they're all ready to move on towards their dreams for the future! Urara and Komachi have their dreams of becoming a successful idol and a successful author, of course. Rin and Karen revealed in the previous episode that they've found their own dreams of becoming an accessory designer and a doctor respectively. And in this episode, Nozomi reveals that her new dream is to become a teacher just like Coco! Which, er, may not be easy, but as long as the five of them are together, they can do anything! Yeah!
So yeah. That one semi-dubious sacrifice aside, I think that was a pretty nice ending to the series. I quite enjoyed this series, overall. Now there's just the movie to go, and then I can move right along to GoGo!
Well Utapri is about idols so they have to be pure. Or at least keep it on the down low.
I'm still pissed Kenta only got 1 episode. 2 borderline rapists, 1 psychotic schizophrenic and a player with a 3 month limit. Somehow Kenta is the least deserving.
Well this definitely felt more like Oshii. The first film deals with a guy who has a God complex. although there is an element to that in the 2nd film, and his use of technology to relive out the Bible. While both films have religious connotations, this plays out much more heavily in the first. I forgot that Oshii did Ghost in the Shell later as the film feels so much like his GITS work that I thought the Patlabor movies came out first. It's obviously a lead up to themes he'll explore later in GITS. Mainly concepts such as dependence on technology are brought up and explored in the first film. There is also the visual representation of the destruction of the old such as culture and tradition by the new in the scene early on where the Labor rampages through the old town and the Patlabor has to stop him. Both topics though are discussed somewhat rudimentary in that what the movie has to say isn't really that interesting especially since the topics have been beaten to death in modern times. What is interesting is the change of atmosphere compared to the OVAs. While the two parters, episode 5 and 6 of the OVAs, were more serious in tone; the atmosphere in the first two movies are deathly serious with pretty much all comedy thrown out except for a casual joke every now and then. In the first movie, it's fine as the characters still bring some of the comedy. The tone in the first movie is closest to the OVAs but even then is still pretty different. I'll be frank, I'm not overly fond of the change even though it is well done. Something Oshii is fantastic with is developing a palpable sense of atmosphere.
That said it comes with a change of the artstyle in the series. The characters' skin is lighter and paler, closer to GITS than the OVAs. The character designs aren't the only thing that changed. The movies had a vast increase in budget and time and it shows. The world is highly detailed in both the background art and the character movements. It helps to create this feeling of hyper realism that again feeds into the atmosphere of the movies. It's such a noticeable step up from the OVAs that it kinda blew me back, especially in areas such as lighting and facial animations.
That said, I wasn't overly fond of Kenji Kawai's work in either movie. Yes they're both very good and lead into his own work in GITS but it sounds too much like his work in GITS. I preferred the more bombastic OST in the OVAs. I can't really fault him as the OSTs for all three movies is very good but when I hear the OST, it just reminds me too much of GITS. I did really like the theme of Patlabor 2 though.
dead all along kinda kills the climax a bit. It's certainly interesting in that not many movies would be willing to pull it off but there isn't really any emotional confrontation. It also sorta leaves the villain a bit of an enigma. I did like the fact though that the villain did essentially win at the end of the day. As Gotoh stated, it was a lose-lose situation at a certain point in that Babylon was going to be heavily damaged either way.
The movies also marked the use and development of Oshii's classic visual trademarks. Oshii uses a fisheye perspective multiple times throughout both movies. Also things such as the bootup screens and the computer screens in general definitely hearken to his visual style. There is also heavy use of glass and reflection during aerial tracking shots.
Something that struck me about the prologue, in Patlabor 2, is how the humidity in the jungle is displayed visually. Not so much that it's displayed but rather it gives this surreal effect to the happenings there which portray Tsuge's mindset.
