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「ジャッポーネ」 (Jappōne)
“Giappone”
Welcome to the land of the rising sun; under a glacial maximum.
It seems we’re in for a little more characterization on the part of Anna this week, though nothing unexpected since last time. As we’d thought, she’s begun to show more and more guilt and uncertainty as the girls get closer and closer to finding the final sketches. Roberto isn’t quite satisfied with the hourglass, it seems (or he’s not silly enough to believe it would be that easy), but regardless, it means the girls aren’t as safe or as ahead as they like to think they are. Anna is obviously the exception, and the closer they all get to finding the final sketches, the more unnerved she is by how much she’s come to care for them. It doesn’t help that the girls trust her so freely; they’ve invited her into their grandfather’s home (seems Geshio was of Japanese ancestry after all, and now the girls’ names make more sense) as an intimate guest, and they’ve openly accepted her as a sort of caretaker. With every passing hour, it seems the girls show her more love and care, and when they go so far as to call her a friend, something snaps within her. She’s not quite ready to switch sides but she’s close, and it shouldn’t take more before she realizes her one sided love for Roberto isn’t worth the Ferrari sisters’ lives.
The rest of the episode focuses on Japan, as is clear from the title. We learn a little about Geshio and what sort of person he was in his youth (Jet Engine, huh), but his early engineering plan to help his father with central heating ends up acting as a showcase for the sisters’ caring natures, as well as for Hozuki’s skills. Hazuki gets a bit of a moment as well, though not through the project. Her conversation with Cicinho reveals a little of how her naive thinking has changed through her journey, though it’s not fully gone either. Her sense of justice is still there, but she’s begun to realize it may not be possible to see it all the way through. Even more interesting is the strange chemistry between her and Cicinho. I even see something like possible attraction between her and the sky pirate, which makes sense considering how he’s been described as charming before. I’m not sure the series has enough time to develop such a thing (and I still find Cicinho’s goals rather confusing to decipher), but it would not be a surprise to me if it did happen.
the prologue of this EP with the goldfish AI was awesome!
I wonder who is this VA. doing really good job. every time I hear that goldfish there is no chance I won’t grin 😛
but I am afraid it was the only best thing this ep.
nothing really new or even intriguing with that ep. not that I expected something big, but it told us what we already know, only with a bit more pressure on Anna.
while most of the time I won’t complain for mid-episode that relief a bit from the tension, I don’t think GD can afford it to itself. the reason? there are only 3 eps left, you can’t afford wasting time like that. well they did, but that doesn’t mean I liked it.
besides, why waste time on something we already know?well, I agree we should see Anna being more cornered and conflicted harder and so..but is it necessary to waste a full episode about it? I don’t know..
that brings the problem of the inconsistency of GD. a few eps ago it was all about dystopia with a few “piew piew” scenes (blame Zephyr with the “piew piew”, but it actually good HaHa). an ep ago, the girls nearly got killed by Roberto. and now everything is good?
well I can get “excuses” like – it’s the Japanese spirit and the scent of family in the air, and sometimes it’s true. but too much of inconsistency in GD…
I am so upset seeing Anna doing all the thinking and stuff. in the first 2 eps I though we gonna have something like Dan’s brown novels. and in terms of plot and mystery it was left outside the screen. Anna’s doing some “google” in the goldfish net about the sketch, and all set. it’s so upsetting me seeing that… 🙁
random thoughts:
1. I didn’t forget that the goldfish is following Anna. he is waiting for his chance 😛 go catch her.
2. is it just me or Anna pulled a phone out of her hair’s rolls?WTF?
3. never trust strangers – the girls didn’t get proper education. well..their parents aren’t missing for nothing Eh? 😛
but seriously, how is that the girls’ love toward Anna has increased. she didn’t do anything in particular. oh, she did, betray them…no way they are this naive in this world!
4. once again the air pirate comes and goes as the wind. I guess we won’t see him next time? at least I am used to it already HaHa
5. what’s with Roberto?didn’t he try his new toy?come on…can I try it instead? 😛
I dunno, I kinda liked this “downtime”. Takes a breather from the hardships and chaos of the previous 3 episodes. It has been a while since we have seen the sisters act like, well, sisters. I do agree that it is strange that everything seems alright all of a sudden, but then on the other hand Houki had always wanted to see Japan, and I guess being able to visit their grandfather helped raise their mood somewhat.
With only one sketch left to go, and the possible aftermath of finding it, I think the remaining 3 episodes should be more than enough to cover the rest of it (i.e. next episode on finding the last sketch, the final 2 on the aftermath of finding it). It is afterall a quarter of the season left. Things are more or less in place to flow straight into the “final showdown”. If they had done this with only 1 episode left, or if they had not recovered the sketch in this episode, then I would be terribly worried, but not so much here. This is in contrast to the way I feel about Yozakura Quartet and Infinite Stratos 2, both of which are heavy filler material. In both of those series, the finale has not been set, and it is hard to see how both can pace themselves to reach the finish line (Yozakura Quartet still have 5 episodes left at least).
Totally agree with you regarding the “phone in the hair curls” thing. Those must be some mean curls to keep the phone there without falling out…
Love can do more harm than hate, specially when the person who recives that affection is unworthy of it. Our little Anna now knows this and I´d like to say that I fell sorry or simphaty for the situation she´s trap in, but I don´t really feel anything of the sort, in good part because the love one she´s doing this for is a monster that seems to be taken lessons from Johan Liebert.
Hozuki is still cute and capable, Grandpa is a cool one, Japan doens’t care about wanted criminals, pirate guy is a terribly and lazy written character.
But at least, we now know why Anna has this crazy hairdo.
I’ve always love to see Cicinho and Hazuki’s interaction. I was like really hoping for Cicinho to grab Hazuki by the shoulders when the close-up at Hazuki’s frowning face…but nahh, bummer! Funny how i’ve always thought of Hazuki as the “tomboy” in the family after seeing how she talked back and went violent at every action scene…<–not sure how to explain this =,="
anyway, im quite worry for the remaining episodes…how will they conclude the Momma part? The dad's unknown location? Galileo sketches and Roberto? its worrying me :/
It was hilarious how Cicinho just had to make a dramatic exit by jumping off the bridge. I’ve got to remember to use that trick to pick up girls in the future.
Cicinho X Bambina FTW!
Bambina is stacked 😉 http://imgur.com/WED9vhw
Only 3 episodes left, I’m sad and I really hope the ending isn’t rushed.
Anna’s death flag is raised and I really hope Roberto dies an awful death before the end of the series.