With P2, I felt that Oshii's grown past the Patlabor franchise and isn't really that interested in it anymore. While the first movie still involved the team and the team dynamics to an extent, the 2nd one throws all of that out and focuses more on Gotoh and Nagumo. It feels like everybody else is thrown to the wasteside so that Oshii can have his political thriller. The 2nd movie is very somber in tone, even moreso than the 1st movie, and it really feels less like Patlabor and more like something else. I should also mention that I felt Noa was somewhat OOC as there isn't any buildup to her decision that she's grown out of Labors. In the first film, it makes clear Noa's love for Labors is like that of a pet and yet that gets tossed aside in the 2nd film.
I should say that I did find the core message and theme in the 2nd movie much more interesting and relevant compared to the 1st movie."An unjust peace is still better than a just war" is at the core of the conflicting philosophies in the movie and it's an interesting one. There really isn't a correct answer to this but I thought both sides in the movie had interesting points to say and it certainly made the villains more interesting compared to the 1st movie. The real life component to the movie in regards to the JSDF's involvement in the UN peacekeeping actions in Cambodia also helped to give a lot of context to this film. I don't think the message though of a country building its economy on the blood of other countries was limited to just Japan during the bubble but rather to the United States currently and in the past. Another theme is how the Japanese and American alliance is a tenable one. The United States is shown repeatedly throughout the film to be a negative element to Japan's defense structure through the use of the American fighter plane that was hijacked, the JDSF's defense grid that was hacked through American systems, and finally how USA gives Japan a timeline to resolve the incident before they take control.
That said, this film is fucking dense. I had to go back and rewatch certain scenes after the movie was up as I didn't follow along with all the political maneuvering that was going on. I knew that the JDSF had declared martial law and whatnot but I completely missed stuff like how the police were trying to do their own coup due to the JDSF riots from the bridge bombing. It's just too dense at times and I felt lost not knowing how all these organizations mingled and intersected. I also feel it kinda hurts the pacing somewhere in the middle as well. I do think things kicked off though with the declaration of martial law.
One thing I did find kinda amusing is the reliability of technology in the first film compared to the unreliability of technology in the 2nd film. In the 1st film this is established through Labor in that they follow whatever orders or commands they are given. Compared to the 2nd film where footage is doctored and hackers breaching the JDSF network. It shows how humans create this element of unreliability. That's an area where I think the 2nd film has an edge in that it creates this sense of paranoia and unreliability in that nothing and nobody can be trusted.
The third movie is pretty much a classic horror film. It's certainly different compared to the first two movies but I think it ties in closer with the 3rd episode in the OVAs,The 450 Million-Year-Old Trap. There isn't any political or social commentary but instead focuses directly on the events and characters in the movie. It's a monster film through and through which makes me glad that they used new characters for the leads as it allows the directors more freedom to kill off certain characters. I thought one chase scene in the middle of the film was done fairly well as you got the feeling that the characters were screwed. It's also really gory at times which makes for a rather sharp contrast compared to both prior Patlabor movies. I did think the antagonists,on the human component, were somewhat weak. While they do explain the driving force of the female scientist, she does come off as crazy.
The art in the 3rd film definitely took a dip but I can't hold too much blame on Takayama as the film is still very good looking and not many people could live up to Oshii. There were also some fantastic background shots during the film as well.
Overall I enjoyed all three movies for the most part. I think all three are flawed to certain and different extents but they for the most part all hold up.
Oh and what the fuck is up with all these birds? I expected someone's eyes to get poked out.
You know, for all the dorama, I will say that I appreciate that this show is the anti-Chihayafuru. Everything that is wrong about sports shows is solved in this anime. Of course, the problem is that Japan seemingly only knows how to deal with family angst. I'd almost rather Haruka and Rin fight over a girl, as rote and tedious as that might be, because the other stuff just makes very little sense.
Well, I suppose in an ideal world, Rin would have an unrequited crush on Haruka and the show would go all DTL. lol
I was surprised to see this OVA, it was so good too.
So this wasn't subbed so I mostly didn't understand one word anybody said. I mostly got what was happening because I read the manga already (I only read to the part about the guy on the motorcycle which is what this OVA went up to). I really wish they showed the fight between
Appa and Miu's Grandfather
because it looked hype. Also blue ponytail being a troll in the OVA lol.
I really want this show to come back but I fear that it won't.
Free 9
You know, for all the dorama, I will say that I appreciate that this show is the anti-Chihayafuru. Everything that is wrong about sports shows is solved in this anime.
Oh. Part of that is probably just because Free! isn't a manga adaptation. I don't really know if it's even a "sports show", and Free! falls into so many of its own traps that it seems strange to say it "solves" anything.
Felt like the BroCon plot but in five minutes, anyway Tatsuya moment and then wanting to picture on the blog was funny, as well as the one in bed. Entertaining four minute anime.
Oh. Part of that is probably just because Free! isn't a manga adaptation. I don't really know if it's even a "sports show", and Free! falls into so many of its own traps that it seems strange to say it "solves" anything.
Well, it's a show where the central focus is the sport. It's just that the swimming is perfunctory and the characters are more important than explaining how Haruka's hands cut through the water or whatever.
I appreciated this gag, because for once it didn't have the guy pointlessly react and just let the punchline -as predictable as it was- work for itself.
I like the work of the director, Taiichi Ogawa. Too bad he had to work around some dodgy drama and character motivations, but in the end it's a pretty enjoyable episode. It's nice to have the characters play around, and the constantly changing scenery of the festival provided a bit of fresh air to the generally trite interactions.
Well, it's a show where the central focus is the sport. It's just that the swimming is perfunctory and the characters are more important than explaining how Haruka's hands cut through the water or whatever.
I find the lack of technical detail regarding swimming itself to kind of expose that the story is little more than a shallow excuse to trot guys around without shirts on. I'm not sure the central focus is really swimming when the show hardly ever brings the activity to the center of the stage. In something like Chihayafuru the love of the sport is emphasized, maybe a little too much at times, but at least that shines through. Free! just seems to express a love for deformed upper bodies and BL.
Paranoia Agent 09
Everyone's gone Shounen Batto crazy they are basically making up stories that implicate him in the most unlikely of stories. I almost expected him being involved in the death of Christ.
I really don't know where this story is going, but something tells me that putting Simon in the same prison as...what's-his-name was a really, really bad idea. They're probably going to make a break for it together. Or something. And when's Yoko going to get involved? I have to think she'll help with busting him out. And no way her re-introduction isn't going to be balls-to-the-wall amazing.
One thing I don't quite get about this whole situation is, how is this all Simon's fault? The anti-Spirals aren't attacking them as any direct result of anything he did; they're doing it because the population hit a million. Is it because of his defeating Spiral King and establishing a new society that's allowing this to happen? But that was all of Dai-Gurren, even Rossiu. I guess he was very reckless in that first fight which led to a lot of destruction, but that doesn't make this whole deal his doing. Sounds like he's just serving as Rossiu's sacrificial lamb to appease the angry people. Rossiu assuming the position of Supreme Commander makes things all the more fishy.
I really don't know where this story is going, but something tells me that putting Simon in the same prison as...what's-his-name was a really, really bad idea. They're probably going to make a break for it together. Or something. And when's Yoko going to get involved? I have to think she'll help with busting him out. And no way her re-introduction isn't going to be balls-to-the-wall amazing.
One thing I don't quite get about this whole situation is, how is this all Simon's fault? The anti-Spirals aren't attacking them as any direct result of anything he did; they're doing it because the population hit a million. Is it because of his defeating Spiral King and establishing a new society that's allowing this to happen? But that was all of Dai-Gurren, even Rossiu. I guess he was very reckless in that first fight which led to a lot of destruction, but that doesn't make this whole deal his doing. Sounds like he's just serving as Rossiu's sacrificial lamb to appease the angry people. Rossiu assuming the position of Supreme Commander makes things all the more fishy.
You sir, are asking all the right questions. It's good to be able to understand how people were waiting for my reactions when I was tackling this series at the end of June